X-Men Origins:

[Lancemc]

Blast! How can I ever convince you to again respect my opinions on second rate crime thrillers from the 90s!? WHAT CAN I DOOOooo?

 

[the tourist]

Blast! How can I ever convince you to again respect my opinions on second rate crime thrillers from the 90s!? WHAT CAN I DOOOooo?

Shit. I guess, like The Dark Knight, it just needed more CGI in its action sequences.

 

[powerhour24]

The Usual Suspects is stylish, but vapid, and built entirely around the twist, which puts throws out the authenticity of the entire plot, Singer greatly improved after that, and it is one of the most over-rated movies ever, entertaining enough for a rent but nothing to remember forever.

Back to topic, this looks pretty awesome for what its supposed to be, and I wasn't aware that Danny Huston was playing William Stryker, sweet.

 

[Lancemc]

Shit. I guess, like The Dark Knight, it just needed more CGI in its action sequences.

If you're going to mock my tastes you should probably at least get them figured out first.

Please try again later.

 

[the tourist]

If you're going to mock my tastes you should probably at least get them figured out first.

Please try again later.

Well you did mention the action sequences in The Matrix: Reloaded, Spiderman II, and piggy-backed on someone else's mention of Star Wars Episode III.

When I rewatch any of those three movies, the amount of actual acting vs. CGI in those fight scenes is, to me, embarrassing.

 

[LMP]

Aw hell naw!

 

[Lancemc]

Wow. Maybe you missed the parts where I actually praised the police escort scene in The Dark Knight for using a lot of practical stunt work, or the parts where I was the first person here to criticize Indiana Jones 4 for its misuse and overabundance of CGI when everyone was still ga-ga over seeing Indy's return to the big screen? And guess what? That's most people's chief complaint about that film now. Go figure.

I'm just starting to get the idea that you likely don't really read anything I post here anyway, or you'd actually know what my complaints were about TDK, and why I praised those parts of the films you mentioned. As it stands methinks you are losing your credibility here.

 

[Muldfeld]

I've been more excited about this film than any other film this year! Hugh Jackman is a smart guy and hopefully can ensure a smart drama. He's hired the director for Tsotsi, which was a South African film -- a bit cliche and there's no way it should have beaten the Palestinian film for "Best Foreign Film"; no way!

However, it's an interesting choice for director and the writer is the guy who did "25th Hour" (he wrote the book, too) and "Troy", so I'm bloody excited. The only thing that has me worried is casting that jackass bad actor Ryan Reynolds.

However the casting of Liev Schrieber as Sabretooth has more than compensated for that!

Did I say I was excited!?

 

[whatAday]

i dont know guys, i think Dark Knight was an outstanding movie, if you want you will always find some mistakes/or things that could be slightly better or different.

but there we go, it's the most successful movie of this year and people just love it.

what bothers me more is how underrated There Will Be Blood is. I mean it got excellent reviews but i have this feeling that more people should see it. Or is it only me?

 

[Lancemc]

One of the best bumps in recent memory ^^^

 

[powerhour24]

Wow, how in the hell is TWBB under-rated? Its the Best Picture Oscar nominee with the least plot in history. I love Daniel Day Lewis's work over the years but the entire reason for the movie's existence (and adapting a horribly out of date work, which is the movie's one accomplishment for me) is as a platform for his greatest over-the-top grandstanding, he used to be a subtle actor (anyone remember In the Name of the Father, or The Boxer?) and while I enjoyed his over the top antics in Gangs of New York, that was weaved within a huge tapestry of a story and surrounded by other things that were interesting and ambitious. What's more is the movie gave us a score by Jonny Greenwood which people moaned was also under-rated because it was rightfully disqualified from the Original Score category because a lot of it is based on and mixed with pre-existing music. (But remember, the innovation of all members of Radiohead will always need more support, particularly around here). I wish Paul Thomas Anderson could do what he did with Magnolia in all his films, but mostly they have absolutely no story and people go gaga over them. Meanwhile, mind-bogglingly well made films like Zodiac get no recognition, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is seen by like three people in the United States, those are the masterworks of 2007, both in very different ways. The one thing I greatly enjoyed about TWBB was the cinematography, but Roger Deakins would have won were it not for splitting votes.

Ahh. I hate when I get going like that, I come off as really angry, but I just find the praise behind that movie ridiculous.


Anyway, big thumbs up to Muldfeld for praising David Benioff, excellent writer, although I think he should stick to novels because his presence in the literary world is greatly needed.

