Saturday Afternoon ITV Movies.

Chat about stuff other than Transformers.
User avatar
inflatable dalek
Posts: 24000
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 3:15 pm
Location: Kidderminster UK

Saturday Afternoon ITV Movies.

Post by inflatable dalek »

Similar to the guilty music thread, only I really didn't want to call it something along the same lines as I don't feel any more guilty about the films I like than I do the songs (yes, even The Rise of Cobra).

Instead I've named it in honour of those films that seemed to be on a loop on Saturday afternoons on ITV. Not the undisputed classics like Bond or Back to the Future III (why did that one seem to get shown so much more than the others anyway? Last time I saw the second on TV it had the strangest edit where they cut out Marty buying a Pepsi. If it was to cut out product placement it's lucky they didn't notice Mattel on the Hoverboard or half the film'd be removed), but the mildy rubbish ones you'd watch whenever they were on anyway and grew to love, and which seem to have pretty much fallen off the radar these days.

I'm talking your Short Circuit's 1 and 2, Flight of the Navigator, Biggles (I know they'll be at least one fan of this, oddly I always forget Peter Cushing is in it. Everytime it was like, "Hey, it's Peter Cushing!". I'll have forgotten again after posting this thread), that Police Academy film where the Commandant hilariously winds up doing YMCA at the gay bar that teleported all over the country and so on.

My personal favourite at the moment, based on watching the DVD this week in order to complete my Other Movies With Mr. Strickland Off Back to the Future In Them marathon (nice and simple, it's the only one. Despite changing his name and profession it's blatantly still the same character) is Masters of the Universe.

On paper it should be terrible, brought to you by the company that made Superman IV with a budget that barely covers Dolph's oil allowance. But by spending what money they did have sensibly- on a hugely impressive set to open and close the film on and some decent make up and costumes- and setting the rest of the film on Earth it winds up both being good fun and non too shoddy visually in a few places.

Plus, Skeletor is brilliant. They cast a proper actor and he takes it completely seriously, knowing exactly when to play it camp and when to be deadly sinister ("Tell me of the loneliness of good He-Man, is it equal to the lonliess of evil?"). It's genuinely one of the greatest big action film baddy performances of all time. And Evil-Lyn comes close to giving him a run for him money, love her arch little raised eyebrow when Skeletor becomes a God.

I'd still like to know who that woman who hooks up with Strickland is at the end though, she comes from nowhere, has no lines, and does something to persuade him to spend the rest of him life on an alien planet in about three seconds.

So, what are your favourite silly/daft/nonsense/comfort food films? Don't worry, despite the specific nature of the thread title they don't have to have been on ITV on a Saturday afternoon at any point.
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
User avatar
Sades
Posts: 9483
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2001 5:00 am
Location: I APOLOGISE IN ADVANCE

Post by Sades »

Kung Fu Hustle. It's such a fun film, I love the flow of it and the little references to other films always gets a chuckle out of me.
This is my signature. My wasted space. My little corner. You can't have it. It's mine. I can write whatever I want. And I have!
User avatar
Notabot
Posts: 2142
Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2006 4:15 am
Location: Lowden, IA

Post by Notabot »

I have to admit that I really enjoyed Dodge Ball for what it was. I wanted to watch 90 minutes of people getting hit in the face and groin, and it delivered. And, in the process, managed to deliver some genuinely funny moments as well.

One that I was expecting to be awful but actually turned out to be a very clever movie is Balls of Fury. The application of just about every martial arts movie cliche to the "sport" of ping pong was so well done. I was pleasantly surprised by this one.
User avatar
Skyquake87
Protoform
Posts: 3986
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:34 am

Post by Skyquake87 »

i caught The Mask on channel 5 over the weekend. Although toned down from the hilariously violent Dark Horse comics, it's still a great little romp. Perhaps a bit too 'clean' and shiny looking (like a lot of 1990s films), and Jim Carrey does overdo it a bit (unlike, say Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice) it's enormous fun and I do like Kellaway and Doyle the two detectives trailing Ipkiss. And Cameron Diaz is clearly having a ball, vamping it up like Jessica Rabbit.

