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FBG Movie Club: We're Getting the Band Back Together: Metallica vs Nina Simone Movie Docs (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter Ilov80s
- Start date
Don Quixote
Footballguy
I’d put Life of Brian over Holy Grail too. I think Holy Grail has some funnier moments, but Life of Brian holds up as a more complete movie. Sticking the landing is pretty important, and has a lot to do with it for me. Holy Grail’s ending seemed like something more out of the Flying Circus where they did not really know how to end a sketch — they could not end it with Graham Chapman saying “And now for something completely different,” so had a close approximate instead. But Always Look on the Bright Side of Life has you laughing and whistling to the very end.
Charlie Steiner
Footballguy
I'm a big fan of Monty Python, not sure why I haven't been more interested in seeing Life of Brian.
I've heard of The Apartment always give it a pass when it's on TCM.
This should be interesting; there's no reason either film won't exceed my low expectations going in, yet I feel like I still won't have really missed much from having not seen them all these years.
I've heard of The Apartment always give it a pass when it's on TCM.
This should be interesting; there's no reason either film won't exceed my low expectations going in, yet I feel like I still won't have really missed much from having not seen them all these years.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
Movies you saw but didn’t like or movies you have no interest in seeing?
If you like MP, why are your expectations so low?
As for The Apartment, I don’t want to create too high of expectations but it’s probably my favorite movie ever. Won best picture, screenplay, director, Sight and Sound has it as the 14th best film ever made, AFI has it at 80th best American film. Not many movies come with more praise.
Eephus
Footballguy
Billy Wilder belongs on any list of the greatest writer/directors of film comedies but unlike a lot of comedic creators, he was equally adept at drama.
Amazon Prime has a good selection of his later work.
Sunset Boulevard
Stalag 17
Sabrina
Witness For The Prosecution
Some Like It Hot
The Apartment
Irma La Douce
The Fortune Cookie
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Avanti
Amazon Prime has a good selection of his later work.
Sunset Boulevard
Stalag 17
Sabrina
Witness For The Prosecution
Some Like It Hot
The Apartment
Irma La Douce
The Fortune Cookie
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Avanti
Osaurus
Footballguy
I’ve seen both of them more than once recently and lots of other things to watch on my list right now.
Charlie Steiner
Footballguy
I guess with these two movies I get a sense of been there, done that, but upon actually watching, I have come around to appreciating them. Casablanca was such a film for me, Guys and Dolls as well. We'll see if that happens with these two. It's like they say: some people can read War and Peace and come away thinking it's a simple adventure story, while others can unlock the secrets of the universe by reading the ingredients on a chewing gum wrapper. Here's to hoping for more of the latter and less of the former.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
Ilov80s
Footballguy
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
For my money, greatest auteur of people pictures.
That's why i call The Apartment the Ur romcom. It Don't Happen One Night Unless One of Us is Clark Gable did get the romcom away from screwball (a form i used to adore but can no longer abide) but Apartment is possible, palpable and, most importantly, of Manhattan. The losers of NY (as i wrote in one of my own NYC romcoms, the people with "great views of the people with great views") are my favorite people in the world and the ones most deserving of excellent love. And this kicked it off.
Warning: If you have a low Jack Lemmon tolerance, stay away, gf. He is truly in his element here (matter of fact, i think Wilder's whole point in writing this was to create a role worthy of him) and his performance is fabulous but it's also, y'know, fabulous. Enjoy -
Ilov80s
Footballguy
Despite mostly filming indoors on sets and not being a big on location director, Wilder was a genius as bringing the heart of the location into his room. The Apartment and The Lost Weekend are peak NYC films. Sunset Boulevard is the ultimate Hollywood film and LA’s presence is all over Double Indemnity.
@wikkidpissah how did he do it?
@wikkidpissah how did he do it?
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
A gift from the gods.
My last few years in Reno, i became friends w a man named Bill Kelley. He was a knockaround TV writer for years, his passions were writing poor-selling novels about religious practices in exotic locales, flyfishing & poker (which is how i met him). He and some old writing partners expanded an idea from a TV ep they'd written together into a movie script and ended up winning a Best Screenplay Oscar for it. The movie was Witness, my pal Bill credited director Peter Weir w 99.9% of its success and said that some people have all our archetypes that Jung talked about in their heads, that those people invented religion and the visual arts and Peter Weir was one of those people. We'd have dinner a half-dozen times a year and Bill could talk about archetypes & the imprints of consciousness maybe even better than Joseph Campbell, through 5 courses of food, several bottles of wine, without ever doubling back. He believed Weir (Year of Living Dangerously, Dead Poets Society, Master & Commander, Truman Show, Mosquito Coast - all films w great sense of place, as was Witness) was one of those artistic shamans, so much so that when my director cousin got Memoirs of a Geisha (the highest-priced novel rights of all time when he got it) as a followup to Chicago, i told Rob to look up Weir during awards season for pointers. It's archetypes & imprints, my friend, and some folks got it. All i know. Big ups, ol' Bill.
