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Man Of Steel (2013 Superman reboot directed by Zack Snyder)


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You love John Woo, who is the personification of flashy slo-mo photography but you hate Snyder?

Btw the king of flashy slo-mo is Peter Jackson, never heard you complain about that. His LotR trilogy is so long because half of it is in slow motion.

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You love John Woo, who is the personification of flashy slo-mo photography but you hate Snyder?

Btw the king of flashy slo-mo is Peter Jackson, never heard you complain about that. His LotR trilogy is so long because half of it is in slow motion.

Good point, well made.

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You love John Woo, who is the personification of flashy slo-mo photography but you hate Snyder?

Btw the king of flashy slo-mo is Peter Jackson, never heard you complain about that. His LotR trilogy is so long because half of it is in slow motion.

Good point, well made.

Thanks good to see you agree here ;)

There is not that much Slo-mo in LOTR. atleast not the same kind as most others.

Well, i just watched it, there is a lot, including much with dialogue turned down and all.

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It works in some place, in others it doesn't. I'm not a fan of the slow-mo when

Eowyn watches the Nazgul attack Theoden.

I also dislike it when Aragorn is being attacked by the troll outside of the Black Gate, although that's more to do with the badness of the entire sub-scene. I do love the slow-mo when

Gandalf dies.

Oh well. Still a fantastic trilogy.

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I don't think Snyder will use much of his patented slow-mo shots for this movie. He's said Man of Steel will be his most realistic movie, in a way. His Dawn of the Dead movie didn't use slow-mo (but it's been a while since I've watched it), and is his more realistic film right now.

Amir Mokri is known for his stylized photography for his Michael Bay films (Bad Boys 2, Transformers 3), but for movies like The Joy Luck Club and Taking Lives he keeps a more natural, clean palette.

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There's absolutely shitloads of slow-mo in LotR. The difference is it's mosty subliminal, and very effective.

Effective? Effective at making the whole mess seem even cheesier than it already was!

Maybe because its not as "hip" as Fairy Potter.

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Do you think it will be hyper-stylized or normal, Matt? I leaning towards the latter for the fans of Supes don't take too well to hyper-stylized.

I didn't mind Bryan Singer's stylized look in Superman Returns, it had some stunningly good shots at times. I don't mind hyper-stylized heroes for the sake of it, but if the story doesn't need it -- why bother? Sometimes, just letting the actors and script do their thing is more than enough. Save the stunning visuals for when it enhances the story (like the flying shots and action scenes), but don't make it a crutch. (300 and Sucker Punch were guilty of the style-over-substance syndrome.)

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Do you think it will be hyper-stylized or normal, Matt? I leaning towards the latter for the fans of Supes don't take too well to hyper-stylized.

I'm not even sure he'll fly. After all, super heroes need to be realistic, nowadays. And they need to have a tortured soul.

He will definitely possess the superpower, but will also suffer from severe acrophobia.

Back to the main topic. I'm willing to give this new film a chance. Tired of all this Donnerverse obsession. I want a different thing now. If that means so-called "overstylized" Zack Snyder, then so be it. Actually I'm really curious what it's going to be like.

Karol

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There's absolutely shitloads of slow-mo in LotR. The difference is it's mosty subliminal, and very effective.

Effective? Effective at making the whole mess seem even cheesier than it already was!

Yes Datadyne, the LotR trilogy is famously a mess.

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Save the stunning visuals for when it enhances the story (like the flying shots and action scenes), but don't make it a crutch. (300 and Sucker Punch were guilty of the style-over-substance syndrome.)

I remember I was upset when critics said the same about Alien and Blade Runner.

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They said the same about 2001, didn't they? "The most expensive amateur film ever made" said one review.

Critics, unfortunately, are sheep as everybody else. They follow trends as everybody else.

It's so embarassing sometimes that I was thinking at one point of creating a website on which I would review reviews.

Karol

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It's easy to pick out a handful of diamonds in the rough though, rather cheaply (for purposes of supporting one's argument)

Matt C is by and large correct, as are the critics. Rule of thumb is style over substance is nearly always trash. Ho hum.

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Well, I think the examples given are exceptions in that they feature both style and substance. That's what makes them special, and amazingly difficult to pull off. Beautiful imagery and food for thought. Flicks like 300 don't qualify.

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I agree that 300 is lacking that quality. Not a fan of this film. But I still appreciate its visual flair.

What Snyder needs is a good screenwriter. Then he could go somewhere. Because he's got potential.

Karol

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They said the same about 2001, didn't they? "The most expensive amateur film ever made" said one review.

Really? I know that some call it "the most expensive arthouse movie ever made".

I don't think Alien has more substance than 300. It's no secret that with Blade Runner and Alien, 'look' was Ridley Scott's main concern. When I last watch Alien on Blu-ray, which was one of my best movie experiences of the last 5 years, looking for 'substance' was the last thing on my mind. What I do know is that I was flabbergasted by the style and how this conveyed the film (everything that you see) onto the viewer (me).

