The Help (2011) (Greatest Movie of All-Time Podcast) - Currently on Netflix
- Listen to the podcast on Anchor, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocketcasts, and RadioPublic
Be Water - ESPN+
A look at the life of Bruce Lee, but how much of a look. First off, I'm not quite sure how this exactly registered as a "sports" documentary, but I was interested in the story of a legendary figure I was mostly unaware of until this point. Many of the major points were hit: the Green Hornet, Kung Fu movies, his early and untimely death, and Enter the Dragon. Yet, partially due to the lack of interview specific information, I never really felt like I got a sense of who he was outside of his desire to bring martial arts to the forefront of popular culture. I do know more about him, but this seemed to be clearly lacking.
The Wild Bunch - TCM
Cross another one off of the AFI 100 list. This was part of TCM's Sam Peckinpah celebration night, and highlights his flair to a tee. It's hard for me to agree that this was an unusual amount of violence given many of the movies that I have seen that came after it. Ultimately, despite some great acting by some of Hollywood heralded greatest, this was not a particularly new type, style, or plotted Western for what I'm used to. Most of the same tropes are there and comparable to Unforgiven (even if it was more than 25 years later), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, or the Magnificent Seven. All of those, I felt were better films.
Duck Soup - TCM
There is going to be a theme this week as I crossed off several of my missing movies from the AFI 100 list. This is another of those movies. I was always skeptical of the Marx Brothers comedies as I remember my dad watching them when I was younger, and thinking they weren't very funny. So I was surprised how much I enjoyed this movie. Many of the slapstick/physical gags don't work for me, but the mirrored scene is wonderful filmmaking. Moreover, Groucho's sarcastic wit is still top notch. All hail, Freedonia!
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Another AFI 100 and big surprise for me. For those that know me well, Peter Sellers, particularly for the 2-5th Pink Panthers movies, was someone I did not care for. Most physical comedy never works for me, and those movies are just layered with it. Yet, Stanley Kubrick's dark comedy about the end of the world through a series of escalatingly ridiculous decisions has such a charm to it. Sellers' ability to play three distinct characters that are unique from each other yet rich is amazing, and there are so many great parts to this movie. I can't wait til we get to it on the podcast.
My Weekly Shows:
Billions (Ep. 5.7) - Showtime
The mid-season finale. I am not sure if this was all they had filmed and completed before shutdown so we won't have anymore for awhile, but that seems to be the case. Either way, most of the action of the show seems to now dance solely around Axe Capital. However, all of the major characters seem off in space, and no longer have the same drive or motivation that they had to start the show.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Patriot Act - with Hassan Minaj - Netflix
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