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
i checked TCM because they usually have The Apartment on during the holidays, but their next showing isn't til 1-31-20
Ilov80s
Footballguy
If you have a DVD/blu Ray player than your local library may have it (assuming you live in reasonably populated area) if you wanted to try to see it (and I think it’s worth it).
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
oddly, the definitive (not best, just definitive) Manhattan romcom, Crossing Delancey, is coming on TCM in 5 minutes
Man of Constant Sorrow
Footballguy
This month's picks are perfect. 
Also, @Ilov80s, I did not vote in the last poll. (I've been tied up with some family stuff lately.) I would have given' em both a 4, if you want a better count of participation and opinion.
Now, regarding this month ... Python has been my favorite comedy group since ??? - well - always. I also grew up a rabid fan of mythology. Anyone who followed the GoT thread, surely witnessed my nerdom irt to the Arthur mythos. So - Holy Grail is my wheelhouse. And, by coincidence, my college frat used this movie as an "official" source of "secret #### talk". I did not know this until after I was initiated, and it was quite a nice surprise, as it gave me a good head start in learning the "bro speak".
So - what's the point? Even with all this crap weighing in favor of HG, Life of Brian is still my #1 Python movie. It is not because I have been over exposed to HG, as I've seen LoB just as much - LoB just speaks to me much more. I can't really put it into words now, but that's OK; I'll have some words by the new year. I'm really looking forward to the watch.
IRT The Apartment, I honestly can't remember if I have seen it. I'll have to do a little research and remembering. But, if it is your fav, I highly suspect that I'll dig it.
Also, @Ilov80s, I did not vote in the last poll. (I've been tied up with some family stuff lately.) I would have given' em both a 4, if you want a better count of participation and opinion.
Now, regarding this month ... Python has been my favorite comedy group since ??? - well - always. I also grew up a rabid fan of mythology. Anyone who followed the GoT thread, surely witnessed my nerdom irt to the Arthur mythos. So - Holy Grail is my wheelhouse. And, by coincidence, my college frat used this movie as an "official" source of "secret #### talk". I did not know this until after I was initiated, and it was quite a nice surprise, as it gave me a good head start in learning the "bro speak".
So - what's the point? Even with all this crap weighing in favor of HG, Life of Brian is still my #1 Python movie. It is not because I have been over exposed to HG, as I've seen LoB just as much - LoB just speaks to me much more. I can't really put it into words now, but that's OK; I'll have some words by the new year. I'm really looking forward to the watch.
IRT The Apartment, I honestly can't remember if I have seen it. I'll have to do a little research and remembering. But, if it is your fav, I highly suspect that I'll dig it.
Man of Constant Sorrow
Footballguy
As a Coen fan with the O Brother handle, I'll try to give you my biased perspective.
I'm sure you recall our GoT discussions and my obsession with comparing it to the King Arthur stuff. With O Brother, it is the connection to the Odyssey that put it over the top for me. While I do love the technical aspects of it, I am not sure how high I would rate it without the connection. The Odyssey is a bigger love of mine than the Arthur stuff, and when I view the movie through the lens of the book ... well, you saw what it did to me in Thrones. LOL. I'll spare the thread that kind of answer.
IRT Lebowski. I like it a lot, but it's not in my higher tier of movies. I just mostly enjoy the community that sprung up in the Lebowski Fest scene - discussed earlier in this thread.
So, that's it. I don't think you're a weirdo or nuttin'. At least not for this.
Ramsay Hunt Experience
Footballguy
Ramsay Hunt Experience
Footballguy
I honestly think The Apartment saved my life. Which is silly, but I was in college and experiencing my first ever romantic crisis and I was still a decade away from treating my depression.
So I was having a particularly rough night with lots of morbid thoughts of throwing myself in front of trains and whatnot, and the movie came on. And, as a film buff with a big Apartment-sized hole in my Billy Wilder knowledge, I watched it.
A dramedy revolving around a suicide attempt. I’m not sure the message was helpful, but the script was so sharp and Lemmon and MacLaine were so good (not to mention Fred MacMurray luxuriating in his character’s loathsomeness), that it made my unhappiness seem more like a sense of shared humanity. It made me feel less alone. And that’s what I take from the movie every time I see it now. Particularly the ending when they play cards. The feeling that we don’t have to be alone.
