I got sick as Hell with an awful sinus/ear bug and has zero desire to write over the weekend. It was one of those moments where you think ‘What am I doing with my life?’ My daughter brought home this particular bacterial strain, and no doubt it was because all the stay at home students are back in session, spreading new germs to the kids that never left school (like mine).
Thanks to Nephilium for offering to fill-in for me. Good to see other Glibs share my joy of B movies.
Speaking of my lack of posting, laying in bed gave me a chance to catch up on a lot of ideas and suggestions thrown at me for review. Some are suitable only for compulsory viewing at Guantanamo Bay:
- Return to Bloodfart Lake: There was a first one? This is a sequel? Why? I will say that this probably killed off most of the brain cells and bacteria in my body, resulting me in being a healthier idiot. So potential COVID/Pneumonia cure?
- Fat Planet: Fat aliens kidnap physically fit earthlings. The premise had such promise! But nothing ever happened! An entire movie that felt like you were in an elevator trying to get somewhere, but the elevator doors never opened.
- Silent But Deadly: There are actually two movies out by this name. One is about a deadly female mime. The other is about Jason Mewes murdering people and not talking much. I watched the Jason Mewes movie. I got half way in. It was just not engaging. Would require the Clockwork Orange eye apparatus to finish.
This is different from my normal B movie reviews in that this isn’t actually a B movie. It is a comedy featuring computer generated bulls. A big point was made of this, potentially over fears of being cancelled. This movie came out in 2005, which was awfully early to worry about being cancelled by a mob. That issue really started to raise its ugly head around 2016 with the release of Zoolander 2. The attempt to cancel Zoolander didn’t have as much effect on the box office as did the fact that Zoolander 2 launched with Deadpool and Kung Fu Panda. Who the Hell chose that launch weekend? That low box office for Zoolander 2 unfortunately emboldened ass hats and lead us towards the world we live in today, where people actually think cancelling something can have an effect.
I am digressing a lot more than usual so I will perform the schtick.
Computer generated bulls! Hitmen teaching their craft! Fine quality bars! Tomfoolery in the men’s room! Overall this is a highly rated dark comedy which has seen little airtime past its release date. Pierce Brosnan plays our hitman very well. He inhabits all his roles and does not disappoint here. This movie is very dialogue heavy – there is not a lot of action, jumping around, etc.. Mostly sitting around in bars, bullfight arenas, in men’s rooms and such discussing the art of killing people without being noticed. I enjoyed it and I thank Mojeaux for the suggestion. I do read everybody’s review suggestions in the comments and add them to a master list of potential future reviews. So watch The Matador! Or don’t! Everything is voluntary!
Next week the GlibFlick which Nephilium wrote when it looked like I wouldn’t make deadline will run. I hope you all enjoy Stage Fright. I’ll return on Dec 2.
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(h/t: The Hyperbole)
I got quite a few laughs out of Brosnan playing the middle aged, beer gutted hitman in his briefs.
STFU, Scruffy. Just STFU. [runs from room crying]
Sorry man, I didn’t know you had gone into the middle aged, beer gutted hitman in his briefs business.
I still haven’t seen this movie, but the trailer with Brosnan per Scruffy is what sticks in my head. I keep thinking I’ll get around to it.
Well, I found it for you, supported with ads! I consider that a win. Sorry for the jumpy review. I blame the illness.
That’s because R.J. is…
Was it worth the $4 Amazon or Apple are asking to watch this?
If you so wish to pay to watch it, I thought it was good. I prefer to always check TUBI or Pluto first prior to spending any hard earned cash. Ad-supported is the real future.
I’ll check if it is on one of those!
TUBI link at the top….
I appreciate Tubi’s indicators that an ad is coming and when the ads are GTFO.
(This appears on my TV version of Tubi – I did not see it on the web version.)
I don’t think I’ve ever seen this movie.
I hadn’t seen it prior to Mojeaux’s recommendation. I spend entirely too much time watching crap like ‘Bloodfart Lake.’
I’m just wondering how high/drunk someone had to be to come up with “Bloodfart Lake”
That’s a crank movie. Speed is the only thing that can explain it.
I actually enjoyed this one!
Not enough to watch it again, whatchagonnado?
Look at that new picture! I like it. Try this then: El Dia Del la Bestia. Crazy priest is convinced he can bring about the apocalypse by committing bad deeds. It gets way out of hand. Subtitled. https://tubitv.com/movies/530110/el-d-a-de-la-bestia?start=true
Thanks! That looks amazingly bad!
