Trailers

[Dalty]

Autopilots have an off switch.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

I didn't say it was autopilot. I said it sounded a lot like autopilot.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

That Kung Fury movie that got its funding through Kistarter finally got made:



I feel like we (by "we" I mean the CA/HF group) talked about Kung Fury during its campaign, but I can't find where we did it. I remember not being sure if the end product would work for me.

Somehow it does work for me, and it works for me in a way the Iron Sky movies don't--even though the two properties have some superficial similarities. I'm not sure I could put a finger on exactly why the Kung Fury works for me when the Iron Sky movies don't. If I were going try to explain it, I guess I would work on building some kind of argument around loosely defined things like "passion," "intent," "execution," "sense of humor," and "audience contempt/respect."

[Mal Shot First]

This is the first time I've heard of this movie, so I don't think we ever discussed it here. I watched the first 4 minutes of the video and it was awesome - probably the kind of awesome that Iron Sky went for but missed, like you said.

[Dalty]

Look at the quality you can achieve with a Kickstarter. Somebody should tell Harry Knowles.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

Harry knows exactly what can be achieved with a Kickstarter.

I still haven't managed to finish the second season. I have a famously high tolerance for shitty stuff, and even *I* have difficulty sitting through one of those episodes.

[Dalty]

You really aren't missing much.

[neglet]

I am so geeked for this one.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

We always cross our fingers and hope for the best with post-eighties Ridley Scott movies, and we're usually disappointed. I think the last Scott movie I really liked was Thelma & Louise.

I haven't seen Matchstick Men. I think there's a chance I could like that one.

[neglet]

It's based on a pretty good novel, though, which isn't the case with most of his recent work. I hope for the best: keeping most of the story, with Scott's flair for space imagery. It's got a fantastic cast, too.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

Exodus was based on a fairly well-regarded book.

[Mal Shot First]

I liked Matchstick Men. I also liked Robin Hood. I also liked Prometheus.

They're not revolutionary or anything, but they're all pretty solid movies, in my opinion.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

Robin Hood didn't really leave me with much of an impression. It just sort of felt like it was there. I have this idea in my head that Scott got bored one day, called Crowe up, and asked him if he wanted to do another movie. Crowe said, "Sure." Scott then went to his desk, picked up one of the dozens of scripts in front of him, and said, "Robin Hood, huh? Works for me."

The only thing I really remember about it is that Blanchett's Marion pulls an Éowyn and that it felt a little forced.

[Mal Shot First]

Ah, that you remember!

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

For your miserable performance, you will receive just the tip.

[Mal Shot First]

Just so the others can follow along:

[Dalty]

That whole film was a waste of two and a bit hours. Remember when it was going to be interesting and told from the sherrif's point of view?

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

I think the last Mel Brooks movie I really enjoyed was Spaceballs. I'm not sure how much I would have liked it if I hadn't grown up with it. I was in love with it as a kid. I think a lot of this had to do with it being a send-up of a genre I loved.

I know Mal and Jubbers really like Robin Hood: Men in Tights, but it's never quite done it for me. I get the feeling that it's probably no funnier or less funny than Spaceballs. Maybe I was just too old when I first saw it. I was fourteen or so when it came to video. Didn't get to see it in the theater.

[Dalty]

All Mel Brooksfilms are juvenile and low brow. We are usually just too young to notice when we first see them.

[Mal Shot First]

I think some are more low-brow than others. There's a certain level of sophistication to movies like Blazing Saddles, High Anxiety, or Young Frankenstein, I think.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

The Producers is a solid piece of work.

[Mango]

The first bit of "Men in Tights" doesn't work as well, it feels pretty forced. Once the set up is done though I find it flows pretty well. Typically if I come in to it during the godfather scene i'm pretty much sure to watch the whole film.

I got to see it in theaters, in Atlanta Georgia no less. This is only important because the "My full name is Will Scarlett O'hara," line got some cheering. And the bit where the audience at the archery tournament does 'the chop' was mirrored by the entire theater. They love their sports teams down there, or they did back then anyways.
It's one of the coolest theater experiences I've ever had.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

It probably didn't hurt that the Braves had just won the World Series a little under two months prior to the release of Dracula: Dead and Loving It.

[Adam54]

I haven't seen Matchstick Men. I think there's a chance I could like that one.

I own and really enjoy that one. One of the last Nic Cage performances when he still remembered he had some acting chops, plus it's one of the early major Sam Rockwell roles. It's tough to go wrong with Rockwell. Criminally under appreciated film.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

It just occurred to me that there might be something to keep me from being able to enjoy it properly. I'm pretty sure it's the one where Cage and Rockwell are con men, but I think it may also be the one where the Cage character has obsessive-compulsive disorder. If it is, it could complicate things for me. I often have a negative, knee-jerk reaction to portrayals of obsessive-compulsive disorder. This is especially true if the portrayals are over-the-top. This is even more especially true if the focus is on the broken-record, generic Hollywood version of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

I try to go into these sorts of things with an open mind, but my mind closes more and more as more and more boxes are checked off the checklist. I'd never claim to know how it feels for a minority viewer to see his race stereotyped in a big way on the screen, but I have a hunch that it must leave him feeling even more frustrated than I'm left feeling when watching actors do the Hollywood OCD monkey dance.

I'm pretty sure this is that movie. I think I may have been assured that the trailer makes it out to seem that the character's obsessive-compulsive tendencies are a bigger plot point/focus than they actually were. There may be hope.

Is it also a "One Last Job" (in this case, a con) movie? If it is, it'll have another hurdle to jump for me to be able to warm to it.

I vaguely remember scenes with a shrink from the trailer. Does it do an Analyze This/Sopranos sort of thing with the shrink visits? Seemed like that was a "thing" for movies and shows back in the early aughts. I don't really have a problem with this. The Cage movie I know for certain has a Cage character interacting with a shrink is Vampire's Kiss. That movie has its moments.