Now Watching

[u2roolz]

I can't believe that I missed The State when it was streaming not too long ago. It looks like that's on Hulu. And I think that Stella was on there too at some point. 

[smells like flowers]

Went to the Amy Schumer flick, Trainwreck, last night.

 

It was OK. There were definitely some laughs (surprisingly, a lot of the funniest moments were from John Cena), but the last 1/3 of the movie dragged.

 

B-

For some reason I didn't expect a standard romantic comedy, but that's what it boiled down to. Was a nice surprise to hear a Wilco song pop up during the post-breakup montage --"Please Be Patient With Me."

[Atticus]

Saw Mr. Holmes yesterday.  Good movie.  Focus is certainly on emotions and relationships and aging, as opposed to a who-done-it.  

[Winston Legthigh]

The Babadook was good. Well made, and smart. The Babadook is a menacing phantom from a kid's book - which turns up and haunts a recently widowed mother and her son. The horror hinges on the grieving process. Free on Netflix now - check it out. 

 

B+

[calvino]

The Babadook was good. Well made, and smart. The Babadook is a menacing phantom from a kid's book - which turns up and haunts a recently widowed mother and her son. The horror hinges on the grieving process. Free on Netflix now - check it out. 

 

B+

Me and my wife watched Babadook a few weeks ago -- it was well done and freaky as hell. No nightmares for me, but I think my wife had one. For about a week afterwards my wife kept saying Baba-DOOK.

[u2roolz]

I watched the 1978 TV pilot for Dr. Strange on YouTube after midnight. It's just what the doctor ordered. I loved the overall look of it and I'm a sucker for sets over special fx. Jessica Walter was pretty hot and so was the actress who played Clea. The guy that played Dr. Strange (Peter Hooten) was in the original The Inglorious Bastards in the same year. He had the pornstache and questionable perm going for him here. This never got picked up into a full series, but it was much better than the terrible Captain America made for TV movies around the same time. Interestingly enough this came onto TV 3 months before the Richard Donner Superman hit theaters. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNu6RVLXAR8

[Winston Legthigh]

Any fans of The Shining here?

 

If so, you should check out Room 237, a documentary that's on Netflix right now. It's about fanatics of The Shining, who have found "hidden" meanings throughout the film. The one regarding the Apollo 11 mission is especially fascinating. The documentary isn't about whether or not these theories hold any water, it's about that these people are nuts. 

 

The Shining holds a special place in my heart and mind. I was 11 or so when I originally saw it (or parts of it - I had to leave once the woman came out of the bathroom - way too much to handle...). I did not like horror movies at all - too many nightmares.  At sleepovers, I couldn't even sit and watch the lame ones like Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elmstreet. When I was 14 or so, still drawn to The Shining, I read the book. Once I completed the book, in which Danny's inner voice always told him that the scary stuff was all in his mind, I could finally watch horror movies without getting freaked out. The book helped me overcome that. Now I love horror movies. 

[Analogman]

I watched the 1978 TV pilot for Dr. Strange on YouTube after midnight. It's just what the doctor ordered. I loved the overall look of it and I'm a sucker for sets over special fx. Jessica Walter was pretty hot and so was the actress who played Clea. The guy that played Dr. Strange (Peter Hooten) was in the original The Inglorious Bastards in the same year. He had the pornstache and questionable perm going for him here. This never got picked up into a full series, but it was much better than the terrible Captain America made for TV movies around the same time. Interestingly enough this came onto TV 3 months before the Richard Donner Superman hit theaters. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNu6RVLXAR8

 

There was also a Spiderman show around that time (1977).

[calvino]

There was also a Spiderman show around that time (1977).

 

My brother and I use to watch that Spiderman - forgot all about that.

[Analogman]

Me too.

[u2roolz]

I watched some of the Spider-Man reruns in the mid 80s on a channel that used to play them on Saturday afternoons. I didn't like how he used to only catch garden variety criminals. I guess his wide net of super villains was off limits.

 

I also remember the made for TV Incredible Hulk movies that brought in Thor & Daredevil.

 

The next thing that I want to find on YouTube is the 3hr 8 min Salkind cut of Superman that was shown on ABC in 1982.

[Analogman]

I never saw that one -

 

I recall the show though.

[u2roolz]

It was 88 & 89 and there was another one done in 90 that ended the series officially. The guy that played Sallah in Indiana Jones played Kingpin, I think. It should be on YouTube.

[Analogman]

I didn't see much TV in the late 80s.

 

Although - I wish the Midnight Caller was on dvd.

[u2roolz]

I just saw a Jeff Tweedy tweet from yesterday that said that his favorite movie about the music biz is Phantom Of The Paradise. Strangely enough I just saw this at my local record store and it was brand new on Blu-ray. Early Brian DePalma. I almost made a blind purchase, but figured it'd be on NetFlix at some point. 

https://twitter.com/JeffTweedy/status/625794516109275136

Ha! From those tweets it looks like Judd Apatow replied to Tweedy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9yof8cwli4&feature=youtu.be

 

I'm hooked! I just watched the trailer for it and I love that 70s visual aesthetic of real sets and real people over CGI. It just looks so much better. 

