The Film Thugs Movie Show

The Criterion Collection is one of the few remaining reasons people have for buying actual, physical copies of movies. Personally, I would rather drop a few dollars to buy a digital copy of something on Amazon and be able to access it anywhere, at any time and never have to worry about a disk getting lost, stolen, or damaged. I have too many memories of the several hundred VHS tapes that became useless hunks of plastic one day. But for some reason, The Criterion Collection retains an old school hold on me, which is how I have a collection of 52 movies and counting (I actually have 53, but one is the Beastie Boys video collection, which is not a movie).

This week, we take our second step on our year (or so) long look at my personal collection.

Week 2:

The Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai)

Spine Number: 2

Director: Akira Kurosawa

Genre: It's the Seven Samurai. That is the genre.


Words like "master," "masterpiece," and "genius" tend to get bandied about all willy-nilly these days. There are too many instances of something or someone simply being good at something and being labeled by our hyperbolic society as one of those superlatives. That being said there are still times when those titles apply.

The following statements are inarguable FACTS!

Akira Kurosawa was both a genius and unquestioned master filmmaker.
"The Seven Samurai" is unquestionably a genius masterwork of cinema.


This is what happens when an absolute master of visual storytelling gets an amazing story and an even more amazing cast. "What is that?" you ask? You get a three hour film wherein every frame is a poster, every face is perfect at every moment, and every light and sound adds to the mood and carries you through an amazing fable that is as engaging and captivating as possible.

There is a reason this film has been remade as (at least) four different films that span genres and time periods. Make no mistake, Seven Samurai is the truth.

In addition to this masterwork, we discuss The Magnificent Seven, The Three Amigos, A Bugs Life, and (to a lesser extent) Galaxy Quest.

Next week:

Spine Number 3: The Lady Vanishes (by Alfred Hitchcock)

Also, check this out.

http://fantasymovieleague.com/
Looks like Summer Movie League has officially become Fantasy Movie League.
It looks quite fun. Here's how it works.
You have an 8 screen theater.
Every week you pick movies and have a budget/salary cap you have to stay under.
Then you compete against other theaters in your league.
It's fantasy football for movie people.

The Criterion Collection is dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions of the highest technical quality, with supplemental features that enhance the appreciation of the art of film.

That is how the Criterion Collection defines itself. Among film fans it's simply known as the top tier of video releases. Along with curating a collection of important and amazing films, Criterion has introduced many of the extra features that are now standard. The first ever commentary track was on the Criterion laserdisc release of "King Kong."

Criterion collectors take immense pride in their collections, as evidenced in our recent Criterion Collection episode.

We figured we could take it a step further. So, this week we begin our Criterion Year.

Jim has 52 movies in his Criterion collection and we decided to watch one a week (going by spine number, as any real collector would), and discuss that film and how it fits into a certain genre or movement.

Week one:

Le Grande Illusion

Spine Number: 1

Director: Jean Renoir

Genre: Prisoner of war

This movie is an undeniable masterpiece that takes a look at war (in this case World War I) from the ground level. Specifically, it focuses on the experiences of a group of POW's trying to escape a German camp. It examines the nature of war in a rapidly changing world and how the gravity and significance of such a massive event can be lost when you get down to a personal level.

Additionally, we discuss a number of other prisoner of war movies and discuss the different perspectives they give on war in general.

Next week:

Spine Number 2: The Seven Samurai

Also, check this out.

http://fantasymovieleague.com/
Looks like Summer Movie League has officially become Fantasy Movie League.
It looks quite fun. Here's how it works.
You have an 8 screen theater.
Every week you pick movies and have a budget/salary cap you have to stay under.
Then you compete against other theaters in your league.
It's fantasy football for movie people.

This week we finally decided to get down to business and talk about what we said we were going to talk about last week. In retrospect it only seems appropriate considering the topic.

Normally, filmmakers jump on the sequel train right away. If a movie performs it is always best to strike while the iron is hot, right?

Well, not always.
This week we discuss the sequels that took their sweet time. Some took a decade, some took nearly sixty years, but they all happened.
So, join us as we discuss everything from the amazing character and story driven masterpieces to the embarrassing cash grabs that ignore the point of the original so much that the word "sequel" only applies to the name.

Also, check this out.

http://fantasymovieleague.com/
Looks like Summer Movie League has officially become Fantasy Movie League.
It looks quite fun. Here's how it works.
You have an 8 screen theater.
Every week you pick movies and have a budget/salary cap you have to stay under.
Then you compete against other theaters in your league.
It's fantasy football for movie people.

Heard you missed us, we're back!

After going dark for a week, something we have only done a handful of times in 5 years, we are back and truly make a valiant attempt to discuss movie sequels that took over a decade to come out.

We tried. However, for reasons that are obvious right off the bat, we didn't so much succeed. What we did instead was just talk about what's happened in the past two weeks. There is some movie talk, but it's more free form than it's been in the past.

That being said, you'll probably like it quite a bit.

Also, check this out.

http://fantasymovieleague.com/
Looks like Summer Movie League has officially become Fantasy Movie League.
It looks quite fun. Here's how it works.
You have an 8 screen theater.
Every week you pick movies and have a budget/salary cap you have to stay under.
Then you compete against other theaters in your league.
It's fantasy football for movie people.

Improvisation is a wildly misunderstood art form. For most people it's about quickly coming up with something funny and going for the laugh. The thing is, most people aren't trained in improv and have little understanding of the subtleties of really good improvisational comedy. Going for the laugh is part of it, however... it's about building a character, creating a scene, and having a sense of trust and teamwork. Basically, it's not about YOU being funny, it's about EVERYONE being funny.

Basically, someone who can come up with some funny lines but who doesn't have the sense of purpose and character in the scene ends up throwing out anything they can think of and steal focus, ruin the flow, and ultimately destroy the scene. Yeah, they got a laugh... but nobody else did and in the end... everybody suffered because of it.

This is where Christopher Guest comes in.



As one of the creators of the "mockumentary" genre, and unquestioned masters of improvisation guest has a long and unparallelled track record of creating some of the greatest comedy masterworks in film history.

But more than that, he has gone back to the origins of theater and created a company of gifted improvisational performers who absolutely bring the house down. His ability to put together a group of people who understand timing, interpersonal dynamics, absolute dedication to character, and posses the unselfish ability to set up and pass the joke off to another performer is truly amazing.

So, join Jim and Clarkson as they discuss the career of one of the most important figures in comedy today.

Also, check this out.

http://fantasymovieleague.com/
Looks like Summer Movie League has officially become Fantasy Movie League.
It looks quite fun. Here's how it works.
You have an 8 screen theater.
Every week you pick movies and have a budget/salary cap you have to stay under.
Then you compete against other theaters in your league.
It's fantasy football for movie people.