Comments that which don't warrant a thread

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

That isn't so much controversial as embarassingly ill-informed and wrong.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

For instance, what do you know about Joe Pesci? For better or worse, GoodFellas birthed the Pesci stereotype, which is what you're thinking of. He so fucking embodied Tommy to perfection that now Pesci cannot play anyone unhinged without people, whether they realize it or not, thinking about that film. And De Niro? How was this typical for him? Again, your own perception of De Niro clouded your judgment of the film. In what way was his performance here just him "reminding us" who he is? Was Jimmy the same character he played in Mean Streets? The Godfather Part II? Taxi Driver? The Deer Hunter? Raging Bull? The King of Comedy? No, he wasn't like he was in any of those.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

I'd argue that the role of Tommy is actually what's informed the perception of who Pesci is, not the other way around. Very little he did before that, maybe with the exception of Lethal Weapon 2 (and that's a stretch), touched on similar ground. Casino, My Cousin Vinny, the luminous 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag--all that came long after Tommy.

 

You definitely got the contentious statement thing going on this one, though.

 

EDIT: Goddamn thunder-stealing Incandenza, with his quick fingers.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

Fuck hyperbole: GoodFellas is the best gangster film ever made, and just a great movie in general. The worst thing I'll say about it is Ray Liotta never cashed in on his performance in that film.

[strummer 0]

Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston will be doing a lesbian kiss on the season finale of "Dirt" on March 27. Ok who seriously hasn't been waiting for this since 1994?

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

Fuck hyperbole: GoodFellas is the best gangster film ever made

 

The unedited 229-minute version of Once Upon a Time in America is better.

[King Kamala 0]

I hate it when I read about an interesting movie somewhere online and go to add it on NetFlix only to find out it's not been released on DVD yet.

 

 

Example: Listzomania (Ken Russell's followup to Tommy). It's a biopic about 19th century composer, Franz Liszt (played by Roger Daltrey!).

 

 

 

Here's amazon.com's summary (Since I can't describe it myself);

 

Roger Daltrey, the Who vocalist and star of Tommy, returns to Russell's circus as Liszt, a great pianist nevertheless seduced by the ease with which he can make women squeal by playing flamboyant renditions of "Chopsticks." Floating on a sea of groupies, Liszt struggles with the possibilities of real love while also encountering the vampiric Wagner's exotic plans for world domination. Intuitive impressions, not history, are what this film experience is for, and toward that end Russell pulls out all the stops, planting Liszt into a heartbreakingly Chaplinesque short film, casting Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman as a cryogenic viking, and placing the hero in phallic jeopardy when his genitals are subjected to a guillotine. Some of this striking stuff works, some of it doesn't, but all of it is determinedly undisciplined. With Paul Nicholas as Wagner, and Ringo Starr as the Pope (!).

 

 

Man, they have to release this on DVD. Rick Wakeman as a viking, Ringo as the Pope! Why isn't this on DVD?

[Henry Spencer 0]

Listzomania is awesome.

 

I realize I'm fighting a losing battle here with Goodfellas, so I'll shut up now. Still, though. Kill Bill of the nineties.

 

(Okay, so I lied about shutting up.)

[Darthtiki 0]

Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston will be doing a lesbian kiss on the season finale of "Dirt" on March 27. Ok who seriously hasn't been waiting for this since 1994?

 

Would have been hotter back then.

[King Kamala 0]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beWJm7IePaA

 

 

The exact moment where Chevy Chase's career died.

 

 

 

30 seconds in the look on his face says "Aw man, this was a terrible idea."

[godthedog 0]

For instance, what do you know about Joe Pesci? For better or worse, GoodFellas birthed the Pesci stereotype, which is what you're thinking of. He so fucking embodied Tommy to perfection that now Pesci cannot play anyone unhinged without people, whether they realize it or not, thinking about that film. And De Niro? How was this typical for him? Again, your own perception of De Niro clouded your judgment of the film. In what way was his performance here just him "reminding us" who he is? Was Jimmy the same character he played in Mean Streets? The Godfather Part II? Taxi Driver? The Deer Hunter? Raging Bull? The King of Comedy? No, he wasn't like he was in any of those.

