Initial Review by Sean

Let's get right to it. Jon always talks about "the stakes" in a movie. Well The Warriors set the stakes with the best of them.  The opening sequence of the movie does about as good a job setting the stakes as any movie we've watched so far.   The cuts of the mini conversations among The Warriors with the map of the longway from CI to the Bronx to the other gangs getting on their trains all to some pretty kickass music and that's a great intro. 

You got 9 guys representing a Coney Island gang unarmed at a meetup of all the gangs of NYC.  Why are they unarmed and why are they going, they cover it- Cyrus called the meeting and has enough respect in the city as president of the Riffs to inspire a truce. We learn about who these Warriors are and what are their motives. Cleon is the leader, Swan is the quiet 2nd in command, Ajax (Dexters dad) likes fighting and screwing, I wonder if he can read the news, Rembrandt must be somebody's little brother because all he brings is a can of spray paint. I imagine they needed a tagger and just decided it was him and they could call him Rembrandt. They said, we want a really badass W, kinda old English style but with Indian feathers and shit and a tomahawk.  He draws a crooked regular print capital W and says how's this. Cleon and Swan decide he's clearly retarded and just let him think it's just what they wanted.  Speaking of the gang, did anyone else find it refreshing to see such racially diverse gangs in the 70s? 

Onto the meeting, perhaps if Cyrus (who I always thought was played by Larry Fishburn, guess not) had pulled some permits maybe the cops wouldn't have shown up and at least some of the chaos after his assassination would've been averted. Definitely unintentional parallel to rioting in Baltimore of people vs the police to Cyrus' speech I was not thinking about #socialjustice when I picked the movie. At the speech we get to meet the guy who later delivers one of the most famously creepy lines in movie history, Luther- henceforth known as not Sean Penn, is the perfect crazy bastard troublemaker for the part.  David Patrick Kelly aka not Sean Penn aka Luther delivers by far the best performance in a movie that admittedly contained very few solid acting performances.  Shots fired and the crazy fuck quickly and smartly blames the gang whose member saw him do it. In the chaos surrounding it works and all eyes are on The Warriors and poor Cleon goes down.  

Putting the word out that all gangs are to come after the Warriors, the DJ's, henceforth known as "The Chief" because she was the chief in Where in the World is Carmen San Diego, not so subtle lines and music choices do a great job setting the table.  I love her voice.  Her tone and enunciation make her perfect for radio.

First up we run from a bus of  the Turnbull ACs, this is the first real negative I have, the shot was too long, the bus would've rode them down no problem with the distance they had to run based on the shot we're given and even if they get to the platform dozens of the ACs would've made the platform too for a showdown.  

The Orphans led by not David Schwimmer were an excellent addition and my favorite gang of the night.  They were such losers they kept newspaper clippings on hand to show to people they came across to tell them they were not to be messed with.  We also met Mercy played by not Rosario Dawson.  Honestly she's a wasted character, we get everything we need without a quasi-love story that develops starting with her antagonizing them into confrontation with the Orphans and wasting their only Molotov cocktail on a bunch of lame fucks. I mean their gang uniforms were dirty t-shirts with the word Orphans glued on the back, the Fiji IM T-shirt giveaways were better quality.

Next up the Baseball Furies took The Chief's baseball analogy about the Orphans being minor league up a notch by having full-on uniforms, makeup, and bats. Unfortunately for them they weren't skilled with those bats at all.

Brief talk about cops because now Ajax gets pinched because he's already fought and only needs to screw and read the news to finish his day.  Good thing Oscar-winner Mercedes Ruehl is sitting alone in the middle of the night in the park. Did anybody else think the rest of the cops took way too long to show up?  She blew the rape whistle forever before they came along.  Had it been real trouble like Son of Sam and not just Ajax she'd have been fucked.  

The Lizzies, Vermin is so stupid and driven by what I believe was referred to in the opening intros as some strange wool that he didn't realize this was obviously another gang about to come down on them. Thankfully these bitches are worse than the Furies because armed and outnumbered and enclosed on their base they let these Warriors away with barely a scratch.  

The fairest fight of the night came in the train station against a gang I didn't get the name of but can only assume by the roller skates and feathered hair that these guys were badasses and The Warriors were lucky to escape based on the element of surprise since these guys thought they were just jumping Swan.

Finally they meet the Rogues on the sand and somehow Swans sidestep knife throw not only landed but Luther's shot didn't hit Swan from close range or the people standing behind him.

