With its third round pick, the newly named Team Pinapple Express (in honour of my undying love for Seth Rogen), is proud to select, in the category of Musical, Singing in the Rain. I have loved this one since I was a little kid. I even injured myself several times attempting the move in the first clip I posted below, the stepping on the couch and having it flip over. As a young kiddie, I just wasn't quite coordinated enough to make it work. Maybe I will try it now that I am a bit older...
Anyways, the film, released in 1952, stars Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O'Connor. Kelly also helped choreograph and direct the film. It received several nominations and awards, and has been hailed as one of the best musicals of all time.
A few clips to snack on...
Here is the song, "Good Morning," a song almost guaranteed to remain stuck in your head for hours:
Here is the most famous scene from the film, sure to make you feel warm and fuzzy, courtesy of Youtube:
From Wikipedia, a little tidbit about the most famous scene from the film, seen above:
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In the famous dance routine in which Gene Kelly sings the title song while twirling an umbrella, splashing through puddles and getting soaked to the skin, he was actually dancing in water with a little bit of milk added, so that the water puddles and raindrops would show up in the filming. Kelly was sick with a 103-degree fever at the time
Again from Wikipedia, about the turmoil on set between the lead actors:
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Debbie Reynolds was not a dancer at the time she made the film. Kelly apparently insulted her for her lack of dance experience, upsetting her. Fred Astaire was hanging around the studio and found Reynolds crying under a piano. Hearing what had happened, Astaire volunteered to help her with her dancing. Kelly later admitted that he had not been kind to Reynolds and was surprised that she was still willing to talk to him afterwards.
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Donald O'Connor also apparently did not enjoy working with Kelly, finding him to be somewhat of a tyrant on the set, despite being quoted as saying that Kelly was "patient" with him
With our third round pick, Direct2Video selects, in the category of Best Picture Winner, Martin Scorsese's The Departed (2006).
Damn. Just watched that again the other night and was holding on to the pipe dream that it would still be available when my pick came up again. One of my favourite flicks of all time, even with Nicholson chewing the scenery throughout the entire thing. Great pick.
And in regards to Aliens already being picked, I'm not going to trash talk someone else's pick too much, but I strongly prefer Scott's tense sci-fi horror tone over Cameron's slightly goofy action adventure.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. My wife and I often talk about the relative merits of Aliens and Alien--and the prior film's bleak, nearly soundless spaceship, with its class-specific hierarchy (the dank and noisy engine-room vs. the genteel authority figures above) plus Ian Holm's (this was unless I'm mistaken his first American film, though he already had a very impressive resume in the UK) subtle and nuanced performance as Ash, the android who stands in for the inhuman corporate agenda that lingers as the movie's true, unspoken "monster."
Just a great film--and is a great example of how sound editing really makes a horror movie far more effective.
I love both Alien and Aliens. The first is a great horror movie, the second is a great action movie. Totally different genres, but both are prime examples of their own genre. Both are also quite innovative in their own genre, although especially in the case of Aliens it's kind of hard to see anymore, as so many of the ideas have since been copied endlessly.
And of course Sigourney Weaver as Ripley is one of the hottest female characters in film history. Strong personality, intelligent and businesslike yet completely feminine. Although Alien 3 is the best in that sense. Cutting that hair just really did it for me.
They just don't write characters like that anymore. These days they've replaced "strong" with "gun-fu", "personality" with "mushy over some cute airhead", "businesslike" with "bitchy" and intelligent with "tight black outfits".
I love both Alien and Aliens. The first is a great horror movie, the second is a great action movie. Totally different genres, but both are prime examples of their own genre. Both are also quite innovative in their own genre, although especially in the case of Aliens it's kind of hard to see anymore, as so many of the ideas have since been copied endlessly.
And of course Sigourney Weaver as Ripley is one of the hottest female characters in film history. Strong personality, intelligent and businesslike yet completely feminine. Although Alien 3 is the best in that sense. Cutting that hair just really did it for me.