Speaking of which, I watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit? last night, which is one of my favourite films ever. Despite the trappings of cartoon characters, there's a hard boiled detective edge to the film. Murder, blackmail, revenge, betrayal, alcoholism, love, lust and death are just a few of the rather grown up themes running throughout the film. It's greatest success is in showing the 'toons as, well...real people. Great stuff and a film that is long overdue one of those fancy special edition -look-at-this-its-great re-releases.Awesome.
User avatar
inflatable dalek
Posts: 24000
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 3:15 pm
Location: Kidderminster UK

Post by inflatable dalek »

I haven't seen it in years but I do remember enjoying The Mask a lot as a teenager, always liked the subversion of the usual Hollywood cliché over which girl he ends up with (the nice one who would normally help him realise he doesn't need to be more than himself turns out to be evil and he actually goes off with the sultry one) and the dark turn the film took towards the end. Must watch it again one of these days (though I've a feeling when it came up in conversation here recently a couple of people said it had aged badly?).

Roger Rabbit is great as well, easily beating Super Mario as a Bob Hoskins staring family film. That used to suffer terribly from TV edits as well, the bit where Doc Brown kills the shoe was basically rendered nonsense. Though the worst edit of a film I've ever seen is the end of Ghostbusters 2, which removed the whole Ray getting taken over thing meaning it looks as if a great deal of gunge suddenly appears on him for no reason.

Watched Independence Day last week on Blu Ray, really enjoyed it as always. Possibly the silliest movie ever made, but also one of the more fun. Gotta love people who completely miss the point of that speech as well. The President says everyone's coming together to fight as one planet, but because he uses the words "July 4th" far to many dim witted reviewers take it as some pro American evil propaganda.
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
User avatar
Thunderwave
Protoform
Posts: 771
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2009 8:48 pm
Location: Upstate, NY

Post by Thunderwave »

I threw in one of my "so bad/cheesy it's good" movies the other day and watched The Last Dragon. If you're a fan of kung fu films I suggest it, if only for the absolute cheese factor involved. It's so obviously a product of the 80's, but that only serves to enhance the lulz and not detract from them, unlike Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

...well, okay, watch the movie for Sho'Nuff. He's probably one of the most hilariously over the top "realistic" villains in a movie ever.
User avatar
Summerhayes
Posts: 1384
Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2008 9:50 pm
Location: Nagano, Japan

Post by Summerhayes »

I also caught the Mask the other night. It was one of my favourite films as a kid. But, just as I felt when I was six years old and discovered the "fast-forward" function, I found myself desperate to skip the bits where nobody was wearing the mask.

And Short Circuit is one of my all-time favourite films.

But, so as to actually contribute something to this thread, I can't get enough of the second Bill and Ted, particularly the newspaper montage at the end.
I like bears.
User avatar
Sixswitch
Posts: 8295
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2001 5:00 am
Location: Sent to outer space, to find another happy place.
Contact:

Post by Sixswitch »

I own The Mask on DVD. And Men In Tights (which is awesome. No matter what anyone says). I'm throwing both Ace Venturas in too - despite the second being no where near as good as the first, it's still enjoyable in many places, just for the sheer idiocy.

XXX and XXX2 (The Vin Diesel/Ice Cube films, you sick freaks) are excellent fun. Both not too hot cinematically, but great switch your brain off films.

-Ss
Image
I found God. Then I lost him. He'll probably turn up down the back of the sofa someday.
"The early bird gets the worm, but the early worm is ****ed."
"I'm not oppressing you Stan, but you haven't got a womb. Where's the fetus going to gestate? You going to keep it in a box?"
User avatar
inflatable dalek
Posts: 24000
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 3:15 pm
Location: Kidderminster UK

Post by inflatable dalek »

Inner Space! Used to love that one. Mind, as a kid I actually thought it was Harrison Ford rather than Dennis Quaid in the shrunken role.
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
Cliffjumper
Posts: 32206
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2001 5:00 am

Post by Cliffjumper »

Biggles, natch. Destroyed premise? Yes. Irritating American? Yes. Cadaver Cushing? Yes. Worst song ever written on soundtrack? Yes. All won over by an awesome Biggles, serious quotability for such a minor film ("If you can fly a Sopwith Camel, you can fly anything!"/"I say... you chaps wouldn't consider surrendering, would you?") and ridiculously fathful casting of all the Johns characters at the same time the film's riding roughshod over the books.

The first three Star Wars films. The non-****ed around versions.

Short Circuit 2. By far superior - "Racso, you really piss me off!", a bigger role for Ben instead of Gutenberg, the Russian cabbie, the tactical Bonnie Tyler power-ballad/robot speedboat chase combo and an ending that wasn't blatantly made up 12 seconds before the camera rolled(yeh, like **** he made a spare version of himself from inside a helicopter in 30 ****ing seconds).

