The Movie (and TV show) Watching Thread

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

I prefer older programs, but this can be newer. Does anybody know of any scripts that were done by more than one T.V show?

I ask this because I was watching the Columbo episode from 1990 'Uneasy Lies the Crown' and it had been done previously as the second to last episode of McMillan and Wife called 'Affair of the Heart.' Both were based on the same script written by Steven Bochco.

I'm not referring to different T.V shows that use the same tropes, though that's an interesting topic for discussion as well, but shows based on the same script.

I know that the first half dozen or so episodes of The Office were taken directly from the British version, and there have been others that have done that. I know of one episode of Three's Company from the 1970s that was directly taken from the British show it was based on called Man About the House. In that case, the differences were interesting. The British episode was more subtle all be it still a farce, while the American episode was broad comedy.

The reason I'm curious is because my entertainment tastes go way back and I really like old radio plays, and different radio programs adapting episodes from the same source was very common.

For anybody interested in the classic science fiction writers of the 1950s, I highly recommend the radio programs X-1 and Dimension X.

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

I don't know if I reviewed this previously. Different political angles for different people.
The Wonder Boys (2000 film) - Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Robert Downey Jr.

'Woke' left/progressive review: 3 white men are celebrated for embracing their white male privilege.

Social conservative/moralist review: 3 people engage in immoral behavior but face no negative consequences for their actions.

Spoiler: Michael Douglas' character technically faces negative consequences: he gets fired from his job as a creative writing professor and his manuscript gets destroyed. However:
1.It's quite clear he had come to hate the job and wanted out (and he doesn't seem to have any financial repercussions at the end.)

2.His manuscript was destroyed because it was approaching 2,000 pages which kind of suggests his problem to begin with.

3.It's made clear that his writing career is going to be revived by his writing of a fictional account of the weekend portrayed in the film.

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, 1973 film directed by Sam Peckinpah, starring Kris Kristofferson, James Coburn and Bob Dylan 2005 Special Edition

Very good movie, even if unfortunately overshadowed by its 'behind the scenes.'

At first, the movie likely generated interest for being Bob Dylan's first feature film role. During the filming though it also took on more interest for director Sam Peckinpah being a completely out of control alcoholic who was so drunk he was only capable of filming for four hours a day. After the film was finished it generated more interest for being chopped up by the studio and it bombed at the box office.

In 1988 though Turner Classic Movies revived the film with a reedit that restored 16 minutes from the original theatrical release. Finally, this 2005 'Special Edition' took out about six minutes but is said to be the closest to Peckinpah's original vision.

The film itself is one of the attempts to deconstruct Western (and Western film) myths, along with films like (controversially) The Searchers and Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven.

The film is based on the true story of lawman Pat Garrett and outlaw Billy the Kid. Without too many spoilers, the film shows the similarities of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and the choices they made given the changing west in 1880. Essentially, big money was coming to New Mexico and the governor and the big money people thought that outlaws like Billy the Kid were giving the west a bad reputation that was chasing away additional investment.

Given this reality, the older former outlaw Pat Garrett decides out of self interest to join the system. The younger Billy the Kid decides to fight the big money rancher, but it's also made clear that Billy the Kid is not some Robin Hood type looking out for the little people, but is also only concerned with his self interest.

Of course, the most evil person is the big moneyed powerful rancher and then probably the governor, but they're too big for the law.

This is also the film where the Dylan song "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" comes from. The Dylan songs in the film (there are really just three, a song played once in the film about Pat Garrett), a kind of balladeer song about Billy the Kid as it is updated throughout the movie, and Knockin' on Heaven's Door. For anybody who wondered why Dylan seemed to be singing to his 'momma' in the song, it's because the songs are literal and the character Dylan is singing to is named Momma (Baker.)

In my opinion, the scene with Knockin' On Heaven's Door is maybe the best scene that incorporates music in a movie.

Also, in my opinion, the Billy the Kid ballads are some of Dylan's worst lyrics:
They say that Pat Garrett's got your number
So sleep with one eye open when you slumber

I suspect this was intentional revenge from Dylan. Not only was Peckinpah drunk the whole time, he was, according to Dylan, dictatorial, filming in some isolated place in Mexico where he insisted the cast stay for the entire shoot.

Dylan has a small but important role playing the enigmatic 'Alias' who is sympathetic to anti heroes like Billy the Kid. This, of course, was totally in keeping with Dylan's own persona at the time.

Of course, the one thing I don't get is that when Billy the Kid turned eighteen, shouldn't he have changed his name to Billy the Adult?

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

Election, 1999, starring Reese Witherspoon, Matthew Broderick, Jessica Campbell (RIP) and Chris Klein.

Finally saw this. Not quite what I was expecting, but very smart and entertaining. 8.5/10

Spoilers
There seems to be some dispute as to the point the film is making. Some say it's about politics, some say it's about the 'American dream' and I say it's simply about two conflicting personalities, albeit, as the film is a satire, hyperbolically exaggerated personalities.

It seems I've already been beaten to writing that Tracy Flick was misunderstood.

For those not familiar Reese Witherspoon plays Tracy Flick, a high school student overachiever who decides to run for student council President. Matthew Broderick plays Jim McAllister an American history and civics teacher who is responsible for overseeing the student council including the student council elections.

As such, had Tracy Flick won the election, as she tells him, she and he would be working closely together the next school year. For at least a couple reasons McAllister does not like Tracy Flick, and this realization sends him searching for an opponent who can beat her in the election.

He hopes he's found such a person in Paul Metzler played by Chris Klein. He is the popular school football quarterback who suffered a leg injury skiing and is depressed that he can no longer play football. McAllister tells him that he can find a purpose putting his energy into the student council instead.

