Christmas movie marathon:



Metropolitan (1990) - A group of young upper-class Manhattanites are blithely passing through the Christmas gala debutante season, when an unusual outsider joins them and stirs them up. 4/5




In Bruges (2008) - Guilt-stricken after a job gone wrong, hitman Ray and his partner await orders from their ruthless boss in Bruges, Belgium at Christmastime, the last place in the world Ray wants to be. 5/5




Tangerine (2015) - A hooker tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart. 4/5




Un conte de Noël / A Christmas Tale (2008) - The troubled Vuillard family is no stranger to illness, grief, and banishment, but when their matriarch requires a bone-marrow transplant, the estranged clan reunites just in time for Christmas. 5/5

stronger (2017) 3.5/5 mostly hews to the traditional biopic elements, though it has a few interesting, unconventional moments, and it doesn't shy away from portraying the main character as a bit of a self-possessed jerk at times.


shape of water 5/5 there may be few contrivances & plot short-cuts others might find a bit off-putting, & maybe the black-hats & white-hats are a bit too broadly drawn, but i don't care! i completely fell for this fantastical story, didn't think there was anything close to one false move, & i continue to believe that sally hawkins ought to win every award there is.

[Edited 12/26/17 12:11pm]

I hope you all had a happy and blessed holiday season, wherever and whatever you celebrated!

It's A Wonderful Life (1947)

Capra was steps ahead of his time, and Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore kept pace well. I didn't see the whole thing until a couple of years ago, and it's the second best Christmas movie ever made.

.25

Leading me to . . .


The Lion In Winter (1968)

Featuring one of the finest screenplays ever written, and two of the greatest performances ever on film by Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn, as well as supporting turns from Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton, this movie is the best Christmas movie ever made. FWIW, I think Lee Daniels based Empire on this film, but that's another story for another day. A Christmas Eve tradition.

.75

Then to . . .

Office Christmas Party (2016)

Mindless Christmas entertainment.



and finally . . .


Bad Santa (2003)

Hilarious, raunchy, sublime.

.5

This is very likely my last post in this thread this year. So therefore I am going to end my 2017 posting with an episode of Movies That I Have Determined Have The Most Quotable Lines.

Now, this is Movies That I Have Determined Have The Most Quotable Lines so I am only concerned with me. I don't want someone to say "Hey RodeoSchro - there's a French/Italian hybrid movie by the famous director Francois Zingimarelli which is actually a recitation of the dictionary and therefore has the most quotable lines in all of history. Also, The Killing of a Scared Deer/Mother/that depressing Casey Affleck movie will win all the awards".

You should know by now that I am not going to watch Francois Zingimarelli's movie or those other crapfest movies.

What, you may ask, are the criteria for qualifying for the Movies That I Have Determined Have The Most Quotable Lines list? Fair question. There is only one real qualification and it is this:

When I am watching the movie, I either say a line with a character or, which I know is highly irritating but WE ALL DO THIS, I recite the line before the character says it. The more of this that occurs, the more the movie qualifies for Movies That I Have Determined Have The Most Quotable Lines.

Here, in descending order, are the Movies That I Have Determined Have The Most Quotable Lines:

5. Stripes. This could be even higher considering the fact that my family has owned several GMC motorhomes, on which the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle was based. But since we currently own no EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicles, I placed this at #5. The last EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle we owned was so woefully under-powered that it was 50/50 whether it would make it up a 10% grade.

4. This is Spinal Tap. An all-time classic. But the next time I watch it, I'm going to imagine the David St. Hubbins character being played by Prince. I may die from internal bleeding caused by non-stop internal laughing.

3. Caddyshack. Bill Murray and Rodney Daingerfield were a goldmine of lines. A Goldmine of Lines is also the name of my new band, which I just made up.

2. A Christmas Story. Betcha didn't see that coming! I watched this movie four times this week and was amazed that I recited almost every single line. "Daddy's gonna kill Ralphie!" is for some reason my favorite line out of literally hundreds of fantastic lines. Darren McGavin's performance is as good a performance as any actor has given in any film - ever.

1. Animal House. Was there ever any doubt?

The Manificent Seven/Zero- 0/10
I thought i couldn't go wrong for some escapist fun with this one, but boy was I wrong.
How can a remake of a great movie with a great cast be bad?
I think most of the acting was pretty good, especially D'Onofrio and Hawke, but boy is this a bad movie. I have to give the *credit/blame on the director and screenwriters for messing this up.

damosuzuki said:

shape of water . . . there may be few contrivances & plot short-cuts others might find a bit off-putting, & maybe the black-hats & white-hats are a bit too broadly drawn, but i don't care! i completely fell for this fantastical story, didn't think there was anything close to one false move, & i continue to believe that sally hawkins ought to win every award there is.

