timdraft #4: Movie Category Draft (1 Viewer)

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

23 Points

Body Heat - Timschochet - (Rotten Tomatoes score of 97%)

Is movie about Adultery/Sex?

Yes, a combination of both.

If about Adultery, is there a big development?

As this basically an updated version of Double Indemnity with more grit and realism, Adultery is the prime driver in the relationship for Turner’s character to convince William Hurt to murder her husband

If about Sex, is it titillating or realistic?

The sex looks very convincing as Turner is naked in several scenes and Hurt and her have a good chemistry on screen. Tuner is very confident, in control and HAWWWTTT

Foot fetish?

Nothing memorable, although with the naked writing there were a few shots of Turners feet

Quality of Movie

This IMHO is a much better movie than Double Indemnity for a few reasons:

1. – The explicitness is much more convincing in allowing Hurt to ride along with Turner until he does the deed. In Double Indemnity, most of that is off the screen or implied, leading to doubts about the intensity of the relationship
2. – The sex involved in convincing and believable and you can easily see how Hurt is hooked before he knows it
3. – The setting is old school, but the scripting, direction and acting are modern. Totally works and hasn’t dated in over 30 years. Double Indemnity, not so much

Here’s a quality review from Ebert again

[SIZE=10.5pt] Like a tantalizing mirage, film noir haunts modern filmmakers. Noir is the genre of night, guilt, violence and illicit passion, and no genre is more seductive. But the best noirs were made in the 1940s and 1950s, before directors consciously knew what they were doing (“We called them B movies,” said [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Robert Mitchum[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]).[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Once the French named the genre, once a generation of filmmakers came along who had seen noirs at cinematheques instead of in flea pits, noir could never again be naive. One of the joys of a great noir like “[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Detour[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]” (1954) is the feeling that it was made by people who took the story perfectly seriously. One of the dangers of modern self-conscious noir, as Pauline Kael wrote in her scathing dismissal of “Body Heat,” is that an actress like [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Kathleen Turner[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] comes across “as if she were following the marks on the floor made by the actresses who preceded her.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]And yet if bad modern noir can play like a parody, good noir still has the power to seduce. Yes, Lawrence Kasdan's “Body Heat” (1981) is aware of the films that inspired it--especially Billy Wilder's “[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Double Indemnity[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]” (1944). But it has a power that transcends its sources. It exploits the personal style of its stars to insinuate itself; Kael is unfair to Turner, who in her debut role played a woman so sexually confident that we can believe her lover ([/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]William Hurt[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]) could be dazed into doing almost anything for her. The moment we believe that, the movie stops being an exercise and starts working. (I think the moment occurs in the scene where she leads Hurt by her hand in that manner a man is least inclined to argue with.)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Women are rarely allowed to be bold and devious in the movies; most directors are men, and they see women as goals, prizes, enemies, lovers and friends, but rarely as protagonists. Turner's entrance in “Body Heat” announces that she is the film's center of power. It is a hot, humid night in Florida. Hurt, playing a cocky but lazy lawyer named Ned Racine, is strolling on a pier where an exhausted band is listlessly playing. He is behind the seated audience. We can see straight down the center aisle to the bandstand. All is dark and red and orange. Suddenly a woman in white stands up, turns around and walks straight toward him. This is Matty Walker. To see her is to need her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Turner in her first movie role was an intriguing original. Slender, with hair down to her shoulders, she evoked aspects of [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Barbara Stanwyck[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] and [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Lauren Bacall[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]. But the voice, with its elusive hint of a Latin accent, was challenging. She had “angry eyes,” the critic David Thomson observed. And a slight overbite (later corrected, I think) gave a playful edge to her challenging dialogue (“You're not too smart, are you?” she says soon after meeting him. “I like that in a man.”)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Hurt had been in one movie before “Body Heat” (Ken Russell's “[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Altered States[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]” in 1980). He was still unfamiliar: a tall, already balding, indolently handsome man with a certain lazy arrogance to his speech, as if amused by his own intelligence. “Body Heat” is a movie about a woman who gets a man to commit murder for her. It is important that the man not be a dummy; he needs to be smart enough to think of the plan himself. One of the brilliant touches of Kasdan's screenplay is the way he makes Ned Racine think he is the initiator of Matty Walker's plans.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Few movies have done a better job of evoking the weather. Heat, body heat, is a convention of pornography, where performers routinely complain about how warm they are (as if lovemaking could cool them off, instead of making them hotter). Although air conditioning was not unknown in South Florida in 1981, the characters here are constantly in heat; there is a scene where Ned comes home, takes off his shirt and stands in front of the open refrigerator. The film opens with an inn burning in the distance (“Somebody's torched it to clear the lot,” Ned says. “Probably one of my clients.”) There are other fires. There is the use of the color red. There is the sense that heat inflames passion and encourages madness.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]In this heat, Matty seems cool. Early in the film there is a justly famous scene where Matty brings Ned home from a bar, allegedly to listen to her wind chimes, and then asks him to leave. He leaves, then returns, and looks through a window next to her front door. She stands inside, dressed in red, calmly returning his gaze. He picks up a chair and throws it through the window, and in the next shot they are embracing. Knowing what we know about Matty, look once again at her expression as she looks back at him. She looks as confident and absorbed as a child who has pushed a button and is waiting for a video game to respond.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Kasdan, born in 1949, worked in ad agencies before moving to Hollywood to write screenplays. His more personal work languished in desk drawers while his first credits were two of the biggest blockbusters of all time, “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]George Lucas[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] acted as executive producer on this directorial debut to reassure Warner Bros. that it would come in on time and be releasable. It was; David Chute wrote in Film Comment that it was “perhaps the most stunning debut movie ever” (which raises the question of “Citizen Kane,” but never mind). Kasdan's subsequent career has alternated between action pieces written for others (“[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Return of the Jedi[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt],” aspects of “The Bodyguard”) and quirky, smart films directed by himself (“The Accidental Tourist,” “I Love You To Death,” and the brilliant, overlooked “Grand Canyon” in 1991).[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]In “Body Heat,” Kasdan's original screenplay surrounds the characters with good, well-written performances in supporting roles; he creates a real world of police stations, diners, law offices and restaurants, away from which Matty has seduced Ned into her own twisted scenario. The best supporting work in the movie is by [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Mickey Rourke[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt], in his breakthrough role, as Ned's friend, a professional arsonist. [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Richard Crenna[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] is Matty's husband. “He's small, and mean, and weak,” she tells Ned, but when we see him he is not small or weak. [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Ted Danson[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] and J.A. Preston are a D.A. and a cop, Ned's friends, who are drawn reluctantly into suspecting him of murder (Danson's sense of timing and nuance are perfect in a night scene where he essentially briefs his friend Ned on the case against him).[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]“Kasdan has modern characters talking jive talk as if they'd been boning up on Chandler novels,” Kael wrote, “and he doesn't seem to know if he wants laughs or not.” But isn't it almost essential for noir characters to talk in a certain heightened style, and isn't it possible for us to smile in recognition? On the night they first make love, Ned tells Matty, “Maybe you shouldn't dress like that.” She says, “This is a blouse and skirt. I don't know what you're talking about.” And he says, “You shouldn't wear that body.” Chandleresque? Yes. Works in this movie? Yes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]And there is some dialogue that unblinkingly confronts the enormity of the crime that Ned and Matty are contemplating. In many movies, the killers use self-justification and rationalization to talk themselves into murder. There is a chilling scene in “Body Heat” where Ned flatly tells Matty: “That man is gonna die for no reason but . . . we want him to.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]The plot and its double-crosses are of course part of the pleasure, although watching the film again last night, aware of its secrets, I found the final payoff less rewarding than the diabolical setup. The closing scenes are obligatory (and the final beach scene is perfunctory and unconvincing). The last scene that works as drama is the one where Ned suggests to Matty that she go get the glasses in the boathouse, and then she pauses on the lawn to tell him, “Ned, whatever you think--I really do love you.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Does she? That's what makes the movie so intriguing. Does he love her, for that matter? Or is he swept away by sexual intoxication--body heat? You watch the movie the first time from his point of view, and the second time from hers. Every scene plays two ways. “Body Heat” is good enough to make film noir play like we hadn't seen it before.[/SIZE]

