The Best Musical or Comedy Drama Action Film thread (THIS IS THE GENERAL MOVIE STUFF THREAD)

[Raithe]

For some random film trivia and comments:

David Fincher on "Fight Club" (1999): "We opened at the Venice film festival, and I think to say they hated it would be an understatement. Let's put it this way: the youngest person in the screening was Giorgio Armani. They called for our hides and we split town. We thought it was funny. Actually, Helena Bonham Carter's mother was three seats down from me and she was just laughing and laughing - she was the only one. She's cool. I'm always surprised at how seriously people take movies. It always surprises me what people get their bowels in an uproar about. It's a movie. It was interesting to me, the critics who felt they had a moral obligation to 'the broader audience' to warn them. But it didn't surprise me that some people didn't think it was funny. It didn't surprise me that some people thought it was morbid. It surprised me, the people who went out of their way to save other people from this experience. I thought that was kind of silly. It's a cult movie - it's just that it's a big cult. Here's a tricky thing: if you spend $15m, it's not even a pimple on the @ss of that kind of multinational media conglomerate. But if you spend $67m, they gotta release your movie. That's a big number, they can't write it down. I happen to know that the movie's in the black, but there's receipts and there's worth. They are two different things. Because there are movies that make money and there are movies that are worth money, and sometimes the movies that are worth money make money later on. I honestly believe 'Fight Club' is a title 20th Century Fox knows is going to make money for them in perpetuity."

Author Chuck Palahniuk first came up with the idea for the novel after being beaten up on a camping trip when he complained to some nearby campers about the noise of their radio. When he returned to work, he was fascinated to find that nobody would mention or acknowledge his injuries, instead saying such commonplace things as "How was your weekend?" Palahniuk concluded that the reason people reacted this way was because if they asked him what had happened, a degree of personal interaction would be necessary, and his workmates simply didn't care enough to connect with him on a personal level. It was his fascination with this societal 'blocking' which became the foundation for the novel.

After Fincher was finished editing the film, the studio executives were baffled by the piece, and unsure how to market it. Fincher had wanted a highly unique marketing campaign which would mirror the film's theme of anti-commercialism, but already worried about the possible backlash against the film, the Fox executives refused to go ahead with Fincher's idea (two of Fincher's trailers can be found on the DVD in the 'Internet Spots' section). Instead, a campaign was launched which was built largely upon the presence of Brad Pitt in the film, as well as concentrating on the fighting (which plays a minor role in the actual film itself). The campaign was highly criticized as giving the impression that the film was basically just about men beating each other up, completely ignoring the comic and satiric elements of the narrative, and for marketing the film to the wrong audience. David Fincher was particularly incensed when he saw ads for the film during WWE and UFC programming.

[Raithe]

Today I learned that while Legend was being filmed, a View to a Kill was also shooting at Pinewood. So Grace Jones would hang out with Tim Curry while he was getting his makeup done.

[Raithe]

And there I thought it was scratch built...

[Raithe]

 

Just watched BIll and Ted Face the Music.

It is that seriously joyfully feelgood movie.   Plus, it is kind of entertaining to go from Keanu's intense John Wick to slackjawed bodaciousness.

[Raithe]

The ones that left their mark on generations...

[Volourn]

Nah.

[Gromnir]

is a handful o' actors we admire for more than their talents on stage or screen.. not all o' em are dead,

the three (edit: four) who first leapt to mind and is hardly a comprehensive list. prodigious talents who endeavoured to make the world a better place for those less fortunate than themselves.

am not trying to create some kinda epeen competition btw. is a whole lotta fine actors who died too young or suffered too much. nevertheless am most impressed by actors who used their celebrity for something... more.

HA! Good Fun!

ps immediate felt terrible for not including ms. hepburn

 

Edited September 3, 2020 by Gromnir

[Hurlshort]

When a young artist passes away, it is always going to be a bit of a emotional blow to those who enjoyed that artist. One, it is a very visual reminder of our own mortality, and two, there is a sense that we've all missed out on their greatest work. 

I'm not sure why anyone feels the need to belittle that. It often becomes a sense of inspiration. They are frozen in time as well.

[Gromnir]

2 minutes ago, Hurlshot said:

When a young artist passes away, it is always going to be a bit of a emotional blow to those who enjoyed that artist. One, it is a very visual reminder of our own mortality, and two, there is a sense that we've all missed out on their greatest work. 

I'm not sure why anyone feels the need to belittle that. It often becomes a sense of inspiration. They are frozen in time as well.

am not belittling the emotion. am a bit baffled by the double standard for celebrity... life and death. 

too soon for hurl? brandon lee died 1993. hundreds o' people die in firearm accidents every year. w/o internet to help, name five other than lee. 

am curious as to why so much attention is given to actors and entertainers. a fine young plumber or mathematician dies and her friends and family most likely proclaim what a wonderful human being she were as 'posed to focusing on her ability to solder pipes or add. am thinking is understandable but unfortunate entertainers and athletes get such a different measure. 

the entertainer or athlete does indeed become a source o' inspiration. become inspiration because they were an entertainer or athlete. curious. 

notable exception, and only a bit tongue-in-cheek for over invested hurl.

'course brian piccolo ain't remembered 'cause he were an athlete.

HA! Good Fun!

[Hurlshort]

9 hours ago, Gromnir said:

am not belittling the emotion. am a bit baffled by the double standard for celebrity... life and death. 

too soon for hurl? brandon lee died 1993. hundreds o' people die in firearm accidents every year. w/o internet to help, name five other than lee. 

am curious as to why so much attention is given to actors and entertainers. a fine young plumber or mathematician dies and her friends and family most likely proclaim what a wonderful human being she were as 'posed to focusing on her ability to solder pipes or add. am thinking is understandable but unfortunate entertainers and athletes get such a different measure. 

the entertainer or athlete does indeed become a source o' inspiration. become inspiration because they were an entertainer or athlete. curious. 

 

Entertainment is a double edged sword. You get the exposure to reach the masses, but you are also exposed to the masses. Personally I'm not all that invested in what actors are doing. I tend to wrote the lot of them off as narcissistic. Of course, there will be exceptions to that rule. Brandon Lee is an interesting character. I'd say it is pretty clear his father's early death adds to the dramatic factor. It all played out on a very public stage. It played out like a tragedy. 

Athletes and musicians do something very difficult on the biggest stages. Some of them even sacrifice their health to do so. It inspires, but I also wouldn't want to change places with most of these people.

[Skazz]

Random question: just how recognizable is Bruce Campbell? I've always thought that stuff like Evil Dead was a part of a certain generation's nerd DNA - and I say that as a guy who probably hasn't seen and read as much as he should.

Was it? Is it? Am I just getting old and making assumptions? On a related note: is that what people who reference, say, Abbott and Costello feel like?

Edited September 6, 2020 by Skazz

[Orogun01]

13 minutes ago, Skazz said:

Random question: just how recognizable is Bruce Campbell? I've always thought that stuff like Evil Dead was a part of a certain generation's nerd DNA - and I say that as a guy who probably hasn't seen and read as much as he should.

Was it? Is it? Am I just getting old and making assumptions? On a related note: is that what people who reference, say, Abbot and Costello feel like?

For the die hard Horror fan, very recognizable.

[Hurlshort]

My kids can pick him out in any role, but that just might be because I raised them on Army of Darkness. Bruce Campbell is just a very memorable guy. I also have his autobiography, If Chins Could Kill, sitting in a place of prominence on our main bookshelf.

[LadyCrimson]

10 hours ago, Skazz said:

Random question: just how recognizable is Bruce Campbell?

In my circles, very.  But I'm a horror/sci-fi/internet geek so I'm not sure if that means much. 

Evil Dead 2 is one of the (several) films my old friend made me watch, bringing over her VHS copy of it. I laughed like a loon. Then we saw Evil Dead1. Then Maniac Cop and Mindwarp even Moontrap. Pretty much everything else from the 80's/90's we could see/rent (she also became a huge Raimi fan).  I watched some episodes of Burn Notice because Bruce was in it.

Like Hurlshot, I also have the Chins book and I even watched "My Name Is Bruce."  

Edited September 6, 2020 by LadyCrimson

[Amentep]

How is Moontrap? Thats one I haven't seen.

Also haven't seen Thou Shall Not Kill...Except.

[LadyCrimson]

On 9/6/2020 at 2:49 PM, Amentep said:

How is Moontrap? Thats one I haven't seen.

Um...all I remember is extremely cheap sets/effects, especially some of the ship/space ones - although I suppose for super low budget late 80's the practical effects were occasionally ok - and kind of slow moving/predictable.  Might've seemed a little scary to 8 year olds back in the day but even for a B movie with low expectations it's pretty bad. Bruce played it more straight with a lot less camp then usual, although of course he's always simply kind of amusing in his b-cheese way.  And Koenig/Chekov was never leading man material...

[uuuhhii]

mulan have some good scene but mostly the same awful editing and pointless slow motion common in most recent action movie

[Amentep]

 

[Malcador]

Odd choice of song near the end there.  Doesn't look terrible, at least the shield effects aren't Jell-O. Good thing he didn't say Jihad  

Edited September 9, 2020 by Malcador

[LadyCrimson]

^  The 5 seconds of combat training scene they showed looked really cheesy with all that blur. Rest looks passable to fairly decent, visuals-wise. Although, maybe it's my age, but the actor playing Paul isn't working for me.  It's nice they picked someone who doesn't look 30 (when Paul is supposed to be a teenager), but he has too much of a posh runway fashion-model look to him, or something.

Also, stilsuits always look cooler/better in my mind then they do on-screen...

[Keyrock]

I've been waiting for decades for someone to make a Dune movie that's even half as good as the book(s). I'm not holding my breath, but I'd welcome a pleasant surprise. Apropos, the trailer:

On the positive side:

• Dave Bautista
• Javier Bardem
• Jason Momoa

On the negative side:

• Liberal use of the Inception BWOOOOOOM. How have we not gotten that out of our system yet?

[Hurlshort]

Dune looked great. Stop complaining you negative nellies.

[Gromnir]

is a trailer, which means we take almost nothing from it. however, am gonna admit the internal monologuing bothers us. didn't work in the previous dune. didn't work well in blade runner neither, which is why the director's cut is superior in that film.

show, don't tell.  a competent director with capable actors/actresses should be able to communicate to us both emotion and detail w/o resorting to the whispered internal monologue.

perhaps such cringe and crutch material is limited in the movie and the trailer misrepresents. hope so.

HA! Good Fun!

[Maedhros]

It's pretty common for trailers to misrepresent, so there might not even be any internal dialogue in the film.

I don't think the trailer was good at all, very generic. I think (and hope) the director had very little to do with it, and that the tone of the film will be quite different.

2 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

Although, maybe it's my age, but the actor playing Paul isn't working for me.  It's nice they picked someone who doesn't look 30 (when Paul is supposed to be a teenager), but he has too much of a posh runway fashion-model look to him, or something.

Disregarding how he looks, he seems to be a phenomenal young actor. I've only seen him in The King, and Call Me by Your Name, but he nailed both of those very different roles.

Edited September 9, 2020 by Maedhros

[Malcador]

1 hour ago, Hurlshot said:

Dune looked great. Stop complaining you negative nellies.

No, everything is trash.