A second attempt at "movie to analyze from 1998": You've Got Mail (1998)

Does it "Got" what it takes?

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#EarfulofYouveGotMail #YouveGotEarful #DoWeHaveMail #YouveGotMovieMagic

Hi, I'm Mark and I will be commenting. #YGM2019

Hi, I'm Alan and I will also be commenting. #YGM2019

WB logo enters to dial-up modem sounds. Already a very strong start. This might be the one, folks.

We get CGI manhattan accompanied by Harry Nilsson. Good graphics, but disconcertingly more advanced than what AOL actually offered #YGM2019

"This means the end of Western Civilization" - Greg Kinnear

Glad the movie establishes large stakes early #YGM2019

This movie is already painting more of a world than Antz (1998). #YGM2019

The movie started with the same CGI palette as Antz (1998), but smartly moved past it within the first two minutes

#YGM2019

CRANBERRIES PLAYING HERE WE GO. This is a beautiful portrait of the 90's. #YGM2019

Good glimpse of a 1998 movie marquee, that's a nice touch. #YGM2019

Saw this when it came out (with my aunt and sister), I have no memory of Parker Posey and Dave Chapelle being in this #YGM2019

Wow, there's a conceit in this movie around a mega-chain bookstore on the rise in 1998? Their business model is going to be so screwed so soon. #YGM2019

"Did you have sex? I mean cybersex." #ClassicMovieLines #YGM2019

The businessman has a lint roller handy at his desk? That's something. #YGM2019

Dabney Coleman is here, and we have a truly tremendous amount of discussion about neighborhood amenities, gentrification, value capture, and more. All in for this #YGM2019

This might be the perfect film. #PerfectFilms #OnePerfectFilm #YGM2019

Starbucks coffee for $2.95? That's a deal! #YGM2019

Also the hot Starbucks takes in this movie are right-on and not dated. #YGM2019

Um I want to come guest on this one.

Please use the hashtag #YGM2019 if you want to join the conversation

A lot of new characters being introduced every minute. A movie should always be doing this, to reward the 20th-25th viewings #YGM2019

Tom Hanks now has a family, which is cool. The montage to Rockin' Robbin is also cool. This movie is cool. #YGM2019

The 1990s were an age of strong brands. So many brand cameos in the movie. A true delight for brand-lovers #YGM2019

1998 was the ideal mix of nice brands, a little bit of non-threatening technology, and a lot of remaining analog things still hanging around. #YGM2019

Always nice to see characters who have no material concerns mostly dick around and not do much of substance for a while, this is what good cinema is #YGM2019

It feels like even in the age of Borders/B&N, a bookstore like this, that specializes wholly in children's books, would have a good chance of staying afloat #YGM2019

The Fox Books store opening montage is so incredibly well-done. #YGM2019

We hear "it's a hit!" off-screen which sounds really, really similar to the line in @KimDotcom's Megaupload song. #YGM2019

Essentially every set the movie features, even this apartment where a party is being held, features many bookcases. This is pleasant #YGM2019

Drinks are being ordered! We have stoli on the rocks and champagne, at a minimum. Good continuity with Cocktail. #YGM2019

More good continuity with Cocktail: a good itemized run-down of retail sales and cost #YGM2019

The movie is not only about modernity in its main text, but essentially every character and every subtext is also about strangely nuanced points about modernity. Lot to chew on here. #ygm2019

I like how we haven't seen a computer in like 20 minutes, which is refreshing for a movie titled "You've Got Mail". #YGM2019

Wrong, we saw the computer that recorded inventory at the bookshop #YGM2019

Now we're seeing huge amounts of computers. #YGM2019

Zabar's market! I've bought their babka before. This movie has those little NYC touches. #YGM2019

Love to see cash-only cashiers, I love the '90s #YGM2019

Cutting back and forth between the two families' holiday celebrations is very "A Christmas Carol" (1843). #YGM2019

They are not families, they are sets of employees (well, with the Foxes they are the same).

Employer-based parties are bad, do not approve #YGM2019

I didn't use Instant Message until 2004, I had no clue about this 1998 UI, very clunky and weird #YGM2019

This movie really perfectly captures the tension and weight that used to accompany instant message communication, which is a throwaway interaction today. #YGM2019

They are choosing to block their phone lines with their decision to talk right now. That's thematically rich #YGM2019

Good ersatz Godfather music now #YGM2019

For the record, writing a glowing article about your girlfriend's bookstore is probably a conflict of interest, despite the writer guy's assurances to the contrary. #YGM2019

Implication now that the failure of Ryan's bookstore will result in her material deprivation, this seems implausible, based upon the lack of any material concerns by everybody so far #YGM2019

We get a good Price Club mention. This was pre-Costco-takeover. #YGM2019

"Jeffersonian Purity" is a phrase you may have heard in the 1990s, but probably not today #YGM2019 #MeToo

Hmmm this is not what I thought. Please remove me

We're now treated to an extended sequence where Tom Hanks is very nervous about how attractive the woman he met online is and has Dave Chappelle spot her first. #YGM2019

This is the first scene that maps precisely to the Lubitsch original, as far as I can remember.

