FBG Movie Club: We're Getting the Band Back Together: Metallica vs Nina Simone Movie Docs (1 Viewer)

[Ilov80s]

We talked a big game about this every other week thing, and then about 15 music drafts started up. 

I’ve been semi busy with work, semi disinterested in movies and semi in a funk the last 10 days or so. I’ll watch them this weekend. 2 weeks might have been too fast even though it feels like like is in slow motion. 

 

[KarmaPolice]

And how dare you speak ill of Cruise's acting chops! 

 

[KarmaPolice]

I’ve been semi busy with work, semi disinterested in movies and semi in a funk the last 10 days or so. I’ll watch them this weekend. 2 weeks might have been too fast even though it feels like like is in slow motion. 

Sorry to read the bolded.  

We can for sure go back to normal schedule if its moving too quick for most.   Especially now with things slowly looking like they might be opening up and warmer weather hitting. 

 

[Mr. Mojo]

i'd appreciate some encouraging words - tonite i shall endure three of the most distractingly bad actors of the modern era in my rewatch of a movie sprung from the mind of the creator of Almost Famous for the sake of community fandom. pray for me -

All this drama - and Cruise is a ham???

 

[Ilov80s]

Sorry to read the bolded.  

We can for sure go back to normal schedule if its moving too quick for most.   Especially now with things slowly looking like they might be opening up and warmer weather hitting. 

Thanks, nothing serious. Just miss being around people, getting out and doing all the dumb things that I usually do. Also spending more time outside since it was pretty nice the last 2 weeks. I also found myself struggling to focus when watching movies, losing interest quickly.
 

We could always add one more week to this pairing and do 3 weeks for the POW movies and that puts us on track for the 1 year anniversary in June. 

 

[Ilov80s]

Also since you haven’t mentioned it, I assume you are feeling better?

 

[KarmaPolice]

Thanks, nothing serious. Just miss being around people, getting out and doing all the dumb things that I usually do. Also spending more time outside since it was pretty nice the last 2 weeks. I also found myself struggling to focus when watching movies, losing interest quickly.
 

We could always add one more week to this pairing and do 3 weeks for the POW movies and that puts us on track for the 1 year anniversary in June. 

I hear you- similar here.  Have big plans for watching a new movie but seem to end up putting on some #### I've seem 10x and falling asleep.  

Could definitely extend the deadlines. 

 

[KarmaPolice]

Also since you haven’t mentioned it, I assume you are feeling better?

Yeah, that didnt last long - 4-5 days.   Had an ER visit about 10 days after that for another issue, and ended up getting tested for covid then and was negative.  

 

[Ilov80s]

Yeah, that didnt last long - 4-5 days.   Had an ER visit about 10 days after that for another issue, and ended up getting tested for covid then and was negative.  

That’s good. Hopefully the other medical issue is ok as well. I hear you about falling asleep. The days go by fast. I’m amazed how quickly it’s 8:00 and how tired I am by 10:00.

 

[prosopis]

I finished the movies. 

 

[Ilov80s]

I finished the movies. 

That good?

 

[prosopis]

That good?

I enjoyed the bird one. Pretty cool that it was all filmed with a phone. Is that true?

Jerry Maguire lost something in the years but I really do like Cuba Gooding in this movie. In my opinion he saves that film. He is that film.

 

[Ilov80s]

We bumped the movies back to 5/18 

 

[Da Guru]

Jerry McGuire is one of those movies I will watch every time it is on.  Just pick it up in the middle or towards the end it does not matter.

 

[Osaurus]

We bumped the movies back to 5/18 

Let’s pretend Jerry Maguire isn’t included

 

[Ilov80s]

Let’s pretend Jerry McGuire isn’t included

I mentioned this in the Recently Viewed Movie thread in regards to La La Land, but is Jerry Maguire one of the most divisive movies ever? 

