I thought I'd bump up this thread as I've been hearing some pretty positive buzz for Tropic Thunder, a comedy opening this week starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr.
The movie looks to be an OTT sendup of all things Hollywood with Stiller, Black and Downey playing spoiled actors trying to film a war movie. With the production way over budget and literally falling apart, the director decides to go guerrilla and unwittingly drops his actors into the middle of a real conflict.
Certain aspects of the movie have already garnered a bit of controversy, but the clips do look funny in a crude un-PC sort of way. Early reviews have been pretty positive and everyone seems to be praising Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise, who both put in some very bizarre performances.
I've never been much of a Ben Stiller fan but this one has piqued my curiosity.
Agreed Tony, Tropic Thunder looks like being one of the must-see films of the year.
Now this could go either way. It's Guy Ritchie back doing what he does best, or simply does better than existential dramas and remakes of Italian movies that were crap in the first place. Its RocknRolla.
I just read Tarantino will remake the late Russ Meyer's, Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill! (after his "loose remake" of Inglorious Bast@rds that is)
In as much as FP-KK is one of my all-time favorite exploitation flicks, (I proudly own the one sheet), and that Britney freakin' Spears is supposedly cast in one of the major roles, it's official. I can't stand this guy
Now this could go either way. It's Guy Ritchie back doing what he does best, or simply does better than existential dramas and remakes of Italian movies that were crap in the first place. Its RocknRolla.
I think it looks fantastic. {[] I'm a big fan of Ritchie's crime films, and it looks like a return to form.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
Eurocorp specialise in producing stylish thrillers, usually set in and around Paris. So if they make a film starring Liam Neeson as an ex-spy using his skills to hunt down his daughter's abductors, I am there already. And they have. It's called Taken. Trailer below.
Anybody in the mood for a globe-trotting thriller with Clive Owen in the lead? It's called The International and looks quite Bondish.
It looks wonderful. {[] (Why, oh why, couldn't Owen have been cast as Bond instead of Craig? )
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
Just finished reading Choke, so I'm really looking forward to seeing the movie next Friday. I'm particuarly excited to see Sam Rockwell as Victor. A great bit of casting!
Although I have several favourite actors and directors, if I had to pick one for each, I would almost certainly pick Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese. I REVERE De Niro and Scorsese; these two men are about as important to me as one can possibly get (without being a friend or family.) There is truly no way in the world in which I could illustrate just how much I love De Niro, Scorsese and their eight collaborations as actor/director, except to say that if there were to be a Scorsese/De Niro fan club, I would have to be president. :v
Anyway, apparently, De Niro and Scorsese will be teaming up on a ninth film, and it's going to be a gangster film:
Scorsese and De Niro reunite for mob drama:
Oscar winners Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro are to revisit the criminal underworld once more in a mob drama about a notorious contract killer.
The duo, who have teamed up on several hit crime movies before, including Goodfellas, Casino and Mean Streets, are to make a movie adaptation of I Heard You Paint Houses, Charles Brandt's book of the same name, reports said.
The book is based on the life of Frank 'The Irishman' Sheeran, who is reputed to have carried out more than 25 killings for the mob, including the murder of Teamsters' union boss Jimmy Hoffa.
De Niro is set to play Sheeran in the film, Daily Variety reported, while Scorsese is to direct.
The title of the film comes from underworld slang for contract killings and the resulting splatter of blood on walls and floors.
Among the crimes Sheeran is said to have confessed to shortly before his death in 2003 is the killing of Hoffa, who disappeared in 1975 and was presumed murdered.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
I've lost all respect for Scorsese ever since he made the ridiculous argument that our society is too violent. This, coming from the man who has made a fortune off of selling extreme violent films to the public. Since that statement, I vowed never to watch another Scorsese film again. I figured he would appreciate my support for his position.
Now Kathyrn Bigelow has been on a dry patch for about 18 years, but she did once direct The Loveless, Near Dark and Point Break. Her new film The Hurt Locker looks brilliant though. And best of all is seeing Jeremy Renner finally getting a lead role.
The original is a B-movie classic. A loose adaptation of a Philip K Dick short story, with a great performance from Peter Weller. This looks like nonsense, but I still want to see it.
Boxing Helena was a debacle, but it looks like Jennifer Lynch may have inherited some of her father's evil genius after all. This is called Surveillance and it looks creepy as hell.
Boxing Helena was a debacle, but it looks like Jennifer Lynch may have inherited some of her father's evil genius after all. This is called Surveillance and it looks creepy as hell.
