What Movie Did You Just Watch? (Now Enhanced with FastPlay!)

[AwallaceUNC]

It seems to me that the "What Disney Movie Movie Did You Just Watch?" thread in General Discussion is seldom-used and many have already started posting their recent Disney viewings in the "Non-Disney Movie" thread. It's probably best to have one such thread anyways, so while both are ready for a Volume 4, I think it's a good time to go ahead and merge them into one.

Last week, I saw sex, lies, and videotape - An interesting movie with an impressive cast, but far from spectacular.

Also, JFK (Director's Cut) - Really, really well done. There may have been some tampering with the facts as I understand it, but as a movie, it's extremely entertaining and well-executed. Still, the lines between film and documentary are certainly blurred here. As someone who doesn't quite buy the official line on the JFK assassination, my viewing of this was long overdue.

-Aaron

[Escapay]

The past couple days:

What's Up, Doc? - watched last night, still as funny as ever

Laura - been watching this extensively for inspiration in a short play I'm writing for a class

Chicken Little - can't get enough of the little guy.

Dirty Dancing - mainly as background noise, though I did turn my head to watch the dancing parts during "Love Man" and "Wipeout"

Escapay

[TheSequelOfDisney]

The last movies that I just watched were:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Beauty and the Beast
Bambi
Aladdin
Hercules

And today I'm going to watch:
Cinderella

[Continuum]

Life - I've seen it before, but I think Martin Lawrence is great so I'll gladly watch his movies multiple times. And with Eddie Murphy in it as well, that is double win.

[Disneykid]

Since this week is Easter week, I've been going through my Jesus DVD collection since Palm Sunday. This is what I've watched so far:

Sunday: The King of Kings (silent film by Cecil B. Demile)
Monday: King of Kings (technicolor epic by Nicholas Ray)
Tuesday: The Miracle Maker, Jesus (CBS TV movie)

Right now I'm watching Jesus Christ Superstar, which I never tire of watching (the '73 theatrical version, not the cruddy 2000 DTV one). When it's over, I'm popping in The Last Temptation of Christ. Two controversial Jesus movies in one night!

[Escapay]

Kelvin, what else is in your Jesus collection? Do you have The Greatest Story Ever Told or Mary, Mother of Jesus? I've always meant to pick up Mary Mother of Jesus, but never found the time (especially during the winter when it was at Wal-Mart for $10)

Escapay

[Disneykid]

These are the Jesus movies I've got in my collection:
The King of Kings
King of Kings
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus of Nazareth
The Last Temptation of Christ
Matthew (from The Visual Bible series)
The Miracle Maker
Jesus (CBS TV movie)
The Gospel of John
The Passion of the Christ

I plan on picking up The Greatest Story Ever Told eventually, but it's not a priority for me. While it's a solid film, I think it's too cold and distant to really have that rewatchability factor that my favorite Jesus films have. I hate how 3/4 of the movie is shot 50 feet away from the actors. In shooting the film so distantly, I find that we also become distant from the characters. Plus, Max Von Sydow's (I hope I spelled that right) Jesus is kind of odd. It also drags a lot for me. It's definitely a film issue and not a running time issue because Jesus of Nazareth (which is almost double the length) holds my attention much better. In terms of epic Jesus movies, I much prefer Nicholas Ray's King of Kings from 1961.

Mary, Mother of Jesus was kind of bland to me. Pernilla August was an awesome Mary, and Christian Bale was nice enough as Jesus, but for some reason the movie didn't really stick with me. The beginning with the Nativity was interesting, the middle with Jesus' ministry was too glossed over, and the end gets two different reactions from me. The Passion was done excellently, but the Resurrection was pathetic, I thought. Whenever it airs on TV, I make an effort to watch it, but I'm not really making an effort to own it.

