Moving pictures

[noelbotevera]

The generic moo-vie, film, silver screen thread. Stuff about movies go here.

Recently watched Fritz Lang's 1954 noir, The Human Desire. An excellent noir with some scenes echoing The Narrow Margin by Fleischer; as for the story I did like how some characters mirrored each other. Lang also included his trademark "police procedural" scene. That's all I'll say; cinephiles have probably seen M, and while this is more restrained it's definitely worth seeing considering its 90 minute length.

[hbelkins]

"Moving Pictures."

A bit overrated, if you ask me. I liked "Permanent Waves" a lot better.

[Roadgeekteen]

Not a huge movie fan, but have been watching more during quarantine.

[Roadrunner75]

"Moving Pictures."

A bit overrated, if you ask me. I liked "Permanent Waves" a lot better.

Both very good, but I'll give the nod to Permanent Waves too as it has a special place as my first Rush album and I spent a lot more time listening to it back in the day.

[Max Rockatansky]

Haven't there been several attempts to get a movie thread going?...they all seem to fizzle out fast.  I prefer movies greatly over TV shows, I like the nature of dedicating 2-3 hours to something and getting a conclusive narrative out of it. 

[noelbotevera]

Haven't there been several attempts to get a movie thread going?...they all seem to fizzle out fast.  I prefer movies greatly over TV shows, I like the nature of dedicating 2-3 hours to something and getting a conclusive narrative out of it.

Only movie threads I can recall are "Highway signs in TV Shows / Movies" and "Disaster movies". This is meant as a catch-all thread, in case any cinephiles exist in the roadgeek community.

As for TV shows, when they end after two or three seasons and don't continue - they tend to be okay. I'm looking at the dozens upon dozens of soap operas that have somehow spent decades on the air (cough Guiding Light cough).

I don't have an exact preference for movies; some of my favorite movies are 3, 3.5 hour long epics (Seven Samurai, Once Upon a Time in the West) but also 60-70 minute films with tight pacing (The Narrow Margin). Some movies I like for fun, some for the artistic value.

[Max Rockatansky]

Haven't there been several attempts to get a movie thread going?...they all seem to fizzle out fast.  I prefer movies greatly over TV shows, I like the nature of dedicating 2-3 hours to something and getting a conclusive narrative out of it.

Only movie threads I can recall are "Highway signs in TV Shows / Movies" and "Disaster movies". This is meant as a catch-all thread, in case any cinephiles exist in the roadgeek community.

As for TV shows, when they end after two or three seasons and don't continue - they tend to be okay. I'm looking at the dozens upon dozens of soap operas that have somehow spent decades on the air (cough Shining Light cough).

I don't have an exact preference for movies; some of my favorite movies are 3, 3.5 hour long epics (Seven Samurai, Once Upon a Time in the West) but also 60-70 minute films with tight pacing (The Narrow Margin). Some movies I like for fun, some for the artistic value.

Heh, I think that I did one years ago right around when I posted the "Sorry State of Automobiles"  thread.  I got the impression that there wasn't many film buffs at the time, maybe that's changed with some new people?  Unfortunately some of the movies you're talking about rarely get broadcasted regularly anymore.  I watched Citizen Kane fairly recently, but I had to track it down on YouTube rental. 

[noelbotevera]

Haven't there been several attempts to get a movie thread going?...they all seem to fizzle out fast.  I prefer movies greatly over TV shows, I like the nature of dedicating 2-3 hours to something and getting a conclusive narrative out of it.

Only movie threads I can recall are "Highway signs in TV Shows / Movies" and "Disaster movies". This is meant as a catch-all thread, in case any cinephiles exist in the roadgeek community.

As for TV shows, when they end after two or three seasons and don't continue - they tend to be okay. I'm looking at the dozens upon dozens of soap operas that have somehow spent decades on the air (cough Shining Light cough).

I don't have an exact preference for movies; some of my favorite movies are 3, 3.5 hour long epics (Seven Samurai, Once Upon a Time in the West) but also 60-70 minute films with tight pacing (The Narrow Margin). Some movies I like for fun, some for the artistic value.

Heh, I think that I did one years ago right around when I posted the "Sorry State of Automobiles"  thread.  I got the impression that there wasn't many film buffs at the time, maybe that's changed with some new people?  Unfortunately some of the movies you're talking about rarely get broadcasted regularly anymore.  I watched Citizen Kane fairly recently, but I had to track it down on YouTube rental.

