AstaerethIn the belly of the beastRegistered Userregular
You've got to write for performance, though.
In other news, Parker is apparently just as bad as everyone thought it would be, and for the exact same reasons everyone thought it would be, ie., they badly humanize Parker, cut out all the interesting procedural stuff, and turn it into a generic (and not very good even by these standards) Statham movie.
In a recent piece in the L.A. Times, Hackford made it clear that he’s a fan of the Parker books and knows all about their history. He talks admiringly about POINT BLANK and notes that none of the previous adaptations were allowed to be called “Parker.” He explains how an editor “freed Westlake from having to write a ‘do right’ protagonist” and that “There’s absolutely no puritan ethic in Westlake’s Parker. Under no circumstances could he be called a hero.”
Yet, in his movie, he makes the same damn mistake every other Parker adaptation has made, and worse than most: he fucking humanizes him. He makes him seem like a family man. Clare – Parker’s long-suffering girlfriend who lives a separate life from him waiting until he’s done with his jobs – becomes a loving girlfriend who he calls on his cell phone, flashbacks about as if she’s his motivation, and who even comes to stitch him up when he’s injured. The book has a minor character named Hurley, an associate of Parker’s who opted out of the bank robbery and suggested Parker as his replacement. In the movie Hurley is played by Nick Nolte, he’s Clare’s father and Parker’s advice-giving mentor and father figure. Unacceptable.
[...]
I bring these things up not to point out that “Hey! That’s different from the book!”, but to show that they’ve changed the essential things that make Parker Parker and that make Flashfire worth making into a movie. None of the good Parker movies – POINT BLANK, THE SPLIT, THE OUTFIT, PAYBACK – are completely faithful adaptations either, but they keep more of the character and the tone than this one does, and are more entertaining movies as a result. I can’t imagine that someone who doesn’t know the books could see this and be able to point to what makes Parker different from Frank Transporter or other Statham characters, except that he does less driving and martial arts.
I just don’t get how these people think. If you like the character of Parker, why would you not want the movie to be about that character? If you would rather make a movie about a more normal movie anti-hero, then why did you sign up to make Parker? And especially in this case, when you have put in writing in a public forum your awareness of six previous Parker adaptations that were not allowed by Westlake to use the name, don’t you have a moral obligation to represent the character well on screen? I say yes.
Man, they fuckin blew it on this one. It seems like it would take effort to make this exciting of a character seem so boring. But I guess that’s just the Hackford magic. If this was supposed to start a series of Parker movies starring Statham I’m pretty sure that ain’t happening. And since they used the damn name as the title it’s gonna make it that much more difficult for somebody else to do one. Thanks alot, assholes.
I haven't seen Payback in awhile, but that one seemed pretty faithful to the character. I mean, he wasn't completely inhumane (he had the girlfriend of sorts), but he was more or less completely amoral. And, my favourite part, seemed not to care about revenge so much as just getting his cut of the money back. He was like, crazy in this incredibly focused way.
That's as I remember it anyway. It's been a long time since I've seen that movie.
Also, still has one of the best closing lines ever imo.
Also, I just finished Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
No movie with that stupid a title and that silly a premise should be this coherent.
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FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
2 things mentioned in this thread.
1, someone mentioned Leonardo Dicaprio as Andrew Ryan in Bioshock, and no one mentioned that he is Gatsby.
2. The only essay of Film Critic Hulk I have agreed with and enjoyed is the one I have read about actual writing, and that is the one about how rigidly adhering to a 3 act structure does not usually make sense. However, this is obvious. I'm just glad someone else noticed it.
Also, I just finished Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
No movie with that stupid a title and that silly a premise should be this coherent.
My son finally got me to watch this (he's a big fan). I had reservations but must admit I really enjoyed it. I liked the nods to the original such as the media reports of the Mars mission, the mounted police, Caesar with the Liberty puzzle and Malfoys "Damn dirty ape!" line. My loyalties lay with the apes which I suppose is the point in a "let my people go" movie even if we (the humans) don't have the happiest of endings.
Serkis is The Man when it comes to CGI and animated characters. I recently caught Tintin and he was also the best thing in that.
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AstaerethIn the belly of the beastRegistered Userregular
A list of the ten best fight scenes on Facebook led to me two conclusions. One, the hallway fight from Oldboy is even more fucking amazing than I previously believed:
I've enjoyed a few of their films, but they all have the problem that you mentioned, literally all the fun is from the actors being funny themselves. And funny actors doing bad jokes gets old really fast. Which might be the reason none of them star in more than one of their films (aside from Jim Carrey).
