I never saw anyone use the word "larfs" except me. But I cribbed it from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Also...
I happen to like Grease 2, Mamma Mia and Xanadu!
Soon I will check out Glitter and HSM!
Cheers! Happy New Year!
--- On Thu, 1/1/09, matt love <mattlove1@...> wrote:
From: matt love <mattlove1@...> Subject: Re: [ILoveIshtar] Re: Cast of Isthar Remake (do not panic - this is a hypothetical topic, not real)! To: ILoveIshtar@yahoogroups.com Date: Thursday, January 1, 2009, 8:11 PM
Wow, you are totally right about that casting. I withdraw my vote for my cast, and switch my allegiance to your cast.
My favorite movie review of all time: "Grease 2, Audience 0"
But if I've learned anything from Ishtar fandom, you have to make up your own mind about movies - since I haven't seen Grease 2, I'll keep an open mind.
I remember one time I was in line at the video store (something DVDs through the mail have eliminated, unfortunately in some ways). I was talking with the guy in front of me, and we were talking about movies that had unfairly been slandered by people who had never seen them... we agreed that Mystery Men had lots of good larfs, for example.
Then he said "I'll tell you one movie that really is bad - and that's Ishtar!"
I was kind of startled, because we'd agreed on so many things already. "You really think so?" I said. "It's one of my favorite movies."
"Well," he said
kind of sheepishly, "I don't really know. I've never seen it!"
So you see, you just can't trust anybody about this - they might be taking money from the CIA to say Isthar is a bad movie. Or your best Ishtar buddy might be working for the commies!
Wow, you are totally right about that casting. I withdraw my vote for my cast, and switch my allegiance to your cast.
My favorite movie review of all time: "Grease 2, Audience 0"
But if I've learned anything from Ishtar fandom, you have to make up your own mind about movies - since I haven't seen Grease 2, I'll keep an open mind.
I remember one time I was in line at the video store (something DVDs through the mail have eliminated, unfortunately in some ways). I was talking with the guy in front of me, and we were talking about movies that had unfairly been slandered by people who had never seen them... we agreed that Mystery Men had lots of good larfs, for example.
Then he said "I'll tell you one movie that really is bad - and that's Ishtar!"
I was kind of startled, because we'd agreed on so many things already. "You really think so?" I said. "It's one of my favorite movies."
"Well," he said kind of sheepishly, "I don't really know. I've never seen it!"
So you see, you just can't trust anybody about this - they might be taking money from the CIA to say Isthar is a bad movie. Or your best Ishtar buddy might be working for the commies!
You'd have a pretty amazing team with Ricky Gervais as The Hawk and
Hugh Grant as Lyle, but they'd have to be based in London. Jim
Broadbent could be their agent.
Also, briefly, about Grease 2 -- to me it feels like the kind of 'bad'
that isn't all that fun to watch. The cast look a little pained.
Which is NOT like Xanadu, where most of the people seem to be having a
great time or maybe they're just not sure of what's going on, which is
fine - join the club! I love Xanadu.
--- In ILoveIshtar@yahoogroups.com, "matt love" <mattlove1@...> wrote:
>
> On a previous episode:
>
> New list member Heather offered her choices for people to play the
> principals if they remade Isthar. I said I might cast Paul Giamatti
in the
> Chuck Clarke role, but I was stumped for who to play Lyle Rogers.
>
> We return to our story:
>
> My wife Anne suggest Ray Milano. I thought that was a pretty good
idea, but
> when I watched this vid, I decided I had found my alternative
universe Lyle:
>
> http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PJQVlVHsFF8
>
> The Hoff is a follower of the 70s Swedish group "Blue Swede" who
discovered
> what is now known as "The Special Theory of Ooga Chakka" - that is,
the song
> "Hooked On A Feeling is significantly hookier through the generous
> application of Ooga Chakkas.
