THE BORE
General => The Superdeep Borehole => Topic started by: Great Rumbler on June 30, 2010, 03:05:19 PM
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http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/last_airbender/ (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/last_airbender/)
This colossal folly, the fiasco of the summer of 2010 — gives us all a ringside seat at the sight of Mr. “I See Dead People’s” career gurgling down the drain.
The Last Airbender is a joyless, soulless, muddled mess, but the worst part of all doesn't come until the very end. That's when it makes the clear suggestion that two more such movies are in store for us.
The Last Airbender is an agonizing experience in every category I can think of and others still waiting to be invented.
The Last Airbender is dreadful, an incomprehensible fantasy-action epic that makes the 2007 film The Golden Compass, a similarly botched adaptation of a beloved property from another medium, look like a four-star classic.
Even during the climax, the film still is struggling to introduce the world of the film and its strange rules.
0% from 10 reviews, 2.4 average.
:rofl
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I knew once they abandoned it being a proper cartoon movie, like the show, it was going to be a disaster. I'm not taking my kids to see this. Will wait for BR rental.
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Just take your kids to see Inception instead.
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I don't know anything about inception. :-\
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It's going to be the movie of the century. Is there anything else you need to know?
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The Expendables >> Inception
Stop sucking Nolan's cock people.
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Writer (WGA): M. Night Shyamalan (written by)
He seriously needs to stop writing and just direct. The dude has talent but it's definitely not in his fucking writing.
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The Expendables >> Inception
Stop sucking Nolan's cock people.
I agree.
We don't know anything about it really and people are jizzmjazzming over it. There are parts of TDK that are terrible. Why do people forget that?
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It's going to be the movie of the century. Is there anything else you need to know?
Your word is enough, hun. :-*
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Writer (WGA): M. Night Shyamalan (written by)
He seriously needs to stop writing and just direct. The dude has talent but it's definitely not in his fucking writing.
I'm not even honestly sure he is talented. He's made one good movie. The sixth sense. One incredibly over-rated nerd movie. Unbreakable. And the rest is average or way below average.
At a certain point you have to look at his track record and its becoming increasingly clear that he had one good idea and one good movie in him. And that was it.
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# The Last Airbender Dunno
# The Happening Holy god I'll give you this one. LOL I still think it's a satire.
# Lady in the Water Great concept. Really great concept in fact. Even better cinematography and directing. Horrible execution via the writing.
# The Village See below. Even the premise was awesome until the tweest.
# Signs Terrible, terrible writing but I still think great direction and cinematography considering how terrible the script was
# Unbreakable Overated but still good.
# Stuart Little F off! Good
# The Sixth Sense Good
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Probably has some distinguished mentally-challenged twist like revealing it's just a bunch of kids playing make-believe.
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Probably has some distinguished mentally-challenged twist like revealing it's just a bunch of kids playing make-believe.
:lol :lol :lol
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:bow Mark Wahlberg :bow2
Outside of Boogie Nights, I've always been amazed this dude has an acting career.
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:bow Mark Wahlberg :bow2
Say hi to your mother for me.
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(http://codinghorror.typepad.com/.a/6a0120a85dcdae970b0128777096c8970c-pi)
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:bow Mark Wahlberg :bow2
Outside of Boogie Nights, I've always been amazed this dude has an acting career.
He was the only good part of I Heart Huckabees.
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loved him in The Corrupter
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There are two hilarious scenes in the Happening that unfortunately I can't find on youtube. One is where Wahlberg is the teacher talking about the bees and he is putting on his smart voice. The other is when he does this teasing thing with Zooey Deschanel where he pretends he is mad at her.
I pretty much can't take him seriously in anything especially when he is playing a "badass". He only works for me when is sort of playing an idiot.
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Finally a thread went up for this :lol :lol
from what i'm reading he fucked up this Movie big time, removing lots of stuff.
Might watch this trainwreck for the lolz
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Wahlberg is pretty amazing in comedic roles. I'm surprised he doesn't take them (or isn't offered them) more often.
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I just remembered he's in The Other Guys with Will Farrell. That could be good.
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Donnie's the better actor
:bow Lipton :bow2
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I heard the twist is that this happens in the future, it's a sequel to 2012.
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The cartoon was aight. For a kiddy thing.
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There's a twist to this movie too? :lol
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There's a twist to this movie too? :lol
Probably has some distinguished mentally-challenged twist like revealing it's just a bunch of kids playing make-believe.
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I'm not even honestly sure he is talented. He's made one good movie. The sixth sense. One incredibly over-rated nerd movie. Unbreakable. And the rest is average or way below average.
At a certain point you have to look at his track record and its becoming increasingly clear that he had one good idea and one good movie in him. And that was it.
Unbreakable is one of the best comic films ever made, even though it's not based on a comic; it's better than Sixth Sense. SMH sir
He's a talented director with an eye for nice shots/technically proficiency. The problem is that he can't write for shit and is too arrogant to recognize this. Sixth Sense was such a huge success it's not hard to see a young director growing a big head/ego over it, but you'd think by now he would have matured or at least realized his limits. Instead he just keeps.
Unbreakable disappointed some critics but it did well at the box office and gained a nice cult following. Signs did well across the board (imo the bad writing ruins that movie). That was basically the last big success he had. I probably obsessed over The Village more than any movie, but when it came out I was pretty disappointed. And then there was Lady in the Water and The Happening. In short, he's been in a slump for years.
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Hahaha
M Night. hahahaha
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Unbreakable is one of the best comic films ever made, even though it's not based on a comic; it's better than Sixth Sense. SMH sir
I had a feeling you would be the type who would think its great.
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And Willco. Sorry you can't be on the cool bus, old man :smug
*bumps bad rap in the dodge minivan*
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That is indeed one cool bus...
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I also really like Unbreakable. -1 for the cool bus. :'(
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I wouldn't want to be in a bus PD is driving :smug
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The revelation of Samuel L Jackson's true character was really corny and diminished the overall quality of the film.
