The 00s Draft: Discussion Thread - Page 21

Given the love for it on here, I'm actually shocked SPEED RACER didn't go until second group of Round 4.  It's probably one of the biggest "HOLYSHITTHATWASACTUALLYGREAT!" movies of the decade.    

I enjoyed Tropic Thunder the first time.  It was the only time.

Really?  I just love it more every time I see it, and I've seen it many times.  I keep it saved on the DVR and watch it when I'm feeling depressed, although I've watched Galaxy Quest twice in the past week for that same reason.  I just love every moment of Tropic Thunder, and think every performance was incredible, but especially RDJ. 

 

Also, on the Speed Racer pick, I just posted in another thread that I think some day Speed Racer is going to get its due.  It was unfairly maligned.  It's a cool, amazing flick.

Agreed. I watched it again a year or so ago and was bored. Downey is really the only thing that holds up.

Ah shit...SPEED RACER. I'll be the one person that comes out and says that he hates it. One of the worst theatrical experiences ever.

"I'm a rooster illusion."

Yeah, and I admired that about it, but while on the one hand Zemeckis was evincing a more adult, grim take on epic tales of hero worship than we traditionally see translated to the screen, the actual presentation of the piece often seemed to say the opposite. It sometimes felt like there was almost a juvenile glee at the ability to show us each moment of overwrought violent mayhem, or animated pair of perfectly sculpted, glowy tits.  Which is fine, but did the film want to be Heavy Metal, or Lancelot du Lac?

 

But most disappointing was, although the film was animated with stunning three dimensional detail, the characters and story felt completely flat to me.  On a technical level I admired the craft.  On an intellectual level I appreciated what they were trying to do.  But for me they failed to bring it all to life.

 

What works in Tropic Thunder works like fucking crazy. What doesn't is just kinda there. And theres WAY more of the first category. Approve the hell out of that pick.

 

Same goes for Away We Go which could have failed in so very many ways, and doesn't. Total sweetheart of a film. I've seen numerous films since try to nail that exact tone to get late 20s-early 30s adult drama work, and fail miserably.

RE: Speed Racer

 

Aye, and there it is.

 

I've only seen it once, but I can see how this would be the case. RDJ is aces though, and the Satan's Alley fake trailer absolutely slayed me.

What kills TROPIC THUNDER dead in its tracks is Jack Black and Tom Cruise. It's completely dead whenever they're on the screen.

Downey is GREAT it in. But so is Stiller. In a lot of ways, it's surprising that it exists. A big budget action/comedy slam on narcissist actors. How?

 

Plus, so many great lines in it. 

If Speed Racer wasn't gone by today, I'd have snatched the fuck out of it tomorrow. Then had someone bitchslap nooj on principle. About time you went for it.

 

Of course, this means the shitstorm is still happening tomorrow morning.

"Remember those jelly beans?  They weren't jelly beans." 

Juvenile, one note, whatever, I still laugh my ass off at Cruise in Tropic Thunder. The dance at the end being one too many notwithstanding. I still need a spinoff where him and Christian Bale play rival studio heads.

 

Jack Black, I'll grant, however. That character goes nowhere.

I thought there would be more buzz about the A SCANNER DARKLY pick. The whole cast - Robert Downey, Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder, and Keanu Reeves- is great. It's the most faithful Dick adaptation. And Linklater is at the top of his game. It's funny, weird, and disturbing. I think it'll age into one of the classics of the decade.

 

I love TROPIC THUNDER & AWAY WE GO.

 

With all apologies to my man, nooj, though I hate SPEED RACER. It's pure sensory overload for me.

Glad to see I'm not the only one on SPEED RACER.

Hey now... I am nothing if not considerate.  I was well aware that some people really didn't care for the film and decided to hold off.  Tell you the truth, I was actually afraid that you would take it from me today. 

 

There would've been hell to pay.

 

I only saw Scanner Darkly twice around whe n it first came out, but loved it both times. No complaints about that one at all, but i dont remember nearly as much about it to make a passionate defense.

Same here.

 

I just felt assaulted by Speed Racer. I appreciated it on a visual/technical level. But I couldn't really enjoy it as an entertainment.

 

I liked Tropic Thunder just fine. I look forward to the Les Grossman movie if they ever get around to it. Don't know if it really stands the test of time as one of this decade's signature comedies, though. I think those have all dropped already.

 

I see that this round is bringing a lot of personal favorites that may or may not be genuinely classic films. That's not intended as snobbery. It's just an observation.

 

I actually left it alone Round 3 because I figured you'd have caught it then, if ever. With no Tati, that was your baby.

 

I really enjoyed A Scanner Darkly in every way except that animation style, but all of the performances were wonderful.  And it was great to see someone appreciate PKD without just lifting his ideas. 

