Things overheard at Meadhouse.
So, you have this idea, and you think it's pretty good, possibly brilliant. But then it turns out that's what people did in this movie that was a monumentally bad movie. Must we reject the idea?
Try to guess the idea + movie we were talking about.
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165 comments:
The number of oranges in a jar was easier to guess.
As they used to say on What's My Line, WTF are you talking about? Give us a clue.
Does it involve Tim Pawlenty doing Harvey The Rabbit?
Probably Cowboys and Aliens...
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome?
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes? But I like traditionalguy's answer.
No, really, socialism is a great system! It just hasn't been done properly yet!!
Atlas Shrugged
Midnight in Paris
El sucko.
Wait..it's Woody Allen and it's a liberal schmuck fest-you guys probably loved it.
Nevermind.
My Dinner With Andre II - Rise of the Cyborgs.
idea: hope and change
movie: the current horror flick HopeAndChange directed by the One, in which we are all bit players
Maguro
LOL!
Traditional Guy -
As the winner of the "guess the number of oranges contest," I appreciate every mention of it on Althouse. Thanks.
Movie guess: "European Vacation"?
Toilet Time with Titus.
Meade's real opinion of My Dinner With Andre.
Cowboys and Aliens.
Hey, I liked Midnight in Paris
Movie: Human Centipede
Idea: making a human centipede
Mystery Men.
"Pass the ketchup" from "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes."
Movie: "The Island"
Idea: Creating a farm of clones to provide us, the originals, with spare body parts due to aging, accident or disease.
Superman 3
Oh ya...
you enjoyed ten minutes of his slideshow of Paris?
That's a clue that he doesn't have much else.
Oh and you liked the jumping back and forth?
How about the slam to half his potential audience in the first three minutes of dialogue.
Or Paris is better than anywhere?
Or the smug use of French without translation-so the francophiles could feel uber-cool.
I'm French sorta and I ...
Je le deteste.
It was a cornucopia of the Liberal pathology.
Ooh maybe I should have said-"la".
Ca ne fait rien.
The question isn't clear. Is this an idea for a movie, or an idea of something you'd really do?
All these quizzes! Gearing up for the Fall semester.
"The Greatest Story Ever Told"
Oh wait.....
Put me in the Cowboys and Aliens column, because that's pretty much the reviews I read about it: Great concept, bad movie. I'll wait for it to hit the cable movie channels.
Could be Transformers movies, although in that case, I don't even think making movies based on a children's toy is a great concept.
Or how about the dissertation about the bad of Republican/ Bush imperialism and how it's all better now-and-
oops! Libya.
(-damn good thing most of their audience is oblivious.)
Or talking about all the great architecture of Paris and not even having a clue how that happened-
Napolean?
Imperialism much?
********
I'm done. I'm ruining the joie de vivre possibilities of this thread.
Saw the film on vacation, and would generally agree that description fits "Cowboys & Aliens."
(I'd call it mediocre rather than crappy, but I'm not sure which I consider worse in-context.)
Try to guess the idea + movie we were talking about.
Going out to dinner with Andre.
Movie: "The Island"
Was that the one that MST3k made fun of?
Does Cowboys and Aliens suck? I kind of wanted to see it. Not for the aliens so much as for daniel craig.
Planet of the Crepes- where breakfast rises up and conquers the rest of the day.
The TV series proved that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was a great idea. The movie . . . meh.
Bad movie: Lost Souls.
Good idea: Performing an exorcism on Winona Ryder.
Bad movie: A Sound of Thunder.
Good idea: Go back in time, to the Jurassic period, squash an insect, then come back and see if Obama is still president.
Bad movie: Swept Away.
Good idea: Cast Madonna adrift.
Sarah Palin for President, and that movie they recently released about her?
How could any movie about Apes be good; Charlton Heston is dead.
As long as it's not Midnight in Paris. Or you'd have to go there to test out its romantic qualities, all by yourselves. Would you have to pack clothes with only expandible waste bands?
Red Dawn.
Quest for the Egg Salad
Clockwork Orange?
Hall Pass.
Come on Meade, it's only been two years.
Both Tron and Highlander 2.
Soylent Green.
