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Sean 
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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 Posted - 02/15/2007 : 08:13:10
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I liked the English Patient... but haven't read the book.
I watched Titanic on a plane, and the earphones hurt so I ended up watching it without sound, and understood the entire movie in complete silence.  Some would say this was because it was so shallow that I didn't need the dialogue, others would say this was a directorial triumph that it succeeded totally on it's visuals. Probably both are correct. But, a few years later I decided to watch it properly, and became aware that the sound was actually pretty good and deservingly awarded.
So, IMO Titanic deserved it's cinematography / sound / editing praise but deserved nothing for acting / direction / screenplay. It should have had a better script. |
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Montgomery 
"F**k!"
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Posted - 02/15/2007 : 16:15:00
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quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
I liked the English Patient... but haven't read the book.
I watched Titanic on a plane, and the earphones hurt so I ended up watching it without sound, and understood the entire movie in complete silence. Some would say this was because it was so shallow that I didn't need the dialogue, others would say this was a directorial triumph that it succeeded totally on it's visuals. Probably both are correct. But, a few years later I decided to watch it properly, and became aware that the sound was actually pretty good and deservingly awarded.
So, IMO Titanic deserved it's cinematography / sound / editing praise but deserved nothing for acting / direction / screenplay. It should have had a better script.
I'm not trying to put you down for liking The English Patient, Sean. You saw something in all that sand and meandering misery that I did not. I just think you must be a more "patient" person than I am. Because, honestly, it dragged and dragged and dragged. By the end, I wanted to stab Ralph Fiennes myself. 
And as for the Titanic. I liked the special effects. But I cheered internally when the people died. The whole romance story was pure CRAP! And, besides any effects awards, it really deserved nothing in my opinion. I won't judge on sound and editing. That's not my expertise. It looked cool in certain parts. But the script was written for the 10-year-old Leonardo groupies who flocked to it over and over again.
EM :)
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 02/16/2007 : 07:16:02
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quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
I liked the English Patient... but haven't read the book.
So, IMO Titanic deserved it's cinematography / sound / editing praise but deserved nothing for acting / direction / screenplay. It should have had a better script.
Oh, yes - I agree totally. Especially the cinematography and editing. All those fantastic under-water shots of the real Titanic which they morphed into the movie set were absolutely marvelous. What they should have done was take all those shots and make a docu-drama without any fake characters - just as good a reinactment as possible.
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w22dheartlivie
"Kitty Lover"
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Posted - 02/16/2007 : 20:59:00
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Titanic...
Well, the costumes were fabulous. I've done a bit of research on fashion of that time, and the costumes were fantastic. The Leo/Kate love story was a bit over the top. However, I have always had a fear of drowning, and I have to admit the final scenes of the sinking, the bodies in the water, the woman in the cabin reassuring the children who were about to die.... those things happened to one extent or another and truly instilled a quiet feeling of panic inside. Yes, the script, the majority of which was centered around this mythical love story, was a bit much. It did manage to pull me in enough to care personally about some of the characters. People did die because they weren't "one of us" and people did survive because they "were." That class elitism did exist and was directly responsible for hundreds of deaths. Heroism was displayed by people on board. By most accounts, Benjamin Guggenheim DID put on his best clothing and wait for the inevitable. A few of the White Star bureaucrats did take the "coward's" way out and lived chastized for the rest of their lives. Visually, it was a splendid picture, effects wise it was consuming in its conclusions. And I agree that the melding from shipwreck to the reality of 1912 was remarkable. I liked Titanic, though I only watched it completely once. After that, I stopped just as the ship went down. I'm forgiving, I can overlook the Hollywood flaws. It was no more stylized than the films made decades before. It certainly had its fair share of faults, Celine Dion's theme song being one of them, and the mass appeal to the teenage lust for Leonardo Di Caprio another. But it was great in the depiction of class differences and the fates of those who fell victim to it, even if that particular theme was nearly incidental.
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Edited by - w22dheartlivie on 02/16/2007 21:01:42 |
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Downtown 
"Welcome back, Billy Buck"
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Posted - 02/16/2007 : 21:35:44
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| The costumes in Three Amigos! were great, too. I wouldn't give it Best Picture, though. |
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Montgomery
"F**k!"
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Posted - 02/16/2007 : 22:42:18
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quote:
Originally posted by Downtown
The costumes in Three Amigos! were great, too. I wouldn't give it Best Picture, though.
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Montgomery
"F**k!"
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Posted - 02/16/2007 : 22:54:45
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quote:
Originally posted by wildhartlivie
Titanic...