I wouldn't want to be in a bus PD is driving :smug
Too bad you have no choice 'cause it's a short one. :teehee
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I don't hate the film. I actually consider it worth watching. Just not nearly at the level you see nerds slobber over it on internet forums. Hence my "over-rated" comment. And I agree about Jackson. In fact there was a good deal that was very corny in the film. In fact most of Shyamalan stuff, even the better stuff is full of corn. Especially fucking signs which is a movie that I orignally kinda liked but gets worse every time you watch it again.
But whatever. People like what they like.
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The Expendables >> Inception
Stop sucking Nolan's cock people.
I agree.
We don't know anything about it really and people are jizzmjazzming over it. There are parts of TDK that are terrible. Why do people forget that?
It's not like Inception is some big mystery, it's action movie with elements of scifi about a guy who steals ideas from people using a device used to create dreamworlds. I like the still shots, the trailers, the cast, the crew, and the concept, so...why should I not be hyped about it?
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I think all of his movies have been a little bit worse than the one before, until finally he's come to wallow at a Uwe Boll level of ineptitude. It's a pretty impressive accomplishment actually.
The Sixth Sense = Great
Unbreakable = Really Good
Signs = Good
The Village = Bad
Lady in the Water = Really Bad
The Happening = :poop
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By now Shyalaman has proven he is one of the worst directors working.
The Village was kinda bad, but then he went all out with the Lady in the Water. And then he said "I can top this shit" and it happened. Apparently he thought "I can do just as bad, but go bigger", and so he made Airbender.
The guy is crazy
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I uh, thought the trailer looked kind of cool?
OK, it looked like a jumbled mess, but it was at least spectacular, and EVERY trailer these days makes the film look like a jumbled mess.
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IT'S HAPPENING GUYS
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(http://tvrecappersanonymous.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/movie_i_see_dead_people1.jpg)
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It's up to 4% now! :hyper
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Donnie's the better actor
:bow Lipton :bow2
Lipton + Detective Joel Stevens = :bow2 :bow2
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I uh, thought the trailer looked kind of cool?
OK, it looked like a jumbled mess, but it was at least spectacular, and EVERY trailer these days makes the film look like a jumbled mess.
Yeah. I was pessimistic cause of Shyamalan and the racebending stuff (not as an injustice but as an indication of more dumb decisions to come), but the trailer was surprisingly decent.
Converting a season of episodic television into a movie is gonna create problems, but the premise should have at least given them the basis for a brisk plot and some fun set pieces.
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Thank god, i was beginning to doubt my own sanity for a minute there. I'm not tripping over myself to go see it or anything but the trailer actually made me fairly interested in a property I knew nothing about beforehand.
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It's up to 6% on Rotten Tomatoes now. :lol
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I had no idea what anyone was talking about, but the flyer for this JUST started showing up in Japanese theaters. It's got a pretty flyer. I liked Lady in the Water, Unbreakable, and The Sixth Sense. Wasn't fond of Signs, and I've not seen anything else. I think Shamalamadingdong gets a bad rap for being so out in front in his movies, and I think it was kind of a mistake for him to be in Lady. Other than that, he's cool.
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What the hell is wrong with you people? The Happening was hilarious.
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The Happening was great. Pretty much everyone missed the point with that movie.
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just like with pre adolescent girls, right?
you are so misunderstood
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someone at gaf made a funny
(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k46/corn_fest/nightav.png)
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Donnie's the better actor
:bow Lipton :bow2
Lipton + Detective Joel Stevens = :bow2 :bow2
yeah, the first season of boomtown was awesome, too bad they panicked about the ratings and changed the format so much in the second season (which was okay, but not great)
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The Happening was great. Pretty much everyone missed the point with that movie.
The point was to make a terrible movie on every level that's so bad that it's funny. Congratulations, M. Night!
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The funny bit is that I even have a soft spot in my heart for the happening even though I can intellectually recognize its god damn historically awful.
I sort of like the premise and there are indidvidual scenes that work in the movie quite well. But as a cohesive movie its right up there with MST3k type movies like Time Chasers or Space Mutiny.
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http://www.rifftrax.com/rifftrax/happening
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http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100630/REVIEWS/100639999
Well, I guess that about wraps it up for Night.
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http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100630/REVIEWS/100639999
Well, I guess that about wraps it up for Night.
The animation of the Nickelodeon TV series drew on the bright colors and "clear line" style of such masters as Miyazaki, and was a pleasure to observe. It's in the very nature of animation to make absurd visual sights more plausible.
Since "Airbender" involves the human manipulation of the forces of air, earth, water and fire, there is hardly an event that can be rendered plausibly in live action. That said, its special effects are atrocious.
This is honestly my problem with all superhero movies. In animation I'm fine with people doing all these superhero things but whenever I watch one of these superhero movies. Even the big budget ones. It all looks so patently silly.
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The Happening was great. Pretty much everyone missed the point with that movie.
The point was to make a terrible movie on every level that's so bad that it's funny. Congratulations, M. Night!
yup.
i'm not kidding. it's bad on purpose.
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just like your taste in women, right?
you are so misunderstood.
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http://io9.com/5576076/m-night-shyamalan-finally-made-a-comedy
And The Last Airbender is a lavish parody of big-budget fantasy epics. It's got everything: the personality-free hero, the nonsensical plot twists, the CG clutter, the bland romance, the new-age pablum. No expense is spared — Shyamalan even makes sure to make fun of distractingly shitty 3-D, by featuring it in his movie.
This is the part where I would insert a quick plot synopsis of the film, but it's really unnecessary - Shyamalan has boiled every epic heroic story of the past 20 years down to its most basic, primal soup-y essence, so he can spray it all over the audience, in a kind of Hero's-Journey bukkake. You will be finding chunks of Joseph Campbell's calcified spooge behind your ears for three days after watching this film, no matter how many times you bathe.
