Post by klep on Sept 23, 2019 7:34:26 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 9/23: Clue
MYSTERY WEEK!
Note: This week two guest contributors have graciously contributed to a dialog about the film, as well as one of their kids' first impressions.
G: So B, do you remember when and how you first saw Clue?
B: I don’t, but I remember it was on video. I was low-key obsessed with Siskel & Ebert and kept a running list of movies to watch, and I remember being really intrigued by the ‘multiple endings’ schtick. I don’t think it played very long near me. What about you?
G: Pretty sure it was on Comedy Central, honestly. Commercial interruptions and everything. I don’t think I saw it without commercials until I was in college.
B: Oh, we rented it from one of our two video stores (we had an awfully small town for two stores, it didn’t last that long), where if you rented on Friday you could keep your video until Monday, so I watched it a bunch of times that first time. You must’ve gotten the jokes a lot faster than I did.
G: Yeah, it wouldn’t surprise me if I did. I knew what Communism was, and so forth--I already knew what the Red Scare was, even seeing it for the first time in high school. Though I’ll admit I couldn’t quite get over some of the casting issues. Doctor Johnny Fever worked for the FBI? Nurse Kellye as . . . not a great character, from a racial sensitivity perspective?
B: This was the first time I’d met a lot of these actors. Pretty sure it was my first Tim Curry and definitely my first Madeline Kahn. I’m pretty sure I knew what the Red Scare was, and I ended up--somehow--with the tie-in novel, which gave me a little more context. (The line I always remember most from the book is ‘“Is that what we ate?” asked Mr. Green, green.’) I was kind of spoiled by it, honestly, because there weren’t many flat-out comedies with this stacked a cast.
G: Definitely true! I think by the time I saw this, I’d already seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show, because I know I saw that as a freshman in high school. I know I’d seen Back to the Future, of course, and while I’m not sure if I’d seen another Madeline Kahn film by then, I could quote the entire SNL bit where she and Gilda Radner are doing Marlene Dietrich and Barbara Walters!
B: I don’t think I got to classic SNL before high school. Anyway, she’s gorgeous in this as well as being very funny, which, yeah, was kind of her thing. As an adult, it’s interesting to see how hot everyone is, because it wasn’t something I connected with screwball comedy at the time.
G: And it does definitely have screwball roots that way. I mean, how many screwballs did Cary Grant do? But I also have to say, I’ve always appreciated how funny it let Leslie Ann Warren be, because she may be one of the only characters I can think of in a comedy movie who is smart and funny and beautiful.
B: And it doesn’t bother to ugly her up the way a lot of lesser comedies might.
G: Oh, yeah, she’s sexy as hell.
B: The other thing that really appealed to me as a kid was how sophisticated everything seemed - which isn’t really not, there’s a running dogshit gag - but it does speak to the absolutely wonderful attention to detail in the movie. The costumes and sets are dead on, and it doesn’t look ‘fifties filtered through the eighties’ in the way that a lot of period pieces do.
G: And Communism may have been just a red herring, but you know, these are people whose lives could have easily been destroyed by a connection to it.
B: I definitely knew enough to realize that the jokes were about something very real. I think that’s another piece of what makes the movie work so well - it’s a very silly story set on an incredibly solid foundation. It has such a good sense of time and place. (And of course, fantastic comedic timing, a crackerjack cast, and some very, very good jokes.)
G: I can’t imagine being able to have seen it in the theatre and finding out that there were three possible endings.
B: It was absolutely part of the marketing so it wouldn’t have been a surprise. But I think the VHS format where ‘it might have been this, and it might have been this, but it ACTUALLY was this’ is I think the ideal way to watch it. And I do like that last one the best.
G: Well, S’s just gotten to that point in the movie, which he’s watching as we type, and he’s fascinated by the concept. He’s just gotten to the “flames on the side of my face” part. I do think it makes a lot more sense than the other two endings, honestly.