Grand Prix. Soap opera Hollywood nonsense (though just about every ludircous plot twist has been realised in the sport since the thing was made), superb onboard camera shots (on the Monza ****ing banking!), and Graham Hill doing his level best to get in every single scene.

Disney's Robin Hood. Funny, bawdy, Brian Bedford voicing Robin, Baloo playing Little John, great songs, non-annoying kid characters (the Milhouse-prototype turtle rocks).

The Eagle Has Landed - maybe the greatest film ever made. Dynamite cast, even if Caine doesn't bother acting (English-spekaing German != Cockney, Michael).

Salkind Three/Four Musketeers - basically any 1970s Lester (Royal Flash, Robin & Marian, Juggernaut) is awesome, but these are (again) full of great actors having the time of their lives. Chivalry replaced by street brawling and people bing pretty rude to each other, with hilarious results.
User avatar
inflatable dalek
Posts: 24000
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 3:15 pm
Location: Kidderminster UK

Post by inflatable dalek »

Cliffjumper wrote:
Wait, Peter Cushing is in Biggles?

More seriously, ish, as a kid who was completely unaware of the characters true history (I've a feeling it might have gotten my Dad moaning though) it seemed an OK enough film. My main memory other than the time travel stuff is a helicopter chase around the London docks (which someone will now say wasn't actually in this movie).
Short Circuit 2. By far superior
Main thing I remember about that one is him being tricked into robbing the bank, can't recall how he gets out of it though. Good to see him getting work again in Wall-E though.
Disney's Robin Hood. Funny, bawdy, Brian Bedford voicing Robin, Baloo playing Little John, great songs, non-annoying kid characters (the Milhouse-prototype turtle rocks).
"Robin Hood and Little John a-running through the forest...", pisses all over the recent Beeb and Scott versions.
Salkind Three/Four Musketeers - basically any 1970s Lester (Royal Flash, Robin & Marian, Juggernaut) is awesome, but these are (again) full of great actors having the time of their lives. Chivalry replaced by street brawling and people bing pretty rude to each other, with hilarious results.

Oh yeah, huge, huge fun. Having seen the Donner cut now I have to say Superman II is a better film for Lester's involvement as well.

I used to enjoy Mannequin a lot as well (though not Mannequin 2: Mannequin On The Move), I mean, who wouldn't want a plastic girlfriend?

Not me for sure.
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
User avatar
Skyquake87
Protoform
Posts: 3986
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:34 am

Post by Skyquake87 »

inflatable dalek wrote:I haven't seen it in years but I do remember enjoying The Mask a lot as a teenager, always liked the subversion of the usual Hollywood cliché over which girl he ends up with (the nice one who would normally help him realise he doesn't need to be more than himself turns out to be evil and he actually goes off with the sultry one) and the dark turn the film took towards the end. Must watch it again one of these days (though I've a feeling when it came up in conversation here recently a couple of people said it had aged badly?).

Roger Rabbit is great as well, easily beating Super Mario as a Bob Hoskins staring family film. That used to suffer terribly from TV edits as well, the bit where Doc Brown kills the shoe was basically rendered nonsense. Though the worst edit of a film I've ever seen is the end of Ghostbusters 2, which removed the whole Ray getting taken over thing meaning it looks as if a great deal of gunge suddenly appears on him for no reason.

Watched Independence Day last week on Blu Ray, really enjoyed it as always. Possibly the silliest movie ever made, but also one of the more fun. Gotta love people who completely miss the point of that speech as well. The President says everyone's coming together to fight as one planet, but because he uses the words "July 4th" far to many dim witted reviewers take it as some pro American evil propaganda.

Hmm. To some extent it has. A lot of '90s stuff has dated...well the fluffy stuff anyway. It's the hairdos mainly. Stuff like The Crow looks as fresh as ever. Independence Day has reminded me I saw the equally silly Demolition Man, which is fantastically silly film. I love the campy song performed by Sting ha ha haa! It should look as raw as Robocop did, but its all far too polished and perfect looking (like The Mask).
Cliffjumper
Posts: 32206
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2001 5:00 am

Post by Cliffjumper »

inflatable dalek wrote: More seriously, ish, as a kid who was completely unaware of the characters true history (I've a feeling it might have gotten my Dad moaning though) it seemed an OK enough film. My main memory other than the time travel stuff is a helicopter chase around the London docks (which someone will now say wasn't actually in this movie).
Yup... the oddest thing about the film is the near-minimum of flying planes Biggles actually does... He crashes one in his first scene, and doesn't go near one for the second half of the film, right down to hand-grenading his arch enemy from the ground...
Oh yeah, huge, huge fun. Having seen the Donner cut now I have to say Superman II is a better film for Lester's involvement as well.
He was probably the last great British director who could actually engage a large audience by being both unpretentious and intelligent, and it irritates me when people compare him unfavourably to the idiot behind the Lethal Weapon films.

