The BFG FILM Discussion

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

That doesn't make sense.

 

I personally don't know if the extremely dark sensitivity of Dahl and the humanism of Spielberg is a good match. But we'll see.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,533]

Does anyone know when BFG is released in the UK?

[Jay 37,366]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3691740/releaseinfo

[Naïve Old Fart 9,533]

Thank you, kind sir.

[Jay 37,366]

I JUST realized that there are showing this film tonight near me.

 

About 1 hour from the time of this post, I'll be seeing the film!

 

@king mark I'll try to note unreleased music

[Will 2,215]

14 minutes ago, Jay said:

I JUST realized that there are showing this film tonight near me.

 

About 1 hour from the time of this post, I'll be seeing the film!

 

@king mark I'll try to note unreleased music

 

Good. I thought I might be the first here to see it, and would therefore be obligated to write a lengthy post about unreleased music. Now I'm off the hook. 

[Jay 37,366]

Well as I sit here waiting for the film to start, I've only heard the OST 1 1/2 times, so I dunno how much help I'll be right away

 

But of course a full analysis will come in time.

[Will 2,215]

10 minutes ago, Jay said:

Well as I sit here waiting for the film to start, I've only heard the OST 1 1/2 times, so I dunno how much help I'll be right away

 

But of course a full analysis will come in time.

 

It better! 

[King Mark 3,631]

it's probably enough to notice big omissions

 

Also try to notice how loud the score is mixed in the film. Is is E.T. loud or like the SW prequels where you canbarely hear it

[Jay 37,366]

It was mixed loud at all times. Spielberg loves Johnny's music.

[Incanus 5,715]

So is the film worth seeing or should I just jump straight to the score album?

[Jay 37,366]

You should absolutely see every John Williams-scored film in the movie theater.  Each one could be the last.

[King Mark 3,631]

yes

[filmmusic 1,829]

4 hours ago, Jay said:

You should absolutely see every John Williams-scored film in the movie theater.  Each one could be the last.

I won't be seeing this in the theater.

Unfortunately I cannot stand the weightless CGI heavy movies..

 

Do you think Jay that BFG is better than Hook which has been bashed so much by people, even by Spielberg himself?

[Thor 7,506]

Sad to think I had the opportunity to be one of the FIRST people in the world to see this film; now -- with the Norwegian premiere in August -- I will be one of the LAST.

[Jay 37,366]

3 hours ago, filmmusic said:

I won't be seeing this in the theater.

Unfortunately I cannot stand the weightless CGI heavy movies..

 

Do you think Jay that BFG is better than Hook which has been bashed so much by people, even by Spielberg himself?

 

I love Hook!

 

The BFG is not a very good movie.  It's really a basic children's book plot, which I am sure works fine for a short children's book, but they didn't really make an attempt to adapt it to the feature length film medium.  The characters are really underdeveloped and the plot is paper thin.  We don't even get to know anything about our supposed main character before she's whisked away to giant land 5 minutes into the film, and then its mostly just a series of adventures one after another after that, with the climax of the whole film being like 30 seconds long.

 

It's boring and kinda dumb.  It IS a children's film, so I don't fault it for not catering to adults well the way that the best Pixar films do.  It is what it is, a kid's film through and through.

 

If Williams didn't score this there's no way I would have gone to see it in the theater

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

So it's bad because its a childrens film?

 

Whats the running time?

[Muad'Dib 1,802]

What about the so talked about fart scene?

[Jay 37,366]

1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

So it's bad because its a childrens film?

 

Whats the running time?

 

Nah its bad (I don't even know if I'd say bad, more like completely average / not great or noteworthy) because its boring more than a few times, and doesn't develop its characters at all and puts those underdeveloped characters in a really paper thing plot.

 

It's worth seeing on the big screen because its Spielberg and Williams.  But its not an important movie in their discography at all

9 minutes ago, Muad'Dib said:

What about the so talked about fart scene?

 

There's 2 fart scenes and they are kinda dumb, totally there only to make little kids laugh.  The second one is not handled subtley at all, with a super long buildup and its too repetitive

[Muad'Dib 1,802]

Yeah but are they scored?

