Movies

[gehringer_2]

15 hours ago, Biff Mayhem said:

Yes on Marisa Tormei. Especially, as Rob said, as Aunt Meg. 
 

That said:

Avatar way of the water

 Visually very captivating though I thought they did a better job with the first one. 

The plot and storyline were absolutely ridiculous. The military personnel were way to over the top and the ending was completely unsatisfying. It felt like a lot of scenes existed just to showcase what they could do with computer animation. 

The bright spots:

Zoe Saldano is one heck of an actress. She really knows how to convey emotion even through cgi. 

Sigourney Weaver is still as pretty as a picture and her portraying her own daughter was a lot of fun. 

Overall 2 out of four stars. Boring movie overall which was about an hour too long. 

there was a long piece in the Times critizing the way Cameron shifted back and forth between frame rates. I thought 'frame rate' was an odd critique. It seemed to me the real critique was really less about frame rate then resolution, maybe the reviewer didn't understand the technical difference or maybe the high frame video just happened to also be higher res. But in short, he basically complained that too often the video was too good, revealing flaws in makeup, scene and prosthetics that weren't high quality enough to withstand the level of video scrutiny they were getting - thus often destroying the ability to suspend disbelief. How much of this you notice may apparently depend on what format you see the film in.

Almost reminded me in one way of people who criticize digital music because they miss the background hiss and noise. But the critique actually make more sense with film than for music. Just like a professional photographer may usea soft focus lens for portrature, there is such a thing as too much reality when it come to images - esp if those images aren't 'real' to begin with - you don't want to make that too obvious.

[1984Echoes]

Anybody see The Menu?

Pretty wicked...!

[Biff Mayhem]

We watched Violent Night over the weekend. It was very funny at times buy mostly a dull movie with a lot of blood and violence. It was amusing that they channeled a little "Home Alone" in it. The characters were basically just there. It seemed more of a vehicle to show a drunken Santa destroying criminals.

[oblong]

I started a thing a few months ago where I watch a movie that everybody loves that I have never watched.  

I started with Shawshank Redemption, which shockingly I never got around to seeing.  It got to a point where I would avoid it as a joke, I wanted to be known as the only guy who never saw it.  Totally loved it and immediately told my son to watch.

Last week I hit up Chinatown.  Loved that one as well.

Next up is either The Sting or The Verdict.

 

[Motor City Sonics]

Okay, the epilogue of Field Of Dreams. 

 

A man, who made a baseball field in his corn and claims to see dead baseball players was looking for Terrance Mann.   Mann went missing, only to inform his father he was with a man named Ray Kinsella and they were going to Minnesota. 

Mann then disappears

Wouldn't authorities be investigating Ray Kinsella?      

Where's the body Ray? 

 Your Honor, my client, Mr. Kinsella, is obviously insane.  Whatever he did do to Mann, he was clearly not in his right mind

Ray sentenced to 25 years in a mental institution.  

 

Just a gaping plot hole in the movie, since I always believed that once you go into the corn, you're dead.  

Edited January 26, 2023 by Motor City Sonics

[oblong]

They do send them but then they see the field and get taken back into the corn, never to be seen again.  Finally the cops say "I'm not going there... you know how many guys went and don't come back?  Just leave them be."

[1984Echoes]

1 hour ago, oblong said:

They do send them but then they see the field and get taken back into the corn, never to be seen again.  Finally the cops say "I'm not going there... you know how many guys went and don't come back?  Just leave them be."

Plus that 10 mile long line of cars because everyone else wants to go get lost in the corn. Call it a corn fetish.

That's on every one else's bucket list, right?

Not just mine...?

to go get lost "in the corn"....

[gehringer_2]

On 1/10/2023 at 8:25 AM, oblong said:

I started a thing a few months ago where I watch a movie that everybody loves that I have never watched.  

I started with Shawshank Redemption, which shockingly I never got around to seeing.  It got to a point where I would avoid it as a joke, I wanted to be known as the only guy who never saw it.  Totally loved it and immediately told my son to watch.

