Unpopular Opinions

[Julia]

I remember seeing "Singin' in the Rain" (which people generally seem to love) when I was younger and liking it okay. I tried watching it again not that long ago, and it was hard to finish. The title song is by far the best part. I realize the problem is that I absolutely hated Don Lockwood, and I could tell I was not "supposed" to. To be honest, I missed the first part the second time around, so I could not remember if Lina Lamont did anything to show her poor character in that time, or if the problem they all had with her is that she could not act and had a grating voice (and while the actress did a good job with it, it was sort of annoying to have to put up with.) From the way that acted about how horrible it was that they had to work with her, you would have thought she had threatened their lives. Yes, she "acts out" later, but I couldn't blame her at that point after all of the scheming they did behind her back. Why I hated Don is that he was the driving force and did not seem overly talented or charismatic even though he was "supposed" to be. People were laughing at him as well in the test screening, and the fact that their film was just stupid. Speaking of, I despised the "Broadway Melody" song and if I would ever watch "Singin# in the Rain" again, that song will always be skipped. I'm not sure what's worse: that it is a part of their movie-within-a-movie, which looked like it is supposed to be a period piece (i.e. taking place well before Broadway was around), or that the entire time the song was going on (which felt like an eternity) Don was supposed to be describing what was happening ("so then he knocks on an imaginary door and bellows 'gotta dance, gotta dance,' as the person who answers the door stares at him speechlessly"). Also: while I "respect" Gene Kelly's dancing and all, his giant grin while he was dancing ...bugged me.

No, Lina was genuinely awful. She froze Don when he was a stunt man, then started draping herself on him as soon as he was given a lead (and apparently chose to forget that Don disliked her, as though that hardly mattered if Lina wanted a relationship with someone who was good for her career). Then she did her best to ruin Kathy's career because she thought Don liked her. They kept Kathy's job, and her relationship with Don, a secret because they were afraid of what Lina would do if she found out.

Lina didn't escalate because they were plotting against her. She escalated because her first attempt failed.

Edited December 5, 2014 by Julia

[harrie]

It's been awhile since I saw it, and I could be totally wrong, but my memory of the scene is that she takes the call, and after a few moments it becomes apparent that this is going to be something for which everything stops, at least for the moment, as her brother's having an episode. Then after a minute or two of her talking to her brother, she sits down to keep talking to him, and then Karl leaves silently as she is still on the phone.

 

Then a few scenes later she's at work late, and Karl passes her and looks at her with what could be either regret or shame, and just keeps walking on out, with the implication that she ruined her chance at happiness. Which I don't get. If he's a nice guy, and truly into her (and the film sets all this up that they've been working together for a long time and carried a mutual torch), all it would take is a little patience for the two of them to be together.

 

Anyway. I just always found the resolution to Linney's story just really jarring, kind of illogical, and kind of forced so it was just super-tragic (ending on the scene of her brother being violent toward her, and showing that he's so mentally ill that he isn't always aware of her presence or what it takes for her to visit/care for him, etc.). There are all kinds of ways this woman could still have a relationship even if she is a caregiver, so the story just doesn't work for me. Plus, at that point, almost all of the major female characters in the movie have been squashed like bugs in some way, so I admit my tolerance is also low.

 

In my mind, no amount of patience would have made Karl Number One in Sarah's (Linney's) world, and he realized that.  No matter what, until he passes away, the brother is always going to be Sarah's priority.  Just my take on the situation.   Also, I found it creepy that Sarah calmed her brother by calling him "my darling" and other terms usually used for one's love, not a sibling - at least that's how it is in my family/world.