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M. Night :lol
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How is anyone surprised by this?
It is M. Night, so all bets are off, but I figured The Last Airbender was kind of a sure thing, at least enough to provide a mediocre product. He got a $150 million budget, a popular source with plot lines and characters already laid out, and an emphasis on action place of an intricate plot with deep characters. I certainly didn't expect it to end up this BAD. But, again, it is M. Night.
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http://io9.com/5576076/m-night-shyamalan-finally-made-a-comedy
And The Last Airbender is a lavish parody of big-budget fantasy epics. It's got everything: the personality-free hero, the nonsensical plot twists, the CG clutter, the bland romance, the new-age pablum. No expense is spared — Shyamalan even makes sure to make fun of distractingly shitty 3-D, by featuring it in his movie.
This is the part where I would insert a quick plot synopsis of the film, but it's really unnecessary - Shyamalan has boiled every epic heroic story of the past 20 years down to its most basic, primal soup-y essence, so he can spray it all over the audience, in a kind of Hero's-Journey bukkake. You will be finding chunks of Joseph Campbell's calcified spooge behind your ears for three days after watching this film, no matter how many times you bathe.
Like when Aang and his friends are taken prisoner by the Fire Nation and locked up with a bunch of Earth-benders, in a big dirt enclosure. And Aang looks at the Earth-benders and shouts, "EARTH BENDERS! THERE IS DIRT UNDER YOUR FEET! THERE'S DIRT ALL AROUND YOU! WHY DON'T YOU FIGHT?" And everybody's like, "Whoa." They notice that there's a lot of dirt here, all right. How did they miss that? It's like they've got selective dirt-blindness.
Later in the film, Katara says my favorite line ever, "We need to show them that we believe in our beliefs as much as they believe in their beliefs."
Nevermind, I think I'm going to go see this now. :lol
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It is M. Night, so all bets are off, but I figured The Last Airbender was kind of a sure thing, at least enough to provide a mediocre product. He got a $150 million budget, a popular source with plot lines and characters already laid out, and an emphasis on action place of an intricate plot with deep characters. I certainly didn't expect it to end up this BAD. But, again, it is M. Night.
You could say all that about the Golden Compass (plus it has a bear in a suit of armor wrecking shit!) and that was apparently bad too.
Learn 2 movie, Hollywood.
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"As the villain, Shyamalan has cast Cliff Curtis as Fire Lord Ozai and Dev Patel (the hero of "Slumdog Millionaire") as his son Prince Zuko. This is all wrong. In material at this melodramatic level, you need teeth-gnashers, not leading men. Indeed, all of the acting seems inexplicably muted. I've been an admirer of many of Shyamalan's films, but action and liveliness are not his strong points. I fear he takes the theology of the Bending universe seriously."
I think Ebert pretty much nailed why this was a disaster. Turning material like this into something artsy almost never works, as even more competent directors like Ang Lee have shown.
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One of my friends posted this on Facebook:
Let's put it in this way: it makes Battle Field Earth look like Star Wars.
:rofl
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How is anyone surprised by this?
It is M. Night, so all bets are off, but I figured The Last Airbender was kind of a sure thing, at least enough to provide a mediocre product. He got a $150 million budget, a popular source with plot lines and characters already laid out, and an emphasis on action place of an intricate plot with deep characters. I certainly didn't expect it to end up this BAD. But, again, it is M. Night.
Same here.
I thought that he had all the shit laid out so it could be alright.
But after seeing the casting , him changing some plot points and the pronunciation of the main character's fucking name because hes still butthurt about how they pronounced his name incorrectly as a child I started to have severe doubts.
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M.Night has to be working some angle, right? I cannot fathom the shit he's pinched out recently when compared to Invincible and Sixth Sense (not masterpieces but not The Village/Signs/Avatar levels bad).
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M.Night has to be working some angle, right? I cannot fathom the shit he's pinched out recently when compared to Invincible and Sixth Sense (not masterpieces but not The Village/Signs/Avatar levels bad).
So awesome that you can't even remember the name. :lol
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M.Night has to be working some angle, right? I cannot fathom the shit he's pinched out recently when compared to Invincible and Sixth Sense (not masterpieces but not The Village/Signs/Avatar levels bad).
So awesome that you can't even remember the name. :lol
Sheeit. I got Mark Wahlberg on the brain. UNBREAKABLE.
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On the upside, when The Last Airbender is released on DVD in a few months it'll be accompanied by a really great Rifftrax.
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SMFH, I'll just pretend that this doesn't exist. I guess I'll just take my nephew to see Toy Story 3 and The Karate Kid.
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Beezy, the karate kid is fantastic.
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I feel sorry for all the middle-aged Asians who are going to have little black kids asking them to teach Kung Fu.
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it's better than the original
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Beezy, the karate kid is fantastic.
That's what I've been hearing. Plus I'm not a Will Smith family hater like most of the internets.
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it's better than the original
fuck you, your "I was born in the 80s" card has been revoked
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it's better than the original
fuck you, your "I was born in the 80s" card has been revoked
You haven't seen it, have you?
- better action, the kids actually look like they KNOW kung fu
- jayden put his all into this role and you can tell. You can tell that kid learned how to fight.
- better script/dialogue
- funny as fuck
- good music
- better story and characters, the one thing the original has going for it is Miyagi :'(
- better music
- better editing, the editing is fantastic
- better cinematography
the only thing that the original does better than the "remake" (and I use this loosely), is that it's easier to cheer for Ralph since he's a teenager, than Dre, who's a pre-teen. Ralph gets the girl, gets a car, and gets a life due to his friendship and mentorship from Miyagi. Dre is too young to get all that. I mean, there's a girl involved, but who wants to see two pre-pubescent kids kiss? It's a lot easier to swallow a teenage relationship between Ralph and that one chick in the original though.
