The "dynamic octagenarian duo"

June 11, 2008 3:35 AM

Lorenzo Semple, 84, has been a screenwriter for more than 50 years; his credits include "Papillion," "The Parallax View" and "Three Days of the Condor." Marcia Nasatir, 81, is a longtime agent and production executive, was the first female VP of production at United Artists, and produced films like "The Big Chill" and "Hamburger Hill." Together, they are the "Reel Geezers," offering irresistible film reviews on YouTube. To wit: Superbad, Iron Man, Sex and the City, Lars and the Real Girl, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood.

More background on the team (they're not married, BTW, just friends brought together by a mutual friendship with Pauline Kael). More background on Lorenzo, and more on Marcia.

posted by jbickers (27 comments total)

Hilarious. Good post. Thanks.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 3:55 AM on June 11, 2008

Delightful! Thanks indeed.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 3:58 AM on June 11, 2008

"Papillon", there's only one "i".

Great post, and these folks have made some of my favourite movies.
posted by biscotti at 3:59 AM on June 11, 2008

What a quaint idea: intelligent people arguing candidly, as friends, about something about which they are highly knowledgeable.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 4:08 AM on June 11, 2008 [2 favorites]

Excellent post! IMHO would be even better with added Kermode!
posted by the_very_hungry_caterpillar at 4:11 AM on June 11, 2008

What Turtles said.
In just 30 seconds I witnessed more integrity and concise reasoning than in 30 years of Rex Reed, Gene Shalit and their ilk.
Bonus points for maturing well.
Great post!
posted by Dizzy at 4:16 AM on June 11, 2008

This was great. I've just watched them arguing about Dan in Real Life/Lars and the Real Girl -- both movies that I enjoyed a lot and they were almost as funny as the movies themselves.

Also, Marcia's still hot, even at 81. Despite not having that ludicrous Hollywood screaming skull look you get from too many face lifts.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 4:29 AM on June 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

Great stuff; that's a bookmarkin'
posted by Abiezer at 4:36 AM on June 11, 2008

Their [i]Superbad[/i] review was pretty funny stuff, both of them seeming to take the position that the vulgarity weakened the thing and made it bad, but both of them genuinely appreciating how unvarnished and unsentimental the portrait of youthful sexual appetite was, and how NOT-fake the kids are in it. It's as if they liked the movie in spite of themselves and their awareness that they ought not like it. I like them! Thank you for the post, jbickers. MetaFilter gives us another one!
posted by cgc373 at 4:36 AM on June 11, 2008

Dammit. BBCode screwed me.
posted by cgc373 at 4:37 AM on June 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

Excellent post. Great review of SATC I pretty much agree with everything they said.

Great couple, they make the idea of being over 80 a lot less scary.
posted by therubettes at 4:41 AM on June 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

Their Darjeeling Limited review has quite a bit of good sparring. It was like watching a more mentally-together version of my grandparents reenacting my mental dialogue of why I liked and had problems with that film. Bravo, highly enjoyable.
posted by piratebowling at 4:47 AM on June 11, 2008

Wow, it's really fun to watch them go. The review of 10,000B.C. was particularly awesome.
posted by voltairemodern at 5:55 AM on June 11, 2008

I thought it was funny in the Superbad review that he was really upset with them using "Penis" all the time, but she was all "Penis is a perfectly good word!" and was upset about too much fuck. The internet seriously needs more old people.
posted by absalom at 6:12 AM on June 11, 2008

I found Marcia's confusion regarding the water in No Country perplexing. He goes back because he's the good guy. In fact, it is the only thing he does in the whole movie that makes him the good guy. Without that act, the film is about two bad men, one who more likable than the other. Without that act, everything he does is selfish or naive. With that act, his actions are merely naive.

Anyway, I liked their rapport and most of their reviews. Thanks for the link.
posted by dobbs at 6:41 AM on June 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

I haven't clicked any links yet. Is he dead?
If so:
.
If not:
-.
posted by tellurian at 6:59 AM on June 11, 2008

Love it. Thanks.
posted by prefpara at 7:46 AM on June 11, 2008

That was wonderful.
SATC review: It's very upsetting when I spent my eight dollars and seventy five cents on a Saturday morning, when I could have been shopping.
posted by iamkimiam at 8:22 AM on June 11, 2008

"Of course he's the villain. Did you see his haircut?"
posted by Tacodog at 8:38 AM on June 11, 2008

In the Juno review, Lorenzo mentions that Ghost World is one of his favorite movies, and that the Dad in Juno, as an A/C repairman, is a classic graphic novel parent. That is one kickass octogenarian. Awesome post.
posted by ulotrichous at 9:49 AM on June 11, 2008

Do all old men habutually belittle women, or just the ones I know? Otherwise, I find these very enjoyable.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 10:05 AM on June 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

I pray I'm that sharp at 80. Hell, I wish I was that sharp now.
posted by gwint at 11:09 AM on June 11, 2008

I first saw Lorenzo Semple (Jr.)'s credit as a writer and script consultant for the Adam West "Batman" TV series. (I was 10 years old at the time) It was, to me, the most awesomely weird name I'd ever seen on TV, and suspected it was the pseudonym of some 'very serious' writer working the "Bat-scene" for giggles. I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to him, especially in light of some of the names of people in the business since then.
posted by wendell at 1:53 PM on June 11, 2008

This is really the most wonderful thing I have seen on the blue in a long time, bravo.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 2:05 PM on June 11, 2008

Thanks, rilly triffic.
posted by Wolof at 12:01 AM on June 12, 2008

I really wanted to like their reviews, but I didn't. It's great that they're in such great shape past 80, kudos, and one can only hope to age that well, but still, the content is pretty weak (sometimes, as in There Will Be Blood and No Country reviews, very weak). It's only a novelty because they're old -- "look, old people doing film reviews on youtube!"

If they were younger nobody would care; and for people who spent a lifetime in the business, they do seem to have very little insight.
posted by matteo at 4:17 AM on June 12, 2008

"nobody cares about a girl on a yacht." truer words were never spoken.
posted by killy willy at 11:28 AM on June 17, 2008