Tom Chick, Christien Murawski, and Kelly Wand disagree about Terry Gilliam’s latest movie and how it does and doesn’t get around the fact that Heath Ledger died before it was finished. If you haven’t seen Imaginarium yet, meet us at the 47-minute mark to talk about movies that aren’t ruined by babies, who are notorious for ruining movies.
Tom’s picks were good. Children of Men is a great choice. Great use of a baby. I think Battleship Potempkin is cheating if you haven’t seen it. Of course, I have seen it and can’t remember anything but that baby carriage scene and the general commie-commie, ra-ra-ra message.
I would like to go on record as saying that after the two-hour extravaganza last week, this podcast feels sorrowfully short. Especially 3x3, which you guys just breezed on through. Don’t let the haters get to you, some of us enjoy the longer format!
My #1 movie that wasn’t ruined by a baby is the latest Rambo.
The thing about the longer format is that the people who were complaining were also the people who don’t listen anyway. So, yeah, screw them! Also, we’re still much shorter than, say, those Gamers With Jobs or This Week in Tech podcasts. Those guys go on for, like, four hours and they don’t even have a topic!
Man, I don’t remember a baby in the latest Rambo. Which scene had a baby? Or is “baby” just a nickname for the .50 calibre machine gun he uses at the end?
-Tomhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM348-SHOcc Skip to 2:08ish. Note: Xtien may want to skip this one. It’s just so ridiculously over-the-top.
The short film Docking Bay C excluded Bay B problems, but you can see one of the technicians from Bay A in the background of one shot.
Firstly, ick. Secondly, that kid was too old, so he doesn’t count as a baby. Thirdly, I forgot how hot the chick from Dexter is.
-Tom
Pft, if he can’t walk on his own while his whole village is being slaughtered or stop crying and man up as he’s getting tossed in the fire, he’s totally a baby.
My #2 pick would have been Rosemary’s Baby, of course.
I thought for sure Kelly Wand was going to pick that, as he saw the film in the womb with his mother.
I myself have never seen Rosemary’s Baby, and do not pick films I have not seen. It’s a little quirk I have.
-xtien
P.S. Crap. You know what? I just thought of what I should have chosen instead of that stupid baby-peeing-on-Chow-Yun-Fat’s-leg movie! The Producers! Crap. What a maroon.
Top 3 instances of a babe not ruining a movie?
A respectable position! You might consider making it a rule for the segment, just to prevent any cheating by beret-wearing erudite types.
Hmm, I don’t recall. Netflix’d.
I’ve come up with my #3 - Willow. That baby’s one of the best actors in the whole movie!
If you don’t have other reasons for wanting to see the film again–i.e. you’re a fan of the film, or you love Mel Brooks–don’t. The “baby” thing that occurred to me is just a dumb quote. Albeit a quote that comes to me many times when somebody says the word “baby”. Cuss me for not thinking of it sooner.
-xtien
My first post-natal memory is her screaming, “What have you done to its eyes?” And me thinking, “Spoiler alert.”
Okay…it’s possible I’m never going to stop laughing at that.
-xtien
I’ve not seen Imaginarium yet; I can hardly wait! But who knows where/when the hell it will play here?
Oh, it starts Friday at the Roxy, downtown. Mayhaps I’ll catch it after work.
As for films that aren’t ruined by babies, does the baby have to play a prominent role? Or can it just sort of hang out in the background? And did anyone mention The Godfather Part II, which, if I recall, has several scenes of early Corleone domestic bliss? Hell, even The Godfather Part III wasn’t ruined by its baby; it was everything else that did it.
Lone Wolf and Cub series had the best baby cart.
Nice. I meant to counter Tom with La Vitesse but I never got back around to it.
-xtien
“There’s gum on my seat. GUM!”
Better than the baby carriage in The Untouchables?
Tom refuses to watch any remakes of “Potemkin” unless Veronica Cartwright`s in it.
So, do we not actually have a dedicated thread for this film? I’d love to comment on a few things, but I don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t seen it yet. Which is probably almost everyone, as it’s still only playing in, like, 600 theaters nationwide. Which is only 1/3 of the number of theaters Did You Hear About the Morgans? is playing in.
The (rather small) crowd (really only a dozen or so) of people in the cinema I saw it in seemed generally quite enthralled, although there were brief snorts of derision heard from a couple of older women sitting near the back, when Colin Farrell’s Tony recited what sounded like an anti-abortion slogan.
I thought it was rather marvelous, despite Tom’s “sadness” (which I can understand and appreciate). A wonderful flight of fancy that not only evoked Gilliam’s Python roots, at times, and his previous cinematic triumphs, but also reminded me somewhat of Jeunet’s pre-Alien work.
Hey, this is a really good observation. Now I need to see City of Lost Children again.
Very nice.
-xtien