>
> It's bad manners to brag oneself up, but you guys will probably
appreciate
> being the first to know that I have discovered "The General Theory
of Ooga
> Chakka" - that is, any song can be improved if you put enough Ooga
Chakka in
> it.
>
> Check out, for example, my new recording of "God Rest Ye Merry
Gentlemen"
> at:
>
>
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=907462&songID=7196474
>
> Merry Christmas, and I'll let you know if I have time to get "*Auld Lang
> Syne*" up before midnight!
>
> --
> Love me, love my vids
> http://www.youtube.com/user/mattlove1
>
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Matt Love mattlove1@...<mattlove1@...>
Date: Wed, Dec 31, 2008 at 5:30 PM Subject: Matt Love has a song recommendation for you To: mattlove1@...
I should be working on my holiday brag letter, or even better getting ready
for the New Years Eve party guests that will be arriving in an hour and a
half, but my musical research into the General Theory of Ooga Chakka
continues. Check out the results in this song: 'Auld Lang Syne' on the Dirty
Ol Scoundrel Christmas Songs page.
New list member Heather offered her choices for people to play the principals if they remade Isthar. I said I might cast Paul Giamatti in the Chuck Clarke role, but I was stumped for who to play Lyle Rogers.
We return to our story:
My wife Anne suggest Ray Milano. I thought that was a pretty good idea, but when I watched this vid, I decided I had found my alternative universe Lyle:
The Hoff is a follower of the 70s Swedish group "Blue Swede" who discovered what is now known as "The Special Theory of Ooga Chakka" - that is, the song "Hooked On A Feeling is significantly hookier through the generous application of Ooga Chakkas.
It's bad manners to brag oneself up, but you guys will probably appreciate being the first to know that I have discovered "The General Theory of Ooga Chakka" - that is, any song can be improved if you put enough Ooga Chakka in it.
Check out, for example, my new recording of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" at:
I had fun watching Xanadu, but I think it is truly the movie people say Ishtar is. I enjoyed Ishtar as a good movie. I enjoyed Xanadu as a bad movie. I felt like watching it from between my fingers at times, I found it so cringe-inducing.
I first saw Ishtar when i was on a bad movie watching jag. Plan 9 is indeed bad. Robot Monster, to my surprise, was much worse. But Ishtar surprised me by being very good.
I haven't seen the other movies; in your opinion should I rent them when I feel like watching a bad movie, or a good movie? Either can be fun, depending on my mood. In my tiny little mind, "fun" and "good" are orthogonal.
On Wed, Dec 31, 2008 at 7:56 AM, B. Raul Spelling <spoon1265@...> wrote:
Some of those are fun to watch. What is your point?
BSS
--- On Tue, 12/30/08, jefleeson2000 <itmcontact@...> wrote:
Some people should be forced to view GLITTER, XANADU, GREASE 2, HIGH
Some people should be forced to view GLITTER, XANADU, GREASE 2, HIGH
SCHOOL MUSICAL, and, apparently, MAMA MIA.
Jef Leeson
www.ishtarthemovie.com
--- In ILoveIshtar@yahoogroups.com, "matt love" <mattlove1@...> wrote:
>
> Wow, I just noticed the seller's comment about this record...
Wow, I just noticed the seller's comment about this record:
The movie "Ishtar" was a bomb at
the box office, and so was this single from the soundtrack, "Little
Darlin'" by Chuck and Lyle. I know one of the guys is Dustin Hoffman,
but not the other! This 45 was released by Capitol Records (P-B-44032)
in 1987 and is a stereo recording! Record is in original Capitol paper
sleeve and is in G+ condition, and IS the Diamonds song!!! Looking for
something unusual? This is it!
At least there's a pretty good chance the record is in better hands now, this guy is not worthy!
Anybody here recognize yourself on this list of bids? Fess up!
On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 11:15 AM, Anne Dodge <annedodge@...> wrote:
Just wondering if anyone from this list was the lucky winner of the
Little Darlin 45. If I had known there would be such fierce
competition, I would have bid higher than $6! Oh well. It was going
to be the perfect Recession Christmas Gift (to myself). - Anne.