I normally try not to just summarize a movie we all just watched but it was too much fun offering those summaries than not. To comment on whether it was a good movie or not I'll be fairly brief. I already mentioned they did fantastic setting the stakes to open the movie, the 9 guys were unarmed and a long way from home and everyone was out to get them.  The opening train ride with quick cut conversations probably elevated the movie a full letter grade by properly setting the tone and setting the expectations.  The fight scenes were pretty terrible but I'm going to defend them.  Did any of you get in or witness many fights growing up? They don't look like most fights you see in movies because very few people are actually both trained to fight and in really good shape and are really athletic. So the fights we get in todays movies don't happen in real life, in real life you get wild baseball bat swings that come nowhere close to the target.  The acting was terrible and the dialogue was lacking but the movie was about the tension of the journey home and obstacles one after another coming on.  Having the happy prom kids hop on the train as they were finally making it back to Coney was a nice complement to their journey, those kids recognized The Warriors had been through some shit tonight we're going to shut up and get off the train right away.

Some takeaways

continued support of NYC being shitty in the 70s
+- boring but realistic fighting
+++the stakes are set
+racial diversity
-acting
-not Rosario Dawson was a thruway character
+ don't care about the minuses because it was fun
+ between building a house and all the time spent in trainstations I was constantly thinking- hey look, subway tiles

I'm thinking B+, too much fun for the negatives to hold it down but too many negatives to hit the As's.
It would be interesting to see the remake that was supposed to happen until Tony Scott died, although research tells me none of the people involved on the creative side of the original wanted it to happen.

Initial Review by Jon

I promise I'm not on a 'married couples in the woods' kick, though after my last pick of The One I Love, you'd be forgiven for thinking so.  I didn't even think about The One I Love when I was deciding on Honeymoon, but they share a lot of similarities.  Reassessing who it exactly is you've chosen to spend your life with is there.  Trying and failing to have an idealized experience, check.  When Bea mentioned the ducks, and how the wooden ones were just trying to blend in, I was concerned we were going to have to talk about doppelgangers again.  Thankfully, Honeymoon distances itself from The One I Love, unless there was a deleted scene in the latter where Elisabeth Moss pulls a tentacle out of herself. 

I have been giving horror a second chance, but very much on my terms.  I still think torture porn is about the most despicable thing out there, and home invasion films are also off the table.  This seemed indie enough to not indulge in the worst aspects of the genre.  To my pleasant surprise, there's plenty of body horror.  I do like those kind of films, where characters bodies turn against them and the director revels in squishes and weird anatomy.  See The Fly for my favorite example, or almost anything David Cronenberg's ever done.  Also The Thing, and Black Swan.  To paraphrase Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle, the rotten-ness of that kind of grotesquery has a little bit of allure to it, where you know you should look away but you also want to take in every grisly detail.  Honeymoon logs a great body horror scene, capped off with the little antenna flick at the end that I thought was just perfect.  I shouted a little bit at that moment, which I think is why people watch horror movies in the first place.

I'm really focusing on the end, but I thought about 80% of Honeymoon was very well made.  The surroundings are shot beautifully, with careful attention paid to make them appear as isolated as possible.  The space of the cabin is well-established early on with a tracking shot, such that I knew where every room was in relation to each other.  The light and the disconcerting noise that accompanies it sets the stage, and the meeting with Bea's old friend at Restaurant (Their specialty is food) spins off the multiple versions of this movie that could've existed, particularly some kind of Straw Dogs imitation.  I feel like the exact right amount of time is spent before the sleepwalking and the film starts in earnest.  Once that begins, the two leads amp up their performances to what I felt was a very naturalistic place, especially Harry Treadaway's Paul.  His reaction once he gets Bea back inside felt novel for a movie like this, such that he isn't yelling at her to tell him what happened and artificially creating tension, but instead pacing and wide-eyed and confused/relieved.  The electronic, atonal score is also very well used with its rises and falls.  It's all fine-tuned to create dread and intrigue, something I think first-time director Leigh Janiak very much succeeded at.

The 20% of the film that I was less keen on was the first fifth.  That quintile should be used to establish stakes, which is the survival of their relationship after the movie.  I might be alone in this, but I don't think Treadaway's and Rose Leslie's chemistry was all there in those first scenes, and it was a bit of a lost opportunity.  Compared to everyone's favorite movie, Frances Ha, Honeymoon didn't match the level of investment I had in the central relationship, though they both used their first 10 or 15 minutes establishing, or attempting to establish how well this pair of people are in synch.  This isn't fully formed, but I thought the dialogue was too cutesy and the delivery was a little stilted.  Interested to know what the rest of you thought.

