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Our Next Feature Presentation: The Stuff (10/12)

Join Us Saturday, October 12th @ ~8:00PM (US/EDT) Here: http://cytu.be/r/TroperCoven


For the uninitiated... A contingent of tropers (mostly from across America) holds regular get-togethers over the Interwebs on this site called Synchtube which lets individuals, such as ourselves, open and join in text-based chatrooms within typical web browsers (Firefox, Chrome, et. al.) that allow the chat participants to view YouTube videos in synchronization with everyone else present (without even needing to set up an account)... and we've decided to use said chatrooms to play cheeseball webvideos and feature-length movies found in the public domain which stretch all the way from letters B to Z, which everyone subsequently riffs on a la MST3K.

For over EIGHT years, everybody who gets involved mostly finds good enjoymentnote  in calling out tropes that are recognized in the videos and stories and coming up with jokes to fling back at whatever's happening on the screen, many of which turn into various in-jokes and running gags (a Coven Glossary is kept and maintained for everyone's help and convenience HERE) to repeat in the chat.

We're always looking for new ways to better coordinate and expand our activities and are more than happy to welcome newcomers interested in joining our gatherings.


Complete List of Past Features (and Their Respective Ratings)

Suggestions List for Future Features

Coven Glossary of In-Jokes, Memes, and Other Useful Terms to Know

Coven .gif Gallery (Our favorite moving images composed in the simplest of digital formats)

Edited by SeanMurrayI on Oct 12th 2020 at 1:47:43 PM

SeanMurrayI Since: Jan, 2010
#17326: Nov 4th 2016 at 2:59:35 PM

[up]Oh, I'm not ashamed about anything I plan on doing—not even the write-ins for Judge Judy, Judge Dredd, Judge Reinhold, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson that I'll be submitting for local elected judges. I'm just fearing an American future molded by a certain imbecile with a swollen orange face.

SeanMurrayI Since: Jan, 2010
#17327: Nov 4th 2016 at 4:12:58 PM

Oh, Ho-Oh-HOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo...

Time to kick off Kung Fu Friday, and we're beginning thins with more of mXc, some hokey dubbing, and other classic Godfrey Ho insanity.

Then, at the top of the coming hour, we begin another Godfrey Ho high-grade masterpiece—Top Mission.

Join us! http://cytu.be/r/TroperCoven


~Bisected8 ~Morgikit ~lewattoo ~Noaqiyeum ~Finger Puppet ~Completely Normal Guy ~TAPETRVE ~Rockonman ~spacealien ~Mystic Eclectic ~Shippudentimes ~Space Wolf ~colonelcathcart ~Germi91 ~Maple Samurai ~Gehayadren ~pyrite

Shippudentimes Since: Dec, 2012
#17328: Nov 5th 2016 at 4:41:49 AM

Since we're rewatching Bob Evans for Election Day today, I thought I'd add two recent Mike Diva Election Day-themed videos for the aftershow that took off like wildfire: Japanese Donald Trump Commercial and Hillary Clinton: Meme Queen.

A little explanation, 'cause there's so much.

For the Trump Japanese Commercial: Pay attention to the background commercial, and:

For "Hillary Clinton: Meme Queen":

Diva, whose real name is Mike Dahlqust, recently started working part-time at Super Deluxe. As for what inspired his latest creation. "Hillary is just kind of a dorky mom, and it's so hilariously cringey when she tries to appeal to a younger audience," he said.

For casting, Mr. Dahlquist said Super Deluxe helped him nab popular Hillary Clinton impersonator Teresa Barnwell, "who was just lovely to work with and so perfectly awkward." The challenge on this film was in "cramming in as many memes as possible and attempting to loosely relate them to her platform," he said. Also, "I had to spend a hour on the phone explaining every meme in great detail to [Teresa] before she agreed to do it."

SeanMurrayI Since: Jan, 2010
#17329: Nov 5th 2016 at 8:04:14 AM

[up]Bob Roberts. And I do recall somebody bringing the "Japanese" Trump commercial to our attention in the chat a few months back.

