Movies you saw but didn’t like or movies you have no interest in seeing?Gonna pass on another month. Meh
If you like MP, why are your expectations so low?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 seen both of them more than once recently and lots of other things to watch on my list right now.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.
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.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.
I totally get thatI’ve seen both of them more than once recently and lots of other things to watch on my list right now.
Not sure anyone balanced drama and comedy so well.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
For my money, greatest auteur of people pictures.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.
A gift from the gods.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?
i checked TCM because they usually have The Apartment on during the holidays, but their next showing isn't til 1-31-20I love Monty Python and liked Life of Brian, although Holy Grail was their best movie IMO. I've never seen The Apartment but don't have Prime so I don't think I will be able to watch it. I would be happy to comment on Life of Brian when the time comes.
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).I love Monty Python and liked Life of Brian, although Holy Grail was their best movie IMO. I've never seen The Apartment but don't have Prime so I don't think I will be able to watch it. I would be happy to comment on Life of Brian when the time comes.
As a Coen fan with the O Brother handle, I'll try to give you my biased perspective.I am sad to read that you don't like the movie much, but I am glad that I am not the only weirdo that does the bolded. I have a handful I keep taking stabs at because they are so widely loved and at the top of lists, but I don't get - mostly would be Coen Brothers, Wes Anderson, and Scorsese movies - specifically O Brother/Lebowski and Goodfellas. It's looking like Mad Max: Fury Road will be one of these as well.
Forgive the Hippling, but Rian Johnson’s Brick is an excellent neo-noir.As for other noir films of more recent vintages (that aren't Coen Bros) I'd recommend "Red Rock West" with Dennis Hopper and Nic Cage, "The Last Seduction" with Linda Fiorentino, "After Dark, My Sweet" with Jason Patric, Rachel Ward, and Bruce Dern. There's a neat Aussie film called "The Square" that's from the Edgerton boys there in Oz that fits noir genre too.
Good thing they weren't showing Sunset Boulevard insteadI 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.
That’s an incredible story and speaks so much to the power of art. It reminds me of what Ebert said about The Apartment: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.
Sweet. I feel so enfranchised now.The google slideshow has been updated to add your vote
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.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.
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.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.
I've only seen Irishman so far. Started Dolemite the other day, but still need to finish it.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.
pretty good idea. i've talked about Marriage Story quite a bit on the Netflix thread already, but it's worth talking about s'moreHopefully 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.
sry - just tried it again on Prime and it came up. dunno what happened when i tried it over the weekend....Did The Apartment get taken down at the turn of the year?
I am woefully behind on most all movies. Dolemite is the only movie of your examples that I have seen.Ilov80s said: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.
Now I’m interested to hear your takes!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.
Ouch. I felt somewhat differently.wikkidpissah said: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.
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.I enjoyed the first half of The Aparment, but I found the comedy really started to drag once it got to the suicide attempt.