TDOS Cabin by the Lake Movie Draft - DRAFT COMPLETED

[Sluggah]

With my final pick...

I was going to let my husband choose since I’ve got nothing left I care about pre 70s that hasn’t already been selected ... but then a fellow kingsfan messaged me. So I select...

One Day of Life (1950)



Apparently it’s the mother of all melodramas. So everyone should check it out!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042396/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

 

[rosa u podne]

With my final pick...

I was going to let my husband choose since I’ve got nothing left I care about pre 70s that hasn’t already been selected ... but then a fellow kingsfan messaged me. So I select...

One Day of Life (1950)

View attachment 8231

Apparently it’s the mother of all melodramas. So everyone should check it out!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042396/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

My mother loved this movie. Actually, it was cult movie in former Yugoslavia. This film came out in 1950. A few years earlier, Croatians split between Partizan (Communists under Tito) and Ustashe (Fascists serving the Nazi occupiers) forces during World War Two. Serbs split between Partizan and Chetnik (Royalist) forces. These splits may have ended friendships and broken families. Unfortunatelly, 40 years later another round started. This was the right film for Yugoslavia at the right time. I have several other films related to split of Yugoslavia and my expirience from that time.

You can watch the movie here.

 

[Jespher]

With my 12th selection, I choose:

Serenity (2005)



IMDB Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379786/?ref_=nv_sr_2

An underrated sci-fi gem that gets better with age, I love this franchise, and this film. In the future, humans have colonized the galaxy, and terraformed many planets to spread their race across the "verse". The inner planets hold vast wealth and status, with modern technologies, and all the blessings and confines of high society. Meanwhile, the outer rim varies planet by planet from mine, to wild west level skullduggery, with gun fights, cattle rustlers, pirates, and enough honest citizens looking to make a simple life have meaning. The centerpiece of the plot hinges on the cat and mouse game between the Firefly crew, especially it's captain, and the Alliance, chiefly an assassin hell bent on returning a kidnapped weapon.

Quotes:

Spoiler

Teacher: Earth that was could no longer sustain our numbers, we were so many. We found a new solar system, dozens of planets and hundreds of moons. Each one terraformed, a process taking decades, to support human life, to be new Earths. The Central Planets formed the Alliance. Ruled by an interplanetary parliament, the Alliance was a beacon of civilization. The savage outer planets were not so enlightened and refused Alliance control. The war was devastating, but the Alliance's victory over the Independents ensured a safer universe. And now everyone can enjoy the comfort and enlightenment of our civilization.

Hoban 'Wash' Washburn: I am a leaf on the wind - watch how I soar.

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: But it ain't all buttons and charts, little albatross. You know what the first rule of flying is? Well, I suppose you do, since you already know what I'm about to say.
River Tam: I do. But I like to hear you say it.
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Love. You can learn all the math in the 'Verse, but you take a boat in the air that you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.
River Tam: Storm's getting worse.
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: We'll pass through it soon enough.

[after the hovercraft makes a crash landing in the hanger of Serenity. Simon runs to his sister]
Dr. Simon Tam: River?
River Tam: I swallowed a bug.

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: I'll take the shuttle in closer. Zoe, ship is yours. Remember, if anything happens to me, or you don't hear from me within the hour... you take this ship and you come and you rescue me.
Zoë: What? And risk my ship?
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: I mean it. It's cold out there. I don't wanna get left.

Jayne Cobb: Ain't logical. Cuttin' on his own face, rapin' and murdering - Hell, I'll kill a man in a fair fight... or if I think he's gonna start a fair fight, or if he bothers me, or if there's a woman, or if I'm gettin' paid - mostly only when I'm gettin' paid. But these Reavers... last ten years they show up like the bogeyman from stories. Eating people alive? Where's that get fun?

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: I've staked my crew's life on the theory that you're a person, actual and whole, and if I'm wrong, you'd best shoot me now...
[River cocks the gun she is pointing at Mal]
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Or we could talk more.

Young River: People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think, don't run, don't walk. We're in their homes and in their heads and we haven't the right. We're meddlesome.

Jayne Cobb: We're gonna explode? I don't wanna explode!
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Jayne, how many weapons you plan on bringing? You only got the two arms.
Jayne Cobb: I just get excitable as to choice- like to have my options open.
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: I don't plan on any shooting taking place during this job.
Jayne Cobb: Well, what you plan and what takes place ain't ever exactly been similar.
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: No grenades.
[Jayne groans]
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: No grenades!
Zoë: We crashin' again?
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Go talk to your husband. Is the mule prepped?
Zoë: Good to go sir. Just loading her up. Are those grenades?
Jayne Cobb: Cap'n doesn't want them.
Zoë: We're robbing the place, we're not occupying it.

