FANTASTILICIOUS FUN FOR FILM FANS 089: your top 10's of 2020 and most anticipated films of 2021?

1323335373859

Comments

  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,169
    No Nolan or Fincher? @Birdleson, you just gave me a heart attack. ;-)

    Also, I would add Michael Mann to the list.
  • I've actually posted about scientology in response to this point (it's no different to other religions) before and this is what I had to say then

    It's not what scientologists believe that bothers me (it's insane but so are all religious teachings really) it's what they do. It's not so much a religion but a pretty sinister cult that treats members badly (there are stories of people working for them being treated badly and then being charged thousands for leaving), scams people for money and has ruined the lives in the past of people who openly opposed them (by spreading lies, getting them arrested, etc).

    Also, while every religion has bad people normally those people are extremists and not a part of the church itself. And I can't think of another religion that charges you (if I decided to go to a church or mosque now I could do it for free, I wouldn't need to take some BS test and then be told that I need so spend loads of money) and isn't even open about its beliefs.

    This sums up my point

    http://www.badcult.info/

  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited February 2015 Posts: 24,169
    That's okay, @Birdleson. I always respect your opinion because you can so clearly state why something works for you or not, far clearer in fact than many of us, myself included, can. :-)

    I truly love those three guys. Nolan's scripts seem written not with a word processor but with a calculator. His cold intellectualizing of our world strongly appealed to me since his first film, Following. I haven't been disappointed by him once. I agree on the gimmick thing, but I'm perhaps an easy target for such things. ;-)

    Mann you like or you don't, I will give you that. What I appreciate about him are three things:

    - He knows how to make characters interesting and intriguing. He shows unlikely sides of them, nuanced and slightly ambiguous. Take HEAT. Do we really sympathise with the cop or are we more concerned about the criminals?
    - He picks DPs who can make his vision come alive in a very unique way. Discovering Dante Spinotti was the best thing that ever happened to Mann; working with Mann was the best thing that ever happened to Spinotti. When I watch Manhunter, I'm at times pulled out of the film by the sheer magic of the photography.
    - Musical choices help Mann to give his films a fixed spot in time. From Tangerine Dream's heavy synth score in 1981's Thief to HEAT's heart-pounding musical vibes during the bank heist, Mann's movies love to set a mood.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,789
    What about George Roy Hill?
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    edited February 2015 Posts: 45,489
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    That's okay, @Birdleson. I always respect your opinion because you can so clearly state why something works for you or not, far clearer in fact than many of us, myself included, can. :-)

    I truly love those three guys. Nolan's scripts seem written not with a word processor but with a calculator. His cold intellectualizing of our world strongly appealed to me since his first film, Following. I haven't been disappointed by him once. I agree on the gimmick thing, but I'm perhaps an easy target for such things. ;-)

    Mann you like or you don't, I will give you that. What I appreciate about him are three things:

    - He knows how to make characters interesting and intriguing. He shows unlikely sides of them, nuanced and slightly ambiguous. Take HEAT. Do we really sympathise with the cop or are we more concerned about the criminals?
    - He picks DPs who can make his vision come alive in a very unique way. Discovering Dante Spinotti was the best thing that ever happened to Mann; working with Mann was the best thing that ever happened to Spinotti. When I watch Manhunter, I'm at times pulled out of the film by the sheer magic of the photography.
    - Musical choices help Mann to give his films a fixed spot in time. From Tangerine Dream's heavy synth score in 1981's Thief to HEAT's heart-pounding musical vibes during the bank heist, Mann's movies love to set a mood.

    That is among the things I found impressive about Miami Vice. And no, I am not kidding. The choice of music was inspired and atmospheric and not mainstream in the slightest. During one manhunt gothkings Fields of the Nephilim blasted out. Along with the stylish photo, excellent cast and creepy atmosphere it made for one hell of a viewing.

    Never really understood when people say LTK feels cheap, like Miami Vice. MV never felt cheap, it was cutting edge tv back then.
  • Posts: 5,767
    I´m confused, why do we discuss two topics at once in this thread? I thought this is about the personal life of actors or directors influencing our reception of their films?

    Having said that, IMO Blackhat is the most underrated film of the last few years ;-).
  • M_BaljeM_Balje Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Posts: 4,514
    052
    Does the personal life of an actor / filmmaker affect your viewing experience?

    Yes. Inspecialy people who whant to share there personal life over and over again. But more what person you think you are and movies you make/be in.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited February 2015 Posts: 24,169
    <center><font color=#E9AB17 size=6><b>053
    </b>Are you interested in expanded universe material of your favourite movie franchises?</font>

  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,546
    Not particularly. The only example I can think of is Star Wars EU stuff and I just don't really care, despite liking the movies.
  • Agent007391Agent007391 Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start
    Posts: 7,854
    Some, yes. The Star Wars EU, yes. The Trek EU, no.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,169
    I tend to be very selective. Some EU's are impossible to keep up with. Take SW for example. Loads of comics, novels, games... I have played a couple of SW games and I have read some really great SW comics, but the whole SW EU is just too big for me.

    That's perhaps why I try harder when there's less to collect. ;-) I have read some Nightmare On Elm Street novels and comics for example. Same with The Matrix. But overall, yeah, I tend to pursue EU stuff of movies I love.

    I guess the biggest ones for me are Aliens and Terminator. Thanks to Dark Horse Comics wonderful omnibus collections, I can now honestly say I've read over 95 % of all available Aliens and Terminator comics, including some crossovers. I'm also particularly interested in the Aliens video games though I cannot claim to have played them all.

