tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post3488827297170396440..comments2024-03-24T13:26:57.317-07:00Comments on Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule: THE SLIFR FORUM: SUMMER 2007 FEEDBACKDennis Cozzaliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-17378542292380819572007-10-27T01:29:00.000-07:002007-10-27T01:29:00.000-07:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-55887523825976523622007-09-29T23:57:00.000-07:002007-09-29T23:57:00.000-07:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-9103440392995041772007-09-01T16:10:00.000-07:002007-09-01T16:10:00.000-07:00Thanks, as ever, Ted, for the kind words. It's a t...Thanks, as ever, Ted, for the kind words. It's a thrill. Cuz when I step back a second I realize I'm just a guy who lives a silly life like any other guy or gal. My Friday nights are often blurry, or completely evaporated. It's weird, given one's knowledge of one's self, to know people will arrogate to you. (That's a weird sentence to write, not sure if I got it right.) But, it's a great pat on the back. I'll get over it some day but that little clustermap thing I put on VINYL tracked a hit from Iraq. (Sorry to go off topic, Dennis, but I felt compelled.) (It seems the whole post should be in parentheses.) (Haha.)Ryland Walker Knighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09233954424885027837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-48743452763674539792007-08-30T11:42:00.000-07:002007-08-30T11:42:00.000-07:00It's always nice to know that I am not the one lon...It's always nice to know that I am not the one lone defender of <I>Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End</I>, Ryland. I still hold that your review of the film is one of the best articles I've read this summer. And you summed up the major problem with so much criticism in your last, brief post. We so often see what we want to see; the movies themselves are almost incidental, as it is the ideology of the privelaged spectator that dictates how s/he is to watch and react to the movie. This is especially the case with movies like <I>POTC</I>.Ted Pigeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04789041055263853568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-50862641905244151922007-08-28T22:16:00.000-07:002007-08-28T22:16:00.000-07:00Bet-- Sorry to have ignored you for so long, but t...Bet-- Sorry to have ignored you for so long, but this henhouse got pretty wild there for a while!<BR/><BR/>To address your questions:<BR/><BR/><B> If you're a fan of the original <I>Hairspray</I>- I mean, really have an affinity for it - is the new version going to mess with your mind?</B> That's where I was coming from originally. I loved the original film and was pretty dismissive of the ideas of both the Broadway musical and the movie from the start. I figured, why mess with and (I assumed) homogenize a good thing? But Waters always looked at <I>Hairspray</I> as his most perverse movie in a way, because it was a PG film from the man who made Divine's snacking habits a household horror, and if you look at it, the 1988 has some twisted elements (Waters' own cameo as the hypnotist who attempts to exorcise Penny), but it's largely a pretty wholesome affair. The movie musical stays true to that spirit--sharp and irreverent, but also squarely in favor of some ideas that, even in 2007, are still (unfortunately) in need of being termed as progressive, ideas like positive body image, integration and (gasp) a little innocent miscegenation. The performances are all top notch, especially Travolta, who I couldn't imagine being anything but horrible when I saw the trailers. And the music is exceptional and exceptionally performed. And the cherry on top-- Waters himself gives the movie his blessing by another cameo appearance, this time as "the flasher next door" who happily prances past Tracy Turnblad as she belts out the film's opening number, "Good Morning, Baltimore," just before hopping a garbage truck to school. Give it a chance. It'll win you over.<BR/><BR/><B>I wanted to see <I>Ratatouille</I>. I didn't. I'll enjoy <I>Superbad</I> on DVD where its raunch won't turn me red in the theater.</B> Why did you resist <I>Ratatouille</I>? As far as <I>Superbad</I>, part of the fun of the movie is testing your own limits of embarrassment. I wasn't sure there was a dick joke that could make me blush, but there are a couple of other things that did. Thank goodness the lights were low!<BR/><BR/><B>Ahhh, drive-ins. The wonderful memories I have of my sister and I in our pajamas, being taken to the drive-in by the folks. Falling asleep during the second feature on blankies in the back seat. I'm convinced I saw <I>The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming</I> that way, but have no hard and fast proof.