Last week I hit up Chinatown.  Loved that one as well.

Next up is either The Sting or The Verdict.

 

The Sting is one of most perfectly constructed films you'll ever see. Of course It's not any kind of epic - rather a 'small' movie in scope - but the level of the craft at every point is exquisite.  Newman's drunk poker game is one of my all time favorite set pieces. Robert Shaw's barely suppressed fury is played beautifully.

[oblong]

Yes.  I did the verdict last week and have about 40 min left on the sting.  I’m too old to watch a movie in one sitting.  Shaw was great as you say.  
 

Five east pieces is another on my list. 

[chasfh]

On 1/26/2023 at 1:55 PM, oblong said:

I’m too old to watch a movie in one sitting. 

Funny you would say this—for years I would avoid watching movies because I figured I just didn't have the time to devote two hours straight to it. Then I recently really noticed how my wife can start and stop and restart a TV show effortlessly. So I tried it—and it's great. I thought I would somehow lose the thread of what I'm watching, but I found that I repick it up just fine. I'm now starting to catch up on a bunch of movies I'd been avoiding for time reasons.

[oblong]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

Funny you would say this—for years I would avoid watching movies because I figured I just didn't have the time to devote two hours straight to it. Then I recently really noticed how my wife can start and stop and restart a TV show effortlessly. So I tried it—and it's great. I thought I would somehow lose the thread of what I'm watching, but I found that I repick it up just fine. I'm now starting to catch up on a bunch of movies I'd been avoiding for time reasons.

I even watched two movies at once a few weeks ago that way.  One of them is a drawn out slow paced deliberate movie with little dialogue. So you gotta be in the right frame of mind. Check out Paris, Texas.  Saw it one day as a kid when I stayed home sick.  It always stuck with me as a great movie. 
 

I’m really getting into the feature on streaming where you click on a movie then do the “you might also like…”.   

[oblong]

Warren Zevon nominated for the Rock and Roll HOF brings a callback to one of scorseses greatest shots. 
 

 

[romad1]

On 1/10/2023 at 8:25 AM, oblong said:

I started a thing a few months ago where I watch a movie that everybody loves that I have never watched.  

I started with Shawshank Redemption, which shockingly I never got around to seeing.  It got to a point where I would avoid it as a joke, I wanted to be known as the only guy who never saw it.  Totally loved it and immediately told my son to watch.

Last week I hit up Chinatown.  Loved that one as well.

Next up is either The Sting or The Verdict.

 

 

I've furiously avoided the original "Avatar" based on the lunacy surrounding the hype for that movie.  I was similarly out on "ET the Extraterrestrial" but eventually buckled to pressure on that one later on.   

 

[oblong]

23 minutes ago, romad1 said:

 

I've furiously avoided the original "Avatar" based on the lunacy surrounding the hype for that movie.  I was similarly out on "ET the Extraterrestrial" but eventually buckled to pressure on that one later on.   

 

I get it.  But I would told you ET was worth it.

Another one on my list is Close Encounters.  I've seen a lot of it but never in one sitting, if I did I forget.  I know about the Mashed potatoes and the musical notes.

 

[Screwball]

15 hours ago, oblong said:

Warren Zevon nominated for the Rock and Roll HOF brings a callback to one of scorseses greatest shots. 
 

 

The original (The Hustler from 1961) was pretty good too.  Gleason, Newman, George C Scott, and the bartender just happens to be the boxer Jake LaMotta.

Related; we all knew Gleason as the goofy bus driver in The Honeymooner's or the sheriff in Smokey and the Bandit, but he was a pretty good pool player himself.

Gleason showed real Hustler skills in Augusta

 

[oblong]

19 minutes ago, Screwball said:

The original (The Hustler from 1961) was pretty good too.  Gleason, Newman, George C Scott, and the bartender just happens to be the boxer Jake LaMotta.

Related; we all knew Gleason as the goofy bus driver in The Honeymooner's or the sheriff in Smokey and the Bandit, but he was a pretty good pool player himself.

