movie reco

[monet]

Yes that was a good one Monet. I actually thought Stayin' Alive (Saturday Night Fever sequel) was pretty good (the appeal to me being that it is flawless as a period piece) but I never recoed it since most people who watch it, hate it.

I just found this if you didn't hear or see it.
Bout a month old...

[tableplay]

Yes that was a good one Monet. I actually thought Stayin' Alive (Saturday Night Fever sequel) was pretty good (the appeal to me being that it is flawless as a period piece) but I never recoed it since most people who watch it, hate it.

I just found this if you didn't hear or see it.
Bout a month old...

Thanks Monet. I saw it, but I appreciate the reco.

[monet]

Just finished watching Licorice Pizza.
I don't really want to review it here because many of you probably haven't seen it yet.
A couple things I can say without spoiling anything.
I feel like the only reason that Cooper Hoffman got the staring role was because of his father.
I suppose Aliana and the Haim family got the role because of Corey??
I'm not sure their looks or their acting skills are good enough but that is up for debate.
When I watch Cooper Hoffman I think about some actors from the 90s and 2000's like Paul Dano and perhaps Michael Pitt so that bothers me a little.
Anyways, decent enough movie for a viewing since Hollywood just doesn't put out good movies these days unless you are into Keanu Reeves and or Super Hero Movies.
It sort of feels like the movie is ripping off the 2009 Film, Adventureland, which is a must watch for me once in awhile because it was filmed at Kennywood.
Tomorrow I plan on watching the new version of Nightmare Alley.

[tableplay]

Just finished watching Licorice Pizza.
I don't really want to review it here because many of you probably haven't seen it yet.
A couple things I can say without spoiling anything.
I feel like the only reason that Cooper Hoffman got the staring role was because of his father.
I suppose Aliana and the Haim family got the role because of Corey??
I'm not sure their looks or their acting skills are good enough but that is up for debate.
When I watch Cooper Hoffman I think about some actors from the 90s and 2000's like Paul Dano and perhaps Michael Pitt so that bothers me a little.
Anyways, decent enough movie for a viewing since Hollywood just doesn't put out good movies these days unless you are into Keanu Reeves and or Super Hero Movies.
It sort of feels like the movie is ripping off the 2009 Film, Adventureland, which is a must watch for me once in awhile because it was filmed at Kennywood.
Tomorrow I plan on watching the new version of Nightmare Alley.

Thanks Monet. Speaking of movies with the word Alley in their title, I watched Gasoline Alley (Bruce Willis straight-to-video) a couple weeks back and it was ok - no reason not to watch it. I agree with regard to Adventureland - great movie, so that is reason enough to watch Licorice Pizza (plus the pinball artwork on the movie poster). The new version of Nightmare Alley - the movie takes on deeper meaning for those of us on the margins (hits very close to home for anyone that has felt dead-ended, marginalized or utterly alone at some point(s) in their life) and it will be easy for me to remember this movie in detail without having to watch it again . . . . Maybe the original version also had those qualities. With regard to the new version - it actually makes me wonder if the writer had personal experiences with dead-endedness. If not they are truly a genius.

[monet]

The new version of Nightmare Alley - the movie takes on deeper meaning for those of us on the margins (hits very close to home for anyone that has felt dead-ended, marginalized or utterly alone at some point(s) in their life) and it will be easy for me to remember this movie in detail without having to watch it again . . . . Maybe the original version also had those qualities. With regard to the new version - it actually makes me wonder if the writer had personal experiences with dead-endedness. If not they are truly a genius.

I think if you ever have the time and nothing else to watch you should watch the original version since its free on YouTube anyways.
Basically the same story but I think the original story flows better and develops the characters more as they focus on them and the story more so than long winded speeches like the new version.
Both versions conclude with the same clichéd message in the end I just feel that the original black and white version does it better.
You have to give the original more points on the sheer fact that this story was more edgy to tell on the big screen in 1947 compared to 2021.
Since I viewed the original first I was able to easily fill in the gaps that the new version left out.
I was hoping for some new inventive twist at the end but was disappointed.
Obviously, the new version was going for a more dark dramatic approach with the music and cinematography.
But I think it fails in comparison to the story telling of the original which gives us plenty of darkness without the bells and whistles.

