The Smiley Smile Message Board

Kinda dumb, but thought it might be fun to have a non Beach Boys version of the insignificant topics thread. To kick it off -

Morgan Freeman's voiceover narration in every film he makes.
Seriously does this guy have it stipulated in his contract that he has to provide narration in all his movies or what? I watched a film he was in last night called "Hard Rain" and was shocked that it was narration free.

While I'm talking films, what's everyone's all time favourite film?

it's been a toss up for years with me, my fav ever is either Empire Strikes Back or Bladerunner

I'd say The Thing, Jaws and The Parallax View.

Apollo 13 is my favorite. Close second is Don't Look Back.

Not a movie, but Mad Men is probably the best television show I've ever seen...Better than most movies I have watched.

Spaceballs, Just One of the Guys, Unforgiven

The Thing and Jaws are also in my top 10.
The Thing is amazing, John Carpenter's best in my opinion.
All Star cast.
Kurt Russell is great when he's drinking (3/4 of his movies)

Waterworld is a classic

T2

Apocalypto ...these movies I can watch multiple times

I just don't understand what happened to John Carpenter. Both him and George Romero haven't made anything of worth in over 20 years now.

What scares me is that with Romero's back catalogue being plundered for remakes and the God awful hack jobs of Halloween and The Fog it's only a matter of time before someone "Reimages" The Thing. There has been whispering of it for years. And it will suck. The gig will go to some ex Music Video Director who has no concept of horror or suspense. Keith David's slightly sinister character will be reborn as the typical jive talking black comic relief guy. The previously 'all male' scientific expedition team will now almost certainly contain a hot, young female scientist who takes no sh*t from the men, is a crackshot with a gun, will at some point strip down to a tight top and will be one of the 'final two' who survive. Oh and she'll probably be a black belt in Karate too. In place of Rob Bottin's still unbelievable effects we will get the usual CGI crapfest for the alien. Don't forget that all important PG13 rating, so no graphic kills.

Don't get me started on if they remake Jaws.........

Fave ever, Once Upon A Time In America

I hate to be the bearer of bad news..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_%282011_film%29  :(

My favourites? Once Upon A Time In The West, Airplane, The Producers, and The Big Sleep.

Anyone seen True Grit yet? I might break my resolve to avoid the cinema and see that. The last film that managed that was Toy Story 3  ;D

I've always heard there was a talk of a prequel, which John Carpenter needs to get on top of.
I know They Live won't get a remake.  ;)
He needs to make Escape from Washington or Earth to complete the S. Plisken trilogy.

BTW, I looked at the cast listing for that new Thing slated for this year; no offense to women, but there is no need for any actresses for this movie, look at The Thing, the all male cast is amazing!

Captian Ron anyone?

Well said. I like a hot woman as much as the next guy, but part of The Thing's unique appeal was that it was a bunch all men who didn't particularly enjoy being stuck with each other to begin with slowly descending into total paranoia. Putting a female into that mix just wouldn't be the same. She'd either be screaming and crying all the time which would add nothing to the movie, but more likely she'd be portrayed as the typical 'strong female' Hollywood seems to obsess with.

Best line in the film

"I realise you gentleman have been through alot, but if it's all the same to you, I don't want to spend the rest of my winter TIED TO THIS F**KIN' COUCH!!"          Classic.

Hard to beat the team of Leone/Morricone. 

For a very long time I called "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly" my favorite movie.  Nowadays I'd lean more towards "The Man Who Would Be King", "Fitzcarraldo", or maybe "Das Boot".  Hard to narrow it down to one!

Fave films

The Empire Strikes Back
Goodfellas
Evil Dead II
Cool Runnings
Four Lions
Clerks
Summer Dreams (just kidding with this one)

What about favourite actors? My pick would have to go to Gene Hackman. I was gutted when he retired. Although he appeared in the odd turkey, I've never seen a bad performance from him in whatever he's been in. Props also to Kurt Russell mainly for all those awesome movies he made with John Carpenter.

i think it's the unofficial 3rd part in the Eye Patch Trilogy

Hackman is great...'The French Connection' is one of his best (IMO).

