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Harry's DVD Picks & Peeks - 1st wk of Aug: Moriarty, Jack Burton goes Blu, mafia, Sandler, Mimic & more!
Hey folks, Harry here with my latest pick and peeks at this Tuesday’s releases that interested me or didn’t. As usual, the images and titles are linked over to Amazon, where you can learn more on the title, or just go ahead and purchase it, that way you end up supporting this column with a small portion of the purchase price if you use the link! Not a whole lot this week, but some nice stuff and some not really nice stuff.
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN
Have you ever wondered why Moriarty never became a great actor? Has it ever made you curse the injustices of the world? Well curse no longer. The evidence of Drew’s absolutely horrid performance capabilities as even a mere extra are on full display in 1080p in RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN. Drew is a bad extra. That the shot is left in the final film comments upon the rest of the production. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Carla Gugino survive the film – which is alright I s’pose for a badly made continuation of the Witch Mountain saga. But the worst is actually upon Mori. Watch him as he watches everything that The Rock does in the scene. Not only that, but he seems to be checking THE ROCK out! I’m serious. It is all there, see for yourself. Or… take my word for it. Drew is definitely looking with fondness upon The Rock.
THE SOLOIST
I really didn’t like this movie. Jamie and Downey do nice work, but the film is just tedium. I really just felt annoyed as I watched the film though. It feels like blatant subpar Oscar baiting – and thankfully Oscar didn’t take notice. Because this is just crap. Watching two quality actors performing with mediocre material is one of my biggest pet peeves. They don’t save the film in my opinion.
BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (Blu Ray)
Haven’t seen this Blu Ray yet. I won’t be getting it today, as I’ll be at a Bob Dylan concert, but Wednesday – is my BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA day. Fox generally does a good job on their discs, so I’m not expecting anything to be particularly lacking. I hear the extras are supposed to be just like the last DVD that hit, but there is supposed to be an extended cut of the film – and that is something I’m feverish to watch. This is the BLU RAY above all others for this Tuesday!
YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS: The Warner Bros. Story (Amazon Exclusive)
If you’re a movie freak, this is catnip. This is a 5-part salute to the 85th Anniversary of Warner Brothers that was put together by Richard Schickel and narrated by Clint Eastwood. What is great? The history of my favorite Hollywood Studio (historically speaking). Learn about the context in which their films came out, the politics and behind the scenes. The best thing is that you’ll most likely discover some titles that you’ll then have to seek out and enjoy. It’s extremely well done!
MY COUSIN VINNY (Blu Ray)
The film that created the phrase “Academy Award Winning Marisa Tomei!” Which she 100% earned with her turn in THE WRESTLER. This is actually a very funny film – and Marisa is amazing in the film. Seriously. Personally, I don’t love it so much as to go out and buy it, but it is something that is fun to revisit. Perhaps a turn on your queue?
SLING BLADE (Blu Ray)
Flat out brilliant film. Be it that kid, Dwight Yoakam or Billy Bob himself… I was transfixed from beginning to end. Every bit as great as it was originally – the transfer is stunning – and I still don’t see Billy Bob at all in Carl. He is completely invisible in there. This and A SIMPLE PLAN are the two finest performances of Billy Bob’s career. To me, a must own.
ULYSSES
The sequel to TROY! Kinda. I have always wished that Ray Harryhausen had been involved in this film. I like it, but it is missing the magic that Ray would have brought to it. Instead, you get wonderful performances by Kirk and Anthony Quinn. We’re still waiting on the GREAT version of this particular tale.
WOLFHOUND
I don’t know what crackhead gave this film the quote, “CONAN THE BARBARIAN meets LORD OF THE RINGS” But they seriously need to scale that down. It is more like “WILLOW meets WATERWORLD!” Massawyrm has a gigantic hard on for this movie. It is enjoyable, but it isn’t “all that”. It’s kinda silly, and I kinda kept expecting Jack Black to jump out and belt out a Tenacious D song. It is wildly entertaining, beautifully set designed, but it just doesn’t float my boat nearly as much as any number of other films in the genre. But I would recommend adding it to your Fantasy film library as a film to show people stoned.
GOMORRAH
Martin Scorsese loves this film, and presented it to the United States as something we serious movie geeks should pay attention to. SO… FUCKING PAY ATTENTION! If the Master says watch GOMORRAH, watch it! He knows what he’s talking about! This is an Italian modern mafia film that is brilliant. A truly great film. Watch it and see!
THE WATERBOY (Blu Ray)
I find the film fairly miserably one note. You see, The Waterboy has a lot of hidden anger. When he gets mad, he is unstoppable. The Fonz teaches him to lose his cool with direction. They win. Not really a big fan.
BIG IRON COLLECTION ( CROOKED RIVER, COLORADO RANGER, FAST ON THE DRAW, HOSTILE COUNTRY, MARSHAL OF HELDORADO & WEST OF THE BRAZOS )
Here you get 6 B-Westerns from 1950, when B WESTERN was king. You’ll see Jimmy Ellison and Russell Hayden going at it in a series of remakes of classic 30’s B-Westerns – and director Thomas Carr did a dang good job of it, especially WEST OF THE BRAZOS which is the best out of the lot. But that’s probably because it has the Creature From The Black Lagoon’s girlfriend in western wear. Damn she’s hot!
THE ITALIAN JOB (Blu Ray)
This is a pricey import, but I really have no idea how long it’ll be till we get a domestic Blu Ray of this classic old school Michael Caine flick. I’m told that the disc will play the film fine, but there are features in PAL that won’t play – specifically the commentarys and deleted scenes. Sigh. So that’s the good news/bad news of it. You have been warned.
THE MACHINE GIRL
Yes! It is bugnuts fucking whacked out insane. But that’s exactly why we must own this. We must own this to show people just how crazy cinema can get. Expecially when made by the Japanese! This is all kinds of special.
