Movies

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:07 pm

You were much more generous and no doubt mature about where so many of the great artists of the 60s and early 70s went with their music. I mostly felt cheated. I wondered what they could have done if they hadn't moved so much with the musical times.

The list of younger (in the late 70s and 80s) guys that you found intriguing pretty much went right past me. Unlike the prior ten years, I wasn't listening to a lot of progressive radio and didn't know many musicians. So i simply missed much of what was happening.

I also tended to dismiss much of it as derivative. So, for example, Tom Petty struck me as a weak Byrds knock off. There was certainly an influence. But I've got the Petty live anthology on my desk as I type this, and I have to admit that there is less of this than I thought. He's a better writer, with a better band, than I credited. I once worked with an HVAC guy who took guitar lessons from Petty in Florida and said he was a good guy.

Much of my dismissal was stylistic. I was deeply rooted in blues and jazz. Music that valued improvisation spoke to me. And of course, this is not what groups like the Ramones, Bondie, Costello, and Talking Heads were up to. I kept listening for the solos that never came. I kept trying to hear the connections to musical roots that I loved, but they weren't there.

This was even true for the monster Rock Star of this era, Springsteen. I admired much of his early stuff. Sure, cliches. But I think My Hometown is a gem. And not only that one. But while I get that he had a crack band, it wasn't the kind of crack band I liked. Springsteen scripted everything. To my ears, his records were over-produced and his concerts were improvisation-free. Yes, Clarence Clemens played what could be called solos. But there was nothing free in them to my ears. To me, this sounded like just playing pre-arranged lines. And they just weren't that interesting compared to what I have previously heard on that instrument. After the first few albums, Springsteen seemed to me to just fall deeper into cliches as a writer, and deeper into Rock Stardom as a performer and personna.

Those must have been funny conversations with Graham Parker. That must be great fun for you. Lucky that he didn't get bigger, or you would be talking only to his security team as they threw you onto the street. Perhaps he'll provide the entertainment in your room at the next IT-In-Healthcare convention.

I had several close calls where I failed to be in the same place at the same time with Jackson and Bonnie in my years in California. Mutual friends. This was no big deal to me at the time, as I wondered how interesting the conversation could really be. No way was I going to interrogate them at a party in backwoods Mendocino, or slip them my demo tape. And the odds of really connecting in a conversation would probably have been low. But people who knew them said they were cool for rock musicians. Perhaps it would have been fun to just see them operate as human beings in a non-star social setting.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:14 pm

Who keeps up SC? These days https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB7yPssxMEo I barely get by.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:16 pm

By the way Howard, do you think Graham Parker earned much coin for appearing in, and having a couple songs in This is Forty?

howard · Post by **howard** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:20 pm

DC47 wrote:I also tended to dismiss much of it as derivative.

Well, sure. Absolutely, and I see that (and heard it from older folks at the time.) Intentionally so (Costello and Springsteen most clearly, and Graham Parker unapologetically.) Youth and a pretty narrow musical exposure made it easier for me to accept those bands at face value.

howard · Post by **howard** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:23 pm

sancarlos wrote:By the way Howard, do you think Graham Parker earned much coin for appearing in, and having a couple songs in This is Forty?

The last time I spoke with him was during the tour following the movie, and I didn't ask. I seriously doubt it, although it happened because Apatow was a big fan, and I am sure Judd bent over backwards to pay GP.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:31 pm

I asked, because some years ago, when I saw Nick Lowe live with a full band, he told the crowd that the tour was underwritten by royalties he received from having his old Brinsley Schwarz tune (and hit for Elvis Costello), What's so funny about peace, love, and understanding? appear in a then-recent hit movie.

howard · Post by **howard** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:39 pm

DC47 wrote: Those must have been funny conversations with Graham Parker. That must be great fun for you. Lucky that he didn't get bigger, or you would be talking only to his security team as they threw you onto the street. Perhaps he'll provide the entertainment in your room at the next IT-In-Healthcare convention.

