Let's talk about movies (and TV shows)... Part XVIII

[GoodKiwi]

I don't know how to handle the news....

RIP Tony.

 

[Laurentide]

Maybe after he checked his news feed and saw that Ontario had elected Doug Ford, Bourdain lost all remaining hope for humanity and decided to end it all.

 

[Lebowski]

Even just recently, watching his show on Sunday night, I thought to myself "What a great life this guy's got. Travelling the world on someone else's dime, staying in 5 star hotels, eating great food, getting hammered."

On the other hand, I read a while back that he was separated from his wife (and possibly estranged from his daughter as a result, who knows?) so not everything in his life was perfect. Still, it's a damn shame. He was quite close friends with the guys from Joe Beef. His Montreal episode was great (at the end he goes to a Habs game at the Bell Centre) and in his recent trip to Newfoundland he took the Joe Beef guys with him.

As a regular Joe bystander, you look at these guys thinking they've got it all, yet cases such as this one happen consistently.

I recently started to watch Parts Unknown which makes this news feel even weirder to me. He genuinely seemed like an all-around great guy.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Solo: 3/10

Not sure why i bother with this franchise anymore. Even Khaleesi can not save this mess.

Should have seen deadpool2 instead.

 

[Laurentide]

Solo: 3/10

Not sure why i bother with this franchise anymore. Even Khaleesi can not save this mess.

Should have seen deadpool2 instead.

I'm no sci-fi or even superhero movie aficionado but you had to know that once Disney bought the Star Wars franchise it was going to suck going forward and that narrative and story arc was going to play a distant second fiddle to marketing. In reality, the franchise jumped the shark the moment that Jar Jar Binks first appeared on screen. It's been going steadily downhill ever since. If you want to get really "meta", you could even say that Return of the Jedi was the beginning of the end because the only real purpose for all those Ewoks was so that they could make a killing on marketing toys. There were many marketing opportunities that came out of the first two installments back in the day, but they largely came after the movies became sensations. After Empire Strikes Back, the movies began to be nothing more than engines to drive the ancillary revenues. The spin-off's became more important than the thing that people originally bought into.

But that's the way Hollywood has always worked: you find a formula that works and you proceed to beat that horse until it dies. Then you sell it for the meat. That's where the Star Wars franchise is at. You pay money to watch it and you're basically saying you like the taste of horse meat.

Both Deadpool movies, on the other hand, were hilarious and well worth the price of admission.

 

[Runner77]

I don't know how to handle the news....

RIP Tony.

f***!!!! I'm at a loss, so hurt by this. Damn, one of my favorites. Suicide? Goddamit. I can't wrap my mind around it. So sad.

 

[groovejuice]

****!!!! I'm at a loss, so hurt by this. Damn, one of my favorites. Suicide? Goddamit. I can't wrap my mind around it. So sad.

I posted the news in the Food thread, but it's also appropriate in this thread as well as the book thread. This speaks loudly about Bourdain's broad contributions and his incredible magnetism and charm.

Terribly sad news and I will miss his rough elegance, intelligence, and witty humour. RIP Anthony Bourdain.

 

[GoodKiwi]

 

[groovejuice]

Thanks for posting this. A wonderfully illuminating tribute.

 

[Runner77]

I posted the news in the Food thread, but it's also appropriate in this thread as well as the book thread. This speaks loudly about Bourdain's broad contributions and his incredible magnetism and charm.

Terribly sad news and I will miss his rough elegance, intelligence, and witty humour. RIP Anthony Bourdain.

The world is a more miserable place without Anthony Bourdain in it.

 

[Runner77]

It got lost in the closed thread I had posted this in earlier today. Worth a repost.

 

[Pickles]

Got into watching Homeland on Hulu. What a fantastic show.

 

[Bryson]

Got into watching Homeland on Hulu. What a fantastic show.

That first season of Homeland was seriously something else. Simply amazing! Easily in the top 5 best shows. The rest of the seasons have their ups and downs.

 

[Deebs]

Got into watching Homeland on Hulu. What a fantastic show.

