Rule 32: Enjoy the Little Things

[andromeda331]

On 2/9/2023 at 9:44 AM, Ms Blue Jay said:

This is such an old post but I wanted to quote it because this is one of my favourite movies and I really agree.

I always whine about May-December relationships in the movies where the man is older, and yet, this is one coupling that I really love.  Why?  Because Mona Lisa and Vinny really love each other, and you can tell.  They have so much chemistry and the couple feels really real.

They are one of my favorite couples. They'll bicker because of their personalities but they love each other. I love when Vinny tells her to stand by her man and she immediately starts mockingly "on the way you handle judge" it's also their foreplay. I love how much they support each other. When Vinny first hears about mud in the tires early in the episode he immediately asks Lisa if she ever heard of it. He knows she knows everything about cars and trust his judgement. He also heads straight to the bar when he finds out she tried hustling for money but the guy didn't pay. Lisa of course supports him though whole time except for that fight at the end which Vinny realizes right afterwards he was wrong to take his frustrations out on Lisa. I also love when Lisa kind of goes off on him about getting married. Most movies would make this a big fight or break up scene. Vinny calmly points out everything on his shoulders right now the judge, no sleep, fighting an idiot for 200, and the trial. He doesn't need her on him about marriage and kids. Most movies would have Lisa storm off ticked off. Nope, Lisa just agrees it's a bad time to bring it up.

Quote

 

In real life, Marisa Tomei wanted to audition for "A League of their Own", so Joe Pesci was trying to coach her in playing baseball.    How cute is that? 🥰  She was hopeless at it unfortunately.😄

From IMDB trivia:

 

Too bad. She would have been great in that movie.

[Bastet]

12 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Too bad. She would have been great in that movie.

Not if she was hopeless at learning to play baseball.  Penny Marshall knowing she didn't want to have to rely on doubles or cuts in the game scenes, that she'd only audition actors who could play baseball (even Oscar winner Geena Davis got balls thrown at her in Marshall's backyard before they could sit down and talk about her playing the catcher), is one of the little things that makes the film so great.  I love the recent TV series, too, but that some actors could play well and some not so much was noticeable in wide shots; the film has no such distraction.

[Spartan Girl]

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery: Austin automatically turning down Vanessa coming onto him when drunk. And unlike too many movies and shows with that similar scenario, it wasn’t treated like some agonizing temptation or noble sacrifice on his part. Just “No, you’re drunk, it’s not right” and that was that.

Also loved that while he did have some feelings for Mrs. Kensington back in the day, he respected her marriage. Say what you must about Austin Danger Powers, but he had standards. He would have used a Time Machine to rewrite history so he could cheat his way into a manufactured happy ending with Mrs. Kensington…

[DearEvette]

I was watching Back to the Future  and as we know the movie makes a point of showing the big effects of the changes that Marty's intervention in the past made to his family.  But I always get tickled at one small thing.

In the present day, Marty meets Doc at the Twin Pines Mall that has a bright neon sign that says 'Twin Pines Mall' at the entry of the mall parking lot.  But when Marty time travels to the past he knocks over one of the twin pine trees at the Twin Pines Farm  which was the original site of the current day mall.

First thing he does when he comes back to the present day,  he runs to the Mall to see if he can save Doc from the Libyans and he runs right past the neon mall sign that now reads 'Lone Pine Mall.' 

I love that scene because the movie didn't try to draw your attention to the new sign because all the tension was on Marty trying to get there in time to save Doc.  But it was there, and they let the audience realize the significance on their own.

[Spartan Girl]

So I know Peter Dinklage’s singing in Cyrano wasn’t perfect, but I think the moment he really nailed it was his reprise of “Have you ever wanted something…” in the finale. The tone was just so poignantly mournful that it struck a chord with me in more ways that one, and it’s my favorite moment in the whole movie.