Sorry for the delay in your post getting to the list - for some reason Yahoo flagged it as "potential spam" and only just now saw it, and sent it through.
Even a spam flagging algorithm should have been able to see that you post was not spam, but in fact a very astute commentary on Our Movie.
I do believe that studio execs sabotaging Ishtar was one factor in it's box office failure. The guy that directed Mystery Men said the same thing. If a director gets into conflict with the studio, they'll hang him/her out to dry, no matter how many millions of dollars are at stake.
I've heard down through the years on many occasions that capitalists will always act to maximize their profits, and that endless wealth accumulation benefits us all, yadda yadda yadda.
Well, these guys are human like all of us, with bigger egos than most. They will quite willingly shoot themselves, and their companies in the foot when their ego gets involved. I can't count the number of articles I've read about up and coming musicians and authors who were kicked to the curb because the guy that brought them to the label / publishing house was replaced, and the new guy neglected the old guy's signings... solely for the reason that they were the old guy's proteges.
Of course, that doesn't explain why there is no DVD in the US (there is most everywhere else). I think that SONY bosses are concerned that a movie that portrays the CIA as bad guys and Arab insurgents as good guys would offend American sensitivities. Just my opinion.
If I was remaking Ishtar, I'd go a different direction with the casting. I'd emphasize how these guys are just ordinary schlubs... I'd cast Paul Giamatti as Clarke, and ... wow, I'm coming up short on Rogers. How about David Cross and Bob Odenkirk from Mr. Show? They're already a matched set.
I might pursue the exotic notion of casting somebody actually from the middle east to play Shirra Assel...
Finally, I just want to say I think a mutual love of Isthar is a very strong foundation for a relationship!
On Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 12:38 AM, heather wagner <heather.wagner@...> wrote:
thanks for posting that.
i just joined the list yesterday so clicked around to see the other images and found the review by this michael giltz fellow, which is astounding in its abject shallowness and totally literal reading of this great and subtle comedy! aside from the blatantly sexist comments (did it *really* set "women" directors back ten years?), the guy complains that the songs are bad(!) and that he's subjected to a LOT of them. like...um. duh?
i hadn't seen it in at least 10 years but watched it on christmas day with my boyfriend, who had claimed to be a fan--what a great bonding experience: turns out we were both impressed at how much better it was than we'd recalled it! i hadn't remembered the cinematography being so artful (i googled it to learn that vittorio storaro had won oscars for reds, last emperor and apocalypse now, had NO idea) and that the humor held up, lo these 21 years! i know i'm preaching to the choir on this list, but it's such a sad story on one hand (the studio head who comes in halfway through shooting, has a grudge against warren beatty and dustin hoffman, is curmudgeonly about it being overbudget and the LADY director and leaks negativity to the press pre-release thus ensuring bad reviews) and yet, had it not been so universally reviled, folks probably wouldn't have such a proud and almost defiant allegiance to this movie, which, to my mind, is on par with any cult comedy classic like 'caddyshack', 'meatballs', or 'airplane', totally ahead of its time. i am not exaggerating!
if so-called "uncomfortable" humor like the office or seinfeld had already been part of cultural consciousness, it probably would have been hugely popular, but folks just didn't know how to deal with something so subtle and self-consciously "bad".
my dream is for a remake. with hm...matt damon and ben affleck, and maybe angelina jolie?
okay, in your wildest dreams, who would you have play lyle and chuck? i know this is a blatant attempt to get some activity on this list, but hey, it's after xmas and before new years, what else are you doing?
kind regards, heather
On Sun, Dec 28, 2008 at 7:48 PM, n8binus <n8binus@...> wrote:
--- In ILoveIshtar@yahoogroups.com, "matt love" <mattlove1@...> wrote:
>
> You have to squint a bit to read this poster, but it's worth the
> effort. Here's more evidence that several reviewers liked Ishtar...
