Your Highness (Green, 2011)

[Lazlo]

Red band trailer. (http://www.ign.com/videos/2010/11/17/your-highness-restricted-trailer)

Starring Danny McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman, and Zooey Deschanel. Written by McBride and Ben Best (Eastbound and Down).

This looks like a blast. Green's tribute to Eighties fantasy.

"With magic... motherfucker."

[Raiders]

Hit-or-miss trailer, but yeah, I'll be seeing it no doubt.

"Handle your shit, Fabious please."

[Kurosawa Fan]

Looks like it could be ridiculous fun.

[number8]

This > The Hobbit.

[baby doll]

I've become less and less enamored with David Gordon Green over the years. George Washington: flat-out masterpiece. All the Real Girls: near-great. Undertow: disappointing, though I should probably give it another look. Snow Angels: Shot like ten minutes from my house (at least the scuzzy motel and Chinese restaurant), but awful.

[Watashi]

That ass shot of Natalie Portman is incredible.

[Dillard]

No idea what to make of this. I agree with baby doll: it's been a downward spiral for DGG as far as I'm concerned.

[Dukefrukem]

This will bomb. Their budget must have been extraordinary. That's not to say I didn't laugh a few times but c'mon.

[Ezee E]

I like that two of this year's Oscars frontrunners are starring in something as goofy as this immediately after the Oscars.

They both will now lose.

[Wryan]

Nice to see the dude from Last Action Hero getting work. This looks.....cheeky? I think that's the best I can do right now. I dunno if I'd see it, but probably an early-in-the-day movie.

[Dukefrukem]

Also, Natalie Portman is smokin' in this trailer. Whomever said she looks too young to be in the new Batman is nuts.

[number8]

Natalie Portman is 30. If she looks too young for a role, then you hire Betty White.

[Mara]

Hmm. I like the idea of a comedy-fantasy, but this seems to come from the "cussing is funny because it's cussing" and "POTTY POTTY POTTY" school of humor, to which I have never subscribed.

That could just be the cut of the trailer, though, and the film itself might be a little more clever.

[Acapelli]

dgg's episodes of eastbound are always excellent

mara i very much doubt you'd like this

[Grouchy]

Good trailer. I'll watch it.

[Qrazy]

This will bomb. Their budget must have been extraordinary. That's not to say I didn't laugh a few times but c'mon.

As long as it's half way decent it should do fine I would think. Pineapple Express cost 25 mil and grossed 100 mil. This one probably cost 100 mil or something, I would think it will probably make it's budget back at the very least.

[number8]

It's interesting to read interviews and set reports where DGG is claiming it's not really a comedy. Apparently they're just going for a KRULL/BEAST MASTER type of movie with a ton of cussing, sex, drugs and violence, some epic Frank Frazetta shit, rather than attempting to make jokes. I'm not sure if the trailer reflects this.

[Ezee E]

It's interesting to read interviews and set reports where DGG is claiming it's not really a comedy. Apparently they're just going for a KRULL/BEAST MASTER type of movie with a ton of cussing, sex, drugs and violence, some epic Frank Frazetta shit, rather than attempting to make jokes. I'm not sure if the trailer reflects this.
I like Danny McBride's comparison of what the movie is trying to be...

"Barry Lyndon meets Krull."

[Grouchy]

It's interesting to read interviews and set reports where DGG is claiming it's not really a comedy. Apparently they're just going for a KRULL/BEAST MASTER type of movie with a ton of cussing, sex, drugs and violence, some epic Frank Frazetta shit, rather than attempting to make jokes. I'm not sure if the trailer reflects this.
Well, no, it does not reflect this at all.

[MadMan]

The trailer made me laugh, but I didn't think it looked anything other than a big dumb comedy. I'll see it, sure, but only because I usually enjoy big dumb comedies. If its not a comedy after all, then the trailer was misleading.

[Henry Gale]

I mean the trailer alone was some great throwback fun. I completely endorse movies like this just throwing whatever crosses their mind as something to do on set and then getting whatever sticks and using it for the final film. Obviously this looks to have a little bit more in the way of production values than anything this group has done before, so that sort of approach may be tricky, but I still have faith in them. Pineapple may just be my favourite comedy of the last 5 years, and everything DGG has done with Eastbound is indeed fantastic, so even if I like this half as much as those, I'm still going to be pretty damn happy with it.

