2011 Films Thread

[FlaSoxxJim]

Nobody but Ebert and me gives Scorsese any credit or love for After Hours. I think it was one of the best dark comedies of the 80s.

Edited June 24, 2011 by FlaSoxxJim

[FlaSoxxJim]

I don't mean this as an insult, but you're a bit older than me. I'm not a big fan of comics or Bond and they certainly weren't part of my youth, so perhaps that was a built-in positive for you? My main problem with The Incredibles was that I didn't find it funny. I didn't hate it, but I didn't particularly care for it.

 

Oh, and I forgot to mention but I finally watched Sweet Smell of Success a couple of weeks ago. I'm not certain that I've seen Tony Curtis in anything before, but I really enjoyed his character. I couldn't stand Lancaster's obviously, but he always put in a good performance (Judgment at Nuremberg and Birdman of Alcatraz being two of my favorites). Overall it was a pretty good movie, definitely worth a viewing.

 

It was just sitting on my table for a month with Yankee Doodle Dandy waiting to be watched. I just haven't been feeling like watching movies. This is probably the longest drought of not watching movies I can remember since I started to consider myself a movie buff. But truth be told, I still watch some things on TV.

 

No insult taken, of course. And I'm quite sure that growing up seeking out and totally loving the Silver Age comics that inform so much of The Incredibles does have a lot to do with how much I enjoy that film. I only took in the Connery-era Bond stuff second hand but certainly did grow up on the Moore installments, so I dig all of the John Barry-esqe Bond musical motifs that accompany all of the island scenes in Incredibles. Literally dozens of visual and story references to the old comics and films aren't going to be picked up on by everybody but the attention to detail that Brad Bird displays in balancing all of the homage and still coming up with something very original and compelling is impressive.

 

I think your assessment of Sweet Smell of Success is on target.

[Buehrle>Wood]

Scorsese's best has still yet to be mentioned.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Scorsese's best has still yet to be mentioned.

 

Last Waltz? Probably not what you had in mind, but it still sets the bar for concert films.

[Steve9347]

Got THE COMPANY MAN from Netflix. Hope it's as good as critics say.

I'm watching that OnDemand tonight. I do believe it's "The Company MEN" though.

[Milkman delivers]

I'm watching that OnDemand tonight. I do believe it's "The Company MEN" though.

 

Why did that not get wide release in theaters? I remember seeing the trailer for it a couple of times and thought that it looked good. The cast was ridiculous.

[bigruss]

Why did that not get wide release in theaters? I remember seeing the trailer for it a couple of times and thought that it looked good. The cast was ridiculous.

I saw it on the plane back from Europe, it was a pretty good movie, but nothing too special.

[BigSqwert]

Speaking of Scorsese

[Kyyle23]

[Brian]

That's a pretty sweet trailer.

[Balta1701]

Nice

[caulfield12]

I like the Company Men a lot.

 

In some ways, telling the story in that way, versus, for example, THE INSIDE JOB, was more interesting.

 

 

Going to see an Indonesian horror movie called "The Empty Chair" today.

 

Has anyone else seen The Tree of Life? Most of the critics loved it, my best friend hated it (and he's a huge Malick fan) and my personal opinion is somewhere in the middle.

 

Looks like Green Lantern has already lost its legs at the box office, no surprise. What was more suprising is that it only made $16 million outside of the US. With a $300 million budget, it will be lucky to get to $175- 200 million worldwide. So much for that tentpole. Thor and X-Men also have had disappointing results, although many love X-Men. It will be interesting with Captain America, another "period comic" but with the added twist of fighting the Nazis. The Nazis were more of a small subplot in X-Men.

 

I'm sure there will be some comparisons made between C.A. and Inglorious Basterds/Saving Private Ryan and the already-forgotten Sucker Punch.

 

Bad Teacher, despite being blasted by most critics, is looking to end around $32 million and is breathing life into the new "female-dominated" comedy genre that started with Bridesmaids (although some would count Knocked Up as the first).

Edited June 26, 2011 by caulfield12

[Steve9347]

Super 8 was really good.

[Kyyle23]

I like the Company Men a lot.