So I was having a particularly rough night with lots of morbid thoughts of throwing myself in front of trains and whatnot, and the movie came on. And, as a film buff with a big Apartment-sized hole in my Billy Wilder knowledge, I watched it.
A dramedy revolving around a suicide attempt. I’m not sure the message was helpful, but the script was so sharp and Lemmon and MacLaine were so good (not to mention Fred MacMurray luxuriating in his character’s loathsomeness), that it made my unhappiness seem more like a sense of shared humanity. It made me feel less alone. And that’s what I take from the movie every time I see it now. Particularly the ending when they play cards. The feeling that we don’t have to be alone.
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
shut up & deal
Eephus
Footballguy
Ilov80s
Footballguy
That’s an incredible story and speaks so much to the power of art. It reminds me of what Ebert said about The Apartment:
There is a melancholy gulf over the holidays between those who have someplace to go, and those who do not. “The Apartment” is so affecting partly because of that buried reason: It takes place on the shortest days of the year, when dusk falls swiftly and the streets are cold, when after the office party some people go home to their families and others go home to apartments where they haven't even bothered to put up a tree. On Christmas Eve, more than any other night of the year, the lonely person feels robbed of something that was there in childhood and isn't there anymore.
Man of Constant Sorrow
Footballguy
Sweet. I feel so enfranchised now.
Also - after a long day, I watched LoB last night. It was much needed.
I'm not gonna claim this is the best scene, but I think it is my fav:
Spoiler
It is also very informative.
Man of Constant Sorrow
Footballguy
Just dropped by to wish Brian a belated Happy Birthday.
Happy F'n Birthday, Brian.
Happy F'n Birthday, Brian.
Man of Constant Sorrow
Footballguy
Oh, I skipped the Myrrh, per ma's request.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
Hopefully we get some more activity with this as both as classics but I know the holidays are tough. Maybe next year we consider taking a holiday for December.
As for January, how up to speed do the regular posters here feel about the big streaming movies of 2019? @KarmaPolice and I are mulling over a few ideas. One of them is the big likely Oscar nominated streaming films like Marriage Story, Irishman, Dolemite, Two Popes.
As for January, how up to speed do the regular posters here feel about the big streaming movies of 2019? @KarmaPolice and I are mulling over a few ideas. One of them is the big likely Oscar nominated streaming films like Marriage Story, Irishman, Dolemite, Two Popes.
Charlie Steiner
Footballguy
I've held back making even the slightest comment in deference to the official opening day for discussion, but I will say now that I had never seen either film, so both were definitely revelations for me and I'm glad you guys picked them.
As for what you decide to do in January, I'll roll with the punches; I've liked having no say nor expectations going into this and it's been a fun ride.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
I appreciate that and it makes the movie club well worth it! For January, we just don’t want to choose 2 movies where everyone just watched them last month. We’ve got some great options so just trying to narrow it down now.
Don Quixote
Footballguy
I've only seen Irishman so far. Started Dolemite the other day, but still need to finish it.
Don Quixote
Footballguy
On the December picks... I haven't watched either of them this go-around. Love both, but, as a result, have seen them semi-recently and ended up enjoying the holiday downtime catching up on some movies that had been on my watchlist for awhile and I had not seen.
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
Can't believe The Apartment is on neither streaming platform. i aint paying to re-watch a flick i seen a dozen times, so i'll be doing that from memory. was just thinking recently that, if it wasnt for the holiday theme, pairing Apt w Frances Ha on the Manhattan tip woulda been cool.
And i didn't like LoB any better this 8th(?) viewing either. More on that Monday.
And i didn't like LoB any better this 8th(?) viewing either. More on that Monday.
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
pretty good idea. i've talked about Marriage Story quite a bit on the Netflix thread already, but it's worth talking about s'more
KarmaPolice
Footballguy
Did The Apartment get taken down at the turn of the year?
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
sry - just tried it again on Prime and it came up. dunno what happened when i tried it over the weekend....
Netflix has a movie called The Apartment, but it's not Wilder's
Man of Constant Sorrow
Footballguy
I am woefully behind on most all movies. Dolemite is the only movie of your examples that I have seen.Ilov80s said:
As I've gotten older, I have had a harder time keeping up with new things. This club and its added motivation (plus the other movie threads here) have helped turn me on to good things that I would have missed otherwise.
I trust your guy's judgment.
Sounds good to me.
