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Author Topic: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts  (Read 395730 times)

skjerva

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #90 on: July 11, 2009, 08:37:08 PM »
The Evil Dead - disgusting
Escape from New York - meh
I haven't seen The Evil Dead so I can't comment on your write-up. I know it has a big following so I'm hoping some of its fans respond. I hope you're wrong about Escape From New York 'cause I'm kind of looking forward to.

that would be nice.  i do get some of the appreciation of it, it has some early-Raimi effects work, which is fine, but that is pretty much all it has going for it, and that isn't much. 

On Escape, i was kinda looking forward to it, too.  i'm hoping whoever gets it next has a better defense of it.  it has something good going for it, just not as much as the premise might lead us to believe.

ad thanks for the number, it lands me on - get this - Amadeus vs Evil Dead II.  i'll let duder check his sheet to verify, but it seems to be the case
But I wish the public could, in the midst of its pleasures, see how blatantly it is being spoon-fed, and ask for slightly better dreams. 
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duder

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #91 on: July 11, 2009, 08:40:21 PM »
Amadeus vs. Evil Dead II confirmed. I think Evil Dead II is just supposed to be a remake of Evil Dead with a few changes? :-\
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ses

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #92 on: July 11, 2009, 08:56:04 PM »
Amadeus vs. Evil Dead II confirmed. I think Evil Dead II is just supposed to be a remake of Evil Dead with a few changes? :-\

Yeah, I mean, maybe we should give someone else a shot at the Evil Dead trilogy. If it's anything like the original you are going to hate it, skjerva.
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ses

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #93 on: July 11, 2009, 09:53:16 PM »
Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)
vs
Melvin and Howard (Jonathon Demme, 1980)

Blue Velvet

I had never seen Blue Velvet, but I had heard a lot about it, and I had seen some of the key scenes before.  As I watch more and more Lynch, I must say, nobody does creepy like David Lynch.  This film starts of by showing you idyllic suburban scenes.  The flowers and white picket fences, the fire truck (complete with dalmatian), and the gentleman leisurely mowing his lawn.  But wait, that man is having a heart attack, now let's pan slowly across the scene and zoom in on the ground, now under the grass where bugs are devouring who knows what.  Ah, there we are.  Now I am watching a Lynch film.  

I don't want to say too much about the plot, as to not spoil things, but briefly, Kyle Maclachlan (son of the man who had a heart attack) is home visiting his father.  When walking home from the hospital he comes across a severed human ear.  He brings it to a family friend who is a detective.  The detective's daughter, played by Laura Dern, gives Machlachlan some information about a woman (Isabella Rosselini) who she has overheard her father talking about, thinking she may be involved with the ear somehow.  Machlachlan decides to do some investigating on his own, and soon becomes involved with this woman, and many other characters, including Frank Booth, played by Dennis Hopper.  I can't write this verdict without mentioning Hopper's performance.  It is immensely creepy, scary, manic, brutal, and funny all at the same time.  This is what Frank Booth thinks about Jeffrey's (Maclachlan) choice of beer."Heineken! F*ck that! Pabst! Blue! Ribbon!"

This film has quite a few disturbing scenes.  The sex scenes are brutal and creepy.  This film has gotten some heat for being misogynistic (most notably by Roger Ebert), and I can see why one can get that impression, but it didn't necessarily seem that way to me. However, it is hard for me to watch when a woman is being brutalized on screen, and there were multiple scenes in this film that hit me on a visceral level.  

As far as Lynch films are concerned, this story is pretty straightforward.  I don't what I was expecting, but I went in thinking I was going to have to put all the pieces together, but it was pretty much all on the screen for me.  You don't really get a back story, but that is about the only piece missing.  This isn't a flaw, I liked being thrown into the situation, without knowing why things were the way they were. The more Lynch films I watch, the more he seems to surprise me.  (faceboy dictated me Eraserhead, which I plan on watching soon, I can't wait to see what that is about)


Melvin and Howard *mild spoilers*

Melvin and Howard is based on a true story about a man who, while driving through the Nevada desert, gave a ride to a man who may or may not have been Howard Hughes.  Melvin is a down on his luck miner/milk man/gas station attendant, who can never seem to get ahead.  His car is constantly being repossessed, he is getting docked pay at his work, and his wife just left him.  He gets the wife back, but as soon as it looks like they might make it, he blows what little money they have on a new car and boat.  The wife leaves again. I don't want to say anything e :)lse, but the Hughes storyline does pop up again.