Usually the Black and White version wins out when compared to more modern versions but this isn't always the case.
One movie that we recently discussed was Sorcerer 1977 and that movie clearly crushes its original rival The Wages of Fear 1953.

[tableplay]

The new version of Nightmare Alley - the movie takes on deeper meaning for those of us on the margins (hits very close to home for anyone that has felt dead-ended, marginalized or utterly alone at some point(s) in their life) and it will be easy for me to remember this movie in detail without having to watch it again . . . . Maybe the original version also had those qualities. With regard to the new version - it actually makes me wonder if the writer had personal experiences with dead-endedness. If not they are truly a genius.

I think if you ever have the time and nothing else to watch you should watch the original version since its free on YouTube anyways.
Basically the same story but I think the original story flows better and develops the characters more as they focus on them and the story more so than long winded speeches like the new version.
Both versions conclude with the same clichéd message in the end I just feel that the original black and white version does it better.
You have to give the original more points on the sheer fact that this story was more edgy to tell on the big screen in 1947 compared to 2021.
Since I viewed the original first I was able to easily fill in the gaps that the new version left out.
I was hoping for some new inventive twist at the end but was disappointed.
Obviously, the new version was going for a more dark dramatic approach with the music and cinematography.
But I think it fails in comparison to the story telling of the original which gives us plenty of darkness without the bells and whistles.

Usually the Black and White version wins out when compared to more modern versions but this isn't always the case.
One movie that we recently discussed was Sorcerer 1977 and that movie clearly crushes its original rival The Wages of Fear 1953.

In that case I will watch the original on youtube - thanks for the excellent comparison.

[monet]

They have been playing this movie on the Retro Channel for a week or so now.
Finally caught it and glad I did.
It reminds me of the style of Fat City (1972) with Stacy Keach.
Probably borrowed some ideas from Cliff Robertson since he wrote, directed and starred in this earlier film.
One of these films tableplay might refer to as a period piece.
It has some slow spots and the film is a bit disjointed but all in all well worth a viewing.
Instead of boxing we dive into the beginning of the Corporate Rodeo World when the NFR was held in Oklahoma before moving to Vegas in 1984/85.

I read about another movie made in 1972 with Richard Widmark called When the Legends Die that deals with the same subject material.
I'll have to dig it up , view it and compare the two.
If you enjoy these two you may also want to check out two others...

The Honkers (1972) James Coburn directed by Steve Ihnat
Junior Bonner (1972) Steve McQueen directed by Sam Peckinpah

Turns out there was a Rodeo Craze in the Movie Industry in 1972.
I have 3 movies to watch now.
There goes my next 7 hours.


J.W. Coop (1971)

[monet]

Not the best quality but Free...

[monet]

Turns out that Junior Bonner with Steve McQueen is on YouTube as well...

[monet]

This one is much more difficult to find.... When the Legend Dies... Only found the Trailer so far.
Being more difficult to find makes me want to watch it more.
Perhaps on Apple TV...

[tableplay]

I'm about 1/3 of the way through my viewing of Licorice Pizza and will try to watch the remainder over the next couple of days. It is a good movie so far and I would describe it thus far as Rushmore meets Dazed and Confused with a dash of Adventureland.

Thanks for the rodeo recos Monet.

[monet]

Thanks for the rodeo recos Monet.

Just finished up the Steve McQueen movie Junior Bonner and as usual it seems more about fluff.
Certainly nowhere near as good as JW Coop in my opinion which I relate to much more and seems more realistic about struggle.
Time to watch The Honkers now.
I have a feeling it will be better than Junior Bonner as well.
I enjoy just about any movie with Slim Pickens.
That first Link is pretty bad on Youtube as it appears to be a VCR copy with all the snow.
I found another link on YouTube for the same movie though.
The first minute seems better as in picture quality.
Age Restricted on this site but easily linked to YouTube.
Gonna be much more difficult to find When the Legends Die.
Probably have to buy a DVD.

[tableplay]

Thanks for the rodeo recos Monet.