[BlueSkies]

On 2/16/2023 at 5:58 AM, andromeda331 said:

They are one of my favorite couples. They'll bicker because of their personalities but they love each other. I love when Vinny tells her to stand by her man and she immediately starts mockingly "on the way you handle judge" it's also their foreplay. I love how much they support each other. When Vinny first hears about mud in the tires early in the episode he immediately asks Lisa if she ever heard of it. He knows she knows everything about cars and trust his judgement. He also heads straight to the bar when he finds out she tried hustling for money but the guy didn't pay. Lisa of course supports him though whole time except for that fight at the end which Vinny realizes right afterwards he was wrong to take his frustrations out on Lisa. I also love when Lisa kind of goes off on him about getting married. Most movies would make this a big fight or break up scene. Vinny calmly points out everything on his shoulders right now the judge, no sleep, fighting an idiot for 200, and the trial. He doesn't need her on him about marriage and kids. Most movies would have Lisa storm off ticked off. Nope, Lisa just agrees it's a bad time to bring it up.

Too bad. She would have been great in that movie.

The miscommunication here is hysterical

 

 

[andromeda331]

5 hours ago, BlueSkies said:

The miscommunication here is hysterical

 

 

I love that scene! It's so funny. Talk about a miscommunication!

[Spartan Girl]

Remember when I posted that Christopher Reeve’s smile in any movie he’s ever done was a Rule 32 for me?

I have to say the same about Brendan Fraser’s smile. In any movie—Bedazzled, George of the Jungle, School Ties, The Mummy. He, like Reeve, perfected the art of the warm, sometimes dopey, aw-shucks kind of smile that just thaws the cold dead parts of your heart.

[andromeda331]

One thing I really like about Lisa in My Cousin Vinny is she's wears great outfits but also knows everything about cars and used to be a mechanic in her father's shop. Most movies and TV shows would have made her a tomboy. Wearing jeans or overalls. A woman wearing great clothes has to be a girly-girl and not one who would ever work on cars. She can never be both. But Lisa is. It's really cool. 

[Spartan Girl]

Something I noticed in the animated Little Mermaid is how, despite being a prince, Eric is always dressed super casually. Other than the wedding(s), the only time you see him in full-royal regalia is when “Vanessa” shows up, which is a subtle clue that something is off with him.

Regarding the new movie, a little thing I loved is that when Ariel’s exposed as a mermaid by Ursula, all the spectators are shocked and horrified—but Eric’s reaction? He just held her tighter.

Edited June 1, 2023 by Spartan Girl

[methodwriter85]

On 2/22/2023 at 8:56 PM, DearEvette said:

I was watching Back to the Future  and as we know the movie makes a point of showing the big effects of the changes that Marty's intervention in the past made to his family.  But I always get tickled at one small thing.

In the present day, Marty meets Doc at the Twin Pines Mall that has a bright neon sign that says 'Twin Pines Mall' at the entry of the mall parking lot.  But when Marty time travels to the past he knocks over one of the twin pine trees at the Twin Pines Farm  which was the original site of the current day mall.

First thing he does when he comes back to the present day,  he runs to the Mall to see if he can save Doc from the Libyans and he runs right past the neon mall sign that now reads 'Lone Pine Mall.' 

I love that scene because the movie didn't try to draw your attention to the new sign because all the tension was on Marty trying to get there in time to save Doc.  But it was there, and they let the audience realize the significance on their own.

I was rewatching the Save the Clock Tower scene, and it's blurry but I'm positive there's a sign on an abandoned storefront that says they moved to Twin Pines Mall and a bunch of other empty storefronts. Much more clear is the sign on the bench announcing Zales at Twin Pines Mall. Very subtle but reflecting that malls had basically destroyed downtowns from the 70's through the 90's. Of course nowadays (some) downtowns are resurging while most malls are dying. The real Twin Pines Mall is circling the drain. 

[Spartan Girl]

Amadeus: Salieri’s excitement in seeing the dessert display, which he quickly tries to cover up with an obviously transparent “just minding my own business” look so he can sneak off to the room and get a sample when nobody’s looking. So relatable lol.

[Spartan Girl]

My absolutely favorite little moment in Free Guy: Ryan Reynolds’ fourth-wall-breaking, shit-eating grin and nod at the lightsaber reveal. 

[Spartan Girl]

Pulp Fiction:

 

Jules: Nobody's gonna hurt anybody. We're all gonna be like three little Fonzies here. And what's Fonzie like?... Come on, Yolanda, what's Fonzie like?!
Yolanda: Cool?
Jules: What?
Yolanda: Cool.
Jules: CORRECTAMUNDO! And that's what we're gonna be. We're gonna be cool.

This is embarrassing, but I never realized until now that “correctamundo” was one of the Fonz’s catchphrases.