But beyond that, the remake is better in every single way.
I especially recommend it from an editing standpoint. The fights are fantastic.
Surprise movie of the summer.
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You just like the new one because the protagonist is black.
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Watch the original and how the characters (particularly Ralph) are awkward in their karate and then watch the remake and how much finesse the kids have in that movie.
There's no comparison.
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Nobody is accusing you of being racist. I mean you just identify better with the character because he's black. It's understandable, himu.
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I identify with the movies anyway, as someone who was teased as a child, so the color of the skin is irrelevant.
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Sarcasm :-\
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:)
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I saw it tonight and can report back with confidence that the reviewers weren't wrong. While it is not perhaps as offensively bad as The Happening was, it nevertheless is absurdly boring. So many things happen that don't really make much sense, there are tons of characters that I care nothing about because none of them have been properly developed, and there's absolutely no connection between the scores of scenes that litter the film like casually discarded orphans. The dialog is unbearable and aided by stiff, awkward acting. The final battle at the end is the most putrid excuse for a battle scene in the history of film, it must be seen to be believed. The plot is riddled with holes and the plot that does make sense is spoon-fed through carefully staged bouts of exposition that are repeated ad naseum. The art of bending itself is completed distinguished mentally-challenged in the live-action realm, it just looks idiotic and laughable whenever a battle strikes up and people bend against each other.
This is a bad movie and M. Night should feel bad for making it.
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I really liked his first 3 films but he has become (or always was and it is just now more obvious) such a pompous asshole who is full of himself (his remarks basically dismissing the criticism of airbender in nymag was hilarious) and the fact his last few movies have been so bad have made me never want to watch his old films anymore. He retroactively ruined them.
And wtf is with the Christopher Nolan hate? He is the only big blockbuster director who does consistently good movies imo. I honestly can't think of a single other director working in the world of big budget blockbusters that is as good as him. I am struggling to come up with even one other name. Who else is even out there? James Cameron, Jon Favreau, J.J. Abrams, Michael Bay? The competition is pretty weak, it isn't the 80's anymore.
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Nolan is the new Kubrick!
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The people at GAF saying stuff like that make me almost not want to be a Nolan fan. Nolan is the best blockbuster director out there right now but that's it. Blockbuster director. He isn't Kubrick. He isn't even a Tarantino. But like I said the competition is horrible. Most of the directors doing huge summer blockbusters are hacks doing workman like forgettable stuff.
Cuaron could very well break in that club though. Warners is giving him a huuuuuge budget for his big 3D Imax sci-fi epic.
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What makes him the best blockbuster director? TDK? Certainly not BB. Using these standards, Peter Jackson is the best considering the LOTR films are better than TDK.
Memento is his best film by far
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What makes him the best blockbuster director? TDK? Certainly not BB. Using these standards, Peter Jackson is the best considering the LOTR films are better than TDK.
Memento is his best film by far
I'd agree with you on Jackson. 8 years ago. If we are going by blockbuster directors based on their best work not most recent work then hell Spielberg would win as would endless others. I meant Nolan is the best, circa 2010.
Peter Jackson after King Kong and Lovely Bones kind of seemed to have lost it. Nolan runs circles around post-LOTR Jackson.
And I agree. Memento > Batman Begins > The Dark Knight > The Prestige > Following.
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King Kong could have been a great film if it was edited better. Still, it's a decent flick, certainly nothing that ruins his status.
Haven't seen Lovely Bones but it's not a blockbuster film, so it doesn't count.
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Inception is gonna' be so good :hyper
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King Kong could have been a great film if it was edited better. Still, it's a decent flick, certainly nothing that ruins his status.
Haven't seen Lovely Bones but it's not a blockbuster film, so it doesn't count.
King Kong is decent but Nolan's recent work is far far better. Even you have to admit Inception will probably be better than King Kong.
Do you at least agree that for the most part the group of "blockbuster auteurs" is pretty damn weak compared to earlier generations? At one point we had a time where Spielberg wasn't all over the map, Ridley Scott & James Cameron still knew how to direct decent movies, Tim Burton before he began to suck Johnny Depp's cock, a George Lucas who knew he couldn't write and direct so he wrote great story outlines and gave them to other filmmakers to put to screen....etc.
Now? We have Nolan and a Peter Jackson who is seemingly not as good as he once was. Not really much to write home about. Though a lot of people are worshiping J.J. Abrams as the second coming of Steven Spielberg. I liked Trek, Fringe, & Lost and am curious about Super 8....but no.
But Nolan is all I have faith in anymore in this genre of sorts. Inception will be good, the trailers and tv spots are too fantastic for me not to expect something special.
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I saw this movie last night and it sucked shit. Even as a fan of a cartoon, if you forget it's an adaptation for a minute it sucks shit.
Worst movie I've seen in theaters in years
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Liar! You said multiple times you didn't like Lost, sir.
But yea I agree with your overall points. With Jackson finally agreeing to direct The Hobbit, I'm sure he'll be back on his feet soon. And while I think it will be a good film (dunno about a good adaption), it sucks seeing him getting bogged down by one franchise.
Inception is going to be awesome no doubt. And I'd imagine the third Batman will be good at the very least.
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Liar! You said multiple times you didn't like Lost, sir.
But yea I agree with your overall points. With Jackson finally agreeing to direct The Hobbit, I'm sure he'll be back on his feet soon. And while I think it will be a good film (dunno about a good adaption), it sucks seeing him getting bogged down by one franchise.
Inception is going to be awesome no doubt. And I'd imagine the third Batman will be good at the very least.
I grew bored of Lost. I respected it as well made though. And a fantastic concept, which he was responsible for.
As for other directors in this field, I am curious to see if Spielberg can redeem himself with Tintin next year. I am not a big fan of these pure mocap movies but that's been a passion project of his going back to the early 80's and a script by the head writer of Doctor Who & Edgar Wright. M. Night will probably never redeem himself on the other hand.
