Movie Discussion Thread

[themaninblack]

Originally Posted by A Perfect Score

Hes Patrick Bateman. No one hates Patrick Bateman.

Who COULD hate this man?

[LizardState]

Originally Posted by BigBanger

Yes, AI and ET sucked, but I have no idea what else you're trying to say. You had me, then I think you started talking about drugs and then something else, then Iron Man, or something.

Anyway, I got a question for you movie junkies. Well a couple questions.

The Believer? American History X? Romper Stomper?

Which is the best skin head movie?
Which of these great actors gives the best performance?
Which movie had the best ending?

Even though I think all three have their flaws, and Romper Stomper is close to awful, I'll go with The Believer as best film even though its very close with American History X. I personally found Ryan Gosling to give one of the most engaging and purely twisted self-loathing acting performances I've ever seen. His accent was pitch-perfect. His ability to completely sell his Jewish beliefs and pure knowledge of everything about the religion is the probably the most astonishing aspect of his acting, but the most convincing part of his performance is the hatred he has for being a Jew and all the negative things that go along with the stereotypical Jewish male, which is something he's constantly fighting (Both physically and internally). There are so many great aspects to his character and so many layers fully developed. As good as Edward Norton was in American History X, he wasn't even in the same league as Gosling who I've never seen better (Lars and the Real Girl). Norton, I think, gave a rather average performance (by his standards) that was bolstered beyond average due to his physical changes and dedication to the film. The Believer has its flaws and some of the characters surrounding Gosling are underdeveloped and I still have no idea what kind of movement he was joining or working for, and it seemed really unnecessary. Every time he was with these people it felt like a straight intrusion on the film and it broke it's pacing. It was kind of just crammed in there to get some good preachy / debate scenes. American History X is a little too feel good and a little too unrealistic. I loved the black and white sections of the film, which kind of symbolized Derek Vinyard's view of the world... everything being in black and white, which is set in his dark past prior to his prison sentence, and then there's color after he gets out and changes his views on the world. Of all three films that might be favorite aspect of any of them (the use of B&W). Edward Norton's best acting scenes are also when he was extremely volatile and full of hate. Just the look in his eyes in that unforgettable curb stomping scene is probably worth the Academy Award nomination alone when he nonchalantly shrugs his shoulders as he's getting handcuffed. I just hated how it turned into a movie about black people and white people, and the hatred they have for each other or how they came together and put their differences aside.

Romper Stomper was just awful. Russell Crowe was running around screaming throughout the entire movie destroying stuff. Some people might say, "Well that is what the nazi group is like. They're chaotic and simply out of control. Russell did a great job creating that." They got their message across, it's just not engaging or difficult to pull off or something I want to watch. The story is full of neat little coincidences so that you have Russell Crowe and his best mate end up on the beach with the girl in the middle of them creating a nice happy ending and a change for the better in one character and a death of another. Corny and stupid, but the final shot of the movie (with the credits rolling and the great music on sound) is something I can't forget almost a year after seeing it. I don't know what it is about that dead man's view, but it just kind of made sitting through the whole ****** movie worth it. Just for that final shot.

As much as I liked that ending, or the final shot, it comes in third. American History X has a rather liberal feel for the longest time as this skinhead befriends a stereotypical black man, which felt forced. Probably the worst written and worst acted section of the film takes place between the black guy and the nazi hating scumbag turned good guy. I never believed the transition from pure evil to good which made Norton unbelievable after he gets out of prison. Even with that liberal view forcing itself into the movie, it quickly comes back to a more realistic ending with the murder of Vinyard's brother. The ending that takes the cake is the one in The Believer, which is instantly one of my favorite endings since it makes you think about it's meaning. You don't have to study Judaism to understand the symbolism since everything is neatly and clearly explained earlier. A powerful ending as Gosling clears the church, then begins accenting back up those same stairs he ran down as a child when he rebelled against his religion. Now he's looking for a way back and as he passes the same teacher who keeps repeating the same words, more and more anguish slowly washes over his face as he searches for heaven and/or God. "Nothings up there." A great ending that was only realized to its fullest thanks to the incredible performance from Gosling. I have, surprisingly, only seen two of the five Oscar nominated performances in 2001 and of the two I've seen, Russell Crowe in Gladiator and Tom Hanks in Cast Away, and both not anywhere close to the kind of performance Gosling gave. He was truly fantastic.