Being familiar with the processes of making films, and all the different ways it can be screwed up during production, I have said that exact line thousands of times. In this case, I'll guess either "Cowboys and Aliens" or the new stupid "3-D Night Sharks in the Lake" or whatever movie that is that just came out and sucks, because it's filmed in the day, and sharks don't live in fresh water lakes...
Oh, they're mutant sharks...
Nevermind.
My alternate pick:
"Body Of Evidence"
Madonna should have died at the BEGINNING!... Or, better yet, she should have been completely edited out, just as the corps played by Kevin Costner was in
That movie with jakegyllenhall where his consciousness keeps getting inserted onto a train that is going to blowup, and he has minutes to figure out what's going on and potentially change the course of actions?
The A-Team (saw it on cable over the weekend; The Blonde and I saw the trailer last year and we both said, "Nah").
Neeson wasn't bad (he was no George Peppard, either), but the others, especially the guy playing Face, just didn't fly.
Carol Herman has now gone full Titus - "expandible waste bands" - typos and feces in one comment. All that was missing was pidgin Indian dialect and some Nepalese slang.
Starship Troopers had an awful lot of interesting ideas and tons of action, but was a horrible movie.
@madisonman
I thought your IMBD link would go to "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" instead of .... that movie.
vw: aphin - shark week on Althouse?
Starship Troopers had an awful lot of interesting ideas and tons of action, but was a horrible movie.
RED-BUTTON ISSUE!!! I'm shocked that you thought that "movie" had any "thoughts" at all. Tons of illogical, completely unbelievable action, I think you meant.
The only thing it used from the book was the title. If you want truly interesting ideas, characters that are believable and well-written action, read it.
Unlike 1996, the power-armor (the equipment that is the actual star of the story) can be easily CGI'd these days. And someone either put Verhoeven in a coma or otherwise keep him on another continent when this movie is remade.
Cowboys And Aliens is kind of the opposite of what Althouse it looking for. The name alone lets you know it should be a cheesefest. And yet, somehow it works, at least according to Blake, who writes movie reviews in his spare time that are better than any of the "professional" ones I also read.
ScottM,
I read the book a good decade before the movie came out. The good ideas from the book are mostly left out of the movie, but even worse are the ones they left in and mangled.
"Thirty minutes or less" is my guess.
Tastelss useage of an actual event, one that ended badly.
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
The kids were stupid.
But it had Tina!
Atlas shrugged?
Several of Shyamalan's movies would fall into this category.
Shyamalan is the Millennial's Costner.
"Starship Troopers had an awful lot of interesting ideas and tons of action, but was a horrible movie.
"RED-BUTTON ISSUE!!! I'm shocked that you thought that 'movie' had any 'thoughts' at all. Tons of illogical, completely unbelievable action, I think you meant.
The only thing it used from the book was the title. If you want truly interesting ideas, characters that are believable and well-written action, read it.
Unlike 1996, the power-armor (the equipment that is the actual star of the story) can be easily CGI'd these days. And someone either put Verhoeven in a coma or otherwise keep him on another continent when this movie is remade."
Actually, STARSHIP TROOPERS was a great movie! Fun, funny, lots of action, great aliens, and yes, it had ideas: it was a satire on the original novel, and the suspiciously fascist or Nazi-like character of the earth side of the conflict--the uniform worn by Neil Patrick Harris, the pro-war commercial ads placed within the movie, the impossibly good-looking and virile young warriors--was intentional on the part of director Paul Verhoeven.
Great, great movie, and much better than the book. (I read the book and loved it as a teen; I reread it last year and found it, from an adult's point of view, rather thin. Not bad, but hardly the thrilling book I thought it was when I was younger.)
I would agree with that. I like Shyamalan. He just needed to take some advice on character development and dialogue. Once the plot twists were expected, he had nothing to fall back on. (I still have an intense love/hate for The Village for that reason.)
Unrelated: I will defend the Tron movies to my grave. The first was awesome as a kid. The second was the only move I've seen that justified 3D. In neither case was character development even relevant; you knew going in that it was just a vehicle for special effects.
(But I totally understand why people wouldn't like the Tron movies. I just have a different taste.)
A little more fleshing out:
the idea was to fake a bomb attachment to a person against his will to succeed in a robbery.
It actually happened. The real-life event invloved an attachee who protested that he was an innocent victim who had been kidnapped while delivering a pizza. The kidnappers attached a bomb to his body and - the attachee stated - threatened to blow him up unless he robbed a bank. The attachee allegedly was in on the caper, however, and thought he was wearing a fake bomb.