 

[wikkidpissah]

We bumped the movies back to 5/18 

good thing - after Jerry Maguire, it's gonna be a while before i'm strong enough to try another movie

 

[Ilov80s]

Never seen it, but, even this thread couldn't motivate me to even care to try to watch it in the background while doing sudokus on my phone.

Interesting. I haven't seen it in a long time but I remember it being a really good movie. A bit cliche sure, but very entertaining. 

 

[Eephus]

Didn't realize the original due date was today.  Thanks for waiving the late fees.  I'll remember to rewind.

I've seen 'em both but it's been a long time for Jerry Maguire.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Sort of. It sounds fun,  have you done it? 

No, too lazy. But if you want to test it some time send me a PM and we can hop online and try it. 

 

[wikkidpissah]

i'll kick off the proceedings a little early, simply because i can harbor my bilious distaste for the work of Cameron Crowe no longer....

Which is worse - trite or bitter?

For most of my life. i would have said "bitter" and probably believe that still. My father was a subsistence farmer who was working harder by age 7 than i ever have, my mother an orphaned immigrant. They measure still each of life's rewards & rebukes by the distance they've traversed to receive them and that has poisoned pleasure for them all the way thru. Likewise, people of color and difference rarely seem to accept the challenges of their circumstances in good humor, which is precisely the quality that would most help them prevail. I'll not belabor all this because i am a white man who surfed more than he swam and dont have the standing, but i have long learned that a billionaire can be more miserable than a bidi girl because everyone has, or imagines to have, short sticks in their life stories and suffers them similarly.

Is there a more insipid white-man problem than triteness, but is it now more actually toxic than bitterness? This month's Movie Club gives us a chance to explore that because one of the offerings is from the Bill Gates of trite, Cameron Crowe. He reminds me of the door-to-door salesmen of my youth who, by their presence, announce the lack of value of the product they offer. What imitation of the good life will you buy, step right up for this preview of tomorrow's cliches, what can i do to get you in this moist pile of polished turds TODAY? Not a genuine moment nor organic motive nor honest feeling in Jerry Maguire.. Every circumstance and emotion generated in our factories to be aluminum siding for your personality. No wet paint in wish fulfillment, no termites in dreams, are there? Sign here.

No such pitch in the skillfully written & shot High Flying Bird. It may all be a game, but now the game is the real, brothers & sisters. My way thru the pain is to get you to bite on the crossover dribble, fake you out your shoes. No portion of life i cant game and, once it's a game to everybody, the Ls dont hurt as anything more than anything else on the championship track and none of it touches me as a player. We wont discuss the fact that everybody but the champs go home losers, those are merely the ingredients of the next game and, if we get enough people to watch us ball, we...get...PAID.

Which is more honest, more real, more true - Fuller Brush or Air Jordans? Neither, brothers and sisters. Abstractions & distractions, nothing more. Get OUT your bitterness, AWAY from your delusions. There are plenty of actual victories to be had when you live & give instead of pretend & play. Live, give, love, laugh, leave it better than you found it. You had you at hello.

 

[Ilov80s]

Ok that Wikkid post has me excited to knock these movies out this weekend

 

[wikkidpissah]

TNT has turned FBGMC selection Snowpiercer into a series, with Jennifer Connelly in the Tilda Swinton role. Premieres tomorrow evening @ 9pm

 

[Ilov80s]

TNT has turned FBGMC selection Snowpiercer into a series, with Jennifer Connelly in the Tilda Swinton role. Premieres tomorrow evening @ 9pm

On one hand I don’t love the movie and TNT has a poor track record with tv shows. On the other hand, Jennifer Connelly. 

 

[Ilov80s]

About half way through High Flying Bird and I will have to recommend this to my friends who are basketball fans. Great movie for those into the business of sports. 

 

[bostonfred]

TNT has turned FBGMC selection Snowpiercer into a series, with Jennifer Connelly in the Tilda Swinton role. Premieres tomorrow evening @ 9pm

This is a terrible idea for a show. 