The Believer 7.5/10
American History X 7/10
Romper Stomper 2.5/10

Good film analysis here, BB.

I was just saying that the script for Iron Man inserted that line just for Downey exclusively b/c of his clandestine drug past, it seemed like it was customized for him.

American History X is the best of those 3 skinhead films even though it's full of Hollywoodizing & stereotyping IMO, the ending with the mother dying of lung disease & still smoking in a smoggy LA neighborhood that was once white & is now turning brown & black, the melodramatic one final black vs. white b-ball game for forever dominance of the park courts, etc. Just really contrived in parts, too much shock value like Norton's prison rape, his killing the black guy on the curb too, it pressed the envelope of believability for me. I also had trouble with Norton being convicted for killing a guy who burglarized his house too -- don't people plead self defense anymore in California? -- but they had to put him in prison so he could be enlightened by that stereotypical "good" (nonracist) black friend you pointed out. What makes it the best of those is Norton's performance which is stellar as always & the best of the 3 you listed, here as well as in Red Dragon & 25th Hour, he is moving up on that A-list with each new film.

Romper Stomper is still damn impressive, you see an early Russell Crowe before he became an A-Lister but a young up & coming physical actor tearing up the scenes. He is just nonstop kickass dynamic thru the whole film as you say, almost like he made the whole movie on meth. An Aussie coworker once told me a few yrs. back that the film dispelled the stereotype in America of Australia as an anti-racist utopia -- in fact they enjoy the highest quality of life of any English-speaking people on the planet b/c they rigidly control their immigration & obviously they have a serious prejudice against Asians depicted here in West Melbourne. The director, Geofffrey Wright, did that one pursuit scene lasting 20 or so mins. thru the warehouse rooms & windows with the Asians chasing but never catching Crowe & 2-3 of his gang while they're taunting & ragging on each other the whole time, all filmed in one take by handheld cameras, masterful direction there. You got the sense of neo-Nazi organizing with his group of disaffected lower class Australian whites outnumbered by the Asian gangs & their desperation. It's the same divisive Us vs. Them mass belief ethic that worked for the Germans in Munich in 1925 in Hitler's failed Beer Hall Putsch, blame the Jews for Germany losing WW1, he did 2 yrs. in jail for it where he wrote Mein Kampf which was the name of Crowe's gang BTW. BB, I didn't like or buy into the Hollywood happy ending either.

Both those films give us a sympathetic view of skinheads with their underlying motivations & world views that only Hollywood can make sympathetic. If you want a more realistic view of them see the documentary Blood In the Face where you see the merciless brutality of the White Supremacists in their Idaho hdqtrs. at Hayden Lake & their faceoffs with crowds, including loud, angry blacks & Jews, at their rallies, they reminded me of the Klan rallies in the South in the 60s or the Great Hour of Hate rallies for Big Brother in Orwell's 1984, no Hollywood sentimentalizing there --- You see the skinhead neo-Nazis as the murderous threats they really are. I am grateful that they're like the Klansmen in Mississippi in the 60s now, about half of them are FBI paid informants, their radical well-armed leadership in jail or dead, but still spreading hate crimes via propaganda on the internet, their very scary websites are still out there.

I think someone was trying to say that Bigbanger & A Perfect Score were the same poster, I don't believe it either.

[Hitman D]

Originally Posted by thefalconer

pause the terminator talk.

UP was amazing. wall-e can have all the technical praise but UP was great with plot and was really entertaining.

Did you watch it in 3-D?

[Brodeur]

Originally Posted by Hitman D

Did you watch it in 3-D?

I did and it really didn't need 3-D at all honestly. Up and Drag Me to Hell were both full of win.

[terribletowel39]

Anyone seen Killshot??

Was thinking about renting it and wanted to get some opinions.

[tjsunstein]

Originally Posted by Brodeur

I did and it really didn't need 3-D at all honestly. Up and Drag Me to Hell were both full of win.

I didn't like in the previews that they gave the impression that she was cursed because of not approving that lady for an extension on a loan or money of some sort. Is that how it went? I guess that they had to introduce it somehow but that seems like an odd way to do it. I'll probably catch that on dvd or on the internet sometime.

UP looked pretty good for a cartoon. That chubby cub scout was pretty entertaining in the previews.

May have been discussed or touched on somewhere already but how was Night at the Museum?

[Brodeur]

That was not exactly how she got the curse put on her, but I won't spoil the full scene.