His "buddies" had lied to him. The bomb was real, and he died in the explosion.
The film is a nice remembrance for the dead man's family.
War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise. The idea is proven, the implemention in that movie was boring and predictable.
There is no such thing as a good idea which became a bad movie. Good ideas anticipate the problems which bad movies run afoul of. You can have a good, or at least an interesting, concept which is still a bad idea, but calling a good concept/bad idea a good idea is only a way of allowing failed writers and producers to excuse their wasting millions of dollars.
Naked Lunch?
@edmund, I had to prove that an actual "movie" with that title existed!
Water World?
Robert Cook said Great, great movie, and much better than the book.
I'm almost at a loss regarding how little this surprises me.
The Stand, I'm guessing.
Tron Legacy
The message I took away was actually a good one, but it's execution wasn't great. Still worth watching I thought though - it is pretty and the music is great.
It IS pretty, the Daft Punk was a great choice (look to see those guys get more movie work, btw), but there were some really odd choices. Dust? Why would there be dust? Or Food?
I can buy water as their equivalent of power (ie the first move), but why rain and/or umbrellas?
But, when all is said and done, that is a REALLY big door.
Tron Legacy had a message?
Xanadu
The Sarah Palin movie.
Also wondering whether it was the Atlas Shrugged movie...
"The question isn't clear. Is this an idea for a movie, or an idea of something you'd really do?"
An idea for something you'd really do.
So, one person had an idea and explained it as something worth doing.
Somebody said: That was the story line in X movie.
X movie was a terrible movie.
We're not talking about making another movie with the same premise, but doing this thing that was the set up of the plot of a movie, which was a bad movie.
Boys From Brazil. Though I object to you characterizing it as a crappy movie.
It may be the new Althouse movie: "Live, Love Blog," featuring romance on a Colorado mountain with a muscled up, bodice ripper from Cincinnati.
They live happily ever after in the Kingdom of CheeseLand.
Ah, so this has something to do with reality, then.
Count me out. I watch movies to get away from reality. (Hence my fondness of Tron.)
An Unmarried Woman
Oh wait, you mean this isn't another feminist discussion?
The Contender
That's political and about a woman....
damn, that's about feminism too!
Bridesmaids?
(Well I know its not The Meaning of Life because there are no ideas in there.)
For real guesses, a million capers movies would fit the bill. How about Quick Change? Cool bank heist that could work, but most New Yorkers can find the airport just fine and who gives a crap if they can't anyway? Just drive south or west.
Does Cowboys and Aliens suck? I kind of wanted to see it. Not for the aliens so much as for daniel craig.
I saw it in the theaters a couple of weeks ago with some friends and we all thought it was good. Daniel Craig and Harrison ford were wonderful as were Clancy Brown, Keith Caradine and Walton Goggins. I thought that they played it pretty much as a straight western but with the hook of an alien abduction backdrop. Definitely a movie that could have been cheesy but wasn’t.
Manos: The Hands of Fate
Idea: Telethon to solve the national debt crisis.
Bad Movie: Americathon
Doing all the moves in-
Joy of Sex-
Someone doesn't like the movie-
Julie and Julia.
Starship Troopers had an awful lot of interesting ideas and tons of action, but was a horrible movie.
Agreed although I own the trilogy box set (it cost me a buck at Half-Price Books – marked at six but with a five dollar off coupon). Not a bad popcorn flick if you just watch it to see for the bugs and gratuitous SNV but definitely not in the class of the novel. I’d rank it somewhere between the “Fifth Element” and third “Matrix” movie.
Unlike 1996, the power-armor (the equipment that is the actual star of the story) can be easily CGI'd these days. And someone either put Verhoeven in a coma or otherwise keep him on another continent when this movie is remade.
They showed the Marauder armor in the third movie albeit for about fifteen minutes at the end. Also there was an anime adaptation in 1988 which used the armor long before CGI that was pretty good.
The TV series proved that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was a great idea.
It certainly proved that Sarah Michelle Gellar was a great idea.
It certainly proved that Sarah Michelle Gellar was a great idea.
Yes. Definitely kudos to Mr. and Mrs. Gellar for following through on that one.
OK. How about Pretty Woman redux?