If you need to scratch that film itch, I recommend having The Criterion Collection and Amazon Prime as available streaming services. Criterion is great for the "high art" or "true cinephile" films, while Amazon Prime is great for entertaining guests; though I've found some excellent films thanks to Amazon (Orson Welles' Othello, Touch of Evil, Scarface 1932). There's also piracy, but the price of Criterion (already a massive collection) and renting a few films from Amazon is practically negligible.

[hbelkins]

It's been ages since I've seen a new-release movie, so naturally I'm going to gravitate to older ones. "Blazing Saddles" is probably my all-time favorite; I can pretty much recite every line in the movie at the appropriate scene. "Spaceballs" is another excellent Mel Brooks movie.

I also really liked "48 Hrs," "Beverly Hills Cop," and "Trading Places." "The Jerk" and "Christmas Vacation" are also favorites, as is "Animal House."

I haven't seen any of the "Star Wars" movies beyond the first three.

[Rothman]

It's been ages since I've seen a new-release movie, so naturally I'm going to gravitate to older ones. "Blazing Saddles" is probably my all-time favorite; I can pretty much recite every line in the movie at the appropriate scene. "Spaceballs" is another excellent Mel Brooks movie.

I also really liked "48 Hrs," "Beverly Hills Cop," and "Trading Places." "The Jerk" and "Christmas Vacation" are also favorites, as is "Animal House."

I haven't seen any of the "Star Wars" movies beyond the first three.

Looks like you haven't seen any movie since 1990.

[Max Rockatansky]

It's been ages since I've seen a new-release movie, so naturally I'm going to gravitate to older ones. "Blazing Saddles" is probably my all-time favorite; I can pretty much recite every line in the movie at the appropriate scene. "Spaceballs" is another excellent Mel Brooks movie.

I also really liked "48 Hrs," "Beverly Hills Cop," and "Trading Places." "The Jerk" and "Christmas Vacation" are also favorites, as is "Animal House."

I haven't seen any of the "Star Wars" movies beyond the first three.

Looks like you haven't seen any movie since 1990.

Regarding Star Wars he's onto something there...  That whole franchise is way too bloated and over exploited that it kind of tarnished how good those original movies were.  I don't know if I would attribute it to Star Wars but it is one of the main focal points that one could look at in modern movie making where everything has become a formula and lacking in creativity.  I can't really think of many movies these past two decades that were all time classic or really fantastic that was spawned out of some completely new media. 

Regarding recent movies, this past year my favorites were Knives Put and Ford vs Ferrari.  It was kind of weird to see a popular 70s Style movie in the form of Joker...totally gave me a Taxi Driver vibe. 

[Roadgeekteen]

It's been ages since I've seen a new-release movie, so naturally I'm going to gravitate to older ones. "Blazing Saddles" is probably my all-time favorite; I can pretty much recite every line in the movie at the appropriate scene. "Spaceballs" is another excellent Mel Brooks movie.

I also really liked "48 Hrs," "Beverly Hills Cop," and "Trading Places." "The Jerk" and "Christmas Vacation" are also favorites, as is "Animal House."

I haven't seen any of the "Star Wars" movies beyond the first three.

Only watch the first 3 and rouge one. The Disney trilogy is boring unoriginal garbage.

[Max Rockatansky]

It's been ages since I've seen a new-release movie, so naturally I'm going to gravitate to older ones. "Blazing Saddles" is probably my all-time favorite; I can pretty much recite every line in the movie at the appropriate scene. "Spaceballs" is another excellent Mel Brooks movie.

I also really liked "48 Hrs," "Beverly Hills Cop," and "Trading Places." "The Jerk" and "Christmas Vacation" are also favorites, as is "Animal House."

I haven't seen any of the "Star Wars" movies beyond the first three.

Only watch the first 3 and rouge one. The Disney trilogy is boring unoriginal garbage.

I thought they were going somewhere interesting with the Last Jedi but it turned out not to be the case with shoehorning Darth Sideous into the 9th Episode out of nowhere.  At least the prequel movies while disappointing actually led to a coherent conclusion.  Oddly, I really enjoyed the Mandalorian since it actually did something different with Star Wars rather than rehashing all the same BS again.

[hbelkins]

It's been ages since I've seen a new-release movie, so naturally I'm going to gravitate to older ones. "Blazing Saddles" is probably my all-time favorite; I can pretty much recite every line in the movie at the appropriate scene. "Spaceballs" is another excellent Mel Brooks movie.

I also really liked "48 Hrs," "Beverly Hills Cop," and "Trading Places." "The Jerk" and "Christmas Vacation" are also favorites, as is "Animal House."

