What Emmanuelle Movie Did You Just Watch?

[IggytheBorg]

The Incredible Shrinking Man. I had never seen this, and haven't read the short story it's based on (but hope to rectify that soon). I liked this. It was kind of a 50's giant bug movie without the A bombs. It seemed a little short on character development, but I imagine no movie will ever do the narrative artistry of a Matheson story justice.

[Ben Thomas]

The Magic Christian

Holy shit, you guys. If you have any love at all for the excessive psychadelia of certain 60s films (Danger! Diabolik might be a good reference, tonally), you have to see this.

Firstly, the cast: Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr as a wealthy, prankster Lord and his adopted, homeless son; Spike Milligan, John Cleese, Richard Attenborough, Graham Chapman, Hattie Jacques, John Le Mesurier, Clive Dunn and - as themselves - Michael Aspel, Harry Carpenter and Alan Whicker fill out a who's who of British TV and film of the time; and bizarro Hollywood glamour is added by way of Roman Polanski as a barfly, Raquel Welch as a cross between an Amazon queen and Deja Thoris and finally, a white-faced Yul Brenner as a transvestite club singer.

In fact, that's all you really need to know. It's exactly as bonkers and tactless as it sounds, even drawing attention to its own pointlessness and obviousness at times. The plot, for what it's worth, involves the heirless Sellers adopting Starr and taking him on a series of light-hearted and increasingly chaotic experiments in finding out what people will do for money and how far they will debase themselves, leading to a third act that takes place almost entirely on a luxury liner, The Magic Christian of the title.

It's ridiculous and structurally plays like a Python movie - unsurprisingly Cleese and Chapman wrote additional material for Terry 'Dr Strangelove' Southern's script - in that it's essentially a collection of sketches, tied loosely together by the thinnest of narrative threads. There aren't too many gut laughs, but you'll often find your jaw slacking, trying to decipher quite what you are watching or pondering exactly who ever thought that Starr could share a screen with Sellers and not come off as a rank amateur. Thankfully, any time it threatens to become boring, another cameo or mentally challenged setpiece turns up.

Get your hands on it and see it. I'm shocked it isn't a wider-seen cult gem.

[Matt]

Jesus, that sounds amazing.

[IggytheBorg]

YEAH it does.

[Captain Russ]

The Wild Bunch.

I am reminded of why I am a manchild.

[Ben Thomas]

Matt, Ig - seriously. Get it done. You'll be showing this film to people for years.

[B_Metal]

The Wild Bunch.

I am reminded of why I am a manchild.

<3 <3

[Captain Russ]

Cool Hand Luke.

Newman's awesome but of course George Kennedy is the fucking showstopper. I vaguely remember seeing this as a kid but only remembered the eggs bit. Jesus christ that car washin' blonde was fiiiiiiiiit.

[B_Metal]

Cool Hand Luke.

Newman's awesome but of course George Kennedy is the fucking showstopper. I vaguely remember seeing this as a kid but only remembered the eggs bit. Jesus christ that car washin' blonde was fiiiiiiiiit.

Probably my third favorite flick of all time. Newman was just wonderful in it, along with a pretty tight supporting cast. Plus dat blonde

[Captain Russ]

I knew exactly how that chain gang felt. Agonizing. The line in Sandlot totally makes sense to me now.

[B_Metal]

She did indeed know exactly what she was doing.

[Anderson]

The Magic Christian

Holy shit, you guys. If you have any love at all for the excessive psychadelia of certain 60s films (Danger! Diabolik might be a good reference, tonally), you have to see this.

Firstly, the cast: Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr as a wealthy, prankster Lord and his adopted, homeless son; Spike Milligan, John Cleese, Richard Attenborough, Graham Chapman, Hattie Jacques, John Le Mesurier, Clive Dunn and - as themselves - Michael Aspel, Harry Carpenter and Alan Whicker fill out a who's who of British TV and film of the time; and bizarro Hollywood glamour is added by way of Roman Polanski as a barfly, Raquel Welch as a cross between an Amazon queen and Deja Thoris and finally, a white-faced Yul Brenner as a transvestite club singer.

In fact, that's all you really need to know. It's exactly as bonkers and tactless as it sounds, even drawing attention to its own pointlessness and obviousness at times. The plot, for what it's worth, involves the heirless Sellers adopting Starr and taking him on a series of light-hearted and increasingly chaotic experiments in finding out what people will do for money and how far they will debase themselves, leading to a third act that takes place almost entirely on a luxury liner, The Magic Christian of the title.

It's ridiculous and structurally plays like a Python movie - unsurprisingly Cleese and Chapman wrote additional material for Terry 'Dr Strangelove' Southern's script - in that it's essentially a collection of sketches, tied loosely together by the thinnest of narrative threads. There aren't too many gut laughs, but you'll often find your jaw slacking, trying to decipher quite what you are watching or pondering exactly who ever thought that Starr could share a screen with Sellers and not come off as a rank amateur. Thankfully, any time it threatens to become boring, another cameo or mentally challenged setpiece turns up.

Get your hands on it and see it. I'm shocked it isn't a wider-seen cult gem.

I finally got the Blu Ray. I've seen it about six times in college on film print. It is an all star outing

[Captain Russ]

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul.

Does what it says on the tin.

An elderly lady in post-WW2 Germany falls for a Moroccan immigrant. Race hate and resentment are alive and well in Fassbender's homeland, so the only thing necessary to see the decay of this coupling is time. It's incredibly depressing but like most of the director's output, punctuates his trudges through hell with melodrama. While I laughed heartily at the end of Maria Braun, the final scene here is far more consistent with the overall tone.

[Captain Russ]

To the Wonder.

I've championed Malick in the past, but this was too sloppy for even the druggiest of party bottoms. There are the makings of a decent film in the threads of Affleck's old life, the misery that can come with living in a completely alien place and the desperate connections between immigrants in crisis, but sadly there is more concern here with tonal experimentation than with anything approaching a satisfying narrative.

Upstream Color had a fraction of the budget but managed to craft a story along with its tonal experiments.

What the fuck, Terry?

[Captain Russ]

Synchedoche, New York.

The first viewing was much more somber than the second. I found much more to genuinely chuckle at and admire in the kafkaesque details of the play's construction. Tom Noonan stole the show this time out.

On this occassion, it was a pitch black comedy with some harsh fucking truth baked in.