It can be re-done by George Soros and his favorite concubine...
Or Rielle Hunter and her favorite candidate for President?
The founding Fathers separated Church and state but forgot to separate Powerful Men and whores.
"Just because it was a crappy movie doesn't mean it was a crappy idea."
I've always thought that instead of making crappy remakes of good films, Hollywood should take old crappy films and make good remakes.
Simplistic, but it's an idea.
Ann: "An idea for something you'd really do.
So, one person had an idea and explained it as something worth doing.
Somebody said: That was the story line in X movie.
X movie was a terrible movie.
We're not talking about making another movie with the same premise, but doing this thing that was the set up of the plot of a movie, which was a bad movie."
OK, in that case I think "Heat" is the winner, which was only highly regarded because of the scene between DeNiro and Pachino, but was all in all not a great movie. Maybe is doesn't qualify because it certainly wasn't a horrible one, but anyway there was a real live heist which was inspired by the movie, with body armor, high powered weapons and all, which basically resulted in almost all the bad guys and a few cops getting killed the first time it was tried.
Idea:Let's have some of the protesters over for dinner!
Movie:The Exterminating Angel.
traditionalguy said...
It may be the new Althouse movie: "Live, Love Blog," featuring romance on a Colorado mountain with a muscled up, bodice ripper from Cincinnati.
They live happily ever after in the Kingdom of CheeseLand.
Love it, but "Live, Love, Blog" (FIFY) doesn't have the happily ever after just yet.
You missed the part where, enraged at the rape of CheeseLand by the union slugs, spendthrift politicians, and their corrupt protectors in the police, they become a crack squad in the Army of Davids, exposing the hypocrisy and violence rampant all around them by day; by night, they are The UnAmbiguously Heterosexual Duo - New Meadia and The Creamy Hippie Love Chick, avenging evil by slicing off the hands of malefactors, before going back to their love nest where they rewrite the Kama Sutra for those over 60.
I would love to see Starship Troopers remade properly (especially with functioning Jump Suits. Although I think there would have to be a replacement species for the Skinnies - way too un-PC). Seeing Verhoeven do the RoboCop treatment to my favorite novel was almost as criminal as the atrocity that is Jar Jar Binks.
I liked both 30 Minutes or Less and Cowboys and Aliens, but I wasn't expecting cinematic brilliance, just entertainment. Both delivered.
As for the OP - give us a freaking hint, Althouse, or at least qualify what you consider a crappy movie. One person's Citizen Kane is another person's artsy-fartsy dreck.
wv: kinchest - your hot cousin's rack
hoop said...
"Tron Legacy had a message?"
I walked out of Tron Legacy thinking about how intolerance of imperfections leads to tyranny and how the world’s imperfections aren’t necessarily as bad as we think. :)
I agree with The Island and Starship Troopers as examples of bad movies that came from pretty good concepts. I’d also add Lady Hawke, They Live, and the Postman although each is a guilty pleasure.
An alternate history where Richard J Daley doesn't come through with the graveyard vote, after all.
(all the 60s-ish "Mad Men" clones started me thinking of this)
PS How about one for ironrails called "Full Flavored", where he goes around the country checking out movie stars, politicians, and other prominent women to see if they meet his high standards?
Okay, big hint: It was a Madonna movie, but not the one that has already been named.
Aliens vs. Predator (great comic series - bad movies)
"Idea:Let's have some of the protesters over for dinner!
"Movie:The Exterminating Angel."
But the trapped dinner guests in THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL were not protestors but rich bourgeoisie.
Dick Tracy, Evita?
(probably not a league of their own or desperately seeking Susan, as both were semi decent movies, and probably not body of evidence since that was a crappy movie with a. Crappy idea).
Trying to think what else she was even in.
Bad movie: Evita
Bad idea: Totalitarianism in Argentina
Okay, big hint: It was a Madonna movie, but not the one that has already been named.
I've seen maybe three movies with Madonna in it and I'm pretty sure it's not "Dick Tracy" or "Die Another Day" so I'm guessing "Evita." Either that or "The Next Best Thing" (although I don't find the concept pretty interesting.
"Idea:Let's have some of the protesters over for dinner!
Sounds like the reverse of "The Last Supper" which is actually a very entertaining film.
No. Movies can go bad in many ways, like a touchy and complicated culinary dish. Failure doesn't mean the aim was a bad one.