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Things like the class system aboard the Nostromo and the sexual undertones of the film and the alien itself (which go hand in hand with the aesthetic), as well as Ripley's emergence give the substance.

Not sure 300 has any substance, but then again, it is by Frank Miller.

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Things like the class system aboard the Nostromo and the sexual undertones of the film and the alien itself (which go hand in hand with the aesthetic), as well as Ripley's emergence give the substance.

Not sure 300 has any substance, but then again, it is by Frank Miller.

The standard list. If that's substance, then 300 is overloaded by it. A lot of films, if not all, have themes and/or substance. I wonder how important it really is in the end.

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A great film with considerable more substance than style, but it does have both. I was pleasantly surprised by it.

Alex, 300 has the depth of the shallow end of an infants only swimming pool.

I enjoyed it for what it was.

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A great film with considerable more substance than style ...

That's the first time I've heard someone say that and I've read a lot of comments and opinions on Watchmen.

Most of the substance of Watchmen lies in the social commentary which is literally a part of the story.

300 is more a classic tale of good vs. evil and shares most of its themes with LOTR and Braveheart, I suppose. Its forte (the motor of the film) is, of course, the unusual intense imagery. It does what I believe moving pictures should do. It relies less on dialog and things like 'outcome of the story' than Watchmen. It's more about pure visual experience.

Alex

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A great film with considerable more substance than style ...

That's the first time I've heard someone say that and I've read a lot of comments and opinions on Watchmen.

There's a first time for everything...

Although in truth I just think you have a short memory since I know you read my review of the film a while back. It concentrated almost entirely on the characters and many themes of the story; a natural reaction on my part since Snyder's "style" alone didn't really leave that much of a lasting impression on me, I remember.

Honestly, I don't think the style, the visual aesthetic of Watchmen is anything near what you make out to be. It's nicely shot I'll grant you that, but I don't find anything particularly outstanding about Snyder's direction at all. The editing and all round structure are what impressed me most about the technical aspect of Watchmen. The story had the potential to be bloated and unwieldy, and yet the film is tight.

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There's a first time for everything...

A little odd, isn't it, being the only person in the world who holds this opinion?

Although in truth I just think you have a short memory since I know you read my review of the film a while back.

Okay, okay, then it's the second time I've heard someone say Watchmen is way more substance than style. I've heard it twice ... from the same person! ;)

It concentrated almost entirely on the characters and many themes of the story; a natural reaction on my part since Snyder's "style" alone didn't really leave that much of a lasting impression on me, I remember.

Funny, it's what I remember and what impressed me the most, but then again, it's how I watch movies, it's the most important thing for me. It's what I expect from cinema and what I almost never get. Not that I didn't like the other aspects, mind you. Heck, I loved it all! But it's the 'presentation' that did it for me. I think I said it before, my experience with Watchmen brought me back to the year 1982, the year I saw Blade Runner. I will admit, the whole film can't maintain the same crazy level as some of the best visual scenes, but hey, there have to be climaxes in everything!

Dawn Of The Dead is the only Snyder film I've seen in full.

His least style driven film. A good one though. Typical for Snyder is that it's a (zombie) movie about (zombie) movies. Fantastic opening scene ... probably the only truly creepy moment in the film.

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There's a first time for everything...

A little odd, isn't it, being the only person in the world who holds this opinion?

You think I'm literally the only person on the planet who thinks that? LOL!

Another day, another sweeping Cremers generalisation/all encompassing assumption. "There's a first time for everything" was one proverb. "Some things never change" is another ;)

Y'know, I've never really thought about it before, but you're quite the grandiose minister of frivolous conjecture, here.

I think it's what I find most morerish about your posts: they're always at the very least, entertaining.

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What Snyder needs is a good screenwriter. Then he could go somewhere. Because he's got potential.

I think Man of Steel definitely has potential -- writing wise. David Goyer's work has been wildly erratic whenever he tackles scripts by himself, but Man of Steel had a lot of input from several different writers. Goyer did several drafts of MOS, then went off to write other projects. Jonathan Nolan and Kurt Johnstad reportedly were the writers who "saved the third act" early in pre-production. Then several other writers, like Kieran & Michele Mulroney, did on-set rewrites. (We'll have to wait for the movie to come out, because the WGA is finicky about who gets credited for the completed film and who doesn't.)

But Snyder really impressed me with Watchmen. The story and social commentary got a huge boost from the vivid, highly stylized approach. I don't watch it often (I have to be in the right mood to enjoy it), but it's a definite high point in Snyder's resume.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm currently watching the fourth season of The Tudors and I must say Cavill is a damn fantastic choice for Supes. Underneath his looks, there's a kind of sensitive, troubled, worrying layer which he can pull off without saying a word.

Alex

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  • 3 weeks later...

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