B movies are all upside. When a blockbuster comes out and it sucks, everyone is angry. When a B movie crashes and burns, no one is. As a matter of fact, sometimes the “worst” end up being the most beloved.
B movies are as punk as punk can be.
Computer generated bulls! Hitmen teaching their craft! Fine quality bars! Tomfoolery in the men’s room!
Hmm…. OK. Joining late. Let’s see what this is like.
I have a friend in the movie theater business and I got invited to one of his grand openings, where they had a big fete with a bar and food and to see the first movie in the place. I’m guessing this was back in 16 because the movie was ” Zoolander 2″. Even with a buzz and good food, it was one of the worst films I had ever seen. When the crowd was walking out after the showing, we were all kind of in stunned silence at how bad it was.
That might have something to do with its box office too.
It totally did. The failure had nothing to do with social outrage.
I didn’t realize that was the same opening as Deadpool. Damn, I wish they would have shown that instead….
I didn’t even know there was a Zoolander 2. I liked the original well enough (if not well enough to seek it out).
Haven’t seen it yet but will remember to give it a go.
Just rewatched a movie along the same vein called Lucky Number Sleven. It wasn’t a box office hit but it had a solid cast: Bruce Willis, Ben Kingsley, Morgan Freeman, Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu.
Well acted and I enjoyed the premise.
Speaking of little known movies with big name actors – During lockdown a movie came out with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jackie Chan. I bought and watched it. Iron Mask is the title, came out in 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1u0hzLuDCw
Bookmarked.
That was a better movie than it had any right to be, given the story…
Sometimes a simple revenge story works best.
Lucky Number Sleven is awesome. And Lucy Liu is the added bonus.
I’ve never been overly attracted to her but I must admit she was rather fetching in this film. Especially considering the limited depth of the character.
Lucky Number Sleven was great. One of my favorites.
“What, like you tripped and he fell?”
“I’m short for my height”
“Whatever they’re paying you…”
“There is no “They”. I did this to you.”
Coitus maybe-not-Interruptus.
He’s got a little “Mexicali Blues”?
Thot Thursday returns to Bloodfart Lake?
https://archive.md/11Z3B
Yay!
“Now this smells like a party” – nice.
A charming salesman and a world-traveling assassin become unlikely compadres after they have a chance meeting at a Mexico City hotel bar
Tweak it just a little and it sounds like a Walter Matteau/ Jack Lemmon comedy.
Tweak it just a little and. . . it sounds like a Walter Matteau/ Jack Lemmon comedy.FTFY.
You’re welcome.
Billy Wilder, being a white supremacist, would never have had Wally and Jack in a Mexican Hotel.
Picked this one up for a song as an HD DVD sale back in the day – should probably rewatch.
A little Makers Mark product placement there…
Which of us hasn’t woken up like that?
I don’t drink Maker’s Mark, so, me?
Johnny Walker Black is my preferred brain cell killer.
One of these days I’m going to try Blue. Supposed to be otherworldly, not quite sure how great it could be. But the price tag would sure indicate that it is.
Blue is not remotely worth the price. For that kind of money, I’m drinking Weller or Pappy or some really old Highland Park.
Noted. Maybe Blue isn’t all its cracked up to be. I assume Pappy means Pappy Van Winkle then? I just found a 23 year old for a whopping $6,599.99…. That’s a pretty far cry from the 450 asking price for a bottle of Blue though.
Yeah, aged bourbons in general are nuts, and Pappy Van Winkle 23 is probably the worst.
Totally agree, blue it is not worth it. I drink Black because any hotel bar will have it. If not, the hotel is subpar. It is affordable and gives me the same familiar drink experience wherever I may be.
Yup. Because it’s so amazingly consistent, I use JW Black as a control during whisky tastings.
Youse and Christopher Hitchens, apparently (Black).
Try single malts. It’s a hit-or-miss thing, but you come to realize that blended is just covering up errors, marketing, and aging.
^^^ This man speaks truth.
Oh man, you’re right, I just looked again and Blue is a blended. Well hell screw that — I just assumed for the price it was a single malt. What a rip-off.
Dalwhinnie 16 year old. That is all.
That is not all!
Caol Ila.
I’ve had Blue and Ghost.
At a previous job, the VP of engineering was a Johnny Walker fan. He’d bring in a bottle for celebrations.
I thought it was good. Worth the price? I don’t know about that.
It’s basically $500 a bottle. That’s too rich for this guy.
