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Thread: the LAST FILM YOU'VE SEEN thread

  1. #211
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    As you've all been pointing out, Orlando Bloom is an apparently odd case, a fey action hero. In Pirates of the Caribbean he has an Erroll Flynn dash, so I'd compare him to Erroll Flylnn and not Russell Crowe, who's a strong actor and has a macho personality (Romper Stomper) but is no great shakes in the looks dept.; Bloom was good with Keith Ledger in Ned Kelly. Tony Jaa of Ong Bak: Thai Warrior is kind of fey too. It is possible. Anyway, Bloom could always beef up. He hs the classic romantic good looks, and that's the important thing. And he's English.

    Can Bloom act? Doubtful. Can he do romantic comedy up to the level of fellow Black Hawk alum Josh Hartnett? Uncertain. But Hollywood thinks he looks good in tights, so he's up there. Niven lacked the hard edge to be an non-spoof Bond, though he had the sophistication. Bloom doesn't project the sophistication or the hard edge, so I can't see him as Bond at all. Clive Owen would be a most excellent Bond. I don't think anybody wants to be a Russell Crowe type. Even Russell Crowe mightn't mind being a different type, but he's stuck with being the way he is. They'd just want to be as good an actor and as powerful a physical presence as Crowe.

    I guess I'll go re-watch The Bourne Identity. Now there's an actor who looks like a Forties movie hotel busboy, yet he can act, and he's not a bad action hero. Times change.

  2. #212
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    Bloom can act at LEAST as well as the wooden Clive Owen (the other person mentioned for Bond)

    Errol Flynn was always known as a swashbuckler but never recognized for his acting abilities, at least by his peers.

    He had twice the screen presence of Bloom.

  3. #213
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    I didn't say Flynn could act. He sure could swashbuckle though.

    I didn't know Owen was wooden. I thought he was supposed to be acting in Closer. Everybody was. Supposed to be I mean. Anyway, James Bond is not a great acting challenge. Connery brought geniality to it, which maybe was what it needed.

    Poor Orlando, is he lucky or unlucky? Is he just a flash in the pan?

  4. #214
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    Originally posted by Chris Knipp
    [Bloom] has the classic romantic good looks, and that's the important thing. And he's English.

    Can Bloom act? Doubtful. Can he do romantic comedy up to the level of fellow Black Hawk alum Josh Hartnett? Uncertain. But Hollywood thinks he looks good in tights, so he's up there. Niven lacked the hard edge to be an non-spoof Bond, though he had the sophistication. Bloom doesn't project the sophistication or the hard edge, so I can't see him as Bond at all. Clive Owen would be a most excellent Bond. I don't think anybody wants to be a Russell Crowe type. Even Russell Crowe mightn't mind being a different type, but he's stuck with being the way he is. They'd just want to be as good an actor and as powerful a physical presence as Crowe.
    Interesting comments, Chris. I'm certainly not gonna argue with you about how each of them look, and I think everyone will agree with you regarding Bloom.

    I'm not a big fan of Josh Hartnett to tell you the truth. I don't believe he's that good of an actor nor do I think he's particularly attractive (albeit that's not my specialty). He had his time in the spotlight but didn't do much with it. I'm a fan of Owen now after watching some of his work last year. Not a bad looking guy either.

    I guess I'll go re-watch The Bourne Identity. Now there's an actor who looks like a Forties movie hotel busboy, yet he can act, and he's not a bad action hero. Times change.

    I'd never have thought that you would say that about Damon, but what do I know. He can certainly act.

  5. #215
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    Re: Kingdom of Heaven - Slight Spoilers

    Although I don't think Orlando Bloom has the presence of a leader, the main faults with his actual role within the film are down to the story line:

    Bastard son of a Lord, Balian worked all his life as a blacksmith, forced to leave his home village and travel with his fathers group to the crusades. Did I mention he hasn't got a clue how to handle a sword while the rest of the party are very experienced soldiers? anyway because of the son, the group are ambushed, surrounded and pretty much slaughtered, the father only recently re-united with the son he'd never bothered to seek out before is injured and on his way out, the totally inexperienced blacksmith survives without a scratch while all around the bodies mount up.

    Daddy dies leaving son to inherit title and carry on his good work in Jerusalem. Now the survivors from the ambush send the son on to Medina in a ship, they'll go a bit later and guess what! the ship is destroyed in a storm, all the experienced crew are missing presumed dead but who'se washed up on a beach, not a scratch on him and with the only surviving horse not 10 yards away from him?

    Yes you've guessed it, it's Balian the Bastard Blacksmith, the survivors from the ambush realised it, the guy is cursed, go anywhere with him and he'll arrive without a scratch, (his hair may be a little messy) but you'll probably be dead.

    Now be honest would you go anywhere near him, I'd imagine everywhere he went, people would run in panic screaming - " Run for your lives, it's Balian the Bastard Blacksmith, he's come to save us."
    Who writes this stuff?

    Cheers Trev
    Last edited by trevor826; 05-09-2005 at 09:47 AM.
    The more I learn the less I know.

