EWB Film Club

[MalaCloudy Black]

2 hours ago, GoGo Yubari said:

HERESY, I say as if I've ever seen it a second time after seeing it in theaters twelve years ago. I did, though, see Seu Jorge do all the Bowie covers he recorded for the movie last week and that's really all the enduring legacy I need.

Watched Dazed and Confused (1993) last night. For the first half hour or so I was pretty much like "oh jeez is this all there is" but it grew on me significantly over the course of time. It has a lot of what I loved about Boyhood too, particularly the fact that Linklater is so good at depicting what's going on when nothing's going on. I loved a lot of the stuff where you got two different perspectives on the same thing from the older kids and the incoming freshmen ("ugh high school girls suck" vs. "ugh middle school girls suck, I can't wait until we're in high school" one scene later), and I enjoyed some of the use of repetition, like how every set of characters ends up at the drive-in burger place at some point because it's a small town, where else are you going to go? Also the only actor I knew was in this was McConaughey, so going "wait that's Adam Goldberg, right? It is? WAIT IS THAT BEN AFF -- IT IS" was great. I did learn that it's very easy for me to get Joey Lauren Adams and Julie Benz confused, though, so I was convinced that Julie Benz had somehow changed a lot in the three or four years between this and the Buffy pilot.

Also gonna keep track of what I watched for each week now, just because:

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Week 2, Films Pre-1970: The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Week 3, Films About or Featuring Presidents: Elvis and Nixon (2016)

Week 4, Documentaries Post-2000: Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)

Week 5, Coming of Age Films: Dazed and Confused (1993)

 

Parked Posey and Renee Zellwegger too. And Milla Jovovich. There are a couple of instances of that in Dazed, where you're like "oh hey I don't recognize -- what!" I always thought Affleck was such a wonderful dickhead as O'Bannion. 

I'm torn between a few films here myself, honestly. There's one that kind of stands out that I want to revisit that I may do for this one.

[Monkey D. Lars]

I've watched Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016). Sam Neill is awesome, the whole film is awesome and it's just. WATCH IT. IT STARS A DOG CALLED TUPAC. 

 

I didn't choose the skuxx life, the skuxx life chose me.

[GoGo Yubari]

6 minutes ago, Cloudy said:

Parked Posey and Renee Zellwegger too. And Milla Jovovich. There are a couple of instances of that in Dazed, where you're like "oh hey I don't recognize -- what!" I always thought Affleck was such a wonderful dickhead as O'Bannion. 

I'm torn between a few films here myself, honestly. There's one that kind of stands out that I want to revisit that I may do for this one.

Yeah, I've never seen Parker Posey in anything pre-Best in Show so I didn't recognize her at all, nor Jovovich until the credits started rolling.

[GA!]

3 hours ago, King Ghidorah Ellis said:

Is there a Christmas movie that would fall under this criteria? Just so I can tick all my boxes...Home Alone is totally a coming of age story, right?! Look at that personal growth Kevin McAllister goes through! That kid has his shit together by the end of that movie.

Could be wrong as I've not seen this in a while, but how about A Christmas Story? Does an adult narrating his childhood count as coming-of-age?  

[Benjamin]

11 hours ago, King Kevin McCellister said:

Is there a Christmas movie that would fall under this criteria? Just so I can tick all my boxes...Home Alone is totally a coming of age story, right?! Look at that personal growth Kevin McAllister goes through! That kid has his shit together by the end of that movie.

It's a Wonderful Life? 

[MalaCloudy Black]

So for this week I went back and watched the Macaulay Culkin/Anna Chlumsky film My Girl. The first time I saw this movie I was in my teens and kind of dismissed it offhand as a kids movie, but the more of it I watched, the more I got invested in it. Anna Chlumsky stars as Vada, a somewhat tomboyish 11 year old whose mother died giving birth to her, and whose father owns a funeral home - which leads to her fascination with death. She's also a hypochondriac, often exhibiting symptoms of whatever killed the deceased who come into her father's business. 

On the other end of the movie is Culkin's "Thomas J", who is "allergic to everything" and Vada's best friend. It's a movie that surprises you, in a way, because it introduces a lot of "adult" concepts - death chief among them - that you don't expect from something largely considered a "kids movie". It kind of surprises me that it wasn't very well received critically, but it seems like that's changed in the past years.

 

Spoiler

Also, the first time I saw it, I didn't even twig to what was going to happen to Thomas J. It was definitely a "holy shit" moment, especially for a movie meant for a younger audience - Thomas J dies? What the hell?!

 

[Jimmy]

get those coming-of-age films in! 

meanwhile, it's a @LarsLars week!

[Monkey D. Lars]

So for this week, we'll be seeing some more action! As I have come to a decision. 