It does look good, however hopefully she inherited the talent that her father used to make Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive, not Lost Highway or Inland Empire.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
I am a big fan of the Pixar films. I can honestly say I have enjoyed everyone of them. The storytelling and attention to detail in the animation work makes for great films So I have been looking forward to Up, and I am happy to see that the film is receiving rave reviews. One of the added bonuses to seeing a Pixar film is they always also include a short film that is usually pretty funny. Needless to say, I will be at the theatre this weekend checking out Up.
I am a big fan of the Pixar films. I can honestly say I have enjoyed everyone of them. The storytelling and attention to detail in the animation work makes for great films So I have been looking forward to Up, and I am happy to see that the film is receiving rave reviews. One of the added bonuses to seeing a Pixar film is they always also include a short film that is usually pretty funny. Needless to say, I will be at the theatre this weekend checking out Up.
So Barry, will you be seeing the 3D version? I'm something of a 3D buff and an all CG movie like this should be perfect for that format.
As for me, I've pretty much seen everything I plan on seeing this summer, which is pretty sad considering that it isn't even summer yet. Watchmen was great (even though it came out last March; Wolverine and Terminator: Salvation were both a lot of fun and undeserving of the negative press and critical response they got; and Star Trek was a pleasant surprise and captured the spirit of adventure and character of the original 60s show far better than any of the other Trek movies or spinoffs.
Beyond that, there is nothing else out there that interests me enough to sit in a theater for two hours. Everything that's in the pipeline seems like your typical, generic summer fare that comes and goes and is quickly forgotten. Even Transformers 2 has fallen off my radar; the film looks like one big explosion and the characters were never much to begin with.
Time to start looking ahead to next year...
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,709MI6 Agent
Beyond that, there is nothing else out there that interests me enough to sit in a theater for two hours. Everything that's in the pipeline seems like your typical, generic summer fare that comes and goes and is quickly forgotten. Even Transformers 2 has fallen off my radar; the film looks like one big explosion and the characters were never much to begin with.
Beyond that, there is nothing else out there that interests me enough to sit in a theater for two hours. Everything that's in the pipeline seems like your typical, generic summer fare that comes and goes and is quickly forgotten. Even Transformers 2 has fallen off my radar; the film looks like one big explosion and the characters were never much to begin with.
Mr. Martini, I agree that Public Enemies looks good.
Tony - Having read many of your reviews I know you are an aficionado of high level video, I however have a much less trained eye so seeing it in 3-D is not that important for me. In addition, when I saw Bolt in 3-D, the glasses began to bother me after awhile and gave me a slight headache. So I won't being making any extra effort to see the 3_D version.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
edited May 2009
Looking forward to Public Enemies (is that the one with Depp as Dillinger?)...and I confess to being excited about Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, whenever it's due to come out ;%
Tranformers 2 is kind of a special case for me. I'd seen the first film, and enjoyed it much more than I'd expected...then, about a year ago right now, I was out in Hollywood visiting my brother, and we took a tour of Paramount Studios. We were lucky enough to get into the studio's camera department (!), where Another Loeffelholz got into a discussion on the merits of film versus digital with a cinematographer who was there at the time. One of the things the cinematographer (a guy who worked mainly in TV, can't remember his name) talked about was that---just the day before---the Transformers 2 people had just picked up their cans of film to begin principal photography. As a film geek, I thought that was pretty cool: I was standing in the same room where the film stock to be used for the master had been sitting, just the day before B-)
I confess my ticket for that movie was sold at that moment.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I was really looking forward to Tim Burton's take on Alice in Wonderland. Well, I should have known better. 8-) Recently pictures were released, and lo and behold, Burton is making a twisted version. Just as he did with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he's making a dark film which completely reinterprets the source material.
See for yourself; as far as I'm concerned, The Mad Hatter does not look like that.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
I was really looking forward to Tim Burton's take on Alice in Wonderland. Well, I should have known better. 8-) Recently pictures were released, and lo and behold, Burton is making a twisted version. Just as he did with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he's making a dark film which completely reinterprets the source material.
See for yourself; as far as I'm concerned, The Mad Hatter does not look like that.
Seeing as its a Tim Burton film, I'm not surprised by this at all; that look fits his sensibilities and aesthetic to a tee. He's obviously most comfortable in that zone, but you'd think that someone with his imagination would want to try to expand his creative horizons a bit more.
I'm at the Edinburgh Film Festival where I saw a trailer for Joe Dante's new movie The Hole which looks genuinely scary. It's about a family who discover an opening in the floor of their house which seems to go on forever. Creepy stuff.
Seeing as its a Tim Burton film, I'm not surprised by this at all; that look fits his sensibilities and aesthetic to a tee. He's obviously most comfortable in that zone, but you'd think that someone with his imagination would want to try to expand his creative horizons a bit more.
