Cinematic Distractions

[dulcedemon]

Forgive me if I talk about myself too much, here on my personal blog, where I post personal stuff. Some random jackass complained about me in a very brave subtweet. It's time for another reminder that these lists aren't movie reviews. Those who want that sort of thing should look up Ebert.
I've watched three series since the final list of 2023, but I don't have much in the way of commentary other than to say that I liked them all. Here they are in order of preference and degree of enjoyment: Miss Marvel, Loki, and Ahsoka. Actually, I watched four shows. The fourth and most recent also happens to be the best, and it will be featured on the next list. It was so good I binged it, but I want to give it another run through before I pop off at the fingertips about it. I'll be sure to make it all about me. I wouldn't want to disappoint my detractors.

Sneakers (1992):
This was such a revelation the first time I saw it, and now I own a copy. We bought ourselves the Blu-ray disc for Christmas. I don't want to throw shade on Hackers, but Sneakers is superior. Both are highly entertaining and funny, but only Sneakers goes deeper than surface.
Then again, maybe it doesn't. While Sneakers has a better balance of outrageous hijinks and serious moments, it could be that I prefer it simply because I was already kind of old when I first saw it. The same goes for Hackers. Both were new to me less than ten years ago. Though my spouse has been referencing and making jokes about both for decades.
I derive a great deal of enjoyment from its confluence of shady government characters. It makes me sentimental for someone I used to know. A Wikipedia entry about a certain botnet comes to mind. The author of it bent over backwards to avoid saying that the feds were aided by hackers. They used this outstandingly verbose phrasing to avoid the h-word: independent security researchers working in tandem with federal agents.
The awkward elegance of the bank heist scene that introduces the team cannot be overstated. That entire sequence is a thing of beauty. The part later on with the location identification by road sounds, plausible or not, I love it. Sneakers boasts an all-star cast, and so much sexy telephony.
Extras on the disc include a making of featurette, movie trailer, and commentary by writer/director Phil Alden Robinson.

Song of the Thin Man (1947):
It's easy to tell why this was the very last of the Thin Man series. Fourteen years after the original, our coupled couple of detectives are a bit shopworn, and the dialogue although peppered with slang is less zingy. The first four Thin Man films were directed by W. S. Van Dyke, who passed away in 1943. Also absent is the writing team of Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich (another coupled couple) whose gift for repartee helped make the first three films into smash hits.
That being said, I like Song of the Thin Man, and I was quite pleased to receive it as a gift. It has the usual intrigue and murder most foul, but this time it involves a gaggle of nightclub musicians and their patrons. A crash course in the hipster slang of the day provides an entertaining bonus. "Solid!"
Most of the best comedic bits go to the supporting players, except for one terrific moment of physical comedy in which William Powell jazzes a cigarette at raucous private party. This film was not the final pairing of Powell and Loy. They appeared together one last time in The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947).
Long before he was quantum leaping, Dean Stockwell got his start as a child actor. Here he plays Nick Charles Jr.. He also stars in the short film Passing Parade: A Really Important Person, which is among the special features on the DVD.
Another special feature is the cartoon Slap happy Lion (1947). While not a favorite of mine, I really like it when DVDs of old movies have cartoons. All of the elderly persons of my young life used to tell me about their moviegoing experiences (as kids). There would be a newsreel and a cartoon before the movie, and a lobby intermission halfway through the show. Those stories from my grandparents' youth about the movies they experienced in beautiful art deco theaters that were torn down before I was even born are the foundational reason why I focus on such old movies.

Splash (1984):
This is a favorite from my childhood. I wasn't planning to buy it. I had a gift card, and Splash fit the balance.
I was seven when my grandmother took me to see it at the local cinema. You never know what might shape a child's identity. Splash, and a year later, Legend had a hand, a horn, and a fin in shaping mine.
According to the interviews found in the special features, the mermaid fantasy element influenced a lot of people. Reportedly, Madison became a popular baby name for a few years after it hit theaters. I wouldn't know about that, but I did add salt to my next bath to check if I was secretly a mermaid.
It's weird the things that stay in mind over the years like how there is a Crazy Eddie commercial forever preserved in one of the department store scenes. I doubt anyone who has seen this can Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah without Mr. Mango on their shoulder. For some reason, the voiceover for the Bloomingdale's commercial that prompts Madison (Daryl Hannah) to go clothes shopping has stuck with me. Maybe it's the cadence of it. Stickier than that is this line delivered by Richard B. Shull as Dr. Ross to Eugene Levy as Walter Kornbluth, "Run along now, Walter, and see if you can't find a unicorn.".
Tom Hanks debuted in B-movie horror He Knows You're Alone (1980), but his first big break was a television series called Bosom Buddies. Had that series not been cancelled, he might not have been available for Splash. Back to weird associations that lodge in one's brain, I can't hear Billy Joel's My Life without thinking about Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari in drag.
John Candy was the number one reason my grandmother and I wanted to see Splash. I was into mermaids at that age. I had a collection of Sea Wees dolls, but I was also precocious child, and liked to stay up late watching shows like SNL and SCTV. People in the theater just about fell out of their seats laughing when Candy spoke Swedish.
Some fine comedy not to be overlooked comes courtesy of Dody Goodman as Allen Bauer's (Tom Hanks) secretary Mrs. Stimler. A voice like hers can get laughs from reading a phone book. I ought to know [clears throat]. Cool cameo appearances include Shecky Greene and Clint Howard. Rita Coolidge sings the theme tune Love Came For Me. The song featured in the Cape Cod scene is Wooly Bully by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.
I happened to purchase the 20th anniversary DVD just in time for the 40th anniversary of the film. It's rich with extras including cast and crew interviews, actor auditions, and a making of featurette. All of which are accessed through a cutesy animated menu. The interview with writer/producer Brian Grazer was both enlightening and awkward. The movie is basically about his zoomorphic fantasy girl.

Shower (Xi zao - 1999):
Initially selected as rental a few years ago, Shower immediately became my answer to complaints that the movies on my lists were all sleazy and violent. Here you have wholesome family entertainment, and all the feel-good cringe you can stand. It's practically a 'Hallmark' movie by my standard though perhaps less predictable.
After a grim miscommunication, a big city businessman returns home to visit his elderly father and intellectually disabled younger brother. His family runs an old-fashioned bathhouse in the heart of a tight-knit community. Upon realizing the misunderstanding, the elder brother immediately books a return trip to the city, his high paying job, and his impatient wife. Time and again, his departure is postponed.
The bathhouse serves as the center of daily activity for many locals. They soak, shower, gather all the latest news and gossip, play games, and indulge in massages (the rhythmic slapping and pounding kind).
All the buildings in the neighborhood are traditional style, very old, and slightly dilapidated. The sprawling city skyline with its giant skyscrapers can be seen looming in the background. The residents try to maintain their enclave as land developers creep ever closer. They gather together in the neighborhood park for what could be their last cultural celebration and talent show. A high tolerance for 'O Sole Mio is a must.
Considering when and where this was made, it portrays intellectual disability with a fair degree of sensitivity, by which I mean, the r-word appears in the subtitles only once. Certain scenes are hard to watch. There are moments not only emotionally wrenching but also tinged with ableism that might be too much for some viewers.
The DVD was a good buy on sale for thirteen dollars. There aren't many extra features. The disc has brief text bios of the three main actors and three movie previews of the dramatic, heartstring tugging variety.