What I've Been Watching: The Catch-All Film Thread

Finally got around to watching Easy Rider.

A supposed classic that I found to be a little ridiculous and vastly overrated. Primarily about culture clash in the 1960's across the southern United States (From California to Louisiana). It was a little before my day, but I still found the reactions and behavior of people towards the protagonists hard to buy. There is little effort put forth to help the audience suspend disbelief - that the antagonists in the movie (nondescript western-style males) have never seen people with long hair and think they can get away with everything they do is asking too much of the viewer. These people weren't sheltered backwoods hillbillies living in the mountains of West Virginia, they live right off the highway for crying out loud!

Anyway, this movie helped put Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Jack Nicholson on the map. Fonda and Hopper also wrote the screenplay. Probably the most interesting moment in the movie is when Nicholson, a small southern town lawyer, describes how aliens (who have a perfect utopian civilization on their home planet) are disguised as humans and living amongst us. Personally, I think I could have done better with the theme and moral than they did in the script!

This film has 85% approval on Rottentomatoes and a 7.3 on IMDB.

Personally, I give it a D (6/10) overall.

re: Easy Rider

Probably the acclaim it receives is nostalgic and due to how it embraced a counterculture. To me the protagonists were shiftless dopefiends, so why would I really care what happens to them?

The only redeeming thing in this film was Jack Nicholson.

Originally Posted by EvilManagedCare
re: Easy Rider

Probably the acclaim it receives is nostalgic and due to how it embraced a counterculture. To me the protagonists were shiftless dopefiends, so why would I really care what happens to them?

The only redeeming thing in this film was Jack Nicholson.

After I watched the movie, I read some reviews on Rottentomatoes and came to realize this. Apparently the counterculture of bikers hadn't been explored before in such a way before - they had always been depicted as vague villains or some such (which explains why the antagonists are vague western folk). However, I didn't go into the movie with a preconception against bikers, so it didn't have the appropriate effect on me.

Originally Posted by rossrjensen
After I watched the movie, I read some reviews on Rottentomatoes and came to realize this. Apparently the counterculture of bikers hadn't been explored before in such a way before - they had always been depicted as vague villains or some such (which explains why the antagonists are vague western folk). However, I didn't go into the movie with a preconception against bikers, so it didn't have the appropriate effect on me.

I don't mean to suggest all bikers are shiftless dopefiends, just the ones in the film.

Resident Evil Retribution trailer is out. I hope it won't suck like the last one did. Oh and you can;t go wrong with Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez in the same movie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmJcK…9fFOAAAAAAACAA

Michelle Rodriguez already played in the first movie. Is this a different role?

Ugh…

Except for the first film, which was "ok", the Resident Evil movies are just plain awful.

The 2007 version of 3:10 to Yuma. I didn't like how they (the filmmakers) tried to make Ben Wade appear so likeable despite his recent history as a robber and murderer of innocent folks - this is where I think the original did a tad better. But man, did I like Charlie Prince and his jealousy. They can't get better than this. Love at first sight, hehe.

Originally Posted by Jaz
The 2007 version of 3:10 to Yuma. I didn't like how they (the filmmakers) tried to make Ben Wade appear so likeable despite his recent history as a robber and murderer of innocent folks - this is where I think the original did a tad better. But man, did I like Charlie Prince and his jealousy. They can't get better than this. Love at first sight, hehe.

I think his likable nature is one of the strongest points of the movie, actually

But I agree about Charlie Prince. It was the performance that got me to notice Ben Foster.

I think he's gotten slightly stale since then, based on his last performance in Rampart.

But that man's got talent!

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
I think his likable nature is one of the strongest points of the movie, actually

But I agree about Charlie Prince. It was the performance that got me to notice Ben Foster.

I think he's gotten slightly stale since then, based on his last performance in Rampart.

But that man's got talent!

RE: 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
I agree about the likeable nature, but thought it was clear throughout that Ben Wade was still a sociopath and would turn on you at the first opportunity.

