Interference Random Movie Talk II

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So, I just rewatched Beautiful Girls. I'm not even sure what its trying to accomplish? Am I really supposed to be drawn in to a love story between a guy that looks like my insurance agent and a 13 year old Natalie Portman?

Really?
 
Wow. Apparently Christian Bale has signed on to be John Connor in the next Terminator film, "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins", set for a summer 2009 release.

I don't know how to feel about that. I feel like they are trying to continue a story that doesn't need to be continued. The first two films told a great, great story, and I think the way T2 ended, nothing more needed to be said, no more films were needed. It's not like it's the Die Hard series or the Lethal Weapon series where it's episodic. The Terminator films all tell parts of the same story, and the more you convolute the plot for a new one, the less sense the old ones make in that context. But Bale is very good, so...provided the script isn't terrible, maybe he can salvage it.

In other Terminator news...there's a TV series..."Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles". Takes place between T2 and T3. I have absolutely no idea what to think of that.
 
Dalton said:
So, I just rewatched Beautiful Girls. I'm not even sure what its trying to accomplish? Am I really supposed to be drawn in to a love story between a guy that looks like my insurance agent and a 13 year old Natalie Portman?

Really?


The best thing about Beautiful Girls is being able to absolve yourself for thinking Natalie was cute in The Professional. It's like, hey, I think I'm onto something here...let's see where this goes...
 
And I can't believe I missed all this Michael Mann discussion. I couldn't care less about all the school stuff though.

Heat FTW, and I agree with NSW. It's just the most watchable.

You should all be ashamed of yourselves, however, for not having seen Ali. That is one underrated fucking film, and the opening alone, set to Sam Cooke's "A Change Gonna Come" is worth seeing the whole thing for. There's also a nice Director's Cut available on DVD. Will Smith and Jamie Foxx fucking OWN.
 
One thing I didn't like about Sweeney Todd was how blah Depp was throughout the whole thing. That movie was great because of its supporting cast, not him. I'm sitting there going "Why is he doing the same voice he did for Jack Sparrow, without the slurring?" and "Why so serious?"

He only played up one-dimension of being the "man consumed with revenge," you know? Maybe I'm mis-judging it since I'm not that familiar with the musical itself, but fuck the Academy if they give him an Oscar for this because he's "Johnny Depp."

D-Day drinks his milkshake.
 
I think the problem is that the project seemed so fitting to its director and actor, the perfect marriage between artists and material. And Burton certainly brought the goods, as did his technical collaborators. The young actors did everything they could to stand out, and Helena Bonham Carter, while not as powerful of a singer as the role really deserved, sold her character big time. And of course the music and libretto is really top notch. Even Depp's look, his costume and hair, were spot-on.

But I think, when you strip away all these things, what you're left with is not very spectacular. Depp has a great wit, and you see very little of it in this film. It's almost as if he was so worried about letting the cartoon aspects of Jack Sparrow seep into such an important work, he scaled it back too much, and failed to let any of his unique charm into the role. The spark that makes people (including myself, at times) LIKE Johnny Depp seemed only to ignite a few times during the course of the film. Personally, I would have rather he erred on the side of hamminess and given us something over-the-top, which would at least have been more enjoyable--think Tim Curry in the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

There have been complaints by many that the screenplay doesn't quite relish in the black comedy of the source material, and perhaps the fault lies there. But you'd think Burton and Depp would recognize what delicious material they were dealing with, and spice it up with their own license.

I think people wanted to like this film so much, and it delivers on so many other levels, that they take Depp's achievment as a given. But it's not a very good example of singing on film, and despite the undeniable conviction that Depp delivers his performance with, it just comes off a bit more flat than it really should have.
 
It certainly was, apart from Big Fish, the only film Burton's done since Ed Wood worth seeing again (Planet of the Apes, however, isn't worth anything).

For a 2-hour film, it fit as much of the source material as it possibly could while making it its own separate entity. That's my problem with adaptations of anything, you want to take it for what it's worth, but you'll always end up comparing it to the original version.

I fear the same thing will happen to The Kite Runner movie for me, since I loved the book.
 
LemonMacPhisto said:
(Planet of the Apes, however, isn't worth anything).


It's worth a sock in the jaw if I ever meet Tim Burton, that's for sure.

And I understand your point about adaptations, but it's not about any certain amount of story or characterizations. It's about letting Depp have a little bit more fun with his role, and if I'm not mistaken every notable performer of Todd was able to do this.
 
Okay, I see what you're saying now. That's what I said earlier, too, it's a one-note performance when it could've been greater, you know?
 
The Hunt for Red October is on AMC right now, never noticed the 5-second cameo of Dr. Crusher as Jack Ryan 1.0's wife before.
 
The Golden Globes are on tonight and it's only an hour, thank god.

I have an idea of who'd win for the movie noms, but almost no clue for TV, especially the mini-series noms. When in doubt, I go for whoever is nominated the most / how British it is.

That's a good indicator.
 
I was going to say that I hope Extras beats The Office, but then I noticed that the latter isn't even nominated.

Good.

And Gervais over Carrell please.

Most importantly, the amazing Mad Men for EVERYTHING.

LMP, since you watch AMC so much, you should really check out MM if you haven't already.
 
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You're right, I should check it out.

The Day the Earth Stood Still was on the other night. :drool:
 
No spoken words said:
If it's amazing I guess I ought to check it out.


You have no idea how good this dialogue is. The best on television, WITHOUT A DOUBT.

Also, John Hamm is one cool customer. Guy has a serious career ahead of him.
 
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