 

[LMP]

Wow, how in the hell is TWBB under-rated? Its the Best Picture Oscar nominee with the least plot in history. I love Daniel Day Lewis's work over the years but the entire reason for the movie's existence (and adapting a horribly out of date work, which is the movie's one accomplishment for me) is as a platform for his greatest over-the-top grandstanding, he used to be a subtle actor (anyone remember In the Name of the Father, or The Boxer?) and while I enjoyed his over the top antics in Gangs of New York, that was weaved within a huge tapestry of a story and surrounded by other things that were interesting and ambitious. What's more is the movie gave us a score by Jonny Greenwood which people moaned was also under-rated because it was rightfully disqualified from the Original Score category because a lot of it is based on and mixed with pre-existing music. (But remember, the innovation of all members of Radiohead will always need more support, particularly around here). I wish Paul Thomas Anderson could do what he did with Magnolia in all his films, but mostly they have absolutely no story and people go gaga over them. Meanwhile, mind-bogglingly well made films like Zodiac get no recognition, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is seen by like three people in the United States, those are the masterworks of 2007, both in very different ways. The one thing I greatly enjoyed about TWBB was the cinematography, but Roger Deakins would have won were it not for splitting votes.

Ahh. I hate when I get going like that, I come off as really angry, but I just find the praise behind that movie ridiculous.


Anyway, big thumbs up to Muldfeld for praising David Benioff, excellent writer, although I think he should stick to novels because his presence in the literary world is greatly needed.

D-Day has a lot of subtle moments in TWBB... before he ends up going completely insane. I can see what you mean by moments of going OTT, but the scene with him and his brother, where he explains how he "hates people," or when they go out to the ocean and he discovers that he may not really be his brother, or any moment where he's playing the townsfolk with his speaking is tremendous, for me at least. It's a volcanic performance, if anything. Essentially, his character begins as a monster in human form, with the events in the film ripping him out of that outer shell, if that makes any sense. When he loses that tie to humanity, he regresses back to this primitive form... the subtle references to Kubrick in the 1928 section help enforce this as well. I think Magnolia is P.T.'s ballsiest, most accomplished film and his best, but if we got another "melodramatic large ensemble comedy/drama in The Valley" from him, I think there would've been a huge backlash, you know?

TWBB's one of my favorite films, but I can understand where you're coming from about his other films lacking in story. Hell, his two biggest influences, Altman and Scorsese, base their films more on characters and experience than on actual plot or story... so it's understandable for him to follow suit, I think.

Zodiac was completely overlooked Oscar-wise, I agree, and I haven't seen Diving Bell yet.

 

[powerhour24]

I'm glad you were able to make my diatribe into a real discussion, and I can also see where you're coming from on a number of your points, and I admit it was a bit much for me to say the entire thing was him grandstanding, but it's certainly made up of more OTT moments than the rest of his body of work. As for PTA, I'm not suggesting he should have made more intertwining ensembles, just that for some reason Magnolia even had more story than his other films, and I don't begrudge someone for being a different kind of film-maker, but there's something about watching his movies that makes me want more story to actually enjoy them and get interested in his characters, certainly true with TWBB and Punch Drunk Love, and Boogie Nights. But the interesting thing you brought up for me is the Robert Altman connection, and yes I recognize he's a grand influence on PTA, but I adore Altman's work haha. I think even in his ensemble sprawling pieces, Altman's movies have screenplays that build enough around their characters so you can care or buy into their acting, but I don't think the same is true with Anderson's writing.

And anyway, go rent Diving Bell, its a profound filmmaking achievement.

 

[Lancemc]

And anyway, go rent Diving Bell, its a profound filmmaking achievement.

Yeaaa... it's OK.

 

[powerhour24]

I hope you're being sarcastic.

 

[Lancemc]

It would have been more effective in short form.

 

[LMP]

I'm glad you were able to make my diatribe into a real discussion, and I can also see where you're coming from on a number of your points, and I admit it was a bit much for me to say the entire thing was him grandstanding, but it's certainly made up of more OTT moments than the rest of his body of work. As for PTA, I'm not suggesting he should have made more intertwining ensembles, just that for some reason Magnolia even had more story than his other films, and I don't begrudge someone for being a different kind of film-maker, but there's something about watching his movies that makes me want more story to actually enjoy them and get interested in his characters, certainly true with TWBB and Punch Drunk Love, and Boogie Nights. But the interesting thing you brought up for me is the Robert Altman connection, and yes I recognize he's a grand influence on PTA, but I adore Altman's work haha. I think even in his ensemble sprawling pieces, Altman's movies have screenplays that build enough around their characters so you can care or buy into their acting, but I don't think the same is true with Anderson's writing.

And anyway, go rent Diving Bell, its a profound filmmaking achievement.

I think his performance in Gangs is more OTT than anything else I've seen him do, but TWBB is a bit more balanced in that regard. That's totally cool, I've only seen a handful of Altman's films, but after watching something like Short Cuts, I could tell that was the catalyst for something like Magnolia. I think Anderson's writing has improved over time, even when it was kick-ass to begin with, so that's good.