Man of Constant Sorrow
Footballguy
Oh, tho I've seen Dolemite, I plan to watch again - so, no issues here if it is assigned for Jan.
RC94
Footballguy
I'm a Monty Python fan and liked Life of Brian a lot. It was 2nd to Holy Grail out of their movies IMO, unless you count Live at the Hollywood Bowl as a movie.
It's interesting how times have changed when it comes to religion and comedy. When Life of Brian came out, it was controversial. They went on talk shows and had debates with religious leaders. Today I'm sure there are people who are offended, but it's far, far fewer. Now most people either find it funny or don't like that kind of humor.
One test of a movie is if it had any lines or scenes that were frequently quoted and even became iconic in a way. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life was a scene like that.
It's interesting how times have changed when it comes to religion and comedy. When Life of Brian came out, it was controversial. They went on talk shows and had debates with religious leaders. Today I'm sure there are people who are offended, but it's far, far fewer. Now most people either find it funny or don't like that kind of humor.
One test of a movie is if it had any lines or scenes that were frequently quoted and even became iconic in a way. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life was a scene like that.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
Can't really find a connection to make between these two flicks, so i'll do em separately, Life of Brian first:
I blame George Harrison.
For all of Monty Python's success, it was many years before there was any money in it. The Beeb gave the TV show a slot and decent autonomy, but their breakout on American TV was on PBS and they really had to tour Jolly Ol w their sketches to make any dough. And Holy Grail was them stuck in godawful Scotland @ the one castle that would let them film in it with precious little money to do anything. Even after Grail was a hit, nobody was showering them with offers and no one was touching the "blasphemous" Brian script.
Then Harrison put together a production company to finance the film for the purest of reasons - he wanted to see it. So the Pythons set out to make the best possible movie they could for their loyal fan.
And they did. And that's what's wrong with it. Monty Python doesnt make movies. They explode your conceptions of reality then run around in dresses, slap each other with fishes & resurrect parrots, cleverclever all the while. Life of Brian is as linear as Neil Simon. Mistaken identity, groups of heretics carping at each other over who's running the revolution & a crucifixion ditty. Tremendous amount of shouting at each other. Except for the courage to take on both the church and the common leftist sensibilities of their generation, this is an entirely pedestrian satire on a a common cultural theme, which Mel Brooks was doing 666x better at the time. More kvetching than anarchy, which is their wheelhouse like no other. At least 8 times i've watched this and i've nodded a few times, smiled a few more, winced at the constant whining, never came close to laughing. That's it.
I blame George Harrison.
For all of Monty Python's success, it was many years before there was any money in it. The Beeb gave the TV show a slot and decent autonomy, but their breakout on American TV was on PBS and they really had to tour Jolly Ol w their sketches to make any dough. And Holy Grail was them stuck in godawful Scotland @ the one castle that would let them film in it with precious little money to do anything. Even after Grail was a hit, nobody was showering them with offers and no one was touching the "blasphemous" Brian script.
Then Harrison put together a production company to finance the film for the purest of reasons - he wanted to see it. So the Pythons set out to make the best possible movie they could for their loyal fan.
And they did. And that's what's wrong with it. Monty Python doesnt make movies. They explode your conceptions of reality then run around in dresses, slap each other with fishes & resurrect parrots, cleverclever all the while. Life of Brian is as linear as Neil Simon. Mistaken identity, groups of heretics carping at each other over who's running the revolution & a crucifixion ditty. Tremendous amount of shouting at each other. Except for the courage to take on both the church and the common leftist sensibilities of their generation, this is an entirely pedestrian satire on a a common cultural theme, which Mel Brooks was doing 666x better at the time. More kvetching than anarchy, which is their wheelhouse like no other. At least 8 times i've watched this and i've nodded a few times, smiled a few more, winced at the constant whining, never came close to laughing. That's it.
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Charlie Steiner
Footballguy
Ouch. I felt somewhat differently.wikkidpissah said:
As someone who understands the difference between being a Christian and being saved, I didn't see the blasphemy; there was no ridiculing the Gospel or Jesus as far as I could tell, and in a way it reminded me of the misplaced outrage over Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ: a lot of fuss over nothing. To me, it poked fun at religiosity, which I see as being fair game. What I was going to say in my take about Life of Brian was how I felt that their treatment of leftist/anti-establishment activism was as on point now as it was then, and for that I got an extra chuckle. I think it's a great satirical cautionary tale about religion-not faith/belief in God, mind you, but the folly of holding things sacred with a closed mind. Maybe since it's Monty Python, there was a false expectation they didn't meet, but it was what Python always did-a string of set-pieces, though I admit the suicide squad bit ended up being a miss that I wanted to laugh at but couldn't. I also felt a little disappointed there wasn't a more cohesive overarching story, and Brian just seemed to get dragged along at points, but again, Python gonna Python.