Melvin and Howard reminded me a lot of other films of the early 80s, films like Terms of Endearment and Tender Mercies.  It has a slow lyrical quality to it, and a pleasant score.  Whenever I see films from this era it makes me smile because of the clothing and the furniture and the hairstyles always remind me of my childhood.  I think that the real heart of the film is not Melvin, but his wife, played by Mary Steenburgen.  She really is lovely in this film, and when she isn't on screen, the film wanes a bit for me.  I think that is where the main problem of the film was for me, I just wasn't sympathetic towards the character of Melvin.  He kept doing things that sabotaged his family's financial security, and making silly decisions.  He seemed to be a bit selfish and put himself in front of his family, and I found little sympathy towards him.  Ultimately, I think this film is pleasant and sweet and definitely captures a piece of time that is very special to me.

Verdict:  Like I just mentioned, Melvin and Howard is pleasant, and if you got a spare 90 minutes, it is worth checking out, but Blue Velvet hit me on gut level, and I know I will be thinking about it for some time.  Blue Velvet moves on.

Next matchup please... :)
« Last Edit: July 11, 2009, 10:07:03 PM by ses593 »
"It's a fool who looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart"

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skjerva

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #94 on: July 11, 2009, 10:00:12 PM »
nice write-up, i am actually intrigued by Melvin and Howard

next up:

Poltergeist vs Scarface
But I wish the public could, in the midst of its pleasures, see how blatantly it is being spoon-fed, and ask for slightly better dreams. 
                        - Iris Barry from "The Public's Pleasure" (1926)

roujin

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #95 on: July 11, 2009, 10:01:40 PM »
Blue Velvet hit me on gut level
:)

ses

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #96 on: July 11, 2009, 10:02:08 PM »
nice write-up, i am actually intrigued by Melvin and Howard

it's worth a watch
"It's a fool who looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart"

http://sarahskitchenadventures.blogspot.com/

duder

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #97 on: July 11, 2009, 10:03:41 PM »
"Heineken! F*ck that! Pabst! Blue! Ribbon!"

 :D

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skjerva

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #98 on: July 11, 2009, 10:16:24 PM »
Amadeus vs. Evil Dead II confirmed. I think Evil Dead II is just supposed to be a remake of Evil Dead with a few changes? :-\

Yeah, I mean, maybe we should give someone else a shot at the Evil Dead trilogy. If it's anything like the original you are going to hate it, skjerva.

pretty sure i saw II 15ish years ago and don't remember it as a remake - it isn't actually a remake, is it?  i don't feel like i'm going in with a negative vibe on it, just assuming it will be a different picture.  while i didn't emphasize the positives of TED, i'd imagine Raimi's style will have evolved a bit and he'll have certainly dropped the bad plot points, right? there should be plenty of goodness there as long as i don't get crazy again :)  that said, i think it would get weird if we were to start pulling matches if folks get a film that they really like or hate, it's happened in the 90s bracket and we've somehow gotten by :)  if folks really want me off it, i have no problem giving it up, but then i think the same should hold for other folks :)
But I wish the public could, in the midst of its pleasures, see how blatantly it is being spoon-fed, and ask for slightly better dreams. 
                        - Iris Barry from "The Public's Pleasure" (1926)

ses

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #99 on: July 11, 2009, 10:26:32 PM »
Amadeus vs. Evil Dead II confirmed. I think Evil Dead II is just supposed to be a remake of Evil Dead with a few changes? :-\

Yeah, I mean, maybe we should give someone else a shot at the Evil Dead trilogy. If it's anything like the original you are going to hate it, skjerva.

pretty sure i saw II 15ish years ago and don't remember it as a remake - it isn't actually a remake, is it?  i don't feel like i'm going in with a negative vibe on it, just assuming it will be a different picture.  while i didn't emphasize the positives of TED, i'd imagine Raimi's style will have evolved a bit and he'll have certainly dropped the bad plot points, right? there should be plenty of goodness there as long as i don't get crazy again :)  that said, i think it would get weird if we were to start pulling matches if folks get a film that they really like or hate, it's happened in the 90s bracket and we've somehow gotten by :)  if folks really want me off it, i have no problem giving it up, but then i think the same should hold for other folks :)

No, you make some good points. I know that you will be open minded about the second one.  :)
"It's a fool who looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart"

http://sarahskitchenadventures.blogspot.com/

 

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