« The New Math: A Test Of My Powers | Home | The New Math: Fully-Operational Battle Station Edition, Part 2 »
04.17.07
The New Math: Fully-Operational Battle Station Edition, Part 1
posted by Absinthe | 4:18 PM
Right, well, that got rather more of a response than I’d expected. I promised to do five by Thursday, but obviously you people have a lot of time on your hands and so I figure I’d best try to overdeliver.
BG says:
Okay, I’ll bite…This is: Spinal Tap
The Last Waltz
Rushmore
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Can’t Hardly Wait(That’s not a “top five” list…)
Esoteric. And I dig the random disposable teen comedy. I’m guessing you like to both laugh until it hurts and hurt until you laugh. And do I detect a hint of romanticism under that cynical exterior?
1. They Might Be Giants, not to be confused with the musical act of the same name. This 1971 movie stars George C. Scott as a modern-day man who believes he’s Sherlock Holmes and Joanne Woodward as his erstwhile Watson, a psychiatrist out to cure him.
2. The King Of Comedy, an underappreciated Martin Scorsese film from 1983. It’s a stalker comedy (!) that features world-class performances from Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis. This is one of De Niro’s best roles; it’s been a while since he committed to this kind of pathos. The only reason I hesitate to recommend it is that I expect you’ll have seen it.
3. Takeshi Kitano’s Kikujiro, a bittersweet, mildly bizarre road movie from 2000 in which a young boy goes off in search of his mother, chaperoned by a loutish wannabe tough-guy. Kitano was theretofore known only for his beautiful but tragic yakuza films; though there are a couple of disturbing scenes, overall this is eminently PG. A chirpy, memorable score by Joe Hisaishi is a great bonus.
GT says:
Sounds fun…1. Field of Dreams
2. Children of Men
3. Bruce Almighty
4. The Matrix ( Part 1 before it got stupid )
5. The Great EscapeMake of that lot what you will!!!
Action, but not purposeless action; somewhat sentimental tastes in comedy. I can do that.
1. Once A Thief, an underseen John Woo action-comedy from the ’90s that’s a little over-the-top but has a great love triangle and a relentlessly lighthearted spirit. Also, heist flicks rock.
2. Noises Off, a comedy dear to many a theater geek’s heart. Some of the farce is a little too farcical, but it’s a good time.
3. Stalag 17, the 1953 classic from Billy Wilder that features William Holden in top form and has fine comic moments, perfectly balanced with a gripping escape plot.
Pauly says:
Mean Streets
Stranger Than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch)
Annie Hall
Amores Perros
Waking Life
This one’s gonna be tough, as I’m sure the good doctor is a bona fide NYC cineaste and thus I won’t be able to throw out Barton Fink and such and call it a day. But I shall prevail.
1. The Dark Backward. King-hell weirdness about a wannabe standup comedian who’s got a hand growing out of his back. For the refund guarantee to be operative here we may have to agree on appropriate levels of, uh, pharmaceutical support.
2. The Stuff, a whacked-out 80′s sci-horror film from low-budget exploitation master Larry Cohen. It’s about evil yogurt.
3. I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang. Featuring the finest performance ever from the original Scarface, Paul Muni. Has held up remarkably well for something made in 1932; still a powerful indictment of the justice system. Absolutely haunting.
Mark says:
Braveheart
Gladiator
Monthy Python and the Holy Grail
Lord of the Rings (1,2,3)
Pirates of the Caribbean
Somebody likes big, loud, heroic period action. It’s gotta have swords. This is one of the hardest crowds to please, incidentally – people who cite mostly recent, big-budget films. Usually, the only way to give people like Mark something they haven’t seen is to go for subtitles. But I have tricks up my sleeve.
1. Equilibrium, an overwrought but visually exciting flick from Kurt Wimmer starring Christian Bale as a government agent in a dystopic future where emotion is strictly forbidden. It’s not a period piece but the action is undeniably slick, and there is some good swashbucklery near the end.
2. Rob Roy, with Liam Neeson as a Scottish Robin Hood-analogue. Not so much for the full-on battle chaos scenes, but the climactic swordfight is one for the ages, and probably the thing that sold George Lucas on making Liam Neeson a Jedi.
3. Azumi, a Japanese manga adapted for the screen with much verve by Ryuhei Kitamura, whose low-budget Versus is a marvel of ingenuity and style. Azumi is like a cracked-out House Of Flying Daggers, with campy villains, short-skirted ninjas and blood-spouts galore. (Make sure you find a copy that’ll play in a Region 1 DVD player.)
Renee says:
LA Story
Dogfight
Donnie Darko
Clueless
Arizona DreamNow get cracking.
Quirky comedies uber alles, is it? Probably you might have seen everything in my first volley, but here we go:
1. Roadside Prophets. John Doe (of X) and Adam Horovitz (of the Beastie Boys) doing the Hope-Crosby road movie thing? It’s a little odd, but there’s some great punk-laced sentimentality and quote-worthy moments scattered throughout. If you don’t believe me, ask your husband.
2. The Happiness Of The Katakuris, a surreal, charming semi-musical comedy from Takashi Miike, about a dysfunctional family whose attempts to run a mountain guesthouse fail miserably a) because their guests keep dying and b) because they don’t always stay dead.
3. Funny Bones, an uneven and overlong but entertaining movie about comedians, family ties, and yadda yadda yadda. Some absolutely beautiful silent/vaudeville routines interspersed with a so-so plot. I’m a sucker for Oliver Platt.
If I’ve failed you already, let me know. I’ll try to get to a few more of these before the week’s out. [No promises.]
Popularity: 3% [?]
Topics: General Geekery, Random Thoughts, The New Math | 6 Comments »
April 17, 2007 at 5:33 PM
Oh man did I love Happiness of the Katakuris. I think the tagline on the box alone sold me on it “it’s like Evil Dead meets The Sound of Music,” and it did not disappoint.
I really wanted to like Equilibrium a lot more than I did, but that may have been due in large part to the extreme wait as the theatrical release plans got scrapped and I had to wait for DVD.
April 17, 2007 at 5:42 PM
Why the hell do I come to these things too late!
April 17, 2007 at 8:34 PM
I really gotta see “Eternal Sunshine”, I’ve heard good things for a long time and haven’t seen it yet.
I got “Mean Streets” from Amazon the other day, but the audio won’t work. Think it’s my DVD player, tho. My Looney Toons collection won’t work either. In any case, “Mean Streets” is a freakin’ awesome movie.
Went to see “Inland Empire” and “Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Film” in a seven-day period. I need some plot, please.
April 17, 2007 at 11:22 PM
ATHF didn’t really do it for me. I haven’t yet seen Inland Empire on account of it only being shown nearby in the one theatre I absolutely cannot stand, but I’m pretty tolerant of Lynch’s eccentricities and like his approach to splintered identities.
April 18, 2007 at 9:07 PM
I can’t believe you trotted out The Stuff. I MST3k’d that in high school, for crissakes. Nothing more annoyingly mediocre than watching Garrett Morris portraying the completely uncoveted role of Chocolate Chip Charlie.
How many obscurity points does that earn me?
April 20, 2007 at 2:26 AM
Al: not too late, just might have to wait a while for suggestions. I suspect I’ll slog my way through ‘em eventually, or at least until I have to start repeating myself.
Hanel: zero obscurity points, three or four retroactive beatings. Probably you took ‘em in junior high, though.