Movie thread WARNING spoilers inside

[bigSparky]

Grown Ups wasn't bad. I enjoyed watching it, though the only scene I remember is when the adults all peed in the pool.

I can't definitively say what makes up a good western. The ones I have really enjoyed and tend to watch over and over again(when they come on) are so varied, about the only common denominator for most of them is in fact John Wayne. But I know what I've really liked. You have to discount a bunch of the Wayne movies because they are vehicles for Wayne that happen to be westerns. Among those would be Rio Bravo and McClintock!. A bunch of his very early stuff was typical of the time, but really not all that good. And part of the problem with many of those that aren't so good is because the film doesn't adapt well to modern projection. It's quite jumpy, the voices are off track and sound funny, and they are black and white. Once you get as used to color as we all are now, it takes a very good story to get by without the realism of color and many of the other trappings of the modern world. For what it's worth, I watched the first lunar landing on a black and white set. The folks never got a color tv set until we moved to Cali in January 1972.

The best Wayne westerns (a few of them anyway) for me would be The Cowboys, The Horse Soldiers, True Grit, The War Wagon, Fort Apache, and Rio Grande.

Two best Eastwood westerns...The Outlaw Josey Wales and High Plains Drifter. He had many others that are good, but those two are my favorites.

More modern westerns I have enjoyed are 3:10 to Yuma, The Quick and the Dead, Open Range (Duval and Costner, FANTASTIC!) Duval again, with Thomas Hayden Church(Lowel from wings) in Broken Trail. Those last two are really really really good. Tombstone, Silverado, Lonesome Dove, Young Guns (just the first one),Unforgiven, all excellent.

My top 5 (beyond which it gets quite murky, most are equally good in one way or another) :

1) Once Upon a Time in the West

2) The Long Riders - Quaid brothers, Carradine and Keach Brothers. Loosely based on true events.

3) Open Range ties with Broken Trail

4) The Cowboys

5) The Outlaw Josey Wales

[owly]

I like John Wayne too, when I was working on the tug boats in Hawaii I was in this little bar on the big island where I learned Wayne got into a bar fight where he kicked all the Hawaiian asses lol. John Wayne was sapposed to be in the movie "1941" well they wanted john but when he read the script he was pissed at Spielberg, john thought the movie was anti-american. I saw what I think was called "Lonesome dove" with Robert Duval, I became a instant fan of "Deval's from that movie its the first western I ever fell in love with......

[bigSparky]

Kind of sucks it's only us two talking, other perspectives are often good to hear.

And speaking of Robert Duval, that was a VERY young him on the beach saying "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like...victory". Another really good flick with him and Michael Caine is Second Hand Lions.

[owly]

I like to have the movie to review them. Now I say that I don't own "Second Hand Lions" but that's a damn fine movie, now that's a movie.

I know right now we're the only ones posting. Its my hope that when they see my persistence that they will want to come in and post about a movie that they just seen or a favorite movie or something of the like......

[asoc]

Second Hand Lions is a great movie.

Owly, another movie you might enjoy is Ghost Dog
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165798/

And another is Smoke Signals
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120321/

[asoc]

I doubt I'll watch the remake of True Grit. From the trailers, I don't like what Bridges has done with the character. And it seems that they changed the storyline/plot enough to actually just make a western and call it something else.
Again, my opinion, but I think there are some iconic movies that just shouldn't be fucked with.

I never watched the original, but I enjoyed the remake.

Another movie I liked was Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood.

Last night/tonight I watched Biloxi Blues and Dog town and Z boys.
Biloxi Blues wasn't bad. Don't think I had seen Dog Town and Z Boys before, was very interesting. I know I have seen maybe another documentary about those guys and seen the movie made about them as well.

[owly]

Both them movies look good asoc if I don't move to Arizona next month I'll definitely order 1 or two of them.

"Dinner for Schmucks" you get to see a friendship grow and blossom. I found it to be outrageously funny, if you get the chance see this movie. I generally like paul Rudd and Steve Carell so this film personally was a thrill to watch......

[bigSparky]

Grand Torino was pretty good. Ghost Dog was also good. A tad strange, but good.