Jayne Cobb: Boy, it sure would be nice if we had some grenades, don't you think?

Dr. Simon Tam: She always did love to dance

 

[Lowenherz!]

Wow, let me just say to start, y'all pulled out the big guns this final round. This has been an impressive list of cinematic super heavyweights to wrap up the draft. Way to finish up your rosters with some exclaimation points everyone.

That said, my own last pick isn't going to be a name worthy of that lofty group. Actually, to be quite honest, it's mostly considered a failure in every measurable quality; overlooked and forgotten by audiences and critics alike.

And that's why I'm picking it now - because maybe if I spread the love a bit, we might actually get the necessary, yet highly unlikely, superior sequel it's capable of spawning.



The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - 2015

This one never really stood a chance.

A script adapted in the 90s, wallowing in production purgatory for decades, finally seeing the light of day 50 years after its source material was popular, or even really relevant. Maybe it could have pulled an Ocean's Eleven if it had stayed a Soderbergh/Clooney vehicle with the pair carrying it to box office gold on the backs of sexy cuts, a jazzy score, and charm.

But they dropped out. Tom Cruise joined, then dropped out too, signing up to do another more familiar and popular spy movie as direct competition, cementing UNCLE's fate even more. So we were left with Guy Richie crafting a quirky homage to 60s aesthetics, sanitized of any social commentary, that is a little disjointed, uneven, and literally has flashbacks to things that happened 30 seconds prior.

And ... it's fun. A lot of fun. It's completely mindless, lacks any semblance of substance, accurately described as "attractive and charismatic people being attractive and charismatic." And I just think it's awesome.

We get to see East Berlin, New York, and Rome in a technicolor idealized sixties as viewed by Richie - with a cast of characters I find exceedingly easy to watch and root for.

I want a sequel. I want Richie to work out the kinks, put together a script that brings us to maybe hyper-stylized 60s London, Moscow, and San Francisco, and watch the team of Henry Carvill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, and yes, Hugh Grant thwarting the machinations of underground Nazis and unusually evil blonde women with non-descript evil plans or whatever.

Gives us a sequel Guy. Please.

There's a non-zero chance you have the makings of a cult on your hands.

 

[foxfire]

With my 12th pick, I choose:

Dumb and Dumber (1994)



https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109686/

I select Dumb and Dumber because of its rewatchability! Oh look frost...

 

[rosa u podne]

The last pick of the draft is another movie from my favorit director:

Amadeus (1984)



https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086879/?ref_=nmbio_mbio

Forman returns to the mental hospital to tell the true story about mediocrity and jelousy to extraordinaire.

Sent message to VF21.

 

[VF21]

Wow. What a great 12 rounds. So many fantastic movies and some I've never heard of but definitely plan to look into. I don't know about anyone else, but these last few rounds were tortuous. I wanted to pick films I could truly watch over and over again - and quite frankly, I was surprised to figure out just how many of those there actually are. At the end of the day, however, I faced a conundrum. I had to pick one movie over another that I really, really, really wanted in my cabin - and it's haunted me since I posted my 12th pick.

There's some benefit to being the commissioner of something like this. I can bend the rules. Since I've enjoyed this so much, and since I'm curious to see what you guys will do if you're given ONE MORE PICK, I'm declaring a BAKER'S DOZEN round. Yep, that means each of us gets one more pick. One last chance to fill our our cabin collection!

I have one other request. Bajaden really wanted to participate in this draft but was gone for the start of it. I'd like to offer him the opportunity to make the JOKER PICK for the final round.

Have fun and make the best of your bonus pick.

PM sent to Warhawk.

 

[HndsmCelt]

With my 12th selection, I choose:

Serenity (2005)

View attachment 8235

IMDB Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379786/?ref_=nv_sr_2

An underrated sci-fi gem that gets better with age, I love this franchise, and this film. In the future, humans have colonized the galaxy, and terraformed many planets to spread their race across the "verse". The inner planets hold vast wealth and status, with modern technologies, and all the blessings and confines of high society. Meanwhile, the outer rim varies planet by planet from mine, to wild west level skullduggery, with gun fights, cattle rustlers, pirates, and enough honest citizens looking to make a simple life have meaning. The centerpiece of the plot hinges on the cat and mouse game between the Firefly crew, especially it's captain, and the Alliance, chiefly an assassin hell bent on returning a kidnapped weapon.

