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Movies: New Ideas Welcome II Prequel Reboot

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Re: Movies: New Ideas Welcome II Prequel Reboot

Doesn't Walkens character turn bat chit crazy as a result of the war? It's been a long time since I'd seen it, but I'm pretty sure that's a big part of the story, pertaining to the tragedy of what happens to soldiers in a brutal war like that.

Yes, Nick becomes, well... Walken -- sullen, doomed, and creepy. And we get the reprise of the (incredibly overrated) Russian roulette scene.

They needed a jarring tragedy to put up against the first half's normalcy and, well, they did that. I've always liked the fact of the ending much better than the way they actually played the ending, but a movie like that needs action so they went Full Ham.

I think with better writing they could have turned Nam into a sort of horrifying magical realist counter-point to the slow rust of PA. The direction is fine and the acting is fine, but the writer (Washburn) was a hack who took a story about Russian roulette in Las Vegas by a writer from, and I swear I'm not making this up, The Young and the Restless, and stuck it in Vietnam. It was dumb, but what can you expect from a Harvard man?
 
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Re: Movies: New Ideas Welcome II Prequel Reboot

I honestly thought they should have maimed Walken and killed the other guy in the POW camp.

Or killed Walken during the original Russian roulette scene. Have him get shot by one of the guards and die in De Niro's arms. He could have then "persevered and rescued Steve (?)" just like he did in the movie. Walken and Steve's actor should have had their roles switched in this alternate story and then let Walken become the brooding maimed vet like Tom Cruise in Born
 
Re: Movies: New Ideas Welcome II Prequel Reboot

I like Costner...I think he makes weird movies that try to be more than they need to be sometimes but overall I enjoy more of his films than I hate.

I do too. I think he's underrated with respect to how much dislike there is out there for him, but that's not to say I'd put him on a Top XX list of any sort either.
 
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Re: Movies: New Ideas Welcome II Prequel Reboot

"Mifune: The Last Samurai."

Documentary on Toshiro Mifune, who did MANY movies with Akira Kirosawa. This is a movie fan's documentary, for sure, as most probably don't know who these people are, unfortunately. It was decent, learned a couple new things.

For the average movie goer, you might remember "A Fistful Of Dollars" and "The Magnificent Seven." These were remakes of "Yojimbo" and "Seven Samurai" starring Mifune and directed by Kirosawa. :)
 
Re: Movies: New Ideas Welcome II Prequel Reboot

Becoming Warren Buffett

Watched this on my mileage run last weekend. With all the talk about how he tends to retreat into his analysis & numbers, and how his late first wife polished his rough social edges, I got the vibe that he's at least a mild Asperger's case. Not surprising for many billionaires (they say this about his friend Gates, too, of course).

Interesting bits - the only cert he keeps framed on his office wall is from a Dale Carnegie course in public speaking, to which he credits virtually all of his confidence in public. Neither his Bachelor's from UNL, nor his Master's from Columbia, are present. Didn't want to go to college, but Congressman dad pushed him, so he started at Wharton, then transferred back to home Nebraska (suck it, Ivies). His grad school Statement of Purpose to Ben Graham and David Dodd was basically, "I read your books as a teenager, and I thought you guys were dead! Can I come to Columbia for grad school and learn from you?!" He was pretty much fast-tracked to admission. :p

He was terrible with women until his first wife came along. Had a good story about a woman he attempted to date in college, whom he ran into at a reunion years later - I won't spoil it, but hilariously awkward. :D

Gates didn't think he could be friends with Buffett when he was first invited to meet him ("I'm a tech visionary, he's a money guy"), but then face-to-face conversation happened.

Credited his first wife "Susie" with converting him from a budding conservative to a moderate progressive.

All in all, an interesting piece, regardless of how you feel about the guy.
 
Re: Movies: New Ideas Welcome II Prequel Reboot

OTD in 1980 Alfred Hitchcock died. Like his movies and the fun part of spotting his cameo.
 
Re: Movies: New Ideas Welcome II Prequel Reboot

Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates:

I wanted a stupid comedy, and I got it. Unfortunately, they felt the need to hammer home/explain 3/4 of the punchlines until they weren't funny anymore. Heck, half the out-takes were funnier than what was left in it. If they trimmed the explanation of the punchlines, it would have been much funnier. Watch at your own risk.

All in all: basic raunchy comedy where someone causes disaster at an important event, and end up bringing it all together for a happy ending. Don't worry about spoilers in this movie, it's that formulaic.
 
Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates:

I wanted a stupid comedy, and I got it. Unfortunately, they felt the need to hammer home/explain 3/4 of the punchlines until they weren't funny anymore. Heck, half the out-takes were funnier than what was left in it. If they trimmed the explanation of the punchlines, it would have been much funnier. Watch at your own risk.

All in all: basic raunchy comedy where someone causes disaster at an important event, and end up bringing it all together for a happy ending. Don't worry about spoilers in this movie, it's that formulaic.
Only funny scene: "Does it look that bad?" But, man, that's funny. Of course, I like ******* and Ridiculousness, too, so my wife tells me I'm a sicko....
 
Re: Movies: New Ideas Welcome II Prequel Reboot

Only funny scene: "Does it look that bad?" But, man, that's funny. Of course, I like ******* and Ridiculousness, too, so my wife tells me I'm a sicko....

If it makes you feel better, I love The Aristocrats, and that joke is one of the funniest I've ever heard, in most forms.
 
Re: Movies: New Ideas Welcome II Prequel Reboot

I saw Body of Lies in theater and I remember it being much better than this. Reminds me of a lesser Spy Game now.
 
Re: Movies: New Ideas Welcome II Prequel Reboot

I saw Body of Lies in theater and I remember it being much better than this. Reminds me of a lesser Spy Game now.

I hate when movies give me that impression. "It reminds me of (x) but, man, did it fall short."
 
Re: Movies: New Ideas Welcome II Prequel Reboot

Frailty:

A man hears the will of God in a vision, and is set out to kill humans that are actually "demons," and his kids are in on it. However, one child isn't buying it. It was tremendous, until the end. Then it kind of became a cliched mess with the twists and turns in the movie. Predictable ending. I almost can guarantee it was influenced by The Usual Suspects. Worth a watch, though.


Ruby Ridge:

Doc on the incident. While most docs avoid the extreme views to create a balance of both sides, this movie does the opposite. They present the bare bones extreme views and thoughts of both sides, to create that balance of thought. And well, that whole situation is so messed up it's sick. So much miscommunication, lack of information, and assumption by both sides. It's like watching a ticking bomb, just waiting to go off. And it did.
 
Re: Movies: New Ideas Welcome II Prequel Reboot

Ruby Ridge was great. Hearing how the Feds felt about the wife dying and how they didn't know when they kept referencing her in negotiations was eye opening.
 
Re: Movies: New Ideas Welcome II Prequel Reboot

Ruby Ridge was great. Hearing how the Feds felt about the wife dying and how they didn't know when they kept referencing her in negotiations was eye opening.

That was really disturbing. Not blaming Feds, they didn't know, but dayyyyummmmmm. Obviously, you and I were really young when this went down....hearing these graphic details....wow.
 
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