saw this in a reddit group
II haven’t actually seen this since its theatrical run
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He’s no Jon Stewart, but no human could ever be besides JS…
Spoiler: Jordan Klepper has a special edition of “Fingering the Pulse” for this occasion!
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Last year at Marienbad. Perhaps in honor of one of the words of the year (‘gaslighting’. Definitely not a ‘Goblincore’ sort of movie). I’m trying to improve my french listening skills, and the repetitious nature of the script seems geared towards that.
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I have never seen it, but I read in some book a person describing this huge, empty mansion-type building as something out of that movie. Does that apply?
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@kxkvi - The Salvador-Dali-designed “Linkin Murcurry” made me think of your most recent post in the WWO,C? thread.
Also: Look for a ceramic cheetah, like the ones they gave away in the early days of “Wheel of Fortune”, in which the guest who won all the regular rounds used it to shop for items in the showroom, and would actually receive any leftover balance in cash as a part of their prize. It’s in the “Nice Kids from Hell” sketch.
Yeah.
In the opening minutes of Last Year at Marienbad , the extended metaphor that structures the entirety of the film becomes clear. As the opening dialogue echoing through the hallways of Marienbad suggest –actually, they don’t suggest it, they outright tell you – the hotel itself is a grand symbol for the functions of human memory: the corridors are endless, each hallway and room is exquisitely detailed with ornamentation of a bygone era (read: details of memory from events long past), and the hallways are endless, interchangeable, and unpredictable. Memory for Resnais clearly possesses qualities that are the opposite of objectivity, and instead shape selectively everything we think and know – or everything we think we think and know – while determining our attitudes towards the present. Thus, two characters can recall an event and literally see two different things (if one can recall it at all) with neither of them being wrong. Our subjective memory, the film suggests, shapes our knowledge of reality, compounding memory upon memory as further assumptions of reality are built upon subjectivities formed from previous subjectivities.
You could describe it as a terribly pretentious film in which there is no comprehensible plot, and the director might agree with you.
I think I may have to watch The Shining to see if parts of the Overlook were filmed with Marienbad in mind.
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Yes, but would Kubrick ever admit it? (still pissed that the entire point of the novel - it was about Danny - was ignored so Jack & Stanley’s egos could be fed.)
Now if there were a German Expressionist version of LYaM, I’d watch that for certain.
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This guy (David Hoffman) posts tons of clips of old interviews, documentaries, etc. that he’s filmed over the years. Many of them are really interesting to watch, including this university debate about free speech from the 1960s.
I can’t imagine something similar happening today, at least not the way that did.
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The talking over a Black man continues apace, but yeah, how relatively civilized whitesplaining was back then.
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The chess game.
… supernatural horror show that spent too much money on A-list talent in roles that would actually have been better served by less familiar faces
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It’s directed by the son of Michael Eisner, who actively asked him about what was “cool” and what wasn’t when it came to teen-oriented activities at Disneyworld.
All because Mario Puzo wrote a novel so he could make enough money to cover his gambling debts.
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I like how the Leutonians celebrate Christmas, except for the dishes that contain cabbage as an ingredient.
I’d call it halfway decent
I’ve already forgotten the ending, but I remember I correctly predicted which character was secretly a bad guy five minutes after the movie started
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Tonight I discovered a most wonderful movie. It Happened on 5th Avenue. It’s hilarious and so full of warmth and heart, I’ve designated it as my new Christmas classic. I don’t know how I missed it all these years. Wish I could watch it with my mom, she would’ve loved it.
Not to give any spoilers for a 75 year old movie, but the basic premise is that there’s a homeless guy, and when the second-richest man in the world goes away to his winter house down south every fall, the homeless guy sneaks into his empty mansion up north. This year, he ends up inviting some other vagrants in to stay too. But a few of them are not who they pretend to be. Hilarity ensues, along with a lot of happiness. Definitely recommended!
And previously, clocking in at 82 years old, was The Shop Around The Corner. Another Christmas classic, starring James Stewart as a salesman working in a small shop. The shop hires a new woman who he has to work with, and they hate each other. As the Christmas season is getting underway, things are a bit tense.
But luckily he has a bright spot in his life, a pen pal, some mystery woman that he’s been writing to and is falling in love with from her letters. He decides to meet up with her after work, but gets fired that day and can’t face her. Coincidentally, the woman he can’t stand at work also decided to meet up with her pen pal that night, the guy she’s been falling in love with through his letters.
It’s a fun rom-com. There’s a couple of bits that probably wouldn’t be played quite the same way today, but overall it holds up well. Definitely worth it if you like classic movies, James Stewart, and/or are tired of the other standard Christmas movies.
And previously, 8-bit Christmas. This is basically A Christmas Story, but set in the late '80s and instead of a Red Ryder BB gun, the kid really wants a Nintendo Entertainment System. It’s a nice relaxing movie and good if you like A Christmas Story but have seen it so many times you want something new. The ending is a little different and might make you tear up a bit, but in a good way.
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I love Victor Moore in IHoFSA! It’s just wonderful!
Did you know TSAtC was remade into “The Good Old Summertime” with Judy Garland and Van Johnson?
And I know nothing about 8BC.
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8-Bit Christmas is very, very good. It presents a different sort of Americana than A Christmas Story, but all of the essential elements are there.
By contrast:
This is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, I think it’s probably the best sequel to A Christmas Story. but on the other hand it is incredibly weighed down by its relationship to it.
The positives: Most of the cast (with some notable exceptions) reprise their roles from the original. It has much of the same charm. The ending is fitting, and quite nice.
The negatives: It is so completely beholden to the original that nearly every scene is in some way a reproduction of a scene from the other movie, and they go out of their way to prove it by either using a clip from that movie or otherwise lingering on some detail as if to say, “Hey, remember the thing? We did the thing!” The end result, at least for me, was to remind me of the movie I’d rather be watching.
It’s an interesting companion piece to the original, but it does not really enhance or supersede it in any way. I’d only recommend it if you’ve already watched the original and 8-bit Christmas recently.
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This is, as you might expect from the title, a fairy tale. Like the original old-school fairy tales, it’s got some darkness and part of it is quite bleak indeed. There’s also a Christmas tree and a snowman, and Santa Claus actually plays an important part toward the end, so it is a holiday movie.
The creepy atmosphere and suspense are really well done. It is a little slow, but that serves to reinforce the atmosphere and make the tense moments more intense.
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