Firefly was the best show in the verse!

 

[Warhawk]

With my 12th selection, I choose:

Serenity (2005)

View attachment 8235

IMDB Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379786/?ref_=nv_sr_2

An underrated sci-fi gem that gets better with age, I love this franchise, and this film. In the future, humans have colonized the galaxy, and terraformed many planets to spread their race across the "verse". The inner planets hold vast wealth and status, with modern technologies, and all the blessings and confines of high society. Meanwhile, the outer rim varies planet by planet from mine, to wild west level skullduggery, with gun fights, cattle rustlers, pirates, and enough honest citizens looking to make a simple life have meaning. The centerpiece of the plot hinges on the cat and mouse game between the Firefly crew, especially it's captain, and the Alliance, chiefly an assassin hell bent on returning a kidnapped weapon.

Excellent show - and Serenity is a great pick. I was actually considering it with my last couple of picks as well.

 

[Warhawk]

Baker's Dozen pick - I've still got a whole slew of movies I'd like to take (I think a post-draft list of favorites still on the board might be fun to include!) and with a bonus pick I'm not sure which way to go. Maybe something action-y, funny, swash-buckle-y, and all around entertaining!

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl - 2003

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0325980/



IMHO, the first Pirates movie is the best - fresh, original, and not as silly as those that followed. Johnny Depp in possibly my favorite role of his having the time of his life. The cast is well put together and this movie is just plain fun to watch. One of those that if you run across it playing somewhere you just can't help but watch.

 

[VF21]

Harvey - 1950

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042546/

I really didn't want to leave this movie out of my cabin. Jimmy Stewart is one of my all-time favorite actors and this film is a wonderful complement to Rear Window as the ultimate examples of Stewart's range and talents.

Elwood P. Dowd is a gentle soul. He lives with his sister and niece...and a 6'3" rabbit named Harvey that only Dowd can see. Dowd and Harvey are becoming too much for his sister to bear so she decides to get Dowd committed to an asylum. How Dowd survives and wins over his detractors is heart-warming and humorous, with a bit of a message cleverly hidden about not judging people just because they're different.







I remember watching this film with my dad. I can still hear Dad's laugh - and that alone makes this movie something I definitely must have in my cabin.

PM sent to HndsmCelt

 

[Sluggah]

It’d be interesting to know what everyone’s actual top 12 would be if movies hadn’t been already taken.

 

[Sluggah]

Wait. We’re still goin?

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Wait. We’re still goin?

SURPRISE BONUS PICK!!!

(It's OK, rules are a bit fungible here.)

 

[VF21]

Wait. We’re still goin?

See post #457.

 

[Warhawk]

Harvey - 1950

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042546/

I really didn't want to leave this movie out of my cabin. Jimmy Stewart is one of my all-time favorite actors and this film is a wonderful complement to Rear Window as the ultimate examples of Stewart's range and talents.

Elwood P. Dowd is a gentle soul. He lives with his sister and niece...and a 6'3" rabbit named Harvey that only Dowd can see. Dowd and Harvey are becoming too much for his sister to bear so she decides to get Dowd committed to an asylum. How Dowd survives and wins over his detractors is heart-warming and humorous, with a bit of a message cleverly hidden about not judging people just because they're different.

View attachment 8245 View attachment 8246

View attachment 8247

View attachment 8248

I remember watching this film with my dad. I can still hear Dad's laugh - and that alone makes this movie something I definitely must have in my cabin.

PM sent to HndsmCelt

This is actually one of my dad's favorite movies as well.

 

[HndsmCelt]

I was so glad to see the Bonus Pick! I had always assumed someone else would take Sunset Boulevard and had planned to end with a different film. In fact, I have a short list of Honorable Mentions I plan to post, but one of my favorite films of all time stands out. My second pick was Orson Wells Citizen Kane which is universally considered a masterpiece and of course Wells finest film, it was also of course his first film and so my Bonus Pick brings my list full circle as I choose Wells final film as Writer and Director 1958’s Touch of Evil.


By now my love for Noir films should be clear to any one paying attention and this film represents a maturing of the genera. Wells set this mystery in a south west border town. The intricate plot takes the viewer back and forth over the border. A bomb placed in a car in Mexico blows up in the US and soon Mexican narcotics officer Mike Vargas, played by a young Charlton Heston, is sorting out the connections to drug traffickers on both sides. Wells himself plays Quinlan, the corrupted sheriff on the other side of the border with long ties to crime back in Mexico.

