mothra on 22/9/2008 at 09:33
M&C and ThereWillBeBlood are examples of the finest filmmaking ever. you will not be disappointed.
Thirith on 22/9/2008 at 09:52
I know that there are people who found Master and Commander boring, which I don't understand. There Will Be Blood is definitely not to everyone's taste - at times the film feels as abstract as Kubrick's 2001, especially at the beginning. It's not a film that wants to be liked.
N'Al on 22/9/2008 at 10:05
I liked M&C right up until they boarded the enemy vessel, heh.
And I agree on TWBB; not to everyone's taste, but with some truly outstanding performances.
Thirith on 22/9/2008 at 10:11
Quote Posted by N'Al
I liked M&C right up until they
boarded the enemy vessel, heh.
I liked all of it, but it's one of those films that is highly effective at playing the waiting game and ratcheting up the tension, and then when things happen it doesn't quite live up to the tension that's been built up. (
Gladiator is another case of this, as far as I'm concerned.) Then again, we can't all be Sergio Leone and build up the tension for 15 minutes just to have the shoot-out be over in five seconds. :)
Scots Taffer on 22/9/2008 at 23:21
Quote Posted by mothra
M&C and ThereWillBeBlood are examples of the finest filmmaking ever. you will not be disappointed.
I've seen them both before, I know I won't. :)
Quote Posted by Thirith
I know that there are people who found
Master and Commander boring, which I don't understand.
There Will Be Blood is definitely not to everyone's taste - at times the film feels as abstract as Kubrick's
2001, especially at the beginning. It's not a film that wants to be liked.
TWBB is an interesting case of I'm not sure how I'll feel about it second time around. I was riveted from start to finish in the cinema. There's a raw power about the performances and the cinematography and the soundtrack that really sucks you into what is essentially a character drama about a complete bastard. Yet somehow, when
he kills his pretend half-brother, we feel little pity for that man but in fact sadness for Plainview that the world continues to shape itself to his ugly outlook, as if by predestination. Can't wait to watch it again.
Master & Commander I loved not only for it being in a genre that is extremely overlooked: the nautical adventure (Pirates 1 and M&C are two excellent examples of the kind of sea-faring tales I wish were told more often and I was sickened that the books M&C was based on weren't picked up) but also that it was so brilliantly realized, effectively shot and solidly acted. It was a pretty great movie and my favourite of that year. I hope it holds up.
I've never been able to watch all of 2001, but I haven't tried since I was 15.
gunsmoke on 23/9/2008 at 00:38
Hmmm, I loved TWBB, and fell asleep twice watching M&C. :bored:
Angel Dust on 23/9/2008 at 00:39
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
TWBB is an interesting case of I'm not sure how I'll feel about it second time around. I was riveted from start to finish in the cinema. There's a raw power about the performances and the cinematography and the soundtrack that really sucks you into what is essentially a character drama about a complete bastard. Yet somehow, when
he kills his pretend half-brother, we feel little pity for that man but in fact sadness for Plainview that the world continues to shape itself to his ugly outlook, as if by predestination. Can't wait to watch it again.
I found the film much better the second time around. On my first viewing I enjoyed the acting, cinematography etc but somehow it didn't completely click with me. The second time however it clicked big time. If it was because I was in a more receptive mood or perhaps it rewards with repeated viewings I can't really say but I do now think it will be the real classic of 2007 and not NCFOM which upon second viewing lost a lot of it's power for me. Still a fantastic chase/neo-noir film but it doesn't really resonate with me like 'Fargo' does.
I find it quite interesting that the arty abstract, (2001, TWBB, 8 1/2) films are much more about feeling than thinking. People quite often sit there trying to piece everything together and end up getting really frustrated since these films are not made in that way. The weird thing is that when I sit down to watch a Fellini film for example I almost switch off my brain and just 'go with the flow' as it were.
And I've really got to get around to seeing M&C. Peter Wier is one of the most under-appreciated directors working today and 'Witness' is one of my all time favourite films.
T-Smith on 23/9/2008 at 01:38
I was honestly disappointed with TWBB. After hearing all the critical praise I was expecting something much different. At the end I felt that the movie was little more than a vehicle for the performance of the actors, only there to make them continue acting and nothing more. The plot itself was fairly disjointed and featured little in the way of interesting developments. I'm not criticizing the acting at all - that was by far the best part of the film. But I felt the overall movie could have been much more.
As for the comparison to 2001, I can see it. That said however, 2001 is one of my favorite films of all time, whereas I wouldn't put TWBB anywhere close. Maybe I just have a preference for sci-fi.
Thirith on 23/9/2008 at 07:18
Angel Dust: Interesting point, although I'm not sure it holds for me. I didn't have that much of an emotional reaction to TWBB, mainly because I felt fairly detached from the characters. Then again, I don't think it's a cerebral film. What it was, for me, is abstract: I reacted to TWBB pretty much the way I react to early(ish) modern painting, to Francis Bacon or the famous portrait of Wyndham Lewis. The film has a very different eye with which it looks at the characters and landscape. In this respect I found it intriguing and compelling but at the same time it left me rather distant.
Concerning second viewings of M&C: the first time I saw it I was mainly wowed by everything that was going on. It took me a second viewing to realise how painterly the naval scenes are - the colours and contrasts very much feel like a 18th/early 19th century painting. I was more able to see that on a TV screen than at the cinema.
N'Al on 23/9/2008 at 08:20
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
Pirates 1 and M&C are two excellent examples of the kind of sea-faring tales I wish were told more often and I was sickened that the books M&C was based on weren't picked up.
Considering I gave up on reading the novel version of M&C after about 20 pages since it's such utter tripe, I wonder why it got picked up in the first place, tbh.