For the first couple seasons, then it goes blah, then decent again....imo of course

 

[Runner77]

Bourdain on Montreal:

"It takes a special breed to live in a province like Quebec. It gets cold in winter, and winters are long. It takes a special kind of person for whom frozen rivers, icy wind-whipped streets, deep seemingly endless forests are the norm. I will confess my partisanship up front. I love Montreal. It is my favourite place in Canada. The people who live there are tough, crazy bastards, and I admire them for it. Toronto, Vancouver, I love you, but not like Montreal." -- from "Parts Unknown" (2013)

"This is a great country because of this city. Without Montreal, Canada would be hopeless. It's where the cool kids hang."
- Montreal episode of "The Layover" that aired in December 2011.

https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/quick-quotes-anthony-bourdain-s-musings-about-montreal-1.3965912

 

[Mario Lemieux fan 66]

The Edge of Heaven : 7.3/10

Solo: A Star Wars Story: 6.8/1o

sense8 series finale: 6/10

 

[Runner77]

Thanks for posting this. A wonderfully illuminating tribute.

I will confess that on top of my bucket list, was the hope of meeting Tony one day. I had been mentioning it repeatedly to my wife since last year. I'm crushed.

 

[Kimota]

Finally watched Valerian.

So this was what caused Luc Besson to go into an uproar over super-hero movies being unoriginal? I was waiting to go on a crazy ride and let myself be send to an incredible sci-fi journey. And I got none of that. It was pretty much a run-of-mill adventure tale.

The story was pretty much Avatar 2. Evil military guy vs destroyed peaceful alien race. Besson did sci-fi adventure much better on 5th Element. In fact it was like he was trying to repeat the success of the movie. I'll take the blue opera alien singer over blue alien shape-shifter Rianna. I have not read the Valerian comics but I bet it is better than that was.

I will even say that as far as approach and execution Infinity War was better well-made cinema than Valerian. And I must be one of the most critical super-hero movies viewers.

 

[groovejuice]

I will confess that on top of my bucket list, was the hope of meeting Tony one day. I had been mentioning it repeatedly to my wife since last year. I'm crushed.

Bourdain would have been my choice were I offered the chance to dine with any single person of my choosing.

I'm still a bit shocked and terribly sad for his family, friends, colleagues and fans across the globe.

 

[Runner77]

Bourdain would have been my choice were I offered the chance to dine with any single person of my choosing.

I'm still a bit shocked and terribly sad for his family, friends, colleagues and fans across the globe.

I never thought I'd ever had had the chance to meet him for 5 mins. but it was great wishful thinking. It makes you feel good to think about the dream of it and that's all it was. Bet you lots of us in here had a similar wish.

Who'd be no. 2 on your list, in terms of a chance to dine with someone? A tv personality, an author, someone who is not a celebrity but who speaks to you? Goes to show you how sometimes you have to pursue these dreams more intently.

 

[GoodKiwi]

I will confess that on top of my bucket list, was the hope of meeting Tony one day. I had been mentioning it repeatedly to my wife since last year. I'm crushed.

Years ago, I was lucky enough to run into Tony at an empty NYC bar on a late afternoon. I sat next to him and we ended up conversing for 10-15 minutes over a drink. I won't pretend it was an illuminating exchange (I was shy as heck and he was somewhat distant, yet polite), but it's still a fond memory of mine.

 

[GoodKiwi]

Does anyone know if tonight's Berlin episode of Parts Unknown was the last to air? I couldn't find any details on whether CNN is planning to run the final two episodes of season 11 or even if those were filmed prior to Anthony's unexpected passing.

 

[Runner77]

Years ago, I was lucky enough to run into Tony at an empty NYC bar on a late afternoon. I sat next to him and we ended up conversing for 10-15 minutes over a drink. I won't pretend it was an illuminating exchange (I was shy as heck and he was somewhat distant, yet polite), but it's still a fond memory of mine.

Thanks so much for sharing. So happy that it remains a fond memory for you.

 

[groovejuice]

I never thought I'd ever had had the chance to meet him for 5 mins. but it was great wishful thinking. It makes you feel good to think about the dream of it and that's all it was. Bet you lots of us in here had a similar wish.

Who'd be no. 2 on your list, in terms of a chance to dine with someone? A tv personality, an author, someone who is not a celebrity but who speaks to you? Goes to show you how sometimes you have to pursue these dreams more intently.

That's a very broad group of people to select from, especially if one considers historical figures.

I'll keep my list to current chefs, so I'd be opting for an evening with Morimoto, José Andres or Martin Picard.

 

[GoodKiwi]

About to watch a re-run of "Remembering Anthony Bourdain" on CNN. It airs at 1AM (at least on CNN US).