Leslie really puts herself through the wringer for this, and I think it pays off very well.  With Game of Thrones actors, I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of them are only good at this one thing.  While I anxiously await being proven wrong by Emilia Clarke or Maisie Williams, I can confidently strike Rose Leslie off that list.  Having to essentially play two characters, I think she nails the subtle differences between pre- and post-sleepwalking Bea.  The pre- version is more natural and sweet, while the post-version is slightly nervous and trying too hard.  The big climax is not just a horror victim montage of screaming and panic.  Some of that's there but much less than a worse movie would've asked of her.  The calm on her face when she's tied to the bed is unsettling, and anything could've happened in that moment.  Maybe she speaks in a strange voice, maybe things start coming out of her mouth to attack Paul, maybe the bed levitates, or maybe all of the above.  That calm comes back when she's putting Paul in the water, and I appreciated the way Janiak withholds a view of her decaying face until the last possible moment in the boat.  It's a strong performance that doesn't get worn out by Janiak just leaving the camera on her while she repeatedly screams, like other horror movies might.

There's several thematic threads, but the one I most grabbed onto is disappointment.  As Bea says when Paul has no interest in pretending everything's fine, "You're ruining this."  When you've put a bunch of planning and anticipation into some event and it's not going like you thought it would, or an alien has inseminated you with sentient tentacles, that attempt to will yourself into having a good time is something I can relate to.  I'm sure we've all had some experience where the picture in your head did not come close to real life, or you're trying to recreate some previous, spontaneous good time and it's just not working.  That kind of disappointment can really sting, and aliens or not, there's a version of Honeymoon that's exactly that.  The curdling of expectations into small-m mediocrity is my takeaway here.

Though it gets off to a wobbly start, Honeymoon is well-structured, well-acted, and effective at drawing out the reactions it wants from its audience.  I do wish the two leads had better chemistry in the good times, but it doesn't break the movie.  The ending also engages in a little too much yelling and hysteria, but maybe that's a natural reaction to the kind of impromptu abortion we witness on screen.  There's a line between can't-look-away and unpleasant, and while I think Honeymoon approaches it, it doesn't cross it.  Because it doesn't indulge in my least-favorite aspects of the genre (jump scares, exploitation) and thoroughly draws me in, Honeymoon gets a B.

Initial review by: Bobby

So... I chose this because I thought it'd be interesting to talk about a movie with 4 directors. I don't know how interesting the conversation will be, but I'm glad I picked Four Rooms. 

First off, the opening credits amuse me. While the quick bellhop snippet to start the movie doesn't really do much but make you wonder what you're about to get into, the animated adventures are fun. 

I'm not even sure what the best way to go about reviewing Four Rooms is... so to be easy, I'll briefly talk about each story in order. 

"The Missing Ingredient" gives us a coven of witches looking to perform breast filled ritual in the honeymoon sweet led by Valeria Golina, of Hot Shots fame. This, for me, is the weakest part of the movie, but I actually still enjoyed it. Most of the acting is pretty weak, but I do like Lili Taylor (as I just started a rewatch of Six Feet Under). Maybe it's the over the top dramatic reactions they all have before Ted is left with Eva to... 'make her smile.' Roth's mannerisms work for me, but I can see some people not liking how exaggerated he can be here.  Still, the story and dialogue here are mediocre, but I think Roth and placing this story first keeps it from being as bad as it could have been. Madonna seemed unnecessary here... as in, she's not a strong actress here and probably cost too much. 

After a quick call for ice, Theodore finds "The Wrong Man" with Angela and Sigfried. David Proval plays a good crazy and plays well with Roth and Beals here. I like this one... from Teddy's moment of courage and quick monologue about his name to his swift return to his nervous self. The music really gets into the act as he tries to make his way out the window, and I'm for it. The dynamic between Sigfriend and Angela works here, and it's great at freaking Ted out... which is when he's at his best. Also, I like the quick turn around to Sigfried's greeting to their game... "Let's not belabor the fact that you have no sense of timing. The fact is, you're here."

Champagne to 309... seems appropriate to celebrate the strongest story of the film. Banderas and Tomita's kids, "The Mishavers", are an absolute riot. We get a glimpse early of how they'll be when Juancho takes a few quick puffs of the cigarette while getting his scalp ripped back. Banderas is strong, but that's expected, right? The negotiation  of the price is a fantastic bit... and the scene only gets better from there. It's usually hit or miss with child actors... and we get a couple of hits here. Lana McKissack's tone and expressions are fantastic throughout, and she works great with Danny Verduzco. Salma Hayek dancing on the TV is a welcome bonus! Again, the music is in strong support of the mood we get from these two. I'm a fan of Rodriguez (El Mariachi series, Planet Terror, Machete), but he's not one from which you usually expect a bunch of slap stick comedy with children... although, I haven't seen any of the Spy Kids. He does, however, direct it brilliantly. I found myself legit laughing multiple times all the way up to the ridiculously chaotic and perfect end to the scene. 