Nah, they've gone back to the well a couple of times with Bill Murray (Osmosis Jones) and Ben Stiller (Heartbreak Kid), but to similarly disappointing results.
The biggest gag in Heartbreak Kid was a random scene where Malin Akerman farts out of her vagina.
Droll!
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AtomikaLive fast and get fucked or whateverRegistered Userregular
As to the Parker thing, I really couldn't be happier that this movie is quietly dying. For that book series to ever have a chance of ever being done right in the next decade or so, it needed this film to evaporate from the collective consciousness; it couldn't be popular lest it be sequelized, but it also had to be bad and unsatisfying without being memorably bad and unsatisfying. It had to be generic, it had to be bland.
Thank you, Taylor Hackford. You may have saved this franchise yet.
Now, I can look forward to 2019 and Michael Shannon starring in The Hunter, a 1960s period piece directed by Nicolas Winding Refn.
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HacksawJ. Duggan Esq.Wrestler at LawRegistered Userregular
To be fair, Payback was a pretty awesome movie in it's own right.
To be fair, Payback was a pretty awesome movie in it's own right.
both of them
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TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
Oldboy always wins fight scenes because of the one take, and for showing how a fight would go down like that; everyone is just tired at the end.
The Raid is instantly up there now with Mad Dog, They Live, Flashpoint's final fight, I always liked Man From Nowhere's knife fight at the end.
And it probably doesn't hold up well but I always liked the first fight in The Transporter when he kicks the door down. Maybe because it kind of ushered in the new age of fighting for films or something.
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AManFromEarthLet's get to twerk!The King in the SwampRegistered Userregular
edited January 2013
Right, got some sleep and did some job apps. Let's do this.
Butter!
I thought this was a really good movie. The little nods to the 2008 primary were fantastic, and I thought all the acting work being done was quite good. Most especially seeing Rob Corddry playing something other than an acerbic dickhole was wonderful, as were the turns from Jackman and Garner.
The jokes were great, the film clips along at a decent pace, and it manages to be touching without being saccharine.
I'm sure I'm waaaaaaaaay late on seeing this one, but if you haven't it's on Netflix Instantwatch now. Check it out.
I'm tempted to do this. I had fun at the Marvel movies marathon when Avengers was released, but I don't know if sitting through that much Die Hard would be advisable.
I'm tempted to do this. I had fun at the Marvel movies marathon when Avengers was released, but I don't know if sitting through that much Die Hard would be advisable.
too bad it's not on actually on Valentine's Day, best date ever.
Also, I just finished Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
No movie with that stupid a title and that silly a premise should be this coherent.
My son finally got me to watch this (he's a big fan). I had reservations but must admit I really enjoyed it. I liked the nods to the original such as the media reports of the Mars mission, the mounted police, Caesar with the Liberty puzzle and Malfoys "Damn dirty ape!" line. My loyalties lay with the apes which I suppose is the point in a "let my people go" movie even if we (the humans) don't have the happiest of endings.
Serkis is The Man when it comes to CGI and animated characters. I recently caught Tintin and he was also the best thing in that.
That was my main problem with the movie, in that I didn't care much about the apes. I mean, I wanted Caesar to find a place and there's a certain element of tragedy in the ending where he ends up away from his original family and such, but I ultimately felt the movie had no real arc. It just sort of went about logically explaining how Planet of the Apes happens. It did a good job at that, but it felt like there was little else to it. It's pure prequel.
Maybe it's cause I know this ends with humans dead and apes ascendant, maybe it's because I didn't find Caesar's pro-ape stance by the halfway point super sympathetic since I agreed with the indian lady's point at that start (ie - that Caesar will turn into a large, powerful and dangerous animal. A point which he proves) and maybe it's also that no other character in the film had any sort of arc at all.
I had fun, I enjoyed it, but it was utterly forgettable.
I like the oldboy fight because he's mostly just boxing and wrestling them, not doing ridiculous bullshit like in The Raid. If you look close you'll see mistakes in the Oldboy shot but who the hell cares, it's still cool.
Though I did like The Raid as well but no fightscene in that movie was half as cool and some dragged on for far too long
So, you can pretty much take your pick from Ip Man, but in the context of his previously playful, semi-pacifist demeanor, this scene is particularly brutal - and efffective.