There is also additional story involving Paul's sister played by Jessica Campbell who enters the election at the last minute.

Anyway, the main reason McAllister doesn't like Flick is because he regards her as an overachiever who wants to impress everybody with her perfection and accomplishment. This is where the notion that the film is about 'the American dream' comes from (which I don't disagree, but I don't think is complete.)

McAllister is an idealist who wants to be a teacher to improve the lives of the young people he taught if not the world. Flick, in contrast, is an achiever who wants to accomplish things, and they could be anything, for personal gain and a sense of achievement.

In short, these are two conflicting personalities with completely different attitudes on 'the meaning of life.' This wasn't the only movie around this time to explore this, but such films as American Beauty and, in its own way, The Big Lebowski ("sh**t yeah, the achievers") also went into this. The difference is, the countering character in those films were, or wanted to be, "slackers", whereas McAllister was a success, having accomplished his goal not only of becoming a teacher, but winning the 'best teacher of the year' at the school a record number of times.

All of the characters are given voiceovers, and to Tracy Flick though, this is no success, but she disparages McAllister for 'doing the same thing year after year with no change.' McAllister doesn't disparage Flick like that right until the end of the film, but it's clear that he is concerned about her 'work/life balance'.

As far as I'm concerned, the reason the film is set in a high school is because this is the one place where a person like McAllister could have some control over a person like Tracy Flick, and the reason the plot revolves around an election is simply because getting elected student council president is the highest visible achievement a high school student can have.

The film has several dramatic turns for the characters, all of whom are flawed like actual humans, but probably the most important is when Tracy Flick tries to get a corner of one of her large election posters to stay up properly. She turns over a garbage can to get up to the corner and, when the garbage can slides she falls off ripping her own poster and nearly breaking her leg in the process. This was likely meant as an allusion to when Paul Metzler broke his leg skiing. Some write ups on the film say that she decided to cheat at this point and rips down (nearly) all the election posters, but I think otherwise. There is a similar scene in American Beauty where the perfectionist achiever played by Annette Bening gets frustrated and destroys something. Similarly, I think Tracy is simply frustrated with herself for being so stupid as to use an overturned garbage can on a school surface to get up on and for nearly breaking her leg and for ripping her poster, and she acts out this frustration by ripping up all the election posters she sees.

So, the thing is, Tracy Flick is actually not a bad person, she's no sociopath. At one point she expresses genuine concern for Jim McAlister, she's just a person from a lower middle class background (single mother who worked her way up to become a paralegal) who did not get any breaks and who wants to live what she regards as the American dream (or has been told is the American dream.) She even recognizes that she's sacrificing being popular and having fun to become successful because she works very hard and simply can't stand not getting what she wants and puts in a lot of work for.

In contrast is Paul whose multimillionaire father owns a very large cement plant. He is a genuinely nice person, but he doesn't recognize his privilege (for those who think that's a new concept) because he's stupid. I don't know if the writer of the film was trying to make the cynical point that the only people who are nice are stupid.

The reality is nature favors diversity and the world needs both idealists like McAlister and driven achievers like Flick, as flawed as they both are. The film expresses reservations with how tough achievers can be, but certainly Tracy Flick would be a much better CEO to the world than Elon Musk.

So, anyway, a very thought provoking movie, and I've left out most of the story. But, the film is also very funny even if not, for me, laugh out loud funny.

Edit to add: It's interesting how movies can get reevaluated in the same way as presidential administrations. There are some views that the character of Jim McAllister was never the idealist whose desire was to be a teacher that he told us he was, but that his character was a charming liar the whole time, including in his voice overs, and that he actually was probably never anything more than a slacker (and a creep) who 'settled' on becoming a teacher because it was a job.

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

I think it's also important to note that McAllister is an extremely gross and generally morally bankrupt individual.  I'd go much farther than your last paragraph and argue that although it was not the film's intent (I think the film pretty disturbingly views Flick and McAllister as more or less equally flawed), McAllister is very much the villain of the film.  While it is very well done piece of satire, the film has aged very badly, especially in light of the fact that Alexander Payne himself has faced credible allegations of statutory rape.

I wasn't aware of Alexander Payne. That's sick.

Based on this, then I did miss the theme of the film. I overlooked that Tracy Flick was a woman as I thought the point was 'the 'overachiever/striver' could be male or female just as the 'idealist' could be male or female. It didn't matter.

However, given that McAllister isn't the idealist he makes himself out to be, it's clear the theme of the film was his sexism and that he couldn't handle Tracy Flick's ambition because she's a woman.

There is also the scene in the film where they're trading vague accusations and threats at each other and it seems like McAllister is really speaking about himself, but a few seconds later, it's clear he isn't.

So, based on that McAllister is a liar who lies to us about himself in his voiceovers. He's not necessarily a 'villain' he's an everyman who wants people (and probably himself) to believe that it's not that he has a problem with ambitious women, it's just that he has a problem with that ambitious woman.

I need to see the film again.

Edit to add, as with Presidential Administrations, re-evaluations can go too far. Tracy Flick is hardly some heroine either. She looks with disdain at those who lack her level of ambition. This is her quote on McAllister (who as far as she knows is simply an idealistic teacher.):

Now that I have more life experience, I feel sorry for Mr McAllister. I mean, anyone who’s stuck in the same little room, wearing the same stupid clothes, saying the exact same things year after year for all of his life, while his students go on to good colleges and move to big cities and do great things and make loads of money – he’s gotta be at least a little jealous. It’s like my mom says, the weak are always trying to sabotage the strong.”