Author Topic: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts  (Read 395826 times)

smirnoff

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 26251
    • smirnoff's Top 100
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #210 on: August 21, 2009, 07:05:34 AM »
Broadcast News sounds pretty great.

worm@work

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 7445
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #211 on: August 21, 2009, 08:10:51 AM »
One thing about the film's style - it was just so deliciously eighties: video tapes the size of an encyclopedia, hideous mullets, and even an extended scene about shoulderpads! I absolutely loved all that.

:D

Nice verdict, Em :). I remember similarly enjoying Broadcast News when I watched it although its been a while now. But your writeup totally made me want to watch Gloria!

ferris

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10830
  • "Bravo Vincent....Bravo!"
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #212 on: August 21, 2009, 09:58:05 AM »
I love On Golden Pond.  In fact it's #21 in my top 100, so I'm very sorry to hear it lost in the first round.  There is something so real about the realationship between Fonda and Hepburn...what happens when your whole life is behind you - and all that's left is coexisting with a lifetime of regrets and waiting for death.  There is something very tragic about outliving your physical and emotional ability to enjoy life - one that all of us may have the good or bad fortune to experience. 

I loved it as a teenager and love it even more now as the prospect of being old becomes a lot more tangible -  as I watch my parents go through it, and as I see more and more of those two characters in my wife (the eternal optimist) and I (the eternal crumugen).   So when this young "punk" shows up it's fun to watch the walls they've both built up around themselves slowly and realistically break down, but in the end each are left with what they came with. 

I think the screenplay/dialog is downright brilliant

I totally respect BlueVoid's review, but I hope it doesn't keep others from someday giving this a chance. 

« Last Edit: August 21, 2009, 01:08:54 PM by ferris »
"And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs" - Exodus 8:2 KJV
(switchboard)

jbissell

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10915
  • What's up, hot dog?
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #213 on: August 21, 2009, 01:00:38 PM »
One thing about the film's style - it was just so deliciously eighties: video tapes the size of an encyclopedia, hideous mullets, and even an extended scene about shoulderpads! I absolutely loved all that.

:D

Nice verdict, Em :). I remember similarly enjoying Broadcast News when I watched it although its been a while now. But your writeup totally made me want to watch Gloria!

Yeah, I haven't seen it in a long while either but I remember really liking Hunter.  Was hoping to catch up with Gloria because it's one of the Cassavetes I haven't seen yet.

skjerva

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 9448
  • I'm your audience.
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #214 on: August 21, 2009, 01:13:34 PM »
nice write-up em, wanna new one?

and, yeah, i also have fond memories of BN, and i never like Cassavetes as much as i feel like i should
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)

oneaprilday

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 13746
  • "What we see and what we seem are but a dream."
    • A Journal of Film
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #215 on: August 22, 2009, 02:09:58 AM »
I love On Golden Pond.  In fact it's #21 in my top 100, so I'm very sorry to hear it lost in the first round.  There is something so real about the realationship between Fonda and Hepburn...what happens when your whole life is behind you - and all that's left is coexisting with a lifetime of regrets and waiting for death.  There is something very tragic about outliving your physical and emotional ability to enjoy life - one that all of us may have the good or bad fortune to experience. 

I loved it as a teenager and love it even more now as the prospect of being old becomes a lot more tangible -  as I watch my parents go through it, and as I see more and more of those two characters in my wife (the eternal optimist) and I (the eternal crumugen).   So when this young "punk" shows up it's fun to watch the walls they've both built up around themselves slowly and realistically break down, but in the end each are left with what they came with. 

I think the screenplay/dialog is downright brilliant

I totally respect BlueVoid's review, but I hope it doesn't keep others from someday giving this a chance. 