Other Comments – Funny to think of how Kathleen Turner went from extreme hotness in Body Heat and Man with Two Brains (and more) to playing Chandler's father in Friends. Age was not kind to her, but we still have these wonderful celluloid memories of her.

Rating – This was a pleasure to see again and it gets a very high rating as it hits the target I set, very very well.

8=======================D

Overall score of 95%

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

24 Points

Belle De Jour - AcerFC - Rotten Tomatoes score of 95%

Is movie about Adultery/Sex?

Definitely both themes are explored, but ultimately the movie is about eroticism

If about Adultery, is there a big development?

As Severine is cheating on her husband by working in a brothel, I think that counts as Adultery.

If about Sex, is it titillating or realistic?

We don’t actually see the sex, but Severine’s desires are clearly played out in dreams and the perverted wishes of the clients.

Foot fetish?

Being a Bunuel movie there has to be numerous foot fetish scene, all of them in this movie feature the lovely feet of Catherine Deneuve

Quality of Movie – Bunuel has made many fine films, and none finer than this. My preference is for That Obscure Object of Desire, but this is the better overall picture.

Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 95% and the 2 negative reviews are a surprise. One is an “Internet Reviever”, so I’ll skip by him as he clearly doesn’t understand the film and neither does the “top critic” Rita Kempley who can’t get her head around the idea that women can be perverted.