Well, the costumes were fabulous. I've done a bit of research on fashion of that time, and the costumes were fantastic. The Leo/Kate love story was a bit over the top. However, I have always had a fear of drowning, and I have to admit the final scenes of the sinking, the bodies in the water, the woman in the cabin reassuring the children who were about to die.... those things happened to one extent or another and truly instilled a quiet feeling of panic inside. Yes, the script, the majority of which was centered around this mythical love story, was a bit much. It did manage to pull me in enough to care personally about some of the characters. People did die because they weren't "one of us" and people did survive because they "were." That class elitism did exist and was directly responsible for hundreds of deaths. Heroism was displayed by people on board. By most accounts, Benjamin Guggenheim DID put on his best clothing and wait for the inevitable. A few of the White Star bureaucrats did take the "coward's" way out and lived chastized for the rest of their lives. Visually, it was a splendid picture, effects wise it was consuming in its conclusions. And I agree that the melding from shipwreck to the reality of 1912 was remarkable. I liked Titanic, though I only watched it completely once. After that, I stopped just as the ship went down. I'm forgiving, I can overlook the Hollywood flaws. It was no more stylized than the films made decades before. It certainly had its fair share of faults, Celine Dion's theme song being one of them, and the mass appeal to the teenage lust for Leonardo Di Caprio another. But it was great in the depiction of class differences and the fates of those who fell victim to it, even if that particular theme was nearly incidental.
I went to see a display of items from the Titanic that told room by room the story of what happened. It was very moving. Although, I am of the mind that we should have never disturbed that wreck, as it was the final resting place for so many and shouldn't have been basically looted for its treasure. But, the traveling Titanic show was informative and well put together. In one room, they had a big ice block you could touch that would let you feel just how cold the water was that the victims were dumped into. It was amazingly cold. I could not imagine anyone lasting very long in that water. And, of course, they did not. I felt that was a nice tribute to the memory of the Titanic.
The movie, however . . .
I guess what bothered me the most was the horrible love story that was tacked onto the story of the Titanic going down. I guess that's Hollywood. But I feel it certainly didn't need it. And I would have appreciated the retelling of that horrific night much more without it.
To me, it's like the beginning and ending on Saving Private Ryan. It's not needed. And the addition of it is insulting to my intelligence.
EM :) |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 02/17/2007 : 09:03:24
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quote:
Originally posted by Montgomery
The movie, however . . .
I guess what bothered me the most was the horrible love story that was tacked onto the story of the Titanic going down. I guess that's Hollywood. But I feel it certainly didn't need it. And I would have appreciated the retelling of that horrific night much more without it.
Yep - sounds like lots of people felt the same.
quote:
To me, it's like the beginning and ending on Saving Private Ryan. It's not needed. And the addition of it is insulting to my intelligence.
EM :)
Funny, the beginning and ending of Saving Private Ryan were the only parts that I did like. All the stuff in the middle... well... been there, done there. Thousands of WWII movies told it far better than SPR and if you've seen one...
Of course, the best WWII movie isn't a movie at all - its a mini-series. "Band of Brothers". Amazing!
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ragingfluff 
"Currently lost in Canada"
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Posted - 02/17/2007 : 18:07:11
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quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
quote:
Originally posted by Montgomery
The movie, however . . .
I guess what bothered me the most was the horrible love story that was tacked onto the story of the Titanic going down. I guess that's Hollywood. But I feel it certainly didn't need it. And I would have appreciated the retelling of that horrific night much more without it.
Yep - sounds like lots of people felt the same.
quote:
To me, it's like the beginning and ending on Saving Private Ryan. It's not needed. And the addition of it is insulting to my intelligence.
EM :)
Funny, the beginning and ending of Saving Private Ryan were the only parts that I did like. All the stuff in the middle... well... been there, done there. Thousands of WWII movies told it far better than SPR and if you've seen one...
Of course, the best WWII movie isn't a movie at all - its a mini-series. "Band of Brothers". Amazing!
Agree about Band of Brothers...the ending of Saving Private Ryan was sentimental tosh designed to wring out of you whatever tears you may not have shed... and as for the beginning (BIG SPOILER ALERT!!!!), when it cut from the closeup of the old man's eyes to the eyes of Tom Hanks, it was obvious to me that the old man could not have been Tom Hanks as an old man, and I knew before seeing the film that Matt Damon was in it , and that Matt Damon played Private Ryan, and so the old man's identity was immediately obvious to me as the actor playing the old man looked sort of like what Matt Damon might look like as an old man, therefore it's obvious that the mission had succeeded, but it was also then fairly clear that Tom Hanks' character had been killed, because Ryan as an old man is visiting a cemetery, and the Law of Movie Stardom tells us he wasn't there to visit the graves of Tom Sizemore or Barry Pepper.