Johnny Depp is nearly brilliant in every role he is in. I used to hate Leonardo DiCaprio after his involvement in Titanic, but after watching 'The Departed' and 'Catch Me If You Can' I realized he is one of the best in Hollywood. Joaquin Phoenix is really good too (Walk The Line).

Gotta agree with noname on Spaceballs...May the Schwartz be with you!

...and also with you... :angel:

It's too bad hat John C. Reilly showed him up in the much superior Walk Hard.  :lol :lol ;)

Goodfellas is my all time favorite movie.

People joke around sometimes about Captain Ron but it really is a great family movie. It's kind of a cross between live action Disney and National Lampoon. What's not to love?

Great choices hypehat! I've always fantasized about doing a remake of the Big Sleep that covers more of the drug/porn angle that the book contains but was made vague in the film.
 In my list I'd include The Maltese Falcon, There will be Blood, and Paris Texas, along with Airplane and Evil Dead 2.

Just watched 'That Thing You Do!' this past week - I hadn't seen it since it came out back mid 1990s. I recommend everyone on this board watch it....It's the most incredible movie about a small one-hit wonder band in the mid 1960s trying to make it big....There's even a bit where a big record company exec is asked by a group of reporters if he passed on signing The Beach Boys, he replied (paraphrasing), "You all talk to Brian everyday...." and then the scene fades out or something.

Anyways, great movie that you all should check out.

That Thing You Do is a great movie on a lot of levels.  Liv Tyler always gets my attention.  Mike Piccarillo, a guy from Logan WV, wrote much of the soundtrack.  I found this out only last summer when he returned to WV to play a club date with his old band the Logan Brothers.  If you're ever out in the Riverside CA area, be sure to visit a community called Old Orange, a very old still existing small town where the hometown scenes were filmed.  And while you're there visit Mr. C's records, a great vintage vinyl store whose owners have some tales to tell about the movie being made and the celebrity visitors (Dick Dale and others) to the store.

You shitting me?  I can't tell ya how many times I've watched that movie, and I must have not been listening, cuz I'd want to think I'd hear something like that! 

I watched the Extended Directors Cut - which adds 30 minutes of scenes not seen in theatres - so the part I'm talking about may be included in that version and not the original version. If you haven't seen the directors cut I highly recommend getting it.

Figures!  Not likely to show that cut on the cable... 

THOUGHT: Gary Busey to play Danny Hutton in the Brian Epic... whaddyathink?

Only if Neil Patrick Harris plays the Lovester.

Most underated actor still around - Eric Roberts.

Most annoying actress around - Tie between Jennifer Lopez or Angelina Jolie.

Most missed actor - John Candy.

Most crappiest actor still getting big parts - Mark Walberg.

No way!! 
Wahlberg is wonderful and Angelina is hot hot hot, so who cares how she acts
Eric Roberts, is he like, related to Julia? What's his last movie?
Can't argue with Candy.

Eric Roberts was in some truly great roles in the 80's. Then when little sis Julia broke big Hollywood apparently decided only one member of the Roberts family could be successful at one time.

........as for Whalberg, have you seen "The Happening"? There's a scene in that where he is out acted by a plastic plant.  ;D

Not sure I saw that one; but I thought he was really good in these:  The Perfect Storm, The Italian Job , The Departed, Invincible, Shooter, and The Fighter

Any love for Boogie Nights?

Personal fav of mine.

oh man, I was going to add that one too, but if you like it....   :lol

hehe, right, i gotcha.

Great cast, great soundtrack...it doesn't get any better than Alfred Molina's love for Jessie's Girl

Yes! That movie is great! That's one that doesn't seem to get mentioned alot when people talk about De Niro movies.  And you know, I'm not a big Western guy by any means, but 'Once Upon A Time In The West' is pretty damn good, also.

Just recently came to appreciate Once Upon A Time in the West in the past few years...I just picked up Once Upon America recently but haven't had the chance to watch it.

Once Upon A Time In America is actually kind of a weird film. I wont ruin it for you, but I will say that it's one of those movies that are open to many interpretations.

At least in The Fighter, you get to see Marky Mark box Batman!  :lol :lol :lol

Well I suppose the real offender of The Happening is M. Night Shyamalan. I never thought The Sixth Sense was that great to be honest and he's been going downhill pretty much ever since. The only one of his I like is Signs and even that has a dumb ending.

