Random Movie Talk Part Eleventy-1

[powerhour24]

New thread...


Speaking of Random Movie Talk, I'm disappointed by all the comparisons being made between the trailer for Tarsem's The Immortals and fucking 300.

 

[Lancemc]

Why? It looks practically identical.

 

[lazarus]

What it looks like is shit compared to The Fall. Or even The Cell, for that matter.

 

[mobvok]

It looks a lot like 300.

 

[powerhour24]

I'm not saying I disagree, poor wording, I'm disappointed they're apt comparisons for the most part.

 

[LMP]

Oh yeah, I've done the same thing with The Big Red One. The reconstruction totally towers over SPR.

You are going to have a great time with The Naked Kiss if you liked Shock Corridor. It may be my favorite Fuller. The title sequence is a jaw-dropper.

Steel Helmet is another example of why Fuller does war films better (and more emotionally/thematically authentic) than anyone else. Further down the road you'll want to see Fixed Bayonets (a great exploration of cowardice) and Verboten.

My other favorite Fuller is Park Row, which is not on DVD but occasionally shows on TCM but should be available on torrents. It's been referred to as "the b-movie Citizen Kane" and it's just brimming over with energy and creativity. All under 90 minutes. Make it a priority.

You also have House of Bamboo, which is a Tokyo-set thriller that has the coolness factor of Pickup on South Street. Plus it has Robert Ryan. That's part of the Fox Film Noir series and you can get a used DVD for like $4 on Amazon.

Almost forgot: Forty Guns is an "expressionistic western" that Scorsese is a big fan of. Barbara Stanwyck is the lead. I shouldn't have to say more than that. Another DVD you can get pretty cheaply.

I went ahead and added The Naked Kiss to my order. Thanks for the head's up on all of those other titles.

Have you seen White Dog?

 

[lazarus]

White Dog is interesting but I wouldn't call it essential Fuller, and prob not worth a purchase.

I just added Lubitsch Musicals to mine. $25, haven't seen any of them but I love everything else of his that I've seen.

 

[LMP]

Gotcha. It's on Watch Instant and Hulu. Not considering the purchase.

 

[No spoken words]

I guess you just never know....

Fast Five Movie Reviews - Rotten Tomatoes

 

[deep]

Not surprised Tomatoes would rate Fast 5 high


I have Incendies and Meek's Cutoff both opening near me this weekend.

 

[deep]

First Review for 'The Tree of Life' Brings Comparisons to '2001' & Spielberg; Production Notes


spielberg,

 

[Lancemc]

It says it's "Spielbergian in a way" with no context for the statement and completely moves on. About as pointless a name drop as any, and certainly not much of an earned comparison I'd wager.

 

[deep]

yeah,
I skimmed the review, it was mostly good

I think about 1/3 of speilberg is good, but his name is on a lot of dreck.

 

[bono_212]

Produced =/= Directed

 

[lazarus]

He's directed his fair share of dreck, too. Hook and The Lost World were abominations.

 

[bono_212]

I realize, (Hook aside, as always), but to say A LOT as if it outweighs the good is just asinine.

 

[lazarus]

Well, I said a fair amount. I wasn't trying to name percentages. But compared to Scorsese, who's never made an outright bad film, it's notable.

Spoiler

You all knew I'd find a way to work THE SCOR! in there eventually, right?

 

[No spoken words]

Spoiler

Yeah

 

[bono_212]

Well, I said a fair amount. I wasn't trying to name percentages. But compared to Scorsese, who's never made an outright bad film, it's notable.

Spoiler

You all knew I'd find a way to work THE SCOR! in there eventually, right?

To be fair, I wasn't suggesting you felt that way. It was the dismissive comment by Deep, as if everything Spielberg directs these days is absolute shit.

 

[lazarus]

I thought he was trying to clarify his above statement about Spielberg's name being on a lot of crap, and saying that producing isn't the same as directing.

But I could be wrong.

 

[bono_212]

I dunno.

 

[deep]

I know you are a fan, and it is fine that people have different opinions.

As for producing, True Grit is one the better films in recent times.

