For me the last line of the film is one of the most romantic in all of cinema history. This film is my ultimate feel-good film. Anytime life is getting you down, or if you've just seen a really bleak view of humanity in a movie, pop "Strictly Ballroom into your DVD player and allow yourself to be uplifted... Thanks for highlighting this movie guys.
Fun Fact: Paul Mercuro has just been elected to Parliament here in my home state of Victoria in Australia. I cannot confirm if he danced into the chamber on his first day or not.
Had Mr. Mercurio instead been elected to Parliament in the State of Western Australia, it likely might well have been the case that any commenter in the YTC rather would have said, "I can neither confirm nor deny that he danced into the chamber on his first day; immediately after, of course, having paid his respects to his fellows at the Lodge Commonwealth of Australia, 14 minutes away to the Southwest, via Yamba Drive"; As such: But as to the certainty of that particular individual possibility, That specific verity I can neither confirm nor deny. BTW: Gentlemen of BlameSociety; Please tell me you didn't voice the robots from "Mystery Science Theater"; I've got two bits riding on this here bet of mine, at the end of the day -- Two bits, mind you... Two. Hehehe. 🤪🤪🤪
You're so right about this being Baz Luhrmann's only great movie. I loved it back in the day and I still love it. It may have whimsical and fantastical elements but it's filled with heart, as well as being firmly grounded in reality. It deals with the strange and obsessive world of competitive ballroom dance and somehow makes you understand the stakes. It's just great.
I did a lot of the film restoration on The Fabelmans, including the final checks where I basically I went over each 15-ish minute reel of the movie for a whole 8 hour day. But there was reel someone else did because I wasn't there that day, so when I saw the movie in the theater 85% of it was a movie I'd seen on mute more than a dozen times, expect for 15 minutes in the middle where I got to go "Ooh! What's going on here?"
I’m SO HAPPY they liked/loved this one! Scott Hastings was one of my first childhood crushes and my family has always quoted “show, show me your paso doble” That scene of the party with the train going by is the stuff of life ❤
This gave my Aussie millennial heart a really comforting dose of home.. anyone who studied film in school in Oz spent a loooot of time analysing this one... Those closeups are still seared in my brain
I’m so glad you guys finally watched this one. It’s probably in my top five movies. I can’t believe you skipped over the super important subplot about to bogo pogo! (That was sarcasm) I’m not going to lie, I was a little afraid you were going to hate this and make me sad but I’m very satisfied. I’d still love the movie either way but it’s great to see two people who I admire and respect also having a good time watching this film.
Seeing the hand drum gift I instantly thought about Karate Kid 2. So, I look forward to a future episode where we find out little Lorenzo has learning the secret technique of Mr. Miyagi's karate.
Is Cyndi Lauper the hardest popular singer to cover in recent memory? She's got great songs that seem like they should be covered, but you can't forget (or duplicate) that unique voice.
Next time i play football/soccer i'm just gonna play by my own rules. I learned that from this movie. I'm gonna pick the ball up and throw it in goal and if anyone has a problem with it they're just silly squares trying to hold me down.
I suppose I've seen/heard Termagant before having read/seen Hamlet but I watched a review of reservoir Dogs earlier today and they talked about how Tarantino would like actors to perform the "Speak the speech" speech from Hamlet and it contains this word which I hadn't looked into before and now have gotten from 2 different sources in the same day! Synchronicity. (Interesting, also, that Hamlet speaks to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern at the end of it as Tim Roth would go on to play one of them.)
I have been suggesting movies that don't seem like they go together but would make an interesting double feature, I think this would go brilliantly with A Clockwork Orange for a number of reasons!
Scene It? Idle Hands (1999). Went into this one with rock bottom expectations, but was pleasantly surprised. A horror-comedy that delivered on both fronts. Over the top at times, but never surpassed the overly silly threshold that films of this genre tend to do.
I really want to see All Quite on the Western Front, as my Great Grandfather was a sharpshooter during WWI. I watched the trailer and I showed it to my Dad and we both said that we were going to skip this one. It looks so intense that I think it would be too hard for us to watch knowing that we had a family member who barely survived those 4 years.
I would love a stand alone video comparing "All quiet on the Western Front" and "Top Gun Maverick". Both are objectively good movies and are the exact opposite of each other. Also the brief synopsis of "Come and See" is spot on; I watched the trailer for that movie and it took me another six months too emotionally prepare to watch it.
I want to say that romeo + juliet is luhrman's best film because im a believer of "style IS substance" and that film (the parts that isnt just written by Shakespeare) is just luhrman in his bag. But i also want to say strictly is his best film because of how distinctly grounded it is, how different that is to the rest of his films. What i'll say for sure is that i'm always curious to see what he makes next (elvis was if nothing else, fascinating and fun to talk about and if thats not just what movies are about, i dont know what is).
I total agree - not a Lunrmann (I think he's waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy over the top/excessive) but I saw this movie back in the 90s and really like it. Didn't think I would when my crazy aunt made us watch it one Easter after dinner. Had no idea who Baz was at the time. Its the only movie of his I like.
I can't remember which episode it was, but Matt did pull "Top Secret" out of the envelope once for kicks because he'd already seen it. Edit: Per the website, Craig wishes for "Top Secret" in the "Armageddon" episode and Matt grants his wish in the following episode "Help!"
Have you guys seen Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985) starring Sarah Jessica Parker & Helen Hunt? It's very cute and funny with great 80's music, and of course Cyndi Lauper especially.
For Seen It!; all your Star Trek references in this make me want to hear you opinions on the three reboot movies. I think the last one is the best but the second one has scenes with merit, though it absolutely cannot stand up to the original Wrath of Khan.
FYI that paso you have around the 9 minute mark is not only bad by flameco dancer standards. It would have been awful in ballroom competition is well. It makes no sense that anyone supposed to be that highly regarded as a professional would dance a paso like that.
I love Genevieve Bujold, but not enough to watch her suffer through that thing several more times, let alone a thousand. ("Harridan" is another acceptable term for a nagging woman, certainly more than "tarragon.") It is interesting to learn that Baz Luhrman once made a good movie after all. Interesting idea for Top Gun Maverick, but it won't work -- the Mission Impossible movies are proving that Cruise is in fact an immortal vampire who can't die.
RRR is too long to watch on Welcome to the Basement so you need to talk about it during scene it. I've seen it three times, it's simply the best way to spend 3 hours.
I'm with you Matt. Top Gun Maverick was fine, but so much fan service and callbacks to the first movie. Could've and should've told a different story, squandered opportunity.