Merced’s own Janet Leigh plays the young wife of Vargas but all this talent is eclipsed by Marlena Dietrich’s Tana, a former lover of Quinlan and gypsy fortune teller. In one scene Quinlan asks her to tell his future and she replies he has none. More than just dark and mysterious Dietrich’s Tana is a prophetic guide who has peered into the darkness of souls too long to ever be fooled.


Wells brought in a crew of veteran lighting and cinematographers. It is worth watching the restored re-release to see how black and white can be made both vivid and stark. Crowded scenes and awkward angles fill the screen with Wells imposing bulk although at this point in time he had yet to become as overweight as would later become. Wells truly became larger than life in his brilliant portrayal of Quinlan serving as a symbol of power and greed left unchecked and left to fester.

I try to view Kane every year or so, but I feel compelled to watch Touch of Evil every few months. It is a fast-paced gripping story and entertaining. Although the plot has been over borrowed and the shots turned into cliché’s by dozens of copies they still feel fresh when I watch the master lay them out inviting pretenders to give it a try.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

I was so glad to see the Bonus Pick! I had always assumed someone else would take Sunset Boulevard and had planned to end with a different film. In fact, I have a short list of Honorable Mentions I plan to post, but one of my favorite films of all time stands out. My second pick was Orson Wells Citizen Kane which is universally considered a masterpiece and of course Wells finest film, it was also of course his first film and so my Bonus Pick brings my list full circle as I choose Wells final film as Writer and Director 1958’s Touch of Evil.

I love the opening crane shot - three and a half minutes of exquisite choreography. Hard to argue Welles hadn't mastered his craft.

 

[Double-K]

With the extra pick, I choose somewhat of a cult classic (even though it was remade in America later). A vampire horror thriller from freezing-cold Sweden...

Let the Right One In (2008)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797/

So you know when I said earlier that it is a vampire horror thriller? That's not completely true.

Remove the vampire elements, and this is the story of two lonely and desperate kids capable of performing dark deeds without apparent emotion. Kids washed up on the shores of despair. The young actors are powerful in draining roles. We care for them more than they care for themselves. Director Tomas Alfredson's palette is so drained of warm colors that even fresh blood is black.

You could even be able to get away with calling this a young kids coming-of-age romance drama, except it is in frozen winter scapes with dripping blood, which provide the visual motif for a morbid romance sealed with tender kisses from blood-smeared lips.

(PS: If you absolutely hate reading subtitles and can only sit through English dialogues, you can opt to (but I would not recommend) watch the American remake, Let Me In https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1228987, starring Chloë Grace Moretz. But you lost a lot of the innocent charm and naivety from every aspects of it.)

 

[rosa u podne]

View attachment 8257

This photo reminds me to the scene from another movie, if my memory does not play tricks with me.
[Edited] I mean, I do know it is photo from correct movie, it just switch on similar scene from movie I love but forgot about. I can't tell more now, because of the rules.

 

[Warhawk]

FYI, I went back and updated the picks from when I was in Alaska. You can find the additional info here:

https://community.kingsfans.com/thr...urprise-bonus-pick.69594/page-12#post-1389294

https://community.kingsfans.com/thr...urprise-bonus-pick.69594/page-11#post-1388244

https://community.kingsfans.com/thr...urprise-bonus-pick.69594/page-10#post-1386481

 

[VF21]

This photo reminds me to the scene from another movie, if my memory does not play tricks with me.
[Edited] I mean, I do know it is photo from correct movie, it just switch on similar scene from movie I love but forgot about. I can't tell more now, because of the rules.

Be sure and fill us in once the draft is over.

 

[Turgenev]

I'll go with...

Venus. 2006.



https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489327/

Light hearted choice for a bonus pick. I like Hanif Kureishi's screenplays. I like his humour. And his sensitivity.

Msg sent (a few hours after the pick...)

 

[King-Da-Yah]

I love musicals, and since I have not yet seen (Movie Not Yet Selected), and because I have quite a few recent movies I am going with an oldie but a excellentie.

Singin’ In the Rain - 1952

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045152/

PM sent to Hrd.

 

[hrdboild]

With the 7th pick of the BONUS round (199th overall)...