Snowpiercer was an interesting idea turned into a mediocre movie. It would have been better as an episode of black mirror than a feature film.  It's rare that good actors do a good job and still somehow all distract you from the plot of the movie.  The combination of interesting dystopian future mixed with fight scenes and over the top acting felt like the worst parts of the wachowskis, John Woo and Tim Burton. I didn't care about any of the characters, there was nothing particularly believable about any of the cars or especially the people at the front of the train, the setting cramped the viewing experience more than the characters whose lack of living quarters wasn't even a top 10 plot hole and the ending was bad at both a literal and a metaphorical level.  

There wasn't enough meat on the bones of the idea of a super train as humanity's last hope and the class struggles on the train to fill 90 minutes.  Unless they get some very good writers to flesh it out, it will already be behind the 8 ball. But then they have the polar opposite of Tilda Swinton reprising the only memorable character in the movie, which will almost certainly lead to her feeling obligated to overact as much as Swinton did but not as well, like a female Jared Leto following heath ledger except with a less popular source content and for a lot more screen time. 

Set your expectations looooow.

 

[Eephus]

Here's another Jerry Maguire companion piece for the masochists.  Draft Day is now streaming on Amazon Prime.  Compare and contrast the Mel Kiper cameos.

 

[Osaurus]

Here's another Jerry Maguire companion piece for the masochists.  Draft Day is now streaming on Amazon Prime.  Compare and contrast the Mel Kiper cameos.

Still waiting for Jimmy Clausen to be dominant in the NFL

 

[Ilov80s]

Wife and I enjoyed Jerry Maguire,  but I forgot how weird the beginning is. It’s an attempt to do a Billy Wilder narration opening but it doesn’t work as well. The whole breakdown happens so quickly but once you get past that it turns into a cute, sweet movie. All the actors are well suited for their parts. Solid but unspectacular. 

 

[Ilov80s]

Did anyone think the cinematography of High Flying Bird suffered at all from being shot on an i-Phone? 

 

[wikkidpissah]

Did anyone think the cinematography of High Flying Bird suffered at all from being shot on an i-Phone? 

not really. i knew it going in and actually admired the work so knowing. dont know how i would feel if i hadnt, but i cant imagined i'd have considered it anything but an aesthetic choice

 

[Ilov80s]

not really. i knew it going in and actually admired the work so knowing. dont know how i would feel if i hadnt, but i cant imagined i'd have considered it anything but an aesthetic choice

Same, I thought it looked great and fit the film well. Really gave the feeling of being inside the "game on top of the game" without feeling like a doc. 

I mean, it was more like "shot on an iPhone and with a hundred-thousand dollar grip & electric lighting package, right?" I'm just guessing but probably not using only natural light and no gel filters? 

I am sure. It had a $2 million budget so it's not like some student film. This is all Wikipedia said "The film was shot using an iPhone 8 smartphone, equipped with an anamorphic lens produced by Moondog Labs, while utilizing the FiLMic Pro video app" 

 

[Ilov80s]

Haha ok. So really it just used the iPhones ccd image capture chip and stored the video on there. But they didn't have to deal with the lack of focus control or depth of field after changing the lens. Audio recorded separately. Kind of a ship of theseus... What if they took the ccd chip out and put it in a pro camera housing? Just as much shot on an iPhone. 

I guess I'm saying that it wouldn't have affected the cinematography to such a degree that some good professionals couldn't work with it. 

Makes sense, especially given how good the movie looks.Have you seen Tangerine? It predates HFB by 4 years and IMO looks incredible. 

Baker and Radium Cheung shot the film using three iPhone 5S smartphones.[7][9] The money saved on camera equipment was used to pay for shooting locations and to pay extras.[9] They used the FiLMIC Pro app, a video app (to control focus, aperture and color temperature, as well as capture video clips at higher bit-rates) and an anamorphic adapter from Moondog Labs (to capture widescreen).[9] They also used Tiffen's Steadicam Smoothee to capture smooth moving shots.

