Film and Episodic Content Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'Random Thoughts' started by purr1n, Jan 8, 2020.

  1. StandUp713

    StandUp713 Friend

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    Currently in CA. BUT I grew up in Kansas. I did live in San Antonio for three years. I absolutely will not retire here in the tax belt. Save me a spot near Dallas please. Be there in 2035. I only vote for politicians that drive pick up trucks.
     
  2. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    It's like the running joke among Montanans: east-coast out of towner comes to visit and sees the western-1/3 of the state and remarks, "Imma gonna buy some property out here, it's magnificent!"

    responsible Montanan replies, "You like this? you should see the eastern half - It's soo muuch cheaper!!"
     
  3. YMO

    YMO Chief Fun Officer

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    Ready for high property taxes?
     
  4. Velomane

    Velomane Acquaintance

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    Yep, and he's all yours now.
     
  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    My son actually asked me to watch a John Wayne or John Ford movie the before X-mas, so what better film to reexamine other than Stagecoach (1939), the one that put John Wayne (a young John Wayne) on the map. We had already watched a few Westerns in 2019 as part of his cinema education. I figured Westerns would be a good compare and contrast to today's Superhero genre.

    By all modern measures, this film is a technical disaster. Horrible film quality, horrible sound, horrible editing, horrible lighting, horrible lenses. The complete opposite to Gone with the Wind, also released in 1939. What makes Stagecoach so wonderful is that once we get past the poor production, the story stands on its own. Imagine if any of the modern Star Wars movies were made with ten percent of the special effects, all cheaply and badly done, and filmed blurry black and white with crappy editing. I'm not sure they would not be watchable. Heck, I couldn't even get past half of Tarantino's Hateful Eight, which seemed to start off similarly to Stagecoach with its hodgepodge of characters from different walks of life. (I can't stand half of Tarantino's films - he either delights or pisses me off.)

    Stagecoach is a must see because its the film (at least the most commercially successful of early Westerns) where all Westerns thereafter take their roots. We are talking about the age-old Western themes: the lawless frontier, outlaws running amok, the "kid" out for revenge, savage injuns and their murderous ways*, the upright lawman, random mexicans*, singing cowboys (or indians), the gambler, the confederate, the damsel in distress, the doctor, the crooked businessman, the "oh golly" comic relief, the whore, and of course the shootout! Thank goodness Joseph Campbell didn't write a doctoral thesis on this, mixing it up with Jungnian nonsense.

    I won't ruin the film too much, but the premise of the plot is that a group of folks need to get from point A to point B to point C. The region from point A to point C is dangerous injun country. The passenger list is varied: the whore (being kicked out of town by the old hags of the temperance movement), the prim and proper wife of an army cavalry officer, a doctor with a serious alcohol problem, an old scared whiskey salesman. A well dressed gambler notices that the proper lady will be embarking on this dangerous trip, so he insists upon making himself a passenger for whatever reasons of his own. The clown who is the stagecoach driver gets the local marshal to ride shotgun. (It was fun explaining to my kids where "calling shotgun" to ride in the front passenger seat came from).

    Along the way, they pick up a dickhead banker. And of course a stranded Ringo Kid, who has recently broke out of jail after finding out his brother and father were murdered by Luke Plummer and his gang (who are at point C). We all know what needs to be settled at the end. What we don't know is who will live and who will die, or if the Ringo Kid will be sent back to jail if he survives. Along they way they meet Mexicans, Indians, and US Army.

    Oh, the whore is only alluded to being a whore at the beginning. And acts of violence during the final shootout when the bullets are to fly are only implied, never seen. Yeah, that's a young John Wayne below.



    *I mean no disrespect, but those were the times.
     
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2020
  6. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

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    Even if everything technical is far worse, the blocking and cinematography in older movies is a lot better. I watched A Fistful of Dollars and Lady Snowblood recently. You can pick out all the cheap outs and hastily done things in both but the blocking is a lot better. The lighting in a fistful of dollars is much more creative than any modern Hollywood picture. JJ Abram Lens flares are hack city. The color timing of Lady Snowblood defines VIVID like a colorized with a very limited palette of ink comic book. Whoever did the Marvel movies should be shot.

    Kill Bill is retarded Michael Bay shit compared to it. There’s nothing majestic or awe inspiring about Kill Bill and many other post 2000 Tarantino movies. They are just homages to better films that try to use Hollywood production values to bludgeon you into feeling a certain way about characters you don’t care about because they’re stupid cardboard cutouts. Tarantino tried to rip off samurai movies and totally butchered much of it. He tried and failed to make big budget Hollywood movies out of the hyper violent sword fight films and the ones that are pretty much just Westerns with swords. His movies are watchable but they don’t carry the same vibe, the same sleaze, the hastily written and shot feel. They’re always winking at you. They’re not genuine. They’re the hip, overpriced ramen place favored by young white women versus the dirty hole in the wall Asian restaurant with great cheap food of the original movies he’s always ripping off.