> before, for whatever reason, people figured out they better say they
> hated it...
>
Yo Matt,
The attachment is "not stored". (We can't see the poster)
i just joined the list yesterday so clicked around to see the other images and found the review by this michael giltz fellow, which is astounding in its abject shallowness and totally literal reading of this great and subtle comedy! aside from the blatantly sexist comments (did it *really* set "women" directors back ten years?), the guy complains that the songs are bad(!) and that he's subjected to a LOT of them. like...um. duh?
i hadn't seen it in at least 10 years but watched it on christmas day with my boyfriend, who had claimed to be a fan--what a great bonding experience: turns out we were both impressed at how much better it was than we'd recalled it! i hadn't remembered the cinematography being so artful (i googled it to learn that vittorio storaro had won oscars for reds, last emperor and apocalypse now, had NO idea) and that the humor held up, lo these 21 years! i know i'm preaching to the choir on this list, but it's such a sad story on one hand (the studio head who comes in halfway through shooting, has a grudge against warren beatty and dustin hoffman, is curmudgeonly about it being overbudget and the LADY director and leaks negativity to the press pre-release thus ensuring bad reviews) and yet, had it not been so universally reviled, folks probably wouldn't have such a proud and almost defiant allegiance to this movie, which, to my mind, is on par with any cult comedy classic like 'caddyshack', 'meatballs', or 'airplane', totally ahead of its time. i am not exaggerating!
if so-called "uncomfortable" humor like the office or seinfeld had already been part of cultural consciousness, it probably would have been hugely popular, but folks just didn't know how to deal with something so subtle and self-consciously "bad".
my dream is for a remake. with hm...matt damon and ben affleck, and maybe angelina jolie?
okay, in your wildest dreams, who would you have play lyle and chuck? i know this is a blatant attempt to get some activity on this list, but hey, it's after xmas and before new years, what else are you doing?
kind regards, heather
On Sun, Dec 28, 2008 at 7:48 PM, n8binus <n8binus@...> wrote:
--- In ILoveIshtar@yahoogroups.com, "matt love" <mattlove1@...> wrote:
>
> You have to squint a bit to read this poster, but it's worth the
> effort. Here's more evidence that several reviewers liked Ishtar...
> before, for whatever reason, people figured out they better say they
> hated it...
>
Yo Matt,
The attachment is "not stored". (We can't see the poster)
On Sun, Dec 28, 2008 at 5:48 PM, n8binus <n8binus@...> wrote:
--- In ILoveIshtar@yahoogroups.com, "matt love" <mattlove1@...> wrote:
>
> You have to squint a bit to read this poster, but it's worth the
> effort. Here's more evidence that several reviewers liked Ishtar...
> before, for whatever reason, people figured out they better say they
> hated it...
>
Yo Matt,
The attachment is "not stored". (We can't see the poster)
--- In ILoveIshtar@yahoogroups.com, "matt love" <mattlove1@...> wrote:
>
> You have to squint a bit to read this poster, but it's worth the
> effort. Here's more evidence that several reviewers liked Ishtar...
> before, for whatever reason, people figured out they better say they
> hated it...
>
Yo Matt,
The attachment is "not stored". (We can't see the poster)
-N8
Hey Heather, what a great idea! We watched Santa Claus Conquers The Martians on Christmas, and even with the MST3000 voiceover, it was just tedious. I think Ishtar for Christmas would make a much better tradition.
This is a great group, though pretty darn quiet. It's hard to find new Ishtar news these days... we keep hoping for a break... A soundtrack CD, or at least Ishtar on DVD with some special features...
You have to squint a bit to read this poster, but it's worth the
effort. Here's more evidence that several reviewers liked Ishtar...
before, for whatever reason, people figured out they better say they
hated it...