MIMIC (Blu Ray)
A pricy Canadian import. Some day, I predict there will be a fascinating Blu Ray of this film – with the intended script, a documentary with Guillermo Del Toro going into exacting detail regarding what exactly happened on this film. But for now, this is what we have. It could be worse, but it could be a lot better. Personally, I have a soft spot for MIMIC. My original review is why I connected with Guillermo all those years ago.
That’s it for this week. Next week we’ll look at 17 AGAIN, I LOVE YOU MAN, THE CLASS, THE NINTH GATE (Blu), SUPERFRIENDS: THE LOST EPISODES, CUTTHROAT ISLAND (Blu), STARMAN (Blu), KATYN, EAGLES OVER LONDON (Blu), TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES FILM COLLECTION (Blu), BLUE THUNDER (Blu), GIGANTIC, ICHI THE KILLER (Blu Ray), ST ELMO’S FIRE (Blu), BAD BOY BUBBY (Blu), ABOUT LAST NIGHT (Blu), REPLICANT (Blu), Grindhouse Girls of the 1970s Collection, THE WEEKEND MURDERS, ALL THE SINS OF SODOM, GOZU, CLASSIC 1940’s ACTION BOX SET, Wicked Women Set and more!
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Please, Hollywood, make it happen.
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"Massawyrm has a gigantic hard on for this movie." Now that would sell fucking copies.
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Not an easy watch at all. Parts of it are very entertaining, others are enlightening. The overall product is something you'll probably come away from only knowing a little more than you did before; if you get all the way through. One of only two films I've ever seen in the Cinema where the majority of the audience actually left.Synecdoche, New York was the other.
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Aug 04, 2009 3:35:20 AM CDT
It'll be like Christmas morning tomorrow for the DVD column whin
by thebearovingian
Jack Burton. Hell yes. I very much love BTILC.I have got to see The Soloist just to laugh at how goofy Jamie Foxx looks (in character).
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Wolfhound here I come!
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Just wonderin'
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James Joyce, not Homer?
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"Holy shit, Hary, u dumb fat fuck. U actually got the column done on time. Region coding sux: HD-DVD forever! What the fuck u mean u didn't get the Big Trouble blu yet? Do your fucking job! Tell us how the PQ is! Mori's in Witch Mountain?! How the fuck did that happen?! How many knobs did he have to polish to be an extra? Does Mori basically cancel out Gugino's hotness? We all know you're on GDT's tip. Goonies and fatties stick together. MIMIC was pretty good though. The history of Warner Bros?! Mother of god, you are a fucking dork!
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I love that movie so much, but the original dvd was bare bones. I'd love to upgrade but the disc is a little pricey for just another bare bones disc. But wow. What an amazing film. I don't know if Billy Bob has been so amazing since. And I miss JT Walsh so much.
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its SO fucking annoying. You sound like a TOTAL douche when you use that to describe wacky movies.
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I bought and enjoyed Tokyo Gore Police and have been interested in Machine Girl, Robo Geisha etc, but read online that the American company that finances these films makes them for the American market and they don't really have an audience in Japan. So, they're made by Japanese film makers selling a kind of extreme Japanese cinema that only really exists for audiences outside of Japan. It kind of puts me off. Can anyone else shed some light on this?
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Aug 04, 2009 4:35:12 AM CDT
The German dubbing if Waterboy makes the film even worse!
by derlanghaarige
They used a back then popular but untalented comedian as Sandler's voice and he is mumbling silly stuff all the time, totally out of sync with Snadler's lips movement. :P
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excellent film, will definitely pick it up on blu ray, also wasn't The Machine Girl already out on dvd? I rented it from Netflix once...
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I didn't like the picture at all. I didn't find the characters that profound, much prefer watching Godfather.
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when will Snake (Plissken) go Blu?
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Better story, better pacing, better effects. An all around better film. Mimic is crazy..it's enjoyable but all over the goddamn place. I dig giant cockroaches though.
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Seriously, photoshop collages are bad enough in comtemporary movie posters, but it's ESPECIALLY unforgivable for movies released pre-1990.That Big Trouble In Little China cover, however, is excellent. THAT'S how you do it.
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compare headshots there and see if I'm wrong.
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was barber in Man That Wasn't There, and his Bad Santa was also cool but yeah... Sling Blade is great movie. I didn't like Gommora though ... too much boring/realistic movie, I prefer movie-movie versions of mafia movies. And that Basterds review..?..the one you should write on plane?
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I trust his taste in film.
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neither are great, but both are entertaining, I'm not too sure which one I would consider better, but I'm thinking maybe Tokyo Gore Police since it was a bit crazier than The Machine Girl (the fake commercials in TGP were like something out of a crazed Japanese version of Robocop)
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its SO fucking annoying. You sound TOTALLY bugnuts when you use that to describe someone.
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Fellow talkbackers say it's boring and realistic!?. Scorsese says it's great...hmmm I'm going with Marty on this one, guys.
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Aug 04, 2009 7:00:41 AM CDT
"And thankfully Oscar didn't take notice" for the Soloist
by indycollector
Ummm...how do you know? Can you see into the future? This film was released April 24, 2009, almost two months after the Oscar telecast that awarded the statues for the 2008 films.
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The Blu-ray of Sling Blade has a ton of extras, mostly taken from the Criterion Laserdisc and the recent Miramax 2-DVD special edition. However, it doesn't have deleted scenes nor does it have the original short film "Some Folks Call It A Sling Blade". Nevertheless, the disc is well worth the purchase.
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is this the blu-ray? why should this take up column space?
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Seriously consider a name change: Ain't It Lame News.
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other than that, pretty weak collage art...why cant they stick witht the classic Struzan art???
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Dude, I just picked this up for my daughter for $3.99. Just wanted to pass it along. I was buying all of the Shaun the Sheep DVDs when I noticed it.