Shanghai Surprise. Wasn't that the one with Sean Penn and Madonna?
People go to Madonna movies?
I will never be able to guess the movie because it is unlikely that I have ever seen a movie with Madonna in it.
Next Best Thing?
Except it's a crappy movie and a crappy idea.
Joseph,
I can see that. You could probably spin out some anti-fascism and some diversity celebration as well, now that I think about it. Maybe even something about human endeavors being inferior to nature.
My takeaway was: "Light Cycles are still really cool." FWIW, my simplistic and unabashed fondness of escapism drives my wife nuts, too.
And I heartily agree with earlier: more Daft Punk in movies.
I love movies with women's tits in them.
I like it when those tits bounce on the screen.
The best scene ever in a movie is in Airplane where the set of tits just come bouncing across the screen and leave.
Tour de force. Those tits should of won an Oscar.
Tits.
"this movie that was a monumentally bad movie."
Madonna has made no movies that were monumentally anything.
I love Madonna.
Titus, the scene you describe was my first view of bare breasts on the big screen. Any screen for that matter.
Women's baseball league,
A League of their own.
Or maybe just the skirts.
Didn't see that was already guessed, and I agree with the previous guesser, not a great idea.
Although I think there would have to be a replacement species for the Skinnies - way too un-PC)
Why? Because of Somalia? The Rangers referred to the Somalis as skinnie BECAUSE of Heinlein.
I've always thought that instead of making crappy remakes of good films, Hollywood should take old crappy films and make good remakes.
Seriously, why doesn't some aspiring film school grad remake Ishtar?
Body of Evidence
Willem Dafoe. Madonna. Have sex.
Uck.
I think XWL has it, though I agree it is not such a great "idea" movie. Also, it wasn't particularly panned, so they may have run as well with the idea as could be expected.
There ruprett goes playing the gay best friend agai. What is it with women with their gay best friends, and why is it always Ruprett Everett playing him in movies?
By the way I just happened to see the Julia Roberts movie where Rupert played her gbf, and it was cringe inducing. Especially when he sang Say a little prayer for me at a dinner party. That's when I got up and went into the other room to surf the web. It was simply too gay to bear.
I think I get the attraction, actually. Men and women don't really like each other, except sexually. That's why guys always like to hang out with the boys, and women like to hang out with the gals. Gay dudes get to be the male version of her female friends. By the same token, if we could meet hot female lesbians who like guy stuff, those would be our lesbian equivalent. Only butch lesbians usually look like ugly dudes, so that ends that fantasy.
Body of Evidence
Willem Dafoe. Madonna. Have sex.
Uck.
Boondock Saints.
Willem Dafoe in drag. Some SIEU-lookin' dude. Full mouth kiss.
UUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKK.
(great character for Dafoe otherwise)
Dick Tracy, Evita
I loved Evita! I don't care if everyone else hates it. Dick Tracy didn't work, though.
A League of their own is a classic for many reasons, but it's also kind of hilarious to watch Rosie O'Donnell try to act.
SEIU, rather, but you get the mental picture regardless.
Dan in Philly has never heard of Murphy's Law. No story is so good it can't be completely screwed up on film.
For Althouse's answer I went straight to "Snakes on a Plane" until I realized that was the answer to the opposite question ...
A Madonna movie? Way to be topical, Ann. I don't even want to know the answer now.
Madawaskan
Must have never traveled outside of Wisconsin. Hey, there is a whole world out there for you to trash, don't pick on Woody and Paris.
Sweet, funny movie, made me want to go back to Paris even more than before.
Philistine.
Vicki from Pasadena
I loved Evita! I don't care if everyone else hates it.
Me too, Shanna! So glad that someone else does as well!
As for The Next Best Thing- I wasn't familiar with the movie, but it sounds like a monumentally terrible idea, whether it made a good or bad movie.
- Lyssa
Has anybody guessed, Marley and Me?
I think Madonna played the dog.
One might surmise when the myriad of intelligent people on this elevated blog haven't got a clue what the professor is thinking, that maybe, just maybe, the question is stupid and cryptic. That's just my opinion..I could be wrong. Finally, if you put a gun to my head and said, "Watch Madonna" I would say, pull the fucking trigger!
