Serious Movie Discussion

[Bullitt68]

Originally Posted by BayAreaGuy

Hmmmm..... I thought just the opposite. I thought the music and when he used it added to the movie making many scenes even more exciting where it otherwise wouldn't be.

Like after Plainview made the deal to buy the land, they played that violin music of him buying up more land, and then when he talked to the folks in the town, the immediatly switched to the slow piano music and showed the workers coming to down doing there thing.

Also the scene where they struck oil and they played that upbeat music, that made the whole thing more excting.


I thought it was brilliantly done with the music, and the writing and directing as a whole even though there wasn't much of a story.

This was just my first viewing. I'm sure I'll see it a half a dozen times more in the next few years and it might grow on me, but as of right now, I just didn't think a lot of the pieces fit the scenes they were used in, I didn't like how pervasive the music was, and I thought a lot of scenes could've used ambiance instead of music.

Originally Posted by JSN

the film was severely flawed to me for several reasons, but the biggest was because of the rivalry between plainview and eli. it didn't make sense, and it would have made sense to make it make sense in the film- we want oil mixed up with religion, just like the neoncons.

I know what you mean. I didn't think it made much sense either and I actually had to fast-forward during his arthritis sermon because it was just too ludicrous for me, but their dislike did make the ending more enjoyable when DDL gets his revenge on him.

"I am a false prophet. God is a superstition."

I found that scene quite funny

Originally Posted by jrdenn

The score was off but you have to say that DDL was remarkable, I have to say that he may be the greatest actor I've ever see. A Brit who just took on the personality of a 19th century western oils man was incerdible.

Remarkable? Yes.
Greatest actor? No.

Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando, and Spencer Tracy are all superior to DDL. If I were to actually sit down and make a true best actor list, he'd probably be in the top ten if not the top five.

I just hope this isn't his last big performance. He doesn't have the world's largest resume as it is, and now after what's arguably his greatest achievement in acting and one of the best individual performances of all time, it's possible he become a journeyman of sorts, acting in a little film here and a little film there, never again having a performance the magnitude of There Will Be Blood, and if that's the road he takes, it'd be very unfortunate.

[Three Gun Fish]

Originally Posted by Bullitt68

Okay, once again I'm ready to have an unpopular opinion: I think There Will Be Blood was overrated.

I just got done watching it and I enjoyed Daniel Day-Lewis' performance, but the film on the whole was probably a solid C+/B- effort on PT's part. My biggest problem was the score. I thought 95% of the music just didn't fit the film, and what's more, he had almost the entire film scored. There were very few scenes where there wasn't an undercurrent of music, and not so ironically, it's those scenes that were the best.

PT should watch No Country for Old Men and take notes on proper sound design.

You clearly have no idea what you are talking about. And I believe COUNTRY to be the superior film. This post is CRAZY.

[Bullitt68]

Originally Posted by Three Gun Fish

You clearly have no idea what you are talking about. And I believe COUNTRY to be the superior film. This post is CRAZY.

*Shrugs*

What can I say? I didn't like the score nor did I like how pervasive it was, and DDL's performance aside, I didn't think it was anything all that special on the whole.

I do agree, though, that No Country was better, and its sound design was INFINITELY superior.

Seriously: PT could learn a thing or two from watching that movie and noting the use of ambiance, of how some scenes of silence were practically deafening because of the heightened tension achieved.

I think it was on Die Hard where John McTiernan mentioned on the commentary track how a lot of filmmakers don't give credence to how effective silence can be.

[Three Gun Fish]

Originally Posted by Bullitt68

*Shrugs*

What can I say?

YOU CAN SAY YOU'RE GOLD DURN CRAZY THAT'S WHAT YOU CAN SAY.

He said, winking all the while.


Myself, I loved the music. Besides DDL and some of the picturesque imagery, the soundtrack was pretty much what I liked about the movie. It was the supporting character, but inside Plainview's mind. From note one it was a song of unease and separateness. Man's batshit nutty and nuttier by the second. Although I don't think BLOOD was all that great, I cannot deny it's a well-wrought film. Compositions were beautiful, especially in the theater. BLOOD's magnitude is fully realized on the big screen. Sound and sight, one is enveloped by the life of this faraway man.

[HuntersCreed]

Originally Posted by mtwrstlr

Fan of Across the Universe? I love that movie

I own it. It was late when I was making the post so I didn't think of all the misicals I own.

[darthdad]

Originally Posted by Halfway

Not sure if The Thin Red Line has been mentioned in here but I think its a great movie.

A lot of people say it was boring and compare it to Saving Private Ryan, but they're two completely different fucking movies and I feel like only idiots who are easily amused usually claim that SPR is better.

I was really disappointed by The Thin Red Line. It wasn't about the war as much as it was about the internal ruminations and conflicts of the characters. It also didn't have much of a plot per se; it was more just watching everything unfold. None of that is bad but it made for the most BORING war movie ever made. The cinematography and camerawork were excellent and it was a visually well-made movie.

But the characters just showed up and vanished. Maybe you'd see Nick Nolte after the beginning but maybe not. Hey look, its John Cusack! Whoa, where did he go? Whatever happened to the dudes from the beginning? Oh, there they are? No way! Its George Clooney in the LAST 60 SECONDS of the movie!

What's the point of having George Clooney in your movie for only the last minute or so?

I agree completely that SPR and TRL are 2 completely different movies. If you want action, see SPR. If you want a more visually stunning, esoteric movie, see TRL. TRL also gives you better insight to the characters and their motivations. Its really an art film masquerading as a war movie.

[JSN]

lol wth? an art movie is just any movie with real artistic value. just because a movie is about a certain subject, doesn't mean it has to be a mindless genre film. in fact, what better subject for an art film than war?

[Bullitt68]

Anybody else find Murder by Death hilarious? I'm rewatching it now and I really think it's the funniest movie ever.

So hilarious and yet so underrated.

[darthdad]

Originally Posted by Bullitt68

Anybody else find Murder by Death hilarious? I'm rewatching it now and I really think it's the funniest movie ever.

So hilarious and yet so underrated.

Its hilarious and check out the cast! James Cromwell was relatively unknown when that was made too. Peter Falk, James Coco, Peter Sellers, Alec Guiness, Nancy Walker, David Niven, Maggie Smith, Elsa Lanchester, and Eileen Brennan are all in it!

Really funny part at the end when the detectives are all insulted for not solving the murder.

[Cnyle33]

Originally Posted by HuntersCreed

I listed him, because he's the kind of person that no one would know except serious movie fans. I wasn't saying he was good. He's campy. He sells himself on cheesy B movies. I'm definatley not calling him good. I do think he seriously treasures the stake that he's claimed as a landmark B movie actor. I for one don't think he would make the jump and do anything else if he had the oppertunity.

Isn't Bruce Campbell on a crap television show called "Burn Notice" or something along those lines? I do think he's great in his B movie performances but a USA network series? Gimme a break.