I've yet to see the Donner Cut, but unless it features Ned Beatty being slit from ear to ear three seconds in and Gene Hackman being persuaded to actually act I doubt it's much of an improvement. The films fail largely down to those casting decisions, made by Donner for the first film (Hackman is a fine actor, but he can't phone it in... Ned Beatty, on the other hand, is a fat ****ing idiot - perfectly cast, but you have to wonder why someone thought "Hmmm, do we give Lex Luthor some sort of scary heavy, or a fat ****ing idiot?"). It actually sounds kinda humourless, and full of cheap shots like a Brando cameo that would never have been there, even from stock footage, if he'd been alive.

tl;dr: always preferred Lois & Clark - it was funnier, better made, had an actor playing Superman rather than someone picked largely for looking just like Superman, was very well cast, and the plots worked better over an hour.
Cliffjumper
Posts: 32206
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2001 5:00 am

Post by Cliffjumper »

Have to say, was underwhelmed by recent viewings of Ace Ventura and The Mask... A big part of why I (and everyone else in my year) liked them was because Jim Carrey was so different to pretty much anything else mainstream at the time. After a decade or so of him doing the exact same thing (the Truman Show is rubbish, seriously), it doesn't seem quite so different.
User avatar
Auntie Slag
Posts: 4859
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2001 4:00 am
Custom Title: Satisfaction guaranteed!
Location: Cambridge, UK
Contact:

Post by Auntie Slag »

Another vote here for Dodgeball. Its so utterly stupid and I love it.

I wish 'The Princess Bride' were shown more as a regular movie. I've only caught it on TV the once, but it was enough to make me buy the DVD. The greatest movie I never saw as a kid.

And in terms of modern films being repeated to death on TV, I keep finding 'The Terminal' getting shown on BBC1 or BBC2. It's oddly watchable, although I can't stand the 2D Zeta Jones, and there's some godawful moments in there, but its kinda fun like ... 'Big' is fun.

Okay, maybe not that fun.
Image

"It's not until you're an adult you appreciate how awesome a dog is. Your dreams start dying, somebody cheats on you, bankers f*** up your pension. Then you come home and that dog's looking at you and he's like, 'Dude, you're awesome!'” - Bill Burr

“I re-invented my image so many times that I'm in denial that I was originally an overweight Korean woman.” - David Bowie
User avatar
Notabot
Posts: 2142
Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2006 4:15 am
Location: Lowden, IA

Post by Notabot »

When I saw The Mask for the first time, I was so impressed and entertained by it that, as a college student, I paid for my entire family to see it with me. Granted, it was at the cheap theaters, but that's still saying a lot for a freshman in college.

Then halfway through the viewing with my family, I realized it was actually pretty awful, and I probably shouldn't have brought my family and my act of generosity was going to be overshadowed by the agony of their having to pretend they liked the movie. Live and learn.
User avatar
inflatable dalek
Posts: 24000
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 3:15 pm
Location: Kidderminster UK

Post by inflatable dalek »

Cliffjumper wrote: I've yet to see the Donner Cut, but unless it features Ned Beatty being slit from ear to ear three seconds in and Gene Hackman being persuaded to actually act I doubt it's much of an improvement. The films fail largely down to those casting decisions, made by Donner for the first film (Hackman is a fine actor, but he can't phone it in... Ned Beatty, on the other hand, is a fat ****ing idiot - perfectly cast, but you have to wonder why someone thought "Hmmm, do we give Lex Luthor some sort of scary heavy, or a fat ****ing idiot?"). It actually sounds kinda humourless, and full of cheap shots like a Brando cameo that would never have been there, even from stock footage, if he'd been alive.
hmm, to go on a tangent, it's probably more than a little unfair to compare the two versions of II directly as one's a finished film and the other blatantly isn't (nor has it ever claimed to be), it's more a "Here's a rough idea what we were thinking" style thing. Fascinating if you've any interest in the back story or film making in general, but pretty much impossible to watch in its own right.