</B> Proof, dammit! I demand proof! If you search for "drive-in" at the top of this blog, you'll come up with lots of stories and images culled from my own little rennaissance experience with drive-ins over the last two or so years. It's been really fun rediscovering them and introducing my daughters to the fun of seeing a movie under the stars. I have videotape of the night in 2000, when my first daughter was only about four months old, when my wife and I took her out to the drive-in. At the time I assumed they would all be gone by the time she was this age and old enough to enjoy them. (I videotaped myself explaining to her was a speaker box was!) Fortunately, she and her sister are now veterans of three excellent summers (and winters too) full of drive-in movie memories. I hope I can keep the dream alive for them, and that drive-ins will be here when they're old and decrepit like me. What about you? Any drive-ins in Texas where you're at? I'll bet there are!Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-70127722321757277382007-08-28T20:46:00.000-07:002007-08-28T20:46:00.000-07:00Do you think the rejection of the movie by critics...<I> Do you think the rejection of the movie by critics is based more on preconceptions about its status as a sure money-making franchise product?</I><BR/><BR/>Most definitely. Nobody watched the movie as it is -- just as they wanted it to be.Ryland Walker Knighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09233954424885027837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-24324626849353443772007-08-28T19:18:00.000-07:002007-08-28T19:18:00.000-07:00Hi Bill,Nice try!!Dennis, I didn't get the same fe...Hi Bill,<BR/><BR/>Nice try!!<BR/><BR/>Dennis, I didn't get the same feeling as you did of Bourne 3. That disorientated look and feel was kind of exhilirating to me and let me to believe that Greengrass's intention was to show Bourne's kinetic determination to find and destroy those rotten bastards that had fucked with his head for those past couple years.<BR/><BR/>Of POTC 2, I was also let down to some degree and yet I surely could not wait to see how this all played out and how all that confused mess of a film could play itself out. As I've said to you before POTC 3 was an entertaining delight and a satisfying conclusion.<BR/><BR/>Now Godfather 3... wow I could see that slug coming from a mile away.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-9099682477528352132007-08-28T13:20:00.000-07:002007-08-28T13:20:00.000-07:00Sal - I don't have detailed reasoning behind it, b...Sal - I don't have detailed reasoning behind it, but I just thought that "POTC 2" was fun. And I really liked the effects.<BR/><BR/>Oh, hell, you just don't like me because you think I'm an entity.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-50440083441162199812007-08-28T13:18:00.000-07:002007-08-28T13:18:00.000-07:00Hehheh. Well, Sal, I certainly have nothing inhere...Hehheh. Well, Sal, I certainly have nothing inherently against a movie with a "3" attached to the title-- I even saw <I>Jaws 3-D</I>. For me, <I>Pirates 2</I> failed to grab me in the way it was clearly intended to. I thought it was diverting, but also a textbook example of "more is not necessarily more." I guess I just wasn't in the mood to find out if part 3 fit that same mold. <I>Bourne</I>, on the other hand, was a second sequel directed by the same guy who I thought did such a fine job with the first sequel. Yet his smash-up-the-frame style didn't work for me very well here, largely because I kept having to work so hard just to orient myself-- it seemed much more like a cover-up for the thinness of the story this time around, and I found myself a couple days after seeing it unable to remember a thing about it. Whereas in <I>Supremacy</I> I can still recall individual sequences with clarity because Greengrass didn't rely exclusively on this disorienting, fragmented approach. <I>Ultimatum</I> disappointed me, though, because it seemed like a rehash, like it was treading water, and the whole series of reveals at the end just made the filmmakers, not to mention the characters, look none too bright. It's kinda like how I felt after seeing <I>The Godfather Part III</I>-- I'd rather just remember the first two.Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-31505925400758416752007-08-28T12:33:00.000-07:002007-08-28T12:33:00.000-07:00Who the hell is Sal anyway?Dennis, an apple for th...Who the hell is Sal anyway?<BR/><BR/>Dennis, an apple for the teacher..sorry!<BR/><BR/>Bill, POTC 2? OK, can't let that one go by without saying HUH????<BR/><BR/>Dennis, why would you abstain from POTC 3, but run out to see Bourne Ultimatum? Curious?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-54737020819733968272007-08-28T12:08:00.000-07:002007-08-28T12:08:00.000-07:00I liked "Pirates", too, although it's been years s...I liked "Pirates", too, although it's been years since I've seen it, and remember very little. But even now, a pirate movie starring Walter Matthau and directed by Roman Polanski...how can that not be worth a second look, no matter what one might have thought about the first time around?<BR/><BR/>Oh, I have one: "The Core". I think I've actually mentioned this on this site before, but it's a damn fine B-movie, with no pretensions beyond that, which no one seemed willing to hunker down and look at eye-to-eye. If "The Core" had been made in the 1950s, it would be beloved.