 

In some ways, telling the story in that way, versus, for example, THE INSIDE JOB, was more interesting.

 

 

Going to see an Indonesian horror movie called "The Empty Chair" today.

 

Has anyone else seen The Tree of Life? Most of the critics loved it, my best friend hated it (and he's a huge Malick fan) and my personal opinion is somewhere in the middle.

 

Looks like Green Lantern has already lost its legs at the box office, no surprise. What was more suprising is that it only made $16 million outside of the US. With a $300 million budget, it will be lucky to get to $175- 200 million worldwide. So much for that tentpole. Thor and X-Men also have had disappointing results, although many love X-Men. It will be interesting with Captain America, another "period comic" but with the added twist of fighting the Nazis. The Nazis were more of a small subplot in X-Men.

 

I'm sure there will be some comparisons made between C.A. and Inglorious Basterds/Saving Private Ryan and the already-forgotten Sucker Punch.

 

Bad Teacher, despite being blasted by most critics, is looking to end around $32 million and is breathing life into the new "female-dominated" comedy genre that started with Bridesmaids (although some would count Knocked Up as the first).

 

 

The highlighted part is just wrong. The character of Captain America was created in the 40's during WWII and throughout the early years he fought Nazis. It is Captain Americas history, the story looks like it is being told true to form. And It is laughable to think Captain America will be compared to Sucker Punch. Heck, I doubt Inglorious Basterds and Saving Private Ryan are going to be compared to it either.

 

This is from the original writer Joe Simon:

 

Al Liederman would ink that first issue, which was lettered by Simon and Kirby's regular letterer, Howard Ferguson.[7]

 

Simon said Captain America was a consciously political creation; he and Kirby were morally repulsed by the actions of Nazi Germany in the years leading up to the United States' involvement in World War II and felt war was inevitable: "The opponents to the war were all quite well organized. We wanted to have our say too."

 

Captain America Comics #1 — cover-dated March 1941 and on sale in December 1940, a year before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but a full year into World War II — showed the protagonist punching Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in the jaw — sold nearly one million copies

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_america

[FlaSoxxJim]

I don't think caulfield said the Nazi storyline is a minor component in CA. he said it was only a small part of X-men First Class - basically Erik Lensherr/Magneto's Nazi concentration camp origin story.

[Kyyle23]

I don't think caulfield said the Nazi storyline is a minor component in CA. he said it was only a small part of X-men First Class - basically Erik Lensherr/Magneto's Nazi concentration camp origin story.

 

I interpreted "The added twist of the nazis" and "Were more of a subplot of the Xmen" to mean that it was strange to see the Nazis in a Captain America feature

[fathom]

Bad Teacher was enjoyable to watch, even though I dislike Cameron Diaz.

[T R U]

Ugh, why does Captain America look like a midget in those trailers

[Kyyle23]

Ugh, why does Captain America look like a midget in those trailers

 

You mean before he has the treatment done?

[caulfield12]

I interpreted "The added twist of the nazis" and "Were more of a subplot of the Xmen" to mean that it was strange to see the Nazis in a Captain America feature

 

 

No, I meant the theory is that Captain America will do much better because there's more of a fascination with the Nazi's than the Cold War/Cuban Missile Crisis/Russia.

 

I just threw out those movies because they came to mind right away. The movies themselves, of course, are very dissimilar in and of themselves.

 

The prevailing notion is that "period comics" don't do as well (in general)...to cite another example, The Watchmen.

 

 

In the end, the saturation point has been reached with the second and third tier comic book heroes. With Batman, Spiderman and the Avengers, the studios are going back to the "wheelhouse" franchises that are almost guaranteed to succeed instead of spending $75-150 million marketing Thor or The Green Lantern into relevancy.

 

Green Lantern isn't doing well at all overseas, compared to Thor's earlier track record. Both have relatively unknown leads, and certainly Reynolds (because of The Proposal if nothing else) is more familiar to audiences than Chris Hemsworth.

 

 

 

 

[T R U]

You mean before he has the treatment done?

