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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 2, 2024 17:23:45 GMT -5
Watched Bicentennial Man (1999) last night It's funny, a lot of my favorite movies seem to be Robin Williams related (this one, Toys, Death To Smoochy, Birdcage, Hook) but this one might be my absolute favorite. Taking place over the course of roughly 200 years, it centers around robot named Andrew who both blessed and cursed with a unique feature; Individuality. Through some guidance from his owner, he learns to hone his creativity and expand his mind and eventually seeks his freedom but also yearns to become human. While it may not be perfect in places and later devolves into a love story, the ending never fails to make me cry Have you read the Asimov short story?
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Post by Batflunkie on Jul 2, 2024 17:26:42 GMT -5
Watched Bicentennial Man (1999) last night It's funny, a lot of my favorite movies seem to be Robin Williams related (this one, Toys, Death To Smoochy, Birdcage, Hook) but this one might be my absolute favorite. Taking place over the course of roughly 200 years, it centers around robot named Andrew who both blessed and cursed with a unique feature; Individuality. Through some guidance from his owner, he learns to hone his creativity and expand his mind and eventually seeks his freedom but also yearns to become human. While it may not be perfect in places and later devolves into a love story, the ending never fails to make me cry Have you read the Asimov short story? Surprisingly no. Though I am interested in learning how they differ from one another, if at all
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 2, 2024 17:34:53 GMT -5
Have you read the Asimov short story? Surprisingly no. Though I am interested in learning how they differ from one another I'm definitely not the guy to ask as I've only seen the film once and that was probably in 2000. I do think it was maybe closer to "The Positronic Man" which was a novel by Asimov and Robert Silverberg that expanded the original novelette. Asimov expanded a number of his earlier classic short works in the early 90s.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 2, 2024 21:12:06 GMT -5
I haven't read The Positronic Man, but read the original short story, "The Bicentennial Man." The film ups the emotional content, compared to the short story, which, as I recall (and this was back in college), focused more on the robot's transformation and sociological encounters, legal challenges and technical adjustments, leading to the end. I have no idea how the novel expanded on the relationships. My memory of the story was that it was less sacchariney and mawkish, while the film dove right into that. I kind of felt it lost a lot of the philosophical elements and the legal and socio-political elements. It kind of felt like they tried to turn Asimov's story into Bradbury's "The Electric Grandmother," (or, at least, the tv movie version, with Maureen Stapleton).
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 11, 2024 16:40:29 GMT -5
I was watching segments of the documentary FTA, from 1972. T and A stand for The Army.....you can figure out the F part, yourself.
Basically, Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland and some other actors and musicians went on a tour of locations around the Pacific, including Okinawa, as a sort of alternative USO and a counter-point to the more pro-war Bob Hope. They performed outside military bases, with lots of anti-authoritarian and anti-war skits and songs. The songs are decent to good, except it is quite clear why Jane Fonda did not perform in musicals. Some of the comedy isn't as funny as it thinks it is; but, the subject matter is close to the heart of the audience and it is a chance to flip a middle finger to the Brass, so they laugh. It's the kind of thing you might find at a company show, improvised by the soldiers, minus the insubordinate stuff.
There is a great bit with Sutherland and Michael Alaimo, where they are baseball announcers calling a battle, between the 101st Airborne and the North Vietnamese 7th Regiment.
It also features soldiers, sailors and airmen giving their thoughts on the war, which at this point, was considered lost and even the government was looking for a way out. There is some interesting stuff and I think it is more effective than some of Fonda's other publicity efforts, largely because it gives a voice to those who were there and dissatisfied and doesn't feature appearing with the enemy, in a propaganda photo.
There is also a performance by some Okinawans, singing about how the Japanese invaded their land and then America came, and they were basically being handed back to the Japanese, rather than being allowed to govern themselves. It also shows protests outside the base and juxtaposes the extensive US airbase and the small farms of the Okinawans.
The performances themselves have a a small theater company quality to them that is endearing, while also using satire to attack the war and the politics behind it. It also highlights things like the lack of support for the war effort in the Civil Rights community, when they were fighting for rights of Americans, at home. The service members words carry a weight, as you can see they grapple with their duty and the morality of it, the propaganda vs the reality. I went through a bit of that during the Gulf War, as the message on CNN didn't seem to match up with what I read in message traffic and events aboard one of our ships, deployed over there, which massacred an Iraqi force, that tried to surrender. It was a clear violation of the Rules of Engagement and naval regulations, not to mention the laws of war. However, no court martial ensued, as no one was going to besmirch our "victory."
