Musical Mondays Week 27 Baby Driver

[taylor anne photo 11311]

 

I saw on IMDB and this article : http://collider.com/...r-ansel-elgort/ that Emma Stone was being considered for Debora.

I'm sure she could've brought more to the character thank Lily did, BUT she went on to do La-La Land instead per IMDB

 

 

Though I definitely think she could've been a better Debora.. I think she made the better decision

 

Also--- Michael Douglas was being considered for Doc (Spacey's part) and Ansel beat out Lorgan Lerman and John Boyega for Baby.

 

I like to think about alternate casting and how different a movie could've ended up with a different cast.

And I can picture Michael Douglas as Doc and think he definitely could've pulled it off. And now wish it was him instead...

John Boyega would have been an EXCELLENT baby! But I think the role of Debora would have just had us all feel like Emma was completely under-utilized because, like Fister said, she really didn't have any character to her.

 

Also I could see how much Lily struggled to not use her British accent the whole damn time and it really bothered me.

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

Change Debora to Derrick and cast John Boyega in that role and all of a sudden the central relationship is a biracial gay couple and I WOULD BE INTO IT.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I feel like I'm really shitting on this movie lmao

 

I promise I loved it!!! I gave it 4 stars on Letterboxd and everything!

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Change Debora to Derrick and cast John Boyega in that role and all of a sudden the central relationship is a biracial gay couple and I WOULD BE INTO IT.

[tomspanks 9039]

Change Debora to Derrick and cast John Boyega in that role and all of a sudden the central relationship is a biracial gay couple and I WOULD BE INTO IT.

 

Oh, and cast Oscar Isaac as Baby?

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

 

Oh, and cast Oscar Isaac as Baby?

Not quite, but if you were to recast Doc as the Delicious Guatemalan that is Oscar Isaac I would... not hate it.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Oh, and cast Oscar Isaac as Baby?

[kateacola 2440]

 

Oh, and cast Oscar Isaac as Baby?

Lol.. watching the new Star Wars movie every time he showed up I was like

 

Lol. I guess I didn't notice in TFA.

Where was I??

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Lol. I guess I didn't notice in TFA.

Where was I??

[FisterRoboto 7499]

 

[grudlian. 4725]

I feel like I'm really shitting on this movie lmao

 

I promise I loved it!!! I gave it 4 stars on Letterboxd and everything!

This is how I discuss movies because all my friends say I don't like anything. I've had to consciously start conversations with "I loved this movie" before listing any issues I have with the movie.

 

To avoid digressing too much again, I agree with whay drone had said so far. Great movie with an okay second half, not enough female character development.

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

If we keep digressing into Star Wars, maybe we should do the Star Wars Holiday Special next, then to avoid talking about that horrid piece of mynock feces, we digress away from Star Wars into real musicals in that discussion thread.

 

Actually, no. We should not.

[IMAHUGEHDTGMFAN 1837]

Hello... I'm so happy for all the posts...

 

I have seen this movie more than 4 times (2 times in Venezuelan theatres and a week later it was available for streaming online because they had pushed the premiere like 3 months)

 

I have a decent quantity of notes (I won't post them all of them now, but ill share a couple)

 

The third time I saw it (at my home) I catched a "blink and you'll miss it" graffiti (as the Harlem Shuffle scene were the lyrics appear in various surfaces) in the Bellbottoms chase scene (I made a .gif) just after they back up from the bank then we hear "I Wanna Dance!"

 

 

And before the dinner date Baby stands against the car just as Debora does later in the movie

 

[FisterRoboto 7499]

So, I kind of disagree about the second half being a letdown. I really never got tired of the synched up action sequences. The "Tequila" shootout and the "Intermission/Hocus Pocus" chase were both really excellent. The whole time I was watching those, I was like, "Man, this is done so perfectly, but it's going to suck when some hacky director tries to rip this off and does it nowhere near as well."

 

My two problems with the movie (other than the aforementioned lack of characterization for either of the women):

 

1. The "Harlem Shuffle" sequence just doesn't work for me at all. It's supposed to be this cool, long shot where everything syncs up, but it ends up feeling like they wanted a dance number and instead came up with this thing instead. Tonally, it's a major shift from the rest of the movie, and it just really jerks me out of the film every time I watch it.

 

2. Wright clearly thinks a lot of his snappier dialogue is much more clever than it really is. For example, that whole sequence with The Butcher (who I only just now realized is not, in fact, Toby Jones) where he goes over the "cuts of meat" is just terrible. It reminds me of when people would watch really great indie crime movies in the late 90s and then try to match those movies' style and came up with some complete garbage (*cough* Boondock Saints *cough*). A lot of Spacey's lines are equally terrible, and it doesn't help that he delivers them in that really flat manner.

 

Other than that, though, I really enjoy this movie. I think one of the best things Wright did was to have Elgort speak as little as possible. Anna Silman wrote a really great review when the movie came out about how letting Elgort speak only when absolutely necessary is probably the #1 thing that makes this movie work.

 

And then there's Jamie Foxx. Personally, I fucking LOVE his performance in this movie. Yes, he's over-the-top bad, but that's also in keeping with the throwback vibe. In the 70s movies that inspired Baby Driver, it's always the strong, silent hero against mega-evil villain. Now, part of the reason that doesn't work all that well anymore is because our tastes have changed. We like to see more complex characters and sense out some redeemable traits in our villains. Where I think the movie stumbles is that they made Spacey the one with the somewhat redeemable characteristics and Foxx as just a pure monster (side note: I rewatched Heat recently, and I thought about Foxx's performance quite a bit in comparison to Waingro). Anyway, I'm pretty much all on board for Foxx in this.