It's also leisurely, and has time to breathe. Seems necessary for this juncture in the movie, the snappiness was starting to be exhausting #YGM2019

The decision for AOL not to have a verbal announcement that you do *not* have mail seems unfortunate #YGM2019

I dislike the Roy Orbison music. #YGM2019

The movie puts a *lot* of heavy lifting on the music, in a way that is deeply 1990s

Really, it was good to lose this

(But I like the Orbison music) #YGM2019

Could have used more foreshadowing of the existence of the Rooftop Killer #YGM2019

We may have missed it while Tweeting, which would be very antithetical to the responsible use of technology displayed in this movie. #YGM2019

Hell yeah, just checked to see if Joe Fox's AOL account was taken on twitter, and check it out: @NY152 #YGM2019

Tom Hanks with the multi-finger tapping on the backspace button. Very efficient deletion technique. #YGM2019

Tom Hanks deleting his message one character at a time is the most frustrating experience I've ever been through #YGM2019

"I've bought Intel at six!" #ClassicMovieLines #YGM2019

"I bought Intel at $6" #ClassicMovieLines #YGM2019

Glad to have that confirmed, thanks

Talk about Franco is nicely off-topic

Also, cinemas never used the "let's all go to the lobby" bumper in the mid-1990s

#YGM2019

My prediction that the bookshop would be able to survive the 1990s was incorrect #YGM2019

It was a tough world for non-mega-chain bookstores out there. #YGM2019

Mega-mega-chain bookstores @kimdotcom #ygm2019

Mega-mega-chain-chambers bookstores @marcchambers @KimDotcom #YGM2019

This Fox and Sons employee doesn't know jack shit about children's books. For shame

#ygm2019

"Kathleen Kelly has excellent taste in books, she's famous for it"

I'm not sure that it's been established that she's famous for her taste #YGM2019

This movie needed a good action sequence, and we got it, in a trapped elevator #YGM2019

A good flashback into the mid-1990s, when mobile phones were rare and being stranded meant being truly stranded #ygm2019

GOOD BOAT NAME: "Fox III" #YGM2019

Tom Hanks is now living on a boat, which means that his online communication is impossible. What will happen #ygm2019

My bet is on internet cafes. #YGM2019

The movie is weirdly about the protagonists' need to uphold their families' reputations. #ygm2019

A very nicely printed "we have gone out of business" sign.

As always, I could have used a scene detailing how this job was commissioned #YGM2019

License plate: 118 YAP #YGM2019

We seem to have a massive case of Boat Brain, on the Rocks #YGM2019

Tom Hanks sneaking into an NYC apartment building — it's very Tom Cruise in Cocktail (1988). #YGM2019

Meg Ryan has a breadbox the size of a minifridge. Not sure what's going on #YGM2019

She just loves bread. #BreadLoversUnite #YGM2019

#YouveGotBread #YGM2019

"You've got mail. Very powerful words." #ClassicMovieLines #YGM2019

Hanks has very well manicured nails #YGM2019

Meg Ryan is now on page 3 of a 1000 page book, it's good to add things like this in the back half of a movie, it keeps thing fresh #YGM2019

Meg Ryan says she can never be with a man who has a boat, a clear reference to Cocktail (1988) #YGM2019

These movies have some shocking similarities. #YGM2019 #YouveGotCocktail

They share the same star:

New York City

#YGM2019

Did everybody have this much free time in the 90's? I miss the 90's. #YGM2019

She is now unemployed, and he seems to have very few firm commitments to his company. It allows for a lot of free time

#ygm2019

You could tell that this would be the climatic scene because it's the setting of the DVD menu, this is what they call good movie foreshadowing #YGM2019

Brinkley is the real star. #MovieDogs #DogsInMovies #FamousDogs #YGM2019

The music could be overbearing throughout, but the connecting thread of Nilsson worked. The closing ("Over the Rainbow", from the tremendous "A Touch of Schmilsson in the Night"), contributes without being too prominent #YGM2019

The first song in the closing credits really sucks, though #YGM2019

Closing credits feature three quick songs. It's a rapid-fire soundtrack dump right at the end here. #YGM2019

We're now in our third song in the closing credits. This is unacceptable. Pick longer songs #YGM2019

Snappy movie that works throughout, has plenty small details to pick up on, plenty of larger thematic pieces of analyze, seems like a winner

Truly the film to beat #YGM2019

It's better than Antz. #BetterThanAntz #YGM2019

Watching Antz was such a dispiriting experience #BetterThanAntz #YGM2019