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If Spielberg ever redeems himself, I doubt it will be through Tintin. I haven't heard anything that sounds interesting about it. I'm more interested in his return to sci-fi, as well as the Lincoln flick that might never get made.
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If Spielberg ever redeems himself, I doubt it will be through Tintin. I haven't heard anything that sounds interesting about it. I'm more interested in his return to sci-fi, as well as the Lincoln flick that might never get made.
He is doing one of his famous drama/blockbuster split of two movies in the same year next year. His drama for next year though is War Horse which sounds like everything wrong with the overly sentimentality of Spielberg movies. A boy in WWI loses his poney and has to venture across the battlefield in Europe to reunite with his lost animal pal. It will shed tears of all with Spielberg's over-the-top sentimentality. :'(
I've all but given up hope he'll ever do Lincoln. Hell, maybe Lucas will redeem himself first. He sacked that Wire director from that tuskegee airmen WWII movie he was producing and took over directing himself afterall. :lol
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The cast of the Tuskegee film is disappointing. There have to be better black actors than Method Man who can bring that story to life. Oh well, at least it'll have some awesome battles no doubt
War Horse sounds lol-worthy.
I remember when I used to obsess over every bit of info on M Night's next film. Really seems like his career is about over now, what a shame.
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Well, it's not an utter bomb, but The Last Airbender's already being crushed by bad word of mouth.
$16 million on Thursday
$16 million on Friday
$14 million on Saturday
$9 million on Sunday
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=lastairbender.htm (http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=lastairbender.htm)
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Now about Nolan, the dude is my favorite recent director. Sure whenever I posted about him on GAF it was with all of Nolan-Age splooging and shit, but I know he isn't the best ever and shit. But I have to say I love all of his movies except for Following which I just liked, dude has yet to put out a real stinker.
I really want to see Inception is what I'm saying.
Yeah, same here. I've liked all of his movies, some more than others, but I don't think he's the best director currently working or anything over-the-top like that. He's a good director that at least TRIES to make his big budget action movies more than just explosions and hot girls [like some directors do]. If people don't like him, well, that's their deal.
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He's easily one of the best tentpole directors working today, but it's like, an entire generation raised on shit has found a filmmaker that doesn't completely pander to the lowest common denominator and has placed him on a pedestal. You might find this hard to believe, but he is not the only filmmaker to ever do so.
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He's easily one of the best tentpole directors working today, but it's like, an entire generation raised on shit has found a filmmaker that doesn't completely pander to the lowest common denominator and has placed him on a pedestal. You might find this hard to believe, but he is not the only filmmaker to ever do so.
I think this is part of the reason why Pixar gets so much love. Not to say that their movies don't have their merits, because they certainly do, but just look at what they're competing against.
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I'd probably go with the Coens as my personal favorite among directors still making movies.
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I have a feeling that Inception is gonna be the unofficial Matrix 4. Hope I'm wrong.
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I have a feeling that Inception is gonna be the unofficial Matrix 4. Hope I'm wrong.
Everything I've seen makes me think more of the first Matrix movie, much more so than the sequels. Also, Paprika.
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I'm pretty sure the movie will be great or at least decent, I'm just not sure it will be the huge blockbuster WB is hoping for.
It's always hard to tell with this kind of thing. But this summer's been pretty down thanks to some underperforming, mediocre blockbusters, so maybe a good blockbuster will get people in the seats. Or it ends up confusing people and they stay away. Who knows?
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Who knows? People are dumb in general. No way a film like Iron Man 2 deserves to make that much. Hollywood just convinced the sheep that it was AAA material.
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I think it could be pretty huge.
There is a large segment of the population, especially older viewers, that are starving for some quality entertainment. It's no surprise that the box office numbers have dropped; the output has been terrible this year. If you're in your twenties and older, you don't want to see half this shit. Especially not at current ticket prices.
Really, for adults, there is not much competing against Inception at the box office, in terms of a mature tentpole flick. Everything has been bang-bang films, action team flicks or a smorgasbord of Hot Topic merchandise.
I think it's a sad state of affairs when most folks my own age (or older) have conceded that Toy Story 3 is the best film they have seen this year. That might still be the case after Inception (who knows if it'll be good, I'm always wary when a director is given complete control), but that just goes to show that there is a big opportunity for Inception at the box office.
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I think in this environment, Inception is almost counter-programming. I can't say that Warner Bros. is doing a poor job with marketing. I think they are hitting the right demographics.
It won't be a front-loaded venture, like Iron Man 2, where I expect it set records its first weekend out. But if it's good, it will pull people to the theaters and Nolan has a decent track record for releasing stuff with legs.
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(who knows if it'll be good, I'm always wary when a director is given complete control)
That's my one fear right now. Not only did he direct it himself, wrote it completely on his own (had co-writers on Batman, Memento, & Prestige), produced it completly on his own but he ended up doing all the second unit work himself as well for once since he has such free reign. Steven Spielberg once said refusing to allow a second unit director do work on a film is a sign of someone with too much control over a film.
But we'll see, I still expect great things. But when a director is no longer surrounded by others helping out or giving advice you tend to get bloated self-serving movies, even from great directors. Inception's trailers look fantastic though so maybe Nolan didn't fall into that trap.
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I really liked it, Cheebs' hyperbole aside. One of the few films I watched and felt completely satisfied with.
... and to be fair, Cheebs, I don't think Nolan has ever really used a second unit director (he's had assistant directors). He likes to maintain that sense of intimacy from his indie days. The lack of a collaborative writing and producing process is what scares me more than anything.
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How much help did Nolan get for The Prestige? I thought it was a very mediocre film.
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How much help did Nolan get for The Prestige? I thought it was a very mediocre film.
