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Yes, I'm sure he was agreeing with me, and I was referring to the Michael Bay film with Ewan and Scarlett.
And what about Sean Bean, who is always so good as a coldly menacing baddie!
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Some off the top of my head I like, but has not gotten good reputations-Indestructible man-56- Lost horizon-73-Big trouble -85-Exorcist no 2 heretic-77-Little murders-71-Death curse of Tartu-67-Attack of the 50 foot woman-58-Where does it hurt-72-Bluebeard-72-Le chat-73-Going in style-79-etc etc etc
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Posted: |
Oct 7, 2013 - 9:41 PM
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By: |
Mr Greg
(Member)
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In what universe does IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE fall into the "guilty pleasure" category?!?! It's a highly regarded motion picture, beloved by millions. Hardy a candidate for the topic of "guilty pleasure". Or, were you joking?
Haha - yes, it is a highly regarded film, and no, I was not joking....it's one of those films it's just not cool to revere any more....you see people's brow furrow slightly when you list it in the "favourite films" conversation, it's the film that induces the awkward silence when you're buying the latest version of it and discussing the latest releases at the DVD store while your purchases are being scanned....it's the film that gets the oh-so-stony silence when your listing options for an evening's viewing with The Missus....
...but, of course, "Guilty Pleasures" (as already discussed) is such an subjective term that perhaps I, right here and right now, just regard it "differently" 
And yes, it does indeed make me cry like a bitch on every single viewing and always has done.
The Star Wars Prequels (1999, 2002, 2005)
Totally with you on those!!!
Yes, I was on about the Michael Bay "The Island"....great fun if you're in the frame of mind for it...and almost manages social commentary (but then blows it up and adds a hover-bike chase).
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Re: Hey Guys,
I have a totally different take on this subject. To me, this category is defined for and by myself and does not concern what others think. These are movies that I feel have glaring weaknesses typically brought about by filmmakers trying too hard to appease a selective audience. However, they are films that I personally really enjoy watching. Now I can try to justify their value by either making a case for my personal likes overriding the films' flaws or I can downplay those weaknesses but in both cases, my awareness of their deficiencies for me put them in the category that Ron has inquired about. My Top Ten "Guilty Treasures" as I call them are listed here with reviews if anyone would like to have a browse:
http://thecinemacafe.com/the-cinema-treasure-hunter?category=Top%20Ten%20Treasures
Arthur: An interesting collection of movies! You're into this far more than I. But I do want to single out "No Way To Treat A Lady," which I saw way back when it was first released. You write "Rod Steiger plays a serial killer with a mother fixation who also happens to run a legit theatre in New York." What did you think of Rod Steiger and his mother in Terry Sothern's "The Loved One," a film I've cared about since it came out so many years ago.
Was happy that you included "Marathon Man" ... IS IT SAFE??? Terrific movie. If you liked that one, you probably also liked "Parallax View."
Hey Ron,
I like Steiger in just about everything he was in from his more subdued classic roles in "On The Waterfront" to his Hidden Gems like "Across The Bridge", "3 Into 2 Won't Go", and especially "The Sergeant" right on through to some really scene chewing, eccentric roles like the aforementioned "No Way To Treat a Lady" and of course "The Loved One" where he's got some competition in the weird character part department with those played by Winters, Liberace, Williams and even Morse. And speaking of "mother issues" how about "Where's Poppa?"? Have you seen that one? That was one whereby seeing it in the theater just shocked me to pieces...I didn't laugh once. Just sat there like one of the audience members watching Springtime For Hitler. I could only laugh about it when I thought about it later.
"The Loved One" and "Parallax View" could not be any more perfectly picked "Guilty Pleasures" if I picked them myself. When I think about P.V. it seems even more far fetched than Marathon Man but both have those amazing Michael Small scores. As a matter of fact M.M.'s director told the composer to "rip himself off" as he loved the prior score so much and thought it was a perfect score for his film. Thanks for mentioning them.
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Arthur Grant:
Re: "Hey Ron,
I like Steiger in just about everything he was in from his more subdued classic roles in "On The Waterfront" to his Hidden Gems like "Across The Bridge", "3 Into 2 Won't Go", and especially "The Sergeant" right on through to some really scene chewing, eccentric roles like the aforementioned "No Way To Treat a Lady" and of course "The Loved One" where he's got some competition in the weird character part department with those played by Winters, Liberace, Williams and even Morse. And speaking of "mother issues" how about "Where's Poppa?"? Have you seen that one? That was one whereby seeing it in the theater just shocked me to pieces...I didn't laugh once. Just sat there like one of the audience members watching Springtime For Hitler. I could only laugh about it when I thought about it later.
"The Loved One" and "Parallax View" could not be any more perfectly picked "Guilty Pleasures" if I picked them myself. When I think about P.V. it seems even more far fetched than Marathon Man but both have those amazing Michael Small scores. As a matter of fact M.M.'s director told the composer to "rip himself off" as he loved the prior score so much and thought it was a perfect score for his film. Thanks for mentioning them.