Signs; is that the one with the soundtrack by the Five Man Electrical Band?

Right, bloody well right. 
NOt sure exactly why, but it really resonates with me. I never get tired of watching it, tho I often get tired while watching it.  Phew! 

I don't usually favor anybody in cinema business. That said:
Favorite actor: Sylvester Stallone
actress: Audrey Hepburn.

As everybody knows, I am horror fan. I'd seen nearly every Stephen King adaptation. But for the 1st time today - "The Running Man". Found & bought DVD with new SK movies with some oldies mixed in among which was the subj.
1) it shows future; the girl enters her flat & says "Light!", then "Kitchen! Toasts & coffee" or sth. to the effect. I thought, "Did people get lazy in 2017 that they can't switch the light on/off & insert the bread into toaster?".
2) the actor who played the host of the show was very convincing in that role, as if he has years of show-hosting experience. I liked him as a villain.
3) some old character resembled Mick Fleetwood. But ofc it's not him as I didn't read he was an actor in the same vein as Mick Jagger & Tom Waits.
4) at 1st it seemed weird that the audience would cheer on the bad guys killing the gamers. Then I got it - they were duped into thinking it isn't real, in the end they're alive & they're shown pictures of the winners smiling with fam in Hawaii.
5) the betting in the street thing is quite a mess. People yelling, some chap takes money & they keep yelling. Not my favorite scenes, definitely.
6) Arnold's lines may be funny in the script but comedy is not his strong suit, that's for sure.
7) the future music is going to channel 80s?? The score/soundtrack is very bad.

I'm a Stephen King fan, of his books but usually not of the movie adaptations. The only ones I really like are the ones that focus more on character development, such as Shawshank Redemption or The Green Mile. One problem is that King injects some humor in his works that don't translate into film.

Thanks for mentioning The Running Man. Haven't read it and just downloaded it.
As for the movie, I think even now lights come on automatically (not at my house, however!). Now the bread in the toaster? That might take a while.

I prefer the Alfred Hitchcock movies when I want "horror" or mystery. One of my very favorite movies is Rear Window. James Stewart and Grace Kelly have such a wonderful chemistry, and Thelma Ritter provides some hilarious "gallows humor."

Have you seen movies that were set in the old CCCP? One movie that I liked was White Nights. Had some great dancing.

And sad to hear of Anton Yelchin's freak death yesterday. So young, and so full of potential. :-(

When it comes to Stephen King adaptations, I really like Pet Sematary.  The fact the King helped with the screenplay helped. 

The acting is a little hammy at times, but I think it's a really underappreciated horror movie.

That's bad news.

Yes, "Rear Window" is my favorite. Thelma Ritter was very funny.

Hitchcock made movie "Topaz" where KGB agent runs with wife & daughter from bad guys & flies to NY.

I'm a fan of Creepshow.

I've never seen Rose Red.  But I also like the adaptations of The Shining, Graveyard Shift, The Mist, Stand By Me, and The Dead Zone. 

In all honesty, I never really understood the hype that Children of the Corn gets.  Sure, the main kid is pretty creepy, but the movie itself doesn't do much for me. 

I remember seeing one of the sequels where a demon came out of the corn and started eating people.  At one point, it grabbed the protagonist's female love interest, and you could clearly see that she turned into a doll when the thing grabbed her. 

"The Mist" is in my Top 3. "Stand by me" is among few SK movies I didn't watch. "Dead Zone" is hit or miss but better than "Kingdom Hospital" if we talk about series. I liked "Tommyknockers". Which "Shining" is your favorite? Jack Nicholson/ the 90s version?

Did you see the new films "Mercy", "Boogeyman", "A good marriage", "Big driver" etc.?

RR,

I can't say I'm familiar with those three newer ones you mentioned. 

I kinda forgot that The Shining was remade.  I prefer the Stanley Kubrick / Jack Nicholson version.  I know the other was supposedly more true to the book (although from what I remember they still took some liberties), but I think the Kubrick one is a much better movie. 

Agatha Christie novels-turned-movies will be worth checking even if it casts boring Hollywood actors with shiny expensive budget.

Movie musings of "Miss Marple.A Murder is Announced" deleted. :police: