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I just finished Room 237, and it was pretty boring. I loved to concept, but I didn't like the setup, visuals, or the people interviewed. There were some interesting things brought up, but nothing really new. It does make me want to go back and rewatch Kubrick's filmography, though.
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Oct 7, 2013 00:01
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Pierat posted:I liked all the parts where he did his weird Charlie Chaplin stuff in public. "Politics, politics, here's Robert Downey jr. acting as a goat" We're definitely talking about two different people and two different movies, friend.  Morton Downey Jr. was a scummy, chain smoking rear end in a top hat right-wing TV and radio political commentator who had an amazing rise to prominence in 1987 (think a more visibly psychotic Glenn Beck with a cigarette constantly hanging off his lip, and minus all the crying). If you've never heard of him, you should youtube some of his talk shows sometime. As gross and unlikeable as he was, his show was unbelievably entertaining. It was like the Springer show if Jerry actually got physically confrontational with his guests rather than letting them do it for him. The clip of him screaming at Ron Paul made the rounds a couple of years ago when the Libertarian lovefest was in full swing. After his show died, he played basically himself in Predator 2 and an episode of Tales From the Crypt, where he investigated a haunted house on TV. There are actually a couple of interesting similarities between Morton and Robert, though. They were both the sons of famous men who were also fantastically bad at parenting. I've never heard of The Last Party, though. I think I'd like to watch it sometime.
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Oct 7, 2013 05:41
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Franchescanado posted:I just finished Room 237, and it was pretty boring. I loved to concept, but I didn't like the setup, visuals, or the people interviewed. There were some interesting things brought up, but nothing really new. Yeah, we watched it Friday night, and it's really wacky. There were a lot of things that were presented as "symbolism", but we were just interesting facts that didn't actually mean anything. It was an interesting watch, but I didn't buy 90% of the stuff they were trying to claim about the film.
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Oct 7, 2013 12:56
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Nihonniboku posted:Yeah, we watched it Friday night, and it's really wacky. There were a lot of things that were presented as "symbolism", but we were just interesting facts that didn't actually mean anything. It was an interesting watch, but I didn't buy 90% of the stuff they were trying to claim about the film. I don't think you are intended to.
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Oct 7, 2013 14:13
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DangerDummy! posted:After his show died, he played basically himself in Predator 2 and an episode of Tales From the Crypt, where he investigated a haunted house on TV. I know who Morton Downey Jr is, but somehow I always thought it was Christopher McDonald in those roles. Weird.
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Oct 7, 2013 15:15
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Nihonniboku posted:Yeah, we watched it Friday night, and it's really wacky. There were a lot of things that were presented as "symbolism", but we were just interesting facts that didn't actually mean anything. It was an interesting watch, but I didn't buy 90% of the stuff they were trying to claim about the film. The Native American stuff and the stuff about the layout of the hotel were pretty reasonable, I thought. Even the Holocaust stuff wasn't that out there.
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Oct 7, 2013 15:22
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Alfred P. Pseudonym posted:The Native American stuff and the stuff about the layout of the hotel were pretty reasonable, I thought. Even the Holocaust stuff wasn't that out there. See, I think the Native American stuff was reasonable and interesting (though I've heard theories similar before), and the layout of the hotel is also cool (I've also seen maps/diagrams for this theory), but the holocaust was pushing it. At least, there wasn't a lot of information to back it up other than "a German typewriter! eagles! blood in the elevators!". Now, if they were to argue a subtext of genocide in general, I think the Native American symbolism and the holocaust symbolism works together for that idea, but really the only one with weight is the Native American stuff. My favorite interpretation was the idea of Kubrick becoming obsessive about subliminal messaging and using that to convey dread and unease. It also picked up a lot of details that were amusing (the boss having a hard-on, the car almost hitting them, the vanishing chairs). I also liked the Playgirl magazine detail with the New Year's Eve and incest articles. It's an interesting detail that works, but no one would ever really notice it. FishBulb posted:I don't think you are intended to. I disagree. I think if the idea is "listen to some nerds talk about dumb ideas of The Shining", then I think they'd have used a much different approach. They include diagrams and maps to sell the idea, they use clips shown frame by frame, and use arrows and circles to sell the point. If it were "weird people and their wacky ideas about subtext", I think they'd show the people they were lampooning(like Ancient Aliens or something). I think it's trying to be straight-faced and insightful, but just feels lazy. I mean, one of the guys says he is making a documentary about Kubrick. Another has worked in film. Another is a journalist who interviewed a pope. It's trying to be as credible as possible, but you get the feel that their resources were limited.