One might surmise when the myriad of intelligent people on this elevated blog haven't got a clue what the professor is thinking...
I've always thought we were more of a murder than a myriad.
It's either "The Undefeated" or "Little Shop of Horrors"
Girl 6, maybe.
It's a good idea to do phone sex for money if you're unemployed.
Why? Because of Somalia? The Rangers referred to the Somalis as skinnie BECAUSE of Heinlein.
And also because the Somalis were skinny.
Sorry...should have included the 's' at the end of that. Skinnies, just like the Mobile Infantry referred to the Arachnid hapless allies.
Atlas Shrugged?
It's a good idea to have sex with Warren Beatty?
It's a good idea for women to play professional baseball?
It's a good idea to have a satellite provide year round sunlight for crop development and/or kill bad guys from North Korea and/or get it on with Halle Berry? (That's a good movie, though).
It's a good idea for South American dictators to sing?
It's a good idea to escort a feisty and free-spirited female ex-convict to help prove her innocence of a crime?
It's a good idea for a famous singer to have a documentary filmmaker follow her around as she does a concert tour?
It's a good idea for bad actresses to marry good actors so they get film roles?
It's a good idea for bad actresses to marry good directors so they get film roles?
Anybody said "Swept Away?"
It was the last movie Madonna did, with her then husband Guy Ritchie directing it.
I've always thought we were more of a murder than a myriad.
Do we somehow remind you of crows?
Do we somehow remind you of crows?
You don't think so?
We relatively bright. We can travel either in groups or strike out on our own, and we tend to hate straw men.
I'm sorry, but Swept Away and League of Their Own are the only two Madonna movies with good ideas (casting Madonna adrift, and women's baseball.)
What's the deal with softball, anyway? The ball's way too big for me to throw well, let alone someone smaller than me. It just looks ridiculous. They might as well have them use a beach ball.
I watched Adjustment Bureau this weekend and thought good idea / crappy movie.
And she says that this is such a good idea that it's possibly brilliant. Forming a women's baseball league isn't exactly forehead-smacking epiphany material.
In the words of the immortal John Wayne Bobbitt, I'm stumped.
The answer has been guessed. It is "The Next Best Thing."
I was arguing that a gay man could form a household with a woman (assume a heterosexual woman) who wants children and a stable family. They both want the same thing and nobody is keeping a secret or hoping for something else. It's just a way to live that people might willing choose and make work. They could even marry.
I was told that's the plot of "The Next Best Thing." But actually, I don't think it's quite the plot, because I think in that movie the pregnancy is an accident.
Anyway, the crappiness of the movie doesn't establish that the idea to live like that is terrible.
Meh. I'm not sure I'd qualify the marriage of two people who aren't sexually attracted to one another, and will be attracted to others, as brilliant. More a recipe for disaster.
I think there was a Seinfeld episode, where she had found "the perfect man" by getting him to "switch teams."
Sure, they could agree to a sexless open relationship. Won't work. They'll get jealous.
"She" in the previous comment was "Elaine."
Anyway, the crappiness of the movie doesn't establish that the idea to live like that is terrible.
The crappiness of the movie doesn't establish it, but a reasonably solid understanding of human nature and human interactions indicates that it's highly unlikely to work out anything like one's "it should work out" fantasies.
Does this all stem from the fact that Meade got you to go to Cowboys and Aliens? You're wishing that Meade were a bit more metro, so he'd be more into My Dinner With Andre?
Here's what you do: Wait til Meade's asleep, or better yet passed out; then slip a really tight rubber-band around the base of his scrotum. If he doesn't notice, a few months later, his nuts will drop off, and he'll absolutely love that movie.
Personally I've always wanted to escort a feisty and free-spirited female ex-convict to help prove her innocence of a crime.
Oh, I hope that this is just a hypothetical, not something that someone (Althouse's son?) is considering. It's 18 years, man, please don't make that kind of commitment.
- Lyssa
Saint Croix, if Griffin Dunne couldn't accomplish this feat, what chance do mere mortals such as we have against a spunky parolee?
Although I think there would have to be a replacement species for the Skinnies - way too un-PC)
I don’t know if you’ve been watching “The Falling Skies” on TNT but the aliens behind the invasion are referred to as “Slenders” and look a lot like the Skinnies from Starship Troopers. Also they control a race of bug-like aliens called "Skitters" who serve as their ground forces and have bipedal mechs similar to the mobile suits.