I am lucky that I picked someone as my all-time fav who never became huge. Had I picked Bruce, odds of such access to him would be slim (although I did cross paths with Joey Ramone a few times; one of my buddies lived in the same building as Joeys mom, and I rode the elevator with him once.)

I had several close calls where I failed to be in the same place at the same time with Jackson and Bonnie in my years in California. Mutual friends.

JB probably would've been too wasted to converse anyway. And Bonnie too drunk if it was before she sobered up.

My friend Lido and her boyfriend promoted shows in the late 70s. So I met a lot of those bands which helped me be so into them.

WRT the improvisation thing. I grew up on radio and pop music. And the album version of extended guitar work. By college, when I started going to shows, I also went through a jazz phase (finally honoring my Dads pre-marriage career as a sax player in new york), and I expected improv from the jazz world, but not from the rock world. While I appreciated seeing Dickey Betts or Tower in concert stretching out, I never considered playing pre-arranged lines a defect. Also, not being a real musician, but merely a wannabe who for the most part played along to records that I like.

Frankly, I was not huge on Springsteen live, I've seen many more Dead shows (~15) than Bruce; I enjoyed the spontaneity of the Dead (especially Phil) but didn't mind the lack thereof of the E Street band.

Ooh, David Lindley, there is a wonderful soloist who I enjoyed seeing live. Mainly because Jackson was too damn wasted.

howard · Post by **howard** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:54 pm

That's funny, I heard What's So Funny on radio just yesterday (on Tom Petty's Sirius Satellite station) and looked it up on wikipedia, and I read that same fact.

Soundtrack to The Bodyguard sold tens of millions. Soundtrack to This is 40 I'm gonna guess sold somewhat fewer.

Lets go to the wiki: one of them, 45 million copies; the best selling movie soundtrack of all time. The other, I can't find any stats on soundtrack sales, but I bet it didn't crack 100,000.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:55 pm

No doubt that meeting musicians helps you listen with appreciation. And seeing their concerts. So too just knowing people who are into something. I can link specific band to specific people who turned me on to them. If you're not around people who are deeply into music, a significant part of your pathway into appreciating new stuff is wiped out.

This accounts for much of why I couldn't get into, for example, the new British music in the late 70s and 80s. I'm a latecomer. But the social influence pathway still works. I have a friend who lived in London in that era, and as a consequence was all over the music of that time and place. That's how I got to Nick Lowe concerts in this decade.

howard · Post by **howard** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 12:06 am

DC47 wrote:Those must have been funny conversations with Graham Parker. That must be great fun for you. Lucky that he didn't get bigger, or you would be talking only to his security team as they threw you onto the street. Perhaps he'll provide the entertainment in your room at the next IT-In-Healthcare convention.

I got to know Parker because he played at a house concert - about 80 people squeezed into a living room in rural New Jersey. We chatted in the kitchen after most of the people had cleared out. He often plays small shows like that, within driving radius of his home in Woodstock, or close to a road gig.

Back when I had much more disposable income, I considered hiring him for a party, and I discussed it with him. But, I would be unable to rustle up more that a dozen people I know in new york who would know enough of his music to appreciate it. Back in California with enough lead time, I could put together a nice party filled with people who know him. He told a couple of stories of how much not fun it is playing a room full of folks who have no idea.

This old timey music discussion, on the movies thread, has been great fun.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 12:14 am

Fun for me too. Music still matters to me. Even music from long ago. But times change. It's not really as central to me now, and far less in the lives of people I hang out with as it was way back when.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 3:21 pm

I'm finally getting around to reading those Paul Thomas Anderson articles that Grantland published last month. Just finished the 'Boogie Nights' article that Brian linked to it earlier in the thread. I rummaged around the basement, looking for my VHS copy, but I must have thrown it out when I did my spring cleaning last, um, spring. Not sure why I would have gotten rid of it. So I had to settle for rewatching the 'Sister Christian' scene on YouTube. My g-d, I love this movie so much.