 

Yes, and I am aware of the story.. but when he is sitting in the car with that girl, he looks like a 12 year old boy

[Kyyle23]

No, I meant the theory is that Captain America will do much better because there's more of a fascination with the Nazi's than the Cold War/Cuban Missile Crisis/Russia.

 

I just threw out those movies because they came to mind right away. The movies themselves, of course, are very dissimilar in and of themselves.

 

The prevailing notion is that "period comics" don't do as well (in general)...to cite another example, The Watchmen.

 

 

In the end, the saturation point has been reached with the second and third tier comic book heroes. With Batman, Spiderman and the Avengers, the studios are going back to the "wheelhouse" franchises that are almost guaranteed to succeed instead of spending $75-150 million marketing Thor or The Green Lantern into relevancy.

 

Green Lantern isn't doing well at all overseas, compared to Thor's earlier track record. Both have relatively unknown leads, and certainly Reynolds (because of The Proposal if nothing else) is more familiar to audiences than Chris Hemsworth.

 

I dont really think that is a theory that is in play here. It is an origin story, this is how it was told. I dont think the directors are trying to outcompete the X-Men cold war story by coming in with the Nazis.

 

Also, it is hard to put Thor/Captain America in the same conversation as the green lantern. the primary goal of Green Lantern is to get the DC Universe more exposure to characters outside of Batman and Superman(with which Batman is really the only true successful franchise at this point). Thor/Captain America has a much bigger goal, to introduce these characters into a much bigger storyline as well as establish their own identities as tentpole franchises like they did with Iron Man, and like they keep trying to do with the Hulk.

 

In regards to the saturation point with lesser comics, there are complete hits(hellboy) and complete misses(watchmen). A lot of it has to do with the material. Watchmen is an incredibly difficult story to bring to the theatre, there was a lot of the story that was either wrapped up quickly or completely left out altogether. It also didnt help that there was some really shoddy acting(Malin Ackerman, im looking at you).

 

I think one thing that either lets a director succeed or makes him fail is the amount of artistic liberties taken with the subject material. These characters have very well defined back stories, and comic book nerds KNOW what these stories are. You cannot just make up Wolverines history and expect everyone to like it.

[Milkman delivers]

I dont really think that is a theory that is in play here. It is an origin story, this is how it was told. I dont think the directors are trying to outcompete the X-Men cold war story by coming in with the Nazis.

 

Also, it is hard to put Thor/Captain America in the same conversation as the green lantern. the primary goal of Green Lantern is to get the DC Universe more exposure to characters outside of Batman and Superman(with which Batman is really the only true successful franchise at this point). Thor/Captain America has a much bigger goal, to introduce these characters into a much bigger storyline as well as establish their own identities as tentpole franchises like they did with Iron Man, and like they keep trying to do with the Hulk.

 

In regards to the saturation point with lesser comics, there are complete hits(hellboy) and complete misses(watchmen). A lot of it has to do with the material. Watchmen is an incredibly difficult story to bring to the theatre, there was a lot of the story that was either wrapped up quickly or completely left out altogether. It also didnt help that there was some really shoddy acting(Malin Ackerman, im looking at you).

 

I think one thing that either lets a director succeed or makes him fail is the amount of artistic liberties taken with the subject material. These characters have very well defined back stories, and comic book nerds KNOW what these stories are. You cannot just make up Wolverines history and expect everyone to like it.

 

What IS Wolverine's back story? Like a quick recap.

[Kyyle23]

What IS Wolverine's back story? Like a quick recap.

 

A lot of it has been changed around, but a constant seems to be that he is very old(like, 130 years old), Sabretooth is his half brother, he has served in multiple wars, and the process to become Weapon X is what caused his amnesia, not because he was shot in the head with an adamantium bullet. He also lived as a feral human for a long time.

 

[Milkman delivers]

A lot of it has been changed around, but a constant seems to be that he is very old(like, 130 years old), Sabretooth is his half brother, he has served in multiple wars, and the process to become Weapon X is what caused his amnesia, not because he was shot in the head with an adamantium bullet. He also lived as a feral human for a long time.

 

So Origins was basically right on, besides the bullet thing?