Oh I'm sorry, Did I Break Your Conversation........Well Allow Me A Movie Thread by S&T

[licensed to ball]

Paul Walker was great in runnin scared.

 

[plansb]

Layer Cake
Running Scared (Paul Walker one)
Heartbreakers (Love Hewitt in her prime, and somehow awesome cast,. very underrated throw away film)
Trance
Wolf of Wall Street (perfect for when you have a lot of time to kill)

 Thanks man, i have seen all but Heartbreakers.  From the feedback on here, seems like a good one, and the wife might even enjoy it as well....

 

[arrjae2]

watched Metro Manila last night.
didnt expect much, but i thought it was pretty good.

 

[Kimchi Papi]

^ Where did you see that? Netflix? It does look interesting. I love a good foreign flick.

 

[kevin cleveland]

Chris Evans has retired from acting, and subsequently became my new hero.

"Everybody goes and sees Fantastic Four, but nobody sees Sunshine," groans Evans, making his loyalties clear.

He hinted at his anxiety issues in an interview with Moviefone, saying, "I think the main reason I struggle so much in press is because I’m usually promoting a piece of ****.

Evans happily promotes the indie Puncture, where he plays a drugged-up lawyer. It makes a meager $68,945 at the box office. "No one sees my good little movies, man," Evans laments.

The Avengers is released. It is huge. Evans seems more morose than ever. "I’ve made about 20 movies," he says, "and I’m probably proud of three."

http://www.vulture.com/m/2014/03/ti...ans-got-tired-of-fame.html?mid=facebook_nymag

Not that I pity him, but being typecast in ****** action films because you fit the mold, when you actually care about the consciousness of your roles... That, I feel bad for him about.

Probably tough to walk away from being a huge "movie star," and it took him too long to commit to what he already knew and wanted, but good for him.

And especially good for him for spitting on those movies along the way. Never knew any of that. The fact that he was still getting those roles/not getting released from those contracts while openly giving such quotes is hilarious.

 

[awwsome]

@ Chris Evans

He wasn't crying when them checks cleared though, I'm sure a lot of actors in big budget garbage feel the same way but just don't say it.

 

[CP1708]

Kev, have you seen Evans in the movie London? Biel, Statham are in it as well.

I live Evans, always have. Sucks he's not happy, but he could change his mind in time and he's earned the right to do what he wants.

Funny timing tho, cuz his star is about to shine bright with the new Cap. Reviews are gushing already.

 

[sb]

picked up wolf of wall street. my body is ready to watch.

 

[denni5themenace]

i had no idea chris evans played the main role in "not another teen movie"

 

[mronegative]

"Everybody goes and sees Fantastic Four, but nobody sees Sunshine," groans Evans, making his loyalties clear.

Good guy Chris.

i had no idea chris evans played the main role in "not another teen movie"

When they were countin down big dudes concussions til he dies.
"I'm the token black guy...all I'm supposed to say is 'damn, ****, and that's wack.'"

That used to be my movie.

 

[Hahahaha]

I'm a fan of Heartbreakers. Cast was great.

Great interview by Evans. He was hilarious in Not Another Teen Movie. That was the first movie I saw him in.

 

[plansb]

I loved the football coach in Not Another Teen Movie, GOT-DAMNIT!  

 

[danikerhino]

"Janie's got a gun.....Janie's got a guun..."

 

[fraij da 5 11]

[h1]  [/h1]

[h1]Ranking The 20 Greatest, Most Celebrated Long Takes[/h1]
FEATURES
BY JESSICA KIANG
MARCH 27, 2014 2:39 PM
49 COMMENTS

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This weekend, “The Raid 2” opens, in all its chop-socky glory, in limited release and will expand in the weeks to come. Continuing on from the original “The Raid,” though by all accounts (ours included) creating fight scenes even more fluid and flabbergasting than its predecessor (which was pretty much all one fight scene), it employs many takes of above-average length to give an extra edge of realism and dynamism to the old ultra-violence. This approach characterized Gareth Evans' shooting style last time out too and still feels like a refreshing counterpoint to the hyper-kinetic Michael Bay school of editing, which often feels like it’s hiding as much as it’s showing. 

