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TCinLA's avatar

That's what I thought you'd say about that movie. Every time someone I know tells me about what's going on in Duh Biz, I thank my lucky stars I'm out. All the stuff I used to hate is all the stuff that goes on these days. I used to go to the movies every Friday, to see what was new. Before the Pandemic, I think I had seen a total of ten movies in a theater over the 15 years before. Sorry, I gave up comic books when I was 10 - movies for pre-pubescent boys don't interest me. Thank god for Turner and the Criterion Collection.

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Dick Montagne's avatar

When I lived in LA prior to 2005 I would often go to screenings at the DGA which I thought had the best screen in town until maybe the old cinerama reopened. I don't know who they are making movies for today but it sure isn't me. Apple released last year a film about a destroyer commander in the North Atlantic escorting convoys during WWII. They shot it in either 6K or 8K and released it in 4K, it was beautifully photographed and looked great on my home theatre but the sound sucked, maybe it was my mix, it would have never gotten off a studio lot sounding like that, I know for sure. Springsteen released a film about making a new album at his home studio with the E Street Band that was tasty and sounded very good, Too many drone shots for my taste but the B&W reminded me of the 30's and 40's when the master cinematographers were working. God help us but there really isn't much to get excited about. Oh, "The Irishman" was very good as well. I have a buddy that's been working on the TCM shows for 20 or more years, he does all of the crane moves. Robert loved his energy so much tat he made him basically un-fireable which is a trick with Turner because they eat people, I'll tell him how much you like the show, he'll like that.

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TCinLA's avatar

Yeah, Greyhound (the destroyer movie) looked good, for shooting on a tincan tied up to a dock in N'Awlins. And yes, the sound sucked here., too. My old writing mentor, Wendell Mayes, wrote "The Enemy Below," which is still the best of that kind of movie.

Lookin' forward to the Sopranos prequel in October.

Stuff for people like us is now done on streaming channels, which from what I read about the work is a step down from working for Corman, situation-wise, but like the good stuff of Corman because you get to do stories *about* something.

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Dick Montagne's avatar

Corman, considering that he ran a film factory ended up starting a lot of great careers. You are right, stories are what our lives are about and that is what the best films have always been about. I wasn't aware of the Sopranos prequel, I will want to see it, I saw every episode of the series when it was fresh out of the can. It was good but I would put it up against "Deadwood" which my old friend Walter Hill was the motivating force for, both of those shows were made for adults. If you haven't seen the Springsteen film you should, it was all about the creative process of making an album with people he hadn't worked with in years, who were all our age for the most part, and how they managed to put together 2 songs a day, with total respect for each other and mastery of their craft. It was the best thing I've seen this year, it doesn't hurt that I like his music, but it was really about the creative process.

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TCinLA's avatar

Also, I loved Deadwood. Best western ever.

As to Corman, when I look at the list of fellow graduates of the Roger Corman Film School (I even got to get one of the jackets), I'm just glad to be there on the list.

I have a very funny story about how The Terror Within got created and made (and turned into his biggest-grossing hit ever). Maybe I'll tell it sometime here and put in a link to the movie, which can be found on YouTube nowadays (I'll link the one that hasn't been cut)

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TCinLA's avatar

The Sopranos sequel is "The Many Saints of Newark". the central characters is Christopher's legendary father Dickie, its about a "war" he fights around the 1967 Newark riots. A teenage Tony Soprano is played by Gandolfini's son. First air date on HBOMax is October 1.

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