[Jay 37,366]

The first one possibly, I don't remember.

 

The second one is during a lengthy section of the film only "scored" with classic music and bagpipe music.  So the bagpipe music would have been playing during the second one I am pretty sure

[Bespin 8,483]

Fart scenes? Ok, I pass.

[Quintus 5,399]

If I'm looking for a way of killing time with the kids I might take them to see this I suppose. It can be somewhat encouraging whenever I read negative reactions on JWFan. 

[Wojo 2,453]

I wonder if 17 years ago, we cared if Jar Jar's fart scene was scored. It's taken John that long to return to comedic gold of that standard. 

[Jay 37,366]

12 minutes ago, Lonnegan said:

If I'm looking for a way of killing time with the kids I might take them to see this I suppose. It can be somewhat encouraging whenever I read negative reactions on JWFan. 

 

Young children might like the film a lot - all the humor is definitely directed at them.

 

The problem is the pacing of the film, it really drags in spots and they might get bored and antsy.  The film is 117 but should have been 87.

[Bespin 8,483]

Do people fart in cinema when they see a fart scene? 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

WTF! It doesnt come out here till the 20th?

[Jay 37,366]

One interesting thing was seeing some actors I had no idea were in it.

I mean the movie is pretyt much entirely the Sophie and BFG show.  Mark Rylance is pretty good as The BFG but its not an instantly classic character like his Bridge of Spies character.  The girl who played Sophie was good.

 

The lead bad giant (Fleshlumpeater) was played by Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords (I recognized his voice right away).  But when they go meet the Queen, the Queen of England was played by freaking Isobel Crawley from Downton Abbey!  And then her... assistant?  Daughter?  was played by freaking Rebecca Hall!  Always nice to see her, though her role in thankless.  I saw in the end credits Bill Hader played one of the giants, but I didn't recognize him.

[Quintus 5,399]

It's nearly 2hrs long?? *shakes head*

 

Pixar or Disney understand the attention spans of children. I'm surprised Spielberg seems to have forgotten. 

[Jay 37,366]

The end credits are ~8 minutes, so at the 109 minute mark or so the film proper is done.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

That's not too bad. 

[JoeinAR 1,949]

On Wednesday, June 29, 2016 at 1:39 AM, Stefancos said:

I don't understand your point?

As far as I'm aware the BFG is a popular children's book still.

It's not.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Not in Arkansas perhaps 

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

5 hours ago, Jay said:

The first one possibly, I don't remember.

 

The second one is during a lengthy section of the film only "scored" with classic music and bagpipe music.  So the bagpipe music would have been playing during the second one I am pretty sure

[nightscape94 965]

I could be wrong, but my impression has been that Dahl's books were not all that popular in America.  At least they weren't in the 80s when I was a kid.  Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as a movie was popular, but that's about it.  Then there was a bit of an explosion of movie adaptations in the 90s (Witches, James/Giant Peach, Matilda) that put his name out there more.  I had never heard of him by name until much later in life.

[King Mark 3,631]

So everyone who saw the movie at JWfan hates it despite having a JW score.

 

But there's a lot of positive reviews

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

People seem offended by the fact that Spielberg made a children's movie, even though The BFG is a children's book.

 

I wouldn't most people on JWfan to properly review it in its context.

[Wojo 2,453]

Let's ask Will, our resident child. 

[mrbellamy 6,287]

I admired this film, actually. Aside from a few poorly conceived and executed sequences (mostly involving the nasty giant crew), it's effectively quiet and sensitive, it doesn't condescend, and it comes from a largely forgotten school of fantasy filmmaking where imagery matters. Mark Rylance also really blew me away in this and I didn't realize just how much I was empathizing with this character until he nearly made me cry toward the end, which rarely happens with me. It's not great but I often felt like it had the right idea. 