I talked a bunch of friends/co-workers into seeing it when it came out. It was me and four women in their mid-20s. I told them, 'It's a film about the early-'80s porn industry by a director you've never heard of. It'll be fun!' I have no idea why they agreed to go.

The fact that PT Anderson has become what he's become in the years since then only makes this movie more special to me.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 10:28 pm

bapo! wrote:I talked a bunch of friends/co-workers into seeing it when it came out. It was me and four women in their mid-20s. I told them, 'It's a film about the early-'80s porn industry by a director you've never heard of. It'll be fun!' I have no idea why they agreed to go.

Animal magnetism.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 7:53 am

I like to think these four women were so into Bapo that they agreed to what they thought was going to be a fivesome just to get a slice of the action, but that Bapo! was too into the movie to notice.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 10:32 am

AB_skin_test wrote:I like to think these four women were so into Bapo that they agreed to what they thought was going to be a fivesome just to get a slice of the action, but that Bapo! was too into the movie to notice.

I unsuccessfully macked on one of those women, but I think that everybody else in that office thought that I way gay. I did nothing to disabuse them of this notion, especially when I started dating another (female) co-worker a year later.

I miss that period in my life. I was just thinking the other day of another movie that I went to around that time: David Cronenberg's 'Crash.' It tried to equate sexual identity with auto accidents. Naturally. I had just moved here, just started my new job, a few months out of college. Found an art-house theater in my neighborhood. 22 years old, so full of life, you know? I went to this movie, thinking that it would solve all of the riddles of the universe, or something. I went to a 5:00 screening on a Friday afternoon, saw five other single guys spread out very far apart in the theater. And then the movie started and it was...one of the worst pieces of trash I've ever seen in my life.

Bensell · Post by **Bensell** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 2:21 pm

bapo! wrote:
AB_skin_test wrote:I like to think these four women were so into Bapo that they agreed to what they thought was going to be a fivesome just to get a slice of the action, but that Bapo! was too into the movie to notice.
I unsuccessfully macked on one of those women, but I think that everybody else in that office thought that I way gay. I did nothing to disabuse them of this notion, especially when I started dating another (female) co-worker a year later.

I miss that period in my life. I was just thinking the other day of another movie that I went to around that time: David Cronenberg's 'Crash.' It tried to equate sexual identity with auto accidents. Naturally. I had just moved here, just started my new job, a few months out of college. Found an art-house theater in my neighborhood. 22 years old, so full of life, you know? I went to this movie, thinking that it would solve all of the riddles of the universe, or something. I went to a 5:00 screening on a Friday afternoon, saw five other single guys spread out very far apart in the theater. And then the movie started and it was...one of the worst pieces of trash I've ever seen in my life.

When I started reading this I was afraid you were going to say you liked Crash and that would have forced me to hate you. Thank g-d

rass · Post by **rass** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 2:32 pm

bapo! wrote:I unsuccessfully macked on one of those women...

Went for the kiss, got denied and then spent 10 minutes blubbering "I'm an idiot...I'm a fucking idiot...."?

(man he was good)

Post by **brian** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 2:41 pm

rass wrote:
bapo! wrote:I unsuccessfully macked on one of those women...
Went for the kiss, got denied and then spent 10 minutes blubbering "I'm an idiot...I'm a fucking idiot...."?

(man he was good)

Over the holidays, I intentionally watched like about 10 of his movies in a row and yes, yes he was incredible.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 3:15 pm

When I started reading this I was afraid you were going to say you liked Crash and that would have forced me to hate you. Thank g-d

Keep in mind that I'm talking about the 1996 David Cronenberg 'Crash,' not the 2004 Paul Haggis 'Crash.' I like Paul Haggis a lot because of 'EZ Streets' and the Scientology stuff, but I've never had the heart to watch that movie. I know it won the Oscar, but I've never talked to anybody who didn't hate it.

"I'm an idiot...I'm a fucking idiot...."

Oh, man. That hurts just thinking about that scene.

