Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
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Notes -
On Sunday evening, I watched Southern Comfort.
Which is a film about how @hydroacetylene spends his weekends.
No, seriously - Louisiana Nat'l Guard in the 1980s. This film is, essentially, an attempt to re-make Deliverance with, I guess, a more military patina. It doesn't do a great job and mostly survives on a sloppy thriller plot and some competent to good performances by a very young Powers Boothe and Keith Carradine.
It isn't a great film, but it is an okay-to-good film that wants to be great.
So, my low stakes question for Sunday is: What are other films that are good, not great, but really want to be great?
I would nominate Dark Blue and Street Kings two films penned by literary crime novelist James Ellroy. I think had a few things gone differently they could have been up there with LA Confidential and Training Day as some of the best neo-noir movies of last half century. As it stands they are still very underrated and well-made.
LA Confidential might be in my top ten movies of all time (definitely in terms of the number of times I've watched it). But I've always considered Training Day a terribly overrated film. Denzel deserved his Oscar, but I don't know that the film has much else going for it.
I don’t like it that much either, but its always on the lists of best neo-noirs so I felt I had to mention it. Honestly I think it’s one of Washington’s weaker performances (it’s a bit hammy) and I think a lot of people were just reacting to the novelty value of him playing a villain, which he hardly ever does.
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