Factoid, back in the day... Marissa Tomei was my (and tons of others', for sure) celeb crush. Thanks, Cousin Vinny. Rumor has it she likes short stocky balding men. 

It's nice to see Angela again, sans Sigfried...and more so..Bruce Willis! You've got to like uncredited roles, especially when they're done for free and get you in trouble with the Guild! (That's an unsourced Wiki fact, so who knows if it's true, but it's fun). Tarantino is "The Man From Hollywood" as he directs and stars in the final segment. We get a pretty familiar feel for anybody who's seen a few of his flicks.. especially heavy on dialogue. While this isn't as strong as Rodriguez's contribution, I really enjoyed this as Ted's final room. We all know Tarantino isn't a strong actor.. but his playing a caricature here works fine here. The rest of the room plays into the bit well.. but the success rests mostly on the dialogue and setup for the chop. For me, the dialogue is a win and it's held up by the ad lib and money drunk type feel that Chester gives us. The one thing that bothered me about this was the choice of camera work to start the scene. It felt as if it was supposed to be first person from Ted's view...but it obviously wasn't as Chester kept looking back and forth to the camera and away.. which is supposed where Ted actually was. I don't know why, but that just got to me. It wasn't enough to take much away from the overall product, though. 

Another unsourced Wiki fact is that Linklater was supposed to be a part of this. This sounds less likely than the Willis bit, but I think it would have been pretty interesting to see what kind of situation he threw at Ted! 

Speaking of Ted... in the end, this is the Tim Roth show. You're either into his over the top mannerisms or you're not... and the movie will likely sink quickly for you if it's the latter, especially starting off with the weakest of segments. I could see some people being so low on the film so quick, that it's hard to come back from. With that, the 14% on RT doesn't surprise me.  Without a cohesive plot, I can see it being easy to dislike Four Rooms. For me, however, a night in the life of Ted the Bellhop is pure entertainment. We get to see a lot of moods from Ted, and after all the shit he deals with, we get to send him off in a well deserved good mood. The body language and tone in his voice were the major keys for me in liking Roth's performance. He doesn't hold back and doesn't try to make any of us think he's supposed to be any less than all out and all over the place. 

Overall, this lives by the cliches, it's not how you start, but how you finish. I think the order of rooms is instrumental to how I favor the movie. 

It's probably been a decade since I've watched this... so when I put my initial grade on the spreadsheet a while ago, I was trying to recall how i felt after... and going into the movie this time, I really thought I was going to be lowering that grade. Despite the weak start, some iffy acting, and general scatteredness, here I am... still feeling absolutely positive about another viewing and can't shake the feeling of... A- 

Initial Review by Blair

Your darn tootin I thought this was a fantastic movie.  While I wasn't left with anything profound to ponder about life, I have continued to have a deep appreciation of the accents, stereotype fulfillments, and perfect dialogue/scene gems that this movie nails.  

No character was wasted for me.  Even the small roles were perfect. Big nods of course to Frances McDormand, Buscemi (who I love in everything), Peter Stormare, and William Macy in that order.  Macy should maybe be higher, but he's such a despicable skeeze, I put him last.  I AM still wondering about how/why he got into money trouble in the first place.  I think it's great that they just left it out.

Noteworthy scenes:  
Buscemi's arguing over the portion of the car he refuses to pay while having some 960K back on the endless snowy highway.  Brilliant.

The scene where the dude is shoveling his driveway and has called in to the police station over some "suspicious activity."  The character movement and dialogue is priceless.

Marge meeting Mike at the Radisson and then finding out his real story.  It's so perfect - typical high school ex meet up and somehow seems befitting for the mid(north)west; love the follow up convo that he's actually a sad loser and Marge's response, "Well that's surprising."  Her character is the moral compass throughout and so it's also befitting, that she's pregnant.  

Related, I thought it was great that that Stormare's character is touched by the pregnancy on reality TV right before killing Buscemi so brutally and then ends up getting lectured by a pregnant cop.  

BTW - it looks like Fraces McDormand actually gets nailed in the shin by that piece of wood he throws at her, no??

All in all, a fabulous movie: A. 

-Blair

Mediocre Movie Club dba Bathroom Pot Roast. Drew gives LEGO Movie a B+.