It sits near the top of a fairly short list of my anticipated films for next year. Most other things on it, ranked higher or lower, seem to have a lot more potential to disappoint.

[DavidSeven]

I think this looks funny. I enjoy Natalie Portman and Zooey Deschanel as actresses. James Franco seems like a pretty amusing dude. I anticipate this film. I think we should care.

[Bosco B Thug]

Not expecting anything beyond a fun, now-and-then clever/smart time. Exactly what it looks like. DGG gave fusing low-brow comedy with aestheticism and some sort of absurdist discourse a go in Pineapple Express and failed to inspire, this seems to have even lesser controlled motives.

But it could be just the trailer. McBride invoked Barry Lyndon, that can't be just totally out of his ass. Or it could. The whole pretentious pothead thing.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Hmm. I like the idea of a comedy-fantasy, but this seems to come from the "cussing is funny because it's cussing" and "POTTY POTTY POTTY" school of humor, to which I have never subscribed.

That could just be the cut of the trailer, though, and the film itself might be a little more clever.

I think the humor comes from the sheer anachronism. The "handle your shit" line made me laugh pretty hard because it's so severely out of place. If that's all the film has, then, yeah.

[Irish]

I think this looks funny. I enjoy Natalie Portman and Zooey Deschanel as actresses. James Franco seems like a pretty amusing dude. I anticipate this film. I think we should care.

I'm a little surprised to hear you say this, given your spot-on criticism in another thread about the blandness of certain actors.

Since the rest of the cast seems well chosen, it seems odd to me they went for not one but two of dullest actresses working now, neither of which have demonstrated any particularly ability for this kind of comedy (or anything else, for that matter).

I'm getting a Wayans Brothers "Scary Movie" kind of vibe from the trailer.

It made me laugh but I wondered if they whole thing is going to revolve on "motherfucker" anachronisms and slapsticky humor.

Well, those and glorious shots of Portman getting undressed.

[Qrazy]

I'm getting a Wayans Brothers "Scary Movie" kind of vibe from the trailer.


It doesn't really give off that vibe at all.

[Irish]

Their budget must have been extraordinary.
Huh? There was nothing in the trailer outside some F/X shots that were any more involved than a standard episode of Merlin or Legend of the Seeker.

If you don't have wizards throwing around fireballs in every other scene, most fantasy stuff is cheap to produce. Especially on this scale.

[MacGuffin]

It doesn't really give off that vibe at all.

Yeah, I definitely see the 80s VHS comedy/fantasy vibe they're going for. Doesn't really strike me as parody.

[Irish]

It doesn't really give off that vibe at all.

Broad humor? Check.

Jokes outside the scope of the setting? Check.

Parody of a genre even non-fans know well? Check.

Provided they didn't go Scott-Pilgrim-apeshit with the budget, this should bring in a decent audience and turn good coin.

[MacGuffin]

Parody of a genre even non-fans know well? Check.


How is this a parody? At all?

[Irish]

How is this a parody? At all?

What else would you call it? It's imitating fantasy tropes and making them comedic. It might not be pure parody, but I wouldn't classify it as an adventure-comedy or fantasy-comedy either (akin to The Princess Bride or Xena).

It's definitely nothing like Krull or Beastmaster. Those were silly 80s adventure films, but the material was treated seriously within the context of the film's world.

[Qrazy]

Broad humor? Check.

Jokes outside the scope of the setting? Check.

Parody of a genre even non-fans know well? Check.

Provided they didn't go Scott-Pilgrim-apeshit with the budget, this should bring in a decent audience and turn good coin.

I agree with you that it will probably do decent at the box office. But we should bear in mind that Will Ferrell's Land of the Lost had a budget of $100 mil. So this one with a few name stars probably did cost something to make.

[MacGuffin]

What else would you call it? It's imitating fantasy tropes and making them comedic. It might not be pure parody, but I wouldn't classify it as an adventure-comedy or fantasy-comedy either (akin to The Princess Bride or Xena).