I haven't seen any of the "Star Wars" movies beyond the first three.

Looks like you haven't seen any movie since 1990.

Well, that's not true, as my wife and I used to go to the movies quite often, and we married in 1995. But I've found that movies, like music, aren't what they used to be. I can't remember the last new-release album I bought. Probably "Sammy Hagar & The Circle, At Your Service." And that was a couple of years ago.

[golden eagle]

When I saw the title of this thread, I was thinking of the early-80s band that had the song "What About Me?"

[Rushmeister]

"Moving Pictures."

A bit overrated, if you ask me. I liked "Permanent Waves" a lot better.

I just knew someone would go there.  Thanks, hb. 

Aside from the music, the album art for those two works is arguably among Rush's (pardon me, Hugh Syme's) best.  I happened to meet and chat with Hugh a few months ago. Oddly, we talked primarily about about cars and license plates, not music or album art.  He is a really swell cat and a friend to all.  I wonder now, however, if he would agree with the positions put forth in our posts, since he contributed not only his artwork, but also his musical talent, on both albums. 

[1995hoo]

"Moving Pictures."

A bit overrated, if you ask me. I liked "Permanent Waves" a lot better.

When I see "Permanent Waves," I think of a song by the Kinks.

[Ned Weasel]

"Spaceballs" is another excellent Mel Brooks movie.

I haven't seen any of the "Star Wars" movies beyond the first three.

My top-5 favorite "Star Wars" movies in chronological order:

"Star Wars (Episode 4: A New Hope)"
"Star Wars Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back"
"Spaceballs"
"I Heart Huckabees"
"Doctor Sleep"

Casting a Jedi Master from one movie as another Jedi Master in a different movie was a brilliant choice.  And yes, I really did like "Doctor Sleep."

[kphoger]

Star Wars

Only watch the first 3 and rouge one. The Disney trilogy is boring unoriginal garbage.

My whole family has enjoyed the Disney ones just as much as the first three and Rogue One.

[kevinb1994]

"Moving Pictures."

A bit overrated, if you ask me. I liked "Permanent Waves" a lot better.

When I see "Permanent Waves," I think of a song by the Kinks.

Interestingly enough, they had a song called "Moving Pictures"  as well. I was dumbfounded when I realized the coincidence years ago.

[Roadrunner75]

"Moving Pictures."

A bit overrated, if you ask me. I liked "Permanent Waves" a lot better.

When I see "Permanent Waves," I think of a song by the Kinks.

Interestingly enough, they had a song called "Moving Pictures"  as well. I was dumbfounded when I realized the coincidence years ago.

Maybe Neil was a Kinks fan...

[noelbotevera]

I watched the entirety of Red Cliff - uncut, 4 hours 47 minutes - yesterday evening. That was a terrific evening.

I woke up today exhausted.

[Max Rockatansky]

I watched Excalibur with my wife the other day since she had not seen it.  While I still really like the movie some of the dubbing is really bad (Arthur specifically).   The story left in pretty much all the weird rape and incest stuff which definitely wasn't what my wife was expecting after watching The Sword in the Stone recently.  I still think Skull Cap Merlin is the best rendition of the character put to film. 

[Hwy 61 Revisited]

Watched Lady Bird yesterday. Great coming-of-age dramedy with tight pacing and inventive cinematography, and definitely among my all-time top ten. Heck, maybe I'll list them right now!

   
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
• The Princess Bride
• Blade Runner
• The Shining
• Star Wars
• The Lord of the Rings
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• Lady Bird
• Candyman

[Max Rockatansky]

Watched Lady Bird yesterday. Great coming-of-age dramedy with tight pacing and inventive cinematography, and definitely among my all-time top ten. Heck, maybe I'll list them right now!

   
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
• The Princess Bride
• Blade Runner
• The Shining
• Star Wars
• The Lord of the Rings
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• Lady Bird
• Candyman

I've watched Scott Pilgrim about half a dozen times and I still can't figure out why so many think that is a cinematic masterpiece.  It's okay but it kind of has that whole weird following movies like the Big Lebowski get.  Candy Man is okay but horror movie standards but definitely isn't among the best IMO.  If I'm looking for a non-brand horror/slasher movie I tend to go for Phantasm 1 or 2.  Blade Runner is great movie but it also gets a little too much praise than it really deserved given how many cuts it took to get a definitive version.  The original three Star Wars movies are classics but the fan following has really soured the series me in general.