You used to be able to get a 4 pack of 125mL bottles for <$100. It had black, blue, gold and platinum. They are good, nut good enough for me to buy instead of Talisker or Balvenie.
I don’t make that kind of money. 🙁
TALISKER…thank you.
JW Blue is pretty good. The only Johnny Walker I like actually.
Pricey. Worth it if you’re the sort of person that will pay that
much for a bottle of scotch.
I’m watching Kojak. Holy crap, this show is great. We were not a Kojak household when I was a kid so all of it is new to me. Telly is just brilliant.
Who loves you, baby?
LOL!
His delivery is just hilarious, and the catchphrases.
I wouldn’t want to work for him, though. Too shouty.
You know how those ethics are. Shouting is just part of their culture.
“ethnics”, dammit. Stupid auto-correct.
Meeoooowww baby.
Before he informed me otherwise, my mind’s eye envisioned OMWC as a shorter, chubbier version of Telly Savalas…
I guess he looks more like Vermin Supreme.
Um… sort of, yes.
A boot on his head would be an improvement.
Ad. People wearing masks. Blech.
Ugh. I thought we were finally past the commercial propaganda.
Everyone I encounter who is required to wear one at work but who is physically active while working or must communicate clearly either wears it under their nose or just lets it dangle off an ear until a mask Nazi shows up.
Watched The Foreigner the other day. Stars Pierce Brosnan and Jackie Chan. Was actually pretty good.
Yes it was.
“The Foreigner” starring Pierce Brosnan and Jackie Chan.
Not to be confused with “The Foreigner” by Larry Shue. Which, like all of Shue’s works, is strained, preachy, PC tripe, with only a couple of funny lines and gags to make it bearable.
I thought he died after only writing three plays.
Did it feel like the first time?
*narrows gaze*
I have nothing worthwhile to say, so I’ll just say,
Hello
And hello to you. Tall cans? And did you get the Lowe’s job? I been out a while.
He did not, I’m afraid.
Is it me you’re looking for?
I almost nailed a chick in college by playing that in the background… *sigh*
Hello, hello?
What a wonderful word, hello
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7mhXduBwVw
‘I have nothing worthwhile to say’
Hell, I’ve never let that stop me from commenting. Why should that deter you?
Shit…hasn’t stopped me from commenting or posting!
Hasn’t stopped him either. At least both of you pricks not only comment but also provide articles on a weakly basis while most of us(myself included) lean back, cup our proverbial nuts and pass judgment upon our clouds of mortality.
/Shifts focus
The point being: Buck up, Bob. We all go through cold streaks here.
You don’t think I go days if not weeks at a time feeling like a disconnected humanoid unable to relate with people, even here? Of course I do. That doesn’t necessarily mean that’s so. You are appreciated. Guilt and regret can build character but too much is poison.
Take care, Uncle Bob.
*mortality
… chuckles
Damn you, autocorrect.
This is a fun movie, but tonight I gotta see if my Kings can go on a 7 game win streak.
I am currently in the middle of watching the anime this season Ousama Ranking or Ranking of Kings.
I thought it was going to suck, but it has been a gut punch. Imagine a typical set of children’s fairytale tropes, but now make the characters both good and bad and three dimensional. Add in betrayal and murders. Protagonist is a deaf and mute prince.
However, this is set up with an animation art style straight out of children’s books.
The contrasts of the art style and tropes with a very black plot makes it work better than a straightforward anime. I never would have guessed it would work.
Is there a link to a trailer?
https://youtu.be/SpHiryLkRvk
Trailer does not let on how dark this thing is.
Thanks. Dark is good!
https://martinsupplies.co.uk/shop/hudson-12-x-6-cattle-trailer-new/
But is that… The trailer of kings?
“Do you think he’ll show me his gun?”
Uhhh… depends on what gun you mean.
Bean sleeps with the assassin. Calling it.
I didn’t get to totally finish it. Wanted to finish it with you folks, but I need to go give my daughter her antibiotics. Looking forward Nephilium taking over next week! I shall enjoy watching.
He’s seducing her, and she’s into it.
And I hope your daughter feels better.
I thought a cheese omelette sounded good. It was. My ulcers do not agree. ?
Sorry.
I need Bryants, is what. ?
🙂
Speaking of lame movies, i’m sitting in this hotel room watching Godzilla (Matthew Broderick), It’s obviously supposed to be non stop excitement, but this incessant shrieking and exploding is just tedious.
Noooo! Not THAT Godzilla! That is not the Godzilla you are looking for!
