tpigeon
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Posts posted by tpigeon
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The Dark Knight.
Ted
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I'll stay out of the personal attacks, but I'd like to comment on this "50's sci-fi" discussion. I never really understood how or why someone would classify a whole category, genre, or group of films as a waste. I can understand if one doesn't like a certain kind of film, but to just dismiss a whole group of movies because they are infantile or brainless greatly reduces the potential of the medium to star ratings and useless distinctions of "good" movies from "bad" ones. One beauty of this art form is that it has no discernible identity based on narrative or aesthetic content. For some, it seems, art should be restricted to the cerebral, the high-brow, etc. Critical dialogues often develop into matters of high culture and low culture, but this is the big pitfall of criticism simply because it projects certain assumptions regarding what movies or art ought to be like. But in my view, movies or cinema defy easy categorization or definition. Even movies we might consider "bad" by the standards of "good" storytelling or visual style can be relevant, interesting, and worthwhile in a number of ways. But who is setting these standards anyway?
Ted
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Marc Forster doesn't seem to know how to create a sense of space. His compositions are lifeless, and the action is impossible to manage. The car chase at the beginning of the film could have been breathless, but I found it jarring. As the movie goes on, I found myself more and more worn by the action. By the time they were being attacked in the plane, I all but wanted to stop watching.
It was like watching The Dark Knight all over again.
Ted
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If it were a more interesting action film, I wouldn't complain. But stop trying to impress me with over-the-top, "gritty," and incomprehensible action sequences. It's getting ridiculous.
Ted
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Quantum of Solace. It held my interesting, but it wasn't a Bond film. I have to agree with Roger Ebert on this one; when will filmmakers realize that Bond isn't really about the action?
Ted
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Dammit! I still have two years left on a protection plan got when I bought my television there a few years ago!
Ted
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In my view, The Slave Children's Crusade is the best action cue in the entire series. I don't know that Johnny's been more badass than in the opening seconds.
Ted
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Nice discussion so far, guys. Quint has pointed out some of the film's really nice moments. Although the film lacked a cohesive spirit of Indiana Jones, it did recapture it in small portions. The warehouse scene is one of those moments, as is the beginning of the motorcycle chase. I was most surprised with the lackluster performances and script. I think Koepp was so focused on getting the structure right (which is actually surprisingly difficult with these pictures) that he lost sight of dialogue, character, and also a basic sense of tension.
Ted
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I loved the notion of a drag race beginning the film. The prairie dogs idea was terrible, however. It felt like a parody. That one moment along sums up the movie in so many ways -- self-conscious, strained nostalgia. Having said that, I'm unafraid to say that I still enjoy the movie in spite of my issues with it. There really were some inspired bits in it; it just lacks that cohesive energy that characterized the first two films. In my view, it was on par with "Last Crusade," and nowhere near "Raiders" and "Temple."
Ted
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Has anyone been able to confirm what's included in the "Short Round Helps" cue? Is that a combination of the music from the end of the Indy's fight with the big fella and the beginning of the mine car sequence, i.e. whem Short Round and Willie get into the mine car and Indy swings down?
Most other cues are pretty clear in terms of content, but I've been concerned about this bit of music for a while.
Ted
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Pixar films feel so dead to me.
Sure you must not have seen Ratatouille. That movie is anything but dead!
Ted
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There have been a few that I've liked. But I think my impulse is to go with The Terminal. Love that signature.
Ted
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I take it we're talking abouty complete film scores here, not albums. Tops on my list, of course, are A.I. and Azkaban, as they are t just among Williams finest of the century, but of his career. Vying for the third spot are War of the Worlds, Minority Report, and The Terminal.
Ted
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Yes, it touches many of us close to home. I know what you mean.
Ted
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The Savages. I loved this movie. Seymour-Hoffman and Linney were terrific, and director Tamara Jenkins finds sublimity in some of the most simple, organic compositions. It's by no means a message movie, or a typical dysfunctional family drama, but instead a film that subverts both of those subgenres. I fully recommend it.
On tap: Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream, George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead, and Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth.
Ted
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I don't see why Sam's wedding was pointless at all. Right at the beginning of the first film, we see how timid he is about approaching that girl.
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David Fincher is a horrible director, and Alien 3 is a horrible film, just ask James Cameron, 4 is an improvement. Se7en had to have been an accident as nothing else he's director outside of Madonna's videos are worth watching.
Watched Young Frankenstein, still funny, still well shot still a minor classic.
I can't for the life of me think why anyone would like Face Off, its terrible on every level, even taken strictly as a camp film, course I can't decide who has less talent or is a worse director, Fincher or Woo.
Zodiac is a very good movie; one of the finest in recent years.
Ted
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I liked the film a lot. There is definitely a different feel to it --perhaps due to the shortened shot lengths-- but I found it to be in the Indy tradition nonetheless. Surprisingly, it was the action that disappointed me most. I was very disappointed with the jungle chase. As many have said, there is just too much happening, and not enough interesting things happening. Still though, there were inspired moments abound in that nine minutes. They just weren't cohesively strung together. I'm looking forward to seeing it again to get a better sense of what's actually happening. One of my favorite shots of the movie was when the boat fell out of the tree, taking a few Russians with it. A nice, little moment.
The movie has its fair share of questionable elements, but the more I've thought back on the film, I realize that it was an airy, fun two hours made in the Indy tradition. The script wasn't excellent, and the filmmakers treat it more like a reunion than a fresh new story. If there was any depression that sunk in, it was that I realized Steven Spielberg has moved on from these kinds of movies. He's still enthusiastic about it, but he couldn't cover up the fact that this just isn't his bag anymore. That said, it's more of a fun riff than a true Indiana Jones experience.
Ted
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I didn't vote. Why is there no "maybe" option?
Ted
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Sunshine is not a 2001 wannabe!
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how is A clockwork Orange science fiction ... ?
A Clockwork Orange belongs to the sci-fi category that depicts a futuristic dystopian society.
Alex - who thinks Sunshine and The Fountain were both big disappointments
I love Sunshine. Not so much the latter.
Ted
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Last Crusade is... fun. Temple of Doom is really fun. Best ending goes to Crusade, though.
Ted
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Is anyone else becoming increasingly annoyed with Mutt's theme?
Ted
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James Newton Howard is great.
Ted
Does "The Adventures of Mutt" work?
in General Discussion
Posted
I've been thinking about this for a while. The jungle chase in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is such a frustrating sequence. I want to love it, and although it has a number of good elements it ultimately is too disjointed and needlessly infantile. One of these infantile moments is (of course) when Mutt is taking crotch shots from plants. But hold your thoughts on that for one moment; even if the crotch shot and Tarzan sequences were excised / improved, the whole chase still wouldn't feel right. And I can't help but think that John Williams had a lot to do with it by adding his "Adventures of Mutt" theme. The music is too flighty and non-threatening, and it feels totally out of place in the scene. I know the scenario is ridiculous, but shouldn't we be feeling some kind of tension or suspense when a hero and villain are dueling on moving cars? Williams rarely outright misses the mark in terms how the music interacts with the action, but here he may have been way off.
Thoughts?
Ted