Now I thought the vid is quite funny and clever, but I've gone on record as saying I don't understand the widespread derision of Waterworld. I haven't seen it all the way through, but I saw part of it on TV, and while it's no Ishtar, it didn't knock me to the floor clutching my head the way that, say, "National Treasure" did. Well, I do understand... the difference is, of course, that Waterworld was just too weird for a mass audience, and didn't make any money, and National Treasure was successful enough to spawn a sequel. I found it tired, formulaic, lazy, by-the-numbers, cliched, and deeply deeply cynical... but none of that matters. If something loses money it's bad. If it makes money, it's good.
Here's the blog entry:
"Is it that odd to imagine a Waterworldmusical on Broadway? After all, Xanadumade
it to the big stage, so anything is possible for infamous turkeys like
this one. Sure, it looks rather silly in the video below, the way
Patrick Warburton and company have made it, but with the right creative
team Waterworld could really work as a kitchy cult attraction. Maybe team up two randoms, the way Marvel has with the upcoming Spider-Manshow
directed by Julie Taymor and featuring music by Bono. Honestly, there
seems to be nothing that Broadway producers could announce that's any
more ridiculous than what's already been done there.
So, terrible movie-turned-musical ideas may continue to be easy
gags, and they're possibly even going to make me laugh, but ultimately
I would like to go see Con Air: The Musical (from 30 Rock) and Planet of the Apes: The Musical (from The Simpsons) and musicals made out of Waterworld, The Postman, Battlefield Earthand especially Ishtar. Who would love you, Mariner? I would."
I had to google the Spider-man show to make sure the author hadn't fallen for another spoof... but apparently it's true. Without knowing anything more about it than the information here, it's hard to imagine anything more awful (though as an Ishtar fan, I have to keep an open mind, otherwise I'm the same kind of prejudiced hypocrite as Isthar-haters who've never seen it). It's pretty much a sure thing that whether it's really good or not, if it makes money, people will hail it as good, and if flops, they'll laugh at it and say it was horrible.
It might make an amusing parlor game to take the name of an unlikely movie (examples from real life - "The Eyes of Laura Mars" and "Carrie") and match it with unlikely creatives to come up with bizarre Broadway Musicals. But Ishtar is already almost a musical - they wouldn't need to do much more than unearth the complete songs (by Paul Williams and others).
Who would direct it? Well, I hear that the "ask a ninja" guys from YouTube are remaking "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" - I'd like to see a production of "Ishtar The Musical" directed by Kevin Nalty aka Nalts (http://www.youtube.com/user/nalts).
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Anne and I are here in Sao Paulo,
Brazil, having
a wonderful time. We came here so I could play some shows with my wonderful
friends Lulina and Leo. I perform with them, time permitting, in a group we
call the Waiters, and we've done the shows, and they turned out great.
There were some rough patches along the way – we were
supposed to have a mini-tour to small cities around Sao Paulo, but Eduardo (Du)
the friend/bandmate that was putting it together had to fire the tour organizer – who was
not doing his job – and he had to start over from scratch less than a week ago…
very Spinal Tap, as are most rock music moments.And there was one deliciously Isthar moment.
The show 2 nights ago was at a place called the Café
Elétrico, about 2 miles from our hotel.We're getting a better sense when and where it's safe to be out and
about… Anne and I decided we would walk there – it was mostly flat, and the
weather has been agreeable to those used to the chilly northern climate... but
if you get lost on the way, it gets more complicated. I was worried about being
late, not to mention being out in the gathering darkness, so rather than
retrace our steps, we decided to take a cab the rest of the way. It took
several cab drivers to consult together to identify our destination... they all
use map books, nobody can possibly know the entire city, there are 130,000
streets in Sao Paulo.So even though we were within a mile of our
destination, most of them had never heard of it.
No worries about being late - the show was scheduled to
start at 8:00, I wanted to get there by 7:00... we actually got there 7:50, but
only Six (Lulina's former bass player) and Du were already there... Six's new
band Homiepie opened the show not too badly late for a change... I think we
came on before 9:30.