This is not for everyone, certainly, and if you don't like Jane Fonda, it isn't likely to change your opinion. It is an interesting piece of history, though, of a tumultuous period, which has some wisdom for events today.
Last I checked, you could view it on the Internet Archive.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 11, 2024 16:47:57 GMT -5
ps One of the writers on the project and also an assistant on the production was Nancy Dowd, who would go on to write the screenplays for Slap Shot (based on her brother Ned's time in minor league hockey), Coming Home, Ordinary People, Swing Shift and White Nights.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 14, 2024 23:04:14 GMT -5
Just re-watched A League of Their Own. Such a great film....great cast...great story. Baseball bores the pants off me; but, I always loved this film. I had already seen it in theaters; but, I took my mom to see it, because I thought she would really enjoy seeing all those great actresses, doing their thing, in a story about women breaking new ground. She wasn't an athlete, but blazed her own trails in life.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 15, 2024 7:36:53 GMT -5
A Shock to the System (1990) was available on Tubi (and Youtube) and starred Michael Caine... How could I say no?
It's a dark comedy that shows how dangerous people can be when they thrown scruples out the window. Caine plays a middle-aged corporate man who has always played by the rules, at home or at work... and finds out that it might be a sucker's strategy. His wife and mother-in-law can be best described as constant irritants, and at work he is passed over for a promotion that was practically promised him. It seems that the old guard must make room for the Young Turks, and since he can't be outright fired without cause, he's subjected to increasingly humiliating new work conditions.
A chance occurence shows him that the universe really doesn't care about justice (a bit like Martin Landau at the end of Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanours) and that sends him into a carefully crafted campaign of irritant elimination. Wife? Haughty young boss? Threatening computer whiz? Better not stand in his way...
A smart detective figures things out fairly early on, and there's something of a race between Caine's character covering his tracks and the detective discovering new leads. I really had no idea how the movie would end.
The film is on the short side, and I suspect the novel must have dealt more deeply into certain themes. For example, the main character is presented as something of a constant problem-solver, a real magician. This is mentioned in the film, but in a rather cosmetic way; I'm sure that in the novel it was a facet that was expanded and shown to be at the core of what made him tick.
It was a lot of fun. And that ending I didn't predict? I loved it!!!
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Post by berkley on Jul 15, 2024 21:49:08 GMT -5
A Shock to the System (1990) was available on Tubi (and Youtube) and starred Michael Caine... How could I say no? It's a dark comedy that shows how dangerous people can be when they thrown scruples out the window. Caine plays a middle-aged corporate man who has always played by the rules, at home or at work... and finds out that it might be a sucker's strategy. His wife and mother-in-law can be best described as constant irritants, and at work he is passed over for a promotion that was practically promised him. It seems that the old guard must make room for the Young Turks, and since he can't be outright fired without cause, he's subjected to increasingly humiliating new work conditions. A chance occurence shows him that the universe really doesn't care about justice (a bit like Martin Landau at the end of Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanours) and that sends him into a carefully crafted campaign of irritant elimination. Wife? Haughty young boss? Threatening computer whiz? Better not stand in his way... A smart detective figures things out fairly early on, and there's something of a race between Caine's character covering his tracks and the detective discovering new leads. I really had no idea how the movie would end. The film is on the short side, and I suspect the novel must have dealt more deeply into certain themes. For example, the main character is presented as something of a constant problem-solver, a real magician. This is mentioned in the film, but in a rather cosmetic way; I'm sure that in the novel it was a facet that was expanded and shown to be at the core of what made him tick. It was a lot of fun. And that ending I didn't predict? I loved it!!! Another one I don't remember hearing about until now. Sounds interesting, I'll keep an eye out for it.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 15, 2024 22:52:43 GMT -5
Just re-watched A League of Their Own. Such a great film....great cast...great story. Baseball bores the pants off me; but, I always loved this film. I had already seen it in theaters; but, I took my mom to see it, because I thought she would really enjoy seeing all those great actresses, doing their thing, in a story about women breaking new ground. She wasn't an athlete, but blazed her own trails in life. I really like any sports event if I can actually be there in the stadium. So I’ve had quite a bit of fun at a few baseball games. Just not lately. But I don’t watch it on TV very often. If the Dodgers are doing well at the end of the season, I will usually end up watching a few games but rather distractedly. But I love baseball movies. I saw A League of Their Own when it first came out and I remember liking it a lot. I saw 42 just a few weeks ago, and that’s another one that I like. My favorite baseball film is Rhubarb. It’s about a cat that owns a baseball team. It is hilarious. And then rounding out my top five in no particular order: Eight Men Out Pride of the Yankees Take Me Out to the Ball Game No No: A Dockumentary (a 2014 documentary about Dock Ellis, who pitched a no-hitter on LSD)
