How did you like that movie / TV show / book?

[sleepy]

Would "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" make a good t.v. series?

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Would "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" make a good t.v. series?

why not? my mom worked in a psyche ward most of her adult life as an art therapist, and the whole institution sounded pretty fascinating and edgy, if confusing and sorrowful at times.

...

lincoln (2012)

good movie, interesting movie, professional movie... no denying those things. everything about it was fully competent and well-crafted, pretty much as with all things spielberg. most people should like it.

what prevents me from hitting the same high notes the critics did is that the film simply did not move me in any particular area. neither the acting, production, historical insights, dramatic peaks, philosophical zingers, spontaneous adoration / loathing for any particular character... yea, just a long golf clap from me, sorry. also, this film was just a little too long and had too many cameos from characters who were virtually interchangeable. better photographic, directorial and mood framing might have helped make things more engrossing.

personally i would have enjoyed this better as a docu-drama. as in, cram more history in there and use the acted bits to portray key points, like a long history channel production without as much BS.

the plight of african-americans in history is certainly of interest to me, but in terms of that era, i'm more partial to a film like "glory." that one was certainly not as seminal a film, but was surging with emotional energy that really lit up the historical points being made.

still... quality is quality. 3.5 / 4 stars

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

so i watched the first columbo episode last night, "murder by the book (1971)." these episodes originally aired across 90 minutes, so they are essentially TV movies... and good ones.

well, whadya know... good old steven spielberg was the director. jack cassidy was the main guest star, with martin milner and rosemary forsyth helping out.

.

as the ex-hubby of shirley jones and the father of teen idol singer david cassidy, i decided to read up on this guy. well, oh my... seems this guy was bipolar (with borderline psychotic episodes), an alcoholic, and was increasingly unhinged in his 40's.

then, just five years after this movie aired, jack got drunk, fell asleep with a lit cigarette, and burned himself alive at age 49. seems they had to identify him by his dental records. ah, sorry about that. maybe it was the rubbernecker in me. but pretty shocking for me whenever i come across this kind of story... as in, fame, fortune and looks belying a person in their terminal downard spiral. yikes.

ANYWAY, the columbo formula holds up surprisingly well IMO. as a middle aged guy, it's especially fun to savor the high-profile guest shots, like patrick mcgoohan, william shatner, roddy mcdowall, leonard nimoy, and even...... johnny cash!

 

[mrschultz]

It really is amazing how well Columbo holds up, I've watched just about all of them on Netflix (they have them in HD streaming). And have the more recent ones on DVD. If it wasn't for the fashion and car designs changing you could watch any episode and not really tell witch of the 5 decades it was from. Can't think of any episode that was bad, also rare for any series.

 

[sleepy]

Yep *cough*. Steve. The first Columbo was a play created in 1960 which was shot as a one-off t.v. movie special in '68, " Prescription: Murder".
NBC then ordered a pilot, "Ransom for a Dead Man". Columbo was a part of the "NBC Mystery Movie" trilogy series. The original "Mystery Movie" series included "Name of the Game".

As for t.v. movies, I still like "The Legend of Lizzie Borden" and the Richard Chaberland / Alexander Dumas specials. And "Duel".

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

i sort of feel like an astronaut newly returned to earth by my last completed movie-- "love 'em and leave 'em" (1926). yes... a silent movie, by jing! (i watched it on venerable youtube)

so after watching this and the restored classic "greed," and the odd zasu pitts and chaplin silents, i'm about ready to say that... silents are actually pretty good! i mean, even if the glimpse in to past culture doesn't tickle you, i find the humor and drama quite perky, innocent... charming. in other words, despite the limits of the situation, there was obvious talent and skill involved... people who understood human psychology and story-telling at a fundamental level.

my biggest problem with love 'em and leave 'em is that the original song list or what-have-you was apparently lost. so the backing music was a rather odd synthesized effort... bound to piss off even "tangerine dream" fans, i imagine.

apart from that... it was an amusing little film featuring romance, love lost, betrayal, petty vice, sibling rivalry... the whole king kong.

good stuff. (and a rather fascinating glimpse in to the industry, if i do say so)

 

[Coil_Smoke]

Get'R Dun

Would "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" make a good t.v. series?

What a great idea! So many possibilities...The regular loonies cast plus the comings and goings of various psychotics. An administration and staff borderline crazier than the patients. For variety have different branches in the craziest towns across the nation. So many psychoses to exploit. Plenty all ready nutty low grade stars to choose from. That might make me watch prime time broadcast TV for the first time in years...

 

[faralos]

I am partial to Harold LLoyd and Buster Keaton myself

 

[faralos]

What a great idea! So many possibilities...The regular loonies cast plus the comings and goings of various psychotics. An administration and staff borderline crazier than the patients. For variety have different branches in the craziest towns across the nation. So many psychoses to exploit. Plenty all ready nutty low grade stars to choose from. That might make me watch prime time broadcast TV for the first time in years...

starring the great(?) Charlie Sheen!

 

[Coil_Smoke]

Run With It........

 

[sleepy]

Y'know, they're almost doing it right now with the "Hannibal" show.
It's probably the craziest, goriest show in broadcast history, but the psychosis is definitely there, though mostly fixed to the specific Doctor Lector. It's on NBC, and I remember CBS ran the movie "Hannibal" with quite a few edits, but the infamous "Krendler Climax" ran intact except for a few words that referred to someone by "their lower female anatomy".