Being Halloween, and us being the Waiters, I changed into
costume - a waiter's uniform I bought at an institutional clothing outfitting
store we saw trotting between museums when sight-seeing. It went over very
well.
What was Spinal Tap about it?Well, to me, it was much like playing the Air
Force officer's club after thinking we were going to be playing an arena –
well, a bar anyway.This was a small
coffee shop, the space divided up into 3 small rooms, and we were set up in a
tiny little area just outside the kitchen, which worked well for the 3 piece
Homiepie, but not the 8 piece Waiters.I
kept having to shift my position so the real waiters could get past me carrying
trays of food from the kitchen to the customers.... afterwords I went to sit
down with Anne, and I muttered, "Asshole waiters," and she got the reference immediately
of course, otherwise I don't think we'd have a very happy marriage.
Homiepie was great, and a tough act to follow, and it
seemed to me that The Waiters were losing momentum with the audience anyway,
and then about 6 songs into the set, we fried the vocal PA amplifier,
reminiscent of Nigel Tuftnel's wireless problems at the Air Force gig.However, unlike Nigel, we cheerfully
continued on, cutting a couple songs, and all joining in for a unison singalong
to make the vocals heard over the now-turned-down instruments on the songs we
did perform.We finished with "Ugly
American" which I "sang" in my best strangled roar.
I had to wonder what would happen the next day when we
did a show in a Sao Paulo
park.Would we get top billing over the
puppet show?Would we go on a jazz
odyssey?
As it turned out, the show in the park went really
well... no complaints. But something really bizarre happened… about an hour before the show, a few of us
were sitting there talking, waiting for Du to arrive with the amps and
equipment, when we heard a loud cracking - we looked across the park and a
big-ass tree, and I mean big,started
coming down - for no apparent reason at all, we watched in horror and
fascination as this monster tree - it must have been 30 to 45 feet around at
the base - toppled over, taking down huge palm trees with it, snapping them off
like toothpicks . It all happened so fast, in just seconds.Immediately people swarmed across the park
and from off the street, working their way through the branches, looking for
people trapped under the monster.
Miraculously, apparently only one person was hurt - a
woman was lead away, holding her arm, looking very shaken, maybe in shock, but
able to move without assistance other than people guiding her by her elbow.
I have to say that it was far and away the strangest thing
that has ever happened at any show I've ever played in... it comes darn close
to exploding drummers.
Afterwards I
asked Six if this sort of thing happened all the time, or if they just arranged
it for Anne and my benefit.He, and
everybody else, was as amazed and shocked as we were.
I wonder why the biker chicks dig Ishtar? Could be that some people would rather live in quiet desperation. Thanx Matt.
--- On Tue, 8/12/08, Matt Love <mattlove1@...> wrote:
From: Matt Love <mattlove1@...> Subject: [ILoveIshtar] Re: Looking for someone real. Serious only! To: ILoveIshtar@yahoogroups.com Date: Tuesday, August 12, 2008, 9:13 AM
Folks who had to wait for moderator approval must wonder how this spam
slips through. In this case, the bot signed up Oct 8, 2007 and lurked
until the perfect time to look for someone real - today. I don't know
if there are others among our 72 members (yes, it's true! 72 people
with the best taste in movies in the world have gathered here) are
spambots who joined before I put on the moderator approval thing...
I'll just have to zap them when they show themselves.
The other day on a music list, the topic of accordions came up. It
was the perfect opportunity to recommend Ishtar to a new crowd of people.
Of course, how are they gonna know it's a great movie if they can't
see it?
We have a complete set of Mr. Moto movies. You can buy so many weird
movies and TV shows at COSTCO (for example) it's just unreal. But you
can't get Ishtar on DVD!
Folks who had to wait for moderator approval must wonder how this spam
slips through. In this case, the bot signed up Oct 8, 2007 and lurked
until the perfect time to look for someone real - today. I don't know
if there are others among our 72 members (yes, it's true! 72 people
with the best taste in movies in the world have gathered here) are
spambots who joined before I put on the moderator approval thing...
I'll just have to zap them when they show themselves.
The other day on a music list, the topic of accordions came up. It
was the perfect opportunity to recommend Ishtar to a new crowd of people.
Of course, how are they gonna know it's a great movie if they can't
see it?
We have a complete set of Mr. Moto movies. You can buy so many weird
movies and TV shows at COSTCO (for example) it's just unreal. But you
can't get Ishtar on DVD!
--- In ILoveIshtar@yahoogroups.com, "mynewabfriend"
<mynewabfriend@...> wrote:
>
> I am looking for someone real. Serious only! If you are interested,
plz add me here:
> http://clarkyhm.zoomshare.com/files/newmessage.htm
>
Darn it, how do they slip through? This is why I require approval of new members, to avoid this. I'll send girlvdrider away.
Speaking of new members, there are two more. I'm very happy about this...
Somebody was going to throw an Ishtar theme party - did that come off? If so, please tell me about it. I think maybe I'll do that for my next birthday in September. Then I'll have something new to post to this list.
I was going to play some of my songs, maybe I'll do Rogers and Clarke songs instead!
Just out of curiosity - Isthar seems to be for songwriters what Spinal Tap is for people who've been in bands... are there people here who regard themselves as songwriters? Is Ishtar special for you because of that? Do you think your songs are worse/as good as/ better than Chuck and Lyle's?
Please, don't be shy!
On Wed, Jul 30, 2008 at 7:34 PM, girlvdrider <girlvdrider@...> wrote:
There is lots of evidence out there for intelligent life on planet earth (Ishtar fans) - but it takes some time to dig it out. I have the time, I've done the digging, and I'm happy to share what I learned.
I'm going to close by stealing a comment left on the Waiting for Ishtar site, I thought it beautifully summed up much of what I love about Ishtar:
Well
now! This is a funny thing. I never, EVER thought I'd see the day when
Ishtar would get an honest treatment. You can measure the integrity of
a person in whether they form their own opinions or dance along with
group-think. Ishtar is an excellent yardstick in this respect, though I
never liked to use it very often as it was sort of depressing most of
the time. We live in a world filled with many frightened sleep walkers,
and this is a horrible, uncharitable thing to consider.
I saw Ishtar when I was seventeen, and I had no expectations
whatsoever because at the time I was a sleep walker of my sort who was
incapable of plugging into the notion of hip and cool at any level of
society. I didn't know that there was a public opinion with regard to
movies, or that one was subtly required to adopt these attitudes. I
quite enjoyed Ishtar, but I didn't REALLY REALLY enjoy it per se. That
came later as my awareness of the world expanded and I started meeting
these wonderful, beautiful creative people who had tons of passion but
only moderate talent. People who would never make it big, but who were
valid, vital humans nonetheless. Ishtar is bitter-sweet, sad and
encouraging and funny and gentle, honest and delusional. It has all the
qualities of positive, fragile yet un-stoppable humanity. Chuck and
Lyle weren't the sort who would ever write a Simon & Garfunkel
song, but I realized at some point that they *were* the sort of people
who Simon & Garfunkel might very well have written songs about.
Anyway, some years later I rented Ishtar with a friend, telling him,
"You should see this. I remember that it was quite good and I've never
understood why it has become so shunned by popular opinion."
–In retrospect, it seems to me that it was more than just the huge
budget which turned public opinion against the film. I think instead
that it might have had largely to do with the fact that in some ways,
High school never really ends for many people. –That is, geeky people
like Chuck & Lyle, who are not as talented and not as hip or savvy.
. , for some reason those are exactly the kids who are punished by the
purveyors of popular acceptance. The popular kids killed Ishtar.
