Farside
Sophomore
@alienwerewolf
Posts: 890
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Post by Farside on Mar 15, 2020 1:24:43 GMT
In no particular order.
1. The Abyss 2. District 9 3. The Dark Knight 4. Sicario 5. Once Upon A Time In The West 6. Ran 7. Gangs Of New York 8. Blood In Blood Out 9. Black Book 10. Apocalypse Now
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Post by moviemouth on Mar 15, 2020 1:36:44 GMT
I am a fan of all of those, except Black Book. I am not much of a fan of Paul Verhoeven in general and I am even less of a fan when he directs serious subject matter in a serious way. I can't stand most of the performances (including Carice van Houten) and a lot of the stuff that is meant to be dramatic feels awkward, forced and even unintentionally funny.
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Post by mikef6 on Mar 15, 2020 3:03:21 GMT
I am a fan of all of those, except Black Book. I am not much of a fan of Paul Verhoeven in general and I am even less of a fan when he directs serious subject matter in a serious way. I can't stand most of the performances (including Carice van Houten) and a lot of the stuff that is meant to be dramatic feels awkward, forced and even unintentionally funny. I got your back on Black Book. A critic once wrote that a sure sign of comedy desperation was to have a person fall into or be covered in human excrement. I'd say Black Book proves that is true for drama as well.
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Post by moviemouth on Mar 15, 2020 3:12:47 GMT
I am a fan of all of those, except Black Book. I am not much of a fan of Paul Verhoeven in general and I am even less of a fan when he directs serious subject matter in a serious way. I can't stand most of the performances (including Carice van Houten) and a lot of the stuff that is meant to be dramatic feels awkward, forced and even unintentionally funny. I got your back on Black Book. A critic once wrote that a sure sign of comedy desperation was to have a person fall into or be covered in human excrement. I'd say Black Book proves that is true for drama as well. I have issues with the writing, but it has much more to do with the directing for me. There is a simple shoot-out in the movie that I find laughable for example. It felt a lot of the time like he forgot he wasn't directing a satire and scenes that are suppose to be serious, dramatic and suspenseful actually have the opposite effect.
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Post by mslo79 on Mar 15, 2020 5:49:43 GMT
OP's...
1. The Abyss - 2/10 (I liked this on my initial viewing but could not finish it on a re-watch due to boredom)
2. District 9 - 4/10
3. The Dark Knight - 5.5-6/10 (peaked @ a 9/10)
4. Sicario - 6/10 (peaked @ a 7/10)
5. Once Upon A Time In The West - 10/10 (within my Top 6 movies)
6. Ran - NS
7. Gangs Of New York - 5/10 (peaked @ a 7-7.5/10)
8. Blood In Blood Out - NS
9. Black Book - 5/10
10. Apocalypse Now - 4/10 (peaked @ a 8/10)
so basically... only one of those stands out (as in a 7/10 or higher) for me even though at one point in the past five of those movies stood out for me.
NOTE: 5/10 or less = Thumbs Down (won't re-watch (with rare exception)). 6/10 or higher = Thumbs Up(will re-watch).
NOTE: NS = Not Seen.
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Post by James on Mar 15, 2020 11:45:10 GMT
The Abyss is an interesting choice. Love The Dark Knight, and really like District 9 and Apocalypse Now.
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Mar 15, 2020 11:51:58 GMT
I have only seen The Dark Knight and Black Book (assuming its the Dutch movie Zwartboek) and i liked both those movies.
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Mar 15, 2020 18:43:41 GMT
I am a fan of all of those, except Black Book. I am not much of a fan of Paul Verhoeven in general and I am even less of a fan when he directs serious subject matter in a serious way. I can't stand most of the performances (including Carice van Houten) and a lot of the stuff that is meant to be dramatic feels awkward, forced and even unintentionally funny. I got your back on Black Book. A critic once wrote that a sure sign of comedy desperation was to have a person fall into or be covered in human excrement. I'd say Black Book proves that is true for drama as well. Slumdog Millionaire is a twofer. It's supposed to be funny and sad at the same time. And is neither. |
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Post by kevin on Mar 15, 2020 18:58:44 GMT
Nice list, I always like it when people have lists that feel personal and aren't the same as standard top 10 most acclaimed movies lists. My personal favorite in your top 10 is probably Sicario.