Doc Lector, he gets a pass.

The Cuckoo show would probably be the closest thing to a M*A*S*H* while being unique on its own terms.

 

[faralos]

gotta love America here we get censoring for swear words or frontal nudity
but gore is okay even beheadings on regular tv shows!
why is it that we can tolerate gore but balk at a boob shot?

 

[StevOz]

gotta love America here we get censoring for swear words or frontal nudity
but gore is okay even beheadings on regular tv shows!
why is it that we can tolerate gore but balk at a boob shot?

Gun and war culture finely balanced with in Gods trust perhaps?

 

[sleepy]

I found out tonight, or forgot from a looong time ago, that the classic t.v. show, "The Prisoner" had an episode, "Living in Harmony", that was never seen on U.S. television until the next decade, after Viet Nam of course.

<center>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/AyWbryqboa8?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</center>

 

[LeeVanCleef]

Gun and war culture finely balanced with in Gods trust perhaps?

Well, you've listed two things that make our country great. Don't forget that our video game releases aren't government-censored by somebody's grandmother like they are in "civilised" countries like Australia!
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/8062-Saints-Row-4

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

I found out tonight, or forgot from a looong time ago, that the classic t.v. show, "The Prisoner" had an episode, "Living in Harmony", that was never seen on U.S. television until the next decade, after Viet Nam of course....

wow, nifty! i never did see that episode. btw, the WP article somewhat disagrees with the vid in terms of why the ep was originally pulled. either way, pretty interesting.

...

oh, and just a random link i found today-- an artist guy designed posters for each ep of star trek TOS and published them as an artbook. each one has a unique style, mostly vintage in inspiration. five are free to view online:
http://www.space.com/22835-star-trek-art-photos-juan-ortiz.html

 

[sleepy]

This is the video that Ruby posted.
The video is not showing up, so I took a whack at it.
PN scripts might be suspect here.

For some reason, clicking on The Big Player Arrow that appears in the player's video window wants to open a browser window, so I would click on the small Player Play arrow on the player's toolbar to view it.

<div style='width:650px;font-size: 12px;'><embed src="http://cdn2.escapistmagazine.com/media/global/movies/player/flowplayer.commercial-3.2.12.swf" flashvars="config=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/vid...98d8.js?player_version=2.5&embed=1&autoplay=0" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" bgcolor="#000000" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer" width="650" height="391" wmode="opaque"></embed><div><a href='http://www.escapistmagazine.com'>The Escapist</a> : <a href='http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation'>Zero Punctuation</a> : <a href='/videos/view/zero-punctuation/8062-Saints-Row-4'><i>Saints Row 4</i></a></div></div>

 

[LeeVanCleef]

This is the video that Ruby posted.
The video is not showing up, so I took a whack at it.
PN scripts might be suspect here.

For some reason, clicking on The Big Player Arrow that appears in the player's video window wants to open a browser window, so I would click on the small Player Play arrow on the player's toolbar to view it.

Thanks, sleepy! Yeah, what the hell? I tried to CnP the url, yet PN insisted on "helpfully" embedding it for me! And I still don't have my North Korean flag! Steve needs to cut down on the philosophizing and get back to work!

 

[sleepy]

Have no fear Ruby. Half the time, the CnP doesn't work for me either.
Not without endless re-edits.

 

[Shockman]

It plays in place for me. Google Chrome.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

maybe steve had a bad experience with north korea, once?


well, here's a short 1957 movie from whirlpool about the kitchen of the future. many delicious moments here, but try to watch until you see the rectangular droid from "a new hope" slowlllly glide out to deliver the kitchenware and china.

"with just a wave of the hand, all things are possible."

 

[StevOz]

Maybe Steve doesn't know how to do it and doesn't want to go messing around with the database via FTP in fear of breaking something.

As for resent movies I've watched...

Sparks, turned out to be quite an enjoyable watch with a lot more depth to it then I thought it would have.

Ride Along, a rather enjoyable romp, fun movie, better then most of this ilk.

 

[StevOz]

Just watched this one..

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2320924/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

War.of.the.Worlds.Goliath.2012

I really enjoyed it, great animation, perhaps a little simplictic as far as the story or plot is concerned, though well worth a watch if you like animated epics.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Maybe Steve doesn't know how to do it and doesn't want to go messing around with the database via FTP in fear of breaking something.

william, william-- it was really... nothing.

--moz and the smiths

 

[Shooby Doo]

Just watched this one..

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2320924/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

War.of.the.Worlds.Goliath.2012

I really enjoyed it, great animation, perhaps a little simplictic as far as the story or plot is concerned, though well worth a watch if you like animated epics.

I came across that the other day, but haven't watched it yet. It looks similar to the "Seven Samurai" anime they did a few years back, in that it was a retelling of the original story but in a steam-punk universe. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482424/ I'm gonna have to check it out. I'm not a huge anime fan, but I do like some movies like Akira, Metropolis, Tekkonkinkreet... things along that line. But I have a hard time getting through series. I liked Ghost in the Shell the movie, but couldn't do the series.