Ebert sums up this movie perfectly

[SIZE=10.5pt] In the days after I first saw Stanley Kubrick's "[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Eyes Wide Shut[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]," another film entered my mind again and again. It was Luis Bunuel's "Belle de Jour" (1967), the story of a respectable young wife who secretly works in a brothel one or two afternoons a week. Actors sometimes create "back stories" for their characters -- things they know about them that we don't. I became convinced that if Nicole Kidman's character in the Kubrick film had a favorite film of her own, it was "Belle de Jour."[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]It is possibly the best-known erotic film of modern times, perhaps the best. That's because it understands eroticism from the inside-out--understands how it exists not in sweat and skin, but in the imagination. "Belle de Jour" is seen entirely through the eyes of Severine, the proper 23-year-old surgeon's wife, played by [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Catherine Deneuve[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]. Bunuel, who was 67 when the film was released, had spent a lifetime making sly films about the secret terrain of human nature, and he knew one thing most directors never discover: For a woman like Severine, walking into a room to have sex, the erotic charge comes not from who is waiting in the room, but from the fact that she is walking into it. Sex is about herself. Love of course is another matter.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]The subject of Severine's passion is always Severine. She has an uneventful marriage to a conventionally handsome young surgeon named Pierre ([/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Jean Sorel[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]), who admires her virtue. She is hit upon by an older family friend, the saturnine Henri ([/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Michel Piccoli[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt], who was born looking insinuating). He's also turned on by her virtue--by her blond perfection, her careful grooming, her reserve, her icy disdain for him. "Keep your compliments to yourself," she says, when she and Pierre have lunch with him at a resort.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Her secret is that she has a wild fantasy life, and Bunuel cuts between her enigmatic smile and what she is thinking. Bunuel celebrated his own fetishes, always reserving a leading role in his films for feet and shoes, and he understood that fetishes have no meaning except that they are fetishes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Severine is a masochist who likes to be handled roughly, but she also has various little turn-ons that the movie wisely never explains, because they are hers alone. The mewling of cats, for example, and the sound of a certain kind of carriage bell. These sounds accompany the film's famous fantasy scenes, including the opening in which she rides with Pierre out to the country, where he orders two carriage drivers to assault her. In another scene, she is tied helplessly, dressed in an immaculate white gown, as men throw mud at her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]The turning point in Severine's sexual life comes when she learns of exclusive Paris brothels where housewives sometimes work in the afternoons, making extra money while their husbands are at the office.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Henri, who has her number, gives her the address of one. A few days later, dressed all in black as if going to her own funeral, she knocks at the door and is admitted to the domain of Madame Anais ([/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Genevieve Page[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]), an experienced businesswoman who is happy to offer her a job. Severine runs away, but returns, intrigued. At first she wants to pick and choose her clients, but Anais gives her a push, and when she answers "Yes, Madame," the older woman smiles to herself and says, "I see you need a firm hand." She understands Severine's need and is pleased that it will bring her business.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]There is no explicit sex in the movie. The most famous single scene -- one those who have seen it refer to again and again -- involves something we do not see and do not even understand. A client has a small lacquered box. He opens it and shows its contents to one of the other girls, and then to Severine. We never learn what is in the box. A soft buzzing noise comes from it. The first girl refuses to do whatever the client has in mind. So does Severine, but the movie cuts in an enigmatic way, and a later scene leaves the possibility that something happened.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]What's in the box? The literal truth doesn't matter. The symbolic truth, which is all Bunuel cares about, is that it contains something of great erotic importance to the client.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Into Madame Anais' come two gangsters. One of them, young and swaggering, with a sword-stick, a black leather cape and a mouthful of hideous steel teeth, is Marcel ([/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Pierre Clementi[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]). "For you there is no charge," Severine says quickly. She is turned on by his insults, his manner, and no doubt by her mental image of her cool perfection being defiled by his crude street manners. They have an affair, which leads up to the deep irony of the final melodramatic scenes--but what Marcel never understands is that while Severine is addicted to what he represents, she hardly cares about him at all. He is a prop for her fantasy life, the best one she has ever found.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Bunuel (1900-1983), one of the greatest of all directors, was almost contemptuous of stylistic polish. A surrealist as a young man, a collaborator with Salvador Dali on the famous "[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Un Chien Andalou[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]" (1928), he was deeply cynical about human nature, but with amusement, not scorn. He was fascinated by the way in which deep emotional programming may be more important than free will in leading us to our decisions. Many of his films involve situations in which the characters seem free to act, but are not. He believed that many people are hard-wired at an early age into lifelong sexual patterns.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Severine is such a person. "I can't help myself," she says at one point. "I am lost." She has a kind of resignation late in the film. She knows she has betrayed Pierre. For that matter, she knows she has used Marcel shamefully, even though that's what he thought he was doing to her. In the words of [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Woody Allen[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt], which contain as much despair as defiance, the heart wants what the heart wants.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]The film is elegantly mounted -- costumes, settings, decor, hair, clothes--and languorous in its pacing. Severine's fate seems predestined. So does that of her husband, who as a weak man is swept away by the implacable strength of his wife's desire. The best stylistic touches are the little ones, which someone unfamiliar with Bunuel might miss (although they work even if you don't notice them). The subtle use of meows on the soundtrack; what do they represent? Only Severine knows. The weary wisdom about human nature: After Severine refuses an early client, Anais sends in another girl, then takes Severine into the next room to watch through a peephole and learn. "That is disgusting," Severine says, turning away. Then she turns back and looks through the peephole again.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]"Belle de Jour" and "Eyes Wide Shut" are both about similar characters -- about staid, middle-class professionals whose marriages do not satisfy the fantasy needs of the wives. That long story about the Naval officer that Nicole Kidman's character tells her husband is closely related to the scenarios that play out in Severine's imagination. Both husbands remain clueless because what their wives desire is not about them, but about needs and compulsions so deeply engraved that they function at the instinctive level. Like a cat's meow.[/SIZE]

Other Comments

A lot of people aren’t going to get this movie. It is subtle and for the uninitiated into Bunuel hard to follow. Deneuve is wonderful as the cold Severine, no wonder Deneuve is often called the Ice Queen. She plays it to perfection as the beautiful, yet cold leading lady.

The depths of her desires to be dominated are fully played into her marvellous dream sequences where she dreams of being whipped and taken by a stranger, as well as have mud thrown at her while she is in a white dress. The more she gets her real desires met by working at the brothel, the happier she is with her husband and she even cracks a smile eventually.

Bunuel has always been a champion director of strong women characters and whimpering men

Rating 8========================D

This gets an overall score of 96%

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

25 Points

American Pie - Andy Dufresne (Rotten Tomatoes 61%)

Is movie about Adultery/Sex?

As with most movies about horny teenagers, this is purely about sex.

If about Adultery, is there a big development?

Unless Stifler’s mum counts, then no.

If about Sex, is it titillating or realistic?

Of course some of it is titillating, but on the whole this is a very realistic exploration of teenage boys and teenage girls and their obsession with sex. From Premature ejaculation to trying to force your girlfriend to put out, to pie #######. This movie has it all.

Foot fetish? Lovely shots of Shannon Elizabeths feet (and more)

Quality of Movie – I’m not ashamed in admitting this is one of my favourite movies of all time. It hits so many correct notes, the cast is superb and the writing top notch. The raunchy bits don’ t take anything away and in fact add even more to the movie. This movie has heart and this movie has soul.

Kevin Carr has a nice review.

[SIZE=9pt]I am a child of the 80s, so I will always think of films like “Porky’s” and “Revenge of the Nerds” as the quintessential teen sex comedies. Still, when “American Pie” came out in 1999, I respected the hell out of that production, too. It may not have invented the genre, but it did bring that genre to a whole new generation, ones that were tired of having to watch “Porky’s” and “Revenge of the Nerds” on videotape.[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]“American Pie” follows four friends in high school who make a pact to lose their virginity by graduation day. Jim is the nice guy who has a chronic masturbation problem and wants to get with the hot exchange student. Kevin is the guy with the steady girlfriend who will do just about everything except actually have sex. Oz is the jock who falls for the good girl in the choir. And Finch is the refined nerd who feels he’s above high school girls.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Part of what makes “American Pie” work isn’t just the relatively raunchy nature for its time. Sure, that’s a part of it, with Jim having sex with an apple pie and an early look at what streaming video could do to a person’s reputation. Those are all fun elements to the film, but what really makes “American Pie” work is its heart.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]The movie isn’t just about a bunch of teen guys trying to have sex. It’s about friends in high school bonding and going through things together. It’s about winding down your high school days and not knowing what’s in front of you. Unlike modern teen party movies, like the godawful “Project X,” these are real human beings with real human emotions.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Sure, sex is one thing, but good friends are also important. And amid all of the raunch and riotous behavior, there’s a niceness to the characters that makes them feel real and human. Made as a smaller film before it blew up to become a generational icon, “American Pie” has as much soul as it does sex.[/SIZE]

– These characters are fully rounded in the first film, even Stifler who becomes a parody in the sequels, but here they all are like friends. Jim with the embarrassing dad and ejaculation problems, Kevin with the hot girl who won’t put out and he’s too naïve and nice to deal with it properly. The prententious Finch. If we weren’t him, we knew someone like him and Oz. The handsome dude who could mix with almost anyone. The girls for the most part are more than window dressing. Tara Reid is believable, Alyson Hannigan hilarious, Mena Suvari sweet, yet earnest and Shannon Elizabeth super hot. Even minor characters like Shermanator and the MILF dudes are memorableOther Comments – Funny how the world works. This minor movie, became iconic and has spawned numerous sequels. Amazing what you can do when you put effort into characters. Some scenes are played out beautifully. The scene where Stifler chugs a beer after Kevin has spunked into it is just done so cleverly. He doesn't just chug the beer, he looks like he is, but then he keeps talking etc The scene with Nadia and Jim and the streaming camera is probably my 2nd favourite “hot” scene behind Phoebe Cates, so whoever drafted this gets the prize. For me personally I was able to relate to the characters and their situations and a lot of it reminded me of my own high school adventures and friends. Hits the spot in so many ways.

Rating – 8=========================D

Obviously I am gonna rate the #### outta this. Sometimes you just forget how much you enjoy a movie until you watch it again.

Overall score of 97%

 

[BobbyLayne]

finished

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

Sex/Adultery

Final Scores

25 Points - American Pie (Andy Dufresne)

24 Points - Belle De Jour (Acer FC)

23 Points - Body Heat (Timschochet)

22 Points - That Obscure Object of Desire (John Maddens Lunchbox)

21 Points - Boogie Nights (Rikishiboy)

20 Points - Sex, Lies & Videotape (Nick Vermeil)

19 Points - Kinsey (Val Rannous)

18 Points - Shame (Aerial Assault)

17 Points - Crash (Tremendous Upside)

16 Points - Y tu mama tambien - Karma Police

15 Points - Eyes Wide Shut - Tiannamen Tank

14 Points - Brokeback Mountain - Bobby Layne/Scott Norwood

13 Points - Dangerous Liasons - Mrs Rannous

12 Points - Secretary - Krista4

11 Points - Knife in the Water - jwb

10 Points - Double Indemnity - Mister CIA

9 Points - The Graduate - Time Kibitzer

8 Points - Unfaithful - Tish

7 Points - Basic Instinct - Dr Octopus

6 Points - Last Tango In Paris - Doug B

5 Points - Fatal Attraction - Joffer

4 Points - The Ice Storm - Usual 21

3 Points - 9 1/2 Weeks - higgins

2 Points - Dr. Zhivago - Kumerica

1 Points - Body of Evidence - For Hooter 311

 

[omally]

Other Comments – Funny to think of how Kathleen Turner went from extreme hotness in Body Heat and Man with Two Brains (and more) to playing Chandler's father in Friends. Age was not kind to her, but we still have these wonderful celluloid memories of her.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is what hasn't been kind to Turner since the early 90s. Her medication made her bloat, and her drinking to deal with the disease didn't help either. I think her RA is more manageable now with better meds, and I had read a couple years ago that her RA had gone into remission after many years of severe pain. She was a sexy woman back in the day, and I've always dug her voice. She's a cool lady. I hope she is feeling better these days.

 

[Nick Vermeil]

Other Comments Funny to think of how Kathleen Turner went from extreme hotness in Body Heat and Man with Two Brains (and more) to playing Chandler's father in Friends. Age was not kind to her, but we still have these wonderful celluloid memories of her.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is what hasn't been kind to Turner since the early 90s. Her medication made her bloat, and her drinking to deal with the disease didn't help either. I think her RA is more manageable now with better meds, and I had read a couple years ago that her RA had gone into remission after many years of severe pain. She was a sexy woman back in the day, and I've always dug her voice. She's a cool lady. I hope she is feeling better these days.

Amen.

 

[charvik]

This is going well...

 

[Andy Dufresne]

25 Points

American Pie - Andy Dufresne (Rotten Tomatoes 61%)

Hey, I missed that I got this score!

 

[Mister CIA]

JML Making News in Alaska

 

[BobbyLayne]

OK, I think we're done here.

Congrats Nick, and thanks everyone, especially the judges. See you mid-winter!

 

[Val Rannous]

??? No arguments?

 

[Nick Vermeil]

OK, I think we're done here.

Congrats Nick, and thanks everyone, especially the judges. See you mid-winter!

Who did what to who now?

 

[Aerial Assault]

How many cats left, three? I can do courtroom this weekend.

 

[AcerFC]

How many cats left, three? I can do courtroom this weekend.

Never heard from Karma Police by PM, so I'm not revisiting the No Idea movies. Will complete courtroom scenes shortly. And before anyone gives me crap, I've judged two cats and decided to leave Courtroom for the end. It's now the end.

Courtroom scenes will be done within two weeks from today.

Nine days since the last category was posted

Srsly. This is getting sorta silly.

And before anyone says, "Yeah?? Where are those courtroom seenz????!!!!111," I can have those ready in about 24 hours, but I've judged two cats already so I think I'm entitled to wonder wassup with the remaining 11 or however many there are left. So, anyhoo?

I will complete Dream Sequences by this weekend and Courtroom Scenes within a week after that.

Thanks, Val, for providing the needed activation energy to get this thing going again. And Tim, start a spreadsheet for the scores, my man.

just busting balls GB

 

[Aerial Assault]

Good one.

Srsly, though, are we done? Should I do teh courtroom seenz? (Can't do them until Saturday at the earliest as I'm on the road.)

 

[BobbyLayne]

OK, I think we're done here.

Congrats Nick, and thanks everyone, especially the judges. See you mid-winter!

Who did what to who now?

Just trying to give thing a proper burial.

 

[Val Rannous]

Mrs. R will be posting the Filming a movie scene rankings (tomorrow, she says).

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

I said I'd be posting the rankings this weekend. Real Life intervened in the form of the 25th year inour fantasy football league. And then the season started. At last- real sports to watch.

This would have gone faster with more links to the scenes.

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

JML Making News in Alaska

Very Funny

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

Given that Courtroom and Dream Sequences have been "coming" for 3 months, I might just take one to get us closer to the finish line.

It won't be my usual production, just a post the damn rankings type of situation.

If Aerial Assault hasn't got ANYTHING written, just say so and I'll go from there.

If you have something written, specify which category you have most written for.

 

[AcerFC]

Dream sequence is done

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Aaaannnnnddddd ACTION!

Let's get this party started. For criteria, I went with the criteria for gambling scenes modified for this topic. Realism was a bit less important here because we had a lot of comedy filming going on. For Hollywood, this seems to be a target-rich environment.

I was looking for scenes that showed movie-making actually happening. The more of the process shown, the better. Amateur efforts totally count here. Everyone has to start somewhere, and a large number of filmmakers started with their own home productions. Again, allowances are made for the comedy movie-making experience, even if the movie chosen is not a comedy. Sometimes Murphy's Rules determine the outcome.

We did have a lot of movie scenes chosen with no clips. For Hugo and Argo, I was able to watch the movies and see the scenes based on the description given. (Very recent movies seem to be difficult to link.) Some choices had neither link nor description. Mostly, I worked it out. For a couple, it's a problem.

Numbers for the rankings will have to come after judging is completed, since my choice is to be ranked by Krista or Bobby Lane or some other wonderful individual. I know my choice belongs in the top tier, but where I have no idea. It's a tough field at the top. Also, two movies have no ranking. I'm hoping for help here.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

I have no idea:

The Girl Next Door - I don't even know which movie this is. There are four(!) of these listed. Acer, which is it? And do you have a link?

State and Main - Nick V. Has someone other than the drafter seen this? I couldn't find any useful clip on YouTube. When the search parameters are really common words, it's tough to get a useful result.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Ed Wood (Dr Octopus) - This kills me. There are lots of possibilities here, but the clip chosen doesn't have anything to do with filming a movie. It's Landau's marvelous performance as Bela Lugosi, but not in a movie-making scene. Argh!

Bowfinger (Mister CIA) - With no clip provided, I had to go with the clips I found. They seemed more focused on the comedy than the movie-making.

Sunset Boulevard (jwb) - I like the choice, but there isn't a lot of movie-making here, either in Norma Desmond's mind or in reality.

Baadasssss (Bobby Lane) - Funny clip, but again not enough action. I love the guy who is 6'9" with the afro.

Blazing Saddles (tim) - Some film making goodness here, albeit with poofy goodness. But the choices about it have more.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Argo (Usual 21) - As much about the two men wanting to cross the set as about the movie being shot.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (tiannamen tank) - Nice shot of a movie scene re-set after a miscue.

Tropic Thunder (Aerial Assault) - Other clips with more movie-making actually being shown would have done better. A lot better. Even a description of the scene would have been enough since I've seen this movie.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (joffer) - No clip provided and no description either, but I fould some that seemed representative. They do show how to make a movie. Not a good movie, but a movie nonetheless.

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (hooter 311) - Our heroes try to sabatage a movie in progress. Nice. This clip showed some of how a movie is set up and directed. And it shows the oops moments that sometimes show up in the background.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Be Kind Rewind (tish) - Very amateurish movie making in progress. But they sure are trying to make a real movie, and they show it on film.

Holiday Inn (rikishiboy) - I suggested this one for him, so I know the scene well. It shows how a real place is recreated on a set and how the director cues the scene. It also shows the dolly work involved in a moviing shot and in a following shot from outdoors to indoors. Also, some special effects work with the snow.)

In Bruges (jml) - No clip given, but there was a scene indicated. I had to scout around for this. I may have to rent this. It looked more amusing than the description indicated. More about the black humor than the movie, but good anyhu.

Super 8 (Andy Dufresne) - Great choice here. Panicked kids make a movie that takes a hard left turn. Shows lots of how-to goodness.

The rest will have to wait. Breakfast is here.

 

[Aerial Assault]

Given that Courtroom and Dream Sequences have been "coming" for 3 months, I might just take one to get us closer to the finish line.

It won't be my usual production, just a post the damn rankings type of situation.

If Aerial Assault hasn't got ANYTHING written, just say so and I'll go from there.

If you have something written, specify which category you have most written for.

Lol. Not only are you a jerk, you're an uninformed jerk. Dream sequences have been done for what, months? Meanwhile, the only reason courtroom scenes have not been completed is that before judging three cats, I wanted some people to do the one or two they committed to, like yourself, for example. You didn't exactly rush out those sex rankings.

So, now that you're better informed, HTH? For everyone else, I'll complete courtroom scenes this week.

What a cluster f this once-fun draft became. Sad how a few tools can ruin everyone else's fun.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

And now for the top tiers.

These movies had no clips selected. From what I can see, they deserve top status, but it's hard to rank a non-selected clip. Therefore, they get the bottom of the section.

Son of Rambow (Karma Police) - Looks like a fun movie I need to see in its entirety. Lots of amateur filmmaking here.

CQ (Kumerica) - Barbarella-like movie within a movie here. Also a lot of onscreen movie making action.

Day for Night (tremendous upside) - Really good stuff by Truffaut here. It looks a bit like an instruction video in spots there' so much detail.

 

[krista4]

Mrs. Rannous, for the lazy (me), could you provide a link to what you selected?

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Shadow of the Vanpire (higgins)

Back when he drafted this, higgins wrote:

I want this because the actor is one of my favorites, and I want it now because of the general doosh-snipiness goin’ on here. I happen to remember from an earlier draft that Mrs. Rannous mentioned she was a fan of this guy, and, while she may have already have a pick for this category, I can easily see her move it to another category just to snipe me! I cannot allow this! This will not stand!

And he was probably right. I did consider this as a pick. I especially like that the movie within a movie is also part of the framing story during this clip. There is technical stuff happening (the hand cranking of the camera, etc) as well as the direction of the scene. Great stuff.

Hooper (doug b) - A really long clip showing how a stunt shot is made. SInce Burt Reynolds got his start as a stunt man, he knows the score here. Some of this stuff would make insurance people cringe, but it is fun to watch.

Living in Oblivion (krista) - A director's nightmare at the studio. When things aren't working, they really aren't working. This made me laugh out loud.

Chaplin (Rannous) - Improve at the silent film stage. Beautifully shows how direction and timing work in a silent film.

Hugo (Time Kibitzer) - This shows the stems and seeds of film making. Georges Méliès invents cinema on the fly. Very pretty. (The originals would have been filmed in Trendy Grayscale and then hand tinted, but that wouldn't look too good in this movie. Otherwise, very instructive.

And that's all until someone ranks my movie. At that time, I will assign points.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Mrs. Rannous, for the lazy (me), could you provide a link to what you selected?

Sure thing. Although there wouldn't be much searching. It was my first round pick.

Lina learns to talk.

 

[krista4]

Mrs. Rannous, for the lazy (me), could you provide a link to what you selected?

Sure thing. Although there wouldn't be much searching. It was my first round pick.

Lina learns to talk.

Oh yeah, that's awesome. I'm sure people trust you perfectly well to rank your own pick. It's clearly in the top tier, and I think you could rank it anywhere within the tier.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Mrs. Rannous, for the lazy (me), could you provide a link to what you selected?