But if the use of long takes in action sequences is still a relatively novel phenomenon, the cinematic history of the extended take in general is much longer and we thought we’d take this opportunity to choose our favorites. This turned out to be a timely endeavor, because as you may know, recently a debate has kicked off in the (God forgive me) blogosphere about whether or not critics and film commentators should talk and write more about the form and craftsmanship aspects of filmmaking than they (we) currently do. 

Sparked off by a well-written, interesting and articulate post by Matt Zoller Seitz over on RogerEbert.com  with which we disagree so violently we may have dislocated something, the debate actually has some bearing on this feature: it is, after all, about a group of films that are sharing column space based on formal rather than thematic or narrative similarity. And yet, for us, that’s exactly the paradox that hovers round the fringe of this list: contrary to the kind of analysis after which Seitz seems to hanker (echoing Andrew Sarris, among others), our own impulses are always toward the description of the effect  of a particular technique on one’s understanding of the story or mood, rather than on the technique itself. So where Seitz states “Films... are made by filmmakers. Write about the filmmaking” we’d have to counter with “yes, but films are made for viewers. Write  for  the viewer.” How much do any of us, as viewers, want to know how the sausage is made, and how much do we just want to know, in the most literate and insightful way possible, that it’s going to taste delicious?

Yes, we digress, but this was all on our minds when we assembled our list of long takes, because as much as we dislike the feti****ation of form over content, in that debate, the long take may well be ground zero, as it’s one instance of formal experimentation that is often so ostentatious that even the casual viewer, or the most determinedly story-oriented critic, can and does pick up on it. Those cases may make for impressive moments, but ultimately, they can also break a film’s spell and so, while we’ve of necessity included a few, mostly we’re heavily weighing our picks toward extended takes that have a definite narrative purpose outside of “look at me! I haven’t used a cut in minutes!” Why? Because even here, in a feature about a formal convention, we’d rather talk about story than style. We’re incorrigible. 

20. "Panic Room" (Fincher, 2002) DP: Darius Khondji, Conrad Hall
So let's start by totally breaking the augment-the-storytelling rule with this almost insultingly show-offy, CG establishing shot floats impossibly through banisters, coffee pot handles, into and out of keyholes and then through the ceiling. The technical virtuosity here is inarguable, and warranted it a spot on this list alone, but we’d argue it’s also an example of putting form before content to a detrimental degree. The house feels porous, the geography malleable, when it should be confining and contained, and the claustrophobia of the premise is undercut by the sense, established early, that there is someone else already in the house—the inquisitive, omnipotent camera. 
19. "Werckmeister Harmonies" (2000) Director: Bela Tarr DP: Patrick de Ranter
There are some directors for whom long takes are not so much a tool in their arsenal as a way of life, and not-for-everyone Hungarian maestro Bela Tarr can definitely be counted among those. Indeed the 145-min Harmonies' is a series of just 39 languid shots (the average film has 5000-ish cuts), but this particular scene does stand out for its complex staging and for its creepy absence of dialogue as the invading thugs lay waste to a hospital with almost lobotomized violence. And then the weird reverie culminates in an oddly beautiful tableau as they come across an old man, naked as a martyr, and shame, one of the themes of the film, overcomes them. 

18. "Atonement" (2007) Director: Joe Wright DP: Seamus McGarvey

Another instance of a long take that is rather self-conscious in its placement in the middle of film that otherwise doesn't employ this same style, this epic shot from "Atonement" may be atypical, but the complexity of its choreography alone, as well as its ambition (to capture the chaos and hope and tragedy of Dunkirk) can't be faulted. But there's also something artificial about it, almost theatrical (though the stage is vast) that gives it a heightened, hyperreal feeling—every moment is so packed with incident and detail that, like a couple of other instances on this list, it's a shot that could almost stand alone outside of the film which it ostensibly serves.

