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#41
Bad Movies / Re: Horror movies you always w...
Last post by claws - February 13, 2026, 09:58:17 AMThere are a few new ones I still need to see. As for always wanted to see, I pretty much seen them all.
#42
Off Topic Discussion / Re: Random Statements About So...
Last post by claws - February 13, 2026, 09:55:00 AMFrom 2 days ago
QuoteDisney Loses $170 Million On 'Snow White' As Studio Reveals Movie Blew Its Budget
#43
Good Movies / Re: Recent Viewings, Part 2
Last post by M.10rda - February 13, 2026, 09:50:29 AMTHE PHOENICIAN SCHEME (2025):
This is my first Wes Anderson in quite a while, which is no slight against Anderson. I haven't watched any new Coens or Hartleys in the last decade or longer, either (or Miikes, of which there surely have been two dozen or more). Basically I watch nothing new anymore unless Madame 10rda suggests it, so I thank her for this one. I gather the critical response was muted and PHOENICIAN SCHEME rec'd no major Award nominations (Anderson usually does well in this dept) but for all its glibness, vagueness, and equivocality, I quite enjoyed it and actually it might be my third favorite Anderson (of the old ones) after RUSHMORE and LIFE AQUATIC.
It is very Anderson-y and thus perhaps I benefitted from a vacation. (I like it more than GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, which I liked fine and which is very similar in plot and somewhat in theme, and which did nicely w/ Oscars.) But on the other hand Anderson seems to be wearing his influences more baldly on his sleeve, which gives TPS a distinct flavor from old Andersons. The influences he's acknowledged are Bunuel and Renoir (which are clear) as well as Powell/Pressberger (which I don't see though apparently those guys are ingrained in the DNA of all white male directors). But in TPS I also see a lot more of Greenaway and Kubrick than in older Andersons; also Guy Maddin and maybe Jean-Pierre Jenuet; and most bracingly: Jodorowsky. That old maniac is inescapable in the final act, but also in Anderson's incredible application of relatively meager resources. Remember that THE HOLY MOUNTAIN cost $750,000 in early 70s dollars but looks like a hundred million onscreen. PHOENICIAN SCHEME cost $30 million, in dollars which don't go as far today as they used to, but every cent of it and then some are in the frame. (It also grossed 133% of its budget, so it performed a lot better than errr some recent films I could mention.)
On that note, I'm tempted also to read some political criticality in TPS which I've largely found absent from other Andersons. Benicio Del Toro's Zsa Zsa Korda is a gruff, graceless cypher, and initially appears spiritually hollow. He's essentially estranged from his many children (at least emotionally) and has no visible relationship to any community besides the functionaries on his payroll. Korda's closest relationships appear to be w/ a network of foreign plutocrats who are at best amused by him but most often shocked and incensed by his ignorance, recklessness, and refusal to function logically or transparently. The global community largely wishes death upon Korda, who represents to them an existential threat. Korda's stupefyingly intricate, perhaps willfully impenetrable plotting are motivated by shifting and counterintuitive motives which may be opaque even to Korda himself. That sounds like absolutely no current world leader I'm familiar with.
But, particularly unlike any such current figure I'm familiar with, Korda comes to Jesus during the course of THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME. He finds true humility and selflessness in the senseless pageantry of his campaigning. This turn of events seems especially unlikely to be reflected in similar real-world affairs (okay, impossible). But instead of seeming naive, Anderson's fantasia is one of those fabulous funhouse mirror acts that left me wishing I could keep living on Planet Anderson as the credits rolled.
5/5
This is my first Wes Anderson in quite a while, which is no slight against Anderson. I haven't watched any new Coens or Hartleys in the last decade or longer, either (or Miikes, of which there surely have been two dozen or more). Basically I watch nothing new anymore unless Madame 10rda suggests it, so I thank her for this one. I gather the critical response was muted and PHOENICIAN SCHEME rec'd no major Award nominations (Anderson usually does well in this dept) but for all its glibness, vagueness, and equivocality, I quite enjoyed it and actually it might be my third favorite Anderson (of the old ones) after RUSHMORE and LIFE AQUATIC.
It is very Anderson-y and thus perhaps I benefitted from a vacation. (I like it more than GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, which I liked fine and which is very similar in plot and somewhat in theme, and which did nicely w/ Oscars.) But on the other hand Anderson seems to be wearing his influences more baldly on his sleeve, which gives TPS a distinct flavor from old Andersons. The influences he's acknowledged are Bunuel and Renoir (which are clear) as well as Powell/Pressberger (which I don't see though apparently those guys are ingrained in the DNA of all white male directors). But in TPS I also see a lot more of Greenaway and Kubrick than in older Andersons; also Guy Maddin and maybe Jean-Pierre Jenuet; and most bracingly: Jodorowsky. That old maniac is inescapable in the final act, but also in Anderson's incredible application of relatively meager resources. Remember that THE HOLY MOUNTAIN cost $750,000 in early 70s dollars but looks like a hundred million onscreen. PHOENICIAN SCHEME cost $30 million, in dollars which don't go as far today as they used to, but every cent of it and then some are in the frame. (It also grossed 133% of its budget, so it performed a lot better than errr some recent films I could mention.)