What? Fart Master Flex is allowed to have a child!! -
really become my favourite part of AICN. No Beaks, informing me what to look out for - THAT'S customer service Harry, hats off!
I for one think the Big Trouble in Little China cover looks like shit and they should have gone with the painted poster, which has all kinds of class. But nevermind, the movie is just so amazing, who really gives a shit for the cover?
Also gotta check out Machine Girl, You Must Remember This (love docus about Hollywood back in the day) and finally Gomorrah - read about it but somehow never checked it out, now it's back on the top of the list.
cheers, Harry! -
I wish they would include that as a bonus on the Sling Blade DVD's!
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machine girl is just garbage .. like, unfortunately, all the japanese and korean and chinese hyper violent bleh .. it's like troma with a budget .. but never got a writter .. anyways, slingblade is a gem and when I worked at the movie warehouse in my home town I had people renting that sucker left and right ..
Mustard .. muh huh ... -
This movie is the movie of movies, can I say that? It has it all .. well .. all that matters ... just remember what Jack Burton says .. GET THAT BLU!!!
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Brad Pitt in BASTERDS = Billy Bob's Sling Blade cousin.
Tuck that lip in son. -
Aug 04, 2009 7:53:21 AM CDT
Fuck it. *I* like Waterboy, and Billy Madison, and Happy Gilmor
by shut the fuck up donny
and 50 First Dates, and Punch Drunk Love, and the Wedding Singer, and Anger Management.
And I'm not afraid to admit it. -
I'd like to hear what you thought of Gomorrah once you've seen it.
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Amazing and intense movie fellas. the realism never sacrifices the drama that ended up having me completely invested in the flick. Veryyy High marks for that film.
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Should be mentioned with those, but anyways, I love those movies too :D
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are some of what I will be avoiding this month. I am curious about Wolfhound, but my expectations remain low. Gomorrah is at the top of my list for the month.
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Rock Johnson's man-meat ha ha ha
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No, no, no ... if they used that quote, they'd abbreviate it like they always do: "A GIGANTIC HARD-ON ..." - AINT-IT-COOL NEWS
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... so hasn't been ignored yet. I thought it was pretty good, but I'm a sucker for interesting film making and quality acting.
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You guys watch SNL, right? You know Tracy Morgan's character, Woodrow? The one who kidnaps female celebrities and takes them down to his home in the sewer? http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/woodrow-the-homeless-man/2895/ That's ALL I could/can think of with THE SOLOIST. They really should've made a Woodrow movie. No - I'm serious. They could do a whole movie's worth of material easy on this character, and I always thought it was a pity Woodreow never caught on - just for the sheer wrongness of it all, and the fact they could really milk the "hapless homeless person bumps into society" angle to make actual, you know, jokes. Still, THE SOLOIST represents Woodrow to me ... but Woodrow definitly didn't write that script - PeeHEEYEW!
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I'd pay money to see an ASTRONAUT JONES movie, too.
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actually, Machine Girl is decent, but if you're into sort of brilliantly indefensible work, track down a copy of the manga Reiko the Zombie Shop. One of the few examples that I can think of in which splatter horror is created by a woman. It functions like Itchy and Scratchy with zombie people who look like Cabbage Patch Kids by way of Crumb caricatures. http://tinyurl.com/qnoely
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but the original poster for Big Trouble In Little China was classic Drew Struzan. Leave in to Fox to fuck up even a good thing. Yea! I get to bitch about Fox too! Thats a AICN twofer.
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Is goofy but funny. Harry, with some of the crap you go nuts for I would think a movie like this would get at least a little love. Sheesh, cut me a break.
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... is pointless by now. Did you see the recent NEAR DARK DVD cover art designed to sell it as TWILIGHT? We've reached the nadir at this point - there's nothing worse they can do.
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I wonder if that means Carpenter & Co. were able to salvage scenes from the workprint that appeared as extras on the deluxe DVD.I always used to think there were more Jack Burton monologues until I revisted the film a few years back. Although that turned out to not be the case, I was glad to see that there were a few PRICELESS lines to be found in the extra workprint scenes.
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So, is this a new release? A special edition? A Blu-Ray version? How about some actual information in your writeup, Harry?
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Gore Police actually had characters with sad histories that made you care about them. Plus, the commercials were crazy, and that flashback detailing the history of the main girl's father and his assassin was told in a very creative way.
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Sure thing man. It's been out here a while and my brother has it on dvd (would prefer bluray though oh well). Tell you what, I'll watch it tonight and let you know here in the morning.
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Aug 04, 2009 9:37:04 AM CDT
If they had to change the Big Trouble poster, this one is good
by d.vader
Seriously, usually we get shit covers when they decide to fuck with the movie poster or not use the original art. But if they've got to change it, I have to say, this cover for Big Trouble in Little China looks pretty good.
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It's not as good as the original poster, but I do think the original poster was one of the weakest of that artist's material, turning the hero into a grinning fool and doing everything to UN-SELL the movie. It's one of the reasons BTILC completely belly-flopped at the box-office - hard.
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where both the nosy kids get eviscerated by a bug soldier. That's del Toro's signature, the kids die. Film had some good atmosphere too but the script was far too campy.
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I rented it in the 80's because of the cover! This one http://tinyurl.com/mz79qr
not this one http://tinyurl.com/mghmam
and certainly not this one! http://tinyurl.com/lr8oq3 in fact what the fuck is this one!? -
Of course each and every blu owning geek is going to buy BTiLC today (or turn in your creds immediately) but what about the first true CGI-incorporate movie? Not to mention the girl 'Maggie' (Catherine Mary Stewart) looked very similar to one of the hottest porn stars of all time: Racquel Darrian. Which makes her much hotter, etc, etc...damn I'm a shallow bastard.
