DYLA Reader Mailbag
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Welcome to the Do You Like Apples reader mailbag! We solicited questions from you guys in last week’s newsletter and on social media, so thank you to everyone that sent in questions. Read on for our favorite movie theater snacks, our most anticipated movies for the rest of 2021, and if The Green Knight is a good movie to watch at a bachelor party.
If you have a question for the next mailbag, reply to any of our emails or hit us up on Twitter and Instagram.
What is the first movie you ever remember watching? - Katie C.
Billy: I had pneumonia when I was really young. There is not a specific moment of seeing this movie for the first time, but my mom had always told me that the only thing that would calm me down while she was giving me my medicine was Beauty and the Beast. That movie is always comfort food for me. Plus it feeds my pretentious ego. I mean… the first movie I loved was the first animated movie to be nominated for Best Picture.
Drew: While it certainly isn’t the first movie I ever saw (that was probably Toy Story or Pocahontas or something), the first one I vividly remember sitting down to watch was the 1996 timeless classic Kazaam starring Shaquille O’Neal. Kazaam is about “a 5,000-year-old genie who appears from a magic boombox to grant a 14-year-old boy three wishes.” This is a movie with a 3.0 IMDb rating and a 5% on Rotten Tomatoes, but I was six years old so I only really remember Shaq’s presence on screen. This was probably my first exposure to him (it was pre-Lakers Shaq), but I recall thinking he was the coolest and funniest guy I’d ever seen. It’s hard to imagine a movie like this getting made today.
Go-to movie theatre snacks? - Taylor B.
Billy: Junior Mints. FROZEN! That is the most important part. Here is me going up to the counter at a movie theater:
Billy: Do you have Junior Mints?
Concession: Yes
Billy: Are they cold?
Concession: What?
Billy: Okay, nevermind
The only place in St. Louis that seems to freeze their Junior Mints is the Hi-Pointe. I need more of this accommodation in my life.
Drew: DOTS, “America's favorite, #1-selling gumdrop brand.” I always get made fun of for picking an old man’s candy, but let me give you a couple reasons why it’s the perfect movie theater snack: 1) DOTS make very little sound when you eat them so you won’t disturb others around you, and 2) they always get stuck in your teeth so you get to enjoy them longer than most other candy. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
A friend suggested we rent The Green Knight to watch at a bachelor party. Is that a good call? - Daniel K.
Billy: There is really no bachelor party that is a good fit for this movie in my mind. Even the most film-loving group would want this to be on a different weekend. The moment I think this would be good potentially is in the morning during the early part of the bachelor party weekend. Coffee and allowing this to be on in the background would be fairly soothing and a good mood setter for the days.
Drew: Hmm… it really depends on the kind of group you have. While The Green Knight is excellent (read our reviews here), it’s strange, dense, and subverts expectations of the typical “medieval knight on a quest” movie. If you’re looking for a fun crowd-pleaser, this ain’t it. But if your group of guys is willing to get weird and arty with it, it’s a good call.
Marry/F***/Kill: Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson - Emily W.
(Marry: You can watch their movies whenever you want for the rest of your life. F***: You get to watch their movies one more time and then never again. Kill: You can’t watch their movies anymore.)
Billy: Still not sure what the F*** stands for, but I’ll answer this the best I can. Would 100% marry Marty. Definitely the best American director from the 1970s onward and a filmography that has Rewatchables as well as movies that are hidden gems. F*** is Paul Thomas Anderson. I think he would be the most open to a casual relationship because his film style is so consistent while still being unique. A feeling of being effortlessly made while having a craft that is meticulous and detail oriented. You know what you get while never going stale. Now to the kill… I’m sorry Quentin. Before OUATIH this decision would have been much easier. Not because his movies before this are low quality, but it was the first time he showed me something completely different from his normal style. I can give up most of his movies so bye bye to his whole filmography.
Drew: This is a really tough M/F/K, but I’m pretty confident with my choices. I’m going to Marry my guy Scorsese. If I had to pick one, Marty is probably my favorite director. He’s made somewhere between 10 and 15 great movies, with a good mix of rewatchable classics (Goodfellas, The Departed) and thoughtful serious-minded drama (Taxi Driver, Silence). I can’t imagine having to give those up. I’m going to F*** Paul Thomas Anderson, creator of brilliant and enigmatic work like There Will Be Blood and The Master. Finally, it’s with a heavy heart that I will have to Kill Tarantino. It’s cruel to imagine never getting to watch Inglourious Basterds or Once Upon a Time In Hollywood ever again, but sacrifices have to be made in this game.
If you could travel back in time and see any movie in the theater on opening night, what would it be? - Katie C.
Billy: I would go back to Jaws. It is my favorite movie of all time. The legacy of this movie has created an industry that I don’t love. Creating a summer season that has perverted pure creativity. Despite my now annoying critique of modern day cinema there is not a movie that mixes blockbuster filmmaking with intimate looks at our characters better than Jaws. Pinpoint casting. A Hitchcock-inspired film. Launching a career of one of the best living directors. Can’t get much better.
Drew: I’d go back in time for Psycho in 1960. It’s not even my favorite Alfred Hitchcock film (that would be Rear Window), but the hype for a new Hitchcock joint at that stage in his career had to be at a fever pitch. Plus, to see the (mostly unprecedented) twists and turns of that movie with a packed theater on opening night would be unforgettable.
Favorite “so-bad-they're-good” movies? - Taylor B.
Billy: Drew is wrong with his pick. Wild Wild West is just horrendous. Especially given the news that Will Smith chose that over The Matrix. The movie that I always put into this category is the Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt led disaster film, Twister. Cutting edge special effects, winning lead character actors, and a still unknown Phillip Seymour Hoffman at the time created a movie I can’t stop watching. It’s not a nuanced piece of art, but it is so effective at what it wants to be.
Drew: We did a whole Good Bad Movies newsletter back in January 2020, and I think my favorite is still Wild Wild West, the 1999 Will Smith action-comedy catastrophe. If you follow this newsletter, you know I don’t like calling anything garbage, but this movie is straight garbage that is only powered by a bonkers, go-for-broke attitude and Will Smith’s pure charisma.
What movie are you most excited for the rest of 2021? - Let’s Talk Movies
Billy: The Last Duel. One of the best trailers of the year and a reunion of writers that inspired this whole newsletter. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon teamed up with co-writer Nicole Holofcener to bring an epic tale to life.
Drew: I’m going to cheat and pick two: Dune and The French Dispatch. And they are both coming out on October 22nd aka the best day of 2021.
Recent Release Mini-Reviews
Reminiscence (in theaters and streaming on HBO Max)
Drew: I spent most of my time with Reminiscence recalling better movies — Inception, Minority Report, Blade Runner, and many more — that reminded me of this sci-fi noir slog. That’s not usually a good sign. Reminiscence definitely has potential, but with flat characters and terribly cliched dialogue, there’s little to recommend about it beyond a promising premise. - 2.5 / 5 Apples
Links
If you’ve been online at all in the last few days, you probably heard a trailer dropped for Spider-Man: No Way Home, the third Tom Holland Spider-Man installment, and it features a couple “surprises” that you also probably already knew about.
Yesterday we got our first look at a couple awards season contenders! Netflix’s The Power of the Dog, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, and Jesse Plemons, will be releasing in theaters on November 17. And Spencer, with Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana, will be in theaters on November 5.
With the rise of the Delta variant, there’s speculation that studios will start delaying their movie releases again. This article at IndieWire lays out why that’s very unlikely to happen for the upcoming Bond movie No Time To Die, which has been delayed since April 2020.