So we watched the film. It has it's flaws, but Oh My GOD! I realized
then, (at that point I was in my twenties), that it had some points of
utter genius which are almost NEVER seen in film. I didn't realize it
as a kid, but it its message was powerful; "Follow Your Bliss." It had
Joseph Campbell, Alan Watts and Ray Bradbury written all over it. –And
not in that sickly Feel-Good Disney manner which doesn't work. –If you
follow your soul, it will carry you to magnificent places of great
value, but unlike the false Feel-Good message, those places will often
not conform to the narrowly defined, popularly accepted version of
success of American Dream fortune as seen on magazine covers. –One's
true journey might stop at such places, (why not? Happy, powerful
people are often paid attention to), but that is never the goal.
Instead, the true journey will take you to incredible, unexpected
places, through terrifying challenges, and will teach lessons of much
deeper value.
I think that is what horrified many viewers and reviewers of Ishtar.
–The popular kids really are the ones who dictate that which is
considered proper and 'cool', and the idea of breaking with popular
acceptance in order to make difficult journeys for non-material reward
is anathema to their mind-set. Abandon slave-hood to popular rule in
order to grow spiritually? Argh! Of course it must be shunned! The
slaves must not grow strong, must not escape! –And especially when you
connect the psychological dots to those 44 million 1980's dollars spent
in making the film. . .
Oh, god, Ishtar was an awesome movie!
For anybody who liked Ishtar, there's a less accessible, but in my
opinion, even more powerful movie with a similar message. –Also
critically panned, also written by a praise-sung genius, and also
featuring an otherwise blockbuster cast, (Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.) Go
watch, "Joe v.s. the Volcano".
I started requiring moderator approval for this group to prevent spam... so when people want to join, they write a few words about why they want to join. I approved four new members this month - I ask you, are not these declarations heartwarming:
Comment from user: Because I'm one of the few people I know who actually GET IT. I have very few people I can talk with about it, this group would be perfect! Three words: Hot Fudge Love!
Comment from user: big fan of ishtar ... been working for years to reverse the widely held misconception of this movie
Comment from user: I thought I was all alone in this world -- the sole lover of Ishtar. I can't tell you what it means to me to have found a community.
Comment from user: I'm a big Ishtar fan. Sadly I didn't see it in the theatre but through the magic of VHS!
****
Now that they are here, it would be great to have something new to tell them... the domestic DVD will soon be out... the long awaited soundtrack album or tribute album, or the Waiting for Ishtar documentary are soon to be out... but I can say no such thing, I haven't heard a thing, anybody here heard any exciting news?
I've promised new members that they wouldn't get swamped with email, but at the same time, I also said it's a warm, welcoming environment, so if anybody has anything warm and welcoming, please say it.
I'll start by saying "welcome aboard, new members!" Hot Fudge Love, indeed!
I started requiring moderator approval for this group to prevent spam... so when people want to join, they write a few words about why they want to join. I approved four new members this month - I ask you, are not these declarations heartwarming:
Comment from user: Because I'm one of the few people I know who actually GET IT. I have very few people I can talk with about it, this group would be perfect! Three words: Hot Fudge Love!
Comment from user: big fan of ishtar ... been working for years to reverse the widely held misconception of this movie
Comment from user: I thought I was all alone in this world -- the sole lover of Ishtar. I can't tell you what it means to me to have found a community.
Comment from user: I'm a big Ishtar fan. Sadly I didn't see it in the theatre but through the magic of VHS!
****
Now that they are here, it would be great to have something new to tell them... the domestic DVD will soon be out... the long awaited soundtrack album or tribute album, or the Waiting for Ishtar documentary are soon to be out... but I can say no such thing, I haven't heard a thing, anybody here heard any exciting news?
I've promised new members that they wouldn't get swamped with email, but at the same time, I also said it's a warm, welcoming environment, so if anybody has anything warm and welcoming, please say it.
I'll start by saying "welcome aboard, new members!" Hot Fudge Love, indeed!