Just finished up the Steve McQueen movie Junior Bonner and as usual it seems more about fluff.
Certainly nowhere near as good as JW Coop in my opinion which I relate to much more and seems more realistic about struggle.
Time to watch The Honkers now.
I have a feeling it will be better than Junior Bonner as well.
I enjoy just about any movie with Slim Pickens.
That first Link is pretty bad on Youtube as it appears to be a VCR copy with all the snow.
I found another link on YouTube for the same movie though.
The first minute seems better as in picture quality.
Age Restricted on this site but easily linked to YouTube.
Gonna be much more difficult to find When the Legends Die.
Probably have to buy a DVD.

I agree about Slim Pickens. Fuck, I even liked the Apple Dumpling Gang. Well I completed my viewing of Licorice Pizza. I have no choice but to give the movie an A+ since pinball figured so prominently. Presumably, the way the movie left off at the end, Gary's pinball business did not fail like the waterbed scheme and he ended up rich with a chain of pinball parlors. They didn't show clear frames of the pinball machines but I recognized a few:
Surfer (Gottlieb)
Space Mission (Williams)
Fireball (Bally).

Thanks again for the reco.

[monet]

I agree about Slim Pickens. Fuck, I even liked the Apple Dumpling Gang. Well I completed my viewing of Licorice Pizza. I have no choice but to give the movie an A+ since pinball figured so prominently. Presumably, the way the movie left off at the end, Gary's pinball business did not fail like the waterbed scheme and he ended up rich with a chain of pinball parlors. They didn't show clear frames of the pinball machines but I recognized a few:
Surfer (Gottlieb)
Space Mission (Williams)
Fireball (Bally).

Thanks again for the reco.

Turns out that you could skip both Junior Bonner and The Honkers.
The Honkers is better than Junior Bonner but neither is as good as JW Coop in my opinion.
As I said before, JW Coop has a similar feel as Fat City.
I enjoy the rawness of the film and storyline.
I feel like JW Coop is focusing on the characters and subject material and the other two films are focusing more on the big named stars.
I'm guessing this is because Cliff Robertson had complete control of the film being the writer, director and star.
Probably too many cooks in the kitchen for the other two movies.

[monet]

In that case I will watch the original on youtube - thanks for the excellent comparison.

Some interesting facts about the 1947 original.

Tyrone Power, wishing to expand beyond the romantic and swashbuckler roles that brought him to fame, bought the rights to the novel so he could star as the unsavory lead, "The Great Stanton", a scheming carnival barker.
The film premiered in the United States on October 9, 1947, then went into wide release on October 28, 1947, later having six more European releases between November 1947 to May 1954.
To make the film more believable, the producers built a full working carnival on ten acres (40,000 m2) of the 20th Century Fox back lot.
They also hired over 100 sideshow attractions and carnival people to add further authenticity.
Nightmare Alley was somewhat unusual among film noir in having top stars, production staff and a relatively large budget.
Despite a strong promotion campaign, the film was not a financial success upon its original release, due in part to protests against some of the scandalous content.
The film has found acclaim and is regarded as a classic.
(Copied and Pasted from the YouTube Description)

[tableplay]

In that case I will watch the original on youtube - thanks for the excellent comparison.

Some interesting facts about the 1947 original.

Tyrone Power, wishing to expand beyond the romantic and swashbuckler roles that brought him to fame, bought the rights to the novel so he could star as the unsavory lead, "The Great Stanton", a scheming carnival barker.
The film premiered in the United States on October 9, 1947, then went into wide release on October 28, 1947, later having six more European releases between November 1947 to May 1954.
To make the film more believable, the producers built a full working carnival on ten acres (40,000 m2) of the 20th Century Fox back lot.
They also hired over 100 sideshow attractions and carnival people to add further authenticity.
Nightmare Alley was somewhat unusual among film noir in having top stars, production staff and a relatively large budget.
Despite a strong promotion campaign, the film was not a financial success upon its original release, due in part to protests against some of the scandalous content.
The film has found acclaim and is regarded as a classic.
(Copied and Pasted from the YouTube Description)

Thanks for the interesting synopsis Monet - sounds like a winner. This one is going to bite deep I can already tell (most APs are carnies without a carnival as you know) - so I will make sure I am in a calm mood before I take my watching.

