Screwball Watch: Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Watched:  07/19/2024

Format:  Amazon

Viewing:  3rd of 4th

Director:  Howard Hawks

This is a movie that I liked the first time, but I feel like - the more time you see it, the more it works.  

I won't linger too long on this one other than to say, Howard Hawks was such a wildly talented director - it's unreal to scroll his filmography and think that eight years later he's doing The Big Sleep and ten years later, Red River.  And fifteen years later, he's doing Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.  Pair that with a young Hepburn and Grant, a leopard and absolute pros who get how this works in stage comedies, and it's a bit of a delight.

It also features the greatest shoe-based joke in cinema.

Anyway, if you want to watch two pretty people be very funny, this is it.

I do think, with screwball, there's a YMMV aspect, but I don't think it's too hard to trace Susan from this movie to some of the wackier characters in, say, What's Up, Doc? or NBC's better comedies.*  But Hepburn is so sweet in this even as she's wreaking havoc, and seems *genuinely*, instantly in love, it's kind of adorable.  And who better to bounce off than Cary Grant?

*I'm a huge fan of Mo Collins' Joan Callamezzo character, for example.  Or Jane Krakowski on 30 Rock.  Just anyone who is work on a parallel plane.  

Remake Watch: Road House (2024)

Watched:  07/19/2024

Format:  Amazon Prime

Viewing:  First

Director:  Doug Liman

What an odd movie.  And it's not bad as far as these things go.   

Yes, Road House (2024) is a remake of the OG Road House, but in only the loosest sense.  It certainly carried enough of the original concept that calling it something else was just going to draw knowing comparisons.

For my dollar, this is the more self-aware, but more fun version of this same concept.  With this latest version, you spend less time wondering "why hasn't anyone ever just shot the villain?" and "were are the cops?", and, certainly "are they kidding?  I can't tell"   But as the plot is essentially that a Miami Vice villains wants the land a shitty Gulf Coast bar sits on, you may wonder why the solution for the villains isn't a can of gasoline and a match at 4:00 AM instead of all the effort and violence.

This is a movie about Jessica Williams coming to hire you and somehow not being the romantic interest - which I suspect is for plot reasons in the third act.  It's mostly about Elwood P Dalton* (Jake Gyllenhaal in ropey muscular form), as a former MMA fighter who is basically a vagabond.  Jessica Williams' character, Frankie, owns a bar in the Keys, and she's been having some trouble.  

Yadda-yadda, see my notes above.

There's also some local color in the form of a precocious bookstore dwelling kid, an alligator, and... not much else.  Glass Key, the fictional location of the film**, is oddly sparsely populated.  We're told there's civilization there, schools, parks... but you'll never see anything but about four locations, and those feel oddly deserted, too.  In fact, The Road House bar, on its busiest nights, looks 2/3rds empty.  Which may be a COVID thing.  But it never feels like the bar is bumpin'.

The movie does have a sense of humor, which certainly helps things along.  The henchmen are a bit wacky, and dispatched in occasionally humorous ways.  The mid-film addition of Irish-born MMA champ Conor McGregor adds a certain escalation to the narrative while also adding a madman to the proceedings, and he happens to be pretty funny from time to time.  He makes a good baddie you want to keep on screen.

The love interest is once again a doctor, played by Daniela Melchior - and she fulfills the spot admirably if thanklessly.  But there's also a bartender who has her moments, played by BK Cannon.

The fight choreography is something else, and its possible/ likely it was assisted not just by dynamic cinematography, but some CGI.  I dunno.  I don't see very fast, so this kind of chaotic stuff just blows past me sometimes as my brain tries to process the information.  But it did seem impressive!  Gyllenhaal is buyable as a guy who can take down a few dudes at once.  

Anyhow - it's silly to spend too much time on this.  It's a good way to spend a Friday night, and thus achieved it's goal, but it's unlikely you'll spend a lot of time pondering the meaning of life through the lens of a Road House remake.  I was just surprised by how self-aware it is (they actually have scenes talking about where they are in the comparable plot of a Western movie) and appreciate its lean approach.  They know you're not here to see Dalton ponder philosophy, and stare into sunsets.  You want to see face punching, and it delivers.

Maybe it lacks some of the "wtf were they thinking here?" charm of the original, and every movie is better with Sam Elliot, but its not a bad actioner.

*the name here itself is a joke that goes nowhere.  "Elwood P Dowd" is the name of Jimmy Stewart's character in the play and film Harvey, which is about a polite drunk who happens to pal around with a 6' white rabbit that most other people can't see.  If that sounds like the greatest film that ever was, it IS.

**The Glass Key is a terrific Dashiell Hammett book and film, and you should check it out.  I suspect this was an Easter Egg, but I have no idea why.  

