tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post380949767758263504..comments2024-02-23T05:17:08.682-05:00Comments on The Film Freak Central Blog: Quantum Feedback (Updated)Bill Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14011398543859221282noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-59210679396924381632008-11-22T23:02:00.000-05:002008-11-22T23:02:00.000-05:00Is there something wrong with me that each time I ...Is there something wrong with me that each time I see "Paul Haggis" on a movie screen I shake my fist and spitefully exclaim "HAGGIS!"?<BR/><BR/>I didn't hate Q.O.S. It has some ephemeral pleasures. Craig is sufficiently Craigly, Kurylenko looks stunningly Kurylenkoid, and Forster's schizophrenic arty/derivative direction is inept but in a way that yields an occasionally striking image. I can't Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-64282194515423347212008-11-22T16:57:00.000-05:002008-11-22T16:57:00.000-05:00Walter, There is, most definitely, a worst of Hagg...Walter, <BR/><BR/>There is, most definitely, a worst of Haggis. It's called Walker: Texas Ranger.<BR/><BR/><BR/>I am continually amazed that a guy actually associated with that franchise is at the top of any food chaun in Hollywood.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08598653022302314845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-31993075249995950282008-11-22T10:18:00.000-05:002008-11-22T10:18:00.000-05:00The lack of a LET THE RIGHT ONE IN review is 100% ...The lack of a LET THE RIGHT ONE IN review is 100% my fault. I took on the assignment when I shouldn't have, then got predictably sidetracked.<BR/><BR/>I loved it, by the way, all the more so as I've had time to reflect on it. It's wonderfully old-fashioned in all the right ways yet thoroughly alien and downright beautiful at times. It made me want to take a shotgun to TWILIGHT sight-unseen.<BR/><Bill Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14011398543859221282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-43795593469822851332008-11-21T23:45:00.000-05:002008-11-21T23:45:00.000-05:00I think I can live without an evisceration of "Twi...I think I can live without an evisceration of "Twilight," but I would love to hear what the FFC contingent think of "Let the Right One In." For me, anyway, this film is the perfect antidote to the strain of nostalgic, idealized adolescent longing in the vampire genre, in that it doesn't flinch away from the aggression and ugliness that come packaged along with thwarted adolescent desire. The Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-70872659359640726092008-11-21T21:33:00.000-05:002008-11-21T21:33:00.000-05:00No evisceration of Twilight? Was looking forward t...No evisceration of <I>Twilight</I>? Was looking forward to that all week.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-36550405570438680072008-11-21T12:20:00.000-05:002008-11-21T12:20:00.000-05:00No friday update, but a great Vern quote re: Quant...No friday update, but a great Vern quote re: Quantum<BR/><BR/>"Increasingly, action movies are designed to be viewed on your phone or wrist watch or whatever silly shit they invent next. Why do I wait out in the cold for two hours to see this movie on the giant Cinerama screen when it's just gonna guarantee that I will have no idea if James Bond's car is in front of or behind the other car, whichPatrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08178910224548079394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-23347590834409717382008-11-21T09:51:00.000-05:002008-11-21T09:51:00.000-05:00So, um, no Friday update again.Sorry, folks.So, um, no Friday update again.<BR/><BR/>Sorry, folks.Bill Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14011398543859221282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-6557836501907738022008-11-21T02:33:00.000-05:002008-11-21T02:33:00.000-05:00Walter's points on the action scenes in QOS is spo...Walter's points on the action scenes in QOS is spot-on!<BR/><BR/>I, for one would like to call a moratorium on all jerkily shot and strobe-light edited action sequences that have taken incoherence to a whole new level.I mean...seriously, WTF?? The idea is for images and shots to register long enough on your retina so your brain can actually process who's ramming whose car, who's on the downward KayKayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14658249157364728825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-62702860163104499182008-11-20T21:07:00.000-05:002008-11-20T21:07:00.000-05:00Hey John-O - y'know, you're right, I'm venting my ...Hey John-O - y'know, you're right, I'm venting my spleen at a career of abuse. Sorry, man. Any response outta' me nowadays is a bit of a compliment.