Rob's comments (member since Apr 07, 2009)

Rob's comments from the Science Fiction Films group.

I remember lots of girls getting frustrated while trying to hit that extremely high note at the end of the song....

"Xana-dooo-OOOO-OOOOOOOOOOO!!"

Those themes you mention may not be particularly innovative, but they remain quite relevant.

Coming soon to dvd/Blu Ray. Can't wait.

Haha! "Like Xanadu without roller skates." Now THERE'S a recommendation.

Why is that?

I was under the impression Farrah was the leading actress in the movie but, like you, I haven't seen it since I was a kid. Guess I was wrong. I'll have to bump it up in the qeue and see for myself.

So was Farrah Fawcett in the movie or the tv series?

I couldn't really get into it either. I like the other Roeg films I've seen and I'm a huge Bowie fan (at least his music), but I ended up using the fast forward button to see Bowie as he "really" looked at the end.

I barely remember watching the tv show when I was a kid. I think Jenny Auguter was in that, wasn't she? I remember the Carousel...and that people were executed at age 30. That seemed pretty old to me back then.

Doesn't surprise me a bit.

The Independent Film Channel will be playing episodes of The Prisoner this weekend. IFC shows their stuff uncut, so maybe I'll check it out.

Alex: The Iron Maiden song is called, ironically, The Prisoner. It's on the Number of the Beast album. Good tune.

Ever since Iron Maiden used a sample of this show for their song The Prisoner, I've been a tad curious to see what it's all about.

Aren't they going to start showing the original episodes on some cable tv channel? I glanced at the tv the other day and saw a commercial involving The Prisoner in some capacity.

I've heard almost unanimously bad things about '9'. The animation looks great, but it takes more than that to make a good film. Er...right? Not interested. Unless my 6 year old makes me rent it.

I got it for Christmas. That's what happens when you just ask for "any Phillip K. Dick book" I suppose. Who knows? Maybe if I come back to it in a couple of years when I'm more familiar with his other books, I'll appreciate it more.

I wasn't being sarcastic. Tom probably WOULD like it.

It was the first PDK novel I ever read, and I guess I was excpecting something more along the lines of Ubik or Electric Sheep. The whole premise of the U.S. losing WW2 sounded great, but that didn't have much to do with the story if I remember correctly.

You didn't feel anything when the Jews hiding in the floorboards were gunned down? I mean...we don't NEED to know anything about them to feel shocked. The look on the farmer's face as he reveals where they are was all I needed.

Well...I'll agree much of the violence at the end of IB was cartoon-y. Maybe that's why it didn't bother me. We all know Hitler didn't die that way, but....I'll say it....wouldn't it have been nice if he WOULD have? Maybe I'm a symptom of the downfall of America, but I sure felt a catharsis watching Jews gun down Hitler. That won't get me anywhere near sainthood, but it's the truth.

OK...what about in Leone's Dollars trilogy? Lots of (for the time) extreme violence...but the characters themselves aren't very fleshed out at all. Especially the ones that get shot!
Does the violence in those films bother you? What about in the opening scene of The Wild Bunch? That's the first scene in the movie...the huge, bloody shoot-out. We don't know a damnn thing about the characters when that scene happens. But I, for one, thought it was so well-done cinematically that I was in awe the first time I saw it. At the time it was released, I believe there were a lot of reactions to The Wild Bunch similar to the ones you've had re: IB. At least as far as the violence was concerned.

Not being argumentative. Just picking your brain.

I hated Crap Artist with a passion. So you'll probably love it, Tom.

Outside the venue, Courtney was saying how the new cd will "blow everyone away". Not sure if he was talking about an upcoming cd or the remix that just came out. But he was very accessible and friendly. The drummer gave my wife his e-mail (he wrote it on the back of a poster!)so she could send him some of the pictures she took of the show. He then took off with a bunch of concert atendees to have a drink at a local bar. I've never seen such down-to-earth and friendly band members. Too bad I had to drive two hours away to see the show. The Melvins are playing there next week!

Neko Case is very crush-worthy.

Will do, Tom! Will do!


Alex: The Dandy Warhols show last night was great. It was in a little 600-capacity club....and nowhere near sold out. Me and the wife were front and center...she taking pics, me just enjoying. Check 'em out if they come by! Amazing. They even talked with fans outside after the show and had an autograph/photo session.

There's no way I can respond to all that with the time alloted me, so I'll just make a point or two and move on.

Well....I've seen fight scenes just like the one at the end of Kill Bill in numerous Asian films from the 70's. Aterial spray and all. But...OK. You don't like his rifing off other films, that's a perfectly valid reason. I didn't notice much of it at all in IB though. Except for the Morricone theme.

What about Private Pyle blowing his brains out on the wall in Full Metal Jacket? Jack Torrance axing Hallorann in the chest in The Shining? That scene wasn't even in the book. A purely Kubrickian plot invention. My only point is...if you're going to have a problem with violence, some consistency would help the argument hold more water when criticizing a director for the violence in his film.

Yep. Nazis=a shorthand for evil. I believe that was the point of using them. I don't think IB was about WW2 really, so it's kind of futile to compare it to films that are, like "Come and See" (which I have seen and started a thread about somewhere on the site). It's superficially a spaghetti Weestern set in Nazi-occupied France. Thus the chapter called, "Once Upon a Time In Nazi-Occupied France". But really, like his other movies..it's a film ABOUT movies. And of course IB isn't a "serious" film. None of his movies have been. But I still thought it was fairly obvious that he was relating our watching of his film IB with the Nazis watching theirs.

Yes...I'm responding to two different arguments at the same time.