Let's face it, Saving Private Ryan got the Oscars because of the brilliant opening battle sequence and the excellent cinematography. Spielberg probably deserved the Best Director for orchestrating the whole thing, but the script was trite and I can think of a dozen other films that showed "the pity of war" and did it better.
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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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Posted - 02/17/2007 : 20:35:29
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quote:
Originally posted by ragingfluff
(BIG SPOILER ALERT!!!!), when it cut from the closeup of the old man's eyes to the eyes of Tom Hanks, it was obvious to me that the old man could not have been Tom Hanks as an old man, and I knew before seeing the film that Matt Damon was in it , and that Matt Damon played Private Ryan, and so the old man's identity was immediately obvious to me as the actor playing the old man looked sort of like what Matt Damon might look like as an old man, therefore it's obvious that the mission had succeeded, but it was also then fairly clear that Tom Hanks' character had been killed, because Ryan as an old man is visiting a cemetery, and the Law of Movie Stardom tells us he wasn't there to visit the graves of Tom Sizemore or Barry Pepper.
Let's face it, Saving Private Ryan got the Oscars because of the brilliant opening battle sequence and the excellent cinematography. Spielberg probably deserved the Best Director for orchestrating the whole thing, but the script was trite and I can think of a dozen other films that showed "the pity of war" and did it better.
Not only an example of a highly discerning film-goer, but one who, wittingly or not, has learned to read the language of film. Well done, RFluff! 
Spielberg is such an inconsistent director, imho. In some films - The Color Purple, Schindler's List [whatever you think of the story] his directorial control and ability to get the best out of narratives is superb. And then he goes and makes a box of chaos like SPR! Go figure!
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 02/18/2007 : 10:48:48
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Just saw on IMDb that the year the Rocky took Best Picture, that Network, Taxi Driver, and All the President's Men were all in the running that same year. With that lineup, I am surprised that Rocky won, and I don't think it was the best of the bunch.
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 02/18/2007 : 10:49:39
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quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
I liked the English Patient... but haven't read the book.
Read the book and you'll never want to see the movie again.
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damalc
"last watched: Sausage Party"
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Posted - 02/18/2007 : 17:35:53
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quote:
Originally posted by damalc
sorry if i'm going to repeat something here but i just don't have time to read through all 6 pages right now.
i think the academy has a way of making up for blowing an award in earlier years. i present a couple of awards for great actors in great films who got make-up awards for other projects. the winning performances were good but nearly as good as some others.
Russell Crowe did not deserve the Oscar for "Gladiator," but he did for "The Insider" and "A Beautiful Mind."
Denzel Washington did not deserve the Oscar for "Training Day," but he did for "Malcolm X."
Al Pacino did not deserve the Oscar for "Scent of a Woman," but he did for "Godfather," and "Godfather II."
Sean Penn probably did deserve the Oscar for "Mystic River," but he should've gotten awards for "I Am Sam," and "Carlito's Way."
i predict make-up awards for Don Cheadle and Terrence Howard soon.
saw "Departed" last night. if Scorsese wins, it will be a make-up. "Departed" was very good but we've seen it before, and better. |
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Cheese_Ed
"The Provolone Ranger"
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Posted - 02/18/2007 : 19:00:01
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quote:
Originally posted by damalc
quote:
Originally posted by damalc
sorry if i'm going to repeat something here but i just don't have time to read through all 6 pages right now.
i think the academy has a way of making up for blowing an award in earlier years. i present a couple of awards for great actors in great films who got make-up awards for other projects. the winning performances were good but nearly as good as some others.
Russell Crowe did not deserve the Oscar for "Gladiator," but he did for "The Insider" and "A Beautiful Mind."
Denzel Washington did not deserve the Oscar for "Training Day," but he did for "Malcolm X."
Al Pacino did not deserve the Oscar for "Scent of a Woman," but he did for "Godfather," and "Godfather II."
Sean Penn probably did deserve the Oscar for "Mystic River," but he should've gotten awards for "I Am Sam," and "Carlito's Way."
i predict make-up awards for Don Cheadle and Terrence Howard soon.
saw "Departed" last night. if Scorsese wins, it will be a make-up. "Departed" was very good but we've seen it before, and better.
Did the same and thought the same, damalc |
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Montgomery
"F**k!"
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Posted - 02/19/2007 : 15:46:13
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Wow! You guys are a tough crowd. Can't you just go to a theatre and be entertained? I really liked The Departed. I thought it was well acted by many of its cast. And I enjoyed the story beginning to end. Martin winning for that would not be the worst mistake ever.
If not Departed for best pic., then what?
I've seen three of the other four and I can't say any of those are complete standouts and deserve to win.
I have not seen Letters yet. I will do that before next Sunday.
EM :) |
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Oscar Winners who shouldn't have.