What tends to get forgotten in the fuss over Lester taking over is that most of what he reshoot is stuff that Donner would have had to refilm if he'd stayed on the picture anyway thanks to the need for a new beginning and ending (thanks to the cliffhanger planned for one being replaced at the last second with the turn back time thing that was supposed to end the sequel) and Brando not playing ball meaning his already filmed stuff would have been unusable anyway (which is a shame as Clark having to metaphorically kill his father again to get his powers back is pretty much the only thing in the originally footage that's better).

The big improvements do come from the Paris opening and the shifted ending, the later in particular. The turn back time thing in the first one is a bit crap but at least he does it for the woman he loves, if it had ended the sequel Superman would have used this amazing power after he'd already beaten Zod and for real reason other than to make everyone forget his mistake. And he he still goes back and beats up the guy in the dinner even though he now never did the same to Clark and should have no idea why this random guy is attacking him (mind, everyone in the scene acts like they have a clue what's going on. I did think at first the dinner stuff was Lester material they'd had to use to cover unfilmed scenes, but no, Donner takes full credit for it on the commentary and even points out his cameo...).

Mind, the main bit Lester refilmed which he didn't need to, where he has Lois throwing herself into Niagra Falls is much better than the Donner "Chucks herself out the Daily Planet" equivalent, so I'd say he still has the edge even with the mitigating circumstances. I also don't mind Superman III at all.

Agreed on Hackman as well. Maybe because later versions of the character are more what I grew up with, but I never liked the BWAHAHAHA super villain version. The seemingly legitimate businessman Superman can't touch legally is a much more interesting character. I don't like the films take on Lois either, being completely disinterested in Clark might be mildly funny but it makes her seem shallow and unconvincing as Superman's great love when she's not time for the bloke he pretends to be most of the time.
tl;dr: always preferred Lois & Clark - it was funnier, better made, had an actor playing Superman rather than someone picked largely for looking just like Superman, was very well cast, and the plots worked better over an hour.
Yeah, it's dated but the early seasons at least are good cheesy fun. Dean Cain's never going to win an acting award but he's got charm enough to carry the role and is supported by strong actors amongst the supporting cast, it's easily my favourite Lois (especially that shot in the credits) and Perry White. Plus he's being allowed to do his own thing rather than impersonate Chris Reeve, who I think is very good personally but the obsession with amongst people working on modern Superman stuff is getting tiring. You wouldn't cast a Tom Baker lookalike as Doctor Who and shove him in a scarf, nor get a large Scottish bald man who likes to thump women to play Bond.

John Shea was brilliant as Luthor as well, knowing when to be charming, when to be sinister and exactly how much ham to throw in. A pity the show reached an impass where they couldn't really sustain having him there every week without it getting boring but didn't have any interesting villains to replace him with. After he goes it downward spirals rapidly to the point where the Tempus episodes are the only ones really worth watching. The first of which is brilliantly silly and has, for me, the greatest Superman related moment of all time (*Glasses on*"Mild mannered reporter" *Glasses off*"Super hero! Duh! Clark Kent is Superman!"). Cool Terminator gag as well and even H.G. Wells is charming more than anything.

The big problem with the last film is it tries far to hard to be like the Donner original without much charm. Routh manages to transcend some of the material he's given (and the only real shame about the reboot is he won't get the chance to show what he might have done with a good film) but is far to obviously only being directed to play it like the dead guy. It's the equiverlent of Donner going back in the 70's "Hey, I loved that old black and white show as a kid, lets make this movie exactly like that!" rather than trying to make a contempoary update.

And Routh is far too young for what the script requires, an older world weary Superman who's been in Metropolis for years and knocked up Lois before he went off. Skeletor's good value as Perry though.

All in all, be in good or bad, at least the Zac Snyder film will be trying to look as if it's made in the Teenies (are we calling this decade that? Or has someone come up with something that sounds less like an early mourning pre-schoolers show?).
Cliffjumper wrote:Have to say, was underwhelmed by recent viewings of Ace Ventura and The Mask... A big part of why I (and everyone else in my year) liked them was because Jim Carrey was so different to pretty much anything else mainstream at the time. After a decade or so of him doing the exact same thing (the Truman Show is rubbish, seriously), it doesn't seem quite so different.
Was never too keen on Ace Venturer, with The Mask he's got a more toned down persona sharing the screentime and we tend to get the Mask himself in short sharp bursts, whilst in Batman Forever he's part of a larger ensemble. As the lead in pretty much every scene he just gets a bit much.