 

[Wiendish Fitch]

Warning: Unmarked spoilers

 

Back to the Future

I know this movie gets discussed a lot, and people like John Mulaney love to snark on how messed up it is, what with young Lorraine lusting after Marty, not knowing he's her son from the future (though, for the record, Marty absolutely does not reciprocate).

But I still think the movie works, because of one important detail: Some have asked why Lorraine and George didn't name their first son Marty, after the dude who helped bring them together? 

Well, I think George and Lorraine fell so in love, and were so committed, that they briefly forgot about that one random dude who kind of helped them get together in the first place, and so by the time their second son was born, Lorraine was like, "Oh, George, remember that boy Marty? I just remembered how nice he was and what a lovely name that is!"

That's right, Lorraine did not have a death grip on the torch for that one dude she knew for a few days in high school. George was the one she loved and wanted. Hell, she probably even forgot what Marty looked like, which is why his very existence still makes sense in spite of the changes made to the timeline.

That's my dumb theory, anyway, and I'm sticking to it.

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

That's right, Lorraine did not have a death grip on the torch for that one dude she knew for a few days in high school.

Not to mention when she finally laid a kiss on him, she told him it was like kissing her brother! 

[methodwriter85]

2 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Not to mention when she finally laid a kiss on him, she told him it was like kissing her brother! 

I feel like after 13 years, the memory of Marty would have been a nice pleasant fuzzy memory of a nice guy she didn't have chemistry with who helped her get with George. I would struggle to even remember what he looked like given they didn't take any pictures of him.

[Spartan Girl]

THANK YOU @Wiendish Fitch!!!! That’s my theory too! I think it’s perfectly realistic that George and Lorraine wouldn’t have a crystal clear memory of Marty. Those shit posters can suck it.

[Shannon L.]

In Love, Simon, there are a lot of little moments that stick out to me, but the one that really gets me every time is the brief moment, after Simon was outed, when he went up to the kid in the hallway (I forget his character name, but he was in the musical) and asked if he was Blue.  The emotion in the kids face, and none of it anger at being asked, in a sense, if he was gay, was so moving.  He was sincerely sorry for Simon and what was happening to him, and, iirc, even offered to talk if he needed to.  It was both lovely (of him) and heartbreaking (for Simon).

[JustHereForFood]

6 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

In Love, Simon, there are a lot of little moments that stick out to me, but the one that really gets me every time is the brief moment, after Simon was outed, when he went up to the kid in the hallway (I forget his character name, but he was in the musical) and asked if he was Blue.  The emotion in the kids face, and none of it anger at being asked, in a sense, if he was gay, was so moving.  He was sincerely sorry for Simon and what was happening to him, and, iirc, even offered to talk if he needed to.  It was both lovely (of him) and heartbreaking (for Simon).

My favorite is probably the talk between Simon and his dad.

[kiddo82]

I appreciate how in the The Santa Clause movies all the Elf extras are played by actual little kids.  Are they the most professional?  No.  But that's the point.  I mean this as a compliment, it feels very 2nd grade pageant where everything is earnest and guileless which is how it should be in a trilogy such as this.  What better way to experience how awesome and magical the North Pole is supposed to be than through their reactions.  

Edited November 26, 2023 by kiddo82

[Spartan Girl]

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: “So shines a good deed in a weary world.”

This moment. This moment never fails to get me.

Because out of all the kids, Charlie was the only one that would have had a legitimate reason to take “Slugworth’s” deal. “Slugworth” probably gave Willy all the intel on how poor the Buckets were and how much they needed that money. And after Wonka seemingly screws over Charlie with the contact because they took the fizzy lifting drinks, some wouldn’t have blamed Charlie for handing over the gobstopper to “Slugworth.” Grandpa Joe understandably was ready to do so.

But not Charlie.

Even though he wants to help his family. Even though it hurts that he’s once again been cheated out of the only lucky break he’s had in his entire life. He understands that he broke the rules. He knows that his family’s financial well-being could never justify giving the gobstopper to “Slugworth.” Wrong is wrong, no matter what.

So he gives the gobstopper back.