Gleason showed real Hustler skills in Augusta

 

The Hustler is one of my all time favorites.  I will never forget stumbling upon it.  I knew of it obviously and used to shoot pool in college in a hall decorated with some photos.  When my kids were very young they finally went to bed, the wife was out, and I noticed The Hustler was coming on so I got some beers and took the time to watch.  Captivating.   

Sometimes I'll call it up on a streaming service when available and just watch the final scene where he goes off on Scott.  The framing of the shots, 3 heavyweights in the same scene.  The way Gleason sits there looking now like a broken man who probably went through the same thing Fast Eddie went through with Bert but didn't stand up.  Who's the winner?

"Fat man.... you shoot a great game of pool."

"So do you Fast Eddie"

 

[Screwball]

11 minutes ago, oblong said:

The Hustler is one of my all time favorites.  I will never forget stumbling upon it.  I knew of it obviously and used to shoot pool in college in a hall decorated with some photos.  When my kids were very young they finally went to bed, the wife was out, and I noticed The Hustler was coming on so I got some beers and took the time to watch.  Captivating.   

Sometimes I'll call it up on a streaming service when available and just watch the final scene where he goes off on Scott.  The framing of the shots, 3 heavyweights in the same scene.  The way Gleason sits there looking now like a broken man who probably went through the same thing Fast Eddie went through with Bert but didn't stand up.  Who's the winner?

"Fat man.... you shoot a great game of pool."

"So do you Fast Eddie"

 

Willie Mosconi, the great pool player was the technical advisor in that movie.  IIRR, he had a line of pool cues back in the day. That movie did make the game more popular IMO.  We had a pool hall in town with about 10 tables. There was one in the back room where the big money changed hands.  There used to be hustlers that came though there, and we had some of our own as well, and our very own Minnesota Fats who I still see all the time. He can't play anymore because he can't see good enough.

Friday nights were pea pool nights.  We would have about a half dozen or so guys and throw a dollar on the pot. You took a pea.  If you won, you won the entire pot - 6-8 bucks. Big money for a kid not old enough to drive and you got to feel like a shark at the same time.

Don't get hit with a cue stick though - they hurt.  Oh, the memories and stories...  I haven't played in probably 45 years until a couple of weeks ago.  Not pretty, and I even missed my ball a few times.  Never again.

[oblong]

9 minutes ago, Screwball said:

Willie Mosconi, the great pool player was the technical advisor in that movie.  IIRR, he had a line of pool cues back in the day. That movie did make the game more popular IMO.  We had a pool hall in town with about 10 tables. There was one in the back room where the big money changed hands.  There used to be hustlers that came though there, and we had some of our own as well, and our very own Minnesota Fats who I still see all the time. He can't play anymore because he can't see good enough.

Friday nights were pea pool nights.  We would have about a half dozen or so guys and throw a dollar on the pot. You took a pea.  If you won, you won the entire pot - 6-8 bucks. Big money for a kid not old enough to drive and you got to feel like a shark at the same time.

Don't get hit with a cue stick though - they hurt.  Oh, the memories and stories...  I haven't played in probably 45 years until a couple of weeks ago.  Not pretty, and I even missed my ball a few times.  Never again.

Looking up some trivia on the movie right now, on IMDB.

All the shots were performed by the actors, except one.  Mosconi did the one with two balls in the same pocket. (Although a later item seems to contradict this, maybe in montage shots where you can't tell who is shooting then it's him)

Piper Laurie didn't make another movie for 15 year (Carrie), and got another oscar nomination.

[gehringer_2]

45 minutes ago, oblong said:

Looking up some trivia on the movie right now, on IMDB.

All the shots were performed by the actors, except one.  Mosconi did the one with two balls in the same pocket. (Although a later item seems to contradict this, maybe in montage shots where you can't tell who is shooting then it's him)

Piper Laurie didn't make another movie for 15 year (Carrie), and got another oscar nomination.