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Oct 7, 2013 17:10
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Franchescanado posted:I disagree. I think if the idea is "listen to some nerds talk about dumb ideas of The Shining", then I think they'd have used a much different approach. They include diagrams and maps to sell the idea, they use clips shown frame by frame, and use arrows and circles to sell the point. If it were "weird people and their wacky ideas about subtext", I think they'd show the people they were lampooning(like Ancient Aliens or something). I think it's trying to be straight-faced and insightful, but just feels lazy. I mean, one of the guys says he is making a documentary about Kubrick. Another has worked in film. Another is a journalist who interviewed a pope. It's trying to be as credible as possible, but you get the feel that their resources were limited. A ridiculous idea can be ridiculous despite how its being sold to you.
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Oct 7, 2013 17:20
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Yes, but that doesn't mean that's the intention.
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Oct 7, 2013 17:31
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Alfred P. Pseudonym posted:The Native American stuff and the stuff about the layout of the hotel were pretty reasonable, I thought. Even the Holocaust stuff wasn't that out there. While I can completely believe that Kubrick intended to evoke those connections, to claim that the movie was "really all about" whatever is missing the mark and results in hunting for anything that you can latch onto and claim it is proves your point. That's how Room 237 goes off the rails, in my opinion. These people have reached their conclusion and then work backward to "prove" it by taking in just the things that they can draw tenuous connections between and shoving everything else into a box marked "doesn't count". Maybe Room 237 is a study of the faulty reasoning that dominates human existence, but I doubt that's what they were trying for. To give another movie recommendation, I watched Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and thought it was at least interesting. Probably too choppy overall but it's a tricky work for adaptation. The book is game show producer Chuck Barris's memoir in which he claims he was a CIA assassin. The result is half behind the scenes at his oddball productions and half espionage thriller that is not entirely serious.
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Oct 7, 2013 17:49
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Franchescanado posted:Yes, but that doesn't mean that's the intention. Maybe they just thought that it was interesting that the Shining had so many theories about it and wanted to present a broad spectrum of them for you to also enjoy?
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Oct 7, 2013 18:32
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FishBulb posted:Maybe they just thought that it was interesting that the Shining had so many theories about it and wanted to present a broad spectrum of them for you to also enjoy? Which I can agree with. I just don't think it's out to mock those interviewed or their conclusions. Edit: On a different note, I rewatched The American Scream recently, and it just gives me such a love for Halloween. It's a documentary about three families that make scare houses in their neighborhoods in a small town. It's a great movie, and it's directed by Michael Stephenson, who directed Best Worst Movie, and was Joshua in Troll 2. Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 19:00 on Oct 7, 2013 |
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Oct 7, 2013 18:50
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Franchescanado posted:Which I can agree with. I just don't think it's out to mock those interviewed or their conclusions. Watched it a week or two ago. The people were somewhat off-putting at first (and that's maybe me being a judgemental prick) but by the end I was just  ing over how loving much they love Halloween.