Currently I am listening to the Rogan podcast with Antonio Garcia Martinez since he was the dude who had his career at Google destroyed by woke, libtard, fascist cunts and I want to hear his story. I think there is supposed to be a Baldwin drop today, but I haven't looked on youtube for it just yet.

A brief word about Licorice Pizza - I'm not clear on how strictly enforced the No Pinball law was in LA prior to it getting rescinded. Probably somewhat enforced, but you could probably play in the back room of Dive bars before the rescinding - speculation on my part. So the film is basically pretty realistic, but there might be some minor liberties taken like the portrayal of super strong enforcement of the No pinball Law (viewed as a form of gambling, hence the restriction).
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/to...-#post-6659050

[monet]

Thanks for the interesting synopsis Monet - sounds like a winner. This one is going to bite deep I can already tell (most APs are carnies without a carnival as you know) - so I will make sure I am in a calm mood before I take my watching.

Currently I am listening to the Rogan podcast with Antonio Garcia Martinez since he was the dude who had his career at Google destroyed by woke, libtard, fascist cunts and I want to hear his story. I think there is supposed to be a Baldwin drop today, but I haven't looked on youtube for it just yet.

A brief word about Licorice Pizza - I'm not clear on how strictly enforced the No Pinball law was in LA prior to it getting rescinded. Probably somewhat enforced, but you could probably play in the back room of Dive bars before the rescinding - speculation on my part. So the film is basically pretty realistic, but there might be some minor liberties taken like the portrayal of super strong enforcement of the No pinball Law (viewed as a form of gambling, hence the restriction).

There is no doubt in my mind that I would fit right in working the degenerate lifestyle as a Carnie.
A week or two ago they had a small carnival outside the Galleria Mall at Sunset.
I was hoping to get some of that good Fried Carnie Food but they had nothing but Cotton Candy and Cracker Jack.
I couldn't get my wife on the Zipper which has to be the oldest Carnival Ride that I can think of and it is always the same name.
They had a lager version of the Salt and Pepper Shakers that holds more people but I couldn't get her on that either.
She wouldn't even ride the swings.
To my surprise, I did get her on the Thunderbolt though.
I don't think she realized that it has some speed to it and that it swings side to side and goes backwards.
Felt good and I kept telling her that these rides break and crash all the time and people get killed riding them lol.
And she went on the Ferris Wheel and Fun House with me.
I wanted to play some games but they were even more of a rip off than the rides so I restrained myself and spent 150 dollars at Famous Dave's Fake Bar-B-Que.
I don't recommend Famous Dave's... I was just being Lazy and I had a 200 dollar promotion credit on one of my credit cards.

The pinball law is sort of interesting.
I remember the bar pinball games and the No Gambling Signs.
Licorice Pizza was good enough in this era of constant bad movies.
As you know, Hollywood has lots its appeal.
Will Smith and all the Gay, Woke, BLM Bullshit has destroyed whatever it once was.
It won't be long before Comedy is outlawed and Comedians are hung.

Thanks for the pictures of those pinball machines.
Very Cool.

[tableplay]

Thanks for the interesting synopsis Monet - sounds like a winner. This one is going to bite deep I can already tell (most APs are carnies without a carnival as you know) - so I will make sure I am in a calm mood before I take my watching.

Currently I am listening to the Rogan podcast with Antonio Garcia Martinez since he was the dude who had his career at Google destroyed by woke, libtard, fascist cunts and I want to hear his story. I think there is supposed to be a Baldwin drop today, but I haven't looked on youtube for it just yet.

A brief word about Licorice Pizza - I'm not clear on how strictly enforced the No Pinball law was in LA prior to it getting rescinded. Probably somewhat enforced, but you could probably play in the back room of Dive bars before the rescinding - speculation on my part. So the film is basically pretty realistic, but there might be some minor liberties taken like the portrayal of super strong enforcement of the No pinball Law (viewed as a form of gambling, hence the restriction).