If you are even a fair (and by no means great) pool player you can make hard shots, you just need to be able to repeat on your misses, which you can when you are shooting a movie. 😊

Of course when playing straight pool, the trick is not to have to make hard shots - putting the ball in the pocket is normally the easy part, it's getting the cue to where the next shot is easy that is the art.

Gleason did a small number of 'serious' films. I've seen a few. He probably had more talent than ambition. 

[Motor City Sonics]

So, the powers that be in the entertainment industry seem to be upset that Andrea Riseborough got an Oscar nomination for a very small indie film called "To Leslie", about an alcoholic that wins a lottery and loses it all. Why is this upsetting? Because these big studios and big time agents spent millions of dollars to campaign for their clients to get a nom and this little indie with hardly a budget gets one. So they are considering changing the process now? All they are doing is turning this movie into an underground hit and now she IS getting the attention she deserves. There could be such a backlash to this bullying (what about all those Anti-Bullying messages, Hollywood?) that she winds up pulling an upset out of spite. Conventional wisdom would suggest Cate Blanchett is a a shoo-in for Tar, but I don't know, I think a lot of voters might want to give the system the finger and vote for Andrea. Wouldn't that be something?

[Motor City Sonics]

By the way, Andrea Riseborough's episode of Black Mirror had the darkest twist of all at the end.   It was the episode set in Iceland (you know the one).   To me, just about every episode of Black Mirror is better than most movies.  There's been a couple of clunkers, but not many.   I think one of the things that make it such a great show is they don't sell out for a happy ending.  I think two or maybe 3 episodes had happy endings.  

 

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by Motor City Sonics

[Screwball]

You can tell from the 1961 movie Gleason was a good player because of the way he held the cue. Pool is a game of geometry/physics and chess type thinking ahead.

To the way they set up the scenes, the one video I watched where Eddie ran the table (9 ball game); the balls were set up perfectly to make that run. I'm sure Mosconi choreographed that. I also read (it was fun looking into these two movies) that Gleason did many of his shots during filming.

You have a certain size rectangle for a table - bar size is 6 x 4 or close to that. Feet. When a ball bounces off the bumper or another ball, it bounces at some kind of angle. That is why you see the diamonds along the outside. Helps visualize where the ball will go once it bounces off.

That's only the beginning. Let's say we are playing a game of 9 ball. Whoever puts in the 9 ball wins the game, and you only play with 9 balls. Somebody breaks and then you must put in the balls by number. One ball, then the two, and so on. So you have to think about the next shot, and how to put the cue ball in a good position to do so.

The end of a pool cue is around a half of an inch. In the movie, you can see them putting chalk on the tip. They also use baby powder on their "bridge" hand. Gleason had a really tight grip. They do this so they can put spin on the cue ball so it reacts after hitting their target ball to go where they want it to go.

A simple example would be a straight in shot. Hit the cue ball high, low, or in the middle - it reacts a different way. Hits and goes with the ball, stop, or come backwards. The same holds true for side to side.

A chess game with balls.

[Screwball]

Adding; speaking of chess, I have two episodes to finish the Queen's gambit series (no spoilers please). I've really liked it, but I'm a chess fan.

Curious; any chess fans here?

Edited February 3, 2023 by Screwball

[gehringer_2]

34 minutes ago, Screwball said:

A chess game with balls.

I got to be a pretty decent straight pool player in college. On my best days I could run a full rack. Customized a 2 piece cue. I've been trying to talk myself into buying a pool table ever since I've had a house. Never have.....

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 

[oblong]

One clarification on 9 ball.  You don’t have to pocket them in order. You just have to strike the lowest ball first with the cue ball. Granted that often leads to pocketing that ball but it’s not required. If the 9 ball ends up in front of a pocket you can hit the lowest numbered ball left to knock it in. 
 

and… I suck at pool.  I played it a lot. A friend had a table and as kids we aways were down there.  Then in college I spent a lot of time in two halls during my slacker days. I never got better at it.  I just couldn’t master it.