 

I am also not a big fan of Love, Actually, due to some specific storylines.   Much as I love Liam Neeson and realize that he lost his real-life wife a few years after this flick which makes it all very sad, I cannot stand his relationship with his son, Sam. The only thing that matters is that stuff is cool, Sam is so overindulged it's ridiculous, and a lot of the lines between them sound super-stilted. If in the scene where the American girl sang "All I want for Christmas is you....and you... and you...." Sam's heart had broken, underlining how much young love (or more accurately infatuation, really) can hurt and Dad had comforted him with "Well, them's the breaks, kiddo" I'd have been a much happier camper. 

 

 I thought the Christmas Lobster bit was overplayed for cuteness, too - but now I'm starting to think I'm just a crank.

[meep.meep]

Word on Return of the Jedi. I have never had a problem with the Ewoks, absolutely none, and I felt that way even before Jar Jar Binks came along (but that's a popular opinion, so I'll take that elsewhere).

 

But where do you fall on the Ewok line?   http://how-i-met-your-mother.wikia.com/wiki/The_Ewok_Line

 

I hate It's a Wonderful Life and High Noon.  And all the comic book movies except George of the Jungle.

[paramitch]

Oh, my GOD, don't get me started on "It's a Wonderful Life!"

 

When I was a teenager, it was -- I'll admit this -- my all-time favorite movie. I was a film student, and I mean, I bought books on "It's a Wonderful Life," I owned the VHS, I just adored it.

 

But fast-forward a few decades into the future, and now I find it one of the most freaking depressing movies of all time. I just think -- for me at least -- that viewing that movie in middle age is an entirely different experience from doing so when you're young. 

 

And honestly, I'm irritated now by George's constant sacrifices, to the point that they begin to feel really masochistic. I just hate how events conspire to ensure that George never, ever gets to go anywhere -- or get his heart's desire. Even his love for his wife is bittersweet because she is simply yet another trap designed to keep him in Bedford Falls.

 

And the ways halfwit Uncle Billy is always bringing them to further disaster infuriate me, and I always hate that George is there for Harry but Harry allows himself to be talked out of doing his part for George. Again, it's just all too cynically constructed for me now. And of course, the whole Pottersville sequence where Mary ends up an old maid because she never met George just doesn't work either -- in actuality, she would've married Sam, the Hee-haw guy, and gone off to be fabulously rich in New York.

 

Anyway. I just question two hours of misery and depression just so we can watch this guy get a brief moment of happiness in the last 5 minutes. Especially when the logic of the situation is so flawed -- Billy is a halfwit, and Potter is a liar and a thief.

[scarynikki12]

in actuality, she would've married Sam, the Hee-haw guy, and gone off to be fabulously rich in New York.

 

That would have been really interesting for the alternate universe.  She and Sam could have come back to Pottersville to spend the holiday with her mother and what George could have seen was that she was very unhappy even though she had everything else anyone could ask for.  That would have held up far better than asking us to ignore Sam's interest in her and her mother pressuring her to marry him.  George was right when he speculated that Mary would have just ended up marrying Sam instead so I think he needed to see that the key to Mary's happiness as an adult was love rather than material goods.  Seeing her as an old maid was the last push George needed to wish everything back to the way it was but I think that seeing any version of Mary who was unhappy and not in love with him would have accomplished that too.

 

I am glad that Sam wired him thousands of dollars to help and I tell myself that it was part 'thank you for being such a good friend' and part Christmas gift, and that George kept it, hired someone competent to run the Building and Loan, and finally went on that trip around the world he'd been dreaming of his whole life. 

[Julia]

See, I think It's A Wonderful Life may be the closest classic Hollywood came to an Ingmar Bergman film, just because it is so relentless. Jimmy Stewart's character is screwed out of his dreams at every turn, is at the point of self-destruction because the ugly things he has to deal with outweigh any pleasure he feels in his life. Then a cut-rate angel shows up to make him beg for his misery back because he has to save everyone whose ceaseless demands on him took his dreams to begin with.

I think it's kind of genius. It's one of the first domestic movies I can think of that showed The Good Life as a trap. Sort of a less splashy Best Years of Our Lives.

[Janet Snakehole]

The first time I saw It's a Wonderful Life I started cracking up when they showed what happened to Mary.

"She's single?! And at the LIBRARY?! In a town full of crime and disarray my wife is an educated employed spinster?! NOOOOOOOOO!"

[bosawks]

I always thought that Potter sounded like Mr. Magoo. Which confused the heck out of me as a kid, "Why is Mr. Magoo being such a bastard?"

[paramitch]

See, I think It's A Wonderful Life may be the closest classic Hollywood came to an Ingmar Bergman film, just because it is so relentless. Jimmy Stewart's character is screwed out of his dreams at every turn, is at the point of self-destruction because the ugly things he has to deal with outweigh any pleasure he feels in his life. Then a cut-rate angel shows up to make him beg for his misery back because he has to save everyone whose ceaseless demands on him took his dreams to begin with.

I think it's kind of genius. It's one of the first domestic movies I can think of that showed The Good Life as a trap. Sort of a less splashy Best Years of Our Lives.

 

I would agree with this in a lot of ways. I think that's what's so interesting, though -- it is really so, so damn dark. I mean, right off the bat -- the scene where the pharmacist is slapping him as a child and his ear slowly starts bleeding is just horrible -- and that's way before the slow terrible escalation to that last day (beautifully played by Jimmy Stewart) where absolutely everything is going wrong. The despair and loathing in Stewart's face at his own home -- the loose banister knob, the ruckus from the kids -- that feeling that he's trapped in his life is almost palpable. (I always loved that Stewart, such a sweet Everyman type, was always willing to play such dark roles.)

 

But it is interesting that it's perceived as such a feel-good movie when most of the film is watching this guy spiral downward to where he feels trapped and that he has no reason to live. That's tough to watch. It's only the brief interlude after high school (the dance) and the last 5 minutes that I would actually say are "feel-good." It's just odd, "Hey! It's Christmas! Let's all gather around and watch this guy get suicidal!"

 

That would have been really interesting for the alternate universe.  She and Sam could have come back to Pottersville to spend the holiday with her mother and what George could have seen was that she was very unhappy even though she had everything else anyone could ask for.  That would have held up far better than asking us to ignore Sam's interest in her and her mother pressuring her to marry him.  George was right when he speculated that Mary would have just ended up marrying Sam instead so I think he needed to see that the key to Mary's happiness as an adult was love rather than material goods.  Seeing her as an old maid was the last push George needed to wish everything back to the way it was but I think that seeing any version of Mary who was unhappy and not in love with him would have accomplished that too.

 

I am glad that Sam wired him thousands of dollars to help and I tell myself that it was part 'thank you for being such a good friend' and part Christmas gift, and that George kept it, hired someone competent to run the Building and Loan, and finally went on that trip around the world he'd been dreaming of his whole life. 

 

I am too -- I do like the way Sam is a regular presence in that way, and I agree that it would have been far less cliched and a lot more interesting if Mary had simply picked the wrong guy (not a bad guy, just not the right one) simply because the right one didn't exist. And it would have been a lovely subtle character note for her to have a perfect life yet be desperately unhappy in the alternate universe, as well.

 

I always hate the alt-universe spinster thing too, because God forbid the woman isn't married with twelve kids. She's single? Childless? Oh, no, she's MISERABLE! (Janet Snakehole, that was awesome.)

 

I still retain a lot of affection for "It's a Wonderful Life" -- I can remember what I loved about it as a teenager (mostly lots of the little unforced character notes -- George measuring his suitcase, describing his favorite sounds, Bert and Ernie serenading Mary and George, etc.) -- but honestly at Christmas, if I see it, I can't change channels fast enough.

Edited December 8, 2014 by paramitch

[Wiendish Fitch]

Adding to the It's a Wonderful Life UOs, I have one that will really make me look like a horrible person:

 

I'd rather live in Pottersville. God almighty, if I had to live in an antiseptic, boring butt-crack of a town like Bedford Falls, I'd have offed myself looooooong before George considered it. Hell, at least Pottersville has stuff to do!