Yes, you're absolutely right. The thing is, I have alot of respect for Burton's talents, and when his vision meets the right material, it can work wonders (e.g. Ed Wood). However too many of his films end up twisted and mutilated under his bizarre and rigid vision; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a perfect example, as was Batman Returns.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
When I saw the Alice photos I have to admit I rolled my eyes and said, "Another Tim Burton freak show." (That said, I do think the production design looks great--especially the flower garden, which has a Tenniel-like grotesqueness to it.) What troubles me about this film, though, are the following: 1) The Queen of Hearts--or Red Queen--has a moat filled with bobbing heads. So much for the king quietly countermanding the queen's constant cries of "Off with his head!" 2) Apparently, this isn't really an adaptation of the Alice books but a SEQUEL in which 17-year-old Alice goes back to Wonderland to help the characters overthrow the queen. Do we really NEED a sequel to these great stories?
Being an animation student, I am looking forward to '9' as well as 'The Princess and the Frog.' I am also slightly interested in 'Public Enemies.' I really want to see the new 'Alice in Wonderland.' Tim Burton has been doing great lately, and Alice looks like it will be another good one. Also, 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' was not warped to his style. He stayed to the book for the most part. If anything was warped, it was the terrible 1970s adaptation that Roald Dahl hated....
"A dry martini, in a deep champagne goblet. Three measures of Gordons, one of Vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until its ice cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?" - Ian Fleming's 'Casino Royale'
"We're just too different... I mean, you're dead...." - Tim Burton's 'Corpse Bride'
Also, 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' was not warped to his style. He stayed to the book for the most part. If anything was warped, it was the terrible 1970s adaptation that Roald Dahl hated....
It was incredibly warped. Johnny Depp's portayal of Wonka was nothing like the novel. The 70's adaptation, which IMO was fantastic, wasn't overly faithful but was much more faithful than the travesty that was Burton's version.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
Also, 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' was not warped to his style. He stayed to the book for the most part. If anything was warped, it was the terrible 1970s adaptation that Roald Dahl hated....
It was incredibly warped. Johnny Depp's portayal of Wonka was nothing like the novel. The 70's adaptation, which IMO was fantastic, wasn't overly faithful but was much more faithful than the travesty that was Burton's version.
No. The Burton film was a great adaptation of the novel, and Depp actually performs this character as a quirky character, rather than simply a man who was high like the useless Gene Wilder did. If anything was a travesty, it was the godawful, piece of crap, insult to all life in general that was the 1970s film. Even Roald Dahl was justifiably appaled with the movie. The 70s film was an absolute joke of a film that should have never have happened. Burton's film actually seemed like they had did their research, and read the book before making the movie, where the 70s film was warped to their vision of how the factory should be, how Wonka should be, how the tone of the story should be, and overall was made of complete fail....
"A dry martini, in a deep champagne goblet. Three measures of Gordons, one of Vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until its ice cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?" - Ian Fleming's 'Casino Royale'
"We're just too different... I mean, you're dead...." - Tim Burton's 'Corpse Bride'
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
If anything was a travesty, it was the godawful, piece of crap, insult to all life in general...an absolute joke of a film that should have never have happened.
Hmm. You seem slightly ambivalent about it...time to get off the fence )
Personally, I rather like Gene Wilder...he's never done me any harm...?
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Comments
The movie looks to be an OTT sendup of all things Hollywood with Stiller, Black and Downey playing spoiled actors trying to film a war movie. With the production way over budget and literally falling apart, the director decides to go guerrilla and unwittingly drops his actors into the middle of a real conflict.
Certain aspects of the movie have already garnered a bit of controversy, but the clips do look funny in a crude un-PC sort of way. Early reviews have been pretty positive and everyone seems to be praising Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise, who both put in some very bizarre performances.
I've never been much of a Ben Stiller fan but this one has piqued my curiosity.
Now this could go either way. It's Guy Ritchie back doing what he does best, or simply does better than existential dramas and remakes of Italian movies that were crap in the first place. Its RocknRolla.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=V-D3c25_3l8
In as much as FP-KK is one of my all-time favorite exploitation flicks, (I proudly own the one sheet), and that Britney freakin' Spears is supposedly cast in one of the major roles, it's official. I can't stand this guy
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7sGGRS_UaPY
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ns3p1dxqQ8g
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JboQmDIdKWs
Anyway, apparently, De Niro and Scorsese will be teaming up on a ninth film,
Scorsese and De Niro reunite for mob drama:
Oscar winners Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro are to revisit the criminal underworld once more in a mob drama about a notorious contract killer.
