Rate the last movie you just saw.

[Noisy Rhysling]

Rampage 7/10
Giant monsters destroying a city with at least some emotional stakes. Worth seeing if that sounds cool. The dialogue is awful though.

We'll be in Chicago next week, Willis Tower is on our list. Hopefully they'll be cashing in on crashing down. 

[seamas]

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. 1974
7/10
I once caught about 15 minutes of this, so seeing it from beginning to end was rather interesting. I don't know why, but I never knew Scorsese directed it.
Better than I thought it would be (due to my previous limited exposure). The prologue/flashback was interesting and I though should have been carried further stylistically.
I still had trouble seeing how this could inspire a TV sitcom.
Many reviews laud this movie for the humor, but to me, much of what is depicted is too troubling to see the humor. (then again the sitcom it inspired fell into that range of 70s shows that are kind of dark.
Definitely shows the horror women face when choosing a boyfriend/lover/husband.
The son (Tommy) is hard to take, but in all, he and his behavior are perfectly understandable considering his situation. yeah, mom loves him very much, but he is seriously being neglect and/or worse.

[Ah.hell]

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. 1974
7/10
I once caught about 15 minutes of this, so seeing it from beginning to end was rather interesting. I don't know why, but I never knew Scorsese directed it.
Better than I thought it would be (due to my previous limited exposure). The prologue/flashback was interesting and I though should have been carried further stylistically.
I still had trouble seeing how this could inspire a TV sitcom.
Many reviews laud this movie for the humor, but to me, much of what is depicted is too troubling to see the humor. (then again the sitcom it inspired fell into that range of 70s shows that are kind of dark.
Definitely shows the horror women face when choosing a boyfriend/lover/husband.
The son (Tommy) is hard to take, but in all, he and his behavior are perfectly understandable considering his situation. yeah, mom loves him very much, but he is seriously being neglect and/or worse.

Funny, I am familiar with the Sitcom, having read the synopsis of the film, its hard to imagine who thought it would be good for a sitcom.  Seems like about all it has in common is the character names and the diner the sit com was set in. 

[seamas]

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. 1974
7/10
I once caught about 15 minutes of this, so seeing it from beginning to end was rather interesting. I don't know why, but I never knew Scorsese directed it.
Better than I thought it would be (due to my previous limited exposure). The prologue/flashback was interesting and I though should have been carried further stylistically.
I still had trouble seeing how this could inspire a TV sitcom.
Many reviews laud this movie for the humor, but to me, much of what is depicted is too troubling to see the humor. (then again the sitcom it inspired fell into that range of 70s shows that are kind of dark.
Definitely shows the horror women face when choosing a boyfriend/lover/husband.
The son (Tommy) is hard to take, but in all, he and his behavior are perfectly understandable considering his situation. yeah, mom loves him very much, but he is seriously being neglect and/or worse.

Funny, I am familiar with the Sitcom, having read the synopsis of the film, its hard to imagine who thought it would be good for a sitcom.  Seems like about all it has in common is the character names and the diner the sit com was set in.

I think it was just part of the times. If there was a hit movie of any kind, TV executives would want to turn it into a tv show. (either that or retrofit a show from the UK)

And also part of the times, was the certain reality-based darkness that you see in American movies of that period--I think it goes hand in hand with the end of the 60s, a loss of optimism, a loss of American confidence but also a more serious look at women and the rather dark realities women face in society.

Somehow people tuned into it. I mean you watch (some) of the sitcoms of that time and they take on issues pretty head on--though I think Alice wasn't nearly  in that camp as much as Maude or One Day at a Time or Good Times, etc.

[Captain Video]

Its because of Alice that I know what grits are, I didn't know how to properly eat them till I moved to the south but my grandmother made them for me on request from watching the show. (hint: don't let anyone catch you putting milk and sugar on them down here, its butter, salt and pepper)

That slogan became very popular. "Kiss my grits" was able to get by the censors when "You can kiss me where the sun don't shine." from the film was too risky for TV.  Both clearly mean "kiss my ass" but you could get away with saying "kiss my grits" as a kid. My partners 13yo kid tells me to go fuck myself so I guess times have changed. (for the better  )

Thinking of Alice also reminds me of the concept of moonlighting and how you could get fired for doing it. I cant remember when that went away, sometime in the 80s or 90s?

I have been getting into watching old 70s series lately, I mite check out Alice and see if it still holds up. I think I'll watch the film first.

[Noisy Rhysling]

Crumbled bacon goes in grits.

[amysrevenge]

Oats - sweet.  Grits - savoury.  And I ain't from the south, but because of some unusual friendships of my grandparents, I did have honourary Louisiana Mamaw and Papaw for most of my childhood so I know something of it.

[daniel1948]

I once used the phrase "possum grits" in a song intended to make fun of hillbillies. I was 17 at the time and had no idea what grits were except that it was a southern food.

[Captain Video]

I was about to add more to the conversation then decided to make a porridge/cereal poll over in general before we take over the movie thread

So kiss my oatmeal!

Another great Grits reference was in My Cousin Vinnie 8/10

[Calinthalus]

My favorite grits reference:



..if you like fish and grits and all that pimp shit...

[Harry Black]

3 Ninjas:High Noon on Mega Mountain 1998 7/10

Films of this type dont really get made anymore and I really do despair of the modern art of film because of it.
3 brothers who are trained by their grandfather to be ninjas, have to deal with a team of ninja mercenaries led by Loni Anderson and Jim Varney who take over an amusement park.
They use their resourcefulness and determination to die hard the shit out of the turrists who are a very diverse group including an emo ninja, a bear ninja, a rasta ninja and a dominatrix ninja.
Hulk Hogan makes an appearance as a very earnest kids tv hero whose mettle is tested for real while his show is being cancelled.
Luckily (spoilers) despite the huge number of AK varients fired in this film, no one is killed and everyone learns relevant lessons.
Oh also, theres a girl with a remote control helicopter who hacks things so this film really has it all.
Loses 3 points for triggering violence because there are multiple headbutts in this film, but we must remember that it was made in a different time before the data on head trauma was so conclusive.

[The Latinist]

It: Chapter 2 - 6/10

I am not a fan of horror, but I chaperoned a school trip for a dozen teenage boys. Some effects were pretty cool, but I found some of the direction kind of self-indulgent. One of my favorite parts was the reaction of the different club members to the call.  Bill Hader’s performance was by far the best, in my opinion.  I’m not sure how I’d feel about the backstory if I were an It fan.

[seamas]

Mary Poppins Returns.
2018
6/10
I dunno. The lead actress (Emily Blunt) got very favorable reviews, but I found her too "posh" and stylish for the part.
I know the creator (PL Travers) of the character wanted her to be austere and dark, but imho, Disney and Julie Andrews got the character right--the character is mysterious, but charming and likable.
Blunt does a good job of singing and dancing, which is laudable as she has not made much of a career on either.
Lin Manuel Miranda is solid and a good fit.
The songs are overwritten (lyrics wise), perhaps too clever, but in the obvious comparison to the 1960s movie, they are totally forgettable.
One thing so striking is the score from the original was anything but forgettable. I recall seeing it as a five year old in the High School, auditorium able to recall 4-5 tunes easily for days after.
The story is OK, but the resolution isn't near as good as the original either.
It's nice that they went with traditional animation, but I think the influence of super-kinetic busy CGI animation and effects of recent years was detrimental. Just because you can make these scenes overly complicated doesn't mean you should.

I ended up falling asleep 3/4 through it.

[PANTS!]

One thing so striking is the score from the original was anything but forgettable. I recall seeing it as a five year old in the High School, auditorium able to recall 4-5 tunes easily for days after.

The Sherman Brothers were an American treasure.  I wish they had done more.  I am so glad for what they did do.

Other Than Mary Poppins we have

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
most of the Jungle Book
basically any Winnie the Pooh song that you may know - Including Tigger's Song.
The Aristocats
Many songs for Disney rides / exhibits.
I could go on.

After they left Disney they kinda moved over to Soundtracks, as the era of the Movie Musical faded.  So I get why their song output went down.  Still, I wish they had a place to foster their rare talents.  Fuck me but they could write a catchy ass tune.





Look at Angela Lansbury dance in that one.  Awesome.





EDIT: OFC they did often traffic in broad, offensive stereotypes and write "It's A Small World" so there is that.

[seamas]

One thing so striking is the score from the original was anything but forgettable. I recall seeing it as a five year old in the High School, auditorium able to recall 4-5 tunes easily for days after.

The Sherman Brothers were an American treasure.  I wish they had done more.  I am so glad for what they did do.

Other Than Mary Poppins we have

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
most of the Jungle Book
basically any Winnie the Pooh song that you may know - Including Tigger's Song.
The Aristocats
Many songs for Disney rides / exhibits.
I could go on.

I never saw Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

My wife and kids could not be bothered to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. As a kid I loved that movie--I grew up with just broadcast television, so when that was on it was like an event.

They claim it is boring and goes on too long -it is sort of long, but only a few minutes longer than Mary Poppins. I think the story does drag a little, but I love the art direction and how the director and costume designer and set designers would work with color palettes. The scene/song/ piece in the candy factory specifically--all the colors are greys, yellows whites and blacks. Very sharp. They do similar things throughout. Also Dick Van Dyke doesn't do an "English" accent.