Last Movie You Watched Part II, Electric Bugaloo

[Jim Kelly]

She looks too much like Alice.

Since the Blue Fairy came first--PINOCCHIO in 1940 vs. ALICE IN WONDERLAND in 1951--it would have been the other way around. She looks like Marge Champion who was the model for both Snow White and the Blue Fairy in the Disney movies. When I was a little kid, I didn't know the difference between the Blue Fairy and Tinkerbelle and thought they were the same person.

I saw Disney's PINOCCHIO in 1962, when it was re-released to theatres. I was just a toddler, not yet old enough to be in school, but that movie made a big impression on me. It's likely one of the movies that had the biggest effect on shaping my young mind.

The story itself was frightening, with many chapters of harrowing adventure, and it doesn't even end in a satisfying way, as Pinocchio becomes a "real boy" and has that uncanny valley disturbing quality about him, whereas when he's a puppet he's a lot cuter and lovable.

But the friendliest characters in the movie are Blue Fairy (Tinkerbelle to me) and Jiminy Cricket. Jiminy Cricket was my favourite of all the Disney characters. Not only did I see him in the movie, but I saw him on THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY. He hosted the Christmas episode in 1963, along with Mickey Mouse and Tinkerbelle--which might have contributed to my belief that she and the Blue Fairy were one and the same.

Jiminy was a beloved vocalist--I think we had his hit tune "When You Wish Upon a Star" in our record collection. And one of my father's pet names for me was Jiminy Cricket. It always gave me a warm feeling inside when he called me that. So that's a big reason why I loved the character so much.

I don't know if I heard people saying "Jiminy Cricket" as an oath before I saw PINOCCHIO. But these folksy expletives were common when I was growing up. My father never used real swear words--he never even said "hell" or "damn," it was always "heck" and "darn." "Jiminy Cricket" is a substitution for Jesus Christ--so if he called me Jiminy Cricket, was he really calling me Jesus Christ?

[YounG03]

Crazy yet entertaining esp the part with the middle and The Rock. Oh and the ending with the embrace of Vin.


Jim Kelly, that was a beautiful story. I'm surprised my kids (1st graders) like the movie with it being cartoony. Disney has an ugly racist history but they make good movies

[Largo161]

The Lovebirds (2020) on Netflix. Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani star and comedically spar as a couple falling out of love who find themselves in the middle of blackmail/murder mystery shenanigans. I like Rae and Nanjiani and their chemistry. Would rather see them in a straight-up rom-com because here, at least, the action stuff wasn’t compelling. There were enough chuckles to make it worth my time.

[DanMad1977]

Den of thieves: Fun Gangster movie

13 Hours: Cool action war movie from Michael Bay. Better than his Transformers stuff

[Speed Force League Unlimited]

Since the Blue Fairy came first--PINOCCHIO in 1940 vs. ALICE IN WONDERLAND in 1951--it would have been the other way around. She looks like Marge Champion who was the model for both Snow White and the Blue Fairy in the Disney movies.

That's interesting to know, I forgot about the concept of a model for drawing.

Thanks Mr. Kelly.

[Jim Kelly]

STRANGE DAYS (1995), directed by Kathryn Bigelow. I was going crazy trying to figure out who the lead was, because he looked exactly like Bradley Cooper to me. It was a good twenty minutes before I realized it was Ralph Fiennes and it was really the voice rather than the face that tipped me off. I figured that Angela Bassett was Mace (but I wasn't absolutely certain) and I spotted Juliette Lewis right away (not my favourite actress, if I'm honest), but the rest of the cast eluded me.

TRISTRAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY (2005), directed by Michael Winterbottom, starring Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan. I actually watched this movie for Rob Brydon not Steve Coogan. In these movies and in TV shows like CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, where actors play a version of themselves, it's disconcerting because they are them--but Kelly Macdonald and Jeremy Northam are not playing themselves. So it gives me a weird psychological vertigo--being pushed and pulled at the same time in and out of the reality.

GOSFORD PARK (2001), directed by Robert Altman, with an all-star cast. I particularly like Kelly Macdonald as Mary and Jeremy Northam as Ivor Novello in this. They both hold the movie together in terms of plot. The movie got me to look up everything about Ivor Novello who was a fascinating man. I was overwhelmed by the number of actors in every scene--you don't know where to look. But that's part of the art of the movie.

[Arfguy]

Desperado (1995)
Everly (2014)

EDIT: Looked like I watched a movie called "Desperado & Everly" when I initially posted.

[ed2962]

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I'm going to have to watch it again cuz some of it went over my head LOL

[CliffHanger2]

Suburbicon-pretty good.

Batman Hush- I like Catwoman's definition of Batman at the end-really makes a lot of sense.

[Kieran_Frost]

GOSFORD PARK (2001), directed by Robert Altman, with an all-star cast. I particularly like Kelly Macdonald as Mary and Jeremy Northam as Ivor Novello in this. They both hold the movie together in terms of plot. The movie got me to look up everything about Ivor Novello who was a fascinating man. I was overwhelmed by the number of actors in every scene--you don't know where to look. But that's part of the art of the movie.