B: And it’s dated by now, but that last line still cracks me up.
G: Yeah, that’s pretty well the movie.
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S: I did not--I did not like something. I did not like when--when--when--uh, uh, Mr. Boddy's butler? Died? But so the other one, I--I liked it, and sort of didn't really care for it. Some parts--it was sort of really mixed up for all of it. So confused. So yeah.
[much discussion of his rating, concluding with two and a half and a heart]
E: Okay, what didn't you like?
S: Didn't really like the loud parts. Eh . . . that's mostly it.
E: What did you like?"
S: [thinks] "I did like one of the characters, Mrs. White, and also Mr. Boddy's butler? Any others?
E: What did you like about them?
S: Well . . . I did like the beginning of Mr. Boddy's butler, of what he did? And also what--when he was telling what happened.
E: Which ending did you like best?
S: The one where he explains it? I meant like, when Mr. Boddy's butler explains what happens.
E: I mean the first time he does, the second time, or what 'really' happened?
S: Just the first time, but I also like the second and third; not really the third, though. I don't really like the third because when Mr. Boddy's butler died in the third one?
E: Did you think it was funny?
S: I didn't really think any parts were funny. [waves his hands] I have--so . . . it's just because of what I thought of it. And also none of it was scary? Except maybe a little bit of the loud parts?
E: Do you think other people should watch it?
S: Yes. Everybody at school, and, well--everybody that I know.
E: Do you think grown-ups would think it was funny?
S: It's part of that, well, everybody that I know?
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 9/30: Millennium Actress
ANIMATION WEEK!
For Animation Week we're finally going to dive into the work of Satoshi Kon with his 2001 film Millennium Actress. Join us Monday as we delve into this work by one of the great masters of the medium. Millennium Actress is available on Prime Video.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 9/24: Casino
The podcast crew kicks off the next pairing on hustles and greed with Martin Scorsese's Casino. Come join us Wednesday for our discussion! Casino is available for rent in the usual places.
MYSTERY WEEK!
Note: This week two guest contributors have graciously contributed to a dialog about the film, as well as one of their kids' first impressions.
G: So B, do you remember when and how you first saw Clue?
B: I don’t, but I remember it was on video. I was low-key obsessed with Siskel & Ebert and kept a running list of movies to watch, and I remember being really intrigued by the ‘multiple endings’ schtick. I don’t think it played very long near me. What about you?
G: Pretty sure it was on Comedy Central, honestly. Commercial interruptions and everything. I don’t think I saw it without commercials until I was in college.
B: Oh, we rented it from one of our two video stores (we had an awfully small town for two stores, it didn’t last that long), where if you rented on Friday you could keep your video until Monday, so I watched it a bunch of times that first time. You must’ve gotten the jokes a lot faster than I did.
G: Yeah, it wouldn’t surprise me if I did. I knew what Communism was, and so forth--I already knew what the Red Scare was, even seeing it for the first time in high school. Though I’ll admit I couldn’t quite get over some of the casting issues. Doctor Johnny Fever worked for the FBI? Nurse Kellye as . . . not a great character, from a racial sensitivity perspective?
B: This was the first time I’d met a lot of these actors. Pretty sure it was my first Tim Curry and definitely my first Madeline Kahn. I’m pretty sure I knew what the Red Scare was, and I ended up--somehow--with the tie-in novel, which gave me a little more context. (The line I always remember most from the book is ‘“Is that what we ate?” asked Mr. Green, green.’) I was kind of spoiled by it, honestly, because there weren’t many flat-out comedies with this stacked a cast.
G: Definitely true! I think by the time I saw this, I’d already seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show, because I know I saw that as a freshman in high school. I know I’d seen Back to the Future, of course, and while I’m not sure if I’d seen another Madeline Kahn film by then, I could quote the entire SNL bit where she and Gilda Radner are doing Marlene Dietrich and Barbara Walters!