Hey asoc. How's tricks up there in my old stomping grounds? I'm sure missing the weather up there right about now. We've already had like 30+ days over 100 degrees. No relief envisioned over the 7 day. Hell, It's been ten to fifteen degrees cooler in Cali's high desert for most of the last two months. 7:45 PM CT and it is still 104 degrees here.

I also recall two documentaries on the Z Boys. Dogtown and Z Boys that all of the principals were involved in, then another that had video but none of the actual folks contributed to it on screen.

[owly]

My thoughts on the z-boys please reference the very first post of this thread, and see bigz follow up post.

"Gulliver's Travels" with Jack Black. A wonderest adventure to be caught up in. With all the special effects at no time while watching this movie did I ask myself how they did it or caught a mistake. I got the 2 disk edition the 2cd disk is Gullivers fun pack which is packed with extras. This is a good movie to watch with the kids. It's the sort. Of movie you can watch again and again like I have. So if you get this movie sit back and relax with your feet up for this larger than live romping.......

Edit/Oh Mrs Blunt is simply beautiful and totally pulls off the princess part......

[asoc]

Grand Torino was pretty good. Ghost Dog was also good. A tad strange, but good.

Hey asoc. How's tricks up there in my old stomping grounds? I'm sure missing the weather up there right about now. We've already had like 30+ days over 100 degrees. No relief envisioned over the 7 day. Hell, It's been ten to fifteen degrees cooler in Cali's high desert for most of the last two months. 7:45 PM CT and it is still 104 degrees here.

I also recall two documentaries on the Z Boys. Dogtown and Z Boys that all of the principals were involved in, then another that had video but none of the actual folks contributed to it on screen.

Weather is perfect right now on the west side. Assuming pretty good east of the mountains too.
It is a very mild Summer so far. Hasn't gotten as hot as the last few, which I don't think anyone should complain about considering the heat wave going on across the rest of the country.

So I watched Bra Boys last night. Wasn't bad at all. Was pretty interesting actually. Owly, I am sure you will like it now that I have seen it.

[owly]

Asoc I'm planning on getting "bra boys" "smoke signals" and "the goat" next month when I get money from my savings account to my checking. I'm going to get 3 or 4 movies from Walmart as well. I'm counting the the days. I think I'll order those movies from Amazon express mail lol. I'm. Going to order me one of bigz western to BTW.

Since I'm here

"The Outsiders" a who's who movie staring Ralph macchio, Matt Dillon, Emilio Esteveves, Tom Cruise, C Thomas's Howell, and Patrick Swayze oh Rob Lowe too. The movies basic plot is childhood innocence and when children become men. The director Coppola takers you on a journey through young greasers lives, unlike the Jocks who has all the money, cars and the girls with a future these young men only have their friends and a longing to get by and a longing fit in. There struggle becomes heroic and you find yourself cheering these young street kids on. And when heroics becomes into death you will find yourself wiping a tear from your eye well I did. It was fun for me to see these young stars as young stars......

[bigSparky]

The companion movie to theOutsiders, (I may be moving up to Tulsa incidentally, for work) Rumble Fish, is almost as good.

**Is it SeaFair yet or is that already over? First year in Seattle and folks were parking on our lawn, LoL. Pops got pissed. The next year we put up barricades. We lived a couple of blocks up from the pits, and could see them and the start finish lines and 4th turn from the living and dining rooms. I couldn't see the 4th from my bedroom but could see the third. I don't think the rain ever really bothered me. Mom said I used to put on my swimsuit when it rained and begged to go outside.

[asoc]

Looks like SeaFair is coming up soon, this upcoming week maybe...
I don't keep track of that stuff:-/

[owly]

Seafair must be some sorta event for the community

There's A Clint Eastwood movie im interested in owning but for the life of me I can't remember the name of the movie, maybe one of you can help. I'll try to explain it as best I can. Clint play this recovering outlaw he's olmost child like in the beginning to almost the end where the town sheriff shoots his friend (which I think is played by Morgan Freeman) and he starts drinking again and get in a bar fight where he kills everyone. Any of you know the movie?

Bra boys is going to cost me 13 bucks + three dollar's shipping. Smoked Signals about the same.

[bigSparky]

It's unlimited hydroplane racing. Miss Budweiser and the like. Like NASCAR on the water, 5 laps at a time. Last one I watched in person (71?) there were 40 to 50 thousand fans along a bout a mile of Lake Washington shoreline. This boat used to be in the Goodwill rehabilitation center and store on Rainier Avenue for many years
This will give you a page about Sayers Pits. You can zoom in on the satellite image and see the Pits as they are now. In my day there was only a small concession stand with restrooms that were NEVER open. Not even during the races. http://www.yelp.com/biz/stan-sayres-mem ... rk-seattle
If you go to 41st and Andover on that map, then to the second house from the corner, that's where we lived. The garage was Tolvaj's bedroom, and they added a third story.

Back on topic, a fine movie about unlimited hydroplane racing is Madison http://youtu.be/w_-y6NOvfug. The boats in this movie are the ones I grew up watching, with V-12 Allison and Merlin engines out of fighter planes.

[bigSparky]

Sounds like Unforgiven to me. Gene Hackman as the Sheriff, Little Bill. Clint and Morgan play "retired" vicious outlaws, and some kid comes along gets him to go on a bounty hunt paid for by some prostitutes after one of them gets cut up by a cowboy and nothing happens to him for it. It was the first good western to come along in quite a while, and sort of cleared the way for Westerns to come back. It's not my favorite Eastwood movie, but it's still pretty good.

[owly]

Thanks that's the one

I'd watch just to see the speedboats crash and burn

[bigSparky]

I saw a wreck out the living room window, 70 or 71. Watched Pride of Pay N Pak crossing the finish line and out of the corner of my eye I see the 4th turn with Miss Bud, Miss Notre Dame, and Atlas Van Lines battling for second and third. Mid afternoon, final lap of the final heat, and the lake had gone choppy. Bud was in second but barely. If you watch any of the wreck videos, you will see how they start rocking side to side on the nose. She did as well, then started to pitch a little bit from bow to stern (this where most of the flips happened on those hulls) but recovered. Except as wild as she got it made the already choppy water 10 times worse for Atlas Van Lines and Notre Dame. They both went to dipping their bows into the lake at 100+ mph around a turn. Atlas recovered, Notre Dame flipped end over end and broke in half. My pops had the only known video of it and he only caught about 10 frames of the tail going under water. Wish we would have found that film when we went through his stuff. The driver only got a broken nose. What's taken me an hour to write happened in maybe 10 seconds. The year before I was down on the shore. Can't for the life of me remember which boat it was, but watched it pitch it's nose down and it just stopped from 95 mph, ass in the air and sinking straight down, with her driver bouncing along the lake like one the bombs in dam busters WWII movies. He bounced about 150 feet, and as I recall he just broke a leg, or maybe a rib or collar bone. Nothing serious. Those were the days. They're not THAT much faster today considering all the technology they throw into building them. The old shovel noses were just plain cool. Open cockpit with the driver behind the huge aircraft engines. The drivers sat fairly high up off the water when they were up on plane. Real loud.

[owly]

From the way you write it I can see it in my mind. Kinda reminds me of the coyotey strapping himself to a acne rocket as I remember it it never worked out for the coyotey. I seen a ton of speed boats crashes on tv and seen humans skipping over the water like a skipping stone, how can they live through that? It blows my mind. If I had a chance or the means I'd attend.

I found a dealer on eBay that selling a copy of Eastwoods unforgiving for 9 bucks + free shipping. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction. I looked at a ton of john Wayne movies and leaning towards a war movie he done I love his war movies. Im going to get one of your favorite Westerns to but can't decide in which one.

Tomorrow I'm going to watch and review "used cars".

[owly]

"Used Cars" a young/younger Kurt Russell plays a supersalesman will sell you a talopy car and you'll think its your dreamcar. This story centers around two brothers played by Jack Warden, feuding brothers in a fight over competing car lots trying to outsmarts, out do, and drive each other out of business with the promise of possibly owning the bigest car lot in the state due to a upcoming offramp that's to be built near by. I think Jack Warden plays both brothers brilliantly. I also think Kurt plays a Conniving seemingly convincing cheat that will charm you into buying any junk piece of shit. Do you know Lenny & Squigy? They play a small laughing out loud performance unlike their role in 1941 where you have to squint your eyes to see them. Be prepared to see outrageous sale/advertising ploys. This movie always makes me smirk every time I see it, which is about 20 times now. I recommend this comedic demolition Derby......