| Author | Message | ||
     Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.254.130 |
Though this is about scriptwriters/writing, I think all writers will relate to this in some way, shape, or form (or at least be amused): http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/why-he-will-not-read-your-fucking-script/ (... the irony, to me...? I've never heard of any of the movies this guy's done, except for of course, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE - which I'm on record here somewhere for also hating... and pretty much only because of the script!!!...) | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.77 |
Fucking loved that fucking piece of fucking wisdom. He's right Craig, and I can see why you put it up. Let's hope he's never watched Lars and the Real Girl, or DD.  For once we are in total awe-inspiring agreement. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.77 |
Now explain what was wrong with the script of A History of Violence??? I had to watch this several times before it finally grew on me. And usually with Cronenberg being my favourite director, it would take all of 0000.1 seconds for his magic and brilliance to captivate me. I'm slightly biased as far as DC is concerned. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.225.167 |
I thought that article inspired too, Frank.... I just found A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE ponderously slow, painfully so, and that it went nowhere I didn't see coming - I felt like as I was watching it, I were writing it - "He's going to do that," "Now she's going to do that," etc. - but this wasn't a vibrant, enthused anticipation, it was a "Yawn... he's going to do that... sigh, yup, he did." I was unmoved by it, and don't think it's DC's best. But, I'm in the minority.... | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.225.167 |
About 2/3's of the way down, someone posted the full text of a thread that's a few years old, from Terry Rossio's blog (he was co-screenwriter on SHREK and the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movies) about the woes of pursuing writing/screenwriting, which make Josh's original post look positively tame. It's quite long, I've read it before, but it's very good... if painful.... | ||
| Chris_morris (Chris_morris) Username: Chris_morris Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 12.165.240.116 |
I am reminded of Thomas Mann's famous statement that "A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people." | ||
| Chris_morris (Chris_morris) Username: Chris_morris Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 12.165.240.116 |
And, for the record, I too was unmoved by A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE. The acting was good, but the film contained few suprises, especially for a director well-known for them. As a result, I still haven't seen EASTERN PROMISES. I understand he wants to do Don DeLillo's COSMOPOLIS next -- this concerns me, too. I'm a fan of DeLillo's work, but COSMOPOLIS is a very weak novel indeed. Wonder whatever happened to Cronenberg's intention to do LONDON FIELDS? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.246.124 |
Don't bother with EASTERN PROMISES, then, Chris - I disliked that one even more than HISTORY (and let me repeat: I'm a Cronenberg fan).... Hey, Chris, what did you think of GAME 6? I loved it! I wish they'd make more movies of this ultra-rarefied caliber.... | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
I really liked eastern Promises. Ignore Craig. As has been established here on numerous occasions - he knows shit all about films. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.246.124 |
You only think you liked it Weber. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.77 |
Craig - disheartening as this is for me to state, but I think both you and Chris are right about the lack of surprises in A History of Violence. I disagree about the slowness of the film being a hindrance. I think the film's pace is it's strength. I don't think the film would have benefited from a speedier, more dynamic approach. I think the opening tracking shot establishes this from the very beginning. You have to admit the two leads were exceptional. I have yet to see Eastern Promises. Doing De Lillio. Hmmm. I've only read Underworld, and Libra. So, I can't comment on Cosmopolis, which is another of many books on my shelf I have to read. But just to support Weber's eloquent intrusion: CRAIG YOU DO REALLY KNOW FUCK ALL ABOUT MOVIES  | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.246.124 |
Frank - don't agree with Weber, ever - it makes you look bad - just let him dribble and gnaw in the corner, until we're ready to call him out to do his little dance.... | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.77 |
Ignore me, mate. I'm fickle, and I bed down with the winner of any thread. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.77 |
I think if you and Weber met in real life you'd either have a fist fight....or tongue each other to death  | ||
| Chris_morris (Chris_morris) Username: Chris_morris Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 12.165.240.116 |
>> Hey, Chris, what did you think of GAME 6? I loved it! I wish they'd make more movies of this ultra-rarefied caliber.... Y'know, I liked it pretty well. My wife rented it, actually, and I had no idea it was a DeLillo-related project until afterwards. I can't say it's all that DeLillo-esque, but it was a nice little film, with a nice performance by Michael Keaton. | ||
| Chris_morris (Chris_morris) Username: Chris_morris Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 12.165.240.116 |
Craig says ignore EASTERN PROMISES, Weber says see it. What should I do? I need more info. Weber, what did you think of A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE? | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.108.231 |
I saw something in my local Morrisons supermarket recently, and it really made me laugh. In the DVD section they had a drop of boxsets that were obviously all made by the same production company; factual documentaries, the titles of which were The History of Trains, The History of Boxing, The History of Football, etc. Well, one clueless (or humerous) member of staff had displayed The History of Violence in with them. It was there for several weeks. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.88 |
Steve - did you make that up, or is that really true? | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.108.231 |
Totally true. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.85 |
That's hilarious. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
While HOV didn't really surprise me I thought it was an excellent film. I really enjoyed it. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
I've got good taste in film and Craig is... Craig. Trust anyone in the world over Craig when it comes to film. Even the mouse my cat gave me for a present last night (well half a mouse - the back end of it was missing believed eaten) can give you a better opinion on most films than Craig can. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
EASTERN PROMISES is excellent. Much better than A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (a film about which I share some of the same reservations as Craig). | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.247.251 |
If the front half of that mouse is spouting movie reviews, Weber... you got a whole OTHER set or problems.... I hated the ending to EASTERN PROMISES, mostly, felt it very unsatisfying. I know I'm in a minority here too, since most liked it, but.... | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
...you know shit all about film... | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
I know the back end of the mouse keeps spouting movie reviews. It's been tracked down to America where it now seems to be using the name of the puppeteer character in Being John Malkovich. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.247.251 |
I've told the story about that, right?... How I had read Charlie Kaufman's written-at-that-time-going-around-Hollywood script CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND (a pretty good, underrated, non-remembered film!), and thought it simply the very best screenplay I had read up to that time. I dunno, my opinion's more than likely changed, but I just dug that script to no end. So I did what I never ever do - I wrote a gushy-squirty ejaculatory fan-letter to him, saying it was the best piece of writing I'd read to date. ... a year and a half later, here comes his very first movie, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. I sent him another letter, winking, and he winked back. Clearly, he was simply shocked any parent would beknight a child with so uglific a name, and that he had to endure it in his only fan, at the time.... It was bizarre seeing that in that movie, since the movie itself (all his movies, really) are about identity, reality vs. irreality, etc. And what's really odd... I even looked just like John Cusack from that film, at the time....  | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
The mouse is actually a professional film critic. It's not very good, but it manages to eke out a living. | ||
| Chris_morris (Chris_morris) Username: Chris_morris Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 12.165.240.116 |
Okay, I'll bite. I just added EASTERN PROMISES to my Netflix queue. | ||
| Chris_morris (Chris_morris) Username: Chris_morris Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 12.165.240.116 |
Craig, did you see SYNECHDOCHE, NEW YORK? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.247.251 |
Oddly, bizarrely, no, Chris... I've just not summoned that "mood" I think I need to be in to see it... though a good friend recently recommended it to me, saying I'd definitely like it... it's the lone Kaufman I've not seen (I even liked HUMAN NATURE!).... | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.247.251 |
The mouse is actually a professional film critic. It's not very good, but it manages to eke out a living. Normally your puns are light-hearted, but this one I found... oddly unsettling.... | ||
| Chris_morris (Chris_morris) Username: Chris_morris Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 12.165.240.116 |
Craig, SYNECDOCHE was my favorite movie of last year. Simply brilliant writing. Very original. I'm sort of interested to see what template you put it in ... | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.88 |
I've not seen SYNECDOCHE or Human Nature. To be honest, and laying myself open for Craig to rip me apart, I've never even heard of them. So, it's me who knows shit about films now. As for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, I thought it was superb. I have it and watch it every now and again. I always introduce it afresh to people who've never heard of it. Every single time it hits the mark. They then go away and recommend it to somebody else. Mission accomplished. Mind you, I have to tell them that it's Clooney's directorial debut to sell it them in the first place. But that's fine with me. I think Clooney makes quality, and acts in quality. Ever since him and Soderberg got together, with Pitt and Roberts and Damon, to name a few, the result has been great. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
"I think Clooney makes quality, and acts in quality" What's your explanation for his Batman? |