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Post by harrypalmer on Jan 1, 2024 18:14:42 GMT
Bland?
That’s a hellova take.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2024 18:15:19 GMT
Worst review in this thread.
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Post by dfunked on Jan 1, 2024 18:20:48 GMT
Geefe starting off the new year on top form.
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geefe
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Post by geefe on Jan 1, 2024 18:22:59 GMT
Compared to his other work, yes. Is it a "bland" film? No. But is it bland compared to his work before or since, especially considering his previous 2 films were Cape Fear and Goodfellas? Absolutely.
It's not "bad" but it's just....there? Sometimes even very good and interesting filmmakers make stuff that feels like they're by the numbers. This is the same guy who did Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and King of Comedy in the space of about 6 years.
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Lukus
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Post by Lukus on Jan 1, 2024 18:27:23 GMT
Is bland better or worse than cheesy?
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geefe
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Post by geefe on Jan 1, 2024 19:08:47 GMT
I'm also trying Saltburn. I didn't expect all the characters to be absolutely insufferable. 50 mins in and considering giving up. It's just coming across as this class fish out of water thing but a bit weird. I was expecting more.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2024 19:10:01 GMT
Can we do a forum resolution to ignore geefe and his takes.
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Post by harrypalmer on Jan 1, 2024 19:15:49 GMT
Casino is one of the least bland films I could think of to be honest. It’s astonishingly dense and borderline experimental at times. I get that it shares some surface level similarities with Goodfellas but it’s way weirder and I’m not sure which I prefer these days.
Saltburn is fairly bad I’ll grant you that.
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Post by 😎 on Jan 1, 2024 19:17:19 GMT
Casino is incredible and in many ways is better than Goodfellas.
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Post by harrypalmer on Jan 1, 2024 19:20:58 GMT
It’s definitely more interesting and I preferred it when I rewatched them both recently.
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Post by 😎 on Jan 1, 2024 19:25:25 GMT
Goodfellas is a collection of memorable scenes with fantastic acting and cinematography wrapped around a fairly standard story. Casino has far more story nuance and depth, the characters far more rounded and complex. It may not have as many notable soundbites or specific standout/quotable scenes as Goodfellas, but to call it bland is more telling of the reviewer than the film.
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geefe
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Post by geefe on Jan 1, 2024 19:30:19 GMT
Casino is incredible and in many ways is better than Goodfellas. How would you say so? I found it spun its wheels too much. James Woods got maybe 3 scenes and that entire storyline either needed to be explored fully or jettisoned. There were so many angles that could have been explored - the impact on the daughter, the hold Woods' character had on Stone, etc. There was also the random V/O from a side character that appeared for one scene speaking to the mob boss, that spelled out why he wouldn't reveal the affair. It would have worked much better as a series. I am more than happy for people to disagree. It's why we have this forum. I'll have to dig out Goodfellas and see how it compares. Been 15+ years since I saw that as well but I have a much greater sense of it from memory, which would suggest it had a better impact. I also gave up on Saltburn.
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geefe
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Post by geefe on Jan 1, 2024 19:35:10 GMT
Ah - already done. While I can see the point you're making, I felt that Heat did the decaying marriage via crime story thing better. Natalie Portman's attempted suicide was much more in line with what I wanted to see. Obvs you're not going to get that from a 10 year old.
If the film had been a straight 2 hour gangster film, film but it tried to add in these bits without really digging into it. I agree that the characters were reasonably rounded, compared to a gangster film, I felt that Scorcese didn't explore the ideas properly. Stone's character got pretty short shrift, in my view. The wedding scene was ok but I just didn't get the sense that Woods had his hooks in her and that could have been much better fleshed out. I wanted to know the motivation of WHY she did this, of HOW Woods was able to worm his way in. That's a story on its own.
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Post by rawshark on Jan 1, 2024 20:36:40 GMT
Sega Saltburn
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Post by rawshark on Jan 1, 2024 20:38:45 GMT
For all the praise and derision Saltburn gets it’s important we don’t forget one thing.
Promising Young Woman was shit.
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Lizard
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Post by Lizard on Jan 1, 2024 21:24:27 GMT
No it wasn't.
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Post by retro74 on Jan 1, 2024 21:26:00 GMT
It was ok, not complete shit but definitely a skidmark of a movie
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Post by rawshark on Jan 1, 2024 21:32:11 GMT
I respect your opinion.
For me, it was a feature length, Oscar winning adaptation of that South Park episode where the chief of police looks to crack down on the sex trade by posing as a sex worker…
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Youthist
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Post by Youthist on Jan 1, 2024 21:48:50 GMT
Just watched that there One Flew Over the Cuckoos nest again.