On that note, I'm tempted also to read some political criticality in TPS which I've largely found absent from other Andersons. Benicio Del Toro's Zsa Zsa Korda is a gruff, graceless cypher, and initially appears spiritually hollow. He's essentially estranged from his many children (at least emotionally) and has no visible relationship to any community besides the functionaries on his payroll. Korda's closest relationships appear to be w/ a network of foreign plutocrats who are at best amused by him but most often shocked and incensed by his ignorance, recklessness, and refusal to function logically or transparently. The global community largely wishes death upon Korda, who represents to them an existential threat. Korda's stupefyingly intricate, perhaps willfully impenetrable plotting are motivated by shifting and counterintuitive motives which may be opaque even to Korda himself. That sounds like absolutely no current world leader I'm familiar with.
But, particularly unlike any such current figure I'm familiar with, Korda comes to Jesus during the course of THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME. He finds true humility and selflessness in the senseless pageantry of his campaigning. This turn of events seems especially unlikely to be reflected in similar real-world affairs (okay, impossible). But instead of seeming naive, Anderson's fantasia is one of those fabulous funhouse mirror acts that left me wishing I could keep living on Planet Anderson as the credits rolled.
5/5
#44
Bad Movies / Re: Horror movies you always w...
Last post by zombie no.one - February 13, 2026, 09:23:13 AMQuote from: Alex on February 13, 2026, 09:10:07 AMQuote from: zombie no.one on February 13, 2026, 07:41:37 AMit's aiight... maybe a 2nd tier slasher, for that era. surprised it never spawned a franchise. you'd assume a villain like 'Cropsy' might've had some mileage there?
I'm quite intrigued by GRIZZLY 2
And one for you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijsiJvjbHx0
wow.... 'You Tube'?... I'm bookmarking this site
thanks for that.
- last time I tried to check out this movie (prob about 3 or 4 years ago), there was some issue with the rights holder (Suzanne) going after people for even mentioning or writing about the film online... guess that situation resolved itself then.
#45
Bad Movies / Re: RECENT VIEWINGS (Bad Movie...
Last post by Rev. Powell - February 13, 2026, 09:14:17 AMBTW, definitely see BAD GIRLS GO TO HELL, although it's not really similar to PLEASE DON'T TOUCH ME. It's a roughie and Doris Wishman's most memorable film, IMO.
THE BIG BAD WOLF (1957): My second film from the "Krazee Kidz Video Party" collection.
Seven goat kids are menaced by the Big Bad Wolf, who repeatedly tries to impersonate their mother to gain entry to their flimsy home so he can eat them. A live-action cartoon, the kind of material that Tom & Jerry would have handled in 5 minutes but stretched out to almost an hour; it is quite the curiosity to see it all earnestly enacted by adults in Satanist-adjacent rubber masks, though. It's German and dubbed into English. They really commit to the runaway wheelbarrow gag, and the most expensive special effect is flour. Hard to rate but definitely worth a watch for bad movie fans. SPOILER: The Wolf eats six of the seven kids at the end, but the survivor rescues his siblings by cutting open the Wolf's belly with scissors while he sleeps. Without anesthetic!
THE BIG BAD WOLF (1957): My second film from the "Krazee Kidz Video Party" collection.
Seven goat kids are menaced by the Big Bad Wolf, who repeatedly tries to impersonate their mother to gain entry to their flimsy home so he can eat them. A live-action cartoon, the kind of material that Tom & Jerry would have handled in 5 minutes but stretched out to almost an hour; it is quite the curiosity to see it all earnestly enacted by adults in Satanist-adjacent rubber masks, though. It's German and dubbed into English. They really commit to the runaway wheelbarrow gag, and the most expensive special effect is flour. Hard to rate but definitely worth a watch for bad movie fans. SPOILER: The Wolf eats six of the seven kids at the end, but the survivor rescues his siblings by cutting open the Wolf's belly with scissors while he sleeps. Without anesthetic!
#46
Bad Movies / Re: Horror movies you always w...
Last post by Alex - February 13, 2026, 09:10:07 AMQuote from: zombie no.one on February 13, 2026, 07:41:37 AMit's aiight... maybe a 2nd tier slasher, for that era. surprised it never spawned a franchise. you'd assume a villain like 'Cropsy' might've had some mileage there?
I'm quite intrigued by GRIZZLY 2
And one for you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijsiJvjbHx0
#47
Bad Movies / Re: Horror movies you always w...
Last post by Alex - February 13, 2026, 09:08:53 AMQuote from: Trevor on February 13, 2026, 05:12:35 AMFor me, it's THE BURNING.
Always wanted to see it, never did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9qC7AhukwA
There ya go.
#49
Off Topic Discussion / Re: strange dream depository
Last post by Rev. Powell - February 13, 2026, 08:56:16 AMI was at the grocery store. I was looking for some biscuit mix and they were almost sold out. I found one bag of chili-biscuit mix, but when I looked at the directions it turned out you had to supply your own nettles, so I passed on it. Then I walked up the aisle and saw a clinic. Their mascot was a hologram of Pee Wee Herman, and I mistook it for a real person at first and tried to talk to it. Then I talked to the clerk and told them I was thinking about getting into therapy. In the dream, it never occurred to me that a grocery store therapist who used Pee Wee Herman as a mascot might not be the most professional choice.
#50
Bad Movies / Re: Generate Movie Poster with...
Last post by Rev. Powell - February 13, 2026, 08:48:10 AM