One of my favourite movies; I just adore how it's a murder mystery, but actually it's not about that at all, but a look at upstairs/downstairs class war. A modern day Rules of the Game (1939) (modern day in the sense of modern made, it's still period)

[Largo161]

The Half Of It (2020) Netflix. Expectations were high based on what I’d heard beforehand. NY Times’ head critic calls it the best movie of the year thus far. Boy, was I disappointed. It started off sooo strong, but eventually I found myself ticking off the list of the usual things that bug me about teen movies. Actors who look way too old for their parts. Our protagonist who is on the fringes because...what exactly? That school wasn’t a one room shack. In four years she couldn’t find one other smart person to hang with? I remember high school. Why would someone like Ellie be an outcast just because she has a caustic wit? My eyes were rolling so hard when Ellie went from pariah to rock star with those 16 bars of soggy music she played at the talent show. I don’t enjoy it when a movie wants to take place in the real world and wears its authenticity on its sleeve but then has characters do things teens would never do—e.g., the church “confessions” scene. I also don’t understand what happened to the jock’s feelings for Aster. Did he suddenly get over it?

Nicely acted and directed but that wasn’t enough for me.

[Jim Kelly]

She's an outcast because she's Chinese-American. People in that town are racist. They choose to hate her and make fun of her because of her appearance and her name. She could be the most brilliant person on the planet and they would still make fun of her because they're pathetic people who haven't a clue.

While the movie uses a lot of the tropes of the teen movie, it does that intentionally but it inserts a Chinese-American Lesbian in the role of the straight, white male. And it gets past the filter of your average movie watcher, by playing on those tropes, so one hardly notices the actual lesson of the movie.

If Alice Wu had broken with convention, she couldn't have done that. And it would be one of those Lesbian love stories that no one in the straight community watches. Ellie is always watching movies, so the use of movie conventions is self-reflexive. The director is saying here are all these movie conventions, now I'm going to put a Lesbian character in those situations.

Playing her song and the teens finally seeing that she's a person of value is one of those conventions, but I was okay with it because it is a teen movie and that's what happens in teen movies. But if you really look at it, the teens are that superficial. They only appreciate Ellie when she shows some quality they can appreciate. They're still racist jerks.

[Largo161]

She's an outcast because she's Chinese-American. People in that town are racist. They choose to hate her and make fun of her because of her appearance and her name. She could be the most brilliant person on the planet and they would still make fun of her because they're pathetic people who haven't a clue.

While the movie uses a lot of the tropes of the teen movie, it does that intentionally but it inserts a Chinese-American Lesbian in the role of the straight, white male. And it gets past the filter of your average movie watcher, by playing on those tropes, so one hardly notices the actual lesson of the movie.

If Alice Wu had broken with convention, she couldn't have done that. And it would be one of those Lesbian love stories that no one in the straight community watches. Ellie is always watching movies, so the use of movie conventions is self-reflexive. The director is saying here are all these movie conventions, now I'm going to put a Lesbian character in those situations.

Playing her song and the teens finally seeing that she's a person of value is one of those conventions, but I was okay with it because it is a teen movie and that's what happens in teen movies. But if you really look at it, the teens are that superficial. They only appreciate Ellie when she shows some quality they can appreciate. They're still racist jerks.

A lot of the dialogue in the film was spoken so quickly that I may have missed some important nuances. I watched the last half of it with subtitles turned on. Maybe I should have watched the whole thing that way. I really didn’t pick up on the racism. I do remember Ellie said her father couldn’t get a good job because he didn’t speak English well.

[Arfguy]

A lot of the dialogue in the film was spoken so quickly that I may have missed some important nuances. I watched the last half of it with subtitles turned on. Maybe I should have watched the whole thing that way. I really didn’t pick up on the racism. I do remember Ellie said her father couldn’t get a good job because he didn’t speak English well.

Not exactly high school, but when I was in grade 7, there was an Asian girl in my class. I'm going to refer to her as Alicia, for the remainder of the post. Alicia was beautiful, talented, and very nice, but for some reason, she didn't have too many friends. People would say stuff about her well within earshot and not at all subtle. Alicia had person she talked to from my class and one day, the popular girls in class took Alicia's friend aside and treated her like they had been the best of friends. Basically, Alicia got isolated.

I was way too young, so I couldn't detect any racism when kids in class isolated Alicia. Sometimes being an outcast just kind of happens, regardless of whether you are the same race or sexual orientation. Some people just have trouble finding people they mesh with.

Not exactly a 1-for-1 situation compared to "The Half of It", but Alice also had some strict guidelines she followed. She couldn't exactly stay back and hang with people, because she was too busy taking care of her father. It seems like she also created a bit of distance by doing everyone's home work and charging money, so the other kids may have assumed she wanted to keep things very business-oriented.

I will agree about some of the dialogue, though. I did have some trouble with staying with some of the stuff that were said and texted.

EDIT: whoops...forgot to post that I watched Dark City last night.

[Largo161]

Not exactly a 1-for-1 situation compared to "The Half of It", but Alice also had some strict guidelines she followed. She couldn't exactly stay back and hang with people, because she was too busy taking care of her father. It seems like she also created a bit of distance by doing everyone's home work and charging money, so the other kids may have assumed she wanted to keep things very business-oriented.
Dark City last night.

When I was in high school the super smart kids who were willing to help others get by (with test answers in advance, etc.) were not unpopular! Heh...

You may argue it’s different because Ellie charged, but still...they should’ve been kissing her a$$ from my point of view.