Steelbook Indy

This goes on sale tonight

25 years ago, I saw Clerks for the first time. I was at Woodstock '94, and they played an early screening of it on the 2nd night. Many had gone back to their tents to drink, smoke and spend time with their friends around campfires. My group just sat down on the field and watched it. I'd spent 2 full days of partying and listening to dozens of bands and had two more days to go. I'd never seen anything like it. It was in black and white. The acting was off. There wasn't much of a story. It was dialogue-heavy, and most of us couldn't hear a thing. In short, I hated it. I felt that my time had been wasted and wished that they'd just thrown another band out there or some locals. Fast forward a few months. A trailer for it aired in front of the VHS tape of Pulp Fiction. It was clever, funny dialogue and the soundtrack seemed great. I told my friend that I'd seen it at Woodstock '94 and didn't like it, but maybe I needed to give it a second chance. Since I worked in a video store, I brought a copy back to my friend's fraternity and we gathered a group of a dozen or more guys to watch it. I LOVED IT, and so did everyone. For the next four years, it became one of the most quoted movies among my group of friends - largely in part due to the movie quoting so many pop culture references out of their traditional context. "Salsa Sharks." "No time for love Dr. Jones." "THIRTY-SEVEN!" I'm not even supposed to be here today." Other young film makers were starting to make their mark in independent film - Tarantino, Linklater and Danny Boyle were just getting started. Borrowing a page from their book, Smith proved around the same time that Linklater and Tarantino were making their marks - that dialogue does not always need to move the plot forward. It can be clever and entertaining and help to give insight to the characters. Smith's dialogue of his character study was youthful but ahead of its time. The theme of growing up while not forgetting your youth is throughout the movie. Dante and Randal are both friend and foil to one another. On the outside, Randal is obscene and rude with a low tolerance for fools while Dante is friendly and civil. As we follow the two of them, the audience realizes that Dante's flip-flopping, whiny personality is draining and unlikeable. Randal, on the other hand, is someone that I'd want as a friend. He's brutally honest and loyal. Dante and Randal make a complete person together - and Dante's relationship with Veronica or the infamous Caitlin Bree are simply temporary while Randal is a permanent friend. I read a story of how Kevin Smith sold everything that he had and maxed out all his credit cards to make the movie. I'm glad that he did and has seen great success from it. He went on to make Chasing Amy and Dogma - which are top-notch, insightful, thought-provoking films. I give this movie a strong 9/10. It's funny, because I'd forgotten when asked on Twitter to name a movie that you hated on first viewing that you now love. My answer, at the time, was Mulholland Drive. Had I thought a little longer, I'd have said Clerks. 9/10 Stars

I don't want to give spoilers away, so I will keep this at high level. My anticipation of It, Chapter One (admittedly) was low, and I was pleasantly surprised. The opposite happened with Chapter Two. I went in with high expectations, and was let down. I mean, how couldn't I be excited. going into it? Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy and Bill Hader headline a strong cast as Bill Skarsgard returns as Pennywise. Bill Hader shined as Richie, and Bill Skarsgard stole some scenes again. James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain fell flat - which surprised me. I also was a bit disappointed at what was excluded from the book. I understood why the screenplay was reworked for Chapter One. It would have been nearly impossible to include the climatic defeat of Pennywise by the tween Loser's Club, and what they did in Chapter One worked. Chapter Two, however, felt as though the screen writers dumbed down the screenplay - and made it easy. I usually do not mind deviations from source material - if it makes sense, but Chapter Two included a deviations that took up between 45 and 60 minutes of screen time that didn't further the plot while significantly departing from King's telling. I give this 5/10 Stars weighing my score heavily on Bill Skarsgard and Bill Hader. Chastain and McAvoy were good but slipped out of their typical Oscar-caliber talent. 5/10 Stars

Need to fix this: Antichrist is what @R1s1ngs0n picked. Last Temptation of Christ

Big mail day for me.

Ordered

3 more - debating on opening these - I’ve never had a Steelbook copy of Iron Man 2 - just the Target Metal Pak.

Welcome and good luck on building your collection.

Just finished Season 3 of Jessica Jones. All in all, I have been a big fan of the MCU on Netflix. Daredevil probably was the strongest from start to finish, but Jessica Jones season 1 was amazing. 2 and 3 were good - 3 better than 2. I am very disappointed in Marvel, Netflix and Disney in that these shows will not continue. Did any of you watch these?

Awakenings - DeNiro gets to dance with Penelope Ann Miller. Up - Carl and Ellie’s beautiful life together. It’s a Beautiful Life - No man is a failure who has friends. Glory - Denzel grabs the flag on the hill that he said he wouldn’t carry. I Am Sam - The struggle to raise his daughter combined with how much he loves her. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King - “My friends, you bow to no one.” Forrest Gump - “He got a daddy named Forrest too?” Sophie’s Choice - The confession of the choice. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Joel and Clementine still end up together Dancer in the Dark - Bjork’s hopelessness

Your number 1 should be on everyone’s list.

I'll place both the men and women together, but make a top twenty. My personal favorite is in bold. These are based on how they made me feel when I watched them the first time. I did this off the top of my head - but knew my top 5 or 6 pretty easily. Love to hear your thoughts on some of these since I've not seen them posted earlier. Morgan Freeman - Shawshank Redemption/Street Smart Kate Winslet - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind/Heavenly Creatures Robert DeNiro - Raging Bull/Awakenings Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight/A Knight's Tale Ralph Finnes - Schindler's List/In Bruges Frances McDormand - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri/Fargo Daniel Day Lewis - Lincoln/My Left Foot Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice/Doubt Jimmy Stewart - It's a Wonderful Life/Rear Window Denzel Washington - Malcolm X/Glory Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There/Notes on a Scandal Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest/About Schmidt Paul Newman - The Verdict/Hud Kevin Kline - A Fish Called Wanda/In & Out Reese Witherspoon - Election/Wild Katherine Hepburn - A Philadelphia Story/On Golden Pond Ethan Hawke - Training Day/Predestination Sarah Snook - Predestination/Winchester - This one is really based on Predestination. Everyone should see Predestination. Harrison Ford - Raiders of the Lost Ark/Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Guy Pearce - Memento/L.A. Confidential

Latest buy - not a big deal though:

Early reviews are in from Venice, and they’re glowing. https://www.awardsdaily.com/2019/08/31/venice-dispatch-joker-ema/

I have officially gone 100! Yay for me.

Great call on Nolan

Have some other TV twists that you like?

Nice list!

No Skyfall?

Dead Again is a great call and probably should be on my list. Also, Predestination should be on my list - I forgot about it and I am going to edit my list. Also

Was anyone able to secure an extra copy which s/he would be willing to sell to another Maniac? I am not sure why I missed this one.

Up and coming directors that could make the list in the future are: Taika Waititi Damien Chazelle Ryan Coogler Jordan Peele Joel Edgerton

Here we go: Christopher Nolan - Inception David Fincher - Se7en Clint Eastwood - Unforgiven Coen Brothers - The Big Lebowski Steven Spielberg - Raiders of the Lost Ark Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker Ridley Scott - Blade Runner Alfred Hitchcock - Rear Window Spike Lee - Malcolm X Martin Scorsese - The Wolf of Wall Street

Nice list!

One more to go for now