Hadn’t seen it In years. The entire cast were unreal, but Jack Nicholson was completely out of this world throughout the entire thing.
Absolute masterpiece.
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jono62
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Post by jono62 on Jan 1, 2024 22:23:46 GMT
Just watched that there One Flew Over the Cuckoos nest again. Hadn’t seen it In years. The entire cast were unreal, but Jack Nicholson was completely out of this world throughout the entire thing. Absolute masterpiece. Nah, you got this wrong. Completely unbelievable. I switched off after 30 minutes.
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Youthist
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Post by Youthist on Jan 1, 2024 22:24:50 GMT
I think only one of us got this wrong!
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cubby
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Post by cubby on Jan 1, 2024 22:37:42 GMT
One Flew over the Blandoo's Nest amirite?
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Lizard
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Post by Lizard on Jan 1, 2024 22:40:41 GMT
There isn't even a cuckoo in it. At least Casino has a casino.
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Post by rawshark on Jan 1, 2024 22:44:10 GMT
There isn't even a cuckoo in it. At least Casino has a casino. The title refers to a giant Native American man leaping over a tree after escaping an asylum. I assume.
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Lizard
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Post by Lizard on Jan 1, 2024 22:51:49 GMT
I wouldn't know, never seen it.
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Post by rawshark on Jan 2, 2024 0:11:57 GMT
Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows
For someone who thinks the story behind the Montreal Screwjob is one of the greatest stranger-than-fiction tales ever told in sport (or entertainment), it’s been remiss of me to never have watched the documentary made when it happened.
When it all boils down to it, it’s the story of how Bret Hart hit 40, the late 90s happens, and as someone who put great pride into family values and the very black and white world of being a hero to millions, he was forced into the era of the antihero and raunch that he just couldn’t get on with.
Bret’s a great study for a documentary. He wants nothing more than to work hard and do the best by everyone, but also takes himself so seriously he is unbending to what the current audience was after. You feel for him, but feel it’s the third act for a guy, still the best in the business, but is on his way out.
The doc’s one fault is they don’t get the other side of the story from Shawn. It paints him as an asshole and an unlikable prick, which he was, but he was also the only other guy who could hold a candle to Bret at that time. Years later there’d be a sit down interview between the two, and I think splicing the two together would make the definitive story.
Also interesting to watch now as half the people featured died young and you have people like Tammy Sytch (a stone cold fox back then) playing with Bret’s kids while she is now doing a serious term in jail. As Bret says in the film, it’s an industry that eats people up and spits them out.
IT’S STILL REAL TO ME DAMMIT / 10
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Bongo Heracles
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Post by Bongo Heracles on Jan 2, 2024 8:23:07 GMT
It may not have as many notable soundbites or specific standout/quotable scenes as Goodfellas, but to call it bland is more telling of the reviewer than the film. I vaguely remember this pretty much being its problem at the time and why some reviewers were more lukewarm in it. Imagine trying to top Goodfellas, so it’s more of a historical document. And I also gave up on Saltburn. I feel like Barry Keoghan is a psyop. I think I’m the only person in the world who thinks he can’t act and it’s driving me insane to the point I can’t actually tolerate his presence on screen anymore.
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Post by harrypalmer on Jan 2, 2024 9:00:21 GMT
Saltburn (Prime) - 2.5/5I was really looking forward to this, and the first third is great, basically before the actual plot kicks in. It then proceeds to be ridiculous and plodding at the same time, and the final third is a trial. I actually preferred Promising Young Woman, which I didnt think was particularly great either. But both films have a similar problem: a simple message diluted by poor storytelling. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to get from the film, but it's entertaining in patches. I would have preferred there to have been no ridiculous plot, and just followed a normal middle class kid at Oxford. I also didn't think Barry Keoghan was particularly great. Not a patch on The Talented Mr Ripley
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mrpon
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Post by mrpon on Jan 2, 2024 9:08:43 GMT
It was shown in 4:3 wasn't it? Unless I'm going mad.
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Post by harrypalmer on Jan 2, 2024 9:10:19 GMT
Goodfellas is a collection of memorable scenes with fantastic acting and cinematography wrapped around a fairly standard story. Casino has far more story nuance and depth, the characters far more rounded and complex. It may not have as many notable soundbites or specific standout/quotable scenes as Goodfellas, but to call it bland is more telling of the reviewer than the film. I agree. Casino feels more mature and holds up better. I was actually a bit disappointed when I rewatched Goodfellas, it felt like generic gangster scene after generic gangster scene, with not much actual story or character development. Of course it's been copied so many times that it's a victim of it's own popularity, and it contains some of the most iconic imagery of the last 30 years, it's definitely a classic! In contrast I loved Casino and found it much more interesting and engaging than I remembered.
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