 

[wikkidpissah]

not looking good for FBGMC - an extra week, halfway thru the due date and my issuefied review is the only one on the board?

 

[Ilov80s]

not looking good for FBGMC - an extra week, halfway thru the due date and my issuefied review is the only one on the board?

12 votes so far which is low but not atypical for the 1st day. But yeah, I think it's a mix of movies that didn't excite people (despite people wanting sports movies), the DI draft thread taking up so much time for people here and the weather getting nicer. We shall see how the next pairing goes...

 

[Eephus]

I watched High Flying Bird when it came out last year.  I enjoyed it but wasn't blown away.  Soderbergh is a pro who never makes a bad film but HFB definitely seemed like a minor effort and I didn't feel the need to rewatch it so soon.  I suppose I should watch The Laundromat instead but the trailer turned me off.

Jerry Maguire is a film I hadn't seen in 20 years and probably will never watch again after this rewatch.  Ilov80s mentioned Billy Wilder and I think that's an apt description of what Crowe was aiming for but he fell short.  My biggest problem with the film that almost every scene tried too hard to be clever.  The big scenes of characters yelling in offices, homes and locker rooms rang so false that it made me question the honesty of the smaller, quieter parts.  That's a shame because some of the scenes of love and courtship were quite touching.

It was entertaining enough.  The story was a glimpse into an interesting world; it was fake as a $3 bill but still engaging.  I thought the pacing of the second half of film wasn't great.  The script lost its connection with time and it simultaneously seemed to be moving too fast and too slow, particularly in regards to Jerry and Dorothy's relationship.  The acting was generally solid although I thought Cuba Gooding Jr.'s Oscar winning performance was more caricature than character.  That was probably more on Crowe than Gooding though.  I thought the Greek chorus of the divorced women's group was a nice touch although having them there to witness the climax didn't make sense.  I think Crowe's greatest achievement was to write a rom-com in a male dominated setting to appeal to a broader audience.  It fell somewhere between Bull Durham and Fever Pitch in this regard.

I gave it a 3 but would go to 3.5 if this was Pitchfork.

 

[KarmaPolice]

not looking good for FBGMC - an extra week, halfway thru the due date and my issuefied review is the only one on the board?

I am still reading through your post trying to decide if you liked HFB or not. 

 

[Ilov80s]

Interesting sidenote, both films featured interjections of people who weren't part of the storyline speaking to the camera about their experiences. KAT, Donovan Mitchell and Reggie Jackson in HFB and Jerry's mentor in JM. 

 

[wikkidpissah]

I am still reading through your post trying to decide if you liked HFB or not. 

yes

 

[Eephus]

Jerry's mentor in JM

This was a nice gimmick but his appearances were too infrequent to feel like anything but an afterthought.

 

[prosopis]

I liked HFB better than Jerry McGuire. I thought it was a cool look behind the scenes and I enjoyed the suspense of it. 

Jerry Mcguire to me is all about Cuba Gooding. I think he is fantastic in it and I love his character. Just a cool guy trying to enjoy life and love. 

I agree with who ever said Tom Cruise is not going to carry a romantic film. It just doesn't work. It's been a few weeks so I don't remember the exact scene but I loved the light getting brighter during a moment between Jerry and whats her name. Maybe their first kiss? I dont know but it was pretty noticeable and cool. I am a sucker for romantic bull #### though.

 

[krista4]

I'd like to announce that I was not the "5" vote on Jerry Maguire.

 

[Ilov80s]

I liked HFB better than Jerry McGuire. I thought it was a cool look behind the scenes and I enjoyed the suspense of it. 

Jerry Mcguire to me is all about Cuba Gooding. I think he is fantastic in it and I love his character. Just a cool guy trying to enjoy life and love. 

