Board 8 > B8 Movie Club Topic 2 - Into the Little Shop of Fargo Willy's Machete Wonderland

(+) Yeah! (+)

if Sacred Deer won back then it would have been two in a row. i suppose it was just a matter of time.

Olivia Cooke has two too.

Johnbobb posted...

Yes I've watched The Lobster three times lol

And yes, so far I've seen The Lobster, Dogtooth, The Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Favourite. All good! Though I liked Dogtooth less than the rest

I've seen the above movies once each. I rather liked Dogtooth tbh. My favorite I think is The Killing of a Sacred Deer. He's wonderful and uncomfortable.

Yes! Now it's the kind of weirdness I like since the absurd internal logic is just so thorough in its worldbuilding.

I actually was the first to make its TV Tropes page.

And I haven't checked out his other films.

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kateee posted...

this was for like the entire duration of the movie?

I paid mostly next to no attention to it. The "Family suffers from a curse" genre of horror might be my least favorite kind of movie out there.

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ah

so that's actually our first rotation of recommendations. whoaaa

we covered some directors i would have eventually liked to get to with my recs: Bong Joon-ho, Sofia Coppola, Kon and Yorgos. pretty pretty good.

i wonder if we'll ever get to some of the really big names that people are already familiar with. since people tend to vote for things they haven't seen. not that i mind.

Cool Hand Luke

Violation! The movie opens by visually exclaiming this word, which effectively defines its central conflict between spirit and state. The rules and regulations violate Luke much more than he can violate them. The symbolic act of liberating parking spaces is met with years of incarcerated road-building. I think the Marxist film theory hammer is worth a swing here - I'm seeing an implied alienation of labor between who builds the roads and who collects the rent on them. That's infrastructure capital, right? The means of distribution?

I mean I don't think it's specifically trying to be Marxist, there's too many allusions to Jesus and such. Swifty pointed out the 50 eggs/50 prisoners absolving them of their sins idea, that's a good call. They even wink at it with the whole "oh why couldn't you have said 35" and "50 seemed a nice round number..." exchange. The rice scene also reminded me a bit of The Last Supper (Dragline will ultimately betray Luke). Most of the music's lyrics (Harry Dean Stanton on guitar! What was up with that weird zoom on his face?) were explicit about it and of course the scenes in the rain and the grave and the church directly dealt with it. And then the last shot I think is really great - we see the chain gang maintaining the road and the camera flies out to a god-perspective, framing the road as a cross. Then the faked picture of Luke fades in, now taped back together in the same cross shape as the road. I'm not even religious, I just like how the symbolism all clashes together here. The reconstructed myth of Luke, the state's path layered with the spiritual path.

There are some minor nitpicks. Like a lot of prison movies it can be a bit manipulative in how kindly it depicts the criminals, crimes are only victimless or accidental. Newman and Kennedy's quiet/loud personalities anchor the movie well but I do wish some of the other prisoners were developed more. Like, you got a young Dennis Hopper but he doesn't get any lines. Hindsight! At the end Dragline is talking about getting Koko out to make the 'terrible trio' again and I'm like, who the fuck was Koko? Was there a third guy? I've seen this before and I still have no idea which guy was Koko. My only other minor criticism is it seemed obvious that Luke's mom is not that much older than him. I felt like they played up the age makeup and "cough cough I'm so old I'll be dead before you get out" and I'm thinking naw she can't be that much older than Paul Newman, right? Turns out the actress Jo Van Fleet is 11 years older, but still.

The male bonding in this movie is out of control. Bunch of shirtless sweaty dudes doing fight clubs and egg clubs and manual labor and showering together. To borrow a phrase from RedLetterMedia, I suspect they threw in that car-wash scene and two girls on Luke's arm to establish a clear case of the notgays. Favorite scene - the work race. that's where the spiritual triumph comes in. As for boiled eggs, the scene honestly doesn't move the needle for me. I liked them to begin with, this isn't gross enough to turn me off but isn't making me crave them. What got me more was when Luke asked the kid for pepper and chili powder, I started thinking about that Paul Newman brand Salsa dip. You know, Newman's Own. I think he makes coffee and dogfood too. Speaking of which, the damn dog died of 'running itself plumb to death'? Is that really a thing? I replayed that scene back with CC on to confirm that's what the guy said, then it followed it up with [DOG BOY SOBBING] and I couldn't stop laughing. I'm sorry.

Luke represents the American Dream. Free parking, overeating, and boning two chicks at once amen 9/10
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great writeup!

Seginustemple posted...

At the end Dragline is talking about getting Koko out to make the 'terrible trio' again and I'm like, who the fuck was Koko?

lmao i remember thinking the same thing at the time but i completely forgot about it after the movie ended. i only even caught on to some of the nicknames for the other prisoners because i was watching with subtitles. and i don't even remember any of them now.