Gene Wilder kept his promise to make sure the audience would never know if he was lying or not, but I’m certain Wonka really never expected Charlie to give the gobstopper back.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Forrest Gump (caution, unmarked spoilers)

 

 

Because it's such a quiet, background moment, I put it here instead of the "Hell Yeah!" section. After Jenny's death, Forrest buys the plot of land where Jenny's childhood home sits abandoned and, as he's eulogizing over her grave, we see her house being bulldozed to the ground. Forrest may or may not fully comprehend how truly traumatic Jenny's upbringing was, but we do, and it's strangely rewarding seeing that awful house of horrors being demolished. 

No, it doesn't change the past, but at least it's something, and I think Forrest correctly intuited that it was what Jenny would have wanted. 

[Spartan Girl]

Saving Mr. Banks: For all of Ms. Travers’ accusations of Disney sugarcoating things for kids too much, it becomes painfully clear in her flashbacks is doing the exact same thing to herself concerning her own father,  and it really shows in the sequence when the “Bank” song rehearsal intercuts with her father’s drunken speech at the fair. Immediately after, she blows up at the Sherman’s for making Mr. Banks “cruel” and arguing that he’d never tear up/make fun of something the children made for him. However, we see in a later seen when Helen/Ginty presented her ill father with a poem she wrote, he basically scoffed at it because he was going through pain and alcohol withdrawal and taking it out on her.

She doesn't realize that the film is intending to show Mr. Banks as stern and misguided rather than cruel. Her for, Mr. Banks is her father, and she only wants to remember the good times instead of the bad. 

Edited January 9 by Spartan Girl

[Schweedie]

There are so many little details in Society of the Snow that will stand out to those of us who are familiar with the source material, but my absolute favourite thing is that when the boy who has been collecting belongings and tokens from everyone who died is packing them up in a suitcase towards the end, one of the things in the bag is a silver cross with a broken arm. It's a nod to a real cross that he speaks about in the book, that he found in the snow up there and has kept since then. He says it's his most valued keepsake from the mountain because he feels it represents them and what they went through - broken, abused, but still recognisably what they were before. I practically burst into tears when I noticed it on the screen.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Caution: Unmarked spoilers

Soul (2020):

When Dez the barber admits to 22-in-Joe's-Body (and by Joe-in-Cat's-Body) that he once dreamed of being a veterinarian, but couldn't afford to go to vet school (true to life, vet school is gruesomely expensive), so he found more stable work as a barber.

And Dez... is fine with this! He didn't get his dream job, but he loves his life! Yes, I realize that's ultimately the theme of the movie, but I don't think we can overstate how important it is to teach young people that while it's okay to have dreams, it's also okay if they don't end up coming to fruition. Do you have any idea how much stress and unhappiness would diminish if we teach people that we should enjoy life, regardless of what we end up doing?

Another thing? When Dez thanks 22/Joe for asking about his life for a change instead of always talking about jazz. We can be so self-involved sometimes, it's easy to never venture outside our bubble and get to know someone. Everyone has an interesting story to tell. Listen to people... and be sure to retain what they tell you.

[Spartan Girl]

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels had the greatest comedic twist of all time, with Janet turning the tables on both her and Freddy, but what I especially loved was Lawrence’s reaction to the reveal: “Isn’t she wonderful?”

I always love characters that admire a worthy foe.

[Spartan Girl]

Trading Places: One of the little details that proved Louis, despite being a stuck-up asshole, wasn’t completely unredeemable as a character, was the fact that on his way to his office he says “good morning” to everyone who greets him. True, he doesn’t really make eye contact, but he’s still polite. 

Compare that to the following scene, where the Dukes have a whole household of servants saying “good morning to them” and they pass by them without so much as a hello.

[Schweedie]

So Toni Collette is amazing throughout Hereditary, but I've found that my absolute favourite moment is from her dream conversation with Peter, when she suddenly says "I never wanted to be your mother". She says it so nonchalantly, almost tauntingly, and then the moment she finishes the sentence her whole face changes with the horror of what she just said out loud and she claps her hand over her mouth. I love that moment so bloody much.

[Shannon L.]

I know I talk about Marvel movies a lot, but there are so many and I love most them.  

In Spider-man: Far From Home, I always get a kick out of the moment when Peter is in Prague and jumps off a building into an alley surprising a couple walking by and says "Scusi.....That's Italian..."  I like the way he delivers the line.

In Endgame, when Carol is saying that she's going to kill Thanos and they are giving her a hard time about it, Thor walks up to her, they look each other dead in the eye as he reaches for his hammer.  As it passes by, really close to her head, she doesn't flinch, squints her eyes just little, then her mouth changes to a very subtle smile.  There's something about that moment that I love.  It's powerful, it shows respect for each other and it's just a touch playful.  There's a lot in the brief moment. 