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Oct 7, 2013 20:28
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Franchescanado posted:
I watched The American Scream over the weekend and it didn't give me a love for Halloween so much as it made me kind of sad. (I'm going to spoiler tag this just in case.) We've got the one dad (Victor, I think his name is) who was basically obsessed with his professional-level haunted house to the point where it completely consumed not only his life but the lives of his wife and daughters. The one daughter was into it but the other daughter and his wife seemed much less enthused. It seemed like every time the wife was on camera she was looking exhausted and a little miserable and struggling to justify why her husband has to be obsessed with a haunted house, to the point where every second of his spare time is devoted to it (year round). . Then we've got the father and son duo where the very sickly, arthritic father is doing all the work (except for the part where he took a break to stir a bunch of soda can tabs with a broom handle for some reason  ) while his son turns into an excuse faucet to put off actually doing much of anything. I DID like the family with the guy who constructs his haunted house out of random poo poo he finds on the curb and free piping and microwave rotisseries and such. They actually seemed really fun. "Hey have you guys used the bathroom??? Good 'cuz if not ya'll pee ya pants!!" as he leads children to the haunted house in full costume with a can of beer in one hand. THAT guy and his family made me excited about Halloween. E: Me in Reverse posted:Watched it a week or two ago. The people were somewhat off-putting at first (and that's maybe me being a judgemental prick) but by the end I was just Well if you're a judgmental prick, then so am I. Lefty Lugubrious fucked around with this message at 20:50 on Oct 7, 2013 |
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Oct 7, 2013 20:43
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FishBulb posted:Maybe they just thought that it was interesting that the Shining had so many theories about it and wanted to present a broad spectrum of them for you to also enjoy? My favorite segment was the one about how The Shining is Kubrick saying that he faked the Apollo 11 moon landing.
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Oct 7, 2013 21:24
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So, is Room 237 a movie based on all of Rob Ager's analysis of the film? 'Cause that's what all of these comments are leading me to believe.
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Oct 7, 2013 21:46
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The oddest thing about Room 237 is that not one of the people they interview mention that strange shot of the old man and the guy in the dog costume. You'd think they'd have some amazing theory to springboard off that but not a word about it is spoken.
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Oct 7, 2013 23:02
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cloudchamber posted:The oddest thing about Room 237 is that not one of the people they interview mention that strange shot of the old man and the guy in the dog costume. You'd think they'd have some amazing theory to springboard off that but not a word about it is spoken. Some times two furies performing oral sex is just two furies performing oral sex.
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Oct 7, 2013 23:09
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cloudchamber posted:The oddest thing about Room 237 is that not one of the people they interview mention that strange shot of the old man and the guy in the dog costume. You'd think they'd have some amazing theory to springboard off that but not a word about it is spoken. I just watched the Shining again and noticed this and looked it up. novel spoiler:it's from the novel, there's a subplot where a worker at the hotel has a homosexual relationship with the owner/manager
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Oct 7, 2013 23:10
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Room 237 has a shot where Wendy runs into a room filled with cobwebs and skeletons that took me by surprise. I've seen The Shining around a dozen times, and recently, and I had zero recollection of that scene.
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Oct 7, 2013 23:20
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Just watched this doc last week, and I was amazed by all the insane theories. Especially the moon landing one.
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Oct 7, 2013 23:33
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Since when was Discovery Channel's Alien Planet up? Caught it yesterday and  I just love Mayne Barlowe's concepts and creatures.
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Oct 7, 2013 23:36
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MOON ROOM NOTHING ELSE IT CAN SPELL (except moron) Room 237 is enjoyable if you like the movie and like hearing crackpot theories. Best viewed with others while ingesting alcohol.
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Oct 7, 2013 23:40
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Green Crayons posted:MOON ROOM We superimposed the Shining over itself in reverse one time and it made like three scenes pretty cool I guess.
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Oct 7, 2013 23:43
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"[/spoiler posted:Lefty Lugubrious" post="420290923"] Yeah, it does have a bittersweet taste to it, but the family guy that's obsessed has s happy ending: After the doc, he got hired to do special effects and his haunted house is still thriving. He's doing well, and his family is still happily together. The father and son team, on the other hand, is a good mix of weird and sadness, though. I still love the absolute passion the people have for the holiday and their projects.
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Oct 8, 2013 00:53
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I just watched Bunraku this weekend. Has this been discussed in the thread already? If not, may I start off with "What the gently caress was that??". I didn't dislike it, but man, the lack of restraint and that omfg-style-overlooooad makes Quentin Tarantino look downright minimalist. As a fan of old school kung fu movies like Master of the Flying Guillotine or Five Elements Ninjas as well as Super Nintendo games, this hit the right notes of "beating up faceless goons to get to the Mid Boss, then the Boss, then the Big Boss" kind of feel that I dig. The fight choreography was serviceable, the characters were varied enough visually for me, and I always love Ron Perlman. Still, the movie is basically the flamin' hot cheetos of fight movies: colorful and flavorful, but devoid of nutrition or substance. 3/5 stars.