<BR/><BR/>Quentin is better at a lot of things than a lot of people is a good point though I don't think that <I>Crash</I> is the worst of Haggis - just representative of Haggis. Haggis has no peaks and valleys - he just is. In truth, I'd rather aWalter_Chawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14314737706201691225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-22546221875160790932008-11-20T19:46:00.000-05:002008-11-20T19:46:00.000-05:00I was in Bombay at the time when it opened (Novemb...I was in Bombay at the time when it opened (November 7, a week earlier than out in NA) and I watched it with an Indian, a Londoner and a guy from Dubai so it was an somewhat varied group with different backgrounds, knowledge of film, knowledge of Bond, different ages and expectations and all of us walked out of it disappointed, albeit for different reasons - whether it was story, editing and Vikramhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02915441598289045257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-35316285119702134932008-11-20T12:09:00.000-05:002008-11-20T12:09:00.000-05:00I can think of one critic who'd probably think a n...I can think of one critic who'd probably think a naked Eva would weaken things: Jonathan Rosenbaum, who once criticized her for having "balloonlike breasts." (Apparently that was one of THE DREAMERS' many anachronisms.) I don't know why (well, I do know why), but that phrase has always stuck in my head.<BR/><BR/>At the risk of sticking my neck out, I don't really get the CASINO ROYALE veneration.Bill Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14011398543859221282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-47878629223142259922008-11-20T12:00:00.000-05:002008-11-20T12:00:00.000-05:00The title sequences have always been the most sexu...The title sequences have always been the most sexually daring portions of any Bond movie -- more graphic and artistically erotic than any component of the actual narrative. They revel in the male gaze. Those places where Bond has injected sex as key to <I>narrative</I> have often been profoundly sex-negative. Examples include Bond's "taming" of Pussy Galore, and Scaramanga's implicit rape of his Jefferson Robbinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05356665406917571985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-72403037191828709002008-11-20T06:16:00.000-05:002008-11-20T06:16:00.000-05:00Walter, I don't recall attacking the quality of yo...Walter, I don't recall attacking the quality of your writing before, despite having attacked your reviews a bunch of times. If you believe nothing else about me, believe that I don't do either for lazy effect. For the record, you lost me at "limp dick" and didn't get me back. If you think my post is representative of the way people tend to attack you, I guess all I can say is that I disagree.O'JohnLandishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15560571840235787129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-6129014608325586602008-11-20T04:14:00.000-05:002008-11-20T04:14:00.000-05:00An American remake for The Host? Why? WHY?Can anyo...An <A HREF="http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/11/18/gore-verbinski-producing-the-host-remake-for-universal/" REL="nofollow">American remake for The Host</A>? Why? WHY?<BR/><BR/>Can anyone tell me how that's supposed to make sense?Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08178910224548079394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-21919749470912828402008-11-19T14:02:00.000-05:002008-11-19T14:02:00.000-05:00I just heard "Another Way to Die" on Sirius Underg...I just heard "Another Way to Die" on Sirius Underground Radio, and I really want to ask Steve Van Zant what the hell is "underground" about a James Bond theme song? <BR/><BR/>Of course, that says more about contemporary radio than contemporary film.Jefferson Robbinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05356665406917571985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-61952338254351962832008-11-19T13:18:00.000-05:002008-11-19T13:18:00.000-05:001. Saying they stole action scenes is silly. Did B...<I>1. Saying they stole action scenes is silly. Did Bourne steal from the knife fight in Under Siege or the elevator scene in Die Hard 3? Who knows. Are the action scenes in Quantum of Solace bad or good? They're nothing special, but they improve as the movie goes along. In that and a few other ways, they're similar to the action scenes in the Nolan Batman films.