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Cool, man. The only other person I know who's seen it is my girlfriend and she has the attention span of a peanut.
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Because now I'm convinced that the new DVD cover IS *much* better than Struzan's original art. That poster doesn't sell any of the supernatural coolness found in the film. That first poster you had was pretty badass though.
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2nd poster there TBWNN is the one I was thinking of when I wrote that note about the covers. I've never been a fan of the "Hero Addressing the Camera" style of poster. Also not a fan of that artist's posters, with their orange noses and charicature faces. I've always preferred very simple, or - if busy - abstract posters. IT'S ALIVE, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, PHANTASM, SUSPIRIA ... loved those posters.
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"I won’t be getting it today, as I’ll be at a Bob Dylan concert, but Wednesday".
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Blockbuster offered The Chaos Experiment a couple of weeks ago as an exclusive rental. I gave it a short review in that weeks DVD talkback. My best suggestion is to skip unless you want to see some decent actors slumming.
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looking bigger than life, badass, yet at the same time goofy. Which is Jack Burton. I think the studios wanted an Indiana Jones feel, and thats what Struzan gave them.
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... until Part IV.
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What '80s movie glory!! Just to see Robert Preston chew up the scenery puts a smile on my face.
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I mean by the stance and the prominence in the center of the poster...
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yeah that first one I got from the video store a few months after release and proudly had it on my wall. I think it's the best of the lot.
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Not really, but isn't that the way things work around here?
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because the masses were falling all oveer CROCODILE DUNDEE!!!! which one will be remembered--Jack Burton or Paul Hogan???exactly.
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Not the current one who's starting to look like the next Jocelyn Wildstein. Billy Bob please stop having plastic surgery and lose the glue on hair.
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Since you didn't this week ... saying "I'm watching it tomorrow" is not at all helpful to me, your reader. These columns are always late anyway; you couldn't wait until you saw this geek classic? C'mon, Harry, you can do better!
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I will skip it. Poor Val Kilmer. What happened?
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but only by 2 weeks, it streets the 18th.
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got pushed to the 18th. just the other day i saw the dvd still listed as coming out today but i JUST checked and yeah, the 18th now.
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Aug 04, 2009 11:44:28 AM CDT
Talkbacker with no name, please stop using the word "TOTALLY"
by kazalvinrunts
Its so fucking annoying. You sound aids infested when you use that to describe someone. -
Harry does a fine job with this column, it's one of my favs...and CASINOSKUNK, I love that shit from Harry - it's funny and you are funny for pointing it out!
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Dammit, why did they have to use the same cheap, flimsy, P.O.S. case with holes in the front of it that was used for Silence of the Lambs?!?!? Great, it uses recycled plastic. That's a good thing. But if you ran out of recycled plastic, why not use regular plastic to at least fill in the holes. A percentage recycled is better than this holy shitburger of a case. That said, can't wait to pop in the flick and see the differences in the director's cut!
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Who are the chimps putting out the nephew-art bottom-of-the-barrel 5-minute Photoshop turds on these covers? Every week it gets worse. Soon we'll have to cover our DVDs with brown paper and crayon scribbles to hide the shame of owning such ugly things in our homes. Only Criterion gets it right. I think it's time we find out who these dime-store graphic designers are and send them a letter.
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i read that it got scrapped and considering the few blu-ray reviews i've read make no mention of it being there, that probably means its true. but apparently the image is jaw dropping amazing. and based on the screencaps i've seen, it does look pretty damn nice.
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How is that NOT appropriate for this particular movie?
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i'm in canada and just got the blu-ray and being here, the cover also has the french title. get this, its called "The Adventures of Jack Burton and the Claws of the Mandarin" ...blame canada indeed.
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What marketing monkeys are in charge? It's a weird arrogance and actually bad marketing to fuck with the original posters or ignore them in favor of boring Photo-Shopped cut and pastes.
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Harry you suck ever since you got married.
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The story was so damn cliched. It was basically Forest Gump meets Of Mice and Men and literally no more. It added nothing to the mix. Terribly overrated and predictable.
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Why are their Blu-Ray realeases cheaper than the standard definition ones? I could see when it's older titles that are finally getting a Blu-Ray, but these are new releases from them that are both coming out the same day. Sorry elitist douche bags, I don't have an HD TV or a Blu-Ray player.
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Sounds like some tbers have the BIG TROUBLE Blu Ray now... Can someone post what the extra scenes are, and are they actually added back into the movie?
Also TERMINATOR SALVATION extended edition Blu Ray just got a release date. 40 minutes of additional footage. Link below. Praise Bale.
http://dvdworldusa.com/shopexd.asp?id=64878 -
that the PC police don't jump on. While Jack is inching the Pork Chop Express through the alleyway in Chinatown, a woman is seen from above preparing some food with what appears to be a dog carcass in front of her. Do my eyes decieve me?
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but, Big trouble in little china is the greatest movie ever made!
"Now this pisses me off to no end!" -
This stuff is all done by committee now. They show a group of people the old movie art poster and say "Would you buy this?" and, after the five minutes it takes for the group to put four words together in their heads to figure out the sentence being asked, they look at the cover art - and, two minutes later, they respond: "Huh? What, it's got, like, a magic dude with lightning hands? That's ghey." And then they show a photoshopped talking head over an exploding boat and they say "I KNOW THAT GUY! HE WAS IN THAT MOVIE ... SOLDIER! KEWL! AND EXPLOJINZ. COOL!"
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its a duck, with the head still on it. that is, until she chops it off...
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Nerd..
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I watched it over the weekend, and I wasn't really keeping my eyes peeled for extras.
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is a highly overrated piece of kitsch that is hardly worth your time unless you're a huge Michael Caine fan. I am, and I was barely able to sit through it. Watch the original Alfie or Sleuth instead.
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And it only gets better as the years go on. I'm not the remake police, but if they ever try to remake that movie I'm going to have a fit.
