I’m glad to hear it. Takes me back to the days when I thought Snyder was an up and comer. I loved Dawn, as well as 300 and Watchmen, but everything he’s done since then has been questionable or outright terrible.
Shawshank Redemption and Green Mile are such towering masterpieces. Darabont could make nothing else and still go down as a legend for those two. Both free on Tubi.
I listened to the audiobook for Shawshank Redemption for the hundredth time before watching the movie again. It’s not just a great movie, it improves on the novella in every way, like making the warden the same guy instead of three different wardens, removing the hmm we aren’t sure about these parts of the story, or adding the suicide subplot so we worry whether Andy has killed himself until we discover he escaped. Plus that euphoric final shot of Red finally reuniting with Andy on the beach, whereas the novella ended with Red hopping on the bus and merely hoping to see his friend again.
1 Like
I’ve encountered a distressing number of people who have glommed onto the “Shawshank is overrated” talking point. Unless a person is going specifically by the IMDb list, I couldn’t disagree much more strongly. I guess I’ll grudgingly grant that it’s less deep than some of the GOAT films, but its execution is basically perfect in every way, and there’s a reason that it has resonated with so many for so long.
I know what you think it means, Sonny.
Anyway, even on Letterboxd, where pretentious cinephiles make up a higher concentration of the user base than IMDb, it rates #8 all-time. So hopefully that just means that the braying about it being overrated is just coming from a loud minority that I happen to have run across in my internet travels.
1 Like
I’ve noticed a lack of jump scares in the trailers for this which gives me hope that it’ll be primarily psychological
1 Like
The Wolf Man (1941)
These Universal horror classics are a good time. I was less sure what to expect from this one because it isn’t backed by a specific iconic monster like Dracula, Frankenstein, or King Kong, but simply playing in the sandbox of werewolf culture was enough to make an engaging story. The 70 minutes absolutely fly by, and - as with Dracula - I found myself wishing for more. But that mostly serves as a compliment for how solid the material was.
As an aside, I definitely wish I knew definitively whether the filmmaker was aware that our main character, Larry Talbot, was a huge creep even before the plot shenanigans get going. It actually feels like maybe yes in this case? Or maybe this was just made 83 years ago in a time of different awareness. Shrug. Good movie in any case.
3.5/5
2 Likes
The Nutty Professor
Was this ever funny? It’s bad enough to make me question Eddie Murphy’s comedic value. He was in some 80s classics and did a couple of hilarious animated roles, but otherwise I’m now in doubt. This movie is about as funny as the parody in Tropic Thunder.
No.
Okay don’t do that, Eddie was awesome.
2 Likes
When I covered the WSOP back in 2005 (or 2006 - I think it was 2005), I played in the media and celebrity tourney. Anthony Michael Hall was at my table, opposite end. He didn’t seem to want to be there and didn’t know poker, so just went all in quickly and got knocked out.
Weird Science has long been one of my favorite movies, so I left my seat, was an unprofessional “journalist,” and intercepted him before he left, just so I could say hi.
I had a deck of cards that I was using for autographs when I interviewed someone (my plan was to scan the card and put it on the site with the interview, but I never did), so we went to an empty table while we chatted and he signed one.
I told him that Weird Science was one of my top five favorite movies, right up there with Shawshank. He looked at me like I was nuts. “Really?” But he thanked me for the complement.
Then, referring to Weird Science, he leaned in and quietly asked, “Did that movie have titties in it?”
As we parted, he told me he was going to the Bellagio to have a drink and that I could stop by when I was done with the tournament. I was fucking idiot and ACTUALLY WENT BACK TO THE THE TOURNAMENT INSTEAD OF JUST GOING WITH HIM.
And that was that.
4 Likes
I loved his work on SNL, but that was a loooooooong time ago.
I tried watching his standup again and it’s painfully unfunny. He’s got jokes where the punchline is simply that gay people exist.
Aside from his work in Shrek and Mulan, I don’t think he’s been in a good movie since Boomerang in 1992. Exceptions for Bowfinger and Dreamgirls, but lordy does he have a ton of bad movies in between.
1 Like
At least it wasn’t Kelly LeBrock.
2 Likes
I thought Life with Martin Lawrence was good.
Still, yeah, he dropped off hard, no question.
2 Likes
I remember enjoying Nutty Professor. Bowfinger is fantastic. Daddy Day Care is cute fun. Dreamgirls is excellent and he was really good, but it’s not really an “Eddie Murphy movie.”
I heard Dolemite was good, but I never saw it. I thought A Thousand Words was interesting, but don’t remember it well, and it got bad reviews. Heard good things about Life.
1 Like
My daughter just saw Joker 2 and never saw the first one. Weirdo.
1 Like
Im REALLY looking forward to this. No idea who in marketing thought releasing this after Halloween was a good idea though
1 Like
Well…what did she think?
NEEEEEERRRRRRRRDDDDDDDD
1 Like
She didn’t rave about it, but said she enjoyed it. I told her seeing the first probably would’ve been helpful, but she said the movie caught her up well enough.
I’ll probably watch it when it’s on HBO or something. I liked the first one.
1 Like
I definitely thought Tim Curry was dead. Although that may or may not be the actor Tim Curry I guess. Still not dead tho.
1 Like
Ok, this is Mandela Effect time. I distinctly remember him dying about 5 years ago.
1 Like