Sure thing. Although there wouldn't be much searching. It was my first round pick.

Lina learns to talk.

Oh yeah, that's awesome. I'm sure people trust you perfectly well to rank your own pick. It's clearly in the top tier, and I think you could rank it anywhere within the tier.

Yeah, I know it's a top tier pick. It just feels a little odd to rank it myself. I'm pretty attached to Jean Hagen's performance.

 

[krista4]

Mrs. Rannous, for the lazy (me), could you provide a link to what you selected?

Sure thing. Although there wouldn't be much searching. It was my first round pick.

Lina learns to talk.

Oh yeah, that's awesome. I'm sure people trust you perfectly well to rank your own pick. It's clearly in the top tier, and I think you could rank it anywhere within the tier.

Yeah, I know it's a top tier pick. It just feels a little odd to rank it myself. I'm pretty attached to Jean Hagen's performance.

No one should object if you wanted to rank it first, even.

My problem in slotting it is that I would have had the tier ranked differently. If I had to do it, I'd put it either second behind Hugo or first.

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

Given that Courtroom and Dream Sequences have been "coming" for 3 months, I might just take one to get us closer to the finish line.

It won't be my usual production, just a post the damn rankings type of situation.

If Aerial Assault hasn't got ANYTHING written, just say so and I'll go from there.

If you have something written, specify which category you have most written for.

Lol. Not only are you a jerk, you're an uninformed jerk. Dream sequences have been done for what, months? Meanwhile, the only reason courtroom scenes have not been completed is that before judging three cats, I wanted some people to do the one or two they committed to, like yourself, for example. You didn't exactly rush out those sex rankings.

So, now that you're better informed, HTH? For everyone else, I'll complete courtroom scenes this week.

What a cluster f this once-fun draft became. Sad how a few tools can ruin everyone else's fun.

WTF is this about and WTF is wrong with you?

I lost track of what categories haven't been done. If I hurt you feelings by thinking one of them was one you had already done, then my sincerest apologies.

I didn't realise you'd be this upset by me questioning how much you've actually done on the category(s?) you still have to judge.

I was simply trying to bring an end to this ####### draft and volunteering to help out. Why does this get you so wound up man?

Forget I asked sheesh.

You've said Courtroom will be ready since June, I've actually posted all mine 3 weeks ago and I was ranking movies BTW, not scenes. I did 2 movie categories as well.

Your judging has been top notch and if you are actually going to judge and not just say you are for 3 months, then great. Just post the damn thing. Piss or get of the pot.

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

So what actually is left?

Mrs Rannous is taking on Shooting a movie scene

Aerial Assault may or may not be doing Courtroom Scenes depending on what stage he is at or if he is spitting the dummy. Seriously guy, I'm just trying to help. If you have them ready soon, as you keep saying, great. If not move over and let someone else do them. I don't want to do them. I just want this thing finished.

What else is there?

 

[krista4]

Movie Draft Score through 26 of 30 Categories

Drafter - Total

---------------------------------------------

BobbyLayne - 417

Nick Vermeil - 416

krista4 - 409

Tiannamen Tank - 401

Tremendous Upside - 396

AcerFC - 380

Andy Dufresne - 372

Val Rannous - 372

hooter311 - 369

Aerial Assault - 368

timschochet - 364

Mrs. Rannous - 356

Karma Police - 349

John Madden's Lunchbox - 347

jwb - 324

Time Kibitzer - 320

Doug B - 308

higgins - 308

Joffer - 305

Kumerica - 298

Mister CIA - 284

Dr. Octopus - 273

rikishiboy - 260

Usual21 - 246

Tish155 - 208

...

Categories remaining:

Adultery/sex (in progress)

Courtroom Scene

Monologue

Shooting a Movie Scene

Looks like this was the last Doug B update. Since then, you've finished sex (?) and Mrs. Rannous is almost done with shooting a movie scene, so we have monologue and courtroom. No idea who is supposed to be doing monologue.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

I'll wait until tomorrow (when thiere's no football to distract us all day), then number my rankings.

Krista, how would you rank the top five movies and why? Sign me "Curious".

 

[krista4]

I'll wait until tomorrow (when thiere's no football to distract us all day), then number my rankings.

Krista, how would you rank the top five movies and why? Sign me "Curious".

Dear Curious,

I'd love to tell you, but really I'm just not able to muster the energy. I know I thought Chaplin was too high, and I expected Ed Wood (not in the top five) to rank higher but you made a good point about which scene was taken. Your rankings were very good, so little quibbles here and there aren't worth mentioning; it just makes slotting a little harder.

Signed,

Nada in Nicaragua

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

I'll wait until tomorrow (when thiere's no football to distract us all day), then number my rankings.

Krista, how would you rank the top five movies and why? Sign me "Curious".

Dear Curious,

I'd love to tell you, but really I'm just not able to muster the energy. I know I thought Chaplin was too high, and I expected Ed Wood (not in the top five) to rank higher but you made a good point about which scene was taken. Your rankings were very good, so little quibbles here and there aren't worth mentioning; it just makes slotting a little harder.

Signed,

Nada in Nicaragua

The Ed Wood ranking killed me. There's so much to work with there. Same for Tropic Thunder.

 

[Aerial Assault]

I'll wait until tomorrow (when thiere's no football to distract us all day), then number my rankings.