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you TOTALLY missed the point of the game. I didn't use totally to describe him. I used 'bugnuts'. If you are going to play at least understand the rules, friend.
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Eihi Shiina, the actress from Audition!!
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Thw Waterboy.
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I have heard multiple people quote an "extended cut" on this disc, but there are also a lot of reports it doesn't exist. Does ANYONE have this disc yet?!? Which is it?!?!? I wanna knowwwww!!!
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You must mean Blue ray? thee movie has been out hear for at least 4 years now.
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I swear!:P
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Haven't read it but from the pictures i could find online it looks like very generic manga fair art style wise, i see no cabbage patch kids by way of crumb caricatures whatsoever.
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Wonder how Fox news will spin this one?
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it looked beyond shitty. And this is coming from the guy that kinda liked Machine Girl and Yo Yo Cop.I'm still trying to see if i can watch the rest of Masked Girl, but hey it can't be as bad as Dragonball Evolution.
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Claim that Bill Clinton, working on behalf of Obama, must have secretly given in to their terrorist demands somehow, or done something to make the US less safe.
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Aug 04, 2009 3:04:31 PM CDT
lockes--they'll ignore it and this will be the headline..
by six demon bag
Beyoncé, Lady Gaga tied for MTV Video Music Award noms
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Aug 04, 2009 3:05:14 PM CDT
lockes--or say its obamas fault that they were arrested in the f
by six demon bag
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Check the channels right now- CNN and MSNBC are reporting on it. Fox News, on the other hand, is reporting on protestors that don't like Obama.
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Fox News Report:
"Former impeached, socialist President, Bill 'Slick Willy' Clinton, who for years provided aid to North Korea's communist totalitarian regime while it watched it starve its own citizens, has sucessfully bribed dictator and friend Kim Jong Il into releasing two U.S. Asian-American journalists."
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Looks like I gotta come in and debate politics... dammit...
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But don't expect a Godfather/Goodfellas style mafia flick. It's not that at all. It's a look at real crime families in Italy, it's very interesting, but not glamorous or fun. So I can see why certain talbackers would incorrectly call it 'boring'.
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She's a cold hearted bitch.
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...I can hear him now..."...I felt your pain...you ladies can double up and thank me together, or you can thank me individually at my leisure, I mean you leisure...I freed you, and you are free to thank me..up, or down or any which way you please. I'm here to serve...and I will do it with relish..."
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Classy.
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Aug 04, 2009 4:27:06 PM CDT
Didn't Al Gore put them in that situation in the first place?
by themarinebiologist
These were the journalists that were arrested several weeks ago, right?
Damn you, Blizzard... get your servers back up so I don't need to do this... -
I smell oscar! Totally Bugnuts!
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Now I want him on the next Die Hard dvd cover.
With a MP5 in one hand and a fistful of chocolate bars in the other. -
mmmmmhmmmmm
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You're so wacky and silly! Hilarious! Total Honk Humor. Are you performing at the improv tonight?
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This new one looks too serious. They should have left the goofy grin on Burton.
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poster! She's a fucking bigger star than Kurt the Dirt Russell!
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we can't post in, so I'll post my rant hereIs there really a huge public demand for DVD "collections" for shows that are still on the air. Or, to put it another way, for a "complete collection so far", which will be obsolete this time next year? Family Guy has done it twice, one for seasons 1-5, then another one the next year for seasons 1 - 6. Now we get the House set for Seasons 1-5? I'm guessing it's a way to unload the earlier seasons, which went unsold for several years, and they don't want to wait for the show to end before being able to get rid of them in "complete series" sets. How does Big Trouble in Little China look on Bluray?
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...Or however many times by now folks have pointed out the obvious to Harry. (Busy day, Harry?) "The Soloist" is a 2009 film, and thus QUITE eligible to be recognized by the Academy next year. Ten Best Pic noms? I'd put money on "The Soloist" to sneak in. Sure, it's "Oscar bait." But it's quality Oscar bait. As one who was gravely disappointed in Wright's "Atonement," I was thrilled to see him do such a sensitive but lively job with material full of potential traps. Downey=great. As always. Foxx=ditto, and again, he does very well with a role that could easily fall to cliches. Some maybe think he did. I thought it was a terrific little film.
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http://tinyurl.com/r6azb5 (What?) In an interview with NY Entertainment, the director talked about how he "captured" and kept an actress from leaving the set once she knew she was going to be doing a nude scene.
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What's the word on that movie?
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C'mon, really? "Foozball is the tool of the DEVIL!"
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Seen the film about 100 times and it just keeps gettin' funnier!
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fact
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I saw it, and I'm afraid a cat playing a piano could be more entertaining.
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Yeah, I don't understand this shit at all. If I'm gonna blow $100+ on a giant TV series box, I want it to contain the ACTUAL complete series, not five or six seasons' worth of a show that's still going strong. Then again, most "complete series" boxed sets tend to have HORRIBLE packaging with the discs in scratch-inviting cardboard sleeves. I bought the complete Fraggle Rock set recently -- $29.99 at BJ's...! -- and, I shit you not, exactly HALF of the 20 discs in the set were loose and rattling around in he case and scuffed to shit when I opened it up. HALF of them! TEN DISCS covered with ugly scuff marks before I had watched even one of them. Jesus...
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Interesting premise (mutant hordes ravage the world, Steampunk style. An international team fighters tries to stop them), but it really plods along. Thomas Jane and Ron Perlman are adequate but don't stand out. The script is cliche ridden and the effects are mediocre. Comes across as true B movie, which can be a plus for lots of movie fans. I thought it was boring, but not a terrible film by any means.
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Seriously, he eats the whole thing by himself, that fat fuck!
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cover art, the blue borders on blu-ray boxes are a worse offense.
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Stunning tranfer - but not the director's cut.
