blenderdumbass . org
Reviews
by Troler
Free Software fundamentally misses the point. It fails on a practical, ideological, economic, and political level. Letβs examine precisely how (in a slightly different order for the purposes of presentation).
6 Minute Read
"I like you"
β© Reply
"That's very sweet of you <...>, I like you too"
β© Reply
"I mean, I don't like many people"
β© Reply
Seldom do I eat the same food twice, reread a book or even rewatch a movie. Barely do I ever want to rewatch the movie as I am watching it. You did not misread, not after the ending, but during the actual viewing. If you somehow didn't read the title, the movie in question is Robert Mulligan's Summer of '42.
β© Reply
I came across it when I was reading Quentin Tarantino's review of 40s nostalgia pieces. What piqued my attention was the radiating love and affection for the picture and his knack for collecting film prints ("if you havenβt seen Summer of β42 projected in an I.B. Technicolor 35mm film print, you havenβt seen Summer of β42). I set down at the middle of the night and saw something I cannot unsee. Neither did the audience in 1971, since this slice-of-romance film about horny teenagers beat Dirty Harry and even Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange in the box office. To say it was impactful is an understatement.
β© Reply
What was it that caught the attention of the viewers? Well, it was sex of course! Imagine this, the Sexual Revolution has swept the United States, arguing that all this restriction on sex is making people grow into perverts. The tidal shift of demographics, as brought by the Baby Boom, resulted in American cinema unshackling itself. This change is known as New Hollywood. In 1971 Robert Milligan was one of these crazy New Hollywood men. At a budget of a million (lead actress Jennifer O'Neill says it was 8 million) created relatively simple movie. Simple, yet effective. To a point where it deeply touched Kubrick ("climax of the film is quite simply one of the most devastating sequences Iβve ever witnessed (apparently Kubrick felt the same)". Do not take Tarantino's word for it, watch what Wendy is watching in The Shining
β© Reply
The story follows a group of 3 ragtags Oscy (Jerry Houser), Benjie (Oliver Conant) and Hermie (Gary Grimes). All of them are a trio of lusting adolescents. They are at a stage where they want to have sex yet paternalism laws do not allow them to. Naturally that gives the same results as boiling water with the lid shut down. A good bit of the half of the movie is about teenagers being stupid bunch of horny bastards. There Hermie falls deep in love with Dorothy (Jennifer O'Neill). Hermie is 15 and Dorothy is in her 20s (the actor was 22). There is this Licorice Pizza scenario. The movie corrupts the audience into believing the relationship between a teenager and a woman is okay. WW2 is in the background: you have soldiers strolling the town, Dorothy sending her husband to France, radio broadcaster talking about the war. It is in the background... until it is not. The movie is set during 1942, it is a nostalgia piece after all. The Dorothy observed is meeting this 15 year old, while her husband is out fighting Nazis. At one point she buys flowers, keep that in your mind, it will be relevant later. For a good part of the film, the focus is on the "Terrible" trio and their quest to get laid.
c:2 β© Reply
Since the budget of the film was not that high (a million), it resulted in quite simple camera arrangement. Most shots were done out-doors, resulting in less expenses on props. Since the emphasis is on the characters, the shots are done using wide lens. The movie actually becomes quite a bit darker as it progresses. I mean, literally darker. First scenes are bright, moving with life of the beach-goers. Later on you have the shabby "Terrible trio" hut, movie theater, sex during midnight. As mentioned before, it being a movie from 1971, sex in movies was still taboo. Robert Mulligan is corrupting the audience by having a scene where teenagers actually fuck during the middle of the night. None of it is displayed on the screen. It was distributed by Warner Bros. in 1971 after all.
β© Reply
The music composed by Michel Legrand is nearly non-existent. It starts in the beginning, with the showcase of the important places throughout the movie and resumes only at the end. Upon the rewatch, the beginning slide-show made me tear up.
β© Reply
The love between Hermie (Herman) and Dorothy (Dorothy) was, by the words of the screen writer Herman Raucher, "had effected a strange relationship". Herman, in a way is a romantic, similar to Steven Spielberg. For him love is more than just putting his sausage into girl's scissors, as did Oscar, who in character, was closer to Luc Besson with his pussy-curse. Naturally having Dorothy's husband was murdered in France, meant "she was alone on an island and drinkinβ and playing their favorite song and in walks this kid and <...> She just thought I (Herman) was him". Powered by mourning, she danced, danced with Hermie (Herman) to their favorite song and went to bed with a 15 year old kid. It was Dorothy's way of curing herself from the trauma. She was alone on island with no-one except that strange Hermie (Herman). The flowers she bought few days ago were thrown out. The vase was left empty. Not even water was present in it.
