Re:View - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Jay watches "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" for the first time and I am there for it. Or is it "here for it." What's the millennial clickbait wording? I don't remember these things. 

My review of this movie from 2012 here. I don't really have any update to it. The "infectious" line is true, it really grows on me. And I emphasize the score... more specifically, "The Ecstacy of Gold" has become one of my favorite songs in any movie.

Rad - The Bart Taylor Magazine Article

With the HD quality of the new Rad trailer, we can finally read the magazine article Cru reads about Bart Taylor:

HELL TRACK

COCHRAN, ORE.

BART,

The Man.

CAN HE BE STOPPED AT HELL TRACK?

He hasn't lost a race yet. Bart "The Man" Taylor has ripped up the pro class for the last three years. At the U.S. Open in Long Beach, California last month, Bart carted home a hefty $25,000 for the win, giving him an easy lead going into Hell Track in Cochran, Oregon, where the title of No. 1 Pro will be decided.

Of course, Bart will be the favorite to grab the glory at Hell Track, starting with the brand spankin' new '86 Corvette that goes with the pro win. His heavy pursuit of the No. 1 [place?] has given him very little free time for surfing or kicking back at his new condo right on Zuma Beach.

The blond-haired swoop master claims that his constant workout on his bike while on the road keeps him in shape for the national BMX circuit.

On and off the track, Bart's the dude to watch. No one comes close. You might remember last year's grandnational, when Taylor lapped half the pack -- that was KILLER. Also, rumor has it that he's been attempting countless swoops on this year's number one national girl and Mongoose teammate, Christian. No luck with her yet, but he's got groupies to spare. Ah, the spoils of being the best.

BMX ACTION

 A few thoughts. 

This one throwaway prop alters forever my perspective of the entire movie. Bart has been competing for 3 straight years and hasn't lost even a single race? Not even 2nd place? Every great athlete loses at least sometime. If he had merely been the best rider, I'd believe Cru could prove himself to be the superior rider but now I think that's very unlikely. Bart must have won too much, became too satisfied and lost his edge.

The other thing is: I love that they mention, in a magazine article, that Bart is hitting on Christian. If they're going out, that'd be one thing but if he's hitting on her and getting rejected, why does that make it into a magazine? And then they go the opposite direction and talk about how he's got "groupies to spare," geez. Would that really happen? Sure, it was a completely different era and I have no knowledge of BMX magazines but it seems wacky.

Never Been Kissed

"Never Been Kissed." Have you seen this movie, I mean, have you SEEN this?

I had never seen this movie. I vaguely remember when it came out and I never saw it on tv reruns or at a friend's house or anything. I recently decided to check it out since it stars Mike Stoklasa and Rich Evans.

This movie is insane. It's not of this world. It's like aliens tried to make a romantic comedy using fragments of knowledge gleaned from watching other movies, not knowing how human society actually functions. It's like the latter works of Adam Sandler if they were filled with real actors. "Adam Sandler" is probably the best way I can describe it - it's like no one in the movie acts like a real person and nothing that happens would really happen. It's like a dream.

I was completely unable to watch this movie in one sitting, which is not as bad as it sounds. See, I watched it in 10 minute increments across many days as if it was a fantastic tv series and I didn't want to run out of episodes. Many days I wouldn't watch it at all because I didn't want it to end. And 10 minutes was about all I could take at any given time before my head would explode. Nothing in this movie made sense to me and I was completely entertained.

I wanted to know, is it just me, was I in a weird mood, is it just the era of the 90s? I mean, I don't remember specifically, but I remember this being a standard 90s movie. If I watched "Edtv" or "Miss Congeniality" will they all be like this? I'm almost afraid to find out. What did Roger Ebert say? Roger Ebert gave this a positive review! I'm so lost.

There isn't a "How Did This Get Made" episode about this movie but there needs to be.