[Karushifa]

I watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit when it was on TV a couple of nights ago. What a great movie, definitely one of my favorites! I especially like the part where Eddie is trying desperately to saw apart the handcuffs that he and Roger are "trapped" in, and Roger casually slips his hand out when Eddie tells him to move

I really wish they had done a sequel to that movie, using the discarded funeral sequence for Marvin Acme with an all-star cartoon crew in attendance. Sadly, I think negotiating rights to all of those different characters would be too much of a nightmare today for anyone to bother

[RyougaLolakie]

I watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit when it was on TV a couple of nights ago. What a great movie, definitely one of my favorites! I especially like the part where Eddie is trying desperately to saw apart the handcuffs that he and Roger are "trapped" in, and Roger casually slips his hand out when Eddie tells him to move

I really wish they had done a sequel to that movie, using the discarded funeral sequence for Marvin Acme with an all-star cartoon crew in attendance. Sadly, I think negotiating rights to all of those different characters would be too much of a nightmare today for anyone to bother

"Eddie Valient, you're under arrest!" - Roger Rabbit
Yes, that film is a masterpiece! God, it is one of my favorites!

About the Marvin Acme funeral sequence, I don't think it's necessary. Although, we already seen the corpse of him and I think the film doesn't need a sequel.

I may get it on DVD soon when I get some money and my VCR is getting old already.

[Escapay]

JimHillMedia had an article about the various propositions for a Roger Rabbit sequel (or prequel), but so many legal things got in the way...

The Sad Tail ... I mean "Tale" ... of the stalled Roger Rabbit sequel (reposted on January 2001)

Here's some passages, though of course, the whole article is definitely worth the read:

"Roger Rabbit II" isn't going to happen anytime soon. Though the key pieces are already in place (A script -- featuring five new Alan Menken songs -- has been written. Menken himself has agreed to serve as the film's executive producer. Master Disney animator Eric Goldberg has committed to supervising the animation of this project. Disney Feature Animation's Florida unit even had staffers working on test footage last spring), this long awaited sequel to the 1988 blockbuster stalled out again last summer.

What happened? How is it that a film like "Roger Rabbit II" -- a project that's almost guaranteed to make money -- keeps failing to get made?

Part of the problem is cost. Then there's that deal Eisner made with Spielberg. Plus all the personality conflicts involved.

(big snippety-snip here by me, mostly about the history of how RR made it to the screen)

Disney and Spielberg had created a hugely popular movie. Consumers snatched up mounds of Roger Rabbit merchandise, then clamored for more. The film won four Academy Awards. Fans screamed for a sequel.

But now -- twelve years later -- Roger languishes in limbo.

(snippety snip about the Roger Rabbig shorts and how successful they were, up to the point Disney was dictating which shorts went to which movie, until ultimately, Spielberg pulled the plugs on the shorts, including the incomplete "Hare in my Soup". Also, more snippety snip about how the first draft was changed to no longer include Nazis, among other things)

Presto Changeo! What was once a World War II comic adventure was now a Busby Berkley movie musical. Now set in New York City during the depths of the Depression, "Who Discovered Roger Rabbit?" was the story of Roger as a young toon bumbling around Broadway -- looking for his big break.

(a snippety snip with more details about the better draft of the script.)

This brings us up to 1997.

(snippety snip about Katzenberg's defection to DreamWorks, Eisner bringing in Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy in hopes of getting them to convince Spielberg to go forth with the film, and expensive animation and camera tests that led to the conclusion that the prequel would cost more to make than the amount WFRR brought in from the box office)

According to Eisner's way of thinking, $100 million was just too much to pay for a sequel for a twelve-year-old movie.

(snippety snip about Disney's past failures in sequels and how the money that would have gone to Roger Rabbit II went instead to...Pearl Harbor)

So is the Roger Rabbit sequel really dead?

(snippety snip about speculation that other live-action/animated films are coming out and their success may lead to taking an RR sequel off the shelf and doing something wtih it again)

Unless -- of course -- Steven Spielberg won't let them.

Escapay

[Karushifa]

About the Marvin Acme funeral sequence, I don't think it's necessary. Although, we already seen the corpse of him and I think the film doesn't need a sequel.

I've actually read a few details about what the sequence would have involved, and it sounded pretty funny....as funny as a funeral can be, I suppose. Popeye and Bluto as two of the pallbearers, Foghorn Leghorn delivering the eulogy, etc.