It's definitely nothing like Krull or Beastmaster. Those were silly 80s adventure films, but the material was treated seriously within the context of the film's world.

The humor doesn't seem to be at the expense of the material though. It seems like the comedic aspects are there to begin with (now that you mention The Princess Bride, based on what I saw of that, this look quite similar).

[Qrazy]

What else would you call it? It's imitating fantasy tropes and making them comedic. It might not be pure parody, but I wouldn't classify it as an adventure-comedy or fantasy-comedy either (akin to The Princess Bride or Xena).

It's definitely nothing like Krull or Beastmaster. Those were silly 80s adventure films, but the material was treated seriously within the context of the film's world.

Actually it likes quite a lot like a crude version of The Princess Bride to me.

[Irish]

I agree with you that it will probably do decent at the box office. But we should bear in mind that Will Ferrell's Land of the Lost had a budget of $100 mil. So this one with a few name stars probably did cost something to make.

Good point. Land of the Lost was hobbled by a greater need for F/X and players with bigger paychecks (I suspect Ferrell is easily getting 10-20MM a picture). I doubt anyone in this movie got paid more than $7MM for their participation.

Then again, I couldn't believe Scott Pilgrim cost as much as it did, so who knows?

[Irish]

The humor doesn't seem to be at the expense of the material though. It seems like the comedic aspects are there to begin with (now that you mention The Princess Bride, based on what I saw of that, this look quite similar).

Fair point. To me the difference is that Princess Bride was a primarily an adventure story with light comedic elements while this seems to have more in common with a 90 minute SNL sketch.

[Qrazy]

Fair point. To me the difference is that Princess Bride was a primarily an adventure story with light comedic elements while this seems to have more in common with a 90 minute SNL sketch.

Based on what's been said about the film though that's more likely an issue with the cut of the trailer.

[Irish]

Based on what's been said about the film though that's more likely an issue with the cut of the trailer.

Maybe. If your movie has multiple cock jokes in it, then I think you're in a different class, regardless of stated intent.

[Spinal]

You gotta be kidding me. This looks terrrrrrrible. The anachronistic profanity is not funny in the slightest.

However...


That ass shot of Natalie Portman is incredible.

[Irish]

That ass shot is probably worth 40 mil at the box office and a strong 19/27 rating in the consensus thread.

[Winston*]

Loved "triangle face".

[Raiders]

You gotta be kidding me. This looks terrrrrrrible. The anachronistic profanity is not funny in the slightest.

On its own, no. But, I don't think the fact that he said "shit"--*giggle*--is solely, or at all, what is funny. It's the delivery and timing.

Whatever, comedy is subjective and all that.

[Spinal]

Loved "triangle face".

That's actually one of the rare moments that doesn't rely on the out-of-place use of profanity. It's a pretty good gag.

[Raiders]

That's actually one of the rare moments that doesn't rely on the out-of-place use of profanity. It's a pretty good gag.

So the quality of the gag is directly and inversely related to whether they say a potty word?

What are you, my grandmother? :P

[Spinal]

So the quality of the gag is directly and inversely related to whether they say a potty word?

What are you, my grandmother? :P

The point is not that they swear. The point is that the joke relies on the fact that they swear. It's a fairly lame way to try to get a joke.

[Raiders]

The point is not that they swear. The point is that the joke relies on the fact that they swear. It's a fairly lame way to try to get a joke.

That's true a couple times, and I admitted the trailer is hit-and-miss. Mainly I'm thinking of the last bit, the "handle your shit" line which I found hilarious. The "shit" is requisite, it's the line and delivery that are funny, not that some fantastical 16th century prince is saying it.

[Sven]

That's true a couple times, and I admitted the trailer is hit-and-miss. Mainly I'm thinking of the last bit, the "handle your shit" line which I found hilarious. The "shit" is requisite, it's the line and delivery that are funny, not that some fantastical 16th century prince is saying it.

But isn't the line only funny because it's an anachronism? I'll give you delivery: even with clunkers, McBride's got great timing. But I don't see how the line is funny if you don't consider the profanity:time period ratio.