 

 

I always thought that Potter sounded like Mr. Magoo. Which confused the heck out of me as a kid, "Why is Mr. Magoo being such a bastard?"

 

 

Funny you should say that, because the character of Simon Barsinister from Underdog was modeled after Lionel Barrymore. I can forgive Barrymore's cartoonish performance, because I adore him, and hamminess seems to be a genetic Barrymore trait.

Edited December 8, 2014 by Wiendish Fitch

[Julia]

Funny you should say that, because the character of Simon Barsinister from Underdog was modeled after Lionel Barrymore. I can forgive Barrymore's cartoonish performance, because I adore him, and hamminess seems to be a genetic Barrymore trait.

 

Wow. No kidding, really? I had no idea. And I loved that character. He was such a great villain. My dad tipped me to what his name meant (I think on a museum visit), and I thought it was the wickedest thing ever. 

[Mulva]

I found the ending depressing. So, Sandy conforms and becomes a slut for Danny, who doesn't change at all.

In my headcanon, Sandy's parents were appalled, and promptly packed her off to Australia where she met some nice Aussie guy and forgot about Danny a week later.

As for It's A Wonderful Life, I can't feel too sorry for a man who inherited a bank, had a beautiful wife, a lovely, spacious home, lots of friends and a brood of adorable children. And yes, Potterville seemed like a lot of fun.

Edited December 9, 2014 by Mulva

[Wiendish Fitch]

In my headcanon, Sandy's parents were appalled, and promptly packed her off to Australia where she met some nice Aussie guy and forgot about Danny a week later.

 

 

I can get on board with that scenario!

[Kel Varnsen]

I found the ending depressing. So, Sandy conforms and becomes a slut for Danny, who doesn't change at all.

Wait, I have not seen that movie in years (and I hate musicals) but didn't Danny try out for some sports team at school, become a jock and totally change his personality too?

[Wiendish Fitch]

Wait, I have not seen that movie in years (and I hate musicals) but didn't Danny try out for some sports team at school, become a jock and totally change his personality too?

 

Yeah, but he threw off that letter jacket when "Bad Sandy" showed up, rendering his makeover and character development worthless. They're now both "greasers" (yeah, that's going to fly once they're college-aged and beyond).

 

I don't usually condone changing yourself completely and utterly for someone, but at least one could argue that Danny was changing for the better (becoming athletic, cutting back on smoking). Sandy's makeover really pissed me off. 

 

A rare, inoffensive example of  the "girl changes herself for a guy" storyline is Clueless. Cher realizes she loves Josh, but worries that he thinks little of her (we learn this is not entirely true), so she decides to "make over [her] soul". She looks beyond her narrow world, helps out at fundraisers, learns to tolerate those who are different from her, and butts out of people's love lives. Does this mean Cher has become Eleanor Roosevelt or Mother Teresa overnight? Certainly not. She's still essentially Cher; she'll always be lighthearted and frivolous, but by movie's end she's become a kinder, more mature person. She's changed for the better, and added bonus? Josh is worth it.

 

This brings me to another UO: Cher and Josh's relationship never, ever struck me as creepy. They are not siblings, they are former step-siblings, and their parents weren't even married all that long. They probably saw very little of each other, anyway. Yeah, okay, the age difference is a little off-putting (and Cher is a minor), but I highly doubt their relationship went beyond kissing (and Josh seems like the type who will wait). I've seen way creepier relationships in much more acclaimed films.

Edited December 9, 2014 by Wiendish Fitch

[scarynikki12]

The age difference didn't bother me. There was, at most, three years separating them so it's not like he was in grad school. Most parents will be fine with a sixteen year old dating a nineteen year old and PapaCher already knew Josh which helps.

[Janet Snakehole]

On the topic of Clueless, it may be my generation, but as far as teen comedies about popular girls go, I far prefer it over Mean Girls.

[Bastet]

If that's an unpopular opinion, I demand a recount.

[Beezel]

ITA. I just feel like Mean Girls doesn't hold up as well as I would have liked. I prefer the bite of Heathers.  Plus, everybody and their brother has quoted it to death in the past ten years, so a lot of the humor has lost its charm for me. On the other hand, Clueless will never not watchable. 

[Julia]

And just to add that perfect macabre touch to It's a Wonderful Life, USA is showing it this year hosted by that ghastly Chrisley family.

[Bruinsfan]

I'd ask but I get the sense I'm better off being completely ignorant of them.

[Julia]

I'd ask but I get the sense I'm better off being completely ignorant of them.

Heavily-scripted "reality" rubbernecking TV. The unholy love child of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and Gomer Pyle. Possibly written by William Faulkner.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Julia

[Wiendish Fitch]

ITA. I just feel like Mean Girls doesn't hold up as well as I would have liked. I prefer the bite of Heathers.  Plus, everybody and their brother has quoted it to death in the past ten years, so a lot of the humor has lost its charm for me. On the other hand, Clueless will never not watchable. 

 

I'm with you there. Mean Girls tries to have it both ways: a lighthearted, empowering comedy about friendship and crap, as well as a biting, satirical commentary on the behavior of teenage girls. Watching it again, I was annoyed by how toothless it was. Heathers is a mean, mean little flick, but I prefer it because it pulls no punches and sugarcoats nothing.

Edited December 10, 2014 by Wiendish Fitch

[Dandesun]

 

 

I would agree with this in a lot of ways. I think that's what's so interesting, though -- it is really so, so damn dark. I mean, right off the bat -- the scene where the pharmacist is slapping him as a child and his ear slowly starts bleeding is just horrible -- and that's way before the slow terrible escalation to that last day (beautifully played by Jimmy Stewart) where absolutely everything is going wrong. The despair and loathing in Stewart's face at his own home -- the loose banister knob, the ruckus from the kids -- that feeling that he's trapped in his life is almost palpable. (I always loved that Stewart, such a sweet Everyman type, was always willing to play such dark roles.)

But it is interesting that it's perceived as such a feel-good movie when most of the film is watching this guy spiral downward to where he feels trapped and that he has no reason to live. That's tough to watch. It's only the brief interlude after high school (the dance) and the last 5 minutes that I would actually say are "feel-good." It's just odd, "Hey! It's Christmas! Let's all gather around and watch this guy get suicidal!"

 

All of this is true. I grew up at a time when 'It's A Wonderful Life' was played relentlessly on television from Thanksgiving to Christmas. (We counted one year and I think it had over twenty different showings within that month... and while this was in an age of cable television, it wasn't close to the sheer number of channels we have now.) It was such a part of the Holiday Season that I don't think anyone ever actually sat down and watched it because it was just... constantly present.

 

It wasn't until the last fifteen years or so that I actually sat down and watched it. (My Dad was still alive and he died 10 years ago so... wow, longer ago than I thought.) The point is that after accepting for so long that this movie was all Holiday Feel Good type stuff... no... not really. It is dark. Hell, they even did a bit on Friends where Phoebe gave up before finishing it because it was so bleak (I'm not going to go into detail about the plot line in that episode) and she's all "They should have called it 'It's a Sucky Life and Just When You Think It Can't Suck Anymore, It Does!'"

 

As for the ending... yeah, it's nice and all but I have a tendency to totally accept the SNL sketch about the Lost Ending to "It's A Wonderful Life" as canon. Where Uncle Billy figures out what happened to the money and then someone else says that Mr. Potter made a deposit for that exact amount right after and the whole town goes and kicks the crap out of Mr. Potter... who, by the way, was faking the need to be in a wheelchair. Perhaps it's not very evolved of me to be okay with George getting screwed and no one paying for it... especially the corrupt miser that essentially robbed him and then went after him for not paying the money he knew very well what happened to... but I don't care. I love the SNL Lost Ending and will always know that it happened after the credits roll.

[scarynikki12]

We counted one year and I think it had over twenty different showings within that month

 

For awhile there it was part of the public domain, so the networks didn't have to pay to show it.  Whomever was in charge of renewing the copyright dropped the ball (it's no longer public domain which is why we don't see it over and over anymore), and it's this mistake that resulted in this being considered a Christmas movie.  If it had never entered the public domain it would probably be known as the lone movie made by Liberty Films before it went bankrupt rather than a classic. 

[harrie]

I have nothing to add to it, but I am loving the It's a Wonderful Life discussion/deconstruction.

[Popples]

As for the ending... yeah, it's nice and all but I have a tendency to totally accept the SNL sketch about the Lost Ending to "It's A Wonderful Life" as canon. Where Uncle Billy figures out what happened to the money and then someone else says that Mr. Potter made a deposit for that exact amount right after and the whole town goes and kicks the crap out of Mr. Potter... who, by the way, was faking the need to be in a wheelchair. Perhaps it's not very evolved of me to be okay with George getting screwed and no one paying for it... especially the corrupt miser that essentially robbed him and then went after him for not paying the money he knew very well what happened to... but I don't care. I love the SNL Lost Ending and will always know that it happened after the credits roll.

 

You made me have to look it up, it's so hilarious!

[Dandesun]

You made me have to look it up, it's so hilarious!

 

"You made one mistake, Potter! You double-crossed me and you left me alive!"

 

I mean, come on... for all that George gave up over the years, no one can tell me he wouldn't unload on Potter at the end.

[TigerLynx]

In Gone with the Wind, I always believed the person who really loved and accepted Scarlett for herself was Melanie.  By the end of the movie, I thought Ashley was a spineless weakling, Rhett a hypocritical jackass, and Melanie and Scarlett were the better couple.

 

Grease – I don’t understand why Sandy changed, or why she wanted to be with Danny.  The Danny Sandy met at the beach was a nice guy.  He was the guy she liked.  When Sandy met the real Danny, when he was back around his friends, he was a complete jerk to her.

 

It’s a Wonderful Life – I like the idea of Mary being married to Sam.  I didn’t understand why George was the only one who had to make sacrifices – Harry and Billy couldn’t have been the go to guy at least once?  The one scene of the movie I do like is when George sees Harry’s grave, and tells Clarence that Harry went to war, won the congressional medal of honor, and saved the life every man on that transport.  Clarence replies that every man on the transport died.  Harry wasn’t there to save them because George hadn’t been there to save Harry.

[ZootSuitWyatt]

I once told my dad about the SNL alternate ending and he got so excited because he thought I meant they beat up Uncle Billy (who sucks).

[missbonnie]

Oh, I like this thread! I absolutely hate the following movies:

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Mary Poppins

The Sound of Music

Any and all versions of Alice in Wonderland AND

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Big Fish

Absolutely anything Jennifer Aniston is in

Snow White

The Princess and the Frog

West Side Story

All sequels to the original Halloween

AND Friday the 13th

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Meet the Parents

There's Something About Mary

Dumb and Dumber

Ace Ventura movies

Elf

There are many more but these are the ones that most of my friends or family love that I absolutely loathe.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Oh, I like this thread! I absolutely hate the following movies:

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Mary Poppins

The Sound of Music

Any and all versions of Alice in Wonderland AND

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Big Fish

Absolutely anything Jennifer Aniston is in

Snow White

The Princess and the Frog

West Side Story

All sequels to the original Halloween

AND Friday the 13th

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Meet the Parents

There's Something About Mary

Dumb and Dumber

Ace Ventura movies

Elf

There are many more but these are the ones that most of my friends or family love that I absolutely loathe.

 

With three or four exceptions, ITA, especially Alice in Wonderland. I hate that story. Roger Ebert said it best:

 

"As a young reader, I found Alice in Wonderland creepy and rather distasteful. Alice's adventures played like a series of encounters with characters whose purpose was to tease, puzzle and torment her. Few children would want to go to Wonderland, and none would want to stay. The problem may be that I encountered the book too young and was put off by the alarming John Tenniel illustrations. Why did Alice have such deep, dark eye sockets? Why couldn't Wonderland be cozy like the world of Pooh? Watching the 1951 Disney film, I feared the Cheshire Cat was about to tell me something I didn't want to know.... This has never been a children's story. There's even a little sadism embedded in Carroll's fantasy. It reminds me of uncles who tickle their nieces until they scream."

 

The only adaptation of Alice in Wonderland that I really love is the twisted, 1988 Jan Svankmajer stop-motion film Alice, because he dares to show Wonderland for the hellish pit of misery it really is.

[Sweet Tee]

That's actually why I love Alice in Wonderland.  Because it's not a happy place.  It's unpleasant.  It's dark.  It's unsettling.  It really is a creepy story.  I love it for that.  And the Disney version did show it getting progressively darker the deeper into Wonderland she went.  

[Haleth]

With three or four exceptions, ITA, especially Alice in Wonderland. I hate that story. Roger Ebert said it best:

"As a young reader, I found Alice in Wonderland creepy and rather distasteful. Alice's adventures played like a series of encounters with characters whose purpose was to tease, puzzle and torment her. Few children would want to go to Wonderland, and none would want to stay. The problem may be that I encountered the book too young and was put off by the alarming John Tenniel illustrations. Why did Alice have such deep, dark eye sockets? Why couldn't Wonderland be cozy like the world of Pooh? Watching the 1951 Disney film, I feared the Cheshire Cat was about to tell me something I didn't want to know.... This has never been a children's story. There's even a little sadism embedded in Carroll's fantasy. It reminds me of uncles who tickle their nieces until they scream."

 

Alice in Wonderland is a political satire masquerading as a children's story.  All the creepy, outlandish characters were stand ins for political figures of the time.

Edited December 14, 2014 by Haleth

[Athena]

I moved nine posts about Gone With the Wind to its own thread. Carry on.

[wanderingstar]

I have nothing to add to it, but I am loving the It's a Wonderful Life discussion/deconstruction.

 

 

I have never seen It's a Wonderful Life, but the posts here are making me chuckle. They are not, however, making me want to watch the movie.

[Ubiquitous]

I also remember SNL's "lost ending" to It's a Wonderful Life.

[meep.meep]

I have never seen It's a Wonderful Life, but the posts here are making me chuckle. They are not, however, making me want to watch the movie.

 

Don't watch it!  It sucks!  

The original poster

[Julia]

I have never seen It's a Wonderful Life, but the posts here are making me chuckle. They are not, however, making me want to watch the movie.

 

It's like a Lifetime movie with men, basically. Lots of emotional torture porn.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

I am going straight to the ultimate naughty list, but I can not take one more viewing of A Christmas Story.

 

Beyond the relentlessly ironic narration, I am forced under threat of being disowned from the family, of enduring this every dang year.  Then, someone will try to relate some incident, real or imagined, from our past which somehow parallels the movie.  Kill me now.

 

I will say that the decoder ring vignette was inspired.  I hated Ovaltine, too.  Bring on the Hershey's syrup!

[Haleth]

Never mind.  I decided to move my comment to the Christmas movies thread.

Edited December 17, 2014 by Haleth

[xls]

the part in IAWL that scared me as a  kid was the floor opening up over the pool. I know, crazy, right? I was scared the gym floor at school was going to open up. I could imagine being in that pool and the big mechanical slabs closing over me.

Edited December 18, 2014 by xls

[missbonnie]

I am going straight to the ultimate naughty list, but I can not take one more viewing of A Christmas Story.