B: I don’t think I got to classic SNL before high school. Anyway, she’s gorgeous in this as well as being very funny, which, yeah, was kind of her thing. As an adult, it’s interesting to see how hot everyone is, because it wasn’t something I connected with screwball comedy at the time.
G: And it does definitely have screwball roots that way. I mean, how many screwballs did Cary Grant do? But I also have to say, I’ve always appreciated how funny it let Leslie Ann Warren be, because she may be one of the only characters I can think of in a comedy movie who is smart and funny and beautiful.
B: And it doesn’t bother to ugly her up the way a lot of lesser comedies might.
G: Oh, yeah, she’s sexy as hell.
B: The other thing that really appealed to me as a kid was how sophisticated everything seemed - which isn’t really not, there’s a running dogshit gag - but it does speak to the absolutely wonderful attention to detail in the movie. The costumes and sets are dead on, and it doesn’t look ‘fifties filtered through the eighties’ in the way that a lot of period pieces do.
G: And Communism may have been just a red herring, but you know, these are people whose lives could have easily been destroyed by a connection to it.
B: I definitely knew enough to realize that the jokes were about something very real. I think that’s another piece of what makes the movie work so well - it’s a very silly story set on an incredibly solid foundation. It has such a good sense of time and place. (And of course, fantastic comedic timing, a crackerjack cast, and some very, very good jokes.)
G: I can’t imagine being able to have seen it in the theatre and finding out that there were three possible endings.
B: It was absolutely part of the marketing so it wouldn’t have been a surprise. But I think the VHS format where ‘it might have been this, and it might have been this, but it ACTUALLY was this’ is I think the ideal way to watch it. And I do like that last one the best.
G: Well, S’s just gotten to that point in the movie, which he’s watching as we type, and he’s fascinated by the concept. He’s just gotten to the “flames on the side of my face” part. I do think it makes a lot more sense than the other two endings, honestly.
B: And it’s dated by now, but that last line still cracks me up.
G: Yeah, that’s pretty well the movie.
------------------------------------------------------------------
S: I did not--I did not like something. I did not like when--when--when--uh, uh, Mr. Boddy's butler? Died? But so the other one, I--I liked it, and sort of didn't really care for it. Some parts--it was sort of really mixed up for all of it. So confused. So yeah.
[much discussion of his rating, concluding with two and a half and a heart]
E: Okay, what didn't you like?
S: Didn't really like the loud parts. Eh . . . that's mostly it.
E: What did you like?"
S: [thinks] "I did like one of the characters, Mrs. White, and also Mr. Boddy's butler? Any others?
E: What did you like about them?
S: Well . . . I did like the beginning of Mr. Boddy's butler, of what he did? And also what--when he was telling what happened.
E: Which ending did you like best?
S: The one where he explains it? I meant like, when Mr. Boddy's butler explains what happens.
E: I mean the first time he does, the second time, or what 'really' happened?
S: Just the first time, but I also like the second and third; not really the third, though. I don't really like the third because when Mr. Boddy's butler died in the third one?
E: Did you think it was funny?
S: I didn't really think any parts were funny. [waves his hands] I have--so . . . it's just because of what I thought of it. And also none of it was scary? Except maybe a little bit of the loud parts?
E: Do you think other people should watch it?
S: Yes. Everybody at school, and, well--everybody that I know.
E: Do you think grown-ups would think it was funny?
S: It's part of that, well, everybody that I know?
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 9/30: Millennium Actress
ANIMATION WEEK!
For Animation Week we're finally going to dive into the work of Satoshi Kon with his 2001 film Millennium Actress. Join us Monday as we delve into this work by one of the great masters of the medium. Millennium Actress is available on Prime Video.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 9/24: Casino
The podcast crew kicks off the next pairing on hustles and greed with Martin Scorsese's Casino. Come join us Wednesday for our discussion! Casino is available for rent in the usual places.