I agree with who ever said Tom Cruise is not going to carry a romantic film. It just doesn't work. It's been a few weeks so I don't remember the exact scene but I loved the light getting brighter during a moment between Jerry and whats her name. Maybe their first kiss? I dont know but it was pretty noticeable and cool. I am a sucker for romantic bull #### though.

Cuba's character was more interesting than I remembered it. All I remembered was the swag factor, but I forgot he was labeled a bad team mate for being selfish and wasn't really liked by the media or the team. That was contrasted by his personal life where he was by all accounts a great husband, father and friend. It was a good contrast and reminder for us football fans that the players are engaging in a business and we shouldn't make sweeping judgments about them as people because they complained about their quarterback or held out for half a season. 

 

[Ilov80s]

Does anyone think part of the problem with JM is that it walks too much of a line on being a romantic comedy and a sports movie? By being pretty 50-50 on those two elements, maybe neither is able to be developed as much as should have been? The movie has some great scenes but it doesn't all come together for some reason. 

 

[wikkidpissah]

Does anyone think part of the problem with JM is that it walks too much of a line on being a romantic comedy and a sports movie? By being pretty 50-50 on those two elements, maybe neither is able to be developed as much as should have been? The movie has some great scenes but it doesn't all come together for some reason. 

you're very close to the problem - the movie never leaves the writer's mind. he never lives with it, but imagines whatever would be the most effective in scene form, ever mindful of what casts Cruise in the best light and doesnt require him to leave his grinace for any significant period of time. cute kid? check. fumbling, faithful, female? check. three instant cliches? check. man as men wish they were, complete with job where tood=cash? cut. print.

 

[Eephus]

Does anyone think part of the problem with JM is that it walks too much of a line on being a romantic comedy and a sports movie? By being pretty 50-50 on those two elements, maybe neither is able to be developed as much as should have been? The movie has some great scenes but it doesn't all come together for some reason. 

you're very close to the problem - the movie never leaves the writer's mind. he never lives with it, but imagines whatever would be the most effective in scene form, ever mindful of what casts Cruise in the best light and doesnt require him to leave his grinace for any significant period of time. cute kid? check. fumbling, faithful, female? check. three instant cliches? check. man as men wish they were, complete with job where tood=cash? cut. print.

I think Crowe was personally closer to the characters in Almost Famous, Singles, etc.  I know he talked with guys like Leigh Steinberg while researching the film but Jerry was never believable for me.  It was like Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything wearing a suit and interacting with athletes.

 

[krista4]

I think Crowe was personally closer to the characters in Almost Famous, Singles, etc.  I know he talked with guys like Leigh Steinberg while researching the film but Jerry was never believable for me.  It was like Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything wearing a suit and interacting with athletes.

He actually spent several months following around Steinberg and his partner (at the time), who is a family friend of mine.  I'm not sure how he still got it wrong (assuming he did), but he put in the time and research with them.

 

[Eephus]

He actually spent several months following around Steinberg and his partner (at the time), who is a family friend of mine.  I'm not sure how he still got it wrong (assuming he did), but he put in the time and research with them.

Yeah, I don't know what it was but I lost the Jerry character from the opening scene.  I never believed him or believed in him.  I can't lay that on Cruise who I thought put in a solid performance.

 

[krista4]

Yeah, I don't know what it was but I lost the Jerry character from the opening scene.  I never believed him or believed in him.  I can't lay that on Cruise who I thought put in a solid performance.

Well, I can say that no one in the film reminds me of the two people Crowe spent his time with, other than agents being d!cks.  It's like he found out what he wanted but just had Cruise in mind no matter what.  I don't see any way Cruise could pull it off.

And I'm one of the only people here who likes the movie.   

 

[Eephus]

Crowe is a big music fan so the soundtrack always plays a big part in his films.  It's obviously easier to do when the protagonists are musicians or music writers than athletes or agents.  I was OK with Jerry singing Free Fallin in his car but getting in on with Dorothy to Mingus was just absurd.

I haven't seen We Bought a Zoo.