Anyway, yeah, not a lot of us were around to catch tonight's movie the first time we put it out there just a few months ago, but the few of us who were able to see it found it so powerful and important that we elected to list it in bold print and deem it a true masterpiece.

At the time this was initially made, the biggest joke seemed to be how the rebellious 1960's counterculture seemingly grew into the embodiment of 1980's greed and Reagan(/Thatcher)-era conservatism (as we see in our a main character a composite of both Bob Dylan and Gordon Gekko), but it's amazing how much greater relevance this movie now seems to have nearly a quarter of a century later in the age of United States Presidential Candidate Donald J. Trump—A media celebrity running for political office, a shady campaign team that's only looking to help their own self-interests, building a rabid core of supporters that would blindly follow their hero into anything... even its original poster now seems like a parallel to that real pizza shit hugging the goddamn flag.

In addition to his star turn as yet another utterly detestable asshole, Tim Robbins also wrote and directed this and put together one of the most incredible cast ensembles ever known. Almost every face in this movie is somebody who should be recognized from other works and delivers an absolutely extraordinary performance in their role—Alan Rickman, Giancarlo Esposito, Tom Atkins, James Spader, Gore Vidal, Pamela Reed, Helen Hunt, John Cusack, Bob Balaban, Fisher Stevens, Jeremy Piven, Susan Sarandon (Robbins's wife, natch), Fred Ward, Peter Gallagher's eyebrows, Lynne Thigpen, Jack Black (in his first movie role), Ray Wise (who already busted your chops once this week in God's Not Dead 2)... I can go on and on...

Just take my word for it. Bob Roberts is not a film anyone should miss twice.

edited 5th Nov '16 8:11:16 AM by SeanMurrayI

Shippudentimes Since: Dec, 2012
#17330: Nov 5th 2016 at 8:33:27 AM

I might not make it on time if we do an expedited preshow, as dinner will be late for me today. But I will try to be there. I won't miss Alan Rickman wearing his best Stephen King cosplay again.

[up] Also, was that Jack Black before or after his role as the leader of The Nasties in The Neverending Story 3?

Also, also, is Bob Roberts in the Critereon Collection yet? With the acclaim it has had, it seems like it should have been entered.

edited 5th Nov '16 8:35:57 AM by Shippudentimes

SeanMurrayI Since: Jan, 2010
#17331: Nov 5th 2016 at 8:53:24 AM

[up]Before. Two years before, in fact. As I said, this was Jack Black's first film role (he did have two very small roles on TV projects in the 1980's, though).

Prometheus136 What's eatin' you, chief? from Yoknapatawpha County Since: Sep, 2011 Relationship Status: It's so nice to be turned on again
What's eatin' you, chief?
#17332: Nov 5th 2016 at 2:21:04 PM

I'll have to miss this one. My friend's schedule finally has a gap for me to hang out with him tonight.

War is God.
Shippudentimes Since: Dec, 2012
#17333: Nov 5th 2016 at 2:31:47 PM

Okay, I may not make it for the preshow, but I may make it for the movie itself/halfway through the movie.

Going out to dinner suddenly.

SeanMurrayI Since: Jan, 2010
#17334: Nov 5th 2016 at 4:10:11 PM

[up][up]Arrrgh! I can't tell you how much it pains me you'll have to miss this one again, but here's wishing you a fun time tonight!

Well, we're starting with more of Gamesmaster and Street Sharks to tide us over for the next 45 minutes.

Then, at the top of the coming hour, Tim Robbins is the Celebrity-turned-Republican Politician from Hell in the magnificent mockumentary Bob Roberts

Join us! http://cytu.be/r/TroperCoven


~Bisected8 ~Morgikit ~lewattoo ~Noaqiyeum ~Finger Puppet ~Completely Normal Guy ~TAPETRVE ~Rockonman ~spacealien ~Mystic Eclectic ~Shippudentimes ~Space Wolf ~colonelcathcart ~Germi91 ~Maple Samurai ~Gehayadren

Bisected8 A casual tief of punk from Her Hackette Cave (Primordial Chaos) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
A casual tief of punk
#17335: Nov 6th 2016 at 6:33:57 AM

Following up on something mentioned in the show; Apparently the "shooter" who got Trump rushed off the stage was actually an Anti-Trump Republican, carrying nothing more dangerous than a sign. Apparently the crowd damn near lynched him.

TV Tropes's No. 1 bread themed lesbian. she/her, fae/faer
SeanMurrayI Since: Jan, 2010
#17336: Nov 6th 2016 at 9:41:43 AM

[up]Yet Trump's sons and campaign staff still want to talk about it as an assassination attempt. All this only draws even more eerie similarities to the events at the end of last night's movie. UN-FUCKING-BELIEVABLE.

Anyway, our unofficial pre-Election Day "Trilogy of Trump's Psyche" continues tonight with another great, great film—Guinevere Turner's and Mary Harron's screen adaptation of American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis.

Filmwise, this is a very impressive project that helped a lot of people who worked on this movie break out into bigger and better things. Christian Bale, of course, was able to put his hokey past in Walt Disney live-action period pieces playing newsies and nazis behind him and break out as a wonderful leading man. Reese Witherspoon immediately followed this up with Legally Blonde and basically defined her acting career ever since. Justin Theroux somehow went on to both become a co-writer of the film Tropic Thunder and marry Jennifer Aniston. Jared Leto made this one of several odd roles he'd find himself in around the turn of the millennium until he just somehow became ridiculously famous... Samantha Mathis reemerged 14 years later to, ironically, portray Dagney Taggart in the middle part of that awful 'Atlas Shrugged' film trilogy (which somehow still wasn't more of an embarrassment than playing Princess Daisy in the Super Mario Bros. movie).

But much more important than all of that, what's at the heart of this story (especially the original book) is the underlying mindset of 1980's Republicanism and the wealthy urban professional: Outwardly pointing out social ills and broadly laying down what we must strive to accomplish to overcome them (even while some stated aims seemingly contradict others), as highlighted near the very beginning of the story, yet inwardly only caring about ones own self-interests and consumerist self-satisfaction, while taking no steps to actually do anything about societal concerns and, if anything, perpetuating those same problems through their personal actions.

Another attention-grabbing element that's a bit more downplayed in this movie adaptation: The main character idolizes Donald Trump as the embodiment of everything he aspires to be. Especially in the book, Patrick Bateman constantly dreams of receiving an invitation aboard Trump's private yacht, he lies at one point about flying in luxury aboard the Trump Shuttle, and in the chapter where the private detective makes a surprise visit to his office, at one point Patrick deflects from the detective's line of questioning to bring attention to the copy of The Art of the Deal that he keeps on his desk ("Have you read it?" / "No, I haven't. Is it good?" / "It's very good.")—a subtle act of imposing one person's moral compass over another's.

There's only one enormous problem that I have with this movie (it's not necessarily something that would bother a lot of people, but it certainly bothers me), and it's the fact that the filmmakers did not shoot primarily in New York City and thought to save some money by primarily trying to pass off boring, boring Toronto as Manhattan. That's a test of Willing Suspension of Disbelief that no movie can ever pass.

edited 6th Nov '16 10:43:05 AM by SeanMurrayI

SpaceWolf from The Other Rainforest Since: Apr, 2012
#17337: Nov 6th 2016 at 1:57:08 PM

It's come to my attention that I may be called away for work. As much as I love this movie, and as much as I'd like to see the reactions of others who are viewing it, money unfortunately has to take priority. I really wanted to be here for this. It's among my favorite movies. However, there are several places where I can watch it. I have been planning on doing another re-watch of it, anyway. Either way, I'll be interested to see what some of its newcomers will say in the comments.

This is a signature.
Shippudentimes Since: Dec, 2012
#17338: Nov 6th 2016 at 3:42:10 PM

[up][up] What about New York and Chicago as a believable Gotham City?

Or that Dan Akyroyd can pull off a decent Chicago accent while singing and/or talking?

edited 6th Nov '16 3:42:55 PM by Shippudentimes

SeanMurrayI Since: Jan, 2010
#17339: Nov 6th 2016 at 4:10:21 PM

[up]Gotham City isn't a real place, so that's not a concern of mine what anyone says it looks like. But when somebody shows you arial camera shots of downtown Toronto and insist that that dull mess of shit is 1980's downtown Manhattan, then, brother, we got a problem.