[A Perfect Score]

Originally Posted by terribletowel39

Anyone seen Killshot??

Was thinking about renting it and wanted to get some opinions.

I was realy excited when I saw the trailer for it, it has an amazing cast, Tom Jane, Diane Lane, Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson, and Joseph Gordon Levitt, and I know Tarantino was involved with it somehow, but reviews and comments about it have been very underwhelming. I plan on watching it eventually though.

[FatJJ44]

Alright I just watched the 3 Matrix movies the past 3 nights, and I'm confused on something in the third one. Sorry if this is a stupid question but how exactly did Smith get defeated? I'm just really confused on that last fight scene.

[keylime_5]

okay, ET does not suck. One of the greatest films of all time.

[M.O.T.H.]

Yeah it got bad reviews for the most part and you hear a lot of people throw around the word, "stupid" when talking about it but, I love Equilibrium. It was on the other day...so, I watched it for the first time in a very long time and I liked it even more than before.

I also watched Dan in Real Life finally...and I actually enjoyed it. Not bad at all, imo.

And then lastly, I watched "I'm Not There". I thought it was incredibly boring and a little too artsy for my taste. Not surprising coming from Haynes but yeah, I wasnt a fan.

[A Perfect Score]

Well, just watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall again. I was bored, and Im burning DVDs for my brother and that was one he wanted, so I figured I would just watch it. So ******* hilarious. Ive seen it a bunch, and it is a toss up between it and Zack and Miri and Choke for my favorite comedy last year. Not to mention, Mila Kunis is so ridiculously gorgeous in FSM its painful.

[Go_Eagles77]

I just watched "Taken". Wasn't anything special but it definitely kept me entertained for an hour and a half. Solid thriller.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by FatJJ44

Alright I just watched the 3 Matrix movies the past 3 nights, and I'm confused on something in the third one. Sorry if this is a stupid question but how exactly did Smith get defeated? I'm just really confused on that last fight scene.

Smith takes over Neo's body, but in the Machine city, and his body is connected to The Source. Smith is deleted by The Source, and all the others, connected through Neo, are destroyed.

[bantx]

Originally Posted by Go_Eagles77

I just watched "Taken". Wasn't anything special but it definitely kept me entertained for an hour and a half. Solid thriller.

Yeah good action flick

[thefalconer]

i watched UP in 3-d was the only showing available for the midnight showing and whereas the depth of 3-d quality is nice, watching it normally and saving a few bucks is better. but UP was very entertaining and the simple plot with very interesting characters made the movie a really enjoyable animation flick.

[themaninblack]

Originally Posted by M.O.T.H.

And then lastly, I watched "I'm Not There". I thought it was incredibly boring and a little too artsy for my taste. Not surprising coming from Haynes but yeah, I wasnt a fan.

Jim James is in it. That is all that is needed.

[M.O.T.H.]

Originally Posted by themaninblack

Jim James is in it. That is all that is needed.

The best scene in the movie, really. Outside of that song, I didnt like the movie all that much.

[keylime_5]

Originally Posted by M.O.T.H.

And then lastly, I watched "I'm Not There". I thought it was incredibly boring and a little too artsy for my taste. Not surprising coming from Haynes but yeah, I wasnt a fan.

Yeah I though that too about that movie, but if you know a lot about Bob Dylan and his life then it makes a LOT more sense...especially the parts with Heath Ledger.

[HChu]

So Up is pretty much one of the best animated movies I've ever seen. Nothing like getting teary-eyed in a theater full of kids and their parents when you're a grown ass man.

[Giantsfan1080]

Originally Posted by HChu

So Up is pretty much one of the best animated movies I've ever seen. Nothing like getting teary-eyed in a theater full of kids and their parents when you're a grown ass man.

The first 20 minutes were very upsetting. Pixar is just really great at what they do. No dialouge and they get emotions across better then any real actor could do.

[Giantsfan1080]

Does anyone play on Hollywood Stock Exchange? If so, how is it? Worth the time?

[thefalconer]

Originally Posted by HChu

So Up is pretty much one of the best animated movies I've ever seen. Nothing like getting teary-eyed in a theater full of kids and their parents when you're a grown ass man.

qft. the music and animation really get to you.

go watch this.

[Ness]

Was the Toy Story 3 trailer posted yet?

[A Perfect Score]

nope, but Toy Story is awesomeness. Cant wait for that one. On another note, I have watched the District 9 trailer so many times. Looks so cool.