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 16, 2024 0:02:35 GMT -5
I've been to a few St louis Cardinals games, in the 70s and 80s (when they had players like Lou Brock, Al Hrabosky, Joe Torre, Keith Hernandez and Ozzie Smith) and went to a Padres game, while on midshipman training, in San Diego, in 1987 (June 21, based on the stats I found). The Padres faced the SF Giants, at Jack Murphy Stadium. We got field seats, for a song and the stadium was mostly empty, except for where we were sitting, plus two groups at different sections of the upper levels: one from the Naval Training Center San Diego (Navy boot camp, with a day off from training) and one from Marine Corps Recruit Depot (Marine boot camp, also on an outing). San Francisco scored 4 runs, in the top of the first inning and San Diego sent their starting pitcher, Eric Show, to the showers. It didn't get any better, as SF won 10-4. At one point, a foul ball ended up in the Marine area (I think) and a recruit caught it, then you saw a drill instructor come up and take it from him. Some people near us called up to them, saying "Aw, come Sarge; have a heart!" It was a complete blowout, but I was still mostly bored.
I've never been a big fan of team sports, though I liked to play basketball....just not watch it. Football is also too much time on set up and short periods of action, to the point I don't care. Plus, I'm small and sucked at it, as a kid (and baseball). I liked watching the NASL soccer games, when that started up, especially with guys like Pele playing. it was constant action. However, I have never really watched it, as an adult.
I always enjoyed watching other sports more, like the Olympics, track & field meets, skiing competitions, boxing, wrestling, gymnastics, speed skating...the staples of ABC's Wide World of Sports, on Saturdays, in the 1970s. I also enjoyed the Superstars competition, and the Super teams spin-off (and Battle of the Network Stars competitions, with Network tv actors).
That, and the Silly Olympics, from Munich......
....The Battle of the PBS Stars....
...and the Cossell coverage of the Run, Jump and Throw Like a Girl Competition, as seen on Saturday Night Live....which I have no clips, since Lorne Michaels has suppressed footage from the Dick Ebersol years, even though it had better ratings than his return, for several years.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 16, 2024 0:19:07 GMT -5
Just re-watched A League of Their Own. Such a great film....great cast...great story. Baseball bores the pants off me; but, I always loved this film. I had already seen it in theaters; but, I took my mom to see it, because I thought she would really enjoy seeing all those great actresses, doing their thing, in a story about women breaking new ground. She wasn't an athlete, but blazed her own trails in life. I really like any sports event if I can actually be there in the stadium. So I’ve had quite a bit of fun at a few baseball games. Just not lately. But I don’t watch it on TV very often. If the Dodgers are doing well at the end of the season, I will usually end up watching a few games but rather distractedly. But I love baseball movies. I saw A League of Their Own when it first came out and I remember liking it a lot. I saw 42 just a few weeks ago, and that’s another one that I like. My favorite baseball film is Rhubarb. It’s about a cat that owns a baseball team. It is hilarious. And then rounding out my top five in no particular order: Eight Men Out Pride of the Yankees Take Me Out to the Ball Game No No: A Dockumentary (a 2014 documentary about Dock Ellis, who pitched a no-hitter on LSD) You forgot the Bad News Bears.... (WARNING..original trailer, with Tanner's potty mouth, including a few words that would not fly in a kid's movie, today!) (Sheesh! I recall Tanner being foul-mouthed, but not the racial slurs) Point of trivia: Jackie Earle Haley was the voice of Dennis the Menace, in 1970s Dairy Queen commercials.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 16, 2024 0:23:58 GMT -5
I really like any sports event if I can actually be there in the stadium. So I’ve had quite a bit of fun at a few baseball games. Just not lately. But I don’t watch it on TV very often. If the Dodgers are doing well at the end of the season, I will usually end up watching a few games but rather distractedly. But I love baseball movies. I saw A League of Their Own when it first came out and I remember liking it a lot. I saw 42 just a few weeks ago, and that’s another one that I like. My favorite baseball film is Rhubarb. It’s about a cat that owns a baseball team. It is hilarious. And then rounding out my top five in no particular order: Eight Men Out Pride of the Yankees Take Me Out to the Ball Game No No: A Dockumentary (a 2014 documentary about Dock Ellis, who pitched a no-hitter on LSD) You forgot the Bad News Bears.... (WARNING..original trailer, with Tanner's potty mouth, including a few words that would not fly in a kid's movie, today!) (Sheesh! I recall Tanner being foul-mouthed, but not the racial slurs) Point of trivia: Jackie Earle Haley was the voice of Dennis the Menace, in 1970s Dairy Queen commercials. I would’ve included it if I had decided to put several movies in an honorable mention category. I remember when I was watching The Watchmen, I thought he looked familiar (Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach). But it was several minutes into the prison riot scene before I realized he was the kid from The Bad News Bears.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 16, 2024 1:55:57 GMT -5
