November 2004
November 16, 2004
Bye Bye Birdie
010: Bye Bye Birdie
Movie Change!
Yes, it's true. We had to change the movie since the movie-picker can't make it. Instead, we'll be watching Bye Bye Birdie. It's still considered a classic, but it's from a different era (1951 versus 1963 -- very different in movie time).
The time and the place (7:30, Jen's house) have not changed.
Also, as a result of a suggestion from Fiona, I think that we will soon have a Cinema Ahh*Some field trip. It's definitely time we go out to the movies.
Posted by Matt J. at 3:58PM on 11/16/04 in 010: Bye Bye Birdie, Announcements | Comments (0)
November 15, 2004
Plan 9
009: Plan 9 From Outer Space
Good gravy, what to add...Plan 9 needs a disclaimer, "If you liked Ed Wood, you will most assuredly not like this movie." Plan 9 would be more excusable if people haven't over the course of decades released low low budget movies that didn't suck terribly.
A notorious dud when it came out in 1959, there's no reason for Plan 9 to age well, (besides the plot/special effects [that felt strange to write]) sci-fi pulp thrillers that would have provided a crossover audience don't exist in print on a large scale anymore. Come to think of it, there wasn't much in the way of too tight spacesuits in this film was there? Hell, flesh in Hollywood has always been cheap and plentiful. Wood didn't even get that right.
To fall short of the pulp sleaze content when this was released was more likely the reason for its ignominy than the crappy effects. All effects were crappy back then, even though some of its offenses appear truly egregious now, I'm just going to assume the gap between awesome effects and terrible effects was much slimmer in the 50's. As for the plot...
I saw this baby a long time ago, and feel it exemplifies the danger of watching a good documentary/docu-drama that was inspired by a classic (that moonlights as a dud). The danger being that you might actually watch the classic.
PS How'd you like that. 100% out of my ass.
Posted by Zack L. at 1:59PM on 11/15/04 in 009: Plan 9 From Outer Space | Comments (0)
November 10, 2004
An American in Paris
010: Bye Bye Birdie
Update: Whoops! The movie has been changed to Bye Bye Birdie. Still, feel free to read this here theoretical announcement.
[Gong! Gong!] Next week's film has been chosen! Jori has decided that the group shall be watching An American in Paris. Personally, I'm excited because we will be watching a movie that is considered a classic because of how good it is, not due to its campy crapiness. The film is considered to be one of the best "songbook" musicals of all time, and features Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron. Good choice Jori. And now, the details...
When: Thursday, November 18th at 7pm
Where: Jen's Place
RSVP:
Film: An American in Paris(1951) [Allmovie.com description]
Don't forget, if you want to join the email mailing list, where you'll get directions and announcement emails, send an email to cinema_ahhsome-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. No need to put anything in the email -- just send it and follow instructions.
Posted by Matt J. at 1:45PM on 11/10/04 in 010: Bye Bye Birdie | Comments (2)
November 08, 2004
California, here we coooome!
009: Plan 9 From Outer Space
I think knowing ahead of time that "Planet 9 From Outer Space" was full of flubs kind of ruined it. Hearing those infamous lines like "Future events such as these will affect you in the future" and seeing the same Bela Lugosi clip over and over and over were funny, but it got old kind of quickly.
So...when given the choice between Planet 9 and the O.C. premiere, I had to go with the guilty pleasure. Better luck next week!
Posted by Jori K. at 5:14PM on 11/08/04 in 009: Plan 9 From Outer Space | Comments (0)
November 07, 2004
Your Stupid, Stupid Minds!
009: Plan 9 From Outer Space
You're right Karen, this movie was not kitschy bad, it was bad bad. It was difficult to sit through, mostly because the movie moved so damn slow, and the silly mistakes were not as entertaining as they should have been. And, I'll admit, I was happy to start watching the OC, even though I was a little curious to see whether or not Plan 9 succeeded.
Despite my disappointment, I have a feeling that a couple weeks or a couple months from now someone will bring up this movie and I'll have a good chuckle thinking about solaranite or or plans one through eight. In other words, it was worth the pain of sitting through what was undeniably a crappy film so that I can trade memories with computer programmers and film nerds for years to come.
Also, IMDb's list of mistakes is possibly better than the first list I posted.
Posted by Matt J. at 12:45AM on 11/07/04 in 009: Plan 9 From Outer Space | Comments (0)
November 05, 2004
The Ninth Plan Involves Vampire Zombies
009: Plan 9 From Outer Space
Everyone always says that Ed Wood films are supposed to be BAD, that this is the crux of their charm, but I didn't really believe it until after watching last night's Cinema Ahh*some pick, Plan 9 From Outerspace. I expected kitsch. I expected hilarity. I hoped perhaps to see a little angora.
Especially, as the only person who'd seen the film before, our friend visiting from the Great Canadian North, Robbie was practically rubbing his hands together in gleeful anticipation. He even wanted to insist that we not start the movie until after the pizza arrived, as he didn't want us to miss seeing the first 30 minutes continuously.
However, even the obvious strings holding the "fly saucers" as they circled Hollywood looking for a convenient cemetary to land in or the disregard for switching from day to night shooting in the same scene, couldn't keep my interest. 30 minutes of that stilted dialogue and endless scenes (Ed, baby, learn to edit for pacing!) and I literally fell asleep. Now, I've slept in a number of movie theaters around the greater New York area and on a scale of comfy to uncomfortable, I'd say Matty's Brown Leather Side Chair is more condusive for some shut eye than the NYU classrooms, Anthology Film Archives and Film Forum but less than Walter Reade. Which I guess is a good thing to find out, in the grand scheme of things.
All in all, the best part of the evening was when we shut off the movie and turned on the Tivo-ed premier episode of the OC. I always wanted to know what Seth Cohen's middle name is, and now I do. Ezekiel has an impressive ring, don't you think? By the way, Jori has a great singing voice and she knows all the words to the "California" theme song. Now that's impressive.