As for the connection between the two films, all I can figure is the two protagonists are both put upon by others, seem to have little control over their life and are mistaken for something they're not by others around them. One is seen as a messiah, the other an enabler. @Ilov80s, did I get that right?
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
The Apartment
My 94yo father is deeply unhappy these days. He has probably done more to distinguish himself than any person with our surname (a dozen patents, many of them prominent, and wrote the definitive college textbook in his field) but his career ended poorly (got squoze out in a merger) and he made a lot of $$ for other people without gaining commensurate wealth, rank or respect (mostly because he's been an insensitive prig all his life). For some reason, what he rambles about now is that a friend from his podunk town was in charge of elevator operators at Rockefeller Center in NYC and offered him a job. Da says half the most rich & powerful television producers got their jobs by becoming elevator operators and pitching their ideas to Sarnoff & Weaver on their way to the penthouse. My father has never evinced a creative instinct of any kind, but that apparently doesn't matter if you read Norman Vincent Peale and can count to the top floor. Ah, senility!
But the lure of Manhattan is tall & deep. You can not only make it anywhere if you make it there but, if you make it there, you're at the top, baby! I tried it twice, for brief periods in the late 70s/early 80s, excited as could be for the chance. It remains my Oz, my Disneyland, my Pandaemonium, even though i'd hardly recognize it now.
There's two reasons i didn't stay: 1) i have the talent to impress more than abide, succeed 2) what they don't tell you in the manual is that the city so nice they named it twice regularly offers to buy your soul, sell you tips on how to get the best deal for it yourself and regularly makse you decide whether or not to screw over almost everyone you ever knew, know and will know. There more people who've made it without any talent at all than people who've made it without giving in to #2. Everyone who lives there is paying the inner price for winning by the power of #2 or failing even after selling all they had to sell.
I'm lucky - my talent is not strong enough to compel me to keep trying and i am constitutionally incapable of selling my soul, no matter the gain. Happily do i fail.
The Apartment is the Old Testament of #2. It is the most deeply-realized comedy ever written - sumptuous, telling, masterfully paced & performed. And, now retired from 25 years making a living in poker rooms after giving up the dream, "Shut up and deal" simply must be my favorite ending line of all time.
My 94yo father is deeply unhappy these days. He has probably done more to distinguish himself than any person with our surname (a dozen patents, many of them prominent, and wrote the definitive college textbook in his field) but his career ended poorly (got squoze out in a merger) and he made a lot of $$ for other people without gaining commensurate wealth, rank or respect (mostly because he's been an insensitive prig all his life). For some reason, what he rambles about now is that a friend from his podunk town was in charge of elevator operators at Rockefeller Center in NYC and offered him a job. Da says half the most rich & powerful television producers got their jobs by becoming elevator operators and pitching their ideas to Sarnoff & Weaver on their way to the penthouse. My father has never evinced a creative instinct of any kind, but that apparently doesn't matter if you read Norman Vincent Peale and can count to the top floor. Ah, senility!
But the lure of Manhattan is tall & deep. You can not only make it anywhere if you make it there but, if you make it there, you're at the top, baby! I tried it twice, for brief periods in the late 70s/early 80s, excited as could be for the chance. It remains my Oz, my Disneyland, my Pandaemonium, even though i'd hardly recognize it now.
There's two reasons i didn't stay: 1) i have the talent to impress more than abide, succeed 2) what they don't tell you in the manual is that the city so nice they named it twice regularly offers to buy your soul, sell you tips on how to get the best deal for it yourself and regularly makse you decide whether or not to screw over almost everyone you ever knew, know and will know. There more people who've made it without any talent at all than people who've made it without giving in to #2. Everyone who lives there is paying the inner price for winning by the power of #2 or failing even after selling all they had to sell.
I'm lucky - my talent is not strong enough to compel me to keep trying and i am constitutionally incapable of selling my soul, no matter the gain. Happily do i fail.
The Apartment is the Old Testament of #2. It is the most deeply-realized comedy ever written - sumptuous, telling, masterfully paced & performed. And, now retired from 25 years making a living in poker rooms after giving up the dream, "Shut up and deal" simply must be my favorite ending line of all time.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
It's definitely not just a comedy and the movie takes many serious turns as it investigates issues like suicide, infidelity, etc. It's about loneliness more than anything.