You forgot the Bad News Bears.... (WARNING..original trailer, with Tanner's potty mouth, including a few words that would not fly in a kid's movie, today!) (Sheesh! I recall Tanner being foul-mouthed, but not the racial slurs) Point of trivia: Jackie Earle Haley was the voice of Dennis the Menace, in 1970s Dairy Queen commercials. I would’ve included it if I had decided to put several movies in an honorable mention category. I remember when I was watching The Watchmen, I thought he looked familiar (Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach). But it was several minutes into the prison riot scene before I realized he was the kid from The Bad News Bears. Now, see, I knew that going into the film, having heard he was cast. He was coming off an Oscar nomination for Little Children, where he plays a recently released sex offender....a film I only saw a clip of and had no desire to watch. I'm sue he was good; but, that is not a subject I want to watch being dramatized....especially after being involved in a court martial for a warrant officer, who had been abusing his stepdaughter, since she was 11! I'm not a violent person; but, I was wishing I had a sidearm. So, yeah......I'd rather watch him as a pimply-faced teen, with a bad temper, in Breaking Away, again. TV or movie. Funny enough, his bad acne was real and part of what caused roles to dry up for him.
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Post by berkley on Aug 2, 2024 2:04:25 GMT -5
In July they played four Sam Peckinpah films at one of the two local cinemas at which I see most of the movies I go to and I managed to see three of them, but I'll limit myself here to the one I watched last night, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid - a later cut that presumably is closer to what Peckinpah wanted (he disavowed the 1973 theatrical release that apparently was severely truncated by the studio). I thought it was great - beautiful photography, fantastic soundtrack by Bob Dylan, and a really strong cast with exceptional performances by the two leads, James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson.
I was just trying to look up what kind of training Kristofferson might have had in acting but couldn't find anything - did he just wing it? If so, I'm all the more impressed because you'd never know he wasn't a seasoned pro when he made this film, one of his earliest. And it isn't a given that just because he was a charismatic music performer that would translate to acting - as we can see in this film because it seemed to me that Bob Dylan, such a powerful stage presence as a musician, was totally out of place as an actor in this film. But Kristofferson seems to have been one of those rare individuals who are good at pretty much everything they put their hand to - a star athlete in university (and in multiple sports), a Rhodes scholar, one of the best songwriters of his era, and a complete natural as an actor.
But as strong as Kristofferson's presence was, for me it was really James Coburn's movie. We often talk about screen presence in movies: it's a subjective feeling to some extent and I've always liked Coburn, ever since seeing him on tv in various things from an early age, so probably I'm attuned to his style or whatever, but I think this is one of his most impressive performances. There aren't many performers, even at the top level, who can totally dominate a scene the way he does - he doesn't even have to do anything, he might be just sitting in a chair, thinking, but you can't take your eyes off him. The inner force of the character he's playing just radiates out from him. He made another film with Peckinpah after this one, Cross of Iron, that I'll probably have to seek out and watch soon, because going by this he and Peckinpah worked well together.
As far as the story goes, in this film Billy the Kid was on the side of the oppressed - not in a political way but as a matter of personal loyalty to some Mexican friends (one played by his wife at the time, Rita Coolidge) who were violently abused by a rich American rancher. Garrett's an aging ex-outlaw who's trying to find some security for the future by joining the side of law and order. Going by the wiki write-up, the bare bones of the plot seem to have been based on the historical facts as far as they are known - which isn't very far. I'm curious about the personalities - not much seems to be known for sure about the historical Billy the Kid apart from his various crimes. I can't remember where exactly I got this idea, but I read something once, many years ago in the 1980s or late 70s, that gave me the idea that he was a really detestable character, but nothing of this comes through in his wiki page so who knows. Garrett, there's more documentation, and I might try to read more about him one of these days.
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