This has been on my list of "Really Should See That Sometime" for ages. I love what you write about it here, ferris. I will definitely check it out soon now.

ferris

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10830
  • "Bravo Vincent....Bravo!"
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #216 on: August 23, 2009, 08:58:55 PM »
I love On Golden Pond.  In fact it's #21 in my top 100, so I'm very sorry to hear it lost in the first round.  There is something so real about the realationship between Fonda and Hepburn...what happens when your whole life is behind you - and all that's left is coexisting with a lifetime of regrets and waiting for death.  There is something very tragic about outliving your physical and emotional ability to enjoy life - one that all of us may have the good or bad fortune to experience. 

I loved it as a teenager and love it even more now as the prospect of being old becomes a lot more tangible -  as I watch my parents go through it, and as I see more and more of those two characters in my wife (the eternal optimist) and I (the eternal crumugen).   So when this young "punk" shows up it's fun to watch the walls they've both built up around themselves slowly and realistically break down, but in the end each are left with what they came with. 

I think the screenplay/dialog is downright brilliant

I totally respect BlueVoid's review, but I hope it doesn't keep others from someday giving this a chance. 

This has been on my list of "Really Should See That Sometime" for ages. I love what you write about it here, ferris. I will definitely check it out soon now.

Good :)  I hope you end up liking it
"And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs" - Exodus 8:2 KJV
(switchboard)

Melvil

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 9977
  • Eek
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #217 on: August 24, 2009, 12:34:31 AM »

Radio Days (Woody Allen, 1987)

Radio Days is Woody Allen's nostalgic look back at the hay-day of radio. Narrated by Allen and presumably inspired by his real experiences and memories, the story follows his young self (played by Seth Green) in something of a coming-of-age fashion, with scenes usually at least tangentially related to radio. Throughout the movie various vignettes are included depicting anecdotes or legends relating to the radio business and its stars.


Being way too young for radio to have played any significant part in my life, my distance from the subject may have affected my enjoyment of it. While I liked the nostalgic 1930's setting, most of it didn't capture anything substantial for me. But there were exceptions, a few moments where it succeeded and succeeded really well.

It's a fine movie, but I think without sharing a similiar background from that era it's too personal of a thing for me to really appreciate.

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (W.D. Ricther, 1984)

Buckaroo Banzai.

Rocket car driver.


Neurosurgeon.


Rock Star.


Lady's man.


Yes, Buckaroo Banzai is surely a multi-talented guy, and we're only 15 minutes in! He's also a particle physicist, samurai (Wah?), and has his own comic book line. If you haven't guessed yet, this movie is ridiculous. Gloriously ridiculous. I mean, check out this gettup.


Wait, is that...


Yes, it is Jeff Goldblum!

The story is not surprisingly pretty ridiculous as well. Going into too much detail about it would be missing the point, so suffice it to say it involves inter-dimensional aliens and the fate of the world. And also John Lithgow as a batshit crazy mad scientist speaking in some undefinable accent that I think is supposed to be reminiscent of Russian.


The movie knows what it is and openly embraces how over the top and silly it is, it's full of cliches and cringe-inducing dialouge, but it never stops being fun.

And you've got Christopher Lloyd kidnapping some asian dude.


And Vincent Schiavelli and Dan Hedaya as undercover aliens.


...See where I'm going with this? So yeah, this may not be high art, but it's a darn fun time.



Verdict

A movie like Buckaroo Banzai is tough in matchups like this, because I really can't compare the two movies in any meaningful way. What I do know is I had significantly more fun watching one than the other. Buckaroo Banzai rockets through the 8th dimension and into the second round.

maņana

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 20862
  • Check your public library
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #218 on: August 24, 2009, 12:51:49 AM »
Nice job, Melvil. I'm a big Woody Allen fan, but this alone is better than Radio Days.

Buckaroo Banzai End Credits
There's no deceit in the cauliflower.

skjerva

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 9448
  • I'm your audience.
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #219 on: August 24, 2009, 02:20:17 AM »
sweet.  hopefully i'll catch Buckaroo for the bracket :)
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)

 

love