Can't Stop, Won't Stop, EhEh EhEh

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop (2011)

In Conan mythology the most important period is the murky, uncertain confusion after "The Tonight Show" ended and "Conan" began. Like European history between WWI and WWII it overlaps the aftermath of one cataclysmic event with the build up towards another. It's also the period of which we know least about, as Conan was legally prohibited from appearing on television. It came as quite a shock, then, to learn that despite the TV ban, cameras were rolling the whole time.

"Conan Can't Stop" is a new "fly on the wall" documentary that shows us exactly this sliver of time. As it begins, Conan is still reeling from losing "The Tonight Show" whilst preparing to go on a 2 month, 30 city tour of live venues. We get to go inside his life, inside his home and inside his mind. "I AM angry", Conan says, contradicting most of what he's said publicly, "I'm REALLY angry at times. I'm trying not to be but I'm really, really angry about - and I just have to be honest - I'm really angry about the way I was treated..." A few minutes later we get to witness Conan as he discovers the power of social media. Conan is shown sending a single tweet about his tour and within minutes he's informed that many cities have already sold out.

This first half hour is documentary gold. It's everything you want, and more - a real insight into the man and the events. It's also very funny. It's often been said (ok, by me) that the funniest parts of Conan's talk show(s) are not the monologue, the guests, the written bits, etc. The funniest thing Conan can do is film a remote where he goes some place and reacts spontaneously with real people. In this sense, the documentary is kind of a marathon-length film chunk of just that. It's high-octane Conan improv. Early on Conan realizes his lunch order is incorrect:

C: "I'm going to have to [fire you] over this."

Assistant: "I think the restaurant just messed up because she--"

C: "Well, either way you're losing your job over this."

Assistant: "I really, really do not want to lose my job."

C: "That's what people who lose their job say."

But as the tour gets under way and continues week after week, the film quickly devolves into the same tour documentary that we've all seen too many times. The tour is emotionally draining, the travel is exhausing, every gig runs into the next, every city is the same, he misses his family, he needs a day off but can't get one, and so on and so forth. This is the kind of material that's been retread endlessly and not with entertaining results. In fact it's shocking how closely it resembles a rockumentary. When highlights from the various performances are shown, they are too often musical performances. And not even comedic songs or parody songs, they're old rock standards. I don't really have a problem watching Conan and his band cover "Rock This Town", as such (and it's quite nice to see Conan play "The Weight"), but after the excellence of the first half hour you're very aware that the film is fully capable of so much more. It drags a bit.

To say that the documentary depicts Conan "warts and all" would be very cliched and also very true. The main element of Conan's humor off-camera, biting sarcasm, is also almost entirely absent on his show. Fans who haven't seen the "off-air" side of him may misunderstand but it's explained in the film as a safe way to release negative emotions. That's all well and good and in fact, as in the conversation above, it provides many of the funnier moments. But as Conan dances on the fine line between a sharp jab and geniuine nastiness, he's shown crossing it as well. Scenes where the TV Conan meets and greets fans, signing autographs and humbly thanking them for their support are followed by scenes of Conan (out of the public eye) pettily whining that he shouldn't have to do it. Later, one of the backup singers who is touring with him, wants him to meet her family. He happily and graciously meets them and as soon as they're gone he's outraged that his time is being wasted. I recognize that when cameras follow anyone around for a lengthy amount of time, they're going to find something bad and I don't expect him to be anything but human but it is an unpleasant glimpse - it shows him as disingenuous and self-centered.

Overall, the first half hour and the final few minutes are excellent and are enough to compensate for a weak hour in the middle. But regardless of the general quality of the film, if you're a Conan fan, it's absolutely required viewing. While there is much here which we've seen before, there is also an unequaled, unrivaled glimpse into events of which we know little. In these latter moments, we get to examine Conan O'brien, the man, up-close, uncensored and in real life. The only hitch is that sometimes, up close, you don't like everything you see.

6/10.