β© Reply
30 years later, after the film was released, the writer received "numerous letters from women claiming to be Dorothy". One of them stood out, it had Dorothy's handwriting. The letter mentioned, she had remarried and was living in Canton, Ohio. She was intrigued what effect did she have on Herman. The letter was ended with these words: "The ghosts of that night 30 years ago are better left undisturbed."
β© Reply
Tell me @BlenderDumbass , are you willing to do a psycho-sexual analysis on one horny teenager and a miserable widow?
c:3 β© Reply
Fin.
β© Reply
0
Find this post on Mastodon
The somber tale of Summer of '42
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/18/Summer_of_%2742_POSTER.jpg)
Troler
π 12 π¬ 109
Sex and love are hard to miss on present block-busters. Even topics such as love between a child and an adult are discussed. In early 1970s and before it was hard to find films delving into such topics. A nostalgia film of that. The movie may start out light-hearted, it went deep so to make the illustrious Kubrick cry.
#Summerof42 #1942 #JenniferO'Neill #GaryGrimes #JerryHouser #RobertMulligan #HermanRaucher #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Is Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets better than The Fifth Element?
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/07/Valerian_and_the_City_of_a_Thousand_Planets.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 31 β€ 1 π¬ 3
It is funny that I was just watching Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets while drinking Valerian. I was pissed at Luc Besson because I just watched and reviewed The Fifth Element. That review was more of a ramble about my theory surrounding his personal life. Which ties in neatly into the message of the film "Love". But for some reason I completely forgot to talk about it's qualities. Which I suppose this review will fix. I will compare the two grand space-operas from Luc Besson. And hopefully we will learn something in the process.
#Valerian #LucBesson #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Flight Risk 2025 is Mel Gibson failing to be Robert Rodriguez
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e2/Flight_risk_2024.jpg/250px-Flight_risk_2024.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 6 π¬ 1
The first shot of the 2025 thriller directed by Mel Gibson called Flight Risk is an establishing shot of a location you might see on television, which already says a lot about the movie. But that's not all of it. The shot is also very much computer-generated. I wouldn't say it's Ai ( but anything's possible ). It looks more like a 2D composition using various elements. A modern matte-painting of sorts. It's hard to point out specifically what's wrong with it, but it looks obviously fake. And obviously put together on a computer. And then the rest of the film doesn't really shake off this fakeness.
#flightrisk #melgibson #markwahlberg #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
The Rock 1996 is Michael Bay's James Bond movie
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/82/The_Rock_%28movie%29.jpg/250px-The_Rock_%28movie%29.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 16 β€ 1 π¬ 4
The Rock by Michael Bay is about an FBI chemist agent ( Nicolas Cage ) who calls for help from an old retired British Intelligence Agent played by Sean Connery himself. No wander there are theories that this agent character could be James Bond, making this film a kind of unofficial Bayhem!ed sequel to Connery Bond films. It's not like he didn't play James Bond outside of the main franchise. He did play James Bond in Never Say Never Again which is a real James Bond film, which is not a part of the main franchise. So maybe, possibly, he did that again here too. We will never know.
#TheRock #MichaelBay #NicolasCage #JamesBond #SeanConnery #QuentinTarantino #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
The Phoenician Scheme is a very Wes Anderson film
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2e/The_Phoenician_Scheme_theatrical_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 19 π¬ 7
The film, this review is intending to be about, is a gorgeous example of the phenomenon that could be described by the words "Wes Anderson".
#ThePhoenicianScheme #WesAnderson #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Alita: Battle Angel is Robert Rodriguez's Pearl Harbor
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ee/Alita_Battle_Angel_%282019_poster%29.png)
Blender Dumbass
π 14 β€ 2 π¬ 2
In my review of Michael Bay's Bad Boys II I brought up an interesting theory people have about the film. The amount of Bayhem! it holds in could be a direct response to the out-of-the-comfort-zone feel Bay must have had experienced making Pearl Harbor. Basically, the film was so different from what Bay usually does, he had to crank the next movie's Bayhem! up to 11, to make it feel right again. After Robert Rodriguez directed Alita: Battle Angel with an estimated budget of about $200 million, he had to come back to his comfort-zone too. And 3 months later ( that same year in 2019 ) he released Red 11. A micro-budgeted horror film made on almost exactly $7,000.
#alita #alitabattleangel #robertrodriguez #jamescameron #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Final Destination ( 2000 ) is a suprisingly well directed movie
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a3/Final_Destination_movie.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 17
There is this hype wave over the Final Destination franchise because of a new movie that was released in the series. At first I resisted it, but then I saw a few shots from the opening of the first film, directed by James Wong and thought that it was actually something good, that at least worth my attention.