The duo, who have teamed up on several hit crime movies before, including Goodfellas, Casino and Mean Streets, are to make a movie adaptation of I Heard You Paint Houses, Charles Brandt's book of the same name, reports said.
The book is based on the life of Frank 'The Irishman' Sheeran, who is reputed to have carried out more than 25 killings for the mob, including the murder of Teamsters' union boss Jimmy Hoffa.
De Niro is set to play Sheeran in the film, Daily Variety reported, while Scorsese is to direct.
The title of the film comes from underworld slang for contract killings and the resulting splatter of blood on walls and floors.
Among the crimes Sheeran is said to have confessed to shortly before his death in 2003 is the killing of Hoffa, who disappeared in 1975 and was presumed murdered.
Firstly from the sublime-
Now Kathyrn Bigelow has been on a dry patch for about 18 years, but she did once direct The Loveless, Near Dark and Point Break. Her new film The Hurt Locker looks brilliant though. And best of all is seeing Jeremy Renner finally getting a lead role.
The Hurt Locker
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gDHGF4tDdKc
Now to the ridiculous
Screamers 2
The original is a B-movie classic. A loose adaptation of a Philip K Dick short story, with a great performance from Peter Weller. This looks like nonsense, but I still want to see it.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YDgwuv3qZ9E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT2dy7WogTI
Film adaptation of David Peace's entertaining novel about Cloughie's 44 days at Leeds United.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYzsswqPk6s
Could go either way.
So Barry, will you be seeing the 3D version? I'm something of a 3D buff and an all CG movie like this should be perfect for that format.
As for me, I've pretty much seen everything I plan on seeing this summer, which is pretty sad considering that it isn't even summer yet. Watchmen was great (even though it came out last March; Wolverine and Terminator: Salvation were both a lot of fun and undeserving of the negative press and critical response they got; and Star Trek was a pleasant surprise and captured the spirit of adventure and character of the original 60s show far better than any of the other Trek movies or spinoffs.
Beyond that, there is nothing else out there that interests me enough to sit in a theater for two hours. Everything that's in the pipeline seems like your typical, generic summer fare that comes and goes and is quickly forgotten. Even Transformers 2 has fallen off my radar; the film looks like one big explosion and the characters were never much to begin with.
Time to start looking ahead to next year...
Not even Public Enemies?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BawY4gjAdM
Mr. Martini, I agree that Public Enemies looks good.
Tony - Having read many of your reviews I know you are an aficionado of high level video, I however have a much less trained eye so seeing it in 3-D is not that important for me. In addition, when I saw Bolt in 3-D, the glasses began to bother me after awhile and gave me a slight headache. So I won't being making any extra effort to see the 3_D version.
Tranformers 2 is kind of a special case for me. I'd seen the first film, and enjoyed it much more than I'd expected...then, about a year ago right now, I was out in Hollywood visiting my brother, and we took a tour of Paramount Studios. We were lucky enough to get into the studio's camera department (!), where Another Loeffelholz got into a discussion on the merits of film versus digital with a cinematographer who was there at the time. One of the things the cinematographer (a guy who worked mainly in TV, can't remember his name) talked about was that---just the day before---the Transformers 2 people had just picked up their cans of film to begin principal photography. As a film geek, I thought that was pretty cool: I was standing in the same room where the film stock to be used for the master had been sitting, just the day before B-)
I confess my ticket for that movie was sold at that moment.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
See for yourself; as far as I'm concerned, The Mad Hatter does not look like that.
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm323782656/tt1014759
Seeing as its a Tim Burton film, I'm not surprised by this at all; that look fits his sensibilities and aesthetic to a tee. He's obviously most comfortable in that zone, but you'd think that someone with his imagination would want to try to expand his creative horizons a bit more.
"We're just too different... I mean, you're dead...." - Tim Burton's 'Corpse Bride'
No. The Burton film was a great adaptation of the novel, and Depp actually performs this character as a quirky character, rather than simply a man who was high like the useless Gene Wilder did. If anything was a travesty, it was the godawful, piece of crap, insult to all life in general that was the 1970s film. Even Roald Dahl was justifiably appaled with the movie. The 70s film was an absolute joke of a film that should have never have happened. Burton's film actually seemed like they had did their research, and read the book before making the movie, where the 70s film was warped to their vision of how the factory should be, how Wonka should be, how the tone of the story should be, and overall was made of complete fail....
"We're just too different... I mean, you're dead...." - Tim Burton's 'Corpse Bride'
Hmm. You seem slightly ambivalent about it...time to get off the fence
Personally, I rather like Gene Wilder...he's never done me any harm...?
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM