Babylon was a massive bomb, and i dont understand why. I think it’s a masterpiece.
Pig was another underappreciated masterpiece. When Nic Cage did his AMA on Reddit (one of the best ever), he said it was one of the acting jobs that he’s most proud of. He deserved an Oscar for it, but wasn’t even nominated. The screenplay, too.
Buckaroo Banzai is one of my all-time favorites. It is the quintessential New Wave film, featuring John Lithgow’s most unhinged performance - “Laugh while you can, monkey boy!”
Also “No matter where you go, there you are.”
My worry is that these rights reversion deals are going to the top tier film-makers for their top-tier films. In 25 years they’ll revert to the film-maker, and who knows what will happen to them?
What if the director has died? Now the film is in the hands of the estate, who might not know what to do with it, or even care. Some will handle it properly, others wont. Some will be greedy, some may be ashamed of it, some will neglect it, etc.
It’s inevitable that some of these classics will become innaccessible, and even lost.
I really think Tom Cruise is a weird and creepy guy, but i can’t help it, his movies are nearly always great. I’ll watch anything he does, and at least 9 times out of 10, I’m blown away.
And everybody knows that going for the safe bet is the sure-fire formula for a classic that will return profits to the studio for decades.
For our next question: Why is nobody going to the movies any more?
My theory is that the Mission Impssible franchise is about to wrap, and Tom Cruise is going to calm down on the stunt work, now that hes getting older. I cant blame him for that.
So they can’t count on him to continue doing big stunts in the future, so they better give it to him now. So he’ll be nominated for the final MI movie, and he will win. And frankly, he deserves it, for his amazing body of stunt work.
Being on fire isn’t even a top tier stunt any more. I’ve seen amateur student films with people on fire.
This has always been the argument against having an oscar for stunts, but its hard to imagine that stunts could get much more dangerous that they already are.
Most stunt pros want to protect themselves from death even more than their defenders. They plan these stunts extensively and train hard for them. They do their best to leave nothing to chance. Yet they still take it to the edge, often, and they’ve been doing it since the beginning of film. Its highly doubtful they could even get more dangerous that those old Buster Keaton stunts, or the car chase scene in Death Proof, or many of Tom Cruise’s stunts in the Mission Impossible franchise, etc. We can all name 100 jaw-dropping stunts.
Getting killed or maimed is not likely to get you the Oscar, so I don’t think its a valid reason to not have a category for Stunts.
Buckaroo Banzai is the quintessential New Wave film, capturing the zeitgeist of the era perfectly. Also, easily John Lithgow’s most unhinged performance: “Laugh while you can Monkey Boy!”
If I ever meet him, I’m going to remind him of that role.
There have been a lot over the years, like Buckaroo Banzai, but my latest one was Babylon. A complete stiff in theaters, but I think its brilliant.
Was Nic Cage’s Pig considered a flop? That was another truly great movie that few people saw. When he did his terrific AMA on Reddit (one of the best I’ve ever seen), he said Pig was one of his acting performances that he’s most proud of. It barely got any attention, and no Oscar noms, but he fully deserved the Oscar for that one.
Better yet, bootleg it, and keep their corporate profit in your own pocket.
I’m listening…
If Disney had supported their star, instead of attacking her, she would have wanted to promote the movie.
I’ve seen that, and figured that was exactly the story. They even used a clip of the Willie’s whistled tune to lock that up, too.
They’ve had cocktails for years, that’s nothing new. I don’t buy them, because the only time I bought a beer in a movie theater, they charged me $12. That was pre-Covid. Its probably $18 now. How do they think that charging those predatory proces is going to entice people back to the movies?
With those predatory prices, I have no moral qualms with bringing in my own. I stop at Dollar Tree on the way to the theater, buy my snacks there (they have candy in noiseless movie boxes for $1.25 instead of $8), and sneak in those and a bottle of water. I’ve been doing that for many years, and nobody has ever said a thing. My son walks in with a tote bag full of groceries, and nobody ever stops him.
All three of these look pretty interesting.
Hmmm, sounds like something I’ll like.
Miracle Mile (1988) - Streaming on Prime. About a guy who randomly meets a girl, and they have instant, love-at-first-sight chemistry. They agree to meet after she gets off work at midnight. Then he picks up a ringing pay phone, and listens to the wrong number panicking because a nuclear strike is about to hit LA in an hour. It becomes a race against time to find his true love, and escape before the bombs hit, as LA descends into PRE-apocalyptic chaos.
Why do they have to reboot the exact same stories every decade or so?