Movies Serious Movie Discussion

Honestly Ricky I'm not sure what your getting at with that Diehard scene, yeah its a smartly done little introduction of a characters motivation but again do you need to know someones motivation at all times? cannot it be hinted at but only revealed as a film progresses? Equally its not really a scene that pushes the actor very hard is it? more mild annoyance at the situation.

I don't see it as a weakness for a film to leave a significant part to its actors performance, not doing so tends to leave things feeling rather overwritten and unrealistic to me.

KOQ24 said:
Really underappriciated Neo Noir.De Niro & Rourke are fantastic in it.
Alan Parker is a great Director.Check out Midnight Express, Birdy, Fame or Bugsy Malone by him.
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Again I do kind of see Angel Heart as a bit of a parallel to Scott's original Alien, just with a supernatural rather than sci fi bent to it. Both Brit directors with a strong visual ability they put to extensive use building up atmopshere, both with abnormally strong casts for a horror film who give excellent performances, both take along time before much starts to happen in them, etc.
 
Im going to see something today. Im kind of up in the air but considering 12 strong..suggeations?
 
moreorless87 said:
Honestly Ricky I'm not sure what your getting at with that Diehard scene, yeah its a smartly done little introduction of a characters motivation but again do you need to know someones motivation at all times? cannot it be hinted at but only revealed as a film progresses? Equally its not really a scene that pushes the actor very hard is it? more mild annoyance at the situation.

I don't see it as a weakness for a film to leave a significant part to its actors performance, not doing so tends to leave things feeling rather overwritten and unrealistic to me.



Again I do kind of see Angel Heart as a bit of a parallel to Scott's original Alien, just with a supernatural rather than sci fi bent to it. Both Brit directors with a strong visual ability they put to extensive use building up atmopshere, both with abnormally strong casts for a horror film who give excellent performances, both take along time before much starts to happen in them, etc.
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I liked Angel Heart so much i bought..on VHS
 
Watched Aguirre, The Wrath of God for the first time. Loved it.
 
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Just finished Birdsong (2008) by Albert Serra, the first of his films that I have seen.

It attempts to provide a contemplative account of the story of the Three Wise Men. There is hardly any dialogue and in general the film consists mostly of extremely long-takes of the three magi as they wind their way through the deserts and mountains of the Holy Land. Visually it looked very good, being shot it quite elegant black-and-white and at times the cinematography was quite beautiful, usually emphasising the size of the men against the vastness of the landscape. However, I'd be lying if I said it didn't also test my patience; at times the film is almost agonisingly slow and while I'm no connoisseur of these contemplative films, I'm not a stranger to them either.

It's obviously a religious film given the story it's retelling, but on the other hand certain aspects are clearly supposed to be somewhat ludicrous, and actually funny at times (the way the magi are presented in some scenes). The whole thing felt like it was situated between a kind of grace and profundity on the hand, and complete and utter absurdity on the other - which I suppose was the point. Something like Dreyer or Bresson crossed with Samuel Beckett. Still with these sorts of slow films it is the overall impression that it leaves that is usually the most important and while this was sometimes fairly boring and ponderous; it was interesting enough to keep me thinking about it afterwards. I also think it's the sort of film that would come across better in a cinema setting, I'd always prefer to see this sort of slow film there than at home. It was a bit of a struggle and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to everyone.
 
The heat thread got me thinking..

Anybody else here prefer Mann's manhunter to red dragon?
 
Its been probably more than 20 years since I watched it but yeah I remember preffering it, Red Dragon was pretty well made but just rather bland for me.
 
I prefer Red Dragon, even though i'm a huge Michael Mann Fanboy.

I think Red Dragon has a much more tense atmosphere and better acting with Norton,Hopkins,Fiennes,Hoffman (jeez, what a cast) etc.
I just have the feeling that Norton's character is in much more danger in that Film than Peterson's character is in Manhunter.
 
KOQ24 said:
I prefer Red Dragon, even though i'm a huge Michael Mann Fanboy.