Go get a decent drink at the hotel bar, then punch up a decent vintage Godzilla. Like Terror of Mechagodzilla.
https://tubitv.com/movies/288674/terror-of-mechagodzilla?start=true
I think I lasted 15 minutes watching that movie. It was terrible. The vintage ones were infinitely better.
punch up a decent vintage Godzilla.
Raymond Burr or GTFO.
Aawon Buh? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gkqzxss8Ss
Judicial misconduct
The judge presiding over the homicide trial of Kyle Rittenhouse confused observers after making a strange and off-color joke inside the courtroom on Thursday.
“I hope the Asian food isn’t coming… isn’t on one of those boats from Long Beach Harbor,” said Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder as the court was preparing to take a lunch break.
Schroeder, the longest-serving active judge in Wisconsin’s trial courts, appeared to be referring to the supply chain backlogs caused by congestion problems in California ports. But his comments were offensive and perceived as anti-Asian by some and as placing blame on Asian people for a large-scale event.
Serious journalisming. Covering the stories that matter.
WTF?
That’s weak duck sauce even for CNN.
Quack!
“It harms our community and puts us in the crosshairs of micro aggressions as well as actual physical violence,” said John Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-AAJC.
Yang said it’s clear the judge doesn’t have cultural sensitivity. His remarks were meant to denigrate or minimize Asian Americans and “any Asian American that sees or hears his statement will understand that he is making fun of or mocking our community.”
“This is a great illustration of how Asian Americans are not immune from racial bias and discrimination in our criminal justice system,” Yang said.
I’m deeply, sincerely sorry you’re such a whiny thin skinned bitch.
He made a light joke that implied the Asian food was coming from Asia rather than the local restaurant. Burn him at the stake!
When all else fails…the rally call will be an impartial judge!
No they were not you stupid fucking ninny.
The Chinee has learned the ancient secrets of reading minds.
Gotta go join a zoom soon. Will pause the movie and finish tomorrow.
The bee nails it again
“I lmo loves compliance!”
Snort.
Elmo.
Dammit.
https://archive.md/F2TDd/bcba9240c8ad5901cb37f5edd252df238e4c6f90.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.md/6IS3g/a5e203f0381ba783d32f0586e249677faf3df90d.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.md/3iaWP/b2ddf132900fcf0c9cace37455eea1a5066a89f3.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.md/nptem/3445d7a33425780c41d2a94b56b74990942bfd11.jpg
NSFW.
Rawr
Definitely time for a swim.
Thanks for the well wishes and advice from earlier, y’all. I feel much better but I was reminded that I’m not yet 100% when I tried to eat dinner, whereupon I nearly fainted. Gonna have to ease back into things nice and blandly.
Germs suck. Who do those little bastards think they are?!?
MrAthena and I went to pick up dinner from the Greek place and since it was crowded we had to park aways down the parking lot. The path from the parking to the sidewalk was a couple of steps down and then go around a pillar to the left. And some motherfrakker put a low bike rack there. I did not see it, at all, tripped over it (my poor brain trying to process both falling and wtf was that?) and completely faceplanted on the concrete. Luckily hands and knees broke the fall and everything appears to be only bruised, but man, I have not wiped out like that since skiing.
Dang, woman! Glad it wasn’t worse than that.
Even a simple fall off not-so-much of a height can be life changing.
Heal quickly Ota.
Ooof. Glad it wasn’t worse.
Had a co-worker take a tumble yesterday. He banged himself up a bit. He managed to walk it off with a little road rash.
I’m surprised that this is considered a “B” movie. Hey, It’s James Bond!
Seriously, though, this is a fun flick that, for me, doesn’t get old after multiple viewings.
Sorry RJ, gotta watch Best Years of Our Lives again instead.
Sumo starts Saturday night!
This looks like a good flick, I can’t watch now as the wife and kids are watching The Mandalorian. It will go on the list for later. My wife is now a huge Gina Carano fan after this series and me showing her some of the tweets that got her cancelled. Pierce is actually my third cousin although I’ve never met him. He does seem like a particularly decent dude for a Hollywood actor, it runs in the family as the Brosnans are a good bunch overall.
RJ, have you ever seen any of the Jodorowsky flicks from the 70’s? El Topo and The Holy Mountain are still two of the most bizarre movies I’ve ever seen. My avatar is a scene from the latter. They are both worth a watch to see stuff that absolutely would never be filmed outside the 1970’s.
I’ve seen El Topo. Concur.
