Three somewhat obscure movies, everyone should see

[pacman]

Plus Russell has form for being a hot head. He threw a phone at a hotel clerk as well as screaming at various journalists.

 

Before that he was an Aussie actor with his Oscar win, after that he was back to being a Kiwi.

[JaiDee]

I like both guys but I always thought Crowe was a bigger star........... Wahlberg has yet to make anything as epic as "Gladiator"

 

 Back to the title of the thread.....have any of you guys seen a little-known, cheesy, kind of B-movie called ''Street Smart''? I remember seeing it way back when it came out, probably on my VCR.......movie was actually more funny than good, but the Morgan Freeman role as a pimp was really excellent. Chris Reeve and Tom Cruise's first wife Mimi Rogers were in it also.

 

   didn't make much noise at the box office and faded out fast, but I understand it's kind of a cult classic with the new generations.

 

Opening Weekend: $325,835 (USA) (22 March 1987) (207 Screens)

Gross: $1,119,112 (USA)

 

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094056/

[Lefty]

I think everyone's opinion deserves to be respected. Unless I don't agree with them...        

 

 The Big Kahuna's contributions are often the highlight of my day. I need to get out more...        

 

 

 

 

Somebody still needs a hug...          

I'm ok in this regard. Give your hug and even a little kiss to Kahuna instead. I think he would benefit more from it than I would, although I do appreciate the offer.   

[pacman]

I'm ok in this regard. Give your hug and even a little kiss to Kahuna instead. I think he would benefit more from it than I would, although I do appreciate the offer.   

 

I didn't say I was offering, I said you need one...           

 

 And as for the Big K & I, our private lives will have to remain....        private!           

[pacman]

One of the documentaries nominated for an Academy Award is Searching For Sugarman. I saw it this week & loved it. It is a story of redemption & very belated success for a musician whose talents were for too long neglected. Sixto Rogriguez has lived in Detroit in the same tumbledown house for over 40 years working as a laborer while his music sold in the millions in places like the UK, Australia & particularly South Africa where he was the voice of the young anti-apartheid campaigners.

 

In South Africa, he is bigger than the Rolling Stones & Elvis, He attained that rarest of things in the world of music, a God-like status. In SA that is. 

 

I thoroughly recommend it to everyone, particularly those with a jaundiced view of the world who don't believe that dreams can come true. I already knew some of his story because one of my proudest boasts is meeting Rodriguez in person in 1979. I shared a few drinks with the man & somewhere I have his autograph. I know it is no big deal in the scheme of things but Rodriguez will always remain one of my fondest memories.

[JaiDee]

There was a segment on 60 minutes about him recently; I must admit I am one of the millions here who had never heard of the guy!  Too bad he didn't find fame until so late in his life; he's almost blind now and well over 70 years old, and spent most of the last 30 years living in a Detroit shithole while working menial labor jobs.

 

  He doesn't seem to mind and seems to be a really level-headed sort,  but his life sure would have been easier had he found some measure of success back in the 70's.

[Hefe]

Saw the same 60 minutes story, he seems like a remarkable guy. I hope he gets some $$$ from this revival since he has had a hard life & has no bitterness. I was into some pretty obscure stuff back when he released his album & I never heard of him, kinda nice that he survived to see this.

[pacman]

It is interesting that Rodriguez is so unknown in his home country yet heralded in Europe, Australia & Africa. I invite anyone to explain why. 

 

His major work is an album called Cold Fact & I have been playing it every day since I saw the documentary. His timeless themes & beautiful lyrics sung in his strong clear voice never gets tiring. If anyone is curious, go to Youtube for a sample. Try this one, it's not my favourite, they are all this good.

 

 

Here's the words to Like Janis:

 

And you measure for wealth by the things you can hold 
And you measure for love by the sweet things you're told
And you live in the past or a dream that you're in
And your selfishness is your cardinal sin.

And you want to be held with highest regard 
It delights you so much if he's trying so hard
And you try to conceal your ordinary ways
With a smile or a shrug or some stolen cliche.

'Cause emotionally you're the same basic trip
And you know that I know of the times that you've slipped 
So don't try to impress me, you're just pins and paint 
And don't try to charm me with things that you ain't.