[The_Triple_Lindy 2482]

I knew nothing about this flick when it was in theaters this summer and I knew nothing about it as I sat down to watch it tonight and I. Fucking. Dig. This. Movie.

 

Jon Hamm "falling to his death" thing was too convenient - as if the movie's trying to say see, Baby's not a really bad guy, he's not a murderer!

They spent a lot of time making sure we know that Baby is Good Guy. Except when he killed Jamie Foxx really brutally, but he was over the top Bad

At some point while watching, I said out loud, "Jamie Foxx is going to die spectacularly," because he's the antagonist in an Edgar Wright film and they all go out big. I thought that considering some of the over-the-top fatalities in Hot Fuzz and SotD, that both Batz and Buddy's death were rather toned down but still pretty glorious all the same.

 

The third time I saw it (at my home) I catched a "blink and you'll miss it" graffiti (as the Harlem Shuffle scene were the lyrics appear in various surfaces) in the Bellbottoms chase scene (I made a .gif) just after they back up from the bank then we hear "I Wanna Dance!"

The "Harlem Shuffle" sequence just doesn't work for me at all. It's supposed to be this cool, long shot where everything syncs up, but it ends up feeling like they wanted a dance number and instead came up with this thing instead. Tonally, it's a major shift from the rest of the movie, and it just really jerks me out of the film every time I watch it.

I caught this right away and in fact backed up to watch the sequence again because it was so cool. The camera work and pacing is so perfectly and smoothly matched to the music ... it's just fun to watch. But I do agree with Fister -- there's nothing else really like that moment in the movie.

So, I kind of disagree about the second half being a letdown. I really never got tired of the synched up action sequences. The "Tequila" shootout and the "Intermission/Hocus Pocus" chase were both really excellent. The whole time I was watching those, I was like, "Man, this is done so perfectly, but it's going to suck when some hacky director tries to rip this off and does it nowhere near as well."

 

I caught the beat-matched gunfire too! I LOVED that, such a cool touch and consistent throughout the whole film -- every time a gun was fired, it was on-beat.

 

I also like the subtle choreography in the laundromat, as Baby and Debora move around each other while tethered by the earbuds they're sharing.

[tomspanks 9039]

Other than that, though, I really enjoy this movie. I think one of the best things Wright did was to have Elgort speak as little as possible. Anna Silman wrote a really great review when the movie came out about how letting Elgort speak only when absolutely necessary is probably the #1 thing that makes this movie work.

 

I didn't know Ansel Elgort was public enemy #1 before I watched Baby Driver. The only thing I've seen him in was one of the Divergent movies and tbh nobody really came off well in that.

[PollyDarton 1807]

I loved this so much and also didn't know much about it. Great Job Max!

 

The way they used the music was really fucking cool. In some ways it was like a very purposeful and modern version of the Dark Side Of The Rainbow.

I love how the music goes from diegetic to non diegetic seamlessly and at some point you realize that any music you hear is just what is playing in Baby's headphones. He seems to be able to shape his own reality with his music... or at least the way he perceives it.

 

Did this movie make anyone else want to watch this movie?

 

And also - Is it wrong that it kept making me think of Dirty Dancing?

Yes? It is wrong? Agreed.

[grudlian. 4725]

 

I didn't know Ansel Elgort was public enemy #1 before I watched Baby Driver. The only thing I've seen him in was one of the Divergent movies and tbh nobody really came off well in that.

He's not the most hated cast member now...

 

If anything, I assumed people liked Ansel Elgort but I only knew him from Fault In Our Stars.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I didn't know Ansel Elgort was public enemy #1 before I watched Baby Driver. The only thing I've seen him in was one of the Divergent movies and tbh nobody really came off well in that.

Wait what did Ansel do...

[tomspanks 9039]

Wait what did Ansel do...

 

The reviewer said that "Not since Les Miz–era Anne Hathaway has there been a celebrity who stoked the fires of public hatred quite like Ansel Elgort."

[FisterRoboto 7499]

Wait what did Ansel do...

He's just kind of a douchey dude. Nothing that's like, "Oh, I can't watch his movies anymore" (at least not that I've heard)

 

 

The reviewer said that "Not since Les Miz–era Anne Hathaway has there been a celebrity who stoked the fires of public hatred quite like Ansel Elgort."

Also...I unashamedly have loved Anne Hathaway for years, and I never understood why everyone hated her so much.

[tomspanks 9039]

Also...I unashamedly have loved Anne Hathaway for years, and I never understood why everyone hated her so much.

 

Me neither. The article said it was around the Les Miserables era but I can't remember what she did around that time.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Me neither. The article said it was around the Les Miserables era but I can't remember what she did around that time.

God I remember that too but I legit can't remember why either. I don't think there was a reason for it tbh.

 

But I'm glad at least Ansel isn't on the cancel list lol. I can deal with a bit of a douchey attitude these days as long as he's not a racist misogynistic pig.

[tomspanks 9039]

But I'm glad at least Ansel isn't on the cancel list lol. I can deal with a bit of a douchey attitude these days as long as he's not a racist misogynistic pig.

 

The bar has been set so low these days, lol.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

The bar has been set so low these days, lol.

 

And somehow Matt Damon can't figure out how to just step over it...