I’m so disappointed Pedro Pascal was such a humorless douche about the whole Gina situation. Really took the shine off. And since he’s all that’s left in the show next season, I don’t have much interest (though I’m sure baby will come back, since I can’t believe Favreau is stupid enough to think this show works without that). I might watch the Cassian show to get my quota of broody, gun-wielding latinos in Star Wars instead.
I haven’t been paying too much attention to it, just half watching it as I read in the same room with them. I liked Pascal in Narcos, but he is a proggie fuck. He made his own Nazi comparison on Twitter, but since it was in regards to Trump’s border policy it was rightthink. I saw recently that the actor who played Moff Gideon in it said that Carano was his favorite actor to work with on the show.
I think I’m in the minority: I was bored by Narcos and didn’t finish watching. Maybe because I’m familiar with the Escobar story?
I thought Narcos was good, not great. It started and ended well but dragged a bit in the middle episodes. I really like the Brazilian actor who played Pablo, Wagner Moura. He has acted in a few great Brazilian movies, notably Carandiru and Tropa da Elite which were both excellent flicks. If you have seen and liked City of God I would recommend both of those.
I liked City Of God, so I’ll keep an eye out, thanks!
I abandoned Narcos in tht middle, so maybe I’ll soldier through if later episodes are good.
Both of the films I mentioned are more worth a watch than Narcos. City of God is one of my favorites. Partly because I saw it in Brazil when it first came out and I was learning Portuguese and then watched it six months later and was able to understand most of the dialogue. Pretty true to life representation of that side of Brazil I thought.
Brosnan is, from what I can piece together, an exceptionally nice person. He has also had a tragic life.
Also, rowr.
Supposedly Jodorowski’s comic books are getting made into movies.
A bit o truth and something that only serves as a talking point to gain some votes or political points it seems
https://twitter.com/mchooyah/status/1458894644499017760
Estimates is upwards of 40,000 homeless vets at any given moment. Many with PTSD.
Mugged by reality
The biggest players in the automotive industry are refusing to back a commitment to sell only zero-emissions cars and vans by 2040, dealing a blow to hopes for major progress on the climate crisis at COP26.
The UN climate summit in Glasgow, chaired by the United Kingdom, wanted governments, manufacturers, and investors to promise to “work towards all sales of new cars and vans being zero emission globally by 2040, and by no later than 2035 in leading markets,” according to a declaration published on Wednesday.
The non-binding pledge was promoted by the summit’s organizers as central to efforts to keep carbon emissions in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement, which seeks to cap the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
But Toyota (TM) and Volkswagen (VLKAF) — the world’s biggest carmakers by vehicle sales — BMW (BMWYY), Nissan (NSANF), Stellantis and other manufacturers all declined to sign the declaration.
Whycome them spoil the circle jerk?
Reality is a bitch.
The most depressing thing is how much resources are being wasted, on this junket and the rest. But the grifters would be grifting anyways, so there’s that, right?
Germany’s environment minister Jochen Flasbarth accused the UK presidency of adding an “unnecessary barrier” by adding a footnote to the declaration that would also ban synthetic fuels.
“What’s gravely concerning today is that major economies like the US, Germany, China, Japan and manufacturers like VW, Toyota and Hyundai could not even bring themselves to sign a declaration on electric vehicles that promises less than what’s actually required to maintain climate security,” Martin Kaiser, executive director of Greenpeace Germany, said in a statement on Wednesday.
It’s not about actual progress.
Get back to me when EV range matches gas and, more importantly, I can stop and recharge n less than 10 minutes, Greenies.
(Spoiler: Greens don’t want those things – stay home and in control, comrade!)
You have the red line. How could you need anything else?
Climate security? JFC what a bunch of fucktards. These dunces probably think the sun orbits the earth.
Man, I remember when Lamar Jackson was going to dominate the rest of the league. Good times.
Ah, Feck. Life just got a little harder today. I know that I was an asshole years ago but why is this happening now? I’m over Karma. It’s simply nut-shots for fun and profit at this point. Kicking a man when he’s down. I’m still strong. I will abide.
I’ve never done anything meaningful in my life. It’s a blank slate. I only go on for fear of the pain of death. My legacy will be quips, soon forgotten.
Whats up Festus!
Not much, right now. Hope things are better for you, Friend. I caved and lost whatever little mojo that was left. Now I feel empty.
Its a personal battle for sure. I can tell you I wouldn’t be doing it without the support of my wife and if I woke up tomorrow and she said “you need to do it” I would do it. We are a team. Personally I think she is just seeing me as free labor for her business at this point.
I lost trust and respect because my Wife is the opposite.