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know how I could have forgotten this but I LOATHE that movie. My entire family loves it and they go on and on about how funny it is. I swear if I hear the quote "You'll shoot your eye out" repeated one more time at the family Christmas they may have to come get me and bring one of those funny white coats.  My brother even owns that stupid leg lamp, gag.

Edited December 18, 2014 by missbonnie

[missbonnie]

the part in IAWL that scared me as a  kid was the floor opening up over the pool. I know, crazy, right? I was scared the gym floor at school was going to open up. I could imagine being in that pool and the big mechanical slabs closing over me.

 

 

Funny that you should mention that, the high school I went to had one of these before they filled it in with concrete in 1977  and turned it into the guys wrestling room. It was in the basement of the building that had the basketball gymnasium which was creepy to begin with I thought. 

[Rick Kitchen]

Funny that you should mention that, the high school I went to had one of these before they filled it in with concrete in 1977  and turned it into the guys wrestling room. It was in the basement of the building that had the basketball gymnasium which was creepy to begin with I thought. 

 

Was that Beverly Hills High?  Because that's where that scene was filmed.

[missbonnie]

No,in Kansas. The building is part of the high school campus which was originally a military high school way back in the 40's-60's. At the time I was in high school it was a boys hs with the girls hs in another building with a road between the two. In the 80's they closed the girls building and merged with the boys.

[Shannon L.]

I think I made it about half way through A Christmas Story before finally giving up.  I just didn't see what the big deal was.

 

I don't think I've mentioned this one yet, but since it comes up in conversation a lot around here:  I love the movie going experience.  For the big, summer action blockbusters, I like going on opening weekend so I can enjoy the excitement of the crowd (even standing in line for an hour)*.  For others, I'm perfectly happy going alone.  I'm happy being only one of a few people in the theaters.  I just love it.  Most of the time, by the time a movie gets to dvd/Netflix, I've lost interest in it.  I just wish it wasn't so damned expensive.  I've missed a lot of movies because of that.

 

*The only time the opening weekend was a bad choice was when I went to see Titanic.  By that time, I'd already stopped keeping up with entertainment news so, while I had an idea of Leonardo's popularity, I didn't realize just how popular he was.  There were so many teenaged girls in that theater who screamed every time he was on the screen that I couldn't hear the next couple of lines in the scenes.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Word on the apathy towards A Christmas Story. I laughed all of twice: the Ovaltine scene, and "Oh, FUUUUUUUUUUUDGE!". Really, I don't get what the fuss is all about. I've always found it too shrill and meandering. And this is a really shallow, stupid complaint, but I hate Melinda Dillon's hair in this movie! It's supposed to be set in the 1940s, yet she has 80s mall hair! And don't give me that "it's naturally curly" jazz, I know a bad perm when I see one! I'm not saying every woman in America was perfectly coiffed like Joan Crawford in the 1940s, but couldn't they have made Dillon look somewhat authentic? Maybe give her a more period-neutral hairdo?

Edited December 20, 2014 by Wiendish Fitch

[harrie]

Maybe Melinda Dillon's hair was raggy-looking because a middle-class Cleveland housewife would do a home perm to save money and not always do a perfect job? I remember the commercials airing as recently as the '70s at least ("Which twin has the Toni," anyone?), and my mother would always comment on how horribly they often came out.  Just a thought.  

 

(I just checked, and they still sell home perm kits, they just don't seem to advertise them any more.)

[roamyn]

I will always have a fondness for 'A Christmas Story', as i watched part of it being filmed from my office downtown. Funny aside, the snow in all the scenes filmed in Cleveland is fake. The team postponed filming for a week, i believe, praying for the snow that never came.

Also, my best friend used to live next door to the house, but they moved away before it was fixed up.

Not to mention: Darrin McGavin.

Edited December 21, 2014 by roamyn