And of all the movies I've seen that weren't part of a series already, I would have minded a sequel to Roger Rabbit the least, I think. It's a great concept - 'toons among humans, and not just the PC, gunless, cigar-less 'toons, either. But I think the prime period for making another film like it has come and gone, since nowadays cartoon characters are even hotter commodities than they were in the '80s, and buying the rights to all the 'toons that were in the first film would be cost and time prohibitive.

[rexcrk]

Just yesterday I watched these (ok well my sister was watching them while I was on the computer and I would come over and watch bits and pieces)

- Beauty and the Beast
- Alice in Wonderland
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

and the day before I watched Gremlins 2.

[Enchantress]

I watched Aladdin last night, and BATB last week. Both ace movies , I'd forgotten how much I liked Aladdin!

[BrandonH]

I just watched Mission: Impossible again last night. I wish there were more action movies as smart as this one. Tom Cruise is not my favorite actor, but he does a great job playing Ethan Hunt.

[Knight42092]

I just watched The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. That's a great film.

[RyougaLolakie]

I've actually read a few details about what the sequence would have involved, and it sounded pretty funny....as funny as a funeral can be, I suppose. Popeye and Bluto as two of the pallbearers, Foghorn Leghorn delivering the eulogy, etc.

Since I didn't know that stuff let me ask you a question. Where did you get the source?

Afterall, the Roger Rabbit II project is canceled after all the fuss in the Eisener era. Oh well, another one bites the dust.

[Timon/Pumbaa fan]

About the whole Roger Rabbit 2 thing, I'm personally kinda over it not being made.

Just think of it as Roger Rabbit is one of the lucky few movies that's popular yet DOESN'T have a sequel. Though I do wish we saw more him. In another short, or another theme park attraction or in more merchandise or SOMETHING!

As for the topic, I'm currently watching Toy Story!

[Karushifa]

I've actually read a few details about what the sequence would have involved, and it sounded pretty funny....as funny as a funeral can be, I suppose. Popeye and Bluto as two of the pallbearers, Foghorn Leghorn delivering the eulogy, etc.

Since I didn't know that stuff let me ask you a question. Where did you get the source?

I got it from the book, "Mouse Under Glass," by David Koenig. One of my favorite "unoffical" (translation: objective, outside perspective) books about Disney films. It doesn't really mention the sequel in depth in its chapter on the original film, but discusses the funeral scene as a segment that was deleted from the movie (but not filmed, unfortunately) that the writers hoped to use if a sequel was ever made.

As Escapay sited, Jim Hill (www.jimhillmedia.com) has posted some insight on the doomed WFRR sequel, with some information that has come to pass since Mouse Under Glass was published. Beware though, his columns tend to be a framework of fact with a healthy dose of personal opinion.

[Karushifa]

Just think of it as Roger Rabbit is one of the lucky few movies that's popular yet DOESN'T have a sequel. Though I do wish we saw more him. In another short, or another theme park attraction or in more merchandise or SOMETHING!

Actually, more Roger Rabbit shorts would be great, especially since at this point if they can't do a sequel the right way, I'd rather them not do one at all. Although I think it's funnier when Roger is in the real world as opposed to in his "element" (with Baby Herman actually acting like a baby, etc.), perhaps they could do some sort of bizarro-world crossover (sort of like Drawn Together except not dirty) where Roger stumbles into another cartoon world, such as a superhero series or a cheesy anime show. Hey, maybe even a smarmy, preachy Nick Jr.-type show where Roger's affinity for violent gags could cause a flood of angry letters from parents, in the grand tradition of the "Bugs Bunny is turning my child into a psychopath!" lobby

Disney...you listening? Find Roger and bring him out of retirement!

[Loomis]

Watched Grave of the Fireflies this morning.

What a beautiful and heart-wrenching film! If there is ever a need for the defence to produce evidence in either the case against 'animation being for kids only' then this is the one to play. Indeed, it is also a great anti-war argument. Although not mentioned often, remember that those planes flying overhead were part of the US/Allied forces.

Now just try and picture a cute young Iraqi girl and slightly older Iraqi boy in the same position.

So relevant. So brilliant.