THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES

[EvanDickson 30]

Time to hold my ever burning torch aloft for this in the new forums (with hopefully more online traction than the awil suggestion)!

 

Could even be a vs against THERE WILL BE BLOOD and NO COUNTRY (though I suspectoral it would get killed against those).

[SiSquires-Kasten 37]

Ugh. I really hate this movie. It's supremely well-acted but I found it overlong, obvious, and fantastically boring, and in contrast to There Will Be Blood and No Country (as well as to other recent Westerns like True Grit, Meek's Cutoff, Slow West, Brokeback, and the Tarantinos) I don't think it does anything novel or profound with the genre.

 

2007 was such a good year for film (in addition to TWWB and NCFOM, there's Zodiac, I'm Not There, Persepolis, Superbad, Juno, Knocked Up, Hot Fuzz, King of Kong, etc.) and I would hate to see Assassination get one of those rare post-2000 slots before a movie I genuinely like is up for debate.

[EvanDickson 30]

Respectfully disagree. I don't think it's obvious at all. In fact, while I love THERE WILL BE BLOOD, I find that to be the far more obvious film thematically.

 

As for Jesse James, a lot of people talk about its insight into nascent celebrity culture but I think its just as powerful an examination of the qualities that make people attractive to others in addition to what kind of acts society is willing to tolerate. How neediness and being "thirsty" can relegate someone to a particular perception. How the perception if public figures is binary. Good. Or Bad. How a criminal can be a folk hero as long as he doesn't betray the narrative that has been projected upon him/her.

[gene_shallot 79]

How can they say 'no' to your sheer persistence? Go get 'em sir, you've got moxie.

[EvanDickson 30]

How can they say 'no' to someone with this sheer persistence? Go get 'em sir, you've got moxie.

 

I brought it up to Amy in person on Saturday and watched her entire body chemistry recoil at the idea, but I still love her.

[ThomasRobertLee 3]

THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD is a hard yes from me.

[EvanDickson 30]

Now that there likely won't be a TWBB v TAOJJBTCRF episode lets circle the wagons around this one and another western it could go up against.

 

THE UNFORGIVEN (both are revisionist in different ways)?

 

 

[phred2321 57]

Now that there likely won't be a TWBB v TAOJJBTCRF episode lets circle the wagons around this one and another western it could go up against.

 

 

How about the 2007 remake of 3:10 to Yuma?

[EvanDickson 30]

How about the 2007 remake of 3:10 to Yuma?

 

While 3:10 TO YUMA made more than 10x as much money as JESSE JAMES I'm not sure it has (and this is with all due respect) any legendary ingredients. It has fantastic actors giving great performances, a really tight script and a good director doing good work -- but I just feel like it never becomes more than the sum of its parts.

[SiSquires-Kasten 37]

If we're gonna have an Assassination episode, I think Meek's Cutoff would be the perfect vs.

[Ryan L 57]

At the very least it would most assuredly get inducted into the very long titles canon.

[Impudent Lackwit 15]

I loved this when I first saw it, and even managed to see it in the theater which was no easy feat.

 

I've cooled on it substantially since. It's got good imagery and performances but it's definitely overlong and is, in the end, basically a lot of dudebro self-mythologizing. It doesn't really have a lot to SAY other than "Legends, man, amirite?"

[EvanDickson 30]

It's got good imagery and performances but it's definitely overlong and is, in the end, basically a lot of dudebro self-mythologizing. It doesn't really have a lot to SAY other than "Legends, man, amirite?"

 

Disagree. I think it's about neediness vs assuredness and how that dictates ones place not only in the masculine pecking order, but in the way the world at large defines people.

[Impudent Lackwit 15]

That's a fair analysis, and I am probably being dismissive about the film's thematic elements.

 

I have lost my appetite for very masculine-centric films over the years, even ones I formerly enjoyed. And I mean woo boy, this movie is ALL MAN - the most prominent female character is basically a mother hen with one prominent scene, Jesse's wife is in the background, and Zooey Deschanel gets ONE LINE in the theatrical cut.

 

Of course the film was infamously cut down to 160 minutes from something insane like 4 hours (though this article says that was kind of a myth - http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/exclusive-andrew-dominik-could-give-you-his-jesse-james-directors-cut-in-half-a-day) and I believe a lot of what was cut was the post-murder aftermath of Ford's life. I'd be interested in seeing that restored.

[EvanDickson 30]

 

 

Of course the film was infamously cut down to 160 minutes from something insane like 4 hours (though this article says that was kind of a myth - http://www.hitfix.co...t-in-half-a-day) and I believe a lot of what was cut was the post-murder aftermath of Ford's life. I'd be interested in seeing that restored.

 

Yeah, that cut wasn't four hours. Assembly was probably. I've seen alt scenes from one of the cuts. And Dominik was, to my understanding, in the room for the changes made to theatrical version (not sure about that 100 minute version). I actually think the aftermath stuff plays perfectly. Hugely affecting.

[RobertBoberts 62]

I started off thinking it was a little boring but by the end I was so into it that I immediately watched it a second time. Its honestly my favorite film from that year with There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men at numbers 2 and 3. I usually don't make lists but all 3 movies were amazing and stood out for that year.

[EvanDickson 30]

I started off thinking it was a little boring but by the end I was so into it that I immediately watched it a second time. Its honestly my favorite film from that year with There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men at numbers 2 and 3. I usually don't make lists but all 3 movies were amazing and stood out for that year.

 

Agreed. It feels weird to call any one of these great films "better" than the others but I reach for jj the most.

[WilliamMendoza 3]

Great film but Chopper is better.

[EvanDickson 30]

Great film but Chopper is better.

 

Why do you think this? I like CHOPPER quite a bit, mind you.

[killyourdarlings 3]

What about a versus against the 2010 True Grit remake? .

[RobertBoberts 62]

The only thing (modern anyway) that would have been difficult at all would have been vs There Will Be Blood. I don't know if it needs a versus.

[EvanDickson 30]

The only thing (modern anyway) that would have been difficult at all would have been vs There Will Be Blood. I don't know if it needs a versus.

 

I think it may need a vs to pull in listeners since not enough people saw it. At least in its theatrical run.

[RobertBoberts 62]

 

 

I think it may need a vs to pull in listeners since not enough people saw it. At least in its theatrical run.

 

But that's why it shouldn't be a versus. If people haven't seen it, now they might and would be going in with an open mind as opposed to putting it against an already popular movie. I get the impression that versus episodes are for two very popular movies that are difficult to choose between, while stand alones are more for movies that either are critically acclaimed but lesser known or well known but debatable as to whether it is canon.

[EvanDickson 30]

But that's why it shouldn't be a versus. If people haven't seen it, now they might and would be going in with an open mind as opposed to putting it against an already popular movie. I get the impression that versus episodes are for two very popular movies that are difficult to choose between, while stand alones are more for movies that either are critically acclaimed but lesser known or well known but debatable as to whether it is canon.

 

Yeah, but I can understand the need to make sure people listen to the episode to begin with.