Don’t let that burn your relationship. She has her motives, you have yours and you share others. Most of the time they will all align but sometimes they don’t. Our jobs, as husbands, companions, whatever, are to support and realize that sometimes, things are not going to go as planned.
The NYT is publishing privileged communications from Project Veritas… Presumably obtained by the FBI the other day.
https://twitter.com/willchamberlain/status/1458971358772219908?s=10
They are in the middle of a lawsuit with Veritas. Any chance that the entire point if the FBI raid was to help out their friends at the NYT?
It only took a couple of days from seizing O’Keefe’s phones to publishing private documents. It could not possibly be difficult for the FBI to find who it is if this was not an authorized leak. The circle is necessarily tiny on this one, since this is not information related to any investigation nor should it even be available to investigators.
Procedures were followed
This one is a pretty big deal because it is a really casually nixonian thing to do. They are not even a little bit concerned about getting caught using the FBI for political purposes. I suppose they are right… After nobody did anything about Obama and spying on the Trump campaign, why should they worry. They already got caught red-handed doing way worse than anything Nixon did… And nothing at all happened.
It is absolutely terrible. The fact that the minute they started dumping data off his phone it ends up in the press should have the others in the press screaming at both of them. They won’t though. It is a wrongthinker.
Wow. It looks like they leaked it to the Post st the same time.
https://nypost.com/2021/11/11/project-veritas-legal-memos-show-strategy-of-avoiding-federal-law/
And “the lengths they would go to avoid breaking federal law” means they asked lawyers for legal opinions before they tried their undercover operations.
Which is bad, why?
Wouldn’t they run the same story with the same negative spin if they had been “reckless and cavalier about potentially breaking the law”?
Its just as bad as remaining silent when you turn yourself in or seek counsel when you realize you will be testifying in court…
Decades and decades of procedural cop shows have warped Americans’ minds that seeking legal counsel must mean you are guilty.
Looks like they’re just rehashing the Times stuff.
Just can’t stop arguing with Judi. Leave me alone.
Feel like crying now. I’m not the crying sort.
Ok, since we are recommending movies off the beaten path…
My 12 year old had me watch “All the Bright Places”, a Netflix melodrama about suicide, mental illness, depression, friendship and love.
It is a bit on the Hallmark movies or ABC after school special side, but… It is actually a quite good piece of filmmaking.
The direction actually makes use of the medium, heeding the advice to “show, don’t tell” more often than not, which is a rare thing these days, and quite difficult in a film about thoughts and emotions.
The Bad:. A bit preachy and tear-jerking at the end. The male protagonist is the most sterilized mentally ill person in history, being amazing and wonderful and patient at all times… Until he has a “dark mood” and he just needs to get away. But after a few days away, he comes back just fine. And this is a movie about 28 year old high school students… Which is actually perfect for the genre.. nostalgic even.
The good:. Some really good cinematography for this level of film and this style of movie. I found an amazing contrast to “Twilight” In this movie… Both have lots of shots of people looking at each other or just staring off into space. But where twilight just had blank stares that rarely conveyed anything, this film is able to use this device to convey real emotion, storytelling and character development. Significant looks are significant in this director’s hands.
I checked RottenTomatoes just a second ago for this post. It appears that people are divided on this one, with a 60/40 split. I totally get that. It is a melodrama about teen suicide. That comes with some bagsge. It is also a small movie, despite having quite a few recognizable faces. So it isn’t Oscar material.
But I like romances and I like tear-jerkers. I was just lamenting the death of the romantic comedy and talking about “terms of endearment” with the girls as an example of great make you laugh / make you cry dramatic film, a type that they don’t make anymore.
This is a throwback of sorts. An unapologetically melodramatic tearjerker that attempts to provide an uplifting moral to the story. This plants it squarely in the after school special, Hallmark movies, lifetime movies genre.
But if you like that sort of thing, this is a pretty good version. And having a movie that doesn’t hold your hand and tell you exactly what to think and feel every moment is kinda nice. Also… It feels a bit old-school in that they don’t have to have 40% of the characters be LGBTQIA+. The cast is “incidentally diverse” in the way that real life is. So no families with a black man married to a latina woman with an Asian gay son. Adults actually act like adults, kids actually act like kids for the most part…. All of which counts as unusual these days.
BTW, the middle schooler had never seen an tearjerker, so she had a blast. Cried her eyes out. Sharing that with her was fun. She is my sporty spice tough girl, so watching her get all wrapped up in the romance and tragedy was really fun. Snuggled up against dad the whole movie and held on tight during the sad parts.