Accusations of assault towards Speed Racer fascinate me, because aside from the material with Speed's younger brother, the whole thing just washes over me pretty easily.  But I have seen enough people say it where I know there's something to it.  I have a friend who said he couldn't watch past the first race.

 

It is a film that if I were just on the other end of a bad mood, I could easily see myself disliking. 

 

BUT THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. 

 

So get that weak shit off my track!  Hahahahah

Other than Idiocracy, I think Tropic Thunder is funnier and more of a classic than any of the other comedies mentioned so far, so when you talk about the decade's "signature comedies," I think Tropic Thunder has to be in there.  That's just me though.  

 

Man, the mid 2000s really reminded everyone why Robert Downey Jr. is so great - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Tropic Thunder, Scanner Darkly, Good Night and Good Luck, Zodiac.  We talked about Clooney's impressive run, but I don't think RDJ is that far behind. 

I just want to say that I love Speed Racer and all its glorious excess, but if I saw it in a film festival immediately after screening United 93, I might kill myself out of shame and guilt.

Hahahahahaha.  A truly WTFilm Festival.

It would have been interesting to see Keanu being funny again. Remember that he used to be funny before he got it into his head that he was A GOOD ACTOR somehow?

 

Having said that, I don't know if he would have been good in the role. I think something happened to him and he forgot how to be funny. They keep talking about a new Bill & Ted movie. I don't know that he can tap into that side of himself anymore.

 

......

 

By the way, for those interested, here's a blog I wrote about Speed Racer way back when.

 

 

Another Scanner Darkly supporter here. Historical footnote - It was my first Blu Ray!

THE PROPOSITION is awesome. Forgot about that one.

I honestly can't believe it took this long for The Mist to go.

Duh. At first I was all, "The Sandra Bullock / Ryan Reynolds" movie?

Edited by Raspberry Leper - 12/7/11 at 12:44pm

I always liked this bit about The Proposition, from Noel Murray: "Had Cave written The Proposition as a song, the vague grotesquerie and simple, primal storytelling might've been an asset. Onscreen, it's all too literal and bluntly ugly. It's revisionism that's forgotten what it was meant to revise."

 

Visually, the movie is stunning, but it's just so relentlessly one-note.  Another one of those films that, on paper, seemed right in my wheelhouse, but I just ended up not liking very much at all.

It's weird.  I definitely considered The Mist early on, but must've forgotten to put it on the make-shift list I started.  I'm also surprised that it took this long for it to come up.  I would've probably picked it later on even though the ending has always left me cold.

 

I'm surprised there hasn't been more love for Arjen's pick of Black Book. What a great little film. 

 

I was also surprised for the lack of distaste for my pick of Away We Go. In fact, I'm really glad to hear some supporters. I love the film with all of my heart, I find it heartbreaking, heartwarming, and absolutely hilarious. And just as Justin said earlier, it is a film that shouldn't work: It could have so easily turned out to be overly quirky and cloying and an emotional mess, but it isn't. I firmly believe it is Sam Mendes' best film to date, and his most emotionally honest, as well.

Jesus...can we have a soccer team draft? Shill city today.

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I find The Proposition to be a film that unravels itself more each time I return to it. It is not endlessly re-watchable as it is a very ugly and unsettling story. The themes woven into the narrative seem to be layered underneath the actions and motives of each character.

 

Sometimes I see the film with my attention focused on the Burns Family and other times I may pay more attention to the Stanleys. What drives these characters to survive and continue to stay in their environment without moving to greener pastures is what interests me the most.

 

Most of the characters in this film are either fighters or victims. I like Peckinpah and Sergio Leone films. This works for me.

The Mist has some of the best use of Dead Can Dance on the soundtrack since Baraka. The dread and horror of the film work incredibly well to create a disturbing vision and as a whole it is easily one of the best Stephen King adaptations to date.

Remember when I said The Ring was the scariest mainstream horror movie of the decade?

 

Forget I said that. The Mist is.

 

In my defense, I didn't know that's what he said.

 

Argh.  I actually found the use of Wailing Gerard really distracting in The Mist.  I love operatic, but that didn't feel right for The Mist.

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Fair enough. I guess you just had to be there.

Also, The Insider.

[yoda] No.  There is another. [/yoda]  

 

Yes, there is. 

NO!  It's perfect in The Insider!!!

 

I meant it's the best use of wailing Gerard since Baraka.

There's a couple horror films that I'm surprised are still on the board.

 

I almost love Speed Racer. I just find the Royalton Motors stuff overlong. Once they get to the cross country race though, I have a perpetual smile on my face for the last half of the movie.

 

Black Book is great.

 

Ocean's 11 is a perfect breeze of a caper film.