There is no doubt in my mind that I would fit right in working the degenerate lifestyle as a Carnie.
A week or two ago they had a small carnival outside the Galleria Mall at Sunset.
I was hoping to get some of that good Fried Carnie Food but they had nothing but Cotton Candy and Cracker Jack.
I couldn't get my wife on the Zipper which has to be the oldest Carnival Ride that I can think of and it is always the same name.
They had a lager version of the Salt and Pepper Shakers that holds more people but I couldn't get her on that either.
She wouldn't even ride the swings.
To my surprise, I did get her on the Thunderbolt though.
I don't think she realized that it has some speed to it and that it swings side to side and goes backwards.
Felt good and I kept telling her that these rides break and crash all the time and people get killed riding them lol.
And she went on the Ferris Wheel and Fun House with me.
I wanted to play some games but they were even more of a rip off than the rides so I restrained myself and spent 150 dollars at Famous Dave's Fake Bar-B-Que.
I don't recommend Famous Dave's... I was just being Lazy and I had a 200 dollar promotion credit on one of my credit cards.

The pinball law is sort of interesting.
I remember the bar pinball games and the No Gambling Signs.
Licorice Pizza was good enough in this era of constant bad movies.
As you know, Hollywood has lots its appeal.
Will Smith and all the Gay, Woke, BLM Bullshit has destroyed whatever it once was.
It won't be long before Comedy is outlawed and Comedians are hung.

Thanks for the pictures of those pinball machines.
Very Cool.

One fellow in the Licorice pinball Pinside thread identified an anachronism. Mars Trek (very fun pinball machine), which was made 1977, appeared in Fat Bernie's Pinball Parlor even though the film was set in 1972 Los Angeles. Kind of reminds of how Bally's pinball Nip-It (1973) appeared in Arnold's in the TV series Happy Days (set in the 50's you'll recall) in many of the episodes. But like you said, Licorice Pizza was a rock solid movie and these were trivial inconsistencies (fuck American Graffiti had many 70's pinball machines even though it was set in the 50's - same with Dazed and Confused having pinballs newer than the time setting of the story).

[tableplay]

There is no doubt in my mind that I would fit right in working the degenerate lifestyle as a Carnie.
A week or two ago they had a small carnival outside the Galleria Mall at Sunset.
I was hoping to get some of that good Fried Carnie Food but they had nothing but Cotton Candy and Cracker Jack.
I couldn't get my wife on the Zipper which has to be the oldest Carnival Ride that I can think of and it is always the same name.
They had a lager version of the Salt and Pepper Shakers that holds more people but I couldn't get her on that either.
She wouldn't even ride the swings.
To my surprise, I did get her on the Thunderbolt though.
I don't think she realized that it has some speed to it and that it swings side to side and goes backwards.
Felt good and I kept telling her that these rides break and crash all the time and people get killed riding them lol.
And she went on the Ferris Wheel and Fun House with me.
I wanted to play some games but they were even more of a rip off than the rides so I restrained myself and spent 150 dollars at Famous Dave's Fake Bar-B-Que.
I don't recommend Famous Dave's... I was just being Lazy and I had a 200 dollar promotion credit on one of my credit cards.

Monet, I'm glad your wife and you enjoyed the carnival. I remember eating at the Famous Dave's in Reno a few times due to its convenience and because of some good coupons (half off or something like that)- I think I ordered the sausage plate on one occasion and a ribs plate on other occasions.
I watched the 1947 version of Nightmare Alley. It was easier to watch than the new one because of the happier ending - which is to say that his wife did not abandon him as in the new movie and it appeared that she would help get him off the bottle and probably out of the geek role (the carnival's boss recognized him eventually which might help him get a different job there as well whereas in the new movie there was no hope for this outcome). No punches were pulled in the new movie and I felt that Bradley's Cooper's character was more evil than Tyrone Power's character (another example of this was that the wealthy mark [and his henchman] was killed by Bradley Cooper's character but not by Tyrone Power's character).
Thanks again for the reco.

[monet]

Bruce Willis 'stepping away' from acting as he battles aphasia, family announces... RIP.