[Analogman]

I know about that film - but I have never seen it. OR I might have on Cinemax back in the day. The great Paul Williams is in that film.

[Beltmann]

The next thing that I want to find on YouTube is the 3hr 8 min Salkind cut of Superman that was shown on ABC in 1982.

 

Same here.  That's the version that seared itself into my memory as a child.  (If I remember right, it was aired over two nights, with a cliffhanger-style break when Lois Lane fell from the helicopter.  I also remember having nightmares about Miss Teschmacher being thrown to the lions.)  I never saw that version again.  In fact, years later I watched a DVD and wondered whether certain vivid scenes had disappeared or perhaps had only existed in the dreams of my 8-year-old self.

 

Both the 1978 theatrical release and the 2000 expanded edition are included in the excellent "Superman Anthology" blu-ray box set.  (The set also has two versions of Superman II, including the Richard Donner cut.)

[Winston Legthigh]

Ah yes! You're right. Now I don't have to watch it again....I think I could watch it again for all the right reasons. Plus, my Apple TV has subtitles.

 

Who the hell is Stan?

[Analogman]

Dudes (1987)

[Albert Tatlock]

Cordon - Belgium plague outbreak thriller. Half way through and ratcheting up the tension nicely without going all zombie apocalypse immediately.

Humans - nicely done sci fi set in a hear future (i.e. saving on production costs) where 'synths' have been introduced. Just ended, but apparently there is to be a second series - which in 90% of cases means an extending and petering out of the main storyline beyond what would have been the correct timely ending of the original idea. 

[Albert Tatlock]

Far From The Madding Crowd

The 1967 version, was suprised to hear only yesterday that there is a new version. Watched as there was a synchronicity between it appearing on iPlayer and recent visits to some of the locations - not that I knew that at the time except for Maiden Castle. Only a dim memory of once having seen it decades ago, and some JC high cheek bone action is always welcome.

[Analogman]

That's a great film.

[Beltmann]

The '67 version is very good, but the new one is solid, too.

[u2roolz]

Same here.  That's the version that seared itself into my memory as a child.  (If I remember right, it was aired over two nights, with a cliffhanger-style break when Lois Lane fell from the helicopter.  I also remember having nightmares about Miss Teschmacher being thrown to the lions.)  I never saw that version again.  In fact, years later I watched a DVD and wondered whether certain vivid scenes had disappeared or perhaps had only existed in the dreams of my 8-year-old self.

 

Both the 1978 theatrical release and the 2000 expanded edition are included in the excellent "Superman Anthology" blu-ray box set.  (The set also has two versions of Superman II, including the Richard Donner cut.)

I found this cut last week and now I can't find it again on YouTube. I did find one that is 2 hrs 50 minutes from Australian TV. Look up Superman Salkind Cut 1982 Part 1 & you can find Part 2 in the Suggestions next to it. Damn! I wish that I subscribed to that guy's channel. I checked IMDB and nothing. Someone from the UK is selling the ABC cut on eBay. I'm not sure which region the DVD is. 

 

I do remember how big Sunday nights were in the 80s with such premieres of big time motion pictures. I'm not sure if Superman was on HBO, before the ABC run. 4 years seems like a long time to wait. I'm too young to remember if people were into the whole Beta Max/VHS scene or if that happened a few years later with the onslaught of 80s blockbusters. I do remember films taking a year to be released for purchase and at expensive prices in the early 90s. 

 

The link that I found had such awful looking untouched footage that it had to be the ABC cut. I'm not sure how people responded to that low quality. They did spend 2 nights watching the whole film, so they were probably at the mercy of the networks. 

[u2roolz]

Results - I rented this on iTunes a month ago and I enjoyed it for the most part. It's an "indie" romantic comedy centered around personal training. Guy Pearce runs a local gym and Kevin Corrigan comes in looking to get healthier. Corrigan plays a real weird guy that has a lot of money and his wife left him. Cobie Smulders winds up taking on Corrigan as a client at his house for personal training. The film caught me off guard with the shifting focal point of the characters & their relationships with each other. I won't spoil what that is though. It's not something that I'd ever watch again, but I'd recommend it for a solid one time viewing. It does feature a classic Split Enz tune. 

 

Faults - This film really knocked me down with solid writing, nuanced performances and brisk pacing. Remember Leland Orser? Well, he terrifically plays an author who specializes in cults and mind control, in particular. He is visited by a couple who need his help to get their daughter out of one. After this is set up, the whole film pretty much plays out in a hotel room between Orser and Mary Elizabeth Winstead who is just incredible. There is some dark comedy in the beginning that throws off the viewer for what the film achieves. This is currently on NetFlix. 

 

I talked a bit about Good Kill in a few threads here. I just want to announce that it is the iTunes .99 rental of the week. Andrew Niccol strikes gold again.