Pretty solid little movie I thought, lower tier Nolan (although that isn't saying too much) but one of the better movies that year. Haven't seen it since I saw it in theaters though. He wrote that with his brother and there were producers other than himself involved. Inception is written and produced by him solo.
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I really, really like The Prestige. And while it was co-written by his brother, it also had the divine hand of studio interference involved (other writers touched it). That was before he got the golden ticket that was The Dark Knight, and was basically given carte blanche for Inception.
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I forgot what I said exactly after watching it but it had to do with being disappointed that the film didn't deliver on the promise of a duel between two great magicians.
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Even if Inception isn't THAT huge I suspect Nolan will still have free reign to do whatever he pleases for a while. He is doing Batman 3 for WB and helping them attempt to revive Superman (not sure what his involvement is in that though) after all. As long as he is doing that WB will give him a free pass. But that won't last forever if he can't do a big money maker that isn't a comic book franchise.
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He's going to get an Exec Producer credit for Supes, on account of being the liaison for David Goyer. I'm not sure if Goyer had the clout to ever reboot the franchise by himself, saddling up with Nolan was a smart move. Plus, I think Nolan is going to have a hand in who is actually picked as the proper caretaker.
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I think he'll overlook everything, read the script and choose the director and shit.
He'll have a hand in casting I am guessing. During the press stuff for Inception he says he'd like to see it be like the original Superman film and his Batman films in that they fill out the smaller roles with well known respected actors.
Though I am guessing Warners is far more interested in being able to put "CHRISTOPHER NOLAN PRESENTS" in the trailers than any input he may actually have.
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Superman Returns wasn't horrible like some think it was but they really wrote themselves into a corner with that love triangle. It still befuddles me how the bosses green-lighted Lois Lane living with another guy while trying to pass off Superman's child as the finance's kid.
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Superman Returns wasn't horrible like some think it was but they really wrote themselves into a corner with that love triangle. It still befuddles me how the bosses green-lighted Lois Lane living with another guy while trying to pass off Superman's child as the finance's kid.
I kind of feel bad for Bryan Singer, Superman Returns wasn't great but it was enjoyable. It seems like his career has all but died since then. He was a rising big shot before that. Kind of shocked he has failed to do anything of any importance since then since there was a time when the studios seemed to be masturbating to his name.
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It was barely a Superman movie. It felt more like it was was Bryan Singer's nostalgic obsession with Richard Donner put in movie form that happened to have Superman in it.
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I agree with Cohen, it sucked. Singer has never been able to show that he can hack it as an action film director, so it's tough to find work doing tentpoles if you don't have the chops.
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Superman Returns>Batman Begins
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Superman Returns>Batman Begins
:hippolol
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Not my fault the man children wanted a brain dead action flick instead of a character study of Superman :smug
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Superman Returns>Batman Begins
And here we...go.
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Not my fault the man children wanted a brain dead action flick instead of a character study of Superman :smug
Yeah, Superman as a creepy stalker and home-wrecker is compelling cinema. :smug
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The thing that really bugs me about Returns, is how full of itself it is. Superman doesn't throw a punch in the whole movie.
And the son storyline....well at least he threw a piano at a guy....did better than his dad.
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Oh, Maurice. :lol
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Superman sucks period.
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...
What?
Superman sucks. He's boring: he can do anything and everything but his weakness is a rock? What a homo. Everyone in the story is a distinguished mentally-challenged fellow: Clark always disappears when Superman comes around, I wonder who he is! At least Peter Parker has a good excuse "haha I took pictures of Spiderman! How can I be Spiderman?" Not to mention he only really takes his glasses off and puts on tights. Clark Kent is a fucking boring character in general. Oh wow, a journalist, who is completely shallow and never really has an interesting life or tale. Spiderman is popular because the average person can relate; he's not some rich shmuck. He's just a guy who's trying to get by and has completely wasted his potential who can't seem to ever satisfy his family. He's no Batman, who doesn't give a fuck about anyone, and does things his way and is ALWAYS interesting and badass.
Superman and Clark Kent are devoid of any personality whatsoever. I haven't seen Superman Returns yet, but I assume it sucks because it has Superman in the title.
The only Superman related things I ever liked, were the awesome WB cartoon, any Justice League cartoon, and those 1930's Fleischer cartoons, SOMETIMES the 1990's serial drama on ABC Lois and Clark: The Adventures of Superman.
Batman >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Superfuck
Spiderman >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Superfuck
Cyclops >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Superfuck
Superman sucks ass is and is by far the worst mainstream superhero. The only character who's remotely close, but still quite far away is Gambit.
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Superman does suck, but I still found SR fascinating. He's pretty much the most powerful being on the planet, so seeing him beat the shit out of costumed freaks wouldn't exactly be entertaining. But, seeing him put in emotional situations where all the physical power in the world was irrelevant? That's interesting, and truly the heart of Singer's film - which will no doubt become a cult classic in the years to come.
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Superman does suck, but I still found SR fascinating. He's pretty much the most powerful being on the planet, so seeing him beat the shit out of costumed freaks wouldn't exactly be entertaining. But, seeing him put in emotional situations where all the physical power in the world was irrelevant? That's interesting, and truly the heart of Singer's film - which will no doubt become a cult classic in the years to come.
That sounds interesting.
Superman is the most boring character ever because he has no weakness. And when he takes down people it's not in an LOL Fist of the North Star way either. He's not badass about it, he's THIS IS MY DUTY about it, which puts me to sleep.
The only way to remotely make Superman an interesting character is by tearing him down limb by limb, not through physical strength, but mentally and emotionally. A world where his shitty super strength and super speed and super x-ray peekin' through the girls locker room vision are all useless sounds like my cup of tea, because I fucking hate Superman.
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Superman does suck, but I still found SR fascinating. He's pretty much the most powerful being on the planet, so seeing him beat the shit out of costumed freaks wouldn't exactly be entertaining. But, seeing him put in emotional situations where all the physical power in the world was irrelevant? That's interesting, and truly the heart of Singer's film - which will no doubt become a cult classic in the years to come.
