Author Topic: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts  (Read 395794 times)

ferris

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #700 on: July 06, 2010, 04:55:16 PM »
tiny, I haven't seen all of Drugstore Cowboy, but I'm 100% sure you've lost your mind.  ;)
:P
Bull Durham made me laugh! I value that!
Amen to that. I thought Tim Robbins was fun and I liked some of the on-field stuff. Sadly that was all negated by that awful Costner [noembed]speech[/noembed].

It helps to have heard that speech before anyone knew who Kevin Costner was (hey look, there's that guy from the Untouchables, right?)

Girl in my dorm in college had a full door poster of Costner leaning against that wall with the words of the speech overlaying it.   
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Bondo

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #701 on: July 06, 2010, 05:38:24 PM »
Ishtar (Elaine May, 1987)

So your premise is that you’ve got this terrible duo (played by Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty) that think they compare well to Simon and Garfunkel. They find an agent who books them for a gig in Morocco. They get caught up in a local struggle there between a left-wing rebellion against a CIA supported tough man. And they do the bumbling idiot routine and hijinks ensue. Aside from the excuse to have really terrible music (yeah, it fits, but I still don’t want to listen to it), the premise is actually pretty intriguing. I like a satire of misguided cold war policy as much as the next guy.

The problem is that I just don’t find the main characters very endearing in their idiocy to the extreme act. It would be easy enough to make it a story about two men over their heads by raising the stakes rather than lowering their competence. The film needs to take itself a little more seriously. It can still be a comedy but it needs to build the humor within a frame of self-respect. Kind of a waste ultimately.

IMDB link



IMDB link
Midnight Run (Martin Brest, 1988)

Now here’s a film that manages to be fun without going out of its way to be funny. You’ve got Robert DeNiro playing a bounty hunter who is trying to escort an accountant (Charles Grodin) who embezzled funds from the mob from NYC to LA in order to collect a big paycheck from the bail bondsman he works for. Problem is the FBI and the mob are both trying to get at him.

This film works largely because the interplay of DeNiro’s blue collar tough guy and Grodin’s neurotic white collar. It is the heart of the light, fluffy adventure. The supporting cast is also strong with the likes of Dennis Farina and Joey Pants. Nothing fantastic but thoroughly entertaining. It does go on a bit longer than is necessary.

Verdict: Ishtar may reach for grander social meaning, but it fails pretty miserably to pull off much of interest. Midnight Run wins due to its base competence.

GothamCity151

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #702 on: July 06, 2010, 06:18:59 PM »
Correct choice.

ferris

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #703 on: July 06, 2010, 06:59:27 PM »
Correct choice.

I haven't seen either of them, but that sure seems like the right choice to me too.
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Bondo

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #704 on: July 06, 2010, 07:07:29 PM »
Correct choice.

I haven't seen either of them, but that sure seems like the right choice to me too.

It has 2x the IMDB rating that Ishtar has. Admittedly Ishtar made one critics best movies list but when we start having films with 3.7 ratings at imdb I'm wondering whether we actually included every 80s US movie :D

I've now watched 18 films for the bracket and of those there are none I would give a 5/5 and probably only two I would give a 4/5 (Top Gun and Common Threads). Meanwhile there are about a dozen films that I would rate 4/5 or better on my "hope they are resurrected because they lost in the first round" list. Talk about bad luck of the draw.

ferris

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #705 on: July 06, 2010, 07:11:48 PM »
Correct choice.

I haven't seen either of them, but that sure seems like the right choice to me too.

It has 2x the IMDB rating that Ishtar has. Admittedly Ishtar made one critics best movies list but when we start having films with 3.7 ratings at imdb I'm wondering whether we actually included every 80s US movie :D

I've now watched 18 films for the bracket and of those there are none I would give a 5/5 and probably only two I would give a 4/5 (Top Gun and Common Threads). Meanwhile there are about a dozen films that I would rate 4/5 or better on my "hope they are resurrected because they lost in the first round" list. Talk about bad luck of the draw.

When Ishtar came out (apologies if this is still in the collective awareness) it was hailed pretty much as hands-down the biggest flop, and perhaps the worst film ever made.  If you think of the reception Gigli received, then you're pretty close.

The fact it hasn't garnered some kind of cult status probably means it was bad in a bad way.

Sounds like you were able to find some redeemable qualities...
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Bill Thompson

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #706 on: July 06, 2010, 07:14:24 PM »
Correct choice.

I haven't seen either of them, but that sure seems like the right choice to me too.

It has 2x the IMDB rating that Ishtar has. Admittedly Ishtar made one critics best movies list but when we start having films with 3.7 ratings at imdb I'm wondering whether we actually included every 80s US movie :D


Well, I'd like to think that a big part of the brackets is straying from the norm, including films that the majority think are terrible but a few think are good for whatever reason. It gets pretty boring discussing the same set number of widely accepted great films after all.

Bondo

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #707 on: July 06, 2010, 07:29:34 PM »
Correct choice.

I haven't seen either of them, but that sure seems like the right choice to me too.

It has 2x the IMDB rating that Ishtar has. Admittedly Ishtar made one critics best movies list but when we start having films with 3.7 ratings at imdb I'm wondering whether we actually included every 80s US movie :D


Well, I'd like to think that a big part of the brackets is straying from the norm, including films that the majority think are terrible but a few think are good for whatever reason. It gets pretty boring discussing the same set number of widely accepted great films after all.

Yeah, I totally get this and have discovered some smaller ones in the other bracket. Like I said, more a case of bad luck here I think.

ferris

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #708 on: July 06, 2010, 07:40:05 PM »
Well, I'd like to think that a big part of the brackets is straying from the norm, including films that the majority think are terrible but a few think are good for whatever reason. It gets pretty boring discussing the same set number of widely accepted great films after all.

I totally get the sentiment - finding diamonds in the rough can be a cool thing.  But I hope no one is out there giving out "little guy discounts"!  The better movie is the better movie!
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tinyholidays

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #709 on: July 06, 2010, 09:32:37 PM »
tiny, I haven't seen all of Drugstore Cowboy, but I'm 100% sure you've lost your mind.  ;)
:P
Bull Durham made me laugh! I value that!
Amen to that. I thought Tim Robbins was fun and I liked some of the on-field stuff. Sadly that was all negated by that awful Costner [noembed]speech[/noembed].

My face at the "slow, wet kisses that last for days" statement:   :-X

The funniest part of Bull Durham is watching Robbins pitch.

Jbizz does speak truth.


 

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