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-70153438274599440472007-08-28T11:59:00.000-07:002007-08-28T11:59:00.000-07:00I was thinking of a couple of other rip-roaring sk...I was thinking of a couple of other rip-roaring skull-and-crossbones adventures that no one seems to think are any good—Roman Polanski’s <I>Pirates</I>, which I liked well enough the one and only time I saw it, back when it was first released, and Michael Ritchie’s adaptation of Peter Benchley’s modern-day pirate thriller, <I>The Island</I>, with Michael Caine and David Warner. There must be other examples that don’t involve pillaging on the high seas, though. Still thinking…Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-86783995679944753502007-08-28T11:53:00.000-07:002007-08-28T11:53:00.000-07:00Hm. Well, I liked "POTC 2", and the critics blaze...Hm. Well, I liked "POTC 2", and the critics blazed away at that one pretty good. And I do wonder if the beat-down it took has anything to do with a certain amount of shame some critics felt for praising a movie based on a ride. (I haven't seen the third one yet, but plan to catch it on DVD.)<BR/><BR/>Also, I like "Happy Gilmore" and "Billy Madison". So sue me. I think liking those two really helped me appreciate "Punch-Drunk Love" all the more.<BR/><BR/>There must be others. I liked "Hudson Hawk" when I used to watch it as a lad...hey, maybe I ONLY like movies everybody else hates.<BR/><BR/>Jonathan, if Sal hadn't called me an "entity", I don't think Dennis would have put the kibosh on our conversation. Some people just take things too far.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-86510456981586482392007-08-28T11:17:00.000-07:002007-08-28T11:17:00.000-07:00Oh man, and I was having so much fun talking about...Oh man, and I was having so much fun talking about entities and Steely Dan. Thanks, Dad.<BR/><BR/>And how 'bout that "reviewing the situation" line? Straight out of <STRONG>Oliver!</STRONG> sung by Fagin. Pretty clever, I thought.<BR/><BR/>Now, back to movies, there are a couple that I love while others despise them but unlike most choices I really think mine truly would open me up to ridicule. And I'm not sure if I want that right now. You see, most people would go with a "cool" choice like <STRONG>POTC</STRONG> or <STRONG>Die Hard</STRONG> where others may disdain it but you don't have to feel like a total dork for liking it. But mine... well, even my wife makes fun of me for it. AND my kids. Pretty embarrassing. I have never successfully convinced anyone else to like it. So I just can't bring myself to reveal it now. Let's just say it's more than a couple of decades old and it's a total "chick" movie and ... oh, I'm just gonna shut up now. Someone might guess it.Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05730146625671701859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1669377933724324092007-08-28T10:58:00.000-07:002007-08-28T10:58:00.000-07:00No name-calling here. It’s interesting that you wo...No name-calling here. It’s interesting that you would mention <I>Kung Fu Hustle</I>, because that’s a movie that fits exactly your criteria (except it’s not a sequel… And I don’t know how immoral it is… and Keira Knightley ain’t in it…) yet one I wouldn’t have necessarily thought of in relation to <I>Pirates 3</I>. Do you think the rejection of the movie by critics is based more on preconceptions about its status as a sure money-making franchise product? Or was it perceived as overkill in all departments (which is, admittedly, why I stayed away)? <BR/><BR/>And it makes me think of a good question for a future quiz, but one that I’ll test out here for everyone just because: As RWK has <I>Pirates 3</I>, and in the spirit of avoiding the actual personal attacks as this thread proceeds, <B>is there a movie you’ve endured disdain from your peers for unashamedly loving while all the other reasonable voices are trashing it?</B>Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-17925548258921734662007-08-28T10:34:00.000-07:002007-08-28T10:34:00.000-07:00I think I said it pretty well here but to reitera...I think I said it pretty well <A HREF="http://mattzollerseitz.blogspot.com/2007/05/afraid-to-get-wet-plunging-into-and.html" REL="nofollow">here </A> but to reiterate/recap...<BR/><BR/>1. I think it's fun.<BR/><BR/>2. The special effects are plain amazing.<BR/><BR/>3. It, like last summer's predecessor, works as a great sequel, like, uh-oh, <I>Empire</I> and <I>Aliens</I> in that it complicates the first film, expanding its scope and meeting the challenge of imagination the first one sets down.<BR/><BR/>4. If you watch it as if it were a cartoon, like, say, <I>Kung Fu Hustle</I>, you might start to get why I think it's so much fun, and so smart, and worthwhile. I think that's the ticket: it's a cartoon! It doesn't subscribe to the same demands we normally place on live-action narratives. Think about why people like, or love, Tati: he is all images. This movie may not be as "brilliant" or something but it's using a similar strategy.<BR/><BR/>5. It's deliciously immoral.