So, if you diverge significantly from my analysis of the movie, I suggest you watch again, only with your middle school daughter as the real protagonist of the evening. :’)
That’s a sweet anecdote, cyto. I may have developed a tear or two to shed.
Romantic comedies are sexist. Plus, they don’t sell in the Chinese market. Also, they’re gay.
I cannot remember the last rom-com that I didn’t hate. Sometime around the beginning of the 2000’s, they changed the tropes to be “woman is about to get married to a rich guy who is a bit cold or workaholic. Old boyfriend or new flame comes along and sweeps her off her feet at the last moment”
I hate that version. They are just horrible.
There are a bunch of examples, but the worst for me is “Sweet Home Alabama”. You have Reese Witherspoon.. she is super likeable, so any romance with her should be good, right?
But in this version, she is pretty much a bitch. Her fiance is a rich New Yorker who is actually a really great guy. But she is still married to her high school sweetheart because they never filed the paperwork after she dumped him. So she comes back to get him to sign the divorce papers. And berate him for not being ambitious.
Turns out, he is a great guy, beloved in the community. He tries to charm her back, but she is cold and delivers a lecture about how he is a nobody.
Then – and here is where bad filmmaking becomes terrible – she goes to see him at his place of business and it turns out that he is a super successful artist with his own huge store. Then she changes her mind and she loves him. So they live happily ever after.
No!
Now you wrecked his life. They have the ultimate girl fantasy.. two super successful, great looking guys who are amazingly sweet and patient with her. And she gets to pick. Yuck. Run boys! This chick is crazy and a grade a bitch.
The epitome of bad rom-com.
Until.
Reese made another rom-com that happened to have a copycat poster to sweet home Alabama, but is unrelated. “Home again” is middle aged housewife porn about the worst people ever to live. It is so actively horrible, I can’t describe it in a brief comment. Suffice it to say, 40 year old Reese abandons her loving husband and family to move across the country, has affairs with multiple recent college graduates, and ends up using them all, with four 25 year old guys moving in with her to supply her various needs, and her ex moving down the street so he can be a good dad.
Actively horrible, an assault on everything decent about humanity, but sold as an uplifting romance. Ugh.
Hollywood made similar movies in the 1930s, too, although they were mostly programmers, not A-movies.
Look through Robert Montgomery’s oeuvre, for example.
Romcoms are just Hallmark novels on film. Of course they’re 99.9 percent shit.
Plus, they don’t sell in the Chinese market.
https://youtu.be/YYeM0JxsvaU
Also, they’re gay.
Still not as gay as this
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Mgs-pride-peaked-caps.jpg
Gonna go eat something and get some snooze. Maybe tomorrow will be better. Best of luck to you my fellow Glibs.
Get some sleep and try to hit the reset button every morning. Be your best self. Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do..
That is the advice I give to people having relationship problems. Sometimes works. Sometimes doesn’t. But at least you can walk away knowing you tried your best and did the right thing.
And whatever you do, don’t watch “Home Again” at this point. It might make you go insane and hunt down Reese Witherspoon as the antichrist in your current state of mind. I wanted to, and I was only at a modestly difficult moment in my relationship.
Stay strong Festus! This too shall pass. Sometimes I think my dog has the right idea with every meal being the best feast ever and always happy to start another day.
https://vimeo.com/74295089
This song always cheers me up.
Be well, Festus.
Gah! ’80s music.
Try this one. Maybe it is just me because I always think of that day Doreen and I went on a long spring hike and the jasmine in the woods was blooming like crazy. The whole hike was perfumed with the sweet smell of jasmine. I will hopefully remember that day for the rest of my life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsW8rXPcnM0
I love having a friend to talk to up here, it’s getting dark and cold, Friends keep you warm, Peace out My friends!
Friends in the dark and quiet are always welcome. Just make sure they are friends. 😉
Science!
Imagine that everyone you spend time with is a smoker and you want to breathe as little of their smoke as possible, she said.
“The closer you are to a smoker the more exposure you have to that smoke,” Marr said. “And if you’re in a poorly ventilated room, the smoke builds up over time.”
So don’t be in a poorly ventilated room with them. It’s not that difficult.
Oh… I get it! The actual solution is to make everyone else conform to you.
Worked for bars, didn’t it?
Dinner guest- “I am sorry, I cant eat that. I am gluten intolerant.”
Me- “I only spent three hours preparing it. No worries. No one is going to make you eat it.”
*Everyone else dives in, no talking just munching noises.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/12/super-rare-antarctic-penguin-washes-up-in-new-zealand-3000km-from-home
Penguin!
+ Burgess Meredith
https://www.nj.com/news/2021/11/fall-is-the-cruelest-season-for-deer-and-car-crashes-end-of-daylight-saving-time-makes-it-worse.html
I thought deer were all dead from covid.
People are idiots that drive too fast. Also, apparently they dont know how to make venison sausage.
https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2021/11/virus-hot-spots-offer-sign-of-what-could-be-ahead-concern-over-covid-in-general-is-pretty-much-gone-which-is-unfortunate.html
Covid!
Covid!
Covid!
*yawn*
Unfortunate for whom?
Public health apparatchiks, tyrants, and busybodies?
On a brighter note, were you able to eat any pawpaws this year or did the critters get to them first?
The wild ones….no luck. There is a possum for every pawpaw tree and they keep close tabs on them.
The ones I planted here at home are still too small to fruit. For them, when they get large enough, I might have to sleep in the yard to guard them.
I am dying to make pies and pawpaw bread (same as banana nut bread but with pawpaws instead of banana)
Ooh… pawpaw bread sounds absolutely delicious. I’ve only had them fresh and in ice-cream form and they left me wanting more.
Yeah, they are very delicious. Fortunately they are being rediscovered. Some people here and there are beginning to hybridize them. I think there are couple of varieties now but you cannot buy them in th grocery store….yet. That day is coming.
You are correct about the bread. Pawpaw mixed in the dough with pecans or walnuts is fantastic. I will take a big glass of cold milk with that, thank you very much.
Good morning, Sean, Suthen, & any lurkers out there!
It’s going to be a quiet day at my end of our office. My boss took the whole week off, and both the CEO and Reliable Co-worker across the hall are taking today off. I think that means I’m in charge! ?
My boss is in and out for the next week and change which means his boss is going to be all up in my grill every ten minutes.
I don’t really care for his boss.
Festus, Maclean & Maclean have the answer to give out in these trying times – https://youtu.be/p_W6dF56rgk
Lol
Dunst is better than Witherspoon; the science is settled – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8eZ-QgITAA
Mornin’, fellow reprobates. 65 degrees, not bad for November in NJ. I do not know how to make venison sausage, but agree that driving too fast is a bad idea during rutting season.
I will continue to smoke my pipe. Keeps the riff-raff away.
Well, until the thunderstorms arrive in an hour.
That burning plastic smell does keep people at arms length, true, or are you talking about tobacco?
The stinky sot-weed, of course. No offense.
“I will continue to smoke my pipe. Keeps the riff-raff away.”
This guy gets it.
I knew I forgot something when I left the house.
I didn’t grab my extra mag. Hope I don’t get in any fire fights today.
?
I have a belt with a holster and pouches for extra mags. When I get home I just put the whole rig on my ironing board. When I leave I just grab the belt and go. Pistol with loaded mag, 4 extra mags and one of these ( https://www.crkt.com/collection/m-16/m16-10ks-tanto-black-with-triple-point-serrations-stainless-steel-handle.html )
Grab and go. It is all together so no forgetting.
I also have [redacted] in my car. I’m not too worried.
You know who else was an Austrian and made people “suffer?”
Mises?
This guy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQhqikWnQCU
Why did I click on that? Are you Austrian, Suthen?
American with Irish lineage, thus my suffering.
Thanks Mr. Lang, but bluegrass for me.
suh’ fam
whats goody
https://www.oann.com/calif-school-district-will-not-comply-with-vaccine-mandate/
Good for them.
Speaking of sot-weed, I really need to revisit this:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sot-Weed_Factor_(1960_novel)
First read this in my college days, and it was a riot. For example:
“this reveals the egg-plant recipe by which Smith and Burlingame increased their penis size and enabled them to fulfil their sexual challenges.”
The American Medical Association, fighting to improve health care for the people.
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2021-11-8-the-progressive-neo-racist-cancer-has-completely-destroyed-the-ama
“A fair summary of “Advancing Health Equity” would be that if you just stumbled across it at random, you would be sure that it is a parody.”
It seems most professional association are infected with the cancer of woke these days. Goddamned marxist POS everywhere you look. How many times do we have to watch marxists rot everything from the inside out before we learn? Empty shelves, poverty, soul crushing hopelessness, corruption…how are we going to rid ourselves of this poison?
Hear, hear!
Heh.
Here’s your happy story for the day.
L O L