TONITE: I watch. . .

[warcock]

warcock:  Children of Men paints what feels like a fairly realistic, atmospheric near future.  Mankind is on the brink of extinction, and not just because of the sterility issue.  The movie is increidbly immersive, and really, really nice looking.  

Despite having a science fiction/speculative setting, it touches on a number of relevant themes, from religion, to terrorism, and to how near mankind is from destroying itself at any given moment.  Despite dealing with Heavy Things, the movie never feels particularly preachy, though it does walk a fine line.  Also, despite dealing with heavy things, it's doesn't feel like a particularly heavy movie.  It spends some time establishing itself (this didn't bug me because the movie looks great and is very immersive, although some people apparently think it's too long), but once it gets moving, it's really a stone's throw away from being an adventure movie.

The actual plot, the movement of the story, is really fairly thin.  I felt like the whole purpose of the movie was to give me an overview of this near future, realistic world.  The whole movie feels really real.

Performances are fantastic, all around, and there are even some great action sequences, most notably a great gunfight towards the end.  And the whole movie looks jizzingly awesome.

well written post, thanks. Ill most likely rent it tommorow.

[CajoleJuice]

can we all agree the battlefield tracking shot at the end>goodfellas tracking shot?

is that even a comparison? jesus

[TVC15]

man I want jack nicholson to fuck me

[Ichirou]

man I want jack nicholson to fuck me

Oh, he will.

[warcock]

man I want jack nicholson to fuck me

You think hes hot :/

My uncle looks alot like him. Ill hook you up if he gets a divorce :/

[Vizzys]

the ending sucked

spoiler (click to show/hide)

"oh noes I'm bleeding"

"no thats me, lulz"

[close]

[TVC15]

SPOILERSZZZZ for The Departed


The last 40 minutes or so were great, but it really took that movie a while to get interesting.  There's also a fairly obvious plot hole (Barrigan--He graduated the same time as Damon; how would Frank have gotten two moles through academy at the exact same time without them knowing of each other), and the ending was a bit too twisty for its own good.

Overall, good, not great, and not even in Marty's top 5.  Pity oscars total.

[CajoleJuice]

You never answered my question.

CoM for Cinematography Oscar. Yay or nay?

[TVC15]

You never answered my question.

CoM for Cinematography Oscar. Yay or nay?

Probably. . .I do need to see Pan's Labyrinth in HD, though, and HD sometimes makes a HUGE difference, I've come to realize.

Final score for The Departed is 7/10.  It's entertaining, but it has some serious problems.  CoM trounces it for 2006 films.  I'm close to subtracting an extra bitterness point in order to counteract all the pity points Departed has gotten.

[CajoleJuice]

Fair enough. Seeing both in theaters, though...CoM fucking blew me away.

[TVC15]

Also, the female in The Departed played a significant role in the final payoff, but otherwise, she was pretty underdeveloped.  She had a few card scenes, but the plotty nature of the movie gave away a "surprise" turn for her once it became fairly obvious that she didn't really have a part to play in the main plot.  And sure enough, in the end, she is there to deliver the final zinger and then disappear.  We NEVER KNOW what her true feelings are, whether she's for Leo or Matt, and we never know what she feels like about Matt turning on her, aside from putting the call in to Marky Mark.  We know she must have hated him for his dishonesty, and that's it.  She, the only female character in the story worth mentioning, is nothing but a PLOT DEVICE, and a lame and obvious one at that.  Her character got about just as much development as the CITIZIN envelope that gave Matt Damon away (another plot device, and one that ended up being 100% inconsequential to the plot, wasting a nice little twist).

Those are the sorts of things that make me say the ending was a little too twisty for its own good.  These things, in movies, are supposed to resemble nice little packages; the ending here almost got that, but there were little issues.  The excuse "REAL LIFE DOESN'T MAKE NEAT LITTLE PACKAGES" will not hold up, so don't even try it--the whole movie made plays and references to symmetry throughout, so the lack of neatness in the ending is well, messy.

[brawndolicious]

children of men is an action movie and the apocalypse stuff doesn't really make much sense.  with the premise it had, I'd prefer if they took out having a "fertility goddess" and just focus on the time immediately after the infertility virus spreads so you can see character development that's much more radical and relevant, rather than "baby omg", but the way they did it is that they just went with a hostile government and terrorists so they could set up an action movie.  They could have still made a great action movie if they made the story first but I guess that's too much thought.  I haven't read the book and that might be a lot different (I know maf read it) so I need to read that.  An example of a really good action movie with an actually really good story is Rambo 1, the sequels were just pure action but the first one was probably the best action movie ever made because it was completely character-driven in addition to having huge explosions.

the departed sucks hard cock.