And don't try to enchant me with your manner of dress 
'Cause a monkey in silk is a monkey no less 
So measure for measure reflect on my said 

And when I won't see you then measure it dead.

'Cause don't you understand, and don't you look about 
I'm trying to take nothing from you 
So why should you act so put out for me?

 

Who writes shit like that these days? The one person he gets constantly compared to is Bob Dylan but as I read over & over, Dylan can't sing this well & doesn't have the same gift for melody. Don't take my word for it.           
 

[Kahuna]

Meet me in Cognito, baby,

Of course we'll have to color our hair.

The best thing about life in Cognito

Is that everybody's nobody there.

[thaibound]

Meet me in Cognito, baby,

Of course we'll have to color our hair.

The best thing about life in Cognito

Is that everybody's nobody there.

 

 

great call, Kahuna -- THAT is the 'obscure movie' i am waiting for...

 

though considering how they butchered the blues gotten by such delectable 'cowgirls', i might be waiting a couple lifetimes b4 robbins lets another dream get dashed at 24fps... and meantime, i do find myself occasionally wandering off the track at the glimpse of a shadowed ravine, wondering whether my long-sought villa might await a mere tightrope walk away....

 

but back to the topic of moment, further regarding Rodriguez's long strange trip taken without the more traditional rewards of fortune and fame:

 

in the end what will prevail

is your passion not your tale,

for love is the holy grail,

even in Cognito.

so better listen to me, sister,

and pay close attention, mister:

it's very good to play the game,

amuse the god, avoid the pain,

but don't trust fortune, don't trust fame,

your real self doesn't know your name

and in that we're all the same:

we're all incognito.

[Lefty]

I didn't say I was offering, I said you need one...           

 

 And as for the Big K & I, our private lives will have to remain....        private!           

Yes, I agree that is a good idea.   

[Kahuna]

great call, Kahuna -- THAT is the 'obscure movie' i am waiting for...

 

though considering how they butchered the blues gotten by such delectable 'cowgirls', i might be waiting a couple lifetimes b4 robbins lets another dream get dashed at 24fps... and meantime, i do find myself occasionally wandering off the track at the glimpse of a shadowed ravine, wondering whether my long-sought villa might await a mere tightrope walk away....

 

 

Although I did have way too many glasses of Bacardi Select before I posted that little ditty, I am truly surprised that anyone would recognize it...Somehow, however, it don't surprise me that you did...

 

I must confess that I never cowgirled...I just could never envision how they could make those thumbs as special and delicious as Tom did or my friend the Chink as loony...

 

Maybe they could have more success if they went back to the origins...Perhaps they could find an attraction there...Maybe something with a perfumed skinny legged woodpecker...Or maybe something with an invalid frog in pajamas...

 

But I truly don't think TR's works translate to the screen very well and somehow I think John Paul would agree...

[SiamSam]

I have not had any Bacardi Select however I do not know what anyone is talking about. Perhaps that is simply age so please be kind in your response. Especially you Kahuna!

[Kahuna]

Sorry Sam...kind of a coded thing...

 

My original quote is from a 2003 novel by Tom Robbins entitled Villa Incognito...Thaibound then referenced Tom's second novel, Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, which was made into a very unsuccessful film in 1994...albeit with a great cast...

 

In my second post in reply to Thaibound I kinda sorta allude to most of Tom's other works...Great novels all beginning in the 80s...Another Roadside Attraction...Still Life With Woodpecker...Jitterbug Perfume...Skinny Legs and All...Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas and Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates...A collection of essays and short stories Wlld Ducks Flying Backwards and his newest which I have never read entitled B is for Beer...A kinda sorta childrens' and adults' book in the same wrapper...Kinda sorta...

 

If you have never read Tom Robbins, I encourage you to pick up one of his novels...He will  make you laugh and he will make you learn...I read all of them at least once each year...If you read him often enough Sam, you will learn to live in your heart and not in your head...

 

One of his female fans once wrote to him:  "Your books make me think, they make me laugh, they make me horny, and they make me aware of the wonder of everything in life."

 

And they will...

 

Also pick up a bottle of Bacardi Select...

[Kahuna]

Seven Psychopaths released on DVD today...Picked up a copy along with a burger from In-N-Out...