The last thing Terrence Malick fans want, is for Tree of Life to be labeled as Spielberg like. Kubrick is fine. Both Malick and Kubrick are known for artistic integrity. Spielberg is known for his commercialism.
Nobody considers Terrence Malick a sellout.

 

[bono_212]

And I understand that, and it just frustrates me because I don't think (clearly) that Spielberg is a bad director, and by no means do I think Malick's a sellout (hardly, he's gone in practically the opposite direction of selling out). I just found it a dismissive comment to say that A LOT of what he does is dreck, but, it's an opinion based comment, so, moving on.

 

[deep]

Spielberg is a good director, sometimes even a great director. Most recently Munich and A I come to mind.
But he also is a director that puts out commercial crap. Indy 4. The Terminal. His name no longer has any cache, you don't know what you are going to get with him.
It is a crap shoot. (gamble or risk)

If you go to imdb and look up Malick and Kubrick you won't see a bad film under their names.

Following Lance's suggestion I did go back and read the article.
And he is right. It says, This is a Spielbergian movie in a way, but deeper and more beautiful. ....we see the first dinosaurs that look much better than the ones in Jurassic Park.

 

[bono_212]

The Castaway.

This is what I'm getting at though, he didn't direct this, he produced it. Yeah, his name is attached to it, but is there really any of his personality in the film?


EDIT: Wait, did Spielberg even have anything at all to do with this film?

 

[deep]

I meant The Terminal. (both forgettable Tom Hanks)

I was just looking at Spielberg's directing list, and again this is personal taste.

But about 1/3 of it I would rate as very good. Top tier

and 1/3 average, then 1/3 almost cringe worthy.

He is more commercially successful than Malick, Kubrick and Scorsese, but if you look at their list they don't have any real stinkers. The same can't be said for Spielberg.

 

[Lancemc]

Of all the big post-classical filmmakers - Scorsese, Polanski, De Palma, Lucas, Coppola, etc. - Spielberg is easily the most artistically satisfying to me at this stage, though I can't deny he's probably directed more "dreck" than any of them in terms of sheer quantity. But especially in his period since the late 90s (his teaming up with Janusz Kaminski seems to have invigorated his craft) I find him the most formally thrilling of the group. Especially when it comes to "spectacle," and you look at films like War of the Worlds, A.I., Minority Report, Saving Private Ryan, even Kingdom of the Crystal Skull which I've come to quite love. I realize you could go on all day about the literary, structural or dramatic failings of his work, but I don't really cared much about those things when dealing with the types of films these people tend to make. I'm interested in the form and it doesn't get much better for me in Hollywood then the big ole Jew.

 

[LMP]

Well put, Lance. I think that the "commercialism" tag that gets lobbied at Spielberg is a misnomer. He's a populist, and yes, that does mean that he will sacrifice the more challenging elements of his film's content for the sake of an easier emotional fulfillment. After the bubble of artistic freedom within the studio system collapsed in the late '70s, Spielberg was arguably the only filmmaker equipped enough with both the formal talent and business sense to stay afloat.

In short: Don't hate the player, hate the game.

 

[lazarus]

Of all the big post-classical filmmakers - Scorsese, Polanski, De Palma, Lucas, Coppola, etc. - Spielberg is easily the most artistically satisfying to me at this stage

Yikes.

I'd take Gangs of New York, Shutter Island, Tetro, and Youth Without Youth over anything Spielberg has done, not only in the last decade, but probably ever.


As for the producing thing, one has to determine the level of input the person had. With True Grit, and many of these other things El Spielbergo is attached to, he was listed as Executive Producer, which usually means jack shit.

So one can't blame all these lackluster productions on him.

 

[Lancemc]

I'd take Gangs of New York, Shutter Island, Tetro, and Youth Without Youth over anything Spielberg has done, not only in the last decade, but probably ever.

Well, like I was suggesting, I think his last decade is his strongest by quite a wide margin. And I'm not about to deny those four films aren't all excellent in their own right as well.

And yeah, Spielberg's role as frequent producer hardly means squad. The dude owns a massive production company and finances the shit out of several major projects a year. Hardly has his hand in them on much of a creative level.