That sounds interesting.
Superman is the most boring character ever because he has no weakness. And when he takes down people it's not in an LOL Fist of the North Star way either. He's not badass about it, he's THIS IS MY DUTY about it, which puts me to sleep.
The only way to remotely make Superman an interesting character is by tearing him down limb by limb, not through physical strength, but mentally and emotionally. A world where his shitty super strength and super speed and super x-ray peekin' through the girls locker room vision are all useless sounds like my cup of tea, because I fucking hate Superman.
Exactly. There's little sense of suspense or interest watching Superman destroy robots. But, put him in the real world and suddenly he becomes interesting. He may be unstoppable, but he can't read minds - he can't prevent every crime from happening. Yet the populace might not look at it this way, and would blame him whenever a tragedy occurred. That type of guilt and mental anguish must tear at a man who's job is to protect man kind.
If I want to watch explosions I'll put on Transformers. I'd rather have Superman in a psychological drama. How does the world's most powerful being deal with emotion? It's a shame some people aren't interested in this
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So the people who dislike Superman Returns do so because it's not the usual vapid shit shit they come like (:lol) about Supes?
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Singer is another dude imo who creates over-rated stuff.
The praise for those first two X-Men movies always baffles me a bit. Not that they were bad or anything. They probably are above average when it comes to the genre. It just says something to me when people want to elevate those two movies into the "special" category.
But that's just my opinion.
That last Superman movie was mainly just boring. Plot wise it also didn't make much sense but then honestly hardly any of these superhero movies do.
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X-Men 2 wasn't all that hot imo. I liked the first one more.
imo there's Superman 2, TDK, Batman 1990, TMNT1 and there's everyone else.
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Quentin Tarantino said Superman Returns is the best super hero movie ever made so Maurice has a pal in that view.
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How much help did Nolan get for The Prestige? I thought it was a very mediocre film.
Pretty solid little movie I thought, lower tier Nolan (although that isn't saying too much) but one of the better movies that year. Haven't seen it since I saw it in theaters though. He wrote that with his brother and there were producers other than himself involved. Inception is written and produced by him solo.
Well, he adapted it from the book. It's not like it sprung full-formed from his godlike brow.
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The Prestige novel and film are very different, though.
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The movie is better than the book.
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If they wanted to make a good Superman movie, then they'd adapt Superman For All Seasons. Or get a supervillain that isn't totally lame and overused.
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Quentin Tarantino said Superman Returns is the best super hero movie ever made so Maurice has a pal in that view.
Great endorsement: loved by a coke addict and a 20 something black man that has never known the touch of a woman.
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It is M. Night, so all bets are off, but I figured The Last Airbender was kind of a sure thing, at least enough to provide a mediocre product. He got a $150 million budget, a popular source with plot lines and characters already laid out, and an emphasis on action place of an intricate plot with deep characters. I certainly didn't expect it to end up this BAD. But, again, it is M. Night.
You could say all that about the Golden Compass (plus it has a bear in a suit of armor wrecking shit!) and that was apparently bad too.
Learn 2 movie, Hollywood.
Golden Compass wasn't bad, it just wasn't particularly good. It's similar to David Lynch's Dune, in that it's not sufficiently coherent if you're not familiar with the source material.
...Hm. I guess that actually does make it a bad movie.
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I'm sorry, PD, I actually like Superman, and I thought Superman Returns blew. It was a horrible movie.
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Superman the character isn't interesting, but I like shit like Bizarro World and Mr. Mxyzptlk
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A Superman movie with Darkseid and the planet Apokolips would be pretty awesome.
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A Superman movie with Darkseid and the planet Apokolips would be pretty awesome.
There is a fear in these super hero movies that going off to other planets and introducing some of the more crazy characters will turn off mainstream audiences. Hence why Superman keeps fighting the very human Lex Luthor in movie after movie.
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A Superman movie with Darkseid and the planet Apokolips would be pretty awesome.
There is a fear in these super hero movies that going off to other planets and introducing some of the more crazy characters will turn off mainstream audiences. Hence why Superman keeps fighting the very human Lex Luthor in movie after movie.
Lex Luthor, in the movies, is pretty boring. It was okay the first time around, but the second time? He had the exact same basic plan, some crazy idea to make a bunch land that he could sell to become rich. It would be more interesting if they went the same route as the series/comics and have Luthor either be a wealthy businessman or a wealthy businessman AND the President.
But what the Superman movies really NEED is a supervillain that's actually a threat to Superman, but they seem really hesitant to do that.
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Superman can be interesting when he is written as a more human like character than Jesus Christ the 2nd.
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Lex Luthor, in the movies, is pretty boring. It was okay the first time around, but the second time? He had the exact same basic plan, some crazy idea to make a bunch land that he could sell to become rich. It would be more interesting if they went the same route as the series/comics and have Luthor either be a wealthy businessman or a wealthy businessman AND the President.
But what the Superman movies really NEED is a supervillain that's actually a threat to Superman, but they seem really hesitant to do that.
Ultimately I agree in both counts. They need an actual villain that can challenge superman. But they've made superman so unbeatable in the movies that is very difficult. Especially since they keep trotting out the kryptonite gimmick.
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A Superman movie with Darkseid and the planet Apokolips would be pretty awesome.
I rather have a origin story in which Lex Luthor is the bad guy and he has a land scheme.
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A Superman movie with Darkseid and the planet Apokolips would be pretty awesome.
I rather have a origin story in which Lex Luthor is the bad guy and he has a land scheme.
*reported*
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Lex Luthor, in the movies, is pretty boring. It was okay the first time around, but the second time? He had the exact same basic plan, some crazy idea to make a bunch land that he could sell to become rich. It would be more interesting if they went the same route as the series/comics and have Luthor either be a wealthy businessman or a wealthy businessman AND the President.
