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#1
Bad Movies / Re: RECENT VIEWINGS (Bad Movie...
Last post by M.10rda - Today at 10:17:14 AMSUDDEN FURY (1975):
A guy who looks like a budget Donald Sutherland or an even more punchable Jeffrey Jones loses all his money in a bad business deal and can't fathom having to tell his wife, so he takes her on a long drive in the provincial countryside where he plans to murder her and almost does in a drawn-out yet reasonably tense sequence. He spares her, though, and they keep driving around until he gets road-rage at another Sunday driver who looks like a mildly tough John Oates. Their brinksmanship escalates into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse up and down a country road, down a ravine, and all over the property of an unsuspecting farmer and his wife. That may sound promising - it's also deeply frustrating and ultimately hugely disappointing.
This was somehow nominated for the Canadian version of the Oscar for Best Picture in 1975. (I don't know what else was nominated but the winner was THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ.) Many reviews on Letterboxd consider it a lost gem. Often Badness is subjective and I admit I was riding the fence for much of the length of SUDDEN FURY. Some moments are nicely handled though a lot of the beats are perfunctory and could have been executed in far more thoughtful or effective ways. Its escalating action is a textbook Idiot Plot, in that every character behaves illogically and makes the worst possible choice at every turn in order for the plot to proceed. I realize this was probably very much by design of the writer/director, who seems at times to be gesturing to some larger statement about human fallibility and our worst primal instincts. It's even possible that the filmmaker intended SUDDEN FURY as a commentary on Vietnam, similar to 1973's CAGED TERROR aka GOLDEN APPLES OF THE SUN, also Canadian and a film that functions (or fails to function) counter-intuitively in all ways.
In SUDDEN FURY's case, though, it's impossible to tell what the first-time filmmaker was intending, which isn't a boon to their craft. (They never made another film, award nominations notwithstanding.) If you really squint at the film's final five minutes, I suppose you could see an incredibly daring and quietly profound subversion of narrative expectation and auteurial morality, like something Michael Haneke would do at the end of one of his films. But I tried to squint and I still couldn't see it and instead I just wanted to put my fist through my widescreen TV. It's a lot easier to imagine the MST3K crew moaning in torment through this very slow, taxing, sometimes clumsy movie and then getting to the end and hollering bloody murder. Sometimes even in the contest of man and steer the issue is not certain, but finally in the contest of "Underappreciated Rare Indie Gem" and "Amateurish Horse$#!t", I am confident in my finding.
1.5/5 Even the film's admirers on Letterboxd admit the ending is pretty dumb.
A guy who looks like a budget Donald Sutherland or an even more punchable Jeffrey Jones loses all his money in a bad business deal and can't fathom having to tell his wife, so he takes her on a long drive in the provincial countryside where he plans to murder her and almost does in a drawn-out yet reasonably tense sequence. He spares her, though, and they keep driving around until he gets road-rage at another Sunday driver who looks like a mildly tough John Oates. Their brinksmanship escalates into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse up and down a country road, down a ravine, and all over the property of an unsuspecting farmer and his wife. That may sound promising - it's also deeply frustrating and ultimately hugely disappointing.
This was somehow nominated for the Canadian version of the Oscar for Best Picture in 1975. (I don't know what else was nominated but the winner was THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ.) Many reviews on Letterboxd consider it a lost gem. Often Badness is subjective and I admit I was riding the fence for much of the length of SUDDEN FURY. Some moments are nicely handled though a lot of the beats are perfunctory and could have been executed in far more thoughtful or effective ways. Its escalating action is a textbook Idiot Plot, in that every character behaves illogically and makes the worst possible choice at every turn in order for the plot to proceed. I realize this was probably very much by design of the writer/director, who seems at times to be gesturing to some larger statement about human fallibility and our worst primal instincts. It's even possible that the filmmaker intended SUDDEN FURY as a commentary on Vietnam, similar to 1973's CAGED TERROR aka GOLDEN APPLES OF THE SUN, also Canadian and a film that functions (or fails to function) counter-intuitively in all ways.
In SUDDEN FURY's case, though, it's impossible to tell what the first-time filmmaker was intending, which isn't a boon to their craft. (They never made another film, award nominations notwithstanding.) If you really squint at the film's final five minutes, I suppose you could see an incredibly daring and quietly profound subversion of narrative expectation and auteurial morality, like something Michael Haneke would do at the end of one of his films. But I tried to squint and I still couldn't see it and instead I just wanted to put my fist through my widescreen TV. It's a lot easier to imagine the MST3K crew moaning in torment through this very slow, taxing, sometimes clumsy movie and then getting to the end and hollering bloody murder. Sometimes even in the contest of man and steer the issue is not certain, but finally in the contest of "Underappreciated Rare Indie Gem" and "Amateurish Horse$#!t", I am confident in my finding.
1.5/5 Even the film's admirers on Letterboxd admit the ending is pretty dumb.
#5
Games / Re: Answer the question with a...
Last post by Rev. Powell - Today at 09:30:14 AM
Is there a way to turn back the clock?
#6
Entertainment / Re: What have you been listeni...
Last post by Rev. Powell - Today at 09:03:59 AM
"Tirakat" by Ali & Charif Megarbane. Loved Charif's album from last year; this time around he collaborates with an Indonesian band on his psychedelic library music, and it might be just as good.
#7
Good Movies / Re: Recent Viewings, Part 2
Last post by Rev. Powell - Today at 08:49:49 AMSherlock Jr. (1924): A film projectionist who wants to be a detective falls asleep and imagines himself entering the movie onscreen, where he's a famous sleuth. Classic slapstick gags, inventive illusions, trick pool shots, and unwise death-defying stunts from Buster Keaton fill this charming and innovative short feature. Finally got this silent classic under my belt. 4.5/5.
#8
Off Topic Discussion / Re: YouTube have messed up aga...
Last post by Rev. Powell - Today at 08:12:47 AMI can see my comment history. Maybe they just moved it? On my YouTube page there is a pane to the left with a heading called "Subscriptions" then below that a heading called "You." Under "You" is a subsection "History." Hit that and a pane opens to the right. Go to "Manage History" then "Comments" and there they are.
#9
Off Topic Discussion / Re: YouTube have messed up aga...
Last post by zombie no.one - Today at 06:31:23 AMhuh... didn't even know you could see your own comment history 
the ads are getting beyond ridiculoid I agree... notice it's recently gone from having to wade through 2 ads before a vid to often THREE ads... generally the first ad in a sequence will be unskippable and about 20 secs long, and the next one (or two) will let you skip them after 5 seconds
what I can't stand is when you're watching a vid and some random 10 MINUTE LONG ad will come on... it'll be skippable, but if I'm lying down while just listening to a show or vid, that's mega annoying.
#first world probs
the ads are getting beyond ridiculoid I agree... notice it's recently gone from having to wade through 2 ads before a vid to often THREE ads... generally the first ad in a sequence will be unskippable and about 20 secs long, and the next one (or two) will let you skip them after 5 seconds
what I can't stand is when you're watching a vid and some random 10 MINUTE LONG ad will come on... it'll be skippable, but if I'm lying down while just listening to a show or vid, that's mega annoying.
#first world probs
#10
Off Topic Discussion / YouTube have messed up again
Last post by Trevor - Today at 12:52:23 AMNot satisfied with unstoppable ads, fake endorsements of shady products, AI generated narration with every single letter in every single word over enunciated (hell to listen to for people like me who have severe misophonia and auditory issues) and now they have gone one better: you cannot view your comment history 🥴☹️