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you wanted to join in. awwww ok you can play with us I guess, babe.
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and not just saying this, but really really liked it. Yeah it is a bit taxing in places. A real challenge of a movie, but if you go with it I found it very rewarding. Then again I love all that stuff on the mafia in all forms of media and/or the arts. Interesting to see what the modern day version has become. Not sure how much is true though, but has prompted me to research further.
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Looks great, wish Amazon had delivered it today. Oh and I hate those skimpy blu ray cases as well too that have the silly holes in the front or back "for recycling". Check out Sleeve City online and order up some good ones, or buy a couple used blu rays with good cases, switch in the crappy cases,and then return them. I'm kind of on the fence about the new cover for Big Trouble, its not the worst reissue Ive seen, but I think they should have put the 3 Storms and Lo Pan in the 4 circles, and have Wang and Egg in the center images with Jack and Gracie at least. However, when youve got a Struzan as the orginal poster art, any replacement is unacceptable, which is why I'll just print up a copy of the poster art on the 'ol color printer and slip that into the front. That's why I dont get too pissed at bad cover art, it takes all of 5 minutes to replace it with something YOU like. Google image will pull up a couple nice quality versions of the movie poster suitable for that, or if you want one without the titles and such, there's the one on his site. Use some decent paper stock, and your good to go.
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Let me explain further why I found it dull. It's realistic, but if I want real life, I stare out of the window. This is cinema, it's theatrical, larger than life, something I can't get in reality.
2001 aims to be realistic, but more importantly it's larger than life. That's cinema to me.
Gomorrah has great moments, but that's all it is to me. Great moments. Marty loves it, good for him, he knows cinema more than anyone but it shouldn't stifle anyone else's opinion. Grow some balls and make up your own mind. -
Because I doubt very much the Italian mafia is right outside your window. It's the subject and story which is interesting, not the format in which it is told. You prefer your cinema to be larger than life and that's cool, man. To not like it is one thing. To dismiss realistic cinema completely is another. It is and can be both, either, or. There are no rules here. It's film. So that said. I do agree with you when you say "it shouldn't stifle anyone else's opinion. Grow some balls and make up your own mind."
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I don't think anyone is taking Marty's opinion as anything but a recommendation to check it out are they?
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... in a local paper on its limited release as the Mafia done with the kind of aesthetics and respect for audience intelligence as "The Wire," which means I'm definitely getting it.
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I watched THE WIRE. I'd heard all about how brilliant the dialogue was, how brilliant the acting was. So I flip on this show, THE WIRE, and the scene I witness is of two characters about to shoot another characer. One character's name - really - is something like "Poopie" or "Poops." Let's go with Poopie. So, Poopie and his friend get ready to shoot this other character, and the character opens his mouth to utter timeless, Shakespearean dialogue: "Hey, dog - I'm your n*****! I ain't don't gots no fight witcha. Don' shoots me!" "Naw, dawg, we gots t'shoot 'ya." "WE BROTHAS!" "Nah! We gots t'shoots 'ya!" "Dawg!" "Shoots him!" "Poopie! I'M YAH DAWG!" "DON' SHOOTS ME! POOPIE!" I was so disgusted, repulsed and horrified by people considering this kind of dialogue and characterization as progress. It played into every negative black stereotype in existence, the angry black males killing eachother with guns, perpetuating the idea of black=gang member and/or drug addict/dealer. Where were the black doctors or lawyers or heroesz? Nowhere to be found. Instead, we got Poopie and his friend shooting another guy who spent the entire time standing in his room next to a 2PAC poster (wow, that's ... ironic only if you're a first-year film student) and then Poopie and his friend shot the guy. So someone tells me that this isn't representative of THE WIRE's brilliance. They say I have to watch again. So, I flip it on next time I see it listed on Preview Guide, and I get a scene of a bunch of people running from a rival gang - yeah, of course, since all black people are gang members, righr? Anyway, they're swearing and screaming and running and one of them fires in that sideways gangster video way behind him and hits a girl and the girl drops to the ground dead, and we get a scene of the characters that's very much in the vein of Darth Vader holding his head in his hands and saying "Noooooooh!" followed by a revenge shooting in which a friend of the girl shoots the guy who shot the girl. Wow. I urge every single person who thinks THE WIRE is progress to read a book, read a book, read a m***********' book.
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but it has an isolated score for the non-fans who DIDNT buy the score. fuckers.
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by the Emmys. It's not disposable television where you can just jump into the middle of an episode and understand it. You need to watch it from the beginning. From your description, I think you saw a scene from the final episode of the first season, as well as a scene from, I believe, the third season. Of course you can't connect with the moment because you have no idea who these characters are, how they got to this point, or how they relate to one another. Of course, to you, the scene is just a bunch of gang kids shooting one another. You are watching it out of context. Take the greatest TV series, film, book, and isolate one or two moments and one can do what you did above - nothing out of context can stand up to scrutiny and ridicule. It's what came before that makes those moments meaningful."Where were the black doctors or lawyers or heroesz?"That's not what the show is about. The Wire is about cops and drug dealers. If you look a little deeper it's also about corruption and redemption. If you had watched a bit more you might have noticed the cops who happen to be black. Or you might have discovered the white criminals. It's not all "angry black males killing eachother with guns, perpetuating the idea of black=gang member and/or drug addict/dealer.".The Wire is a well-written, well-acted show. You can't judge it on a couple of random scenes. Not sure where you got the idea that The Wire is a "progressive" show about being Black in America. As I said above, that's not what the show is about. The Wire is widely recognized as being very realistic. You may be enraged at what you perceive to be nothing but negative stereotypes. However, for those of us who watched the show, we didn't see stereotypes, we saw characters. It's unfortunate that you, were you to view a scene with Bubbles, might dismiss it, thinking "oh great, a black addict, how very unprogressive and stereotypical". Your inability to get past your own prejudice would make you miss out on probably the best job of acting you will ever see on television. He is that good in the role, and he is not the only one.If you really want to give it a chance you must go back to the beginning. Rent the first disc of the first season. Put aside your notions of what you thought it would be and watch it for what it is. It is a show about cops in Baltimore and the drug dealers they are trying to bust.