17. "Hard Boiled" (1992) Director: John Woo DP: Wang Wing-Hang

With "The Raid" movies and the films of Tony Jaa, among others, gaining recognition for their graceful, often long-take approach to action, we should remember that there was a time when the word "balletic" was reserved as a descriptor for action scenes from the original ballet master, John Woo. "Hard Boiled," his last Hong Kong film before decamping to Hollywood (to diminishing returns, we'd say), is one of his best not only gifting us that iconic image of Chow Yun-Fat with a baby in one arm and a shotgun in the other, but also this bravura 2m40s shootout (which includes a 20 sec elevator conversation during which the crew reset the entire set).

16. "The Earrings of Madame de..." (1953) Director: Max Ophüls  DP: Christian Matras

An avowed influence on Kubrick and Paul Thomas Anderson, and pretty much any other filmmaker who's ever moved their camera, Ophüls' more famous, and longer, long take is the opening to "La Ronde," but this one just feels more special to us. Here, combining movement with mise-en-scene and framing, the shot serves the story absolutely by introducing a character and a milieu so succinctly. But then, this whole list could be dedicated to Ophuls, whose style even caused James Mason to write a poem: 

A shot that does not call for tracks

Is agony for poor old Max,

Who, separated from his dolly,

Is wrapped in deepest melancholy.

Once, when they took away his crane,

I thought he'd never smile again.

Continued here: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/ranking-the-20-greatest-long-takes-20140327 

 

[arrjae2]

^ Where did you see that? Netflix? It does look interesting. I love a good foreign flick.

nah. one of those streaming sites i got the link tho

and its directed/written by the same person who did Cashback

 

[calikev34]

^thank you for that article

Her is playing at our local dollar theatre omg

I thought I wouldn't be able to catch this, bc we usually only get major releases like Hunger Games or LOTR

 

[Master Zik]

Chris Evans is full of ****.

I can understand being frustrated but his ego got him a bit fooled at this point. Hollywood will always prop up and give more attention to the proven blockbuster over more passionate and meaningful works. With that said Evans isn't even that good of an actor and he doesn't have a whole lot of great performances under his belt nor has he been a big part of a lot of actually good movies. The way he's talking you would've thought he was Tom Hardying it up the past few years unnoticed.

So yeah maybe he should just direct and see how that goes for him.

 

[servechilled81]

whole time i'm reading that Chris Evans post I was picturing Chris Pine.  I always confuse the two.

Lucas Lee was that dude

 

[venom lyrix]

Chris Evans has retired from acting, and subsequently became my new hero.



http://www.vulture.com/m/2014/03/ti...ans-got-tired-of-fame.html?mid=facebook_nymag

Not that I pity him, but being typecast in ****** action films because you fit the mold, when you actually care about the consciousness of your roles... That, I feel bad for him about.

Probably tough to walk away from being a huge "movie star," and it took him too long to commit to what he already knew and wanted, but good for him.

And especially good for him for spitting on those movies along the way. Never knew any of that. The fact that he was still getting those roles/not getting released from those contracts while openly giving such quotes is hilarious.

I like his way of thinking, but the only way he can change perception is following the Matthew McCounaughey route - TAKE A STAND and take on new roles and don't go back to the genre you're "not proud of"

 

[venom lyrix]

whole time i'm reading that Chris Evans post I was picturing Chris Pine.  I always confuse the two.
Lucas Lee was that dude

IDK why you confuse them, they don't look anything alike and Chris Pine is a AWFUL actor

 

[servechilled81]

they might not necessarily favor, but they seem interchangeable to me, which I guess is part of why Evans is upset

 

[venom lyrix]

Review: Snowpiercer
------------------------------


An empty world, destroyed and abandoned has been a popular starting point for many films over the years. Creating a concept that allows a scenario like that to make sense is a challenge many directors and writers struggle with. We've been waiting a long time for Bong Joon-ho's English film debut, and when the cinema world heard about Snowpiercer we all got giddy with excitement.