I wasn't Swamping when Hoffman died last year, which is probably a good thing because you guys weren't forced to read a live-blogging of my personal Hoffman Film Festival. I watched/re-watched about a dozen of his movies in the weeks after he died. I'm a writer/director kind of guy, and I almost never really notice actors, but he's one of the very few actors I cared about. Absolutely loved him.

I rewatched 'Synecdoche, New York' last night. I first watched it two years ago. Liked it at first, but then it kind of went off the rails. (It's a Charlie Kaufman film, after all.) But by the end, it started to pull me back in and was very affecting. I found myself thinking about it a lot, and some images just never left me. Last year, I rewatched it during a period when I was feeling hyper-sensitive about a lot of things. It didn't seem as weird the second time, and everything clicked into place. And then the last 10 minutes reduced me to a puddle. So last night I thought that I was ready to watch it again. Again, a puddle. This is probably my favorite movie now. But it can be very hard to watch. Especially now that Hoffman is dead and the entire movie is about death and dying.

Bensell · Post by **Bensell** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 3:30 pm

bapo! wrote:
When I started reading this I was afraid you were going to say you liked Crash and that would have forced me to hate you. Thank g-d
Keep in mind that I'm talking about the 1996 David Cronenberg 'Crash,' not the 2004 Paul Haggis 'Crash.' I like Paul Haggis a lot because of 'EZ Streets' and the Scientology stuff, but I've never had the heart to watch that movie. I know it won the Oscar, but I've never talked to anybody who didn't hate it.

Both versions of Crash are f'n terrible. Hard to believe that 2 of my Top 10 Movies I Hate List are the same name

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 6:47 am

...

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 7:26 am

"I also have a certain SET of skills." (points to various martial arts certifications on wall) (with boobs)

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 7:48 am

bapo! wrote: Keep in mind that I'm talking about the 1996 David Cronenberg 'Crash,' not the 2004 Paul Haggis 'Crash.' I like Paul Haggis a lot because of 'EZ Streets' and the Scientology stuff, but I've never had the heart to watch that movie. I know it won the Oscar, but I've never talked to anybody who didn't hate it.

The Cronenberg film is also garbage - as is almost anything he puts out.

But here in Canada, he is our Orson Welles/Martin Scocese/Genius of cinema. Second to him in terms of directors is probably Atom Egoyan - who in one twelve month period released two of the worst reviewed serious dramas that I can remember. At least, they were poorly reviewed in the States. In the insular Canadian film world, they were treated more kindly.

Oh, and Paul haggis is Canadian too.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 10:56 am

Ryan wrote:"I also have a certain SET of skills." (points to various martial arts certifications on wall) (with boobs)

I'm also guessing that Joe Lynch saw "Kill Bill".

L-Jam3 · Post by **L-Jam3** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 11:24 am

He's made a ton of utter crap, but The Fly, Eastern Promises, and A History Of Violence were phenomenal. Especially the last one with Maria Bello in the high school cheerleader outfit.

You guys can find it on your non-work time.

That French Guy · Post by **That French Guy** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 1:20 pm

I don’t know how big he is outside of Québec, but down here (including Cannes festival), Xavier Dolan is a critical darling, and his latest movie Mommy did quite well at the box office.

First time in my life I needed subtitles for a film in French though.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 2:00 pm

Apropos of nothing - the sister of my good friend's wife recently got divorced from Paul Haggis, after a long-term marriage. My buddy says he is a good guy. Haggis and his wife both quit Scientology, and my buddy says that when the wife did it first, the Scientology hierarchy came down on her like a ton of bricks.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 8:49 pm

rass wrote:
bapo! wrote:I unsuccessfully macked on one of those women...
Went for the kiss, got denied and then spent 10 minutes blubbering "I'm an idiot...I'm a fucking idiot...."?

(man he was good)

Not only was he great, but he played so many bizarre characters so well. Loved his role in Punch Drunk Love. Such an underrated or maybe just misunderstood movie.