    Strangely, my favourite movies series of all, Bond, doesn't do too well in my EU collections. I have played NighFire, QuantumOfSolace and BloodStone on my PC and I have read two novelisations (GE and TWINE). Other than that though, apart from John Pearson's James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007, not much 007 EU for me. I tend to stick to my Flemings and Bond movies and books on the subject of Bond. I will say this though, I wish that a publisher like Dark Horse Comics or IDM could one day do a comic series starring Bond. I'd love that. As for the novels written by other guys than Fleming, I'm sorry, I couldn't care less. Especially the Young Bond novels totally escape my interest.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,789
    The comic James Bond: The Serpent's Tooth
    http://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/comics/st.php3
    was really good IMO.


  • Posts: 5,767
    The James Bond films are in a way an EU of the source material. Apart from that, I think I don´t care much. Mostly I don´t dig the quality. As much as I love the atmosphere or characters of my favorite movies, the reasons I love those films go far beyond that, it´s the whole package. And that is impossible not to change in an EU, otherwise it wouldn´t be an EU ;-). It´s even difficult enough to keep up the quality without an EU. Jaws 2 isn´t bad at all, but it comes knowhere near the first one.
    On the other hand, I like Prometheus even more than the Alien films.

    If there would have been a really good film with Jinx, I wouldn´t mind at all. I just can´t imagine such degree of sorcery. And it wouldn´t have to do with any of the ingrediences of the film she appeared in.
  • Posts: 12,526
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    <center><font color=#E9AB17 size=6><b>053
    </b>Are you interested in expanded universe material of your favourite movie franchises?</font>

    If this is another term for spin offs? Then no I am not, especially when it comes to Bond.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,169
    @RogueAgent

    Spin offs can be part of EU but EU mostly involves other media like books, comic books, games, webisodes, ...
  • Posts: 12,526
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    @RogueAgent

    Spin offs can be part of EU but EU mostly involves other media like books, comic books, games, webisodes, ...

    oh I see, misread the question. I have no objections in that sense as I have plenty of those in my collection.
  • M_BaljeM_Balje Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Posts: 4,514
    I am happy things that comes to my country, but there are enough things never be released or so limited that you get feeling it is not released. The James Bond car magazine's are the moost highlight i think. I like to see some good paper back editions of the novels, if needed 2 stories in one book / order of movies.



  • No spin-offs please.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,169
    <center><font color=#E9AB17 size=6><b>054
    </b>Should Spielberg have directed a Star Wars movie and if so, which one(s)?</font>
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    He could have done them all. The other Lucas franchise, Indiana Jones, was always more stylish than the Star Wars films.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,789
    He should have directed ROTJ. That would have given it the extra push it needed to be as good as TESB.
  • Agent007391Agent007391 Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start
    Posts: 7,854
    Maybe Return of the Jedi. Maybe. To be honest, I don't mind Return of the Jedi as it was, so if he had, I don't know if I'd have preferred it or not. He did direct a scene in Revenge of the Sith.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,169
    @Agent007391, can you remind me which scene that was, please? :)
  • Agent007391Agent007391 Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start
    Posts: 7,854
    Judging by the "Within a Minute" documentary on disc 2 of the DVD, it's the scene where Anakin and Obi-Wan are fighting on Mustafar and the giant arm-like platform that they're on gets knocked into the lava while they're climbing and fighting on it.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Also the duel between Yoda and Palpatine.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,169
    Thanks, guys.

    Spielberg was considered by Lucas for ROTJ but couldn't because Lucas had withdrawn his membership from pretty much every guild and as such Spielberg wasn't allowed to work on this film. I'm not sure how that works because Spielberg still directed the Indy movies.

    I nevertheless think that Spielberg could have done an amazing job with both Empire and Jedi. But because Empire is a great film already, the thought of having someone else direct the movie doesn't cross my mind very often. Jedi, by contrast, has multiple flaws to deal with, little things here and there that Spielberg in those years would never have allowed to pass. Also, since we are seeing some sort of "kiddifying" of SW with Jedi, Spielberg might made that more balanced. I still believe the Ewoks, though cute, should have been Wookies, as originally intended. I'm sure Spielberg could have worked miracles with a planet full of Wookies.
  • Agent007391Agent007391 Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start
    Posts: 7,854
    I believe that Speilberg was contracted to the Indy movies prior to Lucas leaving the Guilds.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Not sure which idea came first, but at one point they were also supposed to be menacing lizards.
  • edited March 2015 Posts: 7,653
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    <center><font color=#E9AB17 size=6><b>054
    </b>Should Spielberg have directed a Star Wars movie and if so, which one(s)?</font>

    could have but did not, I am not sure if it would have added anything to the series. For me the original trilogy is near perfect in execution, and I do not mind the directors cut of it with the exception of adding a different Skywalker at the end of Return.

    The prequels are better left somewhere out of the discussion as they were and are bantha poodoo imho.

    So the new installment does not have a great deal to live up to, if it is better than any of the recent SW movies it has not really to give it much effort.

    Spielberg is a great director but I do not feel it is a great lack to the franchise by not having him direct one.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    edited March 2015 Posts: 7,314
    If Spielberg had directed Jedi it might have looked a lot different. He's one of the few people that could actually approach Lucas about changing something without the fear of getting fired. But while he may have fixed some of it's flaws, we might also have lost some of the other things that I really love about Jedi. I'm not sure I'd want to make that trade. I'd be fascinated to see what David Lynch would have done with it. Can you imagine?

    It's hard to believe that any of the Prequels would not have improved with Spielberg directing so I suppose I'd pick one of them. Either Episode I or II as they need the most help.
Sign In or Register to comment.