[Edited 12/26/17 12:11pm]

I agree with every word, and I think Richard Jenkins should sweep them too.

sexton said:

Un conte de Noël / A Christmas Tale (2008) - The troubled Vuillard family is no stranger to illness, grief, and banishment, but when their matriarch requires a bone-marrow transplant, the estranged clan reunites just in time for Christmas. 5/5

Fantastic film.

namepeace said:

damosuzuki said:

shape of water . . . there may be few contrivances & plot short-cuts others might find a bit off-putting, & maybe the black-hats & white-hats are a bit too broadly drawn, but i don't care! i completely fell for this fantastical story, didn't think there was anything close to one false move, & i continue to believe that sally hawkins ought to win every award there is.

[Edited 12/26/17 12:11pm]

I agree with every word, and I think Richard Jenkins should sweep them too.

i didn't know he was in that. he's one of my all time favorite actors. now i might have to splurge and see that on the big screen.

sexton said:

Metropolitan (1990) - A group of young upper-class Manhattanites are blithely passing through the Christmas gala debutante season, when an unusual outsider joins them and stirs them up. 4/5




In Bruges (2008) - Guilt-stricken after a job gone wrong, hitman Ray and his partner await orders from their ruthless boss in Bruges, Belgium at Christmastime, the last place in the world Ray wants to be. 5/5

Two of my faves!

namepeace said:

sexton said:

Un conte de Noël / A Christmas Tale (2008) - The troubled Vuillard family is no stranger to illness, grief, and banishment, but when their matriarch requires a bone-marrow transplant, the estranged clan reunites just in time for Christmas. 5/5

Fantastic film.

Watching it on Christmas Eve has become my holiday tradition. I skipped it one year and really missed it. Never again.

Ace said:

sexton said:

Metropolitan (1990) - A group of young upper-class Manhattanites are blithely passing through the Christmas gala debutante season, when an unusual outsider joins them and stirs them up. 4/5


In Bruges (2008) - Guilt-stricken after a job gone wrong, hitman Ray and his partner await orders from their ruthless boss in Bruges, Belgium at Christmastime, the last place in the world Ray wants to be. 5/5

Two of my faves!

That was my second viewing of Metropolitan and I liked it more than the first time. Next month I'll move on to Stillman's Barcelona and The Last Days of Disco, both of which I've never seen.

damosuzuki said:

shape of water 5/5 there may be few contrivances & plot short-cuts others might find a bit off-putting, & maybe the black-hats & white-hats are a bit too broadly drawn, but i don't care! i completely fell for this fantastical story, didn't think there was anything close to one false move, & i continue to believe that sally hawkins ought to win every award there is.

Could a pairing of Guillermo del Toro and Sally Hawkins be anything less than perfect?

The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (2006) - Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home cause confusion.

An already great-looking movie gets a resepctable 3D enhancement. 5/5

[Edited 12/28/17 10:54am]

Seen about an hour of Justice League, so far the worst movie I have ever seen. 0/10. Does it get any better?

sexton said:

Ace said:

Two of my faves!

That was my second viewing of Metropolitan and I liked it more than the first time. Next month I'll move on to Stillman's Barcelona and The Last Days of Disco, both of which I've never seen.

i like metropolitan & barcelona a lot, but i really did not like ...disco at the time - i recall having a strongly negative reaction to it, though i'm at a loss to say why, exactly. i really ought to revisit it; it's been twenty years...

[Edited 12/28/17 7:07am]

Phishanga said:

Seen about an hour of Justice League, so far the worst movie I have ever seen. 0/10. Does it get any better?

i didn't think so. it's only been a month or so, but the entire movie has pretty much fallen out of my head. i can barely remember a thing about it, except that i thought the tendril-looking things that shot out of the ground towards the end looked like a cheap early-00s tv effect.

the levelling (2017) 4/5 veterinary student returns to her family farm for her brother's funeral. extremely bleak & dour, but in an appropriately adult & very satisfying way.

damosuzuki said:

Phishanga said:

Seen about an hour of Justice League, so far the worst movie I have ever seen. 0/10. Does it get any better?

i didn't think so. it's only been a month or so, but the entire movie has pretty much fallen out of my head. i can barely remember a thing about it, except that i thought the tendril-looking things that shot out of the ground towards the end looked like a cheap early-00s tv effect.

It's ridiculous how completely random and totally disconnected everything feels. Steppenwolf appears because... why not, Mother Boxes because... whatever.

peedub said:

namepeace said:

I agree with every word, and I think Richard Jenkins should sweep them too.

i didn't know he was in that. he's one of my all time favorite actors. now i might have to splurge and see that on the big screen.