They just don't write characters like that anymore. These days they've replaced "strong" with "gun-fu", "personality" with "mushy over some cute airhead", "businesslike" with "bitchy" and intelligent with "tight black outfits".
Quoted for truth.
To me, Aliens is the best action movie of all times. It was difficult to choose between Alien and Aliens (and I love Alien 3 too, and I enjoyed Resurrection eventhough of course it did not reach the pinnacle of previous movies, considering they were just milking the franchise, it could have been a lot worse) but to say one is superior to other is nonsense IMO as they are different genres, as you said.
Last edited by Flame Of Liberty; 08-08-2008 at 02:16 AM.
To me, Aliens is the best action movie of all times. It was difficult to choose between Alien and Aliens (and I love Alien 3 too, and I enjoyed Resurrection eventhough of course it did not reach the pinnacle of previous movies, considering they were just milking the franchise, it could have been a lot worse) but to say one is superior to other is nonsense IMO as they are different genres, as you said.
I should probably clarify that I enjoyed both--but Aliens has its goofy moments that for me were a little jarring (like anything involving Bill Paxton) and doesn't achieve the same mood that Alien does. My wife completely disagrees with me, so I do recognize that it's possible and quite reasonable to like Aliens more than Alien--but for me the first movie stands up to repeated viewings a little better. I agree that they're different genres--though I might argue that this is another reason Alien is more innovative, starting out as a sci-fi movie and then becoming a monster movie part way through.
I should probably clarify that I enjoyed both--but Aliens has its goofy moments that for me were a little jarring (like anything involving Bill Paxton) and doesn't achieve the same mood that Alien does. My wife completely disagrees with me, so I do recognize that it's possible and quite reasonable to like Aliens more than Alien--but for me the first movie stands up to repeated viewings a little better. I agree that they're different genres--though I might argue that this is another reason Alien is more innovative, starting out as a sci-fi movie and then becoming a monster movie part way through.
With its third round pick, the newly named Team Pinapple Express (in honour of my undying love for Seth Rogen), is proud to select, in the category of Musical, Singing in the Rain.
I'm not a huge fan of musicals at all. However, this is the one musical I actually quite like. Lot's of good routines and does leave you with a smile on your face. Of course, I knew that this one would go before I EVENTUALLY have to choose a musical category! Good pick, EG.
Woah, sorry people, haven't been able to get on since yesterday aft.
Anyway... With our 3rd selection, BF & the BFFs are proud to select, in the Drama category, our GMs all-time favorite movie... Stanley Kubrick's epic period piece, Barry Lyndon.
This is perhaps the most technically perfect film ever made. Nobody can shoot a movie like Kubrick (and probably nobody ever will be able to), and this is the finest example of his technical brilliance. Every single frame of Barry Lyndon looks like a painting that belongs in a museum. His use of lighting, his movement of the camera (or lack thereof) and the picturesque locations will leave you with your jaw hanging open for the duration of its run time. Add to that fantastic performances from Ryan O'Neil and the rest of the ensemble cast, and you will not be sorry to take in this, Kubricks finest (and far and away his most underrated) work of art.
TEAM NC-17 selects THE FIFTH ELEMENT in the SCI-FI catagory.
- The hero (Bruce Willis) and the villain (Gary Oldman) never meet, nor do they communicate in any way.
- The parasites being disinfected from the landing gear of the airplane (bound for Fhloston Paradise) by a team in sealed suits are actually Boglins, the 1980s puppet toys.
- Selected as the opening film for the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.
- When filming began, the production decided to dye Milla Jovovich's hair from it's natural brown color to her character's signature orange color. However, due to the fact that her hair had to be re-dyed regularly to maintain the bright color, Milla's hair quickly became too damaged and broken to withstand the dye. Eventually a wig was created to match the color and style of Leelou's hair, and was used for the remainder of the production.
Yeah, quite a slow pace all of a sudden over the past 3-4 days. It could the 40+ picks in between my 2nd and 3rd round choices, but an average of only 2 or 3 picks per day some of the time and we'll have this done around Christmas.
This coming from a guy who took 12+ hours to make his first pick, so don't listen to me anyways.