Anyway, we'll get things started with a quality episode of The X-Files that I would have insisted to you was one of the greatest 45 minutes of American television long before The AV Club did.

Then, at the top of the coming hour... Christian Bale comes into his own as an actor, commercially and artistically, as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho.

Join us! http://cytu.be/r/TroperCoven


~Bisected8 ~Morgikit ~lewattoo ~Noaqiyeum ~Finger Puppet ~Completely Normal Guy ~TAPETRVE ~Rockonman ~spacealien ~Mystic Eclectic ~Shippudentimes ~Space Wolf ~colonelcathcart ~Germi91 ~Maple Samurai ~Gehayadren

BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#17340: Nov 6th 2016 at 8:16:38 PM

I started watching The Accountant. From what I'm seeing of "average person" reviewers, there seems to be some Critical Dissonance going on, where critics are split but audiences love or really like it.

One thing I like is the technique of flashing back to the past to show how severely disabled the main character was as a child, compared to how competent he is now, even if he does need to structure his life a certain way and avoid situations he cannot handle.

SeanMurrayI Since: Jan, 2010
#17341: Nov 7th 2016 at 9:10:04 AM

Wrapping up our unofficial "Trilogy of Trump's Psyche" tonight before Election Day... And it being virtually impossible to finish strong after already showcasing Bob Roberts and American Psycho, what could be more fitting than the weak finish to another movie trilogy (Omen IV: The Awakening notwithstanding)?

The best thing about this movie, in particular, is that it doesn't really make any difference if one has seen the previous two movies before or not (I, myself, have never even seen the second part). Although, it should be said that the original film in the series (Directed by a then up-and-coming Richard Donner) is one of the most influential horror films ever made. It's pretty much one of the earliest movies of its kind to go out of its way to come up with different, unique ways of killing off its victim pool (something we all pretty much just take for granted in most horror movies where death and murder is a primary theme). When I first saw the original movie in the early 2000's, I even thought of it as a direct precursor to the Final Destination films, and, of course, Doom House would borrow much of the film's memorable score.

From the first installment, the stated idea was that the young child believed to be the Antichrist would one day grow up to gain and wield power and influence through the political arena, and it's here in the third film where things reach the logical conclusion—a suddenly adultnote  Damien Thorn is named the United States ambassador to Great Britain from where he hopes to one day make a move for the US Presidency and, in the meantime, scheme to assure his mission as the Antichrist by halting the Second Coming of Christ, which he aims to accomplish through the most extreme Trump-sounding measure you can probably imagine: Ordering his dedicated followers to murder babies.

Perhaps the most notable thing about this movie is that it's the first major film that leading actor Sam Neill ever made outside of his native New Zealand and Australia.

Prepare for Omen III: The Final Conflict

edited 7th Nov '16 10:46:35 AM by SeanMurrayI

SeanMurrayI Since: Jan, 2010
#17342: Nov 7th 2016 at 1:52:33 PM

I was just trying to look up the ending of the original Omen film, and instead I get trolled in a big, big way...

SeanMurrayI Since: Jan, 2010
#17343: Nov 7th 2016 at 4:09:09 PM

So what are we doing?

First up, we got more of Street Sharks and Knightmare for the hell of it.

Then, at the top of the coming hour, we got Sam Neill in his "breakout" role as the grown-up version of Damien Thorn in Omen III: The Final Conflict—the dullest movie ever made about the Antichrist killing babies.

Join us! http://cytu.be/r/TroperCoven


~Bisected8 ~Morgikit ~lewattoo ~Noaqiyeum ~Finger Puppet ~Completely Normal Guy ~TAPETRVE ~Rockonman ~spacealien ~Mystic Eclectic ~Shippudentimes ~Space Wolf ~colonelcathcart ~Germi91 ~Maple Samurai ~Gehayadren

BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#17344: Nov 7th 2016 at 4:30:03 PM

I watched half of The Accountant through yesterday night and this morning. I'm excited to see the rest.

Reviewers seem quite harsh on it, yet interestingly, it's been hanging on in theaters. I think the public is spreading word of mouth and people are liking it. It's already grossed over double its budget.

TuefelHundenIV Night Clerk of the Apocalypse from Doomsday Facility Corner Store. Since: Aug, 2009 Relationship Status: I'd need a PowerPoint presentation
Night Clerk of the Apocalypse
#17345: Nov 7th 2016 at 7:46:52 PM

I found one that might be interesting. "The Green Goblin's Last Stand" is a 1990's fan fillm by Dan Poole based off of the "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" comic story line.

Trailer

"High Res" Version found here

Who watches the watchmen?
Prometheus136 What's eatin' you, chief? from Yoknapatawpha County Since: Sep, 2011 Relationship Status: It's so nice to be turned on again
What's eatin' you, chief?
#17346: Nov 7th 2016 at 8:30:57 PM

#StumpTrump

#TanDumpLord

#ChaosReignsSupreme

#IGiveYouTheMausoleumOfAllHopeAndDesire

War is God.
SeanMurrayI Since: Jan, 2010
#17347: Nov 8th 2016 at 5:29:04 AM

We'll return to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow—Wednesday, November 9th.

Until that time, if you are living in the United States, over 18 years of age, and registered to vote, then I deeply encourage you to get out, do your part, and stop this prophetic vision of the future brought to us from the UK, circa May 2011, from becoming a very troubling reality.

BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#17348: Nov 8th 2016 at 6:01:11 AM

Despite the "gritty" realistic art style in that comic, that was pretty cartoonish.

SeanMurrayI Since: Jan, 2010
#17349: Nov 8th 2016 at 6:26:26 AM

Very cartoonish, indeed! And I thought utterly impossible to take seriously in any regard until this very year.

BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#17350: Nov 8th 2016 at 3:22:58 PM

Well, I watched The Accountant. The movie about the autistic assassin.

I reviewed it, too.

The man's autism is not the reason he is such an efficient killing machine. Rather, his dad put him through Training from Hell in an attempt to make it easier to control his aggression and emotions.

Christian's autism is still portrayed in the movie pretty well for the most part. There are a couple moments where I felt he gave too much eye contact, but other than that, he did look away a lot, be stiff and awkward, and accidentally offend people by making blunt observations or asking direct questions about things you don't normally ask questions about.

The movie is a mixture of character drama, action, suspense and mystery. I like the way it mixes all these elements together. I feel it keeps the movie going and keeps up interest, as there's a lot to Christian and the situation he inhabits.

There's major Critical Dissonance here. The critics were really harsh on the movie, calling Christian a "stiff performance" (gee, you think emotional overload and/or self-consciousness leading to a stiff, "robotic" presentation might be common in autism?). They said the mixture of drama, action and other elements was a mess. Because movies must be in a single genre, right?

Whatever. The movie made $104 million so far from a $44 million budget. It's a sleeper hit, doing well in the theaters and showing staying power despite not being heavily hyped. Word of mouth is helping it.

I think it's another example of how modern audiences want to see new types of stories told and new types of characters. Right now, we have a super popular movie/book franchise with a teenage girl action protagonist (The Hunger Games), and a video game that sold 4.5 million copies and stars a black protagonist (Mafia III). So why wouldn't audiences want to watch an autistic assassin, if it's done well? I feel that it's done well enough, even if some critics are calling it "preposterous" or even "irresponsible" (because... telling autistics they might be able to achieve things, or telling society that autistics are capable of more than they're given credit for, is a bad thing?!).

Indeed, I think we need movies like this. Some time back I imagined in my head a possible cartoon series about a woman with Aspergers/autism who knows how to fight, and gets into dangerous situations and survives them, but is also affected by her autism in ways that wouldn't affect other people. Well, now we have a movie that's more or less about that premise, just done in a different way, and with a dude.

It shows society that autistics are indeed disabled but can also be skilled, and if given support and/or coping mechanisms, and accepted for who they are, can potentially thrive and even add value to a company that's willing to hire (and understand) them. Which is what autistic self advocates have been saying forever. I'm glad to see that we have more and more allies on our side, now including Hollywood.

edited 8th Nov '16 3:34:37 PM by BonsaiForest


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