Seginustemple posted...

To borrow a phrase from RedLetterMedia, I suspect they threw in that car-wash scene and two girls on Luke's arm to establish a clear case of the notgays.

i choose to believe this. i mean i would imagine the target demographic to be largely men and we can't have them thinking even gay-adjacent thoughts.

Seginustemple posted...

To borrow a phrase from RedLetterMedia, I suspect they threw in that car-wash scene and two girls on Luke's arm to establish a clear case of the notgays.

I agree with this, but I kind of felt like Dragline's reaction to the car wash girl was so intenseover-the-top that it almost felt like the character was trying to prove to everyone he wasn't gay. I wouldn't have thought much of it if he didn't then go on to spend most of rest the film obsessing over "his boy" Luke. I doubt that's what they were going for and it doesn't really matter much for the story, just something mildly interesting.
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doesn't he continually call Luke "baby"? not sure how commonplace that term of endearment was back then among HOMIES but

Xeybozn posted...

I agree with this, but I kind of felt like Dragline's reaction to the car wash girl was so over-the-top that it almost felt like the character was trying to prove to everyone he wasn't gay. I wouldn't have thought much of it if he didn't then go on to spend most of rest the film obsessing over "his boy" Luke. I doubt that's what they were going for and it doesn't really matter much for the story, just something mildly interesting.

Oh I can totally see that, he's diagnosing himself with the notgays. I mean it is '67. And yeah the "my baby boy" stuff, reminiscing about his smile at the end - complete with smile flashback. Maybe it's just his big southern heart but either way find someone who looks at you the way Dragline looks at Cool Hand Luke when he's stuffing hard-boiled eggs into his mouth.
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survey because i've been making assumptions. how many films from each director have you already seen? these are the directors i would assume people are more or less familiar with but who knows! there are some directors that i didn't bother including though because they have so many films and didn't want to type that out.

Christopher Nolan (11): Following, Memento, Insomnia, Batman Trilogy, Prestige, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet

Quentin Tarantino (9): Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill, Death Proof, Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, Hateful Eight, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

David Fincher (11): Alien 3, Se7en, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac, Benjamin Button, Social Network, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl, Mank

Wes Anderson (9): Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs

I have seen all of: Nolan, Tarantino, Miyazaki, Wes Anderson, PTA, Villeneuve (including his obnoxiously hard-to-find first two films), Fincher, Rian Johnson, James Cameron, Coen Brothers, Wachowskis, Bong Joon-ho, JJ Abrams, and Nora Ephron.

I'm basically continuously working on some director's filmography. Currently working on Edgar Wright - just need to see his directorial-debut.

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I'll rank the movies I've seen from each director.

Nolan: The Prestige, Interstellar, Insomnia, Memento, Inception, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises

Tarantino: Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill 1/2, Django Unchained, Reservoir Dogs, Death Proof

Fincher: Gone Girl, Seven, Alien 3, Fight Club, The Game, Benjamin Button, Panic Room, Zodiac

Anderson: Fantastic Mr Fox

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The only director I can say I've seen everything from is Kurosawa.

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Christopher Nolan (10/11): Following, Memento, Insomnia, Batman Trilogy, Prestige, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet

Quentin Tarantino (8/9): Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill, Death Proof, Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, Hateful Eight, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

David Fincher (8/11): Alien 3, Se7en, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac, Benjamin Button, Social Network, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl, Mank

Wes Anderson (8/9): Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs

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For Nolan I have not seen Interstellar or Tenet

Seen all of Tarantino

For Fincher I have not seen Gone Girl or Mank

For Wes I have not seen Royal Tenenbaums, Life Aquatic, Darjeeling, Moonrise Kingdom, or Grand Budapest Hotel


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Movies I havent seen, or have no recollection of them:

David Fincher (11): The Game, Panic Room, Zodiac, Mank

Wes Anderson (9): Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, Darjeeling Limited, Moonrise Kingdom, Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs

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Christopher Nolan (5/11): Memento, Batman Trilogy, Inception, Interstellar

Quentin Tarantino (2/9): Inglourious Basterds, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

David Fincher (5/11): The Game, Fight Club, Benjamin Button, Social Network, Gone Girl

Wes Anderson (3/9): The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom, Grand Budapest Hotel

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9 by Nolan: Following, Memento, Batmen, Prestige, Interstellar, Inception, Dunkirk
6 by Tarantino: Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bills, Inglorious Basterds, Django Unchained
6 by Fincher: Alien 3, Se7en, Fight Club, Benjamin Button, Social Network, Gone Girl
2 by Anderson: Life Aquatic, Moonrise Kingdom