#finaldestination #jameswong #film #movies #review #cinemastodon
Schindler's List 1993 and how Spielberg was perfect to tell this story
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/38/Schindler%27s_List_movie.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 26 β€ 5 π 1 π¬ 1
As a kid I did not understand the need for movies like Schindler's List. Growing up Jewish I knew about the Holocaust. I knew about the Nazis and heard stories about stuff they did. But movies in my childhood brain were firmly just a form of entertainment. What entertainment is there if you are watching people suffer? Yet as I explain in my other article at about 14 I got to a rather strange point in my life, when everything dark and real became important. That's when I saw Schindler's List for the first time. That's when a film that is not made for entertainment suddenly started making sense.
#schindlerslist #oscarschindler #stevenspielberg #spielberg #holocaust #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Licorice Pizza 2021 is how PTA beats Besson at his own game, while getting a Best Picture Oscar nomination
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3c/LicoricePizzaPoster.jpeg)
Blender Dumbass
π 8 π¬ 1
As I explained in my article on the matter a quality of a film could be measured in how well it "corrupts" the audience. And being a motherfucking genius Paul Thomas Anderson decided to show everybody, who's the boss. His 2021 film Licorice Pizza which was nominated for the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay at the Oscars. And has a fairly decent 90% score on Rottent Tomatoes, is doing the same thing as Luc Besson's Leon: The Professional, but better. To put it lightly, it shows a romance between a minor and an adult. And it says that "it's okay, actually".
#LicoricePizza #PaulThomasAnderson #PTA #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
Together 2025 is yet another Romantic Comedy disguised as a Horror film
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e0/Together_film_poster.jpg/250px-Together_film_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 24 β€ 1 π¬ 2
I see a trend lately with films like Spontaneous where it seems like the writer / director is trying to do a romantic comedy, but knows it is not going to sell, so the movie is sold as a horror film instead. Michael Shanks's 2025 film Together starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie is another such film.
#together #horror #film #review #movies #cinemastodon #davefranco #alisonbrie
Final Destination 3 is a return to form
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/Final_Destination_3.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 9 π¬ 1
Final Destination 3 is yet again directed by James Wong who is a very needed return. The second movie in the franchise seemed almost like the parody of the genre. With the third film, came back the suspense and the good acting and most importantly, the movie suddenly hits again.
#finaldestination #jameswong #film #movies #review #cinemastodon
Drive-Away Dolls 2024 is Ethan Coen's attempt as a Grindhouse picture
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cf/Driveaway_dolls_poster.png/250px-Driveaway_dolls_poster.png)
Blender Dumbass
π 7 π¬ 1
Ethan Coen is a brother of Joel Coen with whom they made a lot of cool black-comedies and other cinema throughout the years. From starting a mock-religion with The Big Lebowski in 1998, to winning a best picture Oscar in 2007 with No Country for Old Men and doing other great cinema before, after and in between, those motherfuckers know how to make movies. So then comes a movie just from Ethan ( and his wife Tricia Cooke ) about lesbians, that is intentionally trying to be a bad film ( like the bullshit Robert Rodriguez is doing with Mechete )? Interesting...
#driveawaydolls #ethancoen #MargaretQualley #film #review #comedy #movies #cinemastodon
The Terminator would not have happened if not for Rear Projection
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6d/The_Terminator.png/250px-The_Terminator.png)
Blender Dumbass
π 11 β€ 1 π¬ 2
So James Cameron is in Italy, having a fever. I mean of course he is. He was just involved in a nightmare project that is Piranha II. While there he has this fever dream of a nightmarish scenario. A metal skeleton coming out of a fire.
#Terminator #TheTerminator #JamesCameron #film #review #movies #cinemastodon
RoboCop 1987 foreshadows a lot
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/16/RoboCop_%281987%29_theatrical_poster.jpg)
Blender Dumbass
π 10 π¬ 2
There are ( at least ) 3 types of movies: Corporate bullshit, like the shit Disney produces now a days, which for some reason are popular as heck; smart films with a strong message, which win awards but fail at the box office; and the third type: a film with a message, disguised as corporate bullshit, to trick the audiences that it's the shit they wanna see, while actually being the shit they need to see. Paul Verhoeven's 1987 film RoboCop is from the third type.
#RoboCop #NancyAllen #PaulVerhoeven #film #review #movies #politics
Powered with BDServer
Plugins
Themes
Analytics
Contact
Mastodon