... Also, Ellen Kuras.
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Friends In Your Head | Forums → Posts by Branco
... Also, Ellen Kuras.
Steve McQueen, though I haven't seen 12 YEARS A SLAVE yet.
Fincher.
Aronofsky.
Sam Mendes.
Tarantino.
Judd Apatow, although THIS IS 40 was a pretty wide miss.
As far as DPs go, I'll try and see as much as I can from:
Deakins, obviously.
Reed Morano.
Brad Young.
Rodrigo Prieto.
Emmanuel Lubezki.
Chris Doyle.
Well, I had a baby in January so I missed tons this year. It was a good year to miss, though... I think top movie for me this year was:
1. AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS.
2. GRAVITY
That's it. What the hell else am I gonna put on this list? MAN OF STEEL?
Here's all the stuff I've missed, though. I have high hopes for a lot of these...
DON JON
BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR
KILL YOUR DARLINGS
THE INEVITABLE DEFEAT OF MISTER AND PETE
12 YEARS A SLAVE
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
OUT OF THE FURNACE
PLACE BEYOND THE PINES
From KILL BILL VOL. 1, after the Bride kills Vernita Green in front of her daughter:
"It was not my intention to do this in front of you. For that I'm sorry. But you can take my word for it, your mother had it comin'. When you grow up, if you still feel raw about it, I'll be waiting."
Has there been a Taxi Driver episode yet? If not, I might just need to fly out to LA so I can spread my love for it all over your podcast... And couch cushions.
You guys have to keep in mind I was raised on a steady diet of 70's films, as well as foreign films and some pretty heady experimental stuff, too. I think if you listen to me rave about Vertigo you'll understand that I am far more interested in character and theme than plot. Taxi Driver just doesn't connect with me, hence my preferences.
Oh shit. Are you raving AGAINST Vertigo?! Haha.
It's interesting that Taxi Driver doesn't do it for you, because I think Travis Bickle is one of the most compelling characters ever committed to film.
To put a button on the Scorcese thing so I can move on to yelling about Gravity... Just remember that he made all those movies while supporting a hefty cocaine habit. Ha.
Also... Scorcese's early stuff hits me like a ton of bricks. Much more so than a lot of other directors. He definitely lost that punch as he got older and moved away from making movies about working class NYC characters... But shit, man. Taxi Driver connects with me like few other movies.
Invid wrote:Well, state your point. We have yet to see if Gravity has any influence on movies or society beyond making money, as those did.
My point is that just because it's popcorn entertainment doesn't mean it can't also qualify as a great film--as discussed in their respective WAYDM commentaries, the films I listed are great films from a pure storytelling and technical standpoint even when they're removed from their cultural impact; as far as I'm concerned Gravity also has those merits, and to dismiss it's having the possibility of being a great film just because it's "popcorn entertainment" seems unfair.
Well I think the difference between Gravity and those movies is that they transcended the traditional "popcorn movie", and for me Gravity never does. Gravity is in the same ballpark as Panic Room for me. The characters are tropes, who have just enough of a personality to get us through the movie... But once we're out the door of the theater, that's it. I mean, what was Clooney's character? Handsome Astronaut?
You can't compare that to the characters we're introduced to in Star Wars, Raiders, and even Jaws. In fact Star Wars and Raiders are specifically designed to be improvements on genres of movie that had been forgettable entertainment. The Jaws novel has plenty of character depth.
The characters in Gravity don't give you anything to latch onto, other than "Yeah. Dying is bad. Don't die."
No one is discrediting Scorcesse's skill nor his importance to the time. But amongst Scorcesse's better films are his not so great films, which Cuaron has yet to make.
Let's not pretend that Gravity is a great movie. I enjoyed it, but it's a popcorn flick. Disposable entertainment.
Secondly, the straw man of "Cuaron built on the shoulders of..." Is equally applicable to Scorcesse and filmmaker like Goddard and Truffaut for which he famously gives credit to. I'm not here to discuss his place in history. Scorsese still makes films during the time Cuaron does, hence the comparison.
I don't know if this is in response to my post. I didn't mention anything about Cuaron standing on the shoulders of earlier directors. Every director is the product of those that came before them.
Thirdly, I would argue that DeNiro could have given an equally good performance with a few other directors. Directors can help guide performances, but they are not solely responsible for them.
I'm not saying that Scorcese is solely responsible for DeNiro's performances, but it can't be a coincidence that when DeNiro and Scorcese team up, we're given some of the greatest performances of all time. We're not talking about good performances, here. We're talking about the type of performances that shape the way we think about acting. Performances that change the way acting is taught.
As far as output is concerned, Cuaron made his first feature in 1991. That's 22 years ago. In that time he's made 7 films that range from good to great.
Let's look at the first 22 years of Scorcese's career, starting with Who's That Knocking At My Door? in 1967. By 1989, he had directed TWELVE films, including Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, The Last Waltz, Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ... And was in the middle of shooting Goodfellas.
Not even close.