[warcock]

totally.


[youtube=425,350][/youtube]
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8M1KiXWWTxg

[bud]

tvc, did you get a goodfellas vibe from the first 15 minutes or so? i kinda did. overall, i thought the movie was great, though there were some weird story issues--like castello being an fbi informant. i'd wanted to see/hear more about that in the movie.

the best scene in the movie is when damon kills everyone in the elevator. that was so fucking awesome. it's like *door opens* and you expect them to walk out, but in 3 seconds he kills the cop cop and dicaprio. that was good stuff.

[BlueTsunami]

my problem with com's ending was that it wasn't ambiguous enough, and any interpretation other than the obvious one is the result of either a) cognitive dissonance; or b) a massive contrarian streak.

I agree with Drinky

If they were left ummmm, I think I'll spoiler

spoiler (click to show/hide)

If they were left floating in the row boat without any signs pointing to the Human Project? (kinda forgot the name) being near to pick up the child then it wouldn't have hooked me. I felt kinda cheated mainly due to the fact that it felt like half a movie to me, as if that would have sequed into some other aspect of the movie. I loved everything else about the movie though (Should have won for Cinemetography and Editing or something).

I understand it was supposed to be some Sad and Happy ending, hope for humanities future but its that type of semi-cookie cutter ending that made Blade Runners ending not as awesome (Theatrical Cut)

[close]

[Bloodwake]

My opinion on the Departed:

Out of all the movies nominated for best picture, the Departed was the most deserving.

Don't ask me to choose between the Departed, Children of Men, and Pan's Labyrinth though. All three of those movies were amazing and I thought all should have been nominated for best picture. Children of Men DEFINITELY needed to win at least best cinematography, because it's absolutely amazing. I love all three movies, and while the Departed has its flaws and it's definitely nowhere near as good as Goodfellas, it's definitely a good movie.

Honestly, I can't really complain about the Blu-Ray transfer for the Departed. I mean, it's not as good as Casino Royale or Clockwork Orange, but I've seen Blu-Ray transfers that are just lazily bad. I would describe the Departed transfer as adequate.

[Mupepe]

I have to say I enjoyed The Departed more than Children of Men. I love both movies though.

same here


Leo is incredible in the The Departed.

[Phoenix Dark]

SPOILERSZZZZ for The Departed


The last 40 minutes or so were great, but it really took that movie a while to get interesting.  There's also a fairly obvious plot hole (Barrigan--He graduated the same time as Damon; how would Frank have gotten two moles through academy at the exact same time without them knowing of each other), and the ending was a bit too twisty for its own good.

Overall, good, not great, and not even in Marty's top 5.  Pity oscars total.

Barrigan was kicked out of the academy remember.

[TVC15]

That doesn't explain the reason it can be seen as a hole.  It dfoesn't explain how Jack would manage to sneak two moles into academy at the same time without them knowing.  If he were trying to orchestrate that, it would be pretty difficult to do without each of them knowing about it.  It would be more believable if they were a few years apart.

The Departed, taken as an Academy Award winner, was totally underwhelming, and possibly the dumbest win since Forrest Gump.  The Prestige was even a significantly better and more entertaining movie than this.

It's thematically all over the place, too.  At first, what with the woman and all, I thought it was playing with themes about truth and honesty, but it quickly drops that, and in the last third it pulls the theme of identity out of its ass, without any previous build-up.  The movie is a mess, and it's lucky that it has an interesting last hour, or nobody would have bothered even remembering its title.

[Phoenix Dark]

forrest gump?  :'(

[Van Cruncheon]

BT:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

i think the ending should NOT have shown the rescue boat, but left the viewer with a brand of the same uncomfortable hope for the future that the survivors felt. showing the rescue boat was too easy an out for an emotionally difficult movie. if the movie is trying to earnestly demonstrate the desperate optimism of the human condition, it should NOT pull its last punch. clive owens' death was just a way of saying "see, we're still dark!" -- it seemed too hollywood, too much of the cinema martyr cliche. not as bad as green goblin's martyrdom, though!

[close]

[TVC15]

Of course, giving The Departed all sorts of pity Oscars creates all sorts of problems that will have to be addressed in the future.  What if Cuaron suffers the same chronic bad luck as Scorsese, and continues making great movies that, by chance, happen to be overshadowed by "better" movies?  What if he in some day wins a pity oscar in the face of some fresh new director that earned it, creating an endless cycle of pity oscars being awarded for lesser films.  Because I really, really doubt lightning can strike twice when it comes to something of the quality of Children of Men.  After all, Scorsese has made a lot of great movies, but he's never matched the quality of Taxi Driver or Raging Bull in his career.