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Post by moviemouth on Mar 15, 2020 19:06:11 GMT
I got your back on Black Book. A critic once wrote that a sure sign of comedy desperation was to have a person fall into or be covered in human excrement. I'd say Black Book proves that is true for drama as well. Slumdog Millionaire is a twofer. It's supposed to be funny and sad at the same time. And is neither. I don't know what to tell you. Everything works for me in Slumdog Millionaire and it really feels like no other movie I have ever seen before.
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Mar 15, 2020 19:37:29 GMT
Slumdog Millionaire is a twofer. It's supposed to be funny and sad at the same time. And is neither. I don't know what to tell you. Everything works for me in Slumdog Millionaire and it really feels like no other movie I have ever seen before. Well I'm mainly just talking about the "covered in poopie" scene given the topic. As a whole the movie feels pretty Spielbergy to me but with showier cinematography and editing. I don't hate it, though. I might even like it, albeit with reservations toward its manipulative elements and slightly pretentious directing style. |
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Post by moviemouth on Mar 15, 2020 19:47:30 GMT
I don't know what to tell you. Everything works for me in Slumdog Millionaire and it really feels like no other movie I have ever seen before. Well I'm mainly just talking about the "covered in poopie" scene given the topic. As a whole the movie feels pretty Spielbergy to me but with showier cinematography and editing. I don't hate it, though. I might even like it, albeit with reservations toward its manipulative elements and slightly pretentious directing style. I can definitely understand the criticisms, but I am usually a sucker for that kind of stuff ( depending on how well the movie connects with me obviously). There is a reason Spielberg is one of my 3 favorite directors. I like Hook, yet at the same time War Horse falls completely flat for me. Go figure.
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Mar 15, 2020 20:24:22 GMT
Well I'm mainly just talking about the "covered in poopie" scene given the topic. As a whole the movie feels pretty Spielbergy to me but with showier cinematography and editing. I don't hate it, though. I might even like it, albeit with reservations toward its manipulative elements and slightly pretentious directing style. I can definitely understand the criticisms, but I am usually a sucker for that kind of stuff ( depending on how well the movie connects with me obviously). There is a reason Spielberg is one of my 3 favorite directors. I like Hook, yet at the same time War Horse falls completely flat for me. Go figure. They both do for me, easily my two least favorite films of his. They dip so far into that Spielberg well they feel almost like self-parody. |
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Post by moviemouth on Mar 15, 2020 20:30:08 GMT
I can definitely understand the criticisms, but I am usually a sucker for that kind of stuff ( depending on how well the movie connects with me obviously). There is a reason Spielberg is one of my 3 favorite directors. I like Hook, yet at the same time War Horse falls completely flat for me. Go figure. They both do for me, easily my two least favorite films of his. They dip so far into that Spielberg well they feel almost like self-parody. This difference for me is that Hook can work even if it does border on self-parody (I actually agree that it does border on that), while War Horse is suppose to be a realistic dramatic war movie.
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Mar 15, 2020 20:40:07 GMT
They both do for me, easily my two least favorite films of his. They dip so far into that Spielberg well they feel almost like self-parody. This difference for me is that Hook can work even if it does border on self-parody (I actually agree that it does border on that), while War Horse is suppose to be a realistic dramatic war movie. I can see how mixing the two can be bothersome, although that's also my problem with Slumdog. |
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Post by moviemouth on Mar 15, 2020 20:48:02 GMT
This difference for me is that Hook can work even if it does border on self-parody (I actually agree that it does border on that), while War Horse is suppose to be a realistic dramatic war movie. I can see how mixing the two can be bothersome, although that's also my problem with Slumdog. But the whole idea of Slumdog Millionaire is exaggeration to me. The style of the movie is very in your face and even has the Bollywood dancing scene at the end. I don't take Slumdog Millionaire seriously in the same way and it is kind of in Forrest Gump/Benjamin Button territory though to a much lesser extent. I think all 3 of those movies are very aware of themselves imo, while War horse isn't. I think Speilberg was phoning it in, because the story itself could have been made into a very good movie. The very ending is wonderful and hits all the right notes that the rest of the movie fails to hit.