 

 

it seems to me that tommy was just the pesci character from 'raging bull', without the more tender dimension to it. like, they just took the scene where he was slamming the car door on someone's face, and decided to play on that for 2 hours. he's not doing anything different with it.

 

i don't think de niro was playing the same person he'd been doing before, but i get a sense that there's not a lot of character depth there. he's definitely relying on a lot of mannerisms and such without a lot of psychology going on. it's sort of a one-note performance, other than the granny glasses there's no way he really changes through the film. i'd attribute that more to the script for not giving him all that much to do though.

 

'goodfellas' gets a free ride on character a lot just because it's got great actors in it, but there isn't much to grab on to, most things are done in aid of the overall style. it certainly doesn't approach the kind of depth you get with 'the godfather', where you get a really solid sense of who the people are and what kind of decisions they make and why.

[Broward83 0]

In honor of Black History Month, I want to watch atleast one Blacksploitation movie a day.

 

Suggestions please...

[Black Lushus 0]

Dolemite

Dolemite: The Human Tornado

Superfly

Cleopatra Jones

Shaft

The Mack

Blacula

 

modern stuff:

Fear of a Black Hat

CB4

Don't be a Menace...

I'm Gonna Get You Sucka

[godthedog 0]

petey wheatstraw

foxy brown

coffy (i think that's the one where pam grier puts the guy's junk in a pickle jar, but it may be another one)

 

the ultimate one, of course, is 'sweet sweetback's baadasssss song'. it's a lot of fun. holy shit does that movie hate women.

[Ted the Poster 0]

Anything with Pam Grier's fantastic bosoms is good.

 

Also, I'm glad to see that Inc likes King of Comedy. I thought I was alone here on that one.

[2GOLD 0]

Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston will be doing a lesbian kiss on the season finale of "Dirt" on March 27. Ok who seriously hasn't been waiting for this since 1994?

 

People who thought Friends sucked?

Call me when the go full out naked and grind their bodies against each other while moaning. Then I might be mildly interested.

[treble 0]

For some reason, I started watching old Ghostwriter clips on YouTube. I had forgotten that Samuel L. Jackson had played the black kid's (played by Sheldon Turnipseed, love that name) dad in a few episodes.

[LivingLegendGaryColeman 0]

the ultimate one, of course, is 'sweet sweetback's baadasssss song'. it's a lot of fun. holy shit does that movie hate women.

 

Yes. You can also watch Baadasssss!, a movie by Mario Van Peebles about that movie being made, also featuring The Office's Rainn Wilson as a crazy hippie.

 

As for another title to add to the list, add on Five on the Black Hand Side

[King Kamala 0]

the ultimate one, of course, is 'sweet sweetback's baadasssss song'. it's a lot of fun. holy shit does that movie hate women.

 

Yes. You can also watch Baadasssss!, a movie by Mario Van Peebles about that movie being made, also featuring The Office's Rainn Wilson as a crazy hippie.

 

 

I thought Badassssss! would have been a lot better with someone other than Mario Van Peebles as the lead. I don't know, he didn't do a terrible job (Which is excellent by his normal standards) but I don't know something about it bothered me.

 

 

 

 

Speaking of black movies (Well this is somewhat similar), I got the HBO mini series, The Corner from NetFlix. It's from the same guys who did The Wire, and it aired in 2000. It's about a year in the life of a family where the parents are junkies and the son is a drug dealer. Even though I've read incredibly mixed reviews online, I'm really excited and intrigued to see this. The fact that The last season of The Wire won't be airing till '08 is killing me.,

[Black Lushus 0]

The fact that The last season of The Wire won't be airing till '08 is killing me.,

 

now that's some fuckin horse shit, no?

[godthedog 0]

the ultimate one, of course, is 'sweet sweetback's baadasssss song'. it's a lot of fun. holy shit does that movie hate women.

 

Yes. You can also watch Baadasssss!, a movie by Mario Van Peebles about that movie being made, also featuring The Office's Rainn Wilson as a crazy hippie.

 

As for another title to add to the list, add on Five on the Black Hand Side

 

or you could watch 'baadasssss cinema', a documentary by isaac julien about the blaxploitation movement.