Great show and further proof that cable dramas are about the only good thing left on television.
I've thought about this hypo before. If I was a gay man, I think that the lifestyle of marrying a woman and raising children together would be very appealing.
The problem is that there isn't anything in it for the woman. If she is hetero, there are plenty of straight men she could marry. If she was lesbian, then she could have a female partner. It is plenty easy for lesbians to produce children--sperm banks, helpful guy friend etc.
Now, if the guy was particularly talented, rich, handsome etc. Then he might be attractive to the kind of woman who might otherwise marry an old rich guy.
Each would have something to gain that they might not be able to attain otherwise. Win-win.
Must have never traveled outside of Wisconsin.
Suuuuurrre that's it.
And I'm not making fun of Paris, I'm making fun of elitist Liberals.
Great show and further proof that cable dramas are about the only good thing left on television.
I gave props to Falling Skies for not falling immediately into Hollywood cookie cutter character types, but I simply got bored with it.
Did they ever do anything with the religious chick? The one vying for the attention of the lead's oldest son despite his obvious girlfriend?
Crunchy Frog,
I loved Starship Troopers as well, and loathed the movie (the only thing I liked about it was the introduction of other types of bugs). I think a decent movie is in there, but it won't be made in my time.
FWIW, the animated series was better than the movie, but still meh.
I'm sure there are some marriages in which the man is gay and the woman is straight, but both want a biological kid and a stable family.
But couldn't a woman have all that with a straight man? I mean, people are only "free" to marry to the extent that they can find someone to marry them, but why would a woman pick a gay man for this purpose?
In the gay man's case, he gets something that I'm sure some men value very highly -- he gets to have his own biological children. But, again, a straight woman can have that with a straight man. Unless there's something really unappealing about her -- and if there is, why would the gay man want to reproduce with her? Like, for instance, if she's hideously unattractive -- why would he want those genetics for his kid?
I agree that people might make this work. Especially if both are really and truly motivated by the desire to raise their own biological children, and that's what they value over all else. But if the dude is gay from the outset, and the woman has known this all along... it seems to require that she place near zero value on being with a husband who is sexually attracted to her/loves her in a romantic way. Why would this be the case?
What kind of stability would one expect from this relationship?
What kind of "family" is this? Do they get married? Live together?
If not, how is this any different than single motherhood or divorce with an amicable custody arrangement?
Both adults would be strongly susceptible to leaving the relationship, should an actual romantic partner come along.
If they do marry or live together, as soon as someone more fitting for either part of the "couple" happens along, the arrangement falls apart. Seriously, how many men (gay or straight) are going to want to live in the same house with another "couple" and their child(ren)?
Then, the "couple" separates leaving the child in the same position as a child of divorce.
Movie: "The Island"
Idea: A hidden colony of 17th century buccaneers are responsible for disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle.
was arguing that a gay man could form a household with a woman (assume a heterosexual woman) who wants children and a stable family. They both want the same thing and nobody is keeping a secret or hoping for something else. It's just a way to live that people might willing choose and make work. They could even marry.
Yes, but it wouldn't be True Love and True Love is what the movies tell me is the most important, bestest thing in the world.
(for example)
"The Next Best Thing"?
I could have sworn you were talking about "Cowboys and Aliens." Good thing my favorite local theater has a senior citizen's discount. Saved me from regretting spending $20 between myself and my dearly beloved. We only wasted $13.
"Try to guess the idea + movie we were talking about."
Your Highness?
I have the soundtrack to Next Best Thing.
Benjamin what his name was the other man.
I mean really, do you blame Madonna for dissing the fag?
And Neil Patrick Harris was painful in that movie. One of the last remnants of the AIDS death movies.
The best part of the movie was watching Madonna do Yoga though. The bitch is limber.
We don't go to movies much and when we do it's for fun.
Cowboys & Aliens was -- a cheesefest. Fun. Nothing to stretch the brain. And Daniel Craig was cool. (I told hubby he would have to suspend disbelief. In the middle he leans over and says "You weren't kidding.")
And whoever mentioned the original Tron? One of my favorites.
As for the answer to the Professor's tease?
I have no idea. (Although Dinner with André was the first thing which crossed my mind.)
I know, I know.
Pay It Forward.
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