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Post by darksidebeadle on Mar 15, 2020 21:42:03 GMT
In no particular order.
1. The Abyss 2. District 9 3. The Dark Knight 4. Sicario 5. Once Upon A Time In The West 6. Ran 7. Gangs Of New York 8. Blood In Blood Out 9. Black Book 10. Apocalypse Now 1. The Abyss 6.5 2. District 9 4.5 3. The Dark Knight 6.5 4. Sicario 7 5. Once Upon A Time In The West 9.5 (in my top 10) 6. Ran 7 7. Gangs Of New York 6 8. Blood In Blood Out 6 9. Black Book 7.5 10. Apocalypse Now 10 (in my top 5)
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Mar 15, 2020 22:18:43 GMT
I can see how mixing the two can be bothersome, although that's also my problem with Slumdog. But the whole idea of Slumdog Millionaire is exaggeration to me. The style of the movie is very in your face and even has the Bollywood dancing scene at the end. I don't take Slumdog Millionaire seriously in the same way and it is kind of in Forrest Gump/Benjamin Button territory though to a much lesser extent. I think all 3 of those movies are very aware of themselves imo, while War horse isn't. I think Speilberg was phoning it in, because the story itself could have been made into a very good movie. The very ending is wonderful and hits all the right notes that the rest of the movie fails to hit. Hmm...I don't know about that. I see Slumdog as kind of a commentary on the fakeness of Bollywood movies by showing the other, less glamorous, and supposedly more realistic side of India. Kind of like what Dancer in the Dark is to musicals. And like Dancer, there's way too much depressing shit in Slumdog for me to call it an exaggeration not meant to be taken seriously. This is a movie full of rape and child torture, and Jamal literally says "This is the real India" at one point. |
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Post by moviemouth on Mar 15, 2020 22:26:40 GMT
But the whole idea of Slumdog Millionaire is exaggeration to me. The style of the movie is very in your face and even has the Bollywood dancing scene at the end. I don't take Slumdog Millionaire seriously in the same way and it is kind of in Forrest Gump/Benjamin Button territory though to a much lesser extent. I think all 3 of those movies are very aware of themselves imo, while War horse isn't. I think Speilberg was phoning it in, because the story itself could have been made into a very good movie. The very ending is wonderful and hits all the right notes that the rest of the movie fails to hit. Hmm...I don't know about that. I see Slumdog as kind of a commentary on the fakeness of Bollywood movies by showing the other, less glamorous, and supposedly more real side of India. Kind of like what Dancer in the Dark is to musicals. And like Dancer, there's way too much depressing shit in Slumdog for me to call it an exaggeration not meant to be taken seriously. This is a movie full of rape and child torture, and Jamal literally says "This is the real India" at one point. I didn't mean not to be taken seriously in the way you mean. I mean the story is tackling serious subject matter in an exaggerated and overly stylized way. The story itself is tacky. War Horse is a realistic story done in a very tacky cornball way. That is the difference for me anyway.
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Mar 16, 2020 2:44:57 GMT
Hmm...I don't know about that. I see Slumdog as kind of a commentary on the fakeness of Bollywood movies by showing the other, less glamorous, and supposedly more real side of India. Kind of like what Dancer in the Dark is to musicals. And like Dancer, there's way too much depressing shit in Slumdog for me to call it an exaggeration not meant to be taken seriously. This is a movie full of rape and child torture, and Jamal literally says "This is the real India" at one point. I didn't mean not to be taken seriously in the way you mean. I mean the story is tackling serious subject matter in an exaggerated and overly stylized way. The story itself is tacky. War Horse is a realistic story done in a very tacky cornball way. That is the difference for me anyway. I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean. Sure, the wraparound plot in Slumdog is a bit contrived and obviously fairy tale-inspired, but it would seem to me to be in service of telling a realistic story about what it's like to be poor in India. I actually think that's directly comparable to War Horse, which follows a silly horse adventure but the main point is to use it to show the horrors of war or whatever. |
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