But what the Superman movies really NEED is a supervillain that's actually a threat to Superman, but they seem really hesitant to do that.
Ultimately I agree in both counts. They need an actual villain that can challenge superman. But they've made superman so unbeatable in the movies that is very difficult. Especially since they keep trotting out the kryptonite gimmick.
They could go with the doomsday story (where he "killed" superman) but i don't think they would want to end the movie on a sad note
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Superman Returns got literally no reaction from me. I went to the theater, watched it, and when the credits rolled I was just like "ah, okay." Walked out and forgot about it since.
Wasn't good, but wasn't shockingly bad either. Just entirely forgettable.
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Superman getting beat within an inch of his life would make a compelling film. At the hands of lesser writers, Superman is boring because the audience never find him to be adequately challenged. The beating doesn't have to be from Doomsday but please just leave the Kryptonite out of it. Kryptonite was, as the young un's would say, played out 20 yrs ago.
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Mr Mxyzptlk is perfect, as Mandark pointed out once before. Supes is vulnerable to magic, and it opens the door for all sorts of wacky (but family friendly) hijinks. The visuals could be insane. Give it to the guys who made Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs!
And if you need scary and powerful - Brainiac is the obvious choice.
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Superman getting beat within an inch of his life would make a compelling film. At the hands of lesser writers, Superman is boring because the audience never find him to be adequately challenged. The beating doesn't have to be from Doomsday but please just leave the Kryptonite out of it. Kryptonite was, as the young un's would say, played out 20 yrs ago.
The Death of Superman comic books were pretty awfully written anyway - just six books of Superman and Doomsday hitting each other, with no dramatic visuals or any of that. It was just a street brawl.
I'd like a fairly epic death for Superman. Have him die saving the planet, or even more poignantly, the life of a single person he loves, like Lois.
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The Death of Superman is a cool concept, but poorly executed. It is prime source material for a good film adaptation. There are a few ways you can make the character legitimately interesting. I have a few ideas and judging from Goyer's comments in interviews, I think he has similar ideas.
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WB should hire you. You'd be cheaper than Goyer, and you could use Evilbore as a sounding board for your movie ideas. :teehee
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I'm working with a production company that has a first-look deal with Warners. I would love to somehow spin that into a few contacts there. Warners is easily the best studio in town for filmmakers right now, but that kind of thing is cyclical.
But - yes! - I would be cheaper than Goyer, and if I had to be honest, his stuff is probably my ceiling.
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Warners is easily the best studio in town for filmmakers right now, but that kind of thing is cyclical.
Warners is crazy (in a good way) in the type of freedom they are giving good directors. Nolan with Inception obviously with Cuaron now as well. Alfonso Cuaron outside of Harry Potter has not had a box office hit and Warners is giving him a gigantic budget to shoot a large cgi-heavy sci-fi epic that is his original creation (though it helps he got Downey Jr. in the lead). What other studio would do that?
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What is Cuaron making?
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What is Cuaron making?
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/FX-Company-Spills-Details-About-Alfonso-Cuaron-s-Gravity-19061.html (http://www.cinemablend.com/new/FX-Company-Spills-Details-About-Alfonso-Cuaron-s-Gravity-19061.html)
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I'm working with a production company that has a first-look deal with Warners. I would love to somehow spin that into a few contacts there. Warners is easily the best studio in town for filmmakers right now, but that kind of thing is cyclical.
But - yes! - I would be cheaper than Goyer, and if I had to be honest, his stuff is probably my ceiling.
You should try to write an outline, see what you could do with the concept.
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For Superman? That would be a waste of time. Goyer has that all locked up.
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Just as a creative exercise, I mean.
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Willco, you could sell the script for the inevitable Superman porn parody.
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David S. Goyer...I'm not really big on him. He's been involved with some movies that I've liked [Batman Begins, Dark City], but it seems that when he's working without a strong creative force his work is a bit lacking.
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Do we know how bad The Last Airbender did yet?
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Wasn'[t a complete disaster but its take fell every day of the weekend so it won't be around long.
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Do we know how bad The Last Airbender did yet?
Not bad enough.
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David S. Goyer...I'm not really big on him. He's been involved with some movies that I've liked [Batman Begins, Dark City], but it seems that when he's working without a strong creative force his work is a bit lacking.
He's a solid writer. His screenplays are clean and concise, and he's always working with a great concept. But his screenplay is only as good as the crew that surrounds it; meaning that he'll never be able to carry a film on his writing. And to be fair, that's how it should be - film is a totally collaborative art form.
Goyer approaches screen writing from that angle, and because of that, he'll never focus creating a masterpiece or anything. He leaves some stuff intentionally blank for the production. I dig it.
EDIT: Mainly because if I had to compare myself to anyone, it's Goyer.
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OK, so we should never ever let you direct then. Goyer's Blade: Trinity was a sack of diarrhetic crap from start to finish. I'm all for watching Biel do sexy battle gymnastics, and I even like Ryan Reynolds. But that movie was horrible. And he interviews himself in the extras section of the video; I think he blew past his ego budget.
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He's got a really bad track record with directing.
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He's a terrible director, but most screenwriters are. It's easy to think that you can visualize a film one way and have the basic skill set to execute it behind the camera, but reality is entirely different.
... I'm not saying Goyer is a great person. I think he's kind of full of himself, but he's a solid writer. He'll turn in a solid draft that won't make or break your film. And if he's under assignment, he'll meet the deadline. He's a solid studio guy, the kind I can only hope to emulate.
His best stuff are scripts that he turns in and hands over to another writer to flesh out. But if you want to make a tentpole flick from the ground up, I would give him first draft every single time.
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And to elaborate, Goyer's weakness as a director is that he has no one to filter some of his misjudgments, which usually get jettisoned from rewrites in any other production. Instead, he can dial it up a notch and has a lot more creative control, which I rarely think is a good thing for any artist.