[Henry Spencer 0]

If you can find Black Belt Jones, starring the eternal Jim "The Dragon" Kelly, then that one comes highly recommended as well.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Hercules Vs. Bear

 

[razazteca 0]

Dolemite

Dolemite: The Human Tornado

Superfly

Cleopatra Jones

Shaft

The Mack

Blacula

 

modern stuff:

Fear of a Black Hat

CB4

Don't be a Menace...

I'm Gonna Get You Sucka

Or semi-current stuff:

featuring your favorite gangster rappers like State Property, Hot Boys, Master P, Snoop Dog but we all know the best modern movies are the John Singerton classic Boys in the Hood or Spike Jones classic Do the Right Thing. Or if you want to stay campy go get Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood and Tales from the Hood.

[King Kamala 0]

So I watched the first episode of The Corner and eh...it's got a few fairly compelling characters and the writing is good as always but it's a tad underwhelming thus far (Maybe they're just trying to set everything up, The Wire does this too sometimes).

 

 

I'd definitely pick this up as a rental if you're a fan of The Wire if only to see characters from The Wire appear as completely different characters. Lester Freamon and Norman Wilson (Carcetti''s right hand man) both play junkies. Landsman has a small part as a construction worker and Sydnor is the teenage son's best friend. Plus it's directed by Charles S. Dutton, who introduces every show. And how can you not like something with Roc involved?

[Black Lushus 0]

Dolemite

Dolemite: The Human Tornado

Superfly

Cleopatra Jones

Shaft

The Mack

Blacula

 

modern stuff:

Fear of a Black Hat

CB4

Don't be a Menace...

I'm Gonna Get You Sucka

Or semi-current stuff:

featuring your favorite gangster rappers like State Property, Hot Boys, Master P, Snoop Dog but we all know the best modern movies are the John Singerton classic Boys in the Hood or Spike Jones classic Do the Right Thing. Or if you want to stay campy go get Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood and Tales from the Hood.

 

Well, I was leaning more towards the campiness of those movies...I wouldn't put Boyz or Do the Right Thing in that class because those were actual serious movies made with the most serious of intentions. Blaxploitation is basically black folks making fun of their own culture.

 

you could probably add, Back 2 tha Hood and Tales From the Hood, I'll go with you on that.

[Broward83 0]

Moving away from Blaxploitation for a second...

 

I'm looking for the name of a movie from India.

 

Don't know how hold it is.. either 80's or 90's...

 

It involves two different groups of kids going on a vacay to Europe to backpack around and all that jazz. The female's from a well-to-do family in England and has to convince her dad to let her go but he reluctantly does. Along the way, she meets a rougueish boy and winds up traveling along with him on the trip and the two begin to fall for each other but the trip winds up ending as she goes back and gets ready for a wedding while he goes to try and find her, only to find out about the wedding.

 

I think he winds up trying to win her over, pissing off her dad in the process.. but winds up winning her over or something.

 

I know it's a vague description, but from what a friend told me a few years ago, its apparently a well known Bollywood movie or somethin...

[razazteca 0]

Blaxploitation is basically black folks making fun of their own culture.

Its all about blaming the White Man for everything. The Wayans and Robert Townshend are the ones famous for the parodies and I don't think Dolomite or Superfly or Foxy Brown were trying to be funny they were trying to be heroes to the disenfranchised youth of the 70's. If you want the funny then you really need to get Hollywood Shuffle.

[godthedog 0]

i saw 'sunrise' again for the first time in a few years the other day. that there's a pretty good movie.

[King Kamala 0]

In honor of Black History Month, I was reading up on Blaxploitation movies on Wikipedia and I found out about two more movies I want to see that aren't out on DVD. Apparently, there was a black Exorcist and that alone, warrants me wanting to see it. And then there's "Three The Hard Way" where IIRC; Jim Brown, Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly (Black martial artist not former Buffalo Bills QB) team up to stop white supremacists from adding an additive to the water supplies in Detroit, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles that's not harmful to whites but is lethal to black. Man that sounds like one heck of a movie! The Hammer, Black Belt Jones and Jim Brown all in the same movie fighting to save the black population of Detroit, D.C. and L.A.! Why isn't this on DVD?