    Instagram babies aren’t going to watch a pseudo-western that builds tension for 70 minutes while the stoic protagonist is humiliated and has the living shit beaten out of him by some assholes only to escape, outsmart, and kill them all in the span of 5 minutes like a Zatoichi movie.
     
  7. StandUp713

    StandUp713 Friend

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    This is true that TX has a higher property Tax. But, no state income tax. No ridiculous gas tax. And a reasonable cost of living.
    I also do not have to hopscotch over the human poo on the streets. The tent cites out here is no joke.
     
  8. Abhishek Chowdhary

    Abhishek Chowdhary Friend

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    Started to watch "The Terror" Season 1 on Amazon Prime. 6 episodes in and I think the quality is good and consistent. Believable sets (bad CGI on the animal though) and a cast that can act. Tense background score and atmosphere and a very well written plot with proper reasons and no haste. It's no Chernobyl but among the quality ones.
     
  9. YMO

    YMO Chief Fun Officer

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    I forgot to say high sales tax in TX, but you know that. When I retire I want to get the hell away of heat and humid. Can't do the Texas stuff. Whataburger is good, I can die in three minutes if I get a big one.
     
  10. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Oh yeah, duh! Maybe I can start it off like Stagecoach, but make the characters shadier you know, because all my characters are shady and have their angle. Then they can even meet at a stop where there's a Mexican just like Stagecoach. Then I'll revert to being infantile...

    I just stopped. What a waste of real 70mm film. That guy drove studios, dailies, post houses, and theaters nuts with that film request.
     
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2020
  11. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    The western is the genre (besides musicals) that I've never really been able to get into. I've seen a few of the important ones, but they're not really my thing.

    I watched Tremors for the upteenth time last night, was surprised when it came up in my netflix recommends. What an amazing B-movie that is better made and acted than alot of supposed A-movies. I could watch the Val and Earl show forever... how is Kevin Bacon in so many amazing films? And Michael Gross is f'ing awesome. "Gollldamn underground monsters!"
     
  12. crenca

    crenca Friend

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    Eminent domain! Until I just looked him up now, I did not know he was getting on so much (72).

    Thanks for the heads up about the original being on Netfilx as its been awhile since I got my Tremors fix
     
  13. RobS

    RobS RobS? More like RobDiarrhea.

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    That's a dislike for Kevin Bacon.
     
  14. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Same thing as superhero movies, just in different trappings - from a earlier time when the "west was won" just a generation ago. I'm sure most people in the year 2099 will not care much for superhero movies circa 2010-2040
    1. Injuns = mafia, evil society, alien invader, etc. - mostly the villains' underlings that get beat up, Hydra minions, dark space elves, whatever, etc.
    2. Outlaw = bad guy supervillain - usually muscle, Thanos, bad guy from first GoG, Zod, Darkseid's lieutenant, etc.
    3. Confederate / gambler = superhero or antihero with dubious background, e.g. Loki, Deadpool, Bucky Barnes, etc.
    4. Lawless frontier = epic alien / existential threat, extra-governmental conspiracy, incorrigible city lawlessness, etc.
    5. Random Mexican = random alien or mutant who meets superhero during superhero's temporary imprisonment or travails in the middle of the movie.
    6. Shootout = Special effects extravaganza where superhero battles the supervillain. Half a city gets destroyed or a quarter of a planet gets scorched. Unlike the Western where less is more, the Superhero movie endings suck more than the beginning or the middle.
    7. Singing cowboys, Mexicans, or injuns: Rianna or random popstar making cameo. Usually pointless performance, unlike in Westerns where a crucial aspect of the story is communicated if one listens intently.
    8. "Doctor" = superhero with healing powers or character with special healing or in-a-jam escaping tech. Spidey's fat Asian friend who built Lego Death Star and is good with tech. AI, e.g. Jarvis.
    9. Drunk = Tony Stark
    10. Clown = faithful servant of superhero, e.g. Jon Favreau or Alfred Pennyworth. Jimmy Olsen. Spidey's fat Asian friend who built Lego Death Star and is good with tech. Sometimes the hero themselves, e.g. Flash, Deadpool.
    11. Damsel in Distress = Lois Lane, Pepper Potts, Amber Heard, Zendaya, Deadpool's girlfriend, etc.
     
    Last edited: Jan 10, 2020
  15. Za Warudo

    Za Warudo Acquaintance

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  16. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
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    Take your Ritalin and watch Clint Eastwood squint and shoot people.
     
  17. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Who's Scorsese and why do I care?
     
  18. RobS

    RobS RobS? More like RobDiarrhea.

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    Dude his favorite film in the past decade was Wolf on Wall Street. There is no hope.
     
  19. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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  20. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    And this too (keep in mind that there are different subgenres of Westerns). The Wild Bunch puts anything Tarantino has done to shame. Tarantino's oh shit oh shit moments are nothing compared to the colossal oh shit oh shit conclusion at the end. William Holden past his prime in probably his best role.



    Talk about a "revisionist" Western... (This came out in 1969).
     
    Last edited: Jan 10, 2020

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