 

I agree with Jay that the main problem is that it has zero forward momentum or dramatic tension. This is totally painful when you're dealing with the baddies in any capacity -- especially the annoying "Frolic" sequence that culminates in a slow-motion nutshot, a hundred times more embarrassing from Spielberg than the fart gags -- but I found the non-pacing more of a pleasure when the movie was simply indulging itself in Roald Dahl's (or Melissa Mathison's Dahl-esque) language and dreamy visions. In a word, yes, the film is slow but it reminded me of a leisurely reading pace, which seemed like that's what Spielberg was going after as opposed to the constant thrust of a big cinematic adventure. 

 

Anyway, it made me smile a lot.

[karelm 2,913]

Ok, so I am not the target audience for this film.  Some things worked and some did not.  My review...

Spoiler

1. Ruby Barnhill who played the lead, Sophie, was absolutely adorable but I thought very miscast.  She seemed way too old for the character and performance.  At 12 years old, I thought the character of Sophie was nearly half that age at 6 or 7 and she played it that way.  The reason why this bugged me is that Spielberg is able to get a performance out of a child better than anyone else.  He went through great lengths to get Cary Guffey (Gary in Close Encounters) and Henry Thomas plus Drew Barrymore in E.T. to not just give great performances but amazingly realistic ones too.  I grant that Ruby Barnhill had a major disadvantage in being mostly in green screen settings but Spielberg always managed to get incredible performances out of the youths.  So it makes me wonder why he hired someone at twelve to act so young.  The end result is you felt the presence of the director too much on the performance rather than it being a fun and natural one.  Again, I don't blame Barnhill, this was the fault of the director.

2. Too long: as others have already said and I'll just echo, this film is maybe 30 minutes too long.  It is just a paper thin story that had no business being so long.

3. I'll forgive the juvenile fart humor. 

4. Excellent motion capture but there were still a few places of misplaced eyes.  It was much improved over the days of Zemeckis's Beowulf though it seems to have been the same motion capture studio so they've really come a long way.

5. Even a kids movie needs some emotional depth: Another example of the screenplay not working is the lack of character investment.  Probably the most poignant moment for me was when BFG told Sophie what her dream was.  That was beautifully performed/captured and I felt a little bit of the longing that Sophie had.  It was a great example of when to let acting rather than dialog explain feelings but if there was a bit more backstory that would have helped really bring this scene home. It didn't need too much so it's heavy handed but just some feeling of her longing was never even shown.

6. Score: Some interesting choices of when not to score (Queen meets Sophie/BFG remains hidden).  Overall, this probably won't be high on my list of favorites because it ventures too much into sweetness rather than adventure, emotion, or drama which I prefer.  It is very fine writing which I greatly admire, but just not the kind of music I think I will return to often.

 

Conclusion: Meh

Every new Spielberg and Williams collaboration is worth seeing in theater but not all of them are home runs.  This one is quite weak in general from a story and editing point of view.  I'm still glad I saw it but I probably fall in the camp that was hoping for more of an E.T. homage or something that didn't talk down to kids so much.  Pixar and Disney have really written great adventure stories for kids that are actually quite complicated stories (Zootopia was a fantastic and deeply layered story).  Yes, yes I get that The BFG is first and foremost a kids story but then it should have been 30 minutes shorter and much, much tauter. 

 

[mrbellamy 6,287]

 

I really liked his little monologue at the end about her dream, but the bit that got me with Rylance was when he's meeting the Queen and you catch him nearly breaking down for half a second after she simply says it's very nice to meet him, or something like that. I just suddenly started welling up, I thought that was incredibly sweet. Such a vulnerable character and performance.

[karelm 2,913]

Just now, mrbellamy said:

 

  Hide contents

I really liked his little monologue at the end about her dream, but the bit that got me with Rylance was when he's meeting the Queen and he nearly breaks down for half a second after she simply says it's very nice to meet him, or something like that. I just suddenly started welling up, I thought that was incredibly sweet. Such a vulnerable character and performance.

 

 

I remember that scene as a nice touch too. He's clearly a very talented actor. 

Spoiler

For some reason, I sort of kind of wanted the queen to be played by Julie Andrews since the tone of the film was so vanilla and she perfectly encapsulates that.

 

[Bespin 8,483]

I admire you... you certainly went to a theatre and attended the movie.. with thousands of childrens in the room around you... So courageous.

 

I hate cinemas.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Maybe I was just in the right mood but I found this movie utterly charming and sweet (in a good way) when I saw it this afternoon. The lackadaisical pace didn't bother me at all. I found it to be relaxing and touching and just a good time at the movies.  I loved the "child logic" used for all the exposition. Mark Rylance and Penelope Wilton were brilliant! 

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

5 hours ago, mrbellamy said:

I agree with Jay that the main problem is that it has zero forward momentum or dramatic tension.

 

This has been a problem with Spielberg films for a long time now. They're too long and filled with pointless filler scenes. You can do long if you're keeping the audience's attention. He doesn't. I couldn't wait for many of his post-1993 films to just end. Even (what was supposed to be) a popcorn action flick like KOTCS just drags on and on. Like, what the hell? I stop caring about everything that happens and fall asleep. Those perfect 2 hour films like Jaws, Close Encounters, E.T., Raiders, Temple of Doom. They never got boring.

 

But my opinion doesn't matter anyway since I'm a loon.

[karelm 2,913]

18 hours ago, Nick Tatopoulos's Beret said:

 

This has been a problem with Spielberg films for a long time now. They're too long and filled with pointless filler scenes. You can do long if you're keeping the audience's attention. He doesn't. I couldn't wait for many of his post-1993 films to just end. Even (what was supposed to be) a popcorn action flick like KOTCS just drags on and on. Like, what the hell? I stop caring about everything that happens and fall asleep. Those perfect 2 hour films like Jaws, Close Encounters, E.T., Raiders, Temple of Doom. They never got boring.

 

But my opinion doesn't matter anyway since I'm a loon.

 

Close Encounters is a very flawed edit.  The proof is how many versions there are and the lack of anyone really knowing what the film means.  Spielberg has always struggled in the area of structure but had the very top teams to rely on but as time goes by, one by one they leave us and his weaknesses become more apparent.  A mediocre film with a fantastic composer, talented cast, and excellent cinematographer will come across as poetry.  He is a visionary and like other visionaries, they need the top teams to execute their ideas.  They don't tend to be wonderful at executing those visions but can inspire others to excel.  For the record, I regard CEOTTK as a flawed masterpiece.  The excellent director was probably one of the weakest parts.

 

Part of what I love about The BFG score is how unique it is in JW's oeuvre.  It feels chamber and quiet lacking drama but full of imagination and things I've not heard from JW before given his octogenarian age, that is worthy of attention.  Similar to how I think of the great Finnish composer, Sibelius with his very late masterpiece, Tapiola, about a wood nymph but it offers nothing of the austerity of that composer's earlier style.  It is the reflective work of an aged wizard in full command of their skills but moving beyond their origin.  That is worth attention.  Though I don't know this for certain, I must assume JW approaches each of his new scores as if it might be his last.

[Quintus 5,399]

I consider Close Encounters of the Third Kind to be a deftly ambitious (for its time) sci-fi thriller with some remarkably 'real' domestic scenes which are still curious to me now, and are something which Spielberg really specialised in in his early career; and in my view never seems to be recognised much for that aspect of his skill and insight. There's an earthy and drab honesty about the family squabbling in CE3K, which in any other movie and probably under any other director would feel at odds with the broader fantastical subject matter, but Spielberg binds the themes together and even finds ways to intertwine them in a beautifully naturalistic way which becomes the central narrative for the film. That is precisely his forte, though. That is where his expertise always did lie. Nobody else has ever touched him, in that regard. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yes.

 

Spielberg would again excell at family scenes a few years later in ET. 

[Romão 2,274]

So, looks like the BFG will be Spielberg's biggest financial flop in years, considering this movie cost 140 million to make. It's opening weekend won't reach 20 million

[Wojo 2,453]

Maybe it'll make more money overseas in the former colonies that better remember the Dahl book. I never heard of it growing up.