This was a great film with a wonderful cast. Several of the "modern" westerns are worth seeing: True Grit (2010?), Unforgiven, Open Range, this one.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford > All

I agree about the likeable nature, but thought it was clear throughout that Ben Wade was still a sociopath and would turn on you at the first opportunity.

Then why did he let himself be captured and risked his life for the Bale character at the end?

A sociopath is a person without empathy.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford > All



Then why did he let himself be captured and risked his life for the Bale character at the end?

A sociopath is a person without empathy.

Actually, if you want to get technical, the lack of empathy, while often a feature of Antisocial Personality Disorder (aka Psychopathy, Sociopathy), is not the sole diagnostic criterion per the DSM IV— nor is it mentioned in the diagnostic criteria summary. However, to make such a diagnosis, we would need to know more of his history, specifically if there is evidence of Conduct Disorder "with onset before 15 years" (of age). So I suppose I shouldn't have blindly labeled Ben Wade as such, but not so much due to the empathy issue.

That said, thanks for mentioning Assasination of Jesse James, that is a good one with a stunning performance by Brad Pitt.

Originally Posted by EvilManagedCare
Actually, if you want to get technical, the lack of empathy, while often a feature of Antisocial Personality Disorder (aka Psychopathy, Sociopathy), is not the sole diagnostic criterion per the DSM IV— nor is it mentioned in the diagnostic criteria summary.

I've stumpled upon this book in a book-shop : http://www.amazon.com/Split-Second-P…7080529&sr=8-1

It could be insightful. I'm planning to buy it within the next few montzs (after I've finished my other 3 books I've lying here).

Originally Posted by EvilManagedCare
I don't mean to suggest all bikers are shiftless dopefiends, just the ones in the film.

I was referring to you saying it was famous for embracing counterculture in my previous post. A lot of films in the 60's must have portrayed bikers as dangerous to society. Easy Rider portrayed them as harmless…and not just as harmless, but as a subsect of modern society that is discriminated against.

That being said, I did get the impression that the protagonists were a little worthless. Harmless, yeah, but still worthless too.

Originally Posted by Jaz
The 2007 version of 3:10 to Yuma. I didn't like how they (the filmmakers) tried to make Ben Wade appear so likeable despite his recent history as a robber and murderer of innocent folks - this is where I think the original did a tad better. But man, did I like Charlie Prince and his jealousy. They can't get better than this. Love at first sight, hehe.

Yeah, Ben Wade's motivations didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Charlie Prince went out of his way to save Ben Wade's ass. Ben Wade had traveled in a posse with Charlie Prince for years. Are you telling me that the few moments that Ben Wade spent with Dan displaced all the years of time he spent with Charlie Prince? I found the ending to be a little hard to swallow, though it was a fun film to watch.

As for the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. I absolutely loved it! It might even make my top 5 westerns list…though its a pretty crowded list.

1. Once Upon a Time in the West (also my favorite overall film)
2. Unforgiven
3. Shane
4-5. Two out of True Grit (2010), Tombstone, the Assassination of Jesse James, For a Few Dollars More, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and the Outlaw Josey Wales. I haven't been able to figure out which.

Classics such as the Wild Bunch, Dead Man, the Searchers, the Good the Bad and the Ugly, and A Fistful of Dollars just miss the cut.

Originally Posted by EvilManagedCare
re: Easy Rider

Probably the acclaim it receives is nostalgic and due to how it embraced a counterculture. To me the protagonists were shiftless dopefiends, so why would I really care what happens to them?

The only redeeming thing in this film was Jack Nicholson.

How can nostalgia explain the reception when it came out? It was very much 'of its time', like The Doors or Strawberry Alarm Clock or other stuff that seemed 'oh so significant' at the time but we now see as the muddled product of drug-addled brains …

I know it's probably considered an 'old folks' movie, but I thoroughly enjoyed the 'Odd Couple' from 1968 on AMC last night.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063374/

Not a movie, but I finally started watching the Firefly series on DVD. I watched the first three episodes yesterday: "Serenity", "The Train Job", and "Bushwacked". Great stuff!

Congrats, JDR. You're in a for a real treat.

Subspecies is a cool B-movie vampire series out of the 90s.