Author Topic: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts  (Read 395718 times)

Bill Thompson

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17561
  • DOOM!!!!
    • Bill's Movie Emporium
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #220 on: August 24, 2009, 08:25:21 AM »
God I hate Buckaroo Banzai, such an incredibly unfunny movie.

ferris

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10830
  • "Bravo Vincent....Bravo!"
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #221 on: August 24, 2009, 09:25:47 AM »
God I hate Buckaroo Banzai, such an incredibly unfunny movie.

I've watched the first 10 minutes or so a hundred times as it was my older brother's favorite movie.  Can't say I ever made past the 20 minute mark.  My brother's other favorite movie from that era was Remo Williams - The Adventure Begins
"And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs" - Exodus 8:2 KJV
(switchboard)

Bill Thompson

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17561
  • DOOM!!!!
    • Bill's Movie Emporium
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #222 on: August 24, 2009, 09:28:57 AM »
God I hate Buckaroo Banzai, such an incredibly unfunny movie.

I've watched the first 10 minutes or so a hundred times as it was my older brother's favorite movie.  Can't say I ever made past the 20 minute mark.  My brother's other favorite movie from that era was Remo Williams - The Adventure Begins

I'm a big fan of cheesy sci-fi, but I struggled to get through BB, I actually fell asleep four different times while trying to watch it.
« Last Edit: August 24, 2009, 10:50:38 AM by Spot, That's Where It's At »

ferris

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10830
  • "Bravo Vincent....Bravo!"
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #223 on: August 24, 2009, 09:32:05 AM »
Nice job, Melvil. I'm a big Woody Allen fan, but this alone is better than Radio Days.

Buckaroo Banzai End Credits

Oh man.  Great clip.  I might have to reconsider this whole thing
"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 #224 on: August 24, 2009, 10:59:46 AM »
Thanks, matt, I forgot to mention how incredibly awesome the end credits were. :)

I really don't know how you could watch this movie and not have fun with it. This is the kind of movie I want to put on with a group of friends when you know you're not going to quietly watch something serious. Add icecream and rootbeer, and it's the perfect evening!

Colleen

  • Hot Fuzz
  • Godfather
  • *
  • Posts: 5906
  • Let's be careful out there!
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #225 on: August 24, 2009, 11:08:26 AM »
Woot!  I LOVE Buckaroo Banzai.  Maybe because it came out my freshman year in college when I was living with a bunch of other nerds but we ALL loved it.

I'm so happy it made it past the first round.  It's a movie I've watched over and over.

Colleen

  • Hot Fuzz
  • Godfather
  • *
  • Posts: 5906
  • Let's be careful out there!
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #226 on: August 24, 2009, 11:17:26 AM »
God I hate Buckaroo Banzai, such an incredibly unfunny movie.

I've watched the first 10 minutes or so a hundred times as it was my older brother's favorite movie.  Can't say I ever made past the 20 minute mark.  My brother's other favorite movie from that era was Remo Williams - The Adventure Begins

I never cared for Remo Williams, although it has the same sort of cult following that Buckaroo Banzai does.

I had no freakin' clue what was going on the first time I watched Buckaroo Banzai.  It made no sense.  Then I tried watching it again with friends who explained that it wasn't exactly supposed to make any sense, just be fun.  Then I liked it. 

It also helps to know the backstory as told to me by a friend who said he heard it from the film-makers at a sci fi convention.  Some eccentric millionaire guy funded the movie and was all interfering in the making of it; the more he asked annoying questions about what the point of this or that was, the more things they stuck in there for no reason--thus the President in the STryker frame, the watermelon with electrical probes, etc.  The funding people and the moviemakers were in more or less open warfare by the time the movie was finished.  It's amazing it was ever released at all.  I think DVD was held up for quite a while because of lingering arguments around the rights. 

This is also the reason that despite the "next adventure" tag at the end of the movie, there never has been a sequel and probably never will.  Last I heard (and this was in the early 90s) the millionaires family still held the rights to make another movie and wouldn't relinquish them.

That's what was told to me anyway.

Melvil

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 9977
  • Eek
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #227 on: August 24, 2009, 11:37:15 AM »
I was surprised at how much the story actually did make sense. It makes sense in a crazy way, but you can totally follow the internal logic.

Colleen

  • Hot Fuzz
  • Godfather
  • *
  • Posts: 5906
  • Let's be careful out there!
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #228 on: August 24, 2009, 06:03:09 PM »
Absolutely, it's like any other fantasy/SF story (or really, any other work of fiction):  you agree to accept the premises of the story and the author agrees to stay within those premises and not violate the previously agreed-upon rules.

It's just that the threshold of stuff you have to accept at the outset (Buckaroo is a physicist/rock star/neurosurgeon etc who is also a sort of crime fighting superhero with a band of followers) is pretty high.  But it's not like they don't tell you he's a neurosurgeon until 3/4 of the way through the movie when the story suddenly requires him to perform emergency surgery.

I think the other thing people have so much trouble with is that the movie is so completely deadpan and serious inside of its absurd universe.  There isn't any winking and nodding at the audience to let them know that this is all a joke.  There are people running around named Buckaroo Banzai and Reno etc. and they are all totally serious about what they are doing.  Dr. Lizardo is batshit crazy but he really is torturing Buckaroo, even if he wants him to type his answers into a Casio keyboard.

Melvil

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 9977
  • Eek
Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #229 on: August 24, 2009, 06:24:09 PM »
 :D Very well said, Colleen.

 

love