I think Red Dragon has a much more tense atmosphere and better acting with Norton,Hopkins,Fiennes,Hoffman (jeez, what a cast) etc.
I just have the feeling that Norton's character is in much more danger in that Film than Peterson's character is in Manhunter.
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I can definetly see where you are coming from. Personally I feel like the movies are so different from each other despite coming from the same source material that they could really be considered to completely different subjects entirely.
As far as the atmosphere and acting I think it goes back to how both movies decided to portray their subject matter. Manhunter for the most part is very dry and procedural, if you cut out most of the personal interactions it could very well be an episode of "the FBI files". Many of the key characters are more realistic as well. For example Lektor he doesn't come across as the seasond European count, but more as a crass menacing felon and his prison environment reflects that. Dollorhyde has no redeeming qualities and it is a major difference between the two movies with his character being able to nurture a relationship with the blind chick in Red dragon. Compared to Manhunter Dollarhyde is too unhinged to even maintain any sort of relationship with the woman before targeting her.

also like you said it seemed more dangerous for will in red dragon than it did in Manhunter. One of the reasons is the way they chose to portray him in both movies. In red dragon norton is vulnerable he is not a tough guy, and it plays into his character because it is kinda what makes him diving into the serial killers mind so interesting. Manhunter will is a strong guy, and he is much more Loire what I would think of a police officer. A real key difference too is will diving through the window of dollarhydes kitchen to save the damsel in distress.

Personally as a big fan of procedural crime shows and manns directing Manhunter hits me right where I want it to. But don't get me wrong red dragon is a fantastic movie.
 
What's the proper version of Blade Runner? The Director's Cut? Or The Final Cut?
 
chickenluver said:
What's the proper version of Blade Runner? The Director's Cut? Or The Final Cut?
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Your talking really very minor differences between them, probably the biggest is Batty claiming "I want more life father" rather than "fucker" but even then you clearly get the menace in his delivery, Batty releasing the dove at the end has a more in character industrial sky behind rather than the blue morning sky(it was the last thing filmed and the night had gone) as well. For the most part I would say the final cut is really just cleaning up technical issues.

If you want something significantly different beyond the original cut try the workprint in the largest boxset, obviously lacking some FX but does have some different scenes in it.
 
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri a mess and borderline awful until a certain character kills himself. I was suprised by how corny the script was, with its tryhard at humor and subversiveness. The lerformances were no better.

Then he kills himself, and the letters startt being passed around and the movie settles and eventually finds itself in the sweet spot of irreverence and laughs im accustomed to with McDonagh. I still dont like mcdormands performance much but the final 20 minutes or so from the dinner on is perfect, ESPECIALLY the phone call with Rockwell. The entire movie should have been that kind of vibe, and id wager a road trip movie with them debating to kill a suspected rapist even if he's not their rapist, would have been more entertaining the plot we got. Either way, that final 20 minutes more than made up for the rest of the movie.
 
Honestly I think its a feature of all three of McDonagh's films that they start off with a loser more comedic style but come into dramatic focus midway though, In Bruges when we get the flashback of the childs death, Seven Physco's with Waklens wife's death and her with the suicide or even before with the flashback.
 
Watched Things To Come (2016) earlier

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It's about a middle-aged philosophy teacher who is confronted with a host of personal problems - an ailing mother, an unexpected divorce, and her subsequent attempts to come to terms with them.

An excellent film which variously looks at the passage of time, radical politics, the role of philosophy in the modern world and its ability to deal with real personal problems...There is a lot of subtlety there, but it moves at a very relaxed, easy pace and certainly isn't difficult or boring. It's equally humorous, moving, and tragic. Isabelle Huppert put in a particularly good (and nuanced) performance.
 
Rimbaud82 said:
Watched Things To Come (2016) earlier

7266a47c433e78071b1b5a7b44c5f4f3--things-to-come-summary.jpg


It's about a middle-aged philosophy teacher who is confronted with a host of personal problems - an ailing mother, an unexpected divorce, and her subsequent attempts to come to terms with them.

An excellent film which variously looks at the passage of time, radical politics, the role of philosophy in the modern world and its ability to deal with real personal problems...There is a lot of subtlety there, but it moves at a very relaxed, easy pace and certainly isn't difficult or boring. It's equally humorous, moving, and tragic. Isabelle Huppert put in a particularly good (and nuanced) performance.
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Her mother is a C-U-N-T.
The Film pretty much screams "look at how progressive i am" with the divorced couples,younger boyfriends/girlfriends,organic farming etc.
IT'S SO FACKIN FRENCH IT POOPS CREPES!
 
KOQ24 said:
Her mother is a C-U-N-T.
The Film pretty much screams "look at how progressive i am" with the divorced couples,younger boyfriends/girlfriends,organic farming etc.
IT'S SO FACKIN FRENCH IT POOPS CREPES!
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