AtomikaLive fast and get fucked or whateverRegistered Userregular
So, the producers of the Evil Dead remake are saying that the film will be re-edited for theaters to reduce what the MPAA called "excessive" amounts of gore and violence. This comes after the MPAA announced this morning that the current cut of Evil Dead has earned an NC-17 rating, and thus is unlikely to be allowed in major theater chains until it can be trimmed to at least an R.
One hopes that this original cut will find its way to blu-ray promptly.
My 3 favourite Jackie Chan fights that aren't goofy, prop-filled group fights--in the immortal words of Andre the Giant, "You use different moves when you're fighting half a dozen people than when you only have to be worried about one."
The last fight from Gorgeous, which is otherwise a mediocre movie, is special to me. It's the rare case where there aren't any stakes, it's just two guys who want to prove which is the best. Also hard to resist a fight that randomly turns into a dance scene.
His fight against Benny the Jet in Wheels on Meals. He also fought Benny the Jet in Dragons Forever, but aside from the awesome cigar-smoking villain being a scumbag, the Wheels on Meals fight is smoother, and uses less editing tricks, or at least is more interesting with how it uses them.
So I just finished Adventures of Tintin, which I started because I had just seen Black Hawk Down and it was the hardest to watch film I've ever sat through and I needed something to cheer me up. I was a bit leery of Tintin because of what I remember from this thread, and for the most part, it really is just a big expensive excuse to have as many set pieces as possible in 100 minutes. Tintin as a character was bland and at times the animation took a dive straight the bottom of uncanny valley, but I can't fault the movie for these things, because it was a joy to watch. Sure, there are some truly ridiculous things (crane sword fighting. Come on now.), but I was having such a good time with the movie I didn't care. The story may simply be a vehicle to get the characters from set piece to set piece, but sometimes I just want to sit down and have fun with a movie, and that's what I got. Adventures of Tintin is simply fun.
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DeadfallI don't think you realize just how rich he is.In fact, I should put on a monocle.Registered Userregular
It's probably not regarded as highly, but my favorite fight scene is still
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
I kind of preferred the fights in Way of the Dragon, since they're a little goofier. There's the nunchaku scene aka "Where Namco got all their Maxi animations from," and of course the epic showdown between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris, which end with Norris refusing to give up so that Lee has to kill him. Good times.
Paranorman - Wasn't sure what to expect out of this one, but I really enjoyed it. The story seemed to fit so well with our current times. The stance it takes on bullying was incredibly well done. I was impressed how it held a mirror up to the subject, but at the same time put some responsibility on the one being bullied to not do something that would hurt others. After watching it I would love to see paranorman win some awards, as it was easily the best animated feature I've seen in a long while.
Tron Legacy- Rewatched it for the first time since theaters. I really enjoy the movie as its a great blend of style and substance. I think outside of the first pirates its Disney's best foray into live action. I am still mystified at the CG Jeff Daniels, I think the movie would have worked better if they had used more traditional effects to make him look younger. It is especially disconcerting when he is interacting with his young son.
Posts
In other news, Parker is apparently just as bad as everyone thought it would be, and for the exact same reasons everyone thought it would be, ie., they badly humanize Parker, cut out all the interesting procedural stuff, and turn it into a generic (and not very good even by these standards) Statham movie.
That's as I remember it anyway. It's been a long time since I've seen that movie.
Also, still has one of the best closing lines ever imo.
No movie with that stupid a title and that silly a premise should be this coherent.
1, someone mentioned Leonardo Dicaprio as Andrew Ryan in Bioshock, and no one mentioned that he is Gatsby.
2. The only essay of Film Critic Hulk I have agreed with and enjoyed is the one I have read about actual writing, and that is the one about how rigidly adhering to a 3 act structure does not usually make sense. However, this is obvious. I'm just glad someone else noticed it.
My son finally got me to watch this (he's a big fan). I had reservations but must admit I really enjoyed it. I liked the nods to the original such as the media reports of the Mars mission, the mounted police, Caesar with the Liberty puzzle and Malfoys "Damn dirty ape!" line. My loyalties lay with the apes which I suppose is the point in a "let my people go" movie even if we (the humans) don't have the happiest of endings.
Serkis is The Man when it comes to CGI and animated characters. I recently caught Tintin and he was also the best thing in that.
Two, a list of great fight scenes would probably be a fun discussion for the thread. Anyone else want to contribute?
Nah, they've gone back to the well a couple of times with Bill Murray (Osmosis Jones) and Ben Stiller (Heartbreak Kid), but to similarly disappointing results.
The biggest gag in Heartbreak Kid was a random scene where Malin Akerman farts out of her vagina.
Droll!
Thank you, Taylor Hackford. You may have saved this franchise yet.
Now, I can look forward to 2019 and Michael Shannon starring in The Hunter, a 1960s period piece directed by Nicolas Winding Refn.
The Raid is instantly up there now with Mad Dog, They Live, Flashpoint's final fight, I always liked Man From Nowhere's knife fight at the end.
And it probably doesn't hold up well but I always liked the first fight in The Transporter when he kicks the door down. Maybe because it kind of ushered in the new age of fighting for films or something.
Butter!
I thought this was a really good movie. The little nods to the 2008 primary were fantastic, and I thought all the acting work being done was quite good. Most especially seeing Rob Corddry playing something other than an acerbic dickhole was wonderful, as were the turns from Jackman and Garner.
The jokes were great, the film clips along at a decent pace, and it manages to be touching without being saccharine.
I'm sure I'm waaaaaaaaay late on seeing this one, but if you haven't it's on Netflix Instantwatch now. Check it out.
I give it four overdue student loans out of five.
I'm tempted to do this. I had fun at the Marvel movies marathon when Avengers was released, but I don't know if sitting through that much Die Hard would be advisable.
pleasepaypreacher.net
It's a legitimately entertaining film.
too bad it's not on actually on Valentine's Day, best date ever.
That was my main problem with the movie, in that I didn't care much about the apes. I mean, I wanted Caesar to find a place and there's a certain element of tragedy in the ending where he ends up away from his original family and such, but I ultimately felt the movie had no real arc. It just sort of went about logically explaining how Planet of the Apes happens. It did a good job at that, but it felt like there was little else to it. It's pure prequel.
Maybe it's cause I know this ends with humans dead and apes ascendant, maybe it's because I didn't find Caesar's pro-ape stance by the halfway point super sympathetic since I agreed with the indian lady's point at that start (ie - that Caesar will turn into a large, powerful and dangerous animal. A point which he proves) and maybe it's also that no other character in the film had any sort of arc at all.
I had fun, I enjoyed it, but it was utterly forgettable.
Though I did like The Raid as well but no fightscene in that movie was half as cool and some dragged on for far too long
Sunglasses fight They Live. FUCK YOU!
pleasepaypreacher.net
pleasepaypreacher.net
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upwyWKzozII
One hopes that this original cut will find its way to blu-ray promptly.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Final fight from Drunken Master 2 is a given.
The last fight from Gorgeous, which is otherwise a mediocre movie, is special to me. It's the rare case where there aren't any stakes, it's just two guys who want to prove which is the best. Also hard to resist a fight that randomly turns into a dance scene.
His fight against Benny the Jet in Wheels on Meals. He also fought Benny the Jet in Dragons Forever, but aside from the awesome cigar-smoking villain being a scumbag, the Wheels on Meals fight is smoother, and uses less editing tricks, or at least is more interesting with how it uses them.
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
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Just the...I don't know, efficiency? How every move is a counter and attack in one. Love it.
xbl - HowYouGetAnts
steam - WeAreAllGeth
WHAT! I AM SURPRISED!
I'm not really surprised. Tintin is bland. He has always been so. It is his purpose in the stories.
He's Belgian!
Also, (because I wouldn't know where else to share this.....)
HELL AND YES!!! Genius!
STEAM ID: Firebird
XBOX Live: FirebirdLR
Playstation: FirebirdXR
"I like the way you die, Jedi."
That and he just snaps Jackie Chan's neck like a twig.
Of course, the best nunchaku scene of all time will always be this:
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
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Paranorman - Wasn't sure what to expect out of this one, but I really enjoyed it. The story seemed to fit so well with our current times. The stance it takes on bullying was incredibly well done. I was impressed how it held a mirror up to the subject, but at the same time put some responsibility on the one being bullied to not do something that would hurt others. After watching it I would love to see paranorman win some awards, as it was easily the best animated feature I've seen in a long while.
Tron Legacy- Rewatched it for the first time since theaters. I really enjoy the movie as its a great blend of style and substance. I think outside of the first pirates its Disney's best foray into live action. I am still mystified at the CG Jeff Daniels, I think the movie would have worked better if they had used more traditional effects to make him look younger. It is especially disconcerting when he is interacting with his young son.
The Reconfigured album with all the remixes is pretty awesome.