With the release of Star Wars in like a week or so and Donnie Yen being in there making his huge Hollywood Big Budget film debut in a bigger role than he had in the past. And he follows that up with Triple X. Hopefully for him he will get to star in some great action flicks with all the stuff that made me fall in love with his work in Hong Kong. But hey, we had more actors crossing the sea! Think about the legendary Jackie Chan who finally got his Oscar. The other legend in Bruce Lee. We have Jet Li and to same extend Sammo Hung if you count his TV show. 
 

So yes, I think you guys can see where I am heading! They all had to start somewhere. They all made it big in Hong Kong first! So for this week I'll be suggesting to watch a film that stars one of these: Donnie Yen, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Jet Li or Bruce Lee. I would prefer a film before they hit Hollywood but if you are not into that I'm okay with just any film they star in.

Ps. Ip Man is on Netflix UK. 

If you want suggestions, let me know! 
 

 

I had more ideas like Disney because of Moana, 80's action week or classic actors like Stewart, Grant, Bogart or Cagney.

[I Don't Mind]

Better late than never, I watched Sixteen Candles for the first time. Boy did I grow up with the wrong perception of that movie. I had heard so much about it being the ultimate chick-flick and the only scene I knew of from the film was the end between Sam and Jake, and even that was perverted by the Family Guy joke about it. So I just assumed it was a sappy romance start-to-finish. I didn't expect it to be so universally relatable and hysterical. I think I might rank it higher than Breakfast Club in John Hughes' work. The casual racism and date rape has not aged well, so my favorite Hughes film is still Ferris Bueller, but still, this was a great watch. Excited for next week's kung fu showdown

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I watched Dazed and Confused but to be honest, I was having a tough time getting into it. I think I'll need to try to watch it again at some point and not really have anything else going on in the background. Enjoyed it, but didn't feel like I had missed out on anything huge. 

I watched Hole though, since it's on Netflix. Read the book in elementary school, then the movie came out. Very nostalgic for me, even if it's delightfully silly. 

This week's theme is super out of my element so I am excited. I'm not sure I've seen a single movie with any of those guys, except for the Rush Hour movies.

[MalaCloudy Black]

I think I still have my copy of Holes laying around the house somewhere. I remember my brother buying that at a school book fair in elementary school, but I wound up being the one who read it over and over again.

[I Don't Mind]

Inspired by the screenshot of LarsLars' video, I watched 1994's Fist of Legend starring Jet Li. I liked it, but I don't think I was in the mindset to give it a full chance to entertain me. Through much of it I was internally complimenting Li's character, Chen Zhen for being the best at fighting a group of guys, so long as they attack one at a time. But I know that's not a trope this film invented, and the action was good. Best part of the film was the cinematography and dialogue during/just prior-to/just after Chen Zhen's fight with Chen's woman's uncle/head of morally-questionable Japanese Black Dragon Clan, Funakochi Fumio. But again, with my mindset, I was comparing the blindfolded fight to Jake Roberts vs. Rick Martel. And while the action was good, a lot of the fights crucial to the plot seemed to drag on forever. I would have preferred they flesh out more of the conflict between Chen and his sort-of-Dojo-brother Huo Ting'en. Or even flesh out more of the Japanese Ambassador's character.

For everything Fist of Legend did well, I think Ip Man starring Donnie Yen did better

[Monkey D. Lars]

I went with Jet Li's debut feature: The Shaolin Temple (1982) and woow, I really dug this one. Love martial arts film. Classic stuff. It is highly recommendable. The fights are solid and Jet Li shows off his immense talent. I don't want to spoil nothing but the story is decent too. All in all this is a film that is beautifully shot and the action is top notch. Hooray for this choice! 

[Jimmy]

I'm a little behind cos it gets busy around Christmas time, but I'll be doing Ip Man 2 for this when I get some time to catch up! 

[LittleDaniel]

Okay, so I strongly dislike action movies, but if someone suggests one that can be easily found on (US) Netflix/Hulu/Amazon Prime, I'll give it a fair shake.

[Jimmy]

Ip Man was on Netflix a while back and is really great. 

I'm a bit behind cos Christmas is a busy time, but I'll incidentally be watching Ip Man 2 for this when I can catch up. 

[King Ellis]

Guys, I heard Jimmy will be catching up on this with Ip Man 2.

[I Don't Mind]

2 hours ago, LittleDaniel said:

Okay, so I strongly dislike action movies, but if someone suggests one that can be easily found on (US) Netflix/Hulu/Amazon Prime, I'll give it a fair shake.

HULU - Legend of the Drunken Master starring Jackie Chan

NETFLIX - Once Upon a Time in Shanghai starring Sammo Hung

NETFLIX - The Enforcer starring Jet Li

NETFLIX - Hero starring Jet Li

NETFLIX - The Legend starring Jet Li

AMAZON - The Magnificent Butcher starring Sammo Hung

[Monkey D. Lars]

Legend of the Drunken Master is amazing! 

[Monkey D. Lars]

Is the next theme a christmas film?