Thanks, Arthur. I really liked "The Loved One," which, as you may recall, was advertised as having something to offend everyone. In fact, I just pulled out my DVD of it, and on the cover it reads "The MOTION PICTURE WITH SOMETHING TO OFFEND EVERYONE!" (Don't know why they didn't capitalize all of "The.") Who could forget Anjanette Comer? Or Liberace in the casket? Or a young Paul Williams as the child rocket whiz who gives the bad Jonathan Winters the idea to ship all the bodies to outer space so he get all those corpses off his property. And Milton Berle consoling his wailing wife over the death of ... her pet dog. Or Lionel Stander as the secret writer of the column dealing with letters from the lovelorn. Rod Steiger's gargantuan mother is spectacular, having the schedule for TV commercials so she can drool over them. And we can't forget John Gielgud -- the scene at the mortuary where they keep rearranging the look on his face is priceless! I think I'll keep it out and try to watch it again later this week.
Yes, "Where's Poppa" is terrific. But what about "Harold and Maude"? Such a perfect movie, and I just love Vivian Pickles as Harold's mother -- "Harold! That was your last date!!!" And I can't think of Ruth Gordon without remembering her acceptance speech for the Oscar she got for Best Supporting Actress from "Rosemary's Baby," and, already quite old, she said how "encouraging" it was to be given such an award! I think she got some plumb supporting roles after that, including the one in "Harold and Maude."
And to ado re: "Outland is a personal favorite - Bluray only though. DVD version stinks." I tried to respond to this about 16 hours ago, but when I sent it, it took me to that other site, and so my response disappeared. So let me try again. I've been a fan of "Outland" since it was first released, a real thriller, very gritty, set in the future. And while the DVD wasn't perfect, it never struck me quite as bad as you seem to think of it. That said, the Blu-ray, which I also bought, is far better. For me, the movie was stolen by Frances Sternhagen as the ballsy medic who's Connery's sole supporter ("I did good, didn't I?").
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ado: Yes, I also like Hyam's commentary -- in fact, I'm a huge commentary fan and have my favorites in that genre too. One of my least favorite commentaries is the one the late John Frankenheimer did for his "Reindeer Games" in which he pretended like he didn't know about the big twist (that the bad guys have known all along that Ben Affleck isn't his cellmate who had carefully planned the robbery), which makes him come across as kinda stupid. I think that people recording commentaries should just assume that those of us listening to them have already seen the movie.
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Posted: |
Oct 9, 2013 - 9:55 AM
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By: |
Ado
(Member)
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ado: Yes, I also like Hyam's commentary -- in fact, I'm a huge commentary fan and have my favorites in that genre too. One of my least favorite commentaries is the one the late John Frankenheimer did for his "Reindeer Games" in which he pretended like he didn't know about the big twist (that the bad guys have known all along that Ben Affleck isn't his cellmate who had carefully planned the robbery), which makes him come across as kinda stupid. I think that people recording commentaries should just assume that those of us listening to them have already seen the movie.
I have not heard that Reindeer Games track, I will make sure I pass on that one. There have been some dull ones for sure. What makes a difference is when the film makers sounds like they actually like the movie they made. Imagine that! I gained a lot of appreciation for Hyams after I listened to Outland, and that is because he sounds really humble about his lack of ability with words, and how he expressed good film making ideas very directly talking about his ideas for sets, the bit about lighting a bulb reflection in Connery's eye, his overall in set lighting approach like running a wire up Connery's back to light a powerful flashlight bulb. I already liked the film, but he pointed out things that made it much richer.
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ado:
I think that an interesting book could be made just about audio commentaries on DVDs and Blu-rays! Which is why I hope that digital downloads of movies take a little longer before they wipe out the discs we buy.
I've made no secret that my favorite film (among many) is "Shakespeare In Love," which I bought on DVD and again on special edition DVD, then a Canadian Blu-ray import, and finally the American Blu-ray with the features not provided in the Canadian version. I loved the commentary track, and producer Donna Gigliotti makes the point that she had felt strongly that a critical scene near the beginning goes far too long in quoting Shakespeare and was sure audiences would grow weary of it; but she noted that director John Madden stood his ground and that he had been right, and that the scene she wanted shortened had become her own favorite scene in the movie. I wanted to tell her that I totally agreed and that it was my own favorite scene in the film. A few years after watching "Alien" with the audio commentary of some of the cast members, I found Veronica Cartwright's especially funny, such as when she tells us that she had been instructed by director Ridley Scott to slap Sigourney Weaver's face (when she wasn't expecting it) to show Weaver's genuine surprise. I ran into Cartwright at an after-show party following William Finn's "Elegies," which closed the Beverly Canon Theatre in Beverly Hills, and couldn't resist telling her how funny she was in the commentary. She laughed and said she hadn't had the chance to hear it herself. "Oh you must!," I told her. When Brad Pitt and Edward Norton and others did the commentary for David Fincher's mad "Fight Club," I think that some of them were drunk! And in the commentary for "Boogie Nights," at the big revelation at the end, Mark Wahlberg tells us something about his own penis size. I just love audio commentaries!
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dan:
Yes, those of us who love them will certainly miss them.
How do members feel about studios that no longer provide full DVDs (with making of specials and commentaries and so forth) for the rental market? I believe it began with Focus Features, and when you try to access them, up pops this notice that the disc is for rental purposes only and, to "complete" your viewing experience, you should buy the disc. Are they saving much money by doing that? Because I'm sure that there are few out there who think "Hey, what a GREAT movie I just rented! I think I'll spend another $15 to $25 so I can watch the deleted scenes and hear the commentary!"
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