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I had a feeling that little opinion would bring all the boys to the yard. I'm fine with people telling me I'm full of shit with it, but I would love for them to tell me how I'm wrong, exactly.
The thing is that Scorcese, much like Spike Lee, brought a previously underrepresented group to the forefront with his early movies. Part of Scorcese's contribution to cinema is that he began his career as a unique voice, and seemed to be bursting with stories and ideas that you were not going to find elsewhere. He went on to have a largely hit or miss career, but you can't touch his early stuff for what it brought to the table.
Cuaron is a fine director, but a lot of his success rests on his ability to elevate otherwise worthless popcorn flicks like Gravity.
I'll argue that DeNiro's performances in Taxi Driver and Raging Bull are worth more than Cuaron's entire filmography.
I'm not going to go with movies that I just happened to SEE in my teens, because that's cheating and there are FAR FAR FAR too many. In chronological order, I'll start with:
Fight Club (1999) -- One of my favorite movies of all time. The first time I went to see it was with a buddy that was way more of a rebel than I was. He lived with his parents in a tiny railroad apartment on the top floor of a building on 83rd and 1st, and we'd often hang out on his rooftop drinking 40s and smoking weed until the sun came up. This is the dude that I would run around the city with on weekends, and on October 15th 1999, we randomly decided to go to the movies. We snuck into Fight Club, not expecting much, and grabbed the last two seats in the place, 4th row on the aisle. What an experience. The movie was too big, too loud, and mildly distorted due to the angle we were watching it at. More importantly, it was the first movie that I felt was talking to ME. I had never seen something that spoke so clearly to my teenage rage, angst, and crushing insomnia as this one. We left the theater in shock, and walked down to the Barnes and Noble on Astor place and bought the book. I stayed up the entire night and read it in one sitting. It now sits on my shelf almost 15 years later... Tattered and worn and signed by Chuck Palahniuk.
I'll come back later for the other two.
Just got back from seeing this a second time in IMAX. God, it looked awful. I think they just mastered this in 2K, transferred to 70mm, and then shot it across a 6-story screen. I think it's safe to say that this is the worst looking movie I've ever seen in IMAX. Just horrible.
-- Branco
Enjoyed this movie well enough. It totally satisfied my desire to see Captain Kirk share a few scenes with...
I think this movie just tried to do too much, though. I would have enjoyed a movie about this super scary Kahn dude, and I would have enjoyed a movie about an Admiral trying to frame and kill Kirk for what he saw as the greater good. Combined, though... Just too much happening and no one gets a fair shake. Reminded me of Episode III in that regard.
Also, for a character named Kahn-something-Singh or whatever... Why can't they seem to find an Indian actor to play him? Are there just no Indian actors with SAG cards? Maybe they could have found a Pakistani dude? I dunno. Maybe Indian folks just don't have enough experience making movies...
-- Branco
Saw it. The first half of the flick is pretty great and presents a few interesting questions, but then everything starts to fall apart as they answer them.
I couldn't really get behind the fact that it all boils down to...
-- Branco
I'll throw my 2 cents in and say the the screen on the full size iPad is leaps and bounds beyond the screen in the Mini.
I also use an Eye-Fi card, and it's amazing. Even more amazing for me, in that I use it in an all-Mac ecosystem, so when I snap a picture it automatically goes to my phone, and then into the cloud where it's snatched by the desktop back home. Pretty swanky.
- Branco
I will point out that I fucking LOVE the car chase that opens Quantum of Solace. One of my favorites ever.
- Branco
I'm a little late to the party on this thread.
Something that is hardly mentioned is the difference in sound design between shaky-cam and more conservative scenes. I find that I often enjoy the sound in the shaky-cam scenes more. I guess the lack of coherent picture to match allows more creative freedom on the sound end. It really allows the sound effects to shine.
- Branco
Saw it, a couple of my friend were interviewed in it. I thought it was okay. It was a film for lay people, really. It was a good intro to the subject, but didn't delve as deeply as I would have liked.
- Branco
Oh, and HFR is stupid. It looks like shit, and it's a pain in the ass to work with. Even the name "HFR" annoys me. It's 48fps.
- Branco
Heh. Thanks, Teague. Am I in that movie at all anymore?
- Branco
I hate musicals. Should I see this movie?
Let me clarify. I hate the moment in musicals when the transition is made from speaking into song. I can feel the gears shifting in the actors' heads and it drives me bonkers. I'm intrigued by the fact that they recorded all the vocals on set for this flick, though, and it sure looks pretty. I guess my question is about how the music is handled. Is it more intimate than most musicals, or is it the usual dancing-in-the-streets nonsense? Is it both?
- Branco
Some of the stuff Trubbull is doing these days is completely bananas. Someone should just strap a GoPro to him and broadcast it on Youtube.
I'm just skimming this thread. I can't believe that there have been FIVE Twilight movies. Good for those fuckers.
- Branco
... Well written.
- Branco
Friends In Your Head | Forums → Posts by Branco
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