Adapted from the French comic book series, the film stars Chris Evans as one of the few survivors on Earth after an attempt to combat global warming goes wrong and in turn freezes the world. 17 years after the apocalyptic event, an enormous train is the only means for survival, and everyone who outlasted the freeze is on it. Separated by social class and worth, we the viewer are thrown right into the fire as tensions build and those in the back, who live like peasants, devise a plan to get to the front of the engine and overthrow the almighty Wilford (Ed Harris).

Snowpiercer is a brilliant story, captured through an amazing lens and vision with a magnifying glass on communal structure and order. Joon-ho was able to maneuver his way with a stellar cast through a singular train and paint a gritty tale of perseverance.

Essentially what we have here is a few themes thrown together; uprising, struggle, a road to salvation (front of the train), over throwing a corrupt power system and more. So think The Raid, The Wizard of Oz and a few more socially aware films, that's what came to mind in my eyes. Evans' Curtis along with the younger sarcastic Edgar (Jamie Bell) lead the revolt to the front, paired with the older wisdom of John Hurt's Gilliam and the motherly ferocity of Octavia Spencer.

After the initial push and they make it through the first set of doors, they meet Namgoong Minsu (Song Kang-ho), a security expert who created the train's locked doors along with his clairvoyant daughter Yona (Ko Ah-sung). This odd father and daughter pair agree to help the group with their journey forward in exchange for futuristic hallucinogenic drugs, it's quite bizarre. The trek through seemingly an endless amount of train cars comes to a halt when Curtis encounters Mason (Tilda Swinton), a smug and devilishly funny lieutenant to Wilford. Grotesque teeth and an accent similar to Mini Driver's in Good Will Hunting, she provides a level of comic relief to a very serious story.

While the film relies heavily on the use of CGI to portray the outside world, the train and a few other sequences, it unfortunately does so rather poorly. That being said, the ideas Bong has created and brought to life are so insane that seeing it come to life is exhilarating. The set design of each train car done by Ondrej Nekvasil are massive and so detailed while Hong Kyung-pyo’s cinematography and Steve M. Choe’s editing make for as crisp of a delivery as anyone could want in a film.

As the trek to the front progresses the band of miscreants are met with sizable challenges, mostly of Wilford's army. While they have guns, since so much time has passed since the freeze they have run out of bullets. Once this little factoid is discovered it becomes a fight similar to that of Roman times, brute force against force. Bloody and choreographed, the fight scenes are dramatic and dark, metal train doors painted with the blood of citizens from the caboose of the train and the trained militia from the front.

The end of the film leaves you questioning everything from survival instincts to if the law of order maintained on a train like this is for the better. This futuristic setting is enhanced by it's cast of characters as Joon-ho allows ample time for subtle character development. We establish emotional ties with them, each serving a purpose and holding a specific place in a normal-to-them environment.

During a time where the word dystopia is being attached to every other film hitting theaters, it's refreshing to get something far more edgier then a YA novel adaptation that's often times dulled down and covered in unnecessary excess. Snowpiercer is a harsh take on ruling with an iron fist and the people who are willing to do what it takes to make a change. Evans has never been better and if this is the type of crossover we can expect from Bong-ho then I welcome his future projects with open arms.

Rating: B

 

[venom lyrix]

Seated for Noah

 

[macbk]

The 1-take from Hard Boiled is unreal :x .

 

[lawdog1]

Chris Evans is full of ****.

I can understand being frustrated but his ego got him a bit fooled at this point. Hollywood will always prop up and give more attention to the proven blockbuster over more passionate and meaningful works. With that said Evans isn't even that good of an actor and he doesn't have a whole lot of great performances under his belt nor has he been a big part of a lot of actually good movies. The way he's talking you would've thought he was Tom Hardying it up the past few years unnoticed.

So yeah maybe he should just direct and see how that goes for him.

Was thinking the same thing. Not like anyone is forcing him to take roles in crap movies. And he's been in a lot of them. Other actors manage to strike a balance between box office draws and more serious work. Why can't he? Hell, even Chris Pine (who I also get Evans confused with) has done it.