Romancing the Stone (1984) -- Robert Zemeckis / Action-Adventure Comedy

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088011/
​

__This was the hardest pick of the whole draft for me since there were so many different directions I could go. Staying true to the original idea of the draft, one of my goals was to include as much variety as possible while of course picking movies I like to watch over and over again. Looking at my selections so far I feel like the only big genres I'm missing are horror and comedy. The only horror film I would even consider for this list though is Alien and that went to @Sluggah in the first round so I quickly narrowed it down to comedies. If Groundhog Day was still available that would have been an easy pick as I absolutely adore that movie but @rosa u podne wisely snapped it up in the 8th round. I feel like every decade has it's distinct flavor and I'm a little sad that most of my favorite 80s movies eluded me so this was also a chance to scratch that particular itch. So that narrowed it down to about 6 movies. Clearly I also enjoy adventure movies set in exotic places so one film emerged that checked the most boxes and I'm thrilled it's still available.

___A mashup of the Action-Adventure and Romantic Comedy genres, Romancing the Stone was the right movie at the right time and it ended up being a big break for a lot of people. It was the first big hit of Robert Zemeckis' career and allowed him to finally get his Back to the Future project off the ground. It marked the beginning of Michael Douglas' career turn as a leading man at the age of 39 in the role of Indiana Jones' sleazier cousin Jack T. Colton. Screenwriter Diane Thomas improbably pitched the script and sold it to Michael Douglas while working as a waitress in Malibu. Composer Alan Silvestri was brought in late to the project as the studio wanted something more modern sounding to help distinguish from similar adventure movies being released at the time and he hasn't stopped working since with dozens of feature film credits on his resume. And of course who can forget Danny DeVito as Ralph -- finally making the jump from TV to feature films with scene-stealing gusto.

___Watching the film today it's easy to see what all the fuss was about -- it's just a ton of fun all the way through. In true 80s fashion, shut-in romance novelist Joan Wilder gets everything she dreams of and more when she's swept off to the jungles of Columbia to exchange a treasure map for her kidnapped sister. Seeing Kathleen Turner play out her character's transformation from selfish, insecure, and out of her element to the brash, confident and mature woman she becomes is one of the chief joys of the film. Indeed it's hard to beat the 1980s for pure escapist joy -- the characters in these movies manage to solve their personal problems and often luck into huge sums of money along the way. There's none of the cynicism of the 1990s where characters generally had to choose one or the other (and often chose poorly) or the apocalyptic fatalism which has increasingly crept into the first two decades of the 2000s. We're sliding down hillsides, swinging from vines, driving cars off waterfalls and it all works out in the end (plus the sailboat!). So what if it's fiction, that's a recipe for a good time!

___It's been fun sharing some of my favorite movies with all of you! I don't really want this to end but this feels like a fitting capstone. It's a movie I fondly remember watching with my family on VHS as a kid along with all the big trilogies every 80s kid can quote from memory (including one that still hasn't made an appearance in this draft and was very hard for me to pass over here -- but with 9 picks left there's still a chance it'll get some shine). Watching this then I mostly appreciated the stunts, the gags, and the one-liners but I think I appreciate it even more now. What a great setup for a story! This is a frustrated writer writing about a frustrated writer who finally gets to go out in the world and experience the adventure and romance she's made her living conjuring up in her head but hiding from in her personal life. Ultimately she discovers that the real thing is so much better than sitting behind a typewriter. This is a middle-age coming of age story and its themes have only become more relevant over the past 34 years. We all could stand to spend more time away from our keyboards out experiencing the world itself.

____I suspect these glossy high-concept 80s blockbusters probably had a bigger influence on me than I would care to admit. I hate to sound like a grump but before Netflix and YouTube and even the internet itself as a place you could go for entertainment we would greedily soak up these little windows into the world which existed beyond where our bikes could take us and then we'd go outside and pretend we were the characters in the stories. I can't help but sigh when I look back on where this trajectory has taken us. Almost every week there's a new show or movie attempting to package this nostalgia and sell it back to us. It's not the superficial trappings of the pre-internet, pre-cellphone era that I miss though. Maybe this was just the naivete of youth but there was such an eagerness to experience new things then, to take in each new story on its own terms and allow it to introduce us to new characters and worlds. Is it really too much to ask for a mix of original stories amidst all the spin-offs, expanded universes, prequels, and reboots? And I don't just mean little character studies though those can be fun too-- I mean big stories that take chances, that take us places and show us glimpses of the world that spark our imagination. Maybe even movies which encourage us to leave the comfort of our air-conditioned rooms and movie theaters and get out in the world instead of encouraging us to slavishly return for whatever episode comes next. </rant>