Sci-Fi Watch: "The Expanse" Rewatch, Season 6

• For Seasons 1 & 2 discussion
• For Season 3 discussion
• For Season 4 discussion
• For Season 5 discussion
• For Season 6 discussion

I don't know a lot about the production history of The Expanse.  I know it moved from SyFy to Amazon with Season 4, and that the 6th season was only 6 episodes (for comparison, Season 2 contained 13 episodes).  Further, the number of sets and scope of those sets are greatly reduced when you think of the grandeur of the first seasons, with multiple space stations, practical locations on Earth, interiors of a variety of ships, etc...  heck, casting someone like Jared Harris as a supporting role was nothing to sneeze at.  And we always saw an army of extras.  

That said, this season there's at least half an army of extras, the limited sets we do see are as detailed as ever (if no longer multi-story and as deeply layered), and the VFX are still rock solid.  

Based on the 6th book of the series and a novella, Season 6 is the most direct continuation from one season to the next - picking up as our crew, who dispersed across the solar system in Season 5, reunited on the Roci in the wake of Alex's death.  Now, they're out hunting as part of the UNN/ UMRC coalition, with Peaches/ Clarissa on board.  Avasarala is leading the UN and working with Martian leadership, while Camina Drummer is out in the belt resisting Marco in the wake of the death of Ashford and Fred Johnson.  

Bob Newhart Merges With The Infinite

Bob Newhart, comedy legend, has passed.

I don't have a lot new to add.  Newhart helped shape comedy for generations of people, and managed to stay in the game longer than almost anyone.

Here's to one of the greats.

Doc Watch: Ashley Madison - Sex, Lies and Scandal (2024)

Watched: 07/18/2024

Format:  Netflix

Viewing:  First

Director:  Toby Paton, Zoe Hutton, Gagan Rehill

I didn't notice til I went to do this write-up that Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies and Scandal (2024) is the second docuseries on the topic of the very real hook-up site for married people seeking discreet extramarital affairs, AND the 2015 security breach/ data dump that filled headlines for a few days.  

This docseries is on Netflix (more on that in a minute), but there's one on Hulu that I suppose I'll watch, the same way I watched all the Fyre Fest documentary stuff.

This docuseries breaks into three parts 

• setting up Ashely Madison, who might be interested and why they'd be into, and how the company achieved success
• operating as a success, the initial media reaction, and then... realizing they've been hacked
• impact of the hack on the company, users, revelations and fallout

(Everything below is going to be "spoilers" I guess, for something you can Google if you don't remember it happening)

Fellini Watch: La Dolce Vita (1960)

Watched:  07/17/2024

Format:  Disc from Library

Viewing:  First

Director:  Federico Fellini

Continuing on my "let's watch some famed directors we've missed" kick, I've returned to Fellini.

With La Dolce Vita (1960), we're about as far as one gets from the world of La Strada's post-war desolation - diving headfirst into the mid-century Italian party scene, mixing the wealthy, the famous, the would-be famous and the hangers-on.  It's a film with a certain malaise I now realize has been borrowed by innumerable other movies, usually by kid who finds himself introduced into high society and finds out, gee, things are complicated here, too.  

But our POV character here is not naive, and he's been at this a while.  Instead, we find our protagonist (Marcello Mastroianni - I'll refrain from calling him a hero) at a tipping point.  And the movie follows him as he considers all the ways he can slip and fall from what seems a charmed position.  He's a successful ladies man, bedding upper-class women (Anouk Aimee), but with a fiancee at home, whom he's growing to despise.  He could be a journalist for some time, but he has a desire to write literature.  He seems to be seeking some truth or revelation through the women he falls for, but once he has them, he rejects them.

Shannen Doherty Merges With The Infinite

After a long struggle with cancer, actress Shannen Doherty has passed.  She was 53.

I primarily know Doherty from her time on Beverly Hills 90210, which I began to watch reluctantly in college.  But I came to know her in 1989 watching Heathers over and over on VHS.  Prior to that, she'd been a recurring player in 1980's television as a kid actor, loaned her voice to The Secret of NIMH and become a main character on Little House on the Prairie (a show I've never actually seen).  

Doherty also appeared on the original version of Charmed, and continued making films and television even during years of illness.

Richard Simmons Merges With The Infinite

Richard Simmons has passed at the age of 76.

He was one of the first people I remember recognizing on TV, and knowing their name as a real person and not a character.  The Richard Simmons Show encouraged clean living, healthy lifestyles and sensible eating.  I don't remember much more than it existed and was something I'd see on TV in the summer.

Once the show was over in about 1985, Simmons was just sort of omnipresent on television through, like, my 30's.  I remember tears from people talking about their struggles with weightloss, and Simmons, in workout duds, holding their hand and listening, absolutely sincerely.  Sure, at first you'd laugh like a snarky kid, but eventually, you had to say to yourself "this guy does this all the time.  He never breaks.  He maintains eye contact.  He listens and tries to help."  Like, you realizes he might be goofy in some ways, but at least that part was real.

He was also on celebrity gameshows, did guest appearances, was a late night TV staple, and sold millions and millions of VHS tapes to folks who didn't want to start working out at the gym or a Jazzercise class, they wanted to try it at home.  

In 1992-93, my high school drama class agreed to do "Sweatin' to the Oldies" once a week, as my drama instructor rightfully noticed, we were not the most active kids.  At the time it was the most notorious of Simmons' offerings, constantly advertised during daytime TV, playing music from the 60's as an army of, indeed, very sweaty people danced behind Richard in the background.  So, initially it was ironic.  But we all agreed - there was something to the videos.  Just enough to get you moving, but it wasn't like the Jane Fonda tapes that were a strenuous workout.  After that, I felt like I got his niche and what he was doing - providing a realistic lifeline for people to at least try to get moving, and make it fun.

Simmons retreated from public life around a decade ago, and after a lifetime of public engagement, eventually speculation about what he was up to begin to swirl.  But almost all allegations were denied or dismissed.  

I suspect we'll likely learn much more about Simmons' private life now that he's passed.

I don't know how much Simmons will be remembered by folks younger than myself.  He did have an online presence, but was fading for a decade before he officially disappeared.  And I don't know how many people will come forward with remembrances.  

Say what you will, and, yes, he made a lot of money selling tapes to people who probably watched them once, but he did offer some help and some hope, and he can't be at your house to get you to use your Deal-a-Meal cards, or find the 30 minutes for a workout.  I think he was probably an okay dude.

 I do still wonder if he owned any long pants.

Western Watch: Colt. 45 (1950)

Watched:  07/13/2024

Format:  Amazon

Viewing:  First

Director:  Edwin L. Marin

I'm not a proud man, and so I will cop to watching this movie to catch Ruth Roman in another flick - especially something like a fairly short western action film.  Plus, I get a kick out of both Randolph Scott and Austin's own Zachary Scott (no relation to Randolph), who plays the villain in this movie.  

The basic set-up is that Randolph Scott is a war veteran and salesman for the new Colt .45, which he used in the Mexican-American War to great effect.  He's now selling them to law enforcement on the frontier, which has not previously seen a repeating, multi-shot handgun - ie: a revolver.  The tactical advantage of 6 shots over 1 is pretty obvious, I hope.    

While showing off his wares, the idiot sheriff (who doesn't get the value) picks a handfight with his prisoner, Zach Scott, who handily wins the fight, grabs the .45s and kills the Sheriff before running off, leaving Randolph - who the townsfolk decide is an accomplice.  Zach Scott goes on a rampage, founding the .45's gang, and raiding wagons carrying gold from a mining town.

Ruth Roman plays the wife to an early-career Lloyd Bridges, and the two are essentially hostages to Zach Scott's gang - except, Lloyd has realized farming doesn't pay as well as stealing gold, so he teams up with Zach Scott while tell his wife that they're biding their time and playing it safe.

80's Watch: Electric Dreams (1984)

Watched:  07/12/2024

Format:  Amazon

Viewing:  Second

Director:  Steve Barron

I have a memory of watching this movie during a family road trip.  I watched it in a shitty motel room with my dad after my mom and brother fell asleep.  Primarily, my memory was "it wasn't very good, and it didn't feel like a comedy, and it seemed like it was supposed to be a comedy but also wanted to be taken seriously, but was dumb."*

That was probably 1986 or so, and here in 2024, my thought is:  it wasn't very good, and it seemed like it was supposed to be a comedy but also wanted to be taken seriously, but was dumb.  But, in 2024, I also think the movie is oddly prescient - predicting some things that would have seemed ridiculous just 3-4 years ago, but now seem like they've entered the conversation.

Electric Dreams (1984) is a Futureshock movie, taking place what, I'd guess, is supposed to be a few years after its release, 1984.  That's just about the time computers started making their way into suburban homes.  The parents buying these infernal machines were hoping their nascent Gen-X'ers would be able to understand computers, but didn't know what the hell they were spending their beer money on.  In this era, computers were full of mystery and magic as far as the news and movies were concerned.  We're coming off WarGames - that posited a teen almost destroying the world by hacking into the US missile systems.  Tron was a neat analog of computer stuff, but people thought it meant computers were full of elves.  Superman III, thought computers would control the weather.