<BR/><BR/>6. Keira Knightley looks best when dressed as a boy. Yup.<BR/><BR/>But I don't really want to beat a dead horse and get called names again all that much so if any responses can refrain from the ad hominems that'd be much appreciated. I mean, it's a fun, silly movie that does not warrant all the hate it generates. In fact, it boggles my mind why people would be so averse to this and adore the new <I>Bourne</I> movie, or <I>Stardust</I>, which seems to be enjoyed for a lot of reasons I like the <I>Pirates</I> movies. Joy and good tidings! Fall semester begins... NOW!Ryland Walker Knighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09233954424885027837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-14910363736765165932007-08-28T10:22:00.001-07:002007-08-28T10:22:00.001-07:00Gee, I'm a huge Steely Dan fan and I really loved ...Gee, I'm a huge Steely Dan fan and I really loved <I>Dazed and Confused</I>, but I had no idea they could inspire such wink-wink vitriol.<BR/><BR/>Not to be a party pooper or anything, but could we redirect the conversation away from fungi and entities and back to the movies, please?<BR/><BR/>Bet, RWK, I have some thoughts, but I'm a little tied up with work right now, so they'll be coming soon. But I did want to say that I'm with you, RWK-- <I>Ratatouille</I> struck me as being good enough that even awarding it a Best Animated Movie Oscar seems like ghettoization. This movie outstripped just about everything out there this year. I can't say anything about <I>Pirates 3</I>, however, as I have abstained from seeing it. In a nutshell, what did you love about it? You're perhaps the only writer I know who did.Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-52531195927080372192007-08-28T10:22:00.000-07:002007-08-28T10:22:00.000-07:00But "Dazed and Confused" is bad. What am I suppos...But "Dazed and Confused" is bad. What am I supposed to do?<BR/><BR/>And I didn't see anything about the rock/jazz cosmic fusion explosion that is Steely Dan.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-83764931149914369842007-08-28T10:14:00.000-07:002007-08-28T10:14:00.000-07:00Look, if we want to believe in the almighty Wikipe...Look, if we want to believe in the almighty Wikipedia, here is what Wiki describes as an ENTITY:<BR/><BR/>"The word entity is often useful when one wants to refer to something that could be a human being, a non-human animal, a non-thinking life-form such as a plant or fungus, a lifeless object, or even a belief; for instance".<BR/><BR/>So there you go... Bill is a non-thinking, lifeless fungus who wants to be human.<BR/><BR/>You mess with D & C or Steely Dan, you get the horns.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-10124208795750247692007-08-28T06:37:00.000-07:002007-08-28T06:37:00.000-07:00Attaining entity status is actually pretty pricey....Attaining entity status is actually pretty pricey. Not only do you have to go through all the physical stuff, like the daily jumping jacks, and the obstacle course at the end, but you actually have to pay 25 bucks for the certificate.<BR/><BR/>While I do enjoy the perks, like the free sodas and 15% discount at participating Sam Goody's, I still can't help but feel that I was used. I mean, they took a lot of pictures of me going through that obstacle course, and I've seen them posted all over the place, and haven't received a dime.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-25094932895873758382007-08-28T06:23:00.000-07:002007-08-28T06:23:00.000-07:00Anonymous, I'm reviewing the situation. Also, ...Anonymous,<BR/><BR/> I'm reviewing the situation.<BR/><BR/> Also, I can't seem to find any chalk.Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05730146625671701859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-30810801740724783082007-08-28T06:20:00.000-07:002007-08-28T06:20:00.000-07:00Hey everybody look! Bill's an entity. I wish I w...Hey everybody look! Bill's an entity. I wish I were an entity. Are there any dues you have to pay to become one? Man, I so want to be an entity!Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05730146625671701859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-16877032018411465832007-08-28T06:14:00.000-07:002007-08-28T06:14:00.000-07:00Sorry if I'm a bit anal about this, but when it co...Sorry if I'm a bit anal about this, but when it comes to Steely Dan, I know no mercy: it's Donald Fagen, not Fagin - that's a character from "Oliver Twist". Now write that on the board 100 times. ;)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-46440448469532338972007-08-28T04:28:00.000-07:002007-08-28T04:28:00.000-07:00What the? Because I didn't like "Dazed and Confus...What the? Because I didn't like "Dazed and Confused"?? Well, you can cram it with walnuts, pal!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-52262108212620326282007-08-28T04:21:00.000-07:002007-08-28T04:21:00.000-07:00Who is this BILL entity and why is he allowed to b...Who is this BILL entity and why is he allowed to breath the same air as we humans do?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com