 

To all you guys who ain't seen it, pick up a copy...You will enjoy it...

 

"We all gotta dream, don't we?....Not just fags."

 

To all you guys who have seen it, it's even better the second third time around...

 

Tasty Burger too...

 

There is a new film scheduled for release in the theaters this Friday titled Stand Up Guys...Starring  Pacino, Walken, and Arkin...and directed by Fisher Stevens...

 

Another crime/comedy thing...

 

Trailer looks good...

 

I'll let y'all know...

[pacman]

I saw Django Unchained. An absolute classic! I enjoyed it more than Inglourious Basterds, actually a lot more.

 

Whatever we may think of Quentin Tarantino, he makes a very good movie. Django goes immediately into the list of classic westerns & deserves to be rated among the best films made.

 

I haven't seen Lincoln but I think if Django won the Best Movie Oscar, it would be well deserved. How Argo could win an award over & above this condemns those who voted for it. Now I have seen both, there is simply no comparison.

 

I'm sure the gore & relentless violence (plus the liberal use of 'that' word) worked against Django but its place in the history of great movies is assured. I am surprised yet not surprised that I liked it so much. I came to it expecting to see a few heads blown off, what I got was QT far excelling himself with his use of weapons & their fire power. Way back in the recesses of my mind, there's a tiny part that rejects such flagrant displays of death but right in the centre of my brain, there's that part that despairs of justice ever being delivered to those who deserve it.

 

Quentin makes the world how I would like it to be. And he delivers the coup de grace like no film maker before him has ever done. Chrisoph Waltz & Jamie Foxx are a match made in heaven. They are more likable than Butch & Sundance. And they are more lethal than any pair of shooters I can recall. And the scene with the Ku Klux Klan is something straight out of Blazing Saddles. The smartest way to have a dig at such an odious bunch you will ever see. Bloody brilliant.

 

I won't spoil it for those yet to see it but I give this film my highest possible recommendation. And for my comments about Django not being considered for an Oscar because they dared use that word, I apologise. The word is used no more than necessary & there is simply no other word in the entire language that could have been used in its place. In context, I defy anyone to take offence from its use. Out of context, fair enough. 

[thaibound]

as clever and entertaining as the teaming of Fox and Waltz was -- and it was, i agree -- i must confess i can only shake my head when you suggest they are a "more likable" teaming than Butch and Sundance.

 

this only reinforces my long-held belief that the predisposition we bring as a viewer is at least as relevant to our opinion of a film as what the film brings to the screen. for example -- return to a film you'd seen a week earlier, but without a half-deaf date who speaks little english or having not had too big a dinner -- and it can seem the whole film had been re-edited to be tighter and funnier.  but, it's when you see it the third time -- and it's better than ever before -- that's when you have a great movie.

 

i will never see django a third time.

or even a second.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was a game-changing reinvention of the Western which is as lyrical and charming today, even without its great historical significance, as it ever was (okay, i grant you, the world's first-ever music video could do with an edit--a little BJ Thomas goes a long way). "you keep on thinking, Butch, it's what you're good at" -- now *that* was classic....

 

on the other hand....Django's spurting blood seemed to me to be an uneven cartoon parody of peckinpah's real (and ground-breaking) violence, and i still am uncertain as to whether tarantino was meaning to shock us with his gorey --albeit historically accurate -- portrayal of a violent and terrible time in American history? or just get the kids to hoot and holler at all the blood? i.e., was he remaking Pulp Fiction or  Grindhouse?

 

and when you say the KKK scene was something 'straight out of Blazing Saddles' you are correct -- something Brooks would have cut straight out of his classic comedy for being too long and insufficiently funny. i don't want to 'give anything away' either, but seriously, was there anything surprising about the path or conclusion of that scene? i think not.

 

i'm guessing paccers was in a damned good mood the night he saw Django.  i didn't care for it, but i would certainly never claim that if pacman choose to vote it best picture it would be condemning his validity as a viewer and a critic.  it would be a mere difference of opinion. so for him to say another film-lover's vote for Argo (imperfect as it was) condemns them (me?) --well, i find that a bit beyond the pale. though i will put it down to his boyish exuberance as he rushed home all flush from excitement at having seen so much blood spurting and hot black chicks getting whipped and jamie fox dressed up as little lord fauntleroy. because, oh yeah, that's what django was all about.

and that's *all* it was about.

 

of course, i should've seen it coming when i read his opening line:

"I saw Django Unchained. An absolute classic! I enjoyed it more than Inglourious Basterds, actually a lot more"

 

fact is, i enjoyed django more than i did inglorious bastards as well. but then, i thought inglorious bastards to be a meandering, incoherent pile of crap, only marginally saved by the apparently always-brilliant Chrisoph Waltz -- and i do owe quentin credit for helping me 'discover' him.

 

beyond that? i'd just as soon leave the second half of tarantino's portfolio in the can and request we might bandy about the term 'absolute classic' with at least as much restraint as we do the term 'the best top in  pattaya'.

[azza33]

I watched Django two days backed... Thought it was fantastic...

For a film of that length i didn't find it long and could have kept watching more & more.

KKK scene was hilarious... Very well done... Share pacman's view on it.

Thought Waltz, de caprio and jackson all deserve the nod for best supporting actors - simply perfect casting.

For once i enjoyed the qt cameo as well, thought it was a hoot.

A great western, not sure a classic. Not all will enjoy but a very well made movie indeed.

[Kahuna]

After watching Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken and Tom Waits and the 4 other psychopaths today in a repeat performance...Django pales in comparison...

 

If Django wins the Oscar for best film of 2012...I would be shocked...

 

If anyone other than Waltz wins an award for their acting performance in Django...I would be shocked...

 

If Tarantino wins for best direction...I would be shocked...

 

I suppose that I should note that I have been shocked before...

[azza33]

 

I suppose that I should note that I have been shocked before...

By that are you acknowledging your judgement has been poor before? ;)

[Lefty]

Seven Psychopaths released on DVD today...Picked up a copy along with a burger from In-N-Out...

 

To all you guys who ain't seen it, pick up a copy...You will enjoy it...

 

"We all gotta dream, don't we?....Not just fags."

 

To all you guys who have seen it, it's even better the second third time around...

 

Tasty Burger too...

 

There is a new film scheduled for release in the theaters this Friday titled Stand Up Guys...Starring  Pacino, Walken, and Arkin...and directed by Fisher Stevens...

 

Another crime/comedy thing...

 

Trailer looks good...

 

I'll let y'all know...

In-N-Out Burgers are selling DVDs now along with their burgers? I've heard they have a good burger. Wonder if they are as tasty as a Big Kahuna burger though.

[Lefty]

I watched Django two days backed... Thought it was fantastic... For a film of that length i didn't find it long and could have kept watching more & more. KKK scene was hilarious... Very well done... Share pacman's view on it. Thought Waltz, de caprio and jackson all deserve the nod for best supporting actors - simply perfect casting. For once i enjoyed the qt cameo as well, thought it was a hoot. A great western, not sure a classic. Not all will enjoy but a very well made movie indeed.

Only Waltz got nominated. If ya had to pick 1, he was most deserving IMO. I hope he wins it. I think it would be very cool, if Django wins multiple Oscars. 

[pacman]

as clever and entertaining as the teaming of Fox and Waltz was -- and it was, i agree -- i must confess i can only shake my head when you suggest they are a "more likable" teaming than Butch and Sundance.

 

I have nothing against Newman & Redford. They are fine gentlemen who bring their craft great credit. (Or brought as in the case of the late Mr Newman) And they were a match made in heaven when they were teamed together in Butch & Sundance. They are both better looking than Waltz & Foxx, they smile more, they laugh more, they do little to upset anyone (if you don't count bank robberies & hold-ups that is), they star in a classic film suitable for the whole family. It's all one big happy hoot about a couple of lovable rogues. Even though the movie was based on real life, by the time they had been re-born on screen, they would have made perfect guests at your maiden aunt's garden party. 

 

But that didn't make them compelling characters then or now. Very likable of course, it's just that I like Christoph & Jamie more. (If only I had used the personal pronoun I could have saved explaining myself)

 

 

this only reinforces my long-held belief that the predisposition we bring as a viewer is at least as relevant to our opinion of a film as what the film brings to the screen. for example -- return to a film you'd seen a week earlier, but without a half-deaf date who speaks little english or having not had too big a dinner -- and it can seem the whole film had been re-edited to be tighter and funnier.  but, it's when you see it the third time -- and it's better than ever before -- that's when you have a great movie.

 

i will never see django a third time.

or even a second.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was a game-changing reinvention of the Western which is as lyrical and charming today, even without its great historical significance, as it ever was (okay, i grant you, the world's first-ever music video could do with an edit--a little BJ Thomas goes a long way). "you keep on thinking, Butch, it's what you're good at" -- now *that* was classic....

 

There's an expression the English use which I think is international. "Jump the shark". It describes the moment in a film when the plot suddenly turns stupid. I'm not sure if Butch pushing that girl around on a bicycle is a "jump the shark" moment but five minutes of Raindrops Falling On My Head sure was.

 

In the middle of a cowboy flick about a coupla bad dudes, it metamorphosed into some silly song clip. I could not get back into it at all after that. Maybe it's just me & maybe it is a game changing movie but all I recall is a light weight comedy/romance/action movie that I will never subject myself to again.

 

Then again, I also won't be watching Django again. Perhaps if it comes up on TV one night I might but I can't remember the last time I watched a film twice. On TV occasionally but the only DVDs I own have been given to me as gifts.

 

on the other hand....Django's spurting blood seemed to me to be an uneven cartoon parody of peckinpah's real (and ground-breaking) violence, and i still am uncertain as to whether tarantino was meaning to shock us with his gorey --albeit historically accurate -- portrayal of a violent and terrible time in American history? or just get the kids to hoot and holler at all the blood? i.e., was he remaking Pulp Fiction or  Grindhouse?

 

I'll opt for the hootin' & hollerin'. QT subscribes to the old maxim Nothing succeeds like excess. He loves Shock & Awe & he does it so well. In fact better than ever in his latest offering. IMO. 

 

As for Sam Peckinpah, I am not qualified to comment. I don't think I ever saw one of his movies. There are some quite alarming gaps in my cinematic profile. 

 

and when you say the KKK scene was something 'straight out of Blazing Saddles' you are correct -- something Brooks would have cut straight out of his classic comedy for being too long and insufficiently funny. i don't want to 'give anything away' either, but seriously, was there anything surprising about the path or conclusion of that scene? i think not.

 

I can't claim credit for making the Blazing Saddle connection. I stole it from a long established movie critic here in Oz & I agreed with him. I also agree that it was both predictable & not particularly funny. For the purpose it was included in the film though, I thought it was brilliant. 

 

i'm guessing paccers was in a damned good mood the night he saw Django.  i didn't care for it, but i would certainly never claim that if pacman choose to vote it best picture it would be condemning his validity as a viewer and a critic.  it would be a mere difference of opinion. so for him to say another film-lover's vote for Argo (imperfect as it was) condemns them (me?) --well, i find that a bit beyond the pale. though i will put it down to his boyish exuberance as he rushed home all flush from excitement at having seen so much blood spurting and hot black chicks getting whipped and jamie fox dressed up as little lord fauntleroy. because, oh yeah, that's what django was all about.

and that's *all* it was about.

 

I will say I walked out of the cinema with more exuberance than when I went in. It's that type of film. I found myself totally absorbed with the theme of revenge & justice. When there is so much injustice going on in real life, watching the shooting of those who deserved it was quite cathartic. At least for me it was. And that's what it was all about for me. Great villains being brought to justice by perfect anti-heroes. And not just quietly dispatched but having their heads blown off in the most graphic way. It felt good to watch & I am sure it was good for my soul. Bang bang, take that you bad guys! Boyish enthusiasm or the deep seated need to see wrongs righted? I know what I choose.

 

I would never condemn anyone for their opinion. Because this post (and yours) is all about 'a mere difference in opinion', I willingly respond in a positive spirit. I don't seek to sway anyone, I enjoy the repartee as a mental exercise. And if you prefer Argo, you will get no argument from me. I reserve the right to respectfully disagree but if Argo should win Best Picture, I will happily eat humble pie.

 

of course, i should've seen it coming when i read his opening line:

"I saw Django Unchained. An absolute classic! I enjoyed it more than Inglourious Basterds, actually a lot more"

 

I wouldn't change a word of it. I think history is going to be very kind to Django. It has cult classic written all over it. IMO.

 

fact is, i enjoyed django more than i did inglorious bastards as well. but then, i thought inglorious bastards to be a meandering, incoherent pile of crap, only marginally saved by the apparently always-brilliant Chrisoph Waltz -- and i do owe quentin credit for helping me 'discover' him.

 

Our mutual friend Lefty might be upset at your description of Inglourious Basterds but I'm not. I enjoyed it with reservations. Ol' QT was just warming up for the main act, Django.

 

And welcome to the Christoph Waltz fan club. I don't know if he's always brilliant, his career in Germany wasn't so spectacular from what I have read but he strikes an absolutely perfect note in both of his QT roles. I wrote earlier about the way he delivers dialogue in that beautifully enunciated English of his. I have no doubt that Quentin has him signed up for his next effort, a QT production without Walltz now seems almost unthinkable.

 

 

beyond that? i'd just as soon leave the second half of tarantino's portfolio in the can and request we might bandy about the term 'absolute classic' with at least as much restraint as we do the term 'the best top in  pattaya'.

 

The word 'absolute' & particularly 'absolutely' do get flogged to death in modern parlance but I don't feel inclined to retract my thoughts. It may take many years for this film's place in history to be confirmed but I am comfortable with the idea that it won't be swept under any carpets any time soon. 

 

As you alluded to, sometimes you have to see a film several times to put it in perspective. Should you ever catch it again, you may think of it more favourably. But it's not a cause that I will give any thought to, there's far too much else to worry about than what someone enjoys at the movies.

 

And that sir is my opinion....           

[Kahuna]

The more I think about Django and the more I read other's reviews of Django the more I am inclined to agree with Thaibound's opinion...

 

I can't say that I enjoyed it more than Inglourious Basterds...Cause I really didn't like Inglourious Basterds...I have a copy, but I don't think I have actually seen it since I watched the film in the theater...

 

I believe that Tarantino's best film was Reservoir Dogs...I realize that I am likely alone in that belief...

 

I read two reviews after I watched Django...Both by professional film critics...I ain't gonna go back and try and find them again so you're gonna have to trust me a bit when I kinda sorta paraphrase those reviewers...

 

I was struck by the fact that neither was enamored by Django...But most importantly neither was enamored by Tarantino...

 

They were both critical of the length of the film...One of them attributed that to Tarantino's inability to understand how to edit a film...Both were critical of Tarantino's horrible Australian accent in his scene and both were critical of the KKK scene...You are gonna have to search around to find these reviews if you want satisfaction...

 

But I was mostly struck with how each ended their reviews...With very similar language...

 

The first said of Tarantino, he has the technical skill of an adult and the sensibility of an adolescent...

 

The second said of Tarantino, his films are flashily brilliant, but emotionally callow...He went on to say that he had an awful feeling that Tarantio is one director who will never mature...

 

Earlier in this thread I was trying to say the same thing about my feelings toward Tarantino's films...These critics are clearly more in touch with my feelings than I am...

 

He is a very good story teller...His films entertain me...

 

But in my view Tarantino doesn't make films for adults...I hope some day he does...

 

And that is my opinion...

 

EDIT:  This evening I watched a truly remarkable film written and directed by Emilio Estevez starring his real life father, Martin Sheen...The Way...It made me laugh...It made me cry...It made me feel really really good about mankind...

 

"You don't choose a life.  You live one."

[Hefe]

Yeah, that's the issue I have with QT's films, they are very exciting & fun, but there is little to no depth with his plots or characters, they are movies about movies, not about people. Of course if one is younger & the frame of reference is from video games, comic books or movies about special effects it's no big deal. I think if you are a scertain age & your frame of reference is literature & character driven plots it all falls a bit short by rising merely to being clever, as opposed to insightful.

To his credit QT acknowledges his love of popular culture & doesn't seem to be bothered by the charge of celebrating "junk", but I do wish he could move beyond it the way Spielberg moved beyond sharks & aliens.