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Oct 8, 2013 01:03
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Franchescanado posted:Yeah, it does have a bittersweet taste to it, but the family guy that's obsessed has s happy ending:  Ok, that's pretty cool. His haunted house really was top notch, so I shouldn't be surprised.
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Oct 8, 2013 01:47
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Anal Surgery posted:I just watched Bunraku this weekend. Has this been discussed in the thread already? If not, may I start off with "What the gently caress was that??". It's a bad movie with a ton of style.
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Oct 8, 2013 02:08
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Desperado Bones posted:Since when was Discovery Channel's Alien Planet up? I feel like cable shows should have alternate cuts for Netflix because of all the repetition they do after commercial breaks... This wasn't as bad as a reality TV series, but it was still a bit annoying. It's almost like it was designed to be background noise.
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Oct 8, 2013 03:15
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morestuff posted:Room 237 has a shot where Wendy runs into a room filled with cobwebs and skeletons that took me by surprise. I've seen The Shining around a dozen times, and recently, and I had zero recollection of that scene. This is only in some cuts, weirdly enough. I've only ever seen that scene on youtube, but it's floating around in some versions, so that's probably why you don't remember it: because you never saw it. Calamity Brain fucked around with this message at 06:56 on Oct 8, 2013 |
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Oct 8, 2013 06:54
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Are there any good Hitchcock or Hitchcock-esque films on instant? I'm really in the mood to watch North by Northwest tonight but I'm pretty sure it's not available.
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Oct 8, 2013 14:27
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Emron posted:Are there any good Hitchcock or Hitchcock-esque films on instant? I'm really in the mood to watch North by Northwest tonight but I'm pretty sure it's not available. Not Hitchcock, but Charade and Witness for the Prosecution.
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Oct 8, 2013 14:33
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Emron posted:Are there any good Hitchcock or Hitchcock-esque films on instant? I'm really in the mood to watch North by Northwest tonight but I'm pretty sure it's not available. The Lady Vanishes is up on instant and The Lady Vanishes rules. Also, in term of "Hitchcock-esque" I'd say watch Side Effects.
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Oct 8, 2013 15:19
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DetoxP posted:This is only in some cuts, weirdly enough. I've only ever seen that scene on youtube, but it's floating around in some versions, so that's probably why you don't remember it: because you never saw it. Isn't the American version like 15-20 minutes longer than the European version?
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Oct 8, 2013 15:22
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Random Stranger posted:Some times two furies performing oral sex is just two furies performing oral sex. I didn't recall any Hellenic gods in the film. 
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Oct 8, 2013 17:16
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I saw Alfred Hitchcock Presents up just a couple of days ago.
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Oct 8, 2013 18:42
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Netflix has added both seasons of "Don't Trust the B___ in Apartment 23", Nahnatchka Khan's short lived hopefully-destined-for-cult-status sitcom starring Krysten Ritter as an amoral force of nature named Chloe, and Dreama Walker as her good-natured roommate June. Also James Van Der Beek is himself. If you enjoy American Dad (which Khan wrote for), Chloe is basically Roger the Alien in human form. The show's dark, cartoonish humor ensured it wouldn't last long on ABC, and the network did it no favors by running the last season all kinds of out of order. But there's a weird, funky heart to it, portraying a strangely plausible female friendship in the midst of zany schemes. Don't let the dopey title and theme song discourage you.
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Oct 8, 2013 22:45
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I watched the first seven-episode season of Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23 as it was airing on ABC and didn't understand the hype. It was funny for a couple episodes, but then got really predictable and jokey in an abrasive sitcom way. Maybe the second season is better, but if nothing else be prepared for a slow start.
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Oct 8, 2013 23:33
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The one I'd point to as the show just hitting it is "It's Just Sex...", which is a rare example of the female gaze being really well deployed.
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Oct 8, 2013 23:35
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Now if only they'd add Happy Endings.
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Oct 9, 2013 00:34
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