It may be the best work he's done.

from the writer/director of the much loved 'bone tomahawk', s. craig zahler....a perfect movie experience. no moral, no message, no ambiguity. 90 minutes of 'watch this movie go dark'. plenty of wince, gasp, gaaaahhhh!!! inducing moments, ala the wishbone scene from 'bone tomahawk'. vince vaughn is brilliant, possibly out performing his work in 'true detective'. i did feel that don johnson could have played his character better, but he wasn't bad. pure escapist pulp entertainment. i love s. craig zahler!

99/5

p.s. since i bootlegged the movie (and enjoyed it so much), i decided to throw some money it's way via the purchase of its excellent, writer/director composed soundtrack. also very recommended.

^Holy moley did I love watching Kurt Russell Bone Tomahawk the beejeesus out of those monsters! I will DEFINITELY watch this one over the holidays!

i really want to see 'brawl...' as well. i was hoping i would be able to catch it on the big screen but it never popped up in the theatres here. i'm likely going to rent it in a week or two.

my life as a zucchini/ma vie de courgette (2017) 5/5 definitely going to be near or at the top of my favourites of this year. really great stop-motion animation in the service of a story that's at times joyful & at others deeply, almost overwhelmingly sad, but always sad in a subtle, careful way. it's never aggressively plying for your tears. reminds me a bit of how florida project showcased how children could find happiness in the most miserable situations. truly great.

[Edited 12/29/17 17:04pm]

Bright (2017) I watched this last night and I found it to be a hot mess, despite a great cast (especially Noomi Rapace who is always awesome ) and by the end of it I just didn't care about the fairies, orcs, elves and a powerful wand. Plus the script and dialogue needed alot of work.....because I got tired hearing the F-bombs every couple of minutes . A wasted opportunity to mesh social commentry and a cop drama with fantasy.......I give this a 2 out of 5

santa sangre (1989) 4/5 mental patient bonds with his arm-less mother. this was incredibly fucked up, and i loved every minute of it.

damosuzuki said:

my life as a zucchini/ma vie de courgette (2017) 5/5 definitely going to be near or at the top of my favourites of this year. really great stop-motion animation in the service of a story that's at times joyful & at others deeply, almost overwhelmingly sad, but always sad in a subtle, careful way. it's never aggressively plying for your tears. reminds me a bit of how florida project showcased how children could find happiness in the most miserable situations. truly great.

[Edited 12/29/17 17:04pm]

I hope you saw the original French-language track. It seemed like so long ago that I saw this for the 2017 Academy Awards that I forgot it's a 2017 release in North America. It was my favorite of all the animated feature film nominations. The running joke about how kids think babies are concieved is very funny.

Fanny and Alexander (1982) - Two young Swedish children experience the many comedies and tragedies of their family, the Ekdahls.

I really enjoy watching this movie between the holidays--always the five-hour version across multiple nights. I think it's Ingmar Bergman at his best. 5/5

sexton said:

damosuzuki said:

my life as a zucchini/ma vie de courgette (2017) 5/5 definitely going to be near or at the top of my favourites of this year. really great stop-motion animation in the service of a story that's at times joyful & at others deeply, almost overwhelmingly sad, but always sad in a subtle, careful way. it's never aggressively plying for your tears. reminds me a bit of how florida project showcased how children could find happiness in the most miserable situations. truly great.

[Edited 12/29/17 17:04pm]

I hope you saw the original French-language track. It seemed like so long ago that I saw this for the 2017 Academy Awards that I forgot it's a 2017 release in North America. It was my favorite of all the animated feature film nominations. The running joke about how kids think babies are concieved is very funny.

i did indeed watch the french version. this is one of the instances where i'm happy to give netflix full marks. not only do they have both language versions streaming, but when i started up the film, it defaulted to the french language stream.

i wasn't even aware that both versions were available until the movie was over, at which point i went back and watched a few scenes with the english dub. it was perfectly fine i suppose - nick offerman as the policeman seems like a pretty inspired choice in particular - but the original is so sublime, i can't imagine wanting to watch it as long as the french version is available.

princess cyd - 3.5/5 a teen girl with a tragic event in her past spends two weeks in chicago with her writer aunt. absolutely natural, hugely likeable, & contains both a wonderful monologue about acceptance & the (to me) steamiest sex scene i've seen since the handmaiden. i'd rank it a bit higher if not for a little turn in the last third that rang a touch false to me, a misstep in an otherwise terrific small gem.

[Edited 12/31/17 20:28pm]