  6. #216
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    Do I need to mention another bastard son of a blacksmith?...a little empire toppler named CONAN!?!


    Thou shalt not use Arnold's name in vain!

    Just kidding.


    James Bond isn't an acting challenge?

    I think our low standards have turned the super-spy into a predictable bore. The Connery Bond was constantly surprising and interesting. Connery had a mean streak to go along with a suave and classy image. George Lazenby was awful. Roger Moore brought some campy humor to the role but the later Moore outings were atrocious. Timothy Dalton just didn't have "it". Pierce Brosnan is pretty good, but lacks a certain physical toughness.

    I think taking over a familiar role like Bond and making it your own would be quite a challenge.

  7. #217
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    I didn't know that was at issue but I can assure you Hartnett's looks are fine; I would never claim he's a great actor but he's shown an amiable goofiness and definite aptitude for physical comedy in Virgin Suicides, Blow Dry, 40 Days and 40 Nights, and Hollywood Homicide; I was just wondering if Orlando could do that kind of thing as well. Damon does look just like a busboy, I think. Owen wouldn't be likely to appeal to the young audience Orlando's geared to attract, but he does have the old style grown up male star quality so uncommon in Hollywood nowadays.

    Casting is an issue we rarely discuss and a crucial one in filmmaking.

  8. #218
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    Kingdom of Heaven-not the last film I've seen

    Ridley has said that the DVD will be much longer than the theatrical release.
    Looks like Scott's "RAN".

    I'll wait for it. No truncated versions for me thank you...
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  9. #219
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    Re: Bond

    Steve Buscemi should play Bond. He'd be great.

    He can do the whole adjust-the-cufflinks-with-wrinkled-brow thing with the best of them..

    Teeth? This is hollywood- things can be done. But I'd rather have Steve play the role with his natural fangs.

    Why is Buscemi not considered Bond material?
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  10. #220
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    We'll put you in charge of the Sundance Cansting Office.

  11. #221
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    I don't think Ridley Scott is capable of making a film that holds a candle to Kurosawa's "Ran". But, I'll admit director's cuts are usually better

  12. #222
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    THE RING TWO (2005)

    The Ring Two is a sequel (obviously) to The Ring, released here 3 years ago as a remake of a Japanese film called Ringu, a film which has also mutated all over the east-Asian seaboard. The Ring Two is not a remake of Ringu 2, but it is directed by the guy who directed both Ringu and Ringu 2. Got it? No need really, and your brain can also rest in piece while you’re watching the film which is actually not quite the disaster it is made out to be. Naomi Watts and her son have now moved away from Seattle (where the killer videotape copy did quite a bit of damage) to a small town in Oregon. Apparently, one copy of the tape is still alive, and shows up near two teenagers about to fuck (how original!) in the film’s peculiar opening sequence. It does get better though as director Hideo Nakata’s unearthly camera glides up, down, and sideways; also, for the most part, the reliance on atmospheric dread is a welcome sight. The tape eventually gets burned (I could swear I heard some eerie sounds coming from the vhs industry), but this allows for the vengeful Samara (you know, the one with the hair) to take center-stage. There’s a great sequence involving angry reindeers, even though, the special-effects department should’ve done a better job here (I’m surprised that the moose lovers didn’t get pissed). Anyway, it’s onwards and downwards from there as the script by Ehren Kruger tries to channel The Exorcist and The Omen through The Shinning eventually settling on "Carrie" - Sissy Spacek that is. She is part of a late episode involving maternal impulses which could’ve been introduced earlier, but it's all a set-up for the ultimate denouement. In an obvious attempt to pump-up this bloodless PG film into a PG-13 one, we hear Watts (giving a professional performance) scream: "I’m not your fucking mommy" - I would've preferred a glimpse of her bathing and/or reading a book - as she closes an opening. Hopefully, The Ring Three will struggle to come out of it.

    GRADE: C

  13. #223
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    Good, and amusing, analysis. Unfortunately I have only read reviews of it not seen it so can't comment further. I liked "it’s onwards and downwards from there as the script by Ehren Kruger tries to channel The Exorcist and The Omen through The Shinning eventually settling on "Carrie" - Sissy Spacek that is." But none of this, not even your saying it's "not quite the disaster it is made out to be," makes me want to see it. Did see the original Ringu, which frankly didn't thrill me so much, though the Japanese version did have a creepy quality quite beyond what American horror movies ever manage, probably due to their ghost story tradition, which we see in stuff like Kwaidan.

  14. #224
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    Thanks. A more subtle review for a film like this would be quite boring to read and write. I can't blame you if you don't want to see it; I probably would've provided a bit more info (and might have softened the grade with a "+") if it was good enough. You're right about "a certain creepy quality" that the J-horror films have. They also carry themselves with a certain integrity, refusing to compromise their objectives. Incidentally, the remake of Nakata's Dark Water is releasing soon - it's directed by Walter Salles!

  15. #225
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    the remake of Nakata's Dark Water is releasing soon - it's directed by Walter Salles!
    Is that good news, or a sign he's selling out, that's my question in cases like this. I guess the realities are complex.

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