The Bland Side
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Well, true stories rarely, if ever, make a good movie in my eyes. There are so few interesting true stories out there, and when a film is based off of one, it tends to just be "inspirational".
Good read. Wasn't expecting this today.
Good read. Wasn't expecting this today.
I've had a sudden idea while reading page two.
What if we made the same movie; only this time, it was a rich balck family and a poor white athlete. We could pass it off as 'defying the formula' and 'revolutionary' and we'd make oodles of money!
What if we made the same movie; only this time, it was a rich balck family and a poor white athlete. We could pass it off as 'defying the formula' and 'revolutionary' and we'd make oodles of money!
Well, if I wasn't going to see it then, I'm certainly not going to see it now. Thanks for the heads up.
That sounds like a great idea! I'll gladly help out with that film!stonethered said:
Don't forget the American "Battle Royale" remake.Cousin_IT said:
I think that true stories can make excellent movies, but they demand a different type of presentation. If it's fiction, make it all up, show whatever you want, and revel in the fact that you can show anything you want. If it's fact, acknowledge the reality that you don't know the whole story and you never will, and give the audience the information they need to piece a story together.Onyx Oblivion said:
I know! I learned something from this article just now! (Namely, that films can appear to acknowledge criticism but actually avoid doing so by making stealth ad hominem attacks) You have to warn a guy that this thing might happen!Nimbus said:
Akira too? Really? But America embraced Akira with open arms when it was released there (kinda... sorta... well not really, but it was eventually accepted). Akira is almost completely responsible for the current anime and otaku and pretty much everything Japanese-related in North America (you be the judge as to whether this is a good or bad thing), why the hell does it need a remake? Ugh, I'm really starting to hate being a fan of cinema. Why not just go all the way and start remaking classic movies like The Wizard of Oz or Harvey (oh [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910812/] wait [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1484986/]).Furburt said:
Fantastic; I love reading your articles.
One question: Have you ever seen a John Waters flick? Because back in the 70s, he was pretty much the polar opposite of the "Golden Age" filmmaking that you described, yet he was actually pretty popular in a certain niche.
One question: Have you ever seen a John Waters flick? Because back in the 70s, he was pretty much the polar opposite of the "Golden Age" filmmaking that you described, yet he was actually pretty popular in a certain niche.
Very good article. Except for the idiotic Transformers mention. Yes. You're cool for not liking Transformers. Shut up about it. It came out five months ago.
I'm sorry you had to sit through a very bland movie.
I'm sure it was a very boring movie, however if you'd have read the book, you might not have exactly the same criticism because it sounds they were quite faithful to it. And reading the book, you might understand why the same story is impossible to tell from Oher's side.
But yeah, sounds like they went for the boring 99.99% safety on that one.
I'm sure it was a very boring movie, however if you'd have read the book, you might not have exactly the same criticism because it sounds they were quite faithful to it. And reading the book, you might understand why the same story is impossible to tell from Oher's side.
But yeah, sounds like they went for the boring 99.99% safety on that one.
The only reason i would go to see this movie in the first place is that he plays for my home team now. go Bawlmur ravens, hon!
EDIT: oh, and did i mention John Waters is from Baltimore too? hmm...
EDIT: oh, and did i mention John Waters is from Baltimore too? hmm...
In no particular order:
("Thank you. The Exorcist claims to have been inspired by many different real cases, but not one "real" one. It is mostly made up." For those of us who don't speak Italian... like me, who used a site for that
)
Doesn't happen. Only time it gets close is when the writer has some sort of personal "in" with the director or producer; or when the writer is ALSO the director. "Auteur Theory" was 'invented' in the mid-50s by French film buffs running a news magazine called "Cahiers Du Cinema," and their intent was grounded in the belief that for film to be taken seriously as an art form someone needed to assign a single ultimate author to a film (in the same way that a painting only has one painter, a sculpture has one sculptor, etc.) But it took hold and managed to stick-around because it's essentially true: Most of the time, the vast majority of what "happens" in a film is the on-set decision of a director.
The fact of the matter is, the screenplay is basically the larval state of the movie - even if they don't change a THING in the script, stuff is going to change either while shooting it because "shit happens" or editing it because something doesn't "work" at the end. Perfect example: Steven Spielberg (as producer) optioned Alan Ball's script for American Beauty and famously said "don't change a thing." But once they'd shot the movie, the director (Sam Mendes) later realized that HUGE part of that script - a "framing" story about two characters being framed for murder that took up the original beginning and ending of the movie - just didn't "work." So he cut it all out.
Vi ringraziamo. L'esorcista sostiene di essere stati ispirati da molti e diversi casi reali, ma non una "reale." Esso è prevalentemente composto.Rudeboy4360 said:
("Thank you. The Exorcist claims to have been inspired by many different real cases, but not one "real" one. It is mostly made up." For those of us who don't speak Italian... like me, who used a site for that
)NopeNimbus said:
Doesn't happen. Only time it gets close is when the writer has some sort of personal "in" with the director or producer; or when the writer is ALSO the director. "Auteur Theory" was 'invented' in the mid-50s by French film buffs running a news magazine called "Cahiers Du Cinema," and their intent was grounded in the belief that for film to be taken seriously as an art form someone needed to assign a single ultimate author to a film (in the same way that a painting only has one painter, a sculpture has one sculptor, etc.) But it took hold and managed to stick-around because it's essentially true: Most of the time, the vast majority of what "happens" in a film is the on-set decision of a director.The fact of the matter is, the screenplay is basically the larval state of the movie - even if they don't change a THING in the script, stuff is going to change either while shooting it because "shit happens" or editing it because something doesn't "work" at the end. Perfect example: Steven Spielberg (as producer) optioned Alan Ball's script for American Beauty and famously said "don't change a thing." But once they'd shot the movie, the director (Sam Mendes) later realized that HUGE part of that script - a "framing" story about two characters being framed for murder that took up the original beginning and ending of the movie - just didn't "work." So he cut it all out.
Warner Bros. has owned the rights to make a live-action movie based on the original "Akira" manga for about 20 years now, and has tried to make it three or four times - each time eventually petering-out. There was a period in the late 90s and early 00s when "live action anime remakes" was assumed to be the "next big trend" and producers were buying projects left and right, everything from "Vampire Hunter D" to "Mazinger Z" (James Cameron still owns that one, plus four or five others)... someone was actually pretty far along on "Sailor Moon," if you can believe that. Eventually it petered out, the wave never materialized and the only project to limp to the finish line was "Dragonball" last year.Furburt said:
Love John Waters, and yeah he's pretty far outside any of the paradigms described here. He and the guys at Troma are some of the only people working so seperate from either the indie scene or the studios as to not fit into any of the generational "eras."RebelRising said:
Hey Bob, do you think there's a way to make corny/cheesy dialogue like the bits you mentioned work?
When I watch the dubbed version of an anime, or even watch it with subtitles, I expect the dialogue to be hit or miss sometimes. For example, I just watched the episode of an anime that features a 5 min monologue of a girl pouring her heart out to a guy in his sleep. Yeah, it was corny, but I didn't mind since I liked her character so much and I knew that kind of stuff is part of the territory in anime. I know this is getting out of topic, but I would like to hear your thoughts on how, or if, that dialogue can work. I'm sure that it has something to do with the execution and the context, right?
When I watch the dubbed version of an anime, or even watch it with subtitles, I expect the dialogue to be hit or miss sometimes. For example, I just watched the episode of an anime that features a 5 min monologue of a girl pouring her heart out to a guy in his sleep. Yeah, it was corny, but I didn't mind since I liked her character so much and I knew that kind of stuff is part of the territory in anime. I know this is getting out of topic, but I would like to hear your thoughts on how, or if, that dialogue can work. I'm sure that it has something to do with the execution and the context, right?
I first saw Serial Mom, a few years back and then recently again. Then I saw Pink Flamingos, which was so weird as to defy classification. John Waters must live in a Zen state of shamelessness, but then again, that's why I like the guy.MovieBob said:
And that movie sounds so bad; I'm impressed by how concisely you can sum up a movie's quality.
This reminds me of how U.S. literary and film audiences famously enjoyed their journey to the deepest jungles of Africa to witness the heartwarming story of that most thrilling and obvious of local heroes, a white guy named Tarzan.
Phew, now I don't feel like such a douche for thinking this movie sucks.
I swear you call a cookie cutter feel good movie bad and all of a sudden your Hitler...
The same thing happened with The Dark Knight, I'm not saying it sucked, it was an amazing movie, but I doubt it would have gotten the same amount of attention and praise if Heath Ledger didn't die.
Yes, it sounds awful, but its true.
And that makes me sad.
I swear you call a cookie cutter feel good movie bad and all of a sudden your Hitler...
The same thing happened with The Dark Knight, I'm not saying it sucked, it was an amazing movie, but I doubt it would have gotten the same amount of attention and praise if Heath Ledger didn't die.
Yes, it sounds awful, but its true.
You know what, you're most likely right.stonethered said:
And that makes me sad.
Dude, we're talking about a sports movie, aimed at white, middle class good old folks. They arent exactly the kind of poeple lining up around theb lock to have their views and opinions challenged and be given any kind of insight
Sure: Good delivery - which is NOT necessarily the same thing as good acting.RTR said:
Arnold Schwarzenegger turned "I'll be back," a simple three-word matter-of-fact declaration with no inherent depth or poetry, into a career-defining catchphrase simply because he delivered the line well. Will Smith did the same thing with "Aw, HELL no!" Sean Connery did it by SAYING HIS CHARACTER'S LAST NAME TWICE. Heck, Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes turned "Snootchie Bootchies!" and it's derrivatives into an ACTUAL catchphrase, even though it was concieved as a PARODY of nonsense catchphrases. Most "great" movie dialogue people remember, if delivered incorrectly, sounds horrible - go ask someone to do their "Brando" or "Pulp Fiction" impressions if you need proof of that.
Of course, when it DOESN'T work, nothing is more painful. In the early-90s there was an actor named Richard Greico who was being positioned as a Tom Cruise-style heartthrob leading-man - complete with a "can't miss" star vehicle movie called "If Looks Could Kill;" ("Teen Agent" for those you unlucky enough to remember it in the UK) an action-comedy wherein he played a high-school "cool dude" who's mistaken for a James Bond-type super-spy and ends up fighting Bond-style supervillians. No, really: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTuQvvZRed8
(If you've never seen this, try and track it down - it's AMAZINGLY awful, one of the most uniquely bad things you'll ever see)
Anyway, like any good 90s action-comedy, it has a "big scene" where the hero tosses off a too-clever-by-half joke before doing something "awesome." In this case, Greico's character holler's "I'M GOIN' FOR EXTRA CREDIT!!!!!" before charging in with a machine gun to save his classmates and teacher from the bad guys. Now, that's not really any dopier than any "famous" action-hero catchphrases, (Yipee Ki-Yay?,) but since not even Richard Greico has said "Let's go see that new Richard Greico movie!" since then, you can probably guess how "good" he was at DELIVERING it