</I><BR/><BR/>Actually, here's Walter_Chawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14314737706201691225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-53495201470192833102008-11-18T23:41:00.000-05:002008-11-18T23:41:00.000-05:00You're writing off Monster's Ball as a Lifetime sp...You're writing off <I>Monster's Ball</I> as a Lifetime special and giving incoherent blather <I>Quantum of Solace</I> acclaim? Like, really?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-2872162559067499532008-11-18T21:49:00.000-05:002008-11-18T21:49:00.000-05:00O'John, I agree with you on the basics, except tha...O'John, I agree with you on the basics, except that I think <I>Quantum of Solace</I> is as badly directed as the <I>Bourne</I> sequels in its action scenes. And the filmmaking is pretty bland the rest of the time (worst lit Bond film since <I>License to Kill</I>.) <BR/><BR/>Bond action is usually handled by second-unit, but I'm sure Forster has some say in it. He should have studied <I>Casino Mark Palermohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09834848355885871487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-16640778201805000252008-11-18T11:14:00.000-05:002008-11-18T11:14:00.000-05:00I didn't forget it at all. It's one of the bad on...I didn't forget it at all. It's one of the bad ones. Monster's Ball is an explicit Lifetime movie with better actors. Billy Bob Thornton has sex with Halle Berry because all the other characters have died and they didn't want Halle Berry to fuck Peter Boyle. <BR/><BR/>Try Birth or Naked or Roger Dodger or Heaven or In the Realm of the Senses or the Baumbach films.<BR/><BR/>One other (O'JohnLandishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15560571840235787129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-59532047442872269472008-11-18T06:14:00.000-05:002008-11-18T06:14:00.000-05:00Very true. Forster is an uneven director who has m...<I>Very true. Forster is an uneven director who has made one great film (Stranger Than Fiction) and one good film (Quantum of Solace) and some bad films (everything else). </I><BR/><BR/>Let's not forget <I>Monster's Ball</I>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-21560293398286816332008-11-18T02:35:00.000-05:002008-11-18T02:35:00.000-05:00Well, Marc Forster is no Paul Greengrass, that's f...<I>Well, Marc Forster is no Paul Greengrass, that's for sure.</I><BR/> <BR/>Very true. Forster is an uneven director who has made one great film (Stranger Than Fiction) and one good film (Quantum of Solace) and some bad films (everything else). Greengrass is a charlatan and a kind of poison who makes all his films worse than they need to have been. The fact that he still manages to wind up O'JohnLandishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15560571840235787129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-78890543440144705962008-11-18T00:52:00.000-05:002008-11-18T00:52:00.000-05:00Almeric should stick to Desplechin movies. While I...Almeric should stick to Desplechin movies. While I think he's a great actor, he was unconvincing and boring as the major villain.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15777985722319093814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-19550792779627750102008-11-17T21:57:00.000-05:002008-11-17T21:57:00.000-05:00Wow, Chaw went lower than my * rating. Nice.Wow, Chaw went lower than my * rating. Nice.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-26139882543619598782008-11-17T21:24:00.000-05:002008-11-17T21:24:00.000-05:00I don't particularly care for the film. The best I...I don't particularly care for the film. The best I can say is that with about five minutes left Craig, Kurylenko and Almaric finally infused their characters with the sort of gravity they needed all along.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-38927509389906705402008-11-17T12:16:00.000-05:002008-11-17T12:16:00.000-05:00Much like Bond himself, the film is lean and bruta...Much like Bond himself, the film is lean and brutally efficient. This Bond movie for once honours the events of the previous film (this is the film that DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, coming as it did after Bond’s wife dying in OHMSS, should have been). Overall, if not quite scaling the heights of CASINO ROYALE, it’s a top-tier Bond film and a worthy follow up for Craig, who *owns* this role now. I liked Paul Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02320770138520862006noreply@blogger.com