As I said, The Departed isn't even in his top 5.

[Van Cruncheon]

forrest gump is schlock, dude. it is hollywood at its pompous worst -- when it is attempting to create an uplifting, gooey, populist piece of sentimental shinola couched in the shallowest language of critical appeasement.

[CajoleJuice]

BT:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

i think the ending should NOT have shown the rescue boat, but left the viewer with a brand of the same uncomfortable hope for the future that the survivors felt. showing the rescue boat was too easy an out for an emotionally difficult movie. if the movie is trying to earnestly demonstrate the desperate optimism of the human condition, it should NOT pull its last punch. clive owens' death was just a way of saying "see, we're still dark!" -- it seemed too hollywood, too much of the cinema martyr cliche. not as bad as green goblin's martyrdom, though!

[close]

Yea. It was kinda disappointing. It reminds me of how I feel about that tacked on extra scene in Se7en. But that's not as central to the ending, it's just tacked on.

[The Fake Shemp]

My biggest gripe with The Departed is the elevator sequence.  If you did a shot-by-shot remake using South Park characters and animation, without altering the dialogue whatsoever, it would be the funniest thing Matt and Trey had ever done.  That's because it's just so absurd - the only reason I can gather the audience didn't erupt into laughter was the tense way the previous bit of dialogue was exchanged.  That said, it's just ridiculous and that scene gets funnier and funnier as time passes.

[TVC15]

What's the extra scene in se7en?  It's been a while and I probably won't buy that until it is in HD.

[CajoleJuice]

What's the extra scene in se7en?  It's been a while and I probably won't buy that until it is in HD.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Just that part where they show Mills getting arrested and Morgan Freeman gives that voiceover. Fincher says in the commentary that he wanted to end it with that scene in the field. I agree with that.

[close]

[TVC15]

hmm, I want some Fincher tonite.  I guess I will put in The Game on HD-DVD

[Phoenix Dark]

hmm, I want some Fincher tonite.  I guess I will put in The Game on HD-DVD

 

dude that movie is AWESOME. and it's still suspenseful to me despite seeing like 10 times

[brawndolicious]

My biggest gripe with The Departed is the elevator sequence.  If you did a shot-by-shot remake using South Park characters and animation, without altering the dialogue whatsoever, it would be the funniest thing Matt and Trey had ever done.  That's because it's just so absurd - the only reason I can gather the audience didn't erupt into laughter was the tense way the previous bit of dialogue was exchanged.  That said, it's just ridiculous and that scene gets funnier and funnier as time passes.

yeah it's way too fucked up to be an story-driven movie but if somebody says it's just a plain crime movie I would accept it.  no where near the best film of last year though.

[TVC15]

Scorsese has to go to bed every night knowing he got his best picture and director awards for one of his weaker efforts.  That has to be at least a little troubling to him.  Mediocrity (for him) rewarded, while his masterpieces Raging Bull and Taxi Driver will be considered by the mainstream public to be also rans against what has been dubbed by the Academy as his most noteworthy work.

[Ichirou]

That is kinda sad...but he really wanted that fucking Oscar.

[Bloodwake]

Scorsese has to go to bed every night knowing he got his best picture and director awards for one of his weaker efforts.  That has to be at least a little troubling to him.  Mediocrity (for him) rewarded, while his masterpieces Raging Bull and Taxi Driver will be considered by the mainstream public to be also rans against what has been dubbed by the Academy as his most noteworthy work.

Taxi Driver especially is more deserving. What year was that, 1977? I've never seen Annie Hall so I can't say that Taxi Driver was better, but I would wager it was.

[TVC15]

Scorsese has to go to bed every night knowing he got his best picture and director awards for one of his weaker efforts.  That has to be at least a little troubling to him.  Mediocrity (for him) rewarded, while his masterpieces Raging Bull and Taxi Driver will be considered by the mainstream public to be also rans against what has been dubbed by the Academy as his most noteworthy work.

Taxi Driver especially is more deserving. What year was that, 1977? I've never seen Annie Hall so I can't say that Taxi Driver was better, but I would wager it was.

76.  Rocky won that year.  While I think Taxi Driver is a better movie, I can live at peace with Rocky winning.  I think Taxi Driver got a kind of mixed critical reception.