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Dude! I dont understand this shit. You only review half of the stuff that comes out every. can u really be that busy. that is why i never click to buy, because this is always done half-ass. Who cares if it is only stuff YOU like. Also you never say if the blu-ray is worth it. Since you get a lot of shit for free it always worth it to you. But some of us have to pay. And if you havent seen it yet why put it up here, fUCK THIS SHIT!
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Don't knock The Wire until you've actually watched it. Until then, pour yourself a nice warm glass of shut the fuck up.
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think that was Emilio Estevez on the cover of Ulysses for a second?
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It is a much better film than Tokyo Gore Police. This isn't a new release, I got a year ago at BB for $7.00, and I was shocked and amazed at how good it was. It definitely blew me away. Yes, I know, CGI gore isn't as good as practical effects, but the CGI gore in this film wasn't only good, it was necessary or several of the sequences. There is just so much blood spilled in this film, and in typically demented Asian fashion, that I think it rates in the top ten of splatter comedies. The opening scene is amazing, and the scene in the kitchen is just so f***ed up. I also loved the scenes that were filmed like the old Power Rangers, just with buckets of blood. This isn't soft porn, so if you are looking for that you will be a little disappointed. I have loaned this film to several people, and they have all given it a thumbs up.
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"Machine Girl: Remix", a two disc set with a bunch of new features, including a sneak peek of Machine Girl 2, s'posedly due out next spring.
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He lost to Geoffrey Rush for Shine. I like both actors but clearly, that year, Billy Bob gave the best acting performance. Does the Blu-Ray for Sling Blade have both versions of the film? Being Blu-Ray I would think it would accomodate that.
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I saw each episode as they aired originally on HBO. Brilliant. But it has always been impossible for me to try and "sample" its brilliance to those who did not experience it from the beginning. You had to be there, specifically for reasons like McNulty disappearing for an entire season and then returning with such impact to the storyline.
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This was the scene I saw:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hor_gOBU_GU -
I found it deplorable, stereotypical and HARDLY award-winning dialogue. I don't CARE about the context of the scene, honesty. It was just one more example of "telling the story of black people" and seemingly showing that story to be nothing but drugs and cops. Sure, that's the story being told - but why? It's no different to me than if a writer tells "the Native Ameican saga in America" and makes something like that positively dreadful "progressive" ABC miniseries a while back wherein every Native American's life experiences suddenly led to someone saying "This reminds me of that time when Coyote and Crow were fighting over who would own a woman who turned into a mountain ..." It's STEREOTYPE. It's CLICHE. If you asked me to come up with the ugliest stereotype I could for a TV show about black people, I'd say "Two young black men shoot another black guy who gives an impassioned speech that consists of mostly slang, begging not to be shot." That's the very WORST of what the media portrays as the "black experience," and I'd been told over and over that THE WIRE was this incredibly fresh new take on "the black American experience," and oh my GOD it wasn't. It's more of the same. I WAS pleased to see a show about black people as the main characters, especially considering what can happen in the media in this regard (www.racebending.com) but I'll have to be in SOME kind of generous mood to give this show a chance. Here's a question - could Hollywood make a STAND BY ME with black kids as the leads? Could Hollywood make a movie like THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST with black people as the leads? Could Hollywood make a movie like TRUE LIES with black protagonists? Would they? Ask yourself. And Big Jim, while I appreciate your dedication to THE WIRE, the whole thing smacks to me of BLAAAAACK ACCTIIIING SCHOOOOOL, and if you don't know what that is, you should watch a REALLY POIGNANT AND REALLY FUNNY movie called HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE.
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Done the work for you - here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKX4LktBI5o
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"...incredibly fresh new take on "the black American experience," "You were mislead. It's not "the story of black people", it is a story about cops and drug dealers and politicians in Baltimore, many of whom are also black.I'll admit, the acting in the scene, especially on the part of Wallace, is not that strong in that scene. Watching it just now, absent from the continuity of the season-long build up of events that led to that scene, it isn't that powerful a moment. I can understand how you, on coming across this show for the first time and only seeing that scene, might be less than impressed. However, it has been a few years since I have seen that episode and yet, from your description, I knew exactly what scene you meant. To those who watched the show it wasn't simply "Two young black men shoot another black guy who gives an impassioned speech that consists of mostly slang, begging not to be shot." but rather it was, ***SPOILER*** by the way, the death of a kid who tried to do the right thing and was killed by his friends because of it. It is a major event for that season.Thanks for the Hollywood Shuffle clip. It's been a long time since I've seen the movie (should rent it again some day). Just like there is some truth in that clip, there is also some truth in many stereotypes; it has to come from somewhere. Never having hung out with any crack dealing teenage gang members from Baltimore, I can't judge how accurate the use of slang on the show is. However, from what I understand, it wasn't so much slang as it was colloquialism. The writers made great effort to make the dialogue as authentic as possible. Really, would the scene have played better if Wallace had said "Forsooth my dearest chum, Poot. Please I beg of thee not to release the ammunition contained within the clip of your firearm at me as it would surely mean my demise. I pray we should forget this nonsense, take our leave of this place, and wander over to yon Dairy Queen where the Blizzards shall be my treat"?Here is another scene from earlier in the season with a couple of the same characters from the one you watched. It is more of a stand-alone scene that doesn't require much context. If you can get past the fact that the characters don't speak like they were raised in Beverly Hills, I'm hoping you'll find something in the scene to appreciate (skip to 1:30 to get past the opening titles).http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B-QE_g3JPU&feature=relatedAnd, if you want to see one more, here's one from the very beginning - the first scene of the first episode of the first seasonhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYgKmOJT_gM
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Aug 06, 2009 1:56:22 PM CDT
Marisa Tomei should've won for In The Bedroom, not for The Wrest
by lavatory love machine
but if there's an award for best ass over 45 years old she should get it for the wrestler
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I wouldn't be looking for the dialogue to necessarily be brilliantly-written or executed if not for people heralding THE WIRE as deeply representative of the black experience and deeply representative of what I've heard described as the best writing in the entire world in "current TV" when it was airing.A lot of people think I hate AVATAR. I am ambivalent of AVATAR - but when dip****s start calling AVATAR the biggest upcoming box-office guaranteed surefire hit ... I'm here to tell them they're ****ing dip****s. Same with THE WIRE. When people tell me "Nah, I'm yo n****" is the height of writing of the black experience in America, I want to punch them in the nuts. It may be a very good show, but its apologists online with their vehement insistence that nothing has ever been written that's more true to what it means to be black in America ... holy ****, those idiots (most of whom are white) need to wake up and realize it's just as guilty as P. Diddy videos of portraying the whole gangster ethos.I'm reminded of the talk on here by many critics of HUSTLE AND FLOW, which was regarded as one of the most intelligently-written and sophisticated portrays of black life ever - but about which I could only see a main character slurring his words as if half drunk, making absurdly halfwitted statements like "I gots to have a dreamz to has a dreamz" while a group called 3-6-MAFIA sang "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp." Really. HOW ****ING EMBARASSING! Really? THAT's the best you can come up with to represent black culture? I mean, I am honestly disgusted. As a Native American reader of this site, and as a Native American in general, I am routinely on the bitchslap-end of Hollywood's efforts to "include" "my people" by depicting naked dudes helping white recording artists see "the colors of the wind" and the "music of the planets" and all that nonsense. It is REPULSIVE. I can't imagine that black viewers with half a brain feel any less insulted by characters named Pootie saying "Dawg, I'm yo n****." I am deeply and vehemently opposed to racism and all its apologists. I'm furious Aang is a white guy. AANG AIN'T WHITE. But the idea that the height of black culture is ghetto violence is to me a deeply racist and deeply ugly thought. I do not support with my time or dollars that kind of nonsense. I urge others not to support it, either. There are amazing black film festivals out there that do NOT go in for foolish gangland BS and tell real stories of real people without a "Big Mama" character (Sorry, Tyler Perry - you're doing the same thing Martin Lawrence does - only making more money at it) or a bunch of people sitting around saying "Dog, family's all about F'GIV'NEZ!" I find racism hideous, and don't support these products. Neither should any of you.
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you can really make out the clear picture of Rob Schneider riding Adam Sandler's coat tails.
Brilliant stuff. -
'The Wire' was shit completely shit on and doesn't deserve an ioda of the attention it deserves. Unlike 'The Sopranos'(HBO's baby) 'The Wire' held up consistently with new themes and characters. More engaging than 99% of the BULLSHIT on tv today.
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you to watch The Wire did such a poor job of communicating to you what the show was about. The Wire is not "deeply representative of the black experience" any more than Chuck is a show about what it is like to be white in America. It is not a microcosm; they do not pretend that it takes place in "Anytown, USA". It is a very realistic (by all accounts) look at a very specific segment of the population of Baltimore.Writing is more than just dialogue. Earlier you said you don't care about context, but one of the strengths of The Wire's writing is context - how everything relates to everything else, and how it all fits together. Those telling you to watch The Wire should have also told you you can't simply jump into it at any given point. I tell people it is a 60 episode mini-series, told over 5 seasons. Unlike most television series, there are no stand-alone episodes. Each episode, while often having a theme to it, or some symmetry between the first and last scene, is essentially another chapter in an ongoing story. You can't judge an entire book by reading one page - Lord of the Rings is about more than Hobbits discussing what to eat for breakfast. The Wire is about more than gang members shooting one another for apparently no reason. The dialogue in that scene you saw was not as important as the events of the scene. But you had to know the story behind the event; later you see the ramifications of that event.I get that you are sensitive to seeing minorities portrayed only as stereotypes in Hollywood. I too find racism appalling. However, I think you have unfairly demonized The Wire. Your impression of it is based on two scenes, viewing them with a misconstrued pre-conception. Your first impressions are superficial and your judgement is based on that limited, and erroneous, knowledge. You mention above the Hollywood stereotype of Native Americans; another such stereotype being alcoholism. Imagine if Graham Greene had played Nicholas Cage's role in Leaving Las Vegas. Would you have been happy a great actor got a great role, or would you have simply dismissed it as another example of a negative stereotype. It would be too bad if an actor was denied a role because the producers were afraid, due to the actor's race, etc., of perpetuating a stereotype. There is such a thing as being too PC. In the case of The Wire, the events portrayed in the show are, unfortunately, realistic - these things happen. However, it would be a shame to dismiss the world portrayed in the show as nothing more than a stereotype, believing "that's not real", when, sadly, it is.
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Big Jim - your point about Graham Greene is well made. Graham is a great actor, and it depresses me when he whores out to doing stereotype roles. That Hollywood even throws us table scraps - NA I mean - is a good thing, but ... god, it'd be nice to see him get a big role like LEAVING LAS VEGAS' lead. Of coure ,they'd have to keep the tone of the piece the same and not drag NA issues into it. Could they? At this point, with AIRBENDER totally whitebreaded, who knows? But you make a better point than any I've heard on why I should give THE WIRE a second chance with the Graham Greene remark. Good black actors are plentiful. Good rules are not.
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Willow is great.
I saw Willow's wand at Skywalker Ranch many years ago. It changed my life.
That is all.
Thank you.
Go Longhorns.
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