Musical Choice: Alan Silvestri -- Main Titles and Struggling for the Stone

[PM sent to @whitechocolate]

 

[whitechocolate]

House (1977), Nobuhiko Ôbayashi​

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076162/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3
​

I know what my next six picks would be if there were six more rounds, but choosing one film to end the draft on is a tough decision. I could maintain my list's personality with a poignant classic, or the unique beauty of the silent era, but I'm going to pick a bit of an oddball. 1977's House is the intersection of a horror movie, a children's cartoon, a carnival, and an acid trip. It bombards the viewer with these characteristics along with a never ending string of cheap special effects. In a way it's a love letter to the special effects that movie's have utilized up until its creation. The film fully embraces the limitations of these effects and fits them right in with the film's personality. However, in between the craziness, Nobuhiko Ôbayashi sprinkles in touches of classically beautiful direction. So if you're feeling brave, and maybe a little bit quirky, enter House.

 

[R2D2]

Departures (2008), Yōjirō Takita



https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1069238/


The opening scenes of Departures give no hint of what direction the film will take. It begins as a narrative about a couple in financial crisis: A man comes home and informs his wife he lost his job as a cellist right after he purchased a new cello, paying far more than they could afford. Spectators have no way of knowing, and indeed neither do they, that this is the beginning of a journey of profound growth and discovery, brought about through the instrument of death.

The Japanese cinema reserves a special place for death (respecting the rules of this draft I will not name them). There is mourning, but not hopeless grief. The mourning is channelled into ritual which provides comfort. There is no great focus on an afterlife. Attention centres on the survivors and on the meaning of the life that has just ended.

This film is not a stylistic breakthrough or a bold artistic statement. But it is rare because it is so well-made. The universal reason people attend movies is in the hopes of being told an absorbing story that will move them. Departures does just that. It brings four main characters onstage. We know and understand them. We care about them. They are involved in an enterprise we probably knew nothing about. It touches on death, a subject of general fascination. It doesn't drag its feet and bewail fate, but even permits itself some laughter, which is never out of tone. It functions flawlessly.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Departures (2008), Yōjirō Takita

View attachment 8281

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1069238/

This is a great movie.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Ready Player One, 2018, Steven Spielberg

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1677720/

For my second final pick in the draft, I decided to go a bit of a different route. I really don't have any "popcorn" movies in my cabin - I suppose Back to the Future would count but aside from that I'm looking at a lot of either straight comedies or more introspective stuff. Here's a movie that can make you sit back and just enjoy the CGI and the endless '80s references - but on top of that it's actually got a pretty great story.

The idea here is that in 2045 nearly all of the world's entertainment time is spent in a VR spinoff of the web called The Oasis. When the 1980s-obsessed creator of the Oasis dies without an heir, it turns out he has put together a contest - he has hidden three "Easter Eggs" within, and the first person to discover all three will inherit control of the entire thing. There are two basic factions vying to win the contest - there are the independent folks like our heroes Parzival, Art3mis, and Aech, and there are the megacorp conglomerate of "the Sixers" - and their intentions for The Oasis couldn't be different. Of course it's a happy ending story, with the little guys winning because the heavily-advantaged Sixers are blinded by their impure intentions, but that's pretty obvious going in.

One of my favorite things about Ready Player One is that it strays perhaps as far as I've ever seen from the book it was based on without losing an ounce of the actual spirit of the original. The book is a dense interplay of references, jokes, and elaborate challenges to find the Easter Eggs, and it's almost entirely unfilmable. The result here is the same characters, the same setup, the same story arc, the same feel, but literally all the details are completely different. I think it works largely because Spielberg brought on Ernest Cline, the writer of the novel, to co-write the screenplay. It's as if Cline himself took his basic story, and just started all over, writing it as if it were going it be filmed this time.

OK, who brought the popcorn?

 

[Telemachus]

I love musicals, and since I have not yet seen (Movie Not Yet Selected), and because I have quite a few recent movies I am going with an oldie but a excellentie.

Singin’ In the Rain - 1952

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045152/

PM sent to Hrd.

I watched this movie way too many times growing up. So all I have to say is:

Moses supposes his toes are roses
But Moses supposes erroneously
Now Moses he knows his toes aren't roses
As Moses supposes his toes to be