I went on a first date to Boogie Nights. Her choice. The look on her face when Dirk whipped it out at the end, we kept it platonic. Still friends to this day, actually.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 6:26 pm

Rough comparison, right? Perhaps a better first date is something featuring Woody Allen or Seth Rogen.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 1:31 pm

Just finished watching Gone Girl.

NEVER GETTING MARRIED. EVER.

duff · Post by **duff** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 11:36 am

Saw Whiplash over the weekend. Very intense. JK Simmons was outstanding.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Sun Feb 01, 2015 4:40 pm

Watched gone girl. Movie was fine, pretty well adapted from book. I remember how much i hated the characters but loved the plotting. Same with movie.

Pike doesn't deserve an oscar, though.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 2:52 pm

Finally watched The Raid:Redemption on the weekend, and it is one of the best action movies I have ever seen. Maybe a bit too much martial arts, but holy moley it is fantastic.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 10:00 am

Watched a really good, heartbreaking documentary on HBO last night: The Crash Reel. Story of Kevin Pearce, who was the snowboarder that suffered a severe brain injury training for the 2010 Olympics. I remember the story at the time, but I didn't realize just how good this guy was... The season leading up to the injury, 2009, he was essentially neck and neck with Shaun White at the top of the int'l tour.

The injury is hard to watch. The recovery is brutal. His grappling with life with a different brain is both inspirational and heartbreaking.

It's also incredibly well shot/edited/produced. The access to and footage of his family and friends is pretty astounding. Even if you care zero percent about snowboarding, I highly recommend this movie.

(There is an extremely difficult portion in the middle of the movie about how far athletes in all X game sports are pushing the limits of safety/sanity. I'm going to have a tough time watching some of these events going forward. Half-pipe walls used to be 8-10 feet tall. They are now 22 feet(!). These guys are shooting 15-18 feet up over the lip. When they crash, it's like jumping off the third floor of a house.)

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Wed Feb 18, 2015 10:27 am

Anyone else see Kingsman over the weekend? Just saw it yesterday -- it was ... explosive.

GoodKarma · Post by **GoodKarma** » Wed Feb 18, 2015 10:57 am

I saw it on Sunday...I thought it was fun. Better than the Kickass movies. Hard to picture Colin Firth as an action hero guy but I think he did a fair job. I read somewhere he did 80% of his own stunts.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Wed Feb 18, 2015 11:29 am

GoodKarma wrote:I saw it on Sunday...I thought it was fun. Better than the Kickass movies. Hard to picture Colin Firth as an action hero guy but I think he did a fair job. I read somewhere he did 80% of his own stunts.

A ton of fun. Every so often you see something that you haven't really seen in a movie before - and that movie had a few such damn original scenes.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 9:37 am

Watched two very, VERY different movies this weekend.

First was The Lunchbox a very low key and very well done Indian movie - good character study, not too heavy, about an older man who becomes involved with a frustrated married woman who he hasn't met. Don't want to give much away, but it was handled in a believable way and is a movie you can watch with your SO without worrying about violence or sexual content.

The other movie was Lucy with Scarlett Johanson and (of course) Morgan Freeman. Exciting, cool looking and as dumb a movie as I have seen in years. Only 85 minutes long, and about 10 minutes of that is stock footage and shots of animals in the wild. Over the top, but fun (and maybe a bit unintentionally funny). And Scarlett Johanson gives an absolutely laughable performance. Get drunk or stoned first and it may make sense.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 10:56 am

Can someone smart (or an idiot savant) explain the last 15 minutes of Birdman to me? That shit was annoying.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:01 am

tennbengal wrote:
GoodKarma wrote:I saw it on Sunday...I thought it was fun. Better than the Kickass movies. Hard to picture Colin Firth as an action hero guy but I think he did a fair job. I read somewhere he did 80% of his own stunts.
A ton of fun. Every so often you see something that you haven't really seen in a movie before - and that movie had a few such damn original scenes.

Saw it yesterday. Thought it was a good bit of campy fun.