Edited June 26 by Shannon L.

[Spartan Girl]

My favorite thing about the movie Blockers is how Ike Barinholtz character, who initially seems like the manchild/deadbeat dad trope, turns out to be the more insightful, level-headed member of the whole trio. He initially is the one to tell off Leslie Mann's smothering mom and John Cena's overprotective dad for trying to stop their daughters from having sex because they're teenagers and that's what they're going to do. The only reason he wants to stop his daughter from having sex is because he is aware that she's gay (even though she hasn't actually come out to anyone yet) and has figured out rightfully that she's only going along with the sex pact because she doesn't want to lose her friends. And finally, he gets a nice moment of calling out John and Leslie for automatically taking his ex-wife's side in the divorce without even bothering to reach out and hear his side of the story.

[methodwriter85]

On 1/27/2023 at 7:30 AM, BlueSkies said:

I grew up with a big crush on Madonna but this was the sexiest use of a cheese product I ever watched on film.  Lol.

 

Whenever someone yells cheese to take a picture this still comes in my mind

 

I like that little bit in the scene where she's flirting with Gary (because her mode is flirting with men to get by in life) but even she gets irritated by him when he goes off on how the whirlpool spa works. LOL

[BlueSkies]

9 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

I like that little bit in the scene where she's flirting with Gary (because her mode is flirting with men to get by in life) but even she gets irritated by him when he goes off on how the whirlpool spa works. LOL

Yes.  Very funny and cute.  

 

RIP Mark Blum

[Fool to cry]

I love in A Few Good Men Tom Cruise suddenly does a Jack Nicholson impression and in The Hunt For Red October Alec Baldwin does a Sean Connery impression. These were clearly not in the script and came from these young actors having been working with these older legends.

Edited October 1 by Fool to cry

[Wiendish Fitch]

Tarzan and His Mate (1934)

Harry Holt, a character from the previous film (Tarzan the Ape Man) has ventured to the Mutia Escarpment once more, not just to take ivory from the elephant graveyard, but to lure Jane back to civilization because he still carries for the torch for her (for the record, THEY WERE NEVER A COUPLE). He's even recruited his scummy friend Martin to bring dresses and accessories to appeal to Jane's feminine vanity (it was the 1930s, just go with it), and while she enjoys trying a pretty dress on, her heart belongs to Tarzan and absolutely no one else (she basically says as much to Harry to his face). Tarzan is rather turned on by Jane in formal wear, and carries her off to their treetop home for... you know. 

Now, maybe I'm projecting, but I swear Tarzan looks dead at Harry's face when Jane tactfully makes her excuses, and when Tarzan picks her up, there looks to be a gleeful, vaguely triumphant bounce in his step as he makes his way to the treetops. It really feels as if Tarzan is conveying the message of "She likes me much better/She likes me much better!" Harry looks totally deflated, and knows he can't win against his rival. 

Again, I'm probably just projecting, but Harry gets no sympathy from me. Scheming to break up someone's relationship so you can steal them for yourself is just an objectively nasty thing to do, and you 100% deserve to have it blow up in your face. 

[Spartan Girl]

Home Alone:

When Kevin runs down the stairs when Kate finally arrives at the house and they see each other, he gives her a hard stare. Up this moment, he thought that he made his family magically disappear**, but it’s only then that he seems to realize  what really happened: they went to Paris without him. Kate can clearly see the hurt and anger on his face, because her smile immediately dies and apologizes.

Thank you, John Hughes and Chris Columbus, we absolutely needed this moment to make the ending work.

**Dumb, I know, but give him a break, he’s 8. 

[andromeda331]

A Christmas Story-at the Chinese restaurant at the end I love the staff are trying to sing Christmas carols for the family. That's really nice of them to try and make it Christmasy for them. 

The Santa Clause-The different dads and their kids at the restaurant on Christmas Eve. I like the injured hands. They tried to cook a Christmas dinner but it didn't work out and went to plan B. It also makes sense divorced parents' might not have the time, skills, or money to make Christmas dinner so instead go to a restaurant that serves a turkey dinner. 

Edited Wednesday at 04:15 AM by andromeda331