Only big directors I've seen all of are Lynch, Tarkovsky, and Kieslowski. I'm close on Kubrick, the Coens, and apparently Nolan which I didn't even realize.
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"didn't even realize" sounds pretty close to my Nolan experience

looking at results, some surprises but mostly as expected i guess

i guess it's possible after all

Christopher Nolan 5: Memento, Batman Trilogy, Inception

Tarantino 3: Kill Bill Vol. 1, Django Unchained, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

David Fincher 1: Panic Room

Wes Anderson 6: Royal Tenenbaums, Life Aquatic, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs

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seen every Tarantino movie multiple times, except for Jackie Brown and Death Proof (once each)

seen 7/11 Nolan movies - rewatched Dark Knight and Prestige multiple times; haven't seen Following, Interstellar, Dunkirk or Tenet

seen 8/11 Fincher movies - Zodiac's my favorite; haven't seen Panic Room, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, or Mank

for Anderson, I only remember watching Moonrise Kingdom all the way through. He casts good actors but I generally don't like his style.

and I definitely don't like Yorgos Lanthimos's style, so I might skip The Lobster

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tbh i probably wouldn't be too interested in anything from the four i listed for this topic aside from a handful.

NolanSTATS

out of 10 responses so far:
Memento - 10/10
Batman Trilogy - 10/10
Prestige - 8/10
Insomnia - 6/10
Interstellar - 6/10
Dunkirk - 5/10
Following 4/10
Tenet - 3/10

High - 11/11 (x2)
Low - 5/11
Med - 8.5
AVG - 8.2 (/11)

TarantinoSTATS

Django - 9/10
Kill Bill - 8.5/10
Reservoir Dogs - 8/10
Pulp Fiction - 8/10
Basterds - 8/10
Jackie Brown - 7/10
Hollywood - 7/10
Death Proof - 6/10
Hateful Eight - 6/10

High - 9/9 (x4)
Low - 2/9
Med - 8
AVG - 6.8 (/9)

FinchSTATS

Fight Club - 9/10
Benjamin Button - 9/10
Se7en - 8/10
Social Network - 8/10
Gone Girl - 8/10
Alien 3 - 6/10
Zodiac - 6/10
The Game - 5/10
Dragon Tat - 5/10
Panic Room - 4/10
Mank - 2/10

High - 11/11
Low - 1/11
Med - 7.5
AVG - 7 (/11)

WANDERSONSTATS

Fantastic Mr. Fox - 7/10
Moonrise - 7/10
Royal Tenenbaums - 5/10
Life Aquatic - 5/10
Grand Budapest - 5/10
Isle of Dogs - 4/10
Rushmore - 3/10
Bottle Rocket - 2/10
Darjeeling - 2/10

High - 9/9
Low - 1/9 (x2)
Med - 3.5
AVG - 4 (/9)

you can still respond if you haven't yet. i can just plug

Cool Hand Luke

What this movie told me most is that I need to watch more Paul Newman films, as the only ones I had seen before this were The Sting (which I thought was fine, nothing all that special) and Cars (which barely counts). He dominates every scene so effortlessly that it's easy to believe how Luke so quickly becomes the star of the prison.

I didn't know what to expect going in; I certainly didn't expect the loosely connected series of events that just happen in the daily life of the prison to be the focus, though it works surprisingly well. It tries to be both comedy and tragedy and succeeds in both in near equal parts.

I know people have pointed out how this film has an insistence on the "notgays" but man the non-toxic platonic masculinity on show here was something special. One of my favorite background moments was the prisoners playing banjo or something and one of them just dancing shirtless and flamboyant in the middle of them. There was such a dominant love between them all that bordered on romantic fascination but never quite reached it, and it feels ahead of its time.

Really dug this movie.

9/10


Seginustemple posted...

Speaking of which, the damn dog died of 'running itself plumb to death'? Is that really a thing? I replayed that scene back with CC on to confirm that's what the guy said

So (not) fun fact: the initial film featured the dog dying by accidentally hanging itself on its leash, but that was considered way too dark (for obvious reasons) so they changed it for later releases

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Cool Hand Luke

It was a very well-shot movie and I enjoyed the writing! Similar to what John said, I love the positive masculinity and it was really refreshing to say. There might be some gay stuff in there but I honestly just was into the idea of this really healthy, masculine friendship that got them both through.

I wasn't really anticipating watching it, but I judged way too quickly. No profound insight.

9/10

Christopher Nolan: Interstellar

Quentin Tarantino: Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

David Fincher: Social Network, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl

Wes Anderson: Moonrise Kingdom, Isle of Dogs

lmao can you tell i am Movie Hobbyist Lite (tm)

Wait, sorry, I havent seen the Following by Nolan.

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i think the male bonding thing is probable but i'm just inherently more interested in gay sex

new topic

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79402657

save for a bit

a bit