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Johnny Unusual

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Posts posted by Johnny Unusual

  6. Posted

    This is a fantastic movie. Is it crazy? Sure, although I think people have oversold that aspect. It's quite intelligent and a hell of a ride. Could they do this? Hmm.... It would be closer to one of the movies like Road House or Fast and Furious where it is good, but crazy. Of course those good but crazy movies were also dumb. This feels like a movie with a director much more in control. The only real negative thing I can say is that the lizard shots were rather self-indulgent but apart from that it has a fascinating main character and Cage uses his crazy acting style to it's strengths.

     

    I think it's easy to dismiss the lead as another crazy performance, but there really is a lot going on with him. He's sort of like a more whacked out version of popular TV anti-heroes like Vic Mackey and Walter White. The character is consistent, but it is hard to get a bead on him. You can't easily peg him as a hero or villain. He clearly has some values and is competant despite his completely self-destructive nature (I love that you expect things to really blow up... and they don't), but it doesn't stop him from being a disgusting human being.

     

    What's more, the crazy-ass stuff is basically supposed to be as darkly funny as you find it (something that comes up a lot in Herzog, check out Klaus Kinski's freak-out scene in Fitzcarraldo when he tries to play opera for people in the middle of a party).

     

    So should this be an episode...

     

    I don't think it could sustain a regular episode. It's just not that kind of movie. I can understand those who don't like the movie, but I think you need to be a certain kind of movie to be on the show and this is not one.

    • Like 3

  8. Posted

     

    As did I, but now I have fucking fanboys calling me out saying people who liked it are not real fans. Granted these people calling themselves mighty Thor or Tony Stark99 were only "die hard fans" of Iron Man and Thor after movies were announced and know nothing of my bookshelves of comics/graphic novels. If it wasn't the twist of him not being the Mandarin they would have complained about him not being Asian enough or that he didn't use his magic rings. Fanboys are the reason we have the saying of "this is why we can't have nice things."

     

    Yeah, guys who say that other people "aren't real fans" are elitist pricks (no offense to forum member Elitist Prick) and is no different than some conservative talking about "real America." It's all real.

     

    I like the twist a lot, though I only thought the movie was just OK. But what I appreciated was the fact that it really felt like a Shane Black movie, just as Avengers felt like a Joss Whedon movie and Cap was in Joe Johnston's style. Marvel is really letting the writers and directors inject their personalities into their films, which makes me really hopeful for James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy and Edgar Wright's Ant-Man

     

    The Mandarin doesn't bother me, but to play devil's advocate, I can understand why it would, even if some of the people are being kind of bitchy about it. For example, though the film has it's defenders, the Keanu Reeves portrayal of Constantine really bugs me since the movie has him as more of a generic demon fighting guy while the comic is about a clever supernatural con man. There are probably fans who love the character of the Mandarin who are disappointed to see such a departure and...

     

     

    ******Spoilers***********

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Their favourite villain treated as a joke. Granted, you can also say that Guy Pierce is the Mandarin, but he's more of a villain in the Obadiah Stane/Justin Hammer model, but with powers and really doesn't reflect the comic character. And this is probably the only version we'll see for a long time. So if you are a Mandarin fan (which I guess must exist, right?) you are not going to get the chance to see him realized as you like him.

     

     

    But I don't think the movie needed to be slavishly loyal to the comics and I think the choice made sense for the film. and Kingsley was a delight. I will say the scenes where he's villainous are still effective despite the fact that it was all a ruse.

     

    Personally, I'm OK with it all. I understand a counter-argument, but if you have that argument, don't be a dick about it and say people who liked the thing you didn't shouldn't. I also have serious problems with the V for Vendetta movie because I feel they really misinterpreted a lot of the material and made it a lot more simple, but I think it's a perfectly OK movie on it's own.

  9. Posted

    Yeah, I think sometimes the art is better than the artist, a sort of dovetailing of what is intended and what occurs naturally from outside sources. Shame it seems that everything else he's done is bad, but I think this is probably a M. Night scenario: he still has ideas and ambitions, but he doesn't have enough of the proper talents to make another good movie. This isn't to say that either are talentless, but they use their talents poorly and they don't have the talent to... well... control their talent. Sort of like modern day Frank Miller: there's still originality and creativity but in service of poorly conceived or wrongheaded works.

    • Like 1

  15. Posted

    The thing about this movie is that it doesn't seem like a so-bad-it's-good movie and that sitting through it is a grueling exercise in endurance. It doesn't sound like it's particularly ridiculous, just unpleasant. Simply being a bad movie isn't enough, it needs a certain something, and not simply a movie that wallows in unpleasantness. And whether you love it or hate it, I get the feeling that the creators accomplished what they set out to do: create an endurance test. I certainly recommend Dancer in the Dark or Funny Games because they are difficult to watch or are audacious.

    • Like 2

  16. Posted

    I might have missed someone else saying this, but the director David deCoteau is also the director of the 1313 line of homo-erotic (intentionally) genre movies.

     

    The one that grabbed my attention was a slasher movie about an actor who is angry that he is losing parts to attractive models. It's called Actor Slash Model. As awful as I'm sure it is, that's a great title.

  17. Posted

    Yeah, I love Ray Wise, so this bit of news is a bit disturbing.

     

    Anyway, while you might not be able to discuss it apolitically, this goes beyond a belief that is more popular among people with views rather far from the mainstream, but rather a shitty movie that does a VERY bad job in making the case for that worldview. Not that I think the guys would have a problem discussing the idea.

     

     

    This looks pretty odd. I love the Colbert bit about the fact that basically everything the protagonist says makes him seem like a bad guy in a normal film.

     

    Also, railroads? Shouldn't this be a period piece?

    • Like 1

  21. Posted

    I highly doubt this is going to happen. The guys had their fill of Boll and I don't think they're going back there again for a long time, if ever.

     

    Here's the trailer... because I love trailers

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