I don't mind the Truman Show, but don't think it's as cleaver as people think and it does require some major suspension of disbelief in the set up (would a baby just sitting there really be a ratings winner in the years before he can do anything? Even with Big Brother they had points when they were awake and moving about. And why is all the traffic on a loop rather than just having the drivers go around as they like naturally?).
Auntie Slag wrote: I wish 'The Princess Bride' were shown more as a regular movie. I've only caught it on TV the once, but it was enough to make me buy the DVD. The greatest movie I never saw as a kid.
I'm sure it used to be on a fair bit, but by some weird cosmic force the only bits I'd ever see would be the framing sequences with Columbo. Still don't think I've seen more than brief bits of the actual story.

EDIT: Oh, and I love Demolition Man. Much like Robocop it's a better Judge Dredd film than the one they actually made was.
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
User avatar
angloconvoy
Posts: 2793
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2000 4:00 am
Location: Ichihara, Japan

Post by angloconvoy »

Cliffjumper wrote: tl;dr: always preferred Lois & Clark - it was funnier, better made, had an actor playing Superman rather than someone picked largely for looking just like Superman, was very well cast, and the plots worked better over an hour.
I still rate the first season of that show highly. The supporting cast were great too. It suffered from the loss of a few and recasting of others from then on, though. That said, it was still good entertainment most of the way through.


As for movies, most of the ones I'd mention have been brought up already, but I'll add the old Clash of the Titans, Jason and the Argonauts, and (to an admittedly lesser extent) Sinbad movies, which were staples of my ITV Saturday through childhood.
And I remember when Empire Strikes Back was on around Christmas, probably just because it opens on Hoth.
Ooh, also splash, mannequin, weird science, freaky friday, big, Vice Versa (ok so those last 3 were basically the same movie), the great escape.
User avatar
inflatable dalek
Posts: 24000
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 3:15 pm
Location: Kidderminster UK

Post by inflatable dalek »

Ohhhhh and another thing that always amazed me about Lois and Clark (and I'm really going off on a tangent here): It, Due South, BUGS and even Crime Traveller were all (at least mildly) fantasy family shows that did exceptionally well in a early evening Saturday night slot. And it still took the beeb a decade to bring Doctor Who back. And when it did the same they feined surprise and were all "No shows done this since the 70's!".

IIRC they were even planning to only show half the first season of The New Adventures of Superman (to run the same length a Noel?) but it did so well they did it all in one go instead. Which is nice, because as Anglo says, that first year does work really well, and it builds up nicely to that really well done final two parter in a way that feels very much more like a show made ten years later rather than in the more episodic early 90's.
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
Cliffjumper
Posts: 32206
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2001 5:00 am

Post by Cliffjumper »

inflatable dalek wrote:I don't mind the Truman Show, but don't think it's as cleaver as people think and it does require some major suspension of disbelief in the set up (would a baby just sitting there really be a ratings winner in the years before he can do anything? Even with Big Brother they had points when they were awake and moving about. And why is all the traffic on a loop rather than just having the drivers go around as they like naturally?).
Yeh, my first problem is there's no way the Truman Show within the film would be successful... Especially as he has such a normal life. I mean, the edited highlights might have made a diverting docu-soap, but for 99% upwards of Truman's life, nothing whatsoever happens to him - something brought home by the film really hammering in how routine his everyday life is. His father died a while ago, but now he lives in a town with his girlfriend, watches old TV shows, works his job and does nothing spectacular. That isn't going to have an audience of tens of millions...

Secondly, as you say, Truman has to be an idiot to not notice something weird, and bits like when he pulls out and a bunch of cars pull out and block him are downright stupid - nice Prisoner-style visual, complete nonsense seeing as they're still trying to convince him he's just a normal guy.

Thirdly, everything goes wrong just because there's a film - there's no reason why they should suddenly start making mistakes and he should suddenly start getting suspicious other than it'd be a pretty boring two hours if he didn't.

Fourthly, both Carrey and Ed Harris are God-awful... I'd say it's not Harris' fault given the dreadful "HEY AREN'T I A SUBTLE METAPHOR?" character, but I fail to remember his family being held hostage and him being forced into the role.

The basic concept isn't too bad, and bits like the boat hitting the sky are pretty good, but the script stinks, the conceit of the thing stinks, the casting stinks...
Post Reply