Krista, how would you rank the top five movies and why? Sign me "Curious".

Dear Curious,

I'd love to tell you, but really I'm just not able to muster the energy. I know I thought Chaplin was too high, and I expected Ed Wood (not in the top five) to rank higher but you made a good point about which scene was taken. Your rankings were very good, so little quibbles here and there aren't worth mentioning; it just makes slotting a little harder.

Signed,

Nada in Nicaragua

The Ed Wood ranking killed me. There's so much to work with there. Same for Tropic Thunder.

:(

Crap. I thought I would score highly with TT. As it turned out, though, it was difficult to find a good scene that fit the category. Ah well.

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

Movie Draft Score through 26 of 30 Categories

Drafter - Total

---------------------------------------------

BobbyLayne - 417

Nick Vermeil - 416

krista4 - 409

Tiannamen Tank - 401

Tremendous Upside - 396

AcerFC - 380

Andy Dufresne - 372

Val Rannous - 372

hooter311 - 369

Aerial Assault - 368

timschochet - 364

Mrs. Rannous - 356

Karma Police - 349

John Madden's Lunchbox - 347

jwb - 324

Time Kibitzer - 320

Doug B - 308

higgins - 308

Joffer - 305

Kumerica - 298

Mister CIA - 284

Dr. Octopus - 273

rikishiboy - 260

Usual21 - 246

Tish155 - 208

...

Categories remaining:

Adultery/sex (in progress)

Courtroom Scene

Monologue

Shooting a Movie Scene

Looks like this was the last Doug B update. Since then, you've finished sex (?) and Mrs. Rannous is almost done with shooting a movie scene, so we have monologue and courtroom. No idea who is supposed to be doing monologue.

Thanks for the Update.

Monologue is not something I'd want to do.

Looks like I'm out then. Hopefully we get closure on this draft sooner rather than later.

 

[Aerial Assault]

I'll do monologue if no one else wants to AND IF SOME ANONYMOUS IMPATIENT F***ERS CAN WAIT UNTIL NEXT WEEK. It isn't very hard to bang out scene rankings, as opposed to a movie category; I wrote 53 pages in Word for my movie cat.

Back into the courtroom.

 

[Mister CIA]

I'll regret this, but, I volunteer to do monologues. I insist upon watching all of the movies in their entirety, so I'd need two or three weeks (at least) to do due justice to the judging.

Question: Is there any established criteria for judging this category? Should the monologue merely stand on its own, or is it important how it fits into the overall scope of the film? I strongly favor the latter, but I don't want to rock boats that don't deserved to be rocked.

Is the job mine?

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

I'll do monologue if no one else wants to AND IF SOME ANONYMOUS IMPATIENT F***ERS CAN WAIT UNTIL NEXT WEEK. It isn't very hard to bang out scene rankings, as opposed to a movie category; I wrote 53 pages in Word for my movie cat.

Back into the courtroom.

You've said this for 3 months and 6 times, so excuse anyone if they are tired of hearing this shit.

If you've written a lot, fantastic. Your writeups are great.

It has been 5 months since the completion of the draft. How much ####### patience do you need?

That said, I'm gonna stay out of this thread now and will not seek further closure.

If they get done, they get done. If not, well #### it then.

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

OK, I've had enough of this ####.

You remaining judges have until Friday to post the exact date your results will be posted, and it needs to be within 2 weeks from now. Starting this weekend I'm going to start judging whatever's left over. I'll just start at the top of the list and work my way down. If either I don't get a post from you OR you fail to keep your promise within the two week period, your category is on the list.

My rankings may be crappy but they're better than no rankings. I intend to finish this draft and move on to the next one. No matter what, this draft WILL be done by mid August.

OK, here's what we have left:

1. Monologue

2. Shooting a movie scene

3. Dramatic actor in a comedic role

4. Sex scene

5. No idea what this movie is about.

I will begin ranking in the order listed above. I will post the results every few days. If somebody posts their own rankings in the meantime, we'll use those. But I intend to be done by August 15, just as I wrote a month ago. If by that date Aerial Assault hasn't posted the new WTF rankings, then we'll use the ones I already posted. Let's get this finished.

Monologue will be posted later today.

Update?

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

Anyone able to do a guest spot in the monologue rankings and slot my pick?

I think you can be truste to slot your own - at this point we just want it done.

Tiananmen Tank's post above suggests he was working on it, but that was 5 weeks ago with no further update

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

Just an update, I have a rough outline of Monologue rankings and will be done probably next Monday.

This is the only other post I could find

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

I'll regret this, but, I volunteer to do monologues. I insist upon watching all of the movies in their entirety, so I'd need two or three weeks (at least) to do due justice to the judging.

Question: Is there any established criteria for judging this category? Should the monologue merely stand on its own, or is it important how it fits into the overall scope of the film? I strongly favor the latter, but I don't want to rock boats that don't deserved to be rocked.

Is the job mine?

I can't see that Tiananmen Tank ever posted any criteria.

I would check with him to see how much he has written.

I'd hate for someone to have written a lot ( Aerial Assualt) and then have someone come over the top of them with a set of rankings, despite how tardy and how many promises to post ranking they may have not delivered on.

IF TT doesn't get back to you, then I'd assume it's all yours.

You're not likely to get anyone complaining about rankings at this stage so the criteria isn't going to be a big deal as long as you're consistent