Trailer was about everything everyone says. Looks all kinds of inconsistent, but a possible good time. DGG's comment about it being "not really" a comedy has to be disingenuous. Like saying Pineapple Express isn't because it's really an action film. Or some dumb rationale like that.

[Ezee E]

To say it's not a comedy is being silly. McBride has no business in the movie if it wasn't a comedy.

[Qrazy]

Well just speculating but I think he's probably saying it's comedic but not a comedy ala Pineapple Express, The Hangover, Anchorman, etc. That is to say it will be adventure movie/Princess Bride-esque. And if you look at the rapid sfx montage in the trailer I think it's quite possible that it will be as much an adventure film as a comedy.

[Mara]

It's definitely nothing like Krull or Beastmaster. Those were silly 80s adventure films, but the material was treated seriously within the context of the film's world.

The only reason I'm considering seeing this film is because the two films you mention here are absolutely hilarious to me.

However, to be a total sourpuss, the "gee, how could you still want a woman who has been raped" joke is becoming less and less funny to me the more I think about it.

[Sven]

I like the idea of subverting the value of virtue in epic fantasy, but the execution was not very good.

[Mara]

I like the idea of subverting the value of virtue in epic fantasy, but the execution was not very good.

Yeah. Candide it is not. Or, better yet, The Rape of the Lock.

[D_Davis]

Somewhat excited, except for Natalie Portman, and Zooey Deschanel. Ugh.

[Spinal]

Somewhat excited, except for Natalie Portman, and Zooey Deschanel. Ugh.

My feeling is the exact opposite of this. Those two are the only reason I would go anywhere near this movie.

[Dukefrukem]

http://www.northhollyhood.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Natalie%20Portman%20Thong.gif

Not Work Friendly - So sad for you working people -- Spinal

[D_Davis]

My feeling is the exact opposite of this. Those two are the only reason I would go anywhere near this movie.

I'd go for Danny McBride - dude's hilarious. Eastbound and Down is just about the funniest thing ever.

I think that Natalie Portman, and Zooey Deschanel are terrible actors. I've never seen them in a convincing role. I don't get their appeal beyond their looks.

Kate Winslet would be awesome in this - I think it'd be fun to see her in this kind of comedy, and she is a brilliant actor.

[Grouchy]

I think that Natalie Portman, and Zooey Deschanel are terrible actors. I've never seen them in a convincing role. I don't get their appeal beyond their looks.

Kate Winslet would be awesome in this - I think it'd be fun to see her in this kind of comedy, and she is a brilliant actor.
I agree with all this. But I gotta say, my hatred for Natalie Portman must be waning, because I kind of like that ass shot.

[Spinal]

Kate Winslet would be awesome in this - I think it'd be fun to see her in this kind of comedy, and she is a brilliant actor.

Definitely.

[D_Davis]

Definitely.

We found a common ground.

:)

[Dukefrukem]

So sad for me? :(

[Spinal]

So sad for me? :(

Not for you. For the people who can't view the image.

[Spinal]

Not Work Friendly - So sad for you working people -- Spinal

Better?

[Dukefrukem]

yay!

She's so smokin' in that shot.

[eternity]

"What a tragedy that David Gordon Green, who looked like the new Terrence Malick back in the days of George Washington, has devolved into a manifestation of late-career Mel Brooks." (http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2010/11/low_and_lower.php)

Yeah, I can see that.

[Raiders]

If I made a list of my least favorite people on the planet, Jeffrey Wells would appear just beneath Jay Mariotti.

[eternity]

If I made a list of my least favorite people on the planet, Jeffrey Wells would appear just beneath Jay Mariotti.
:lol: Very well put.

[D_Davis]

It always seems like whenever someone says they don't like the acting skills of a certain attractive actress that someone inevitably posts a picture of her tits or ass. Is this to convince that she is, indeed, a great actress?

I call this a Leelooification, or to Leelooify.

[D_Davis]

That'd be funny if the same thing happened in a politics thread.

Poster 1 -
I don't like Obama's position on gay marriage.

Poster 2 -
http://www.catsandbeer.com/uploads/2008/04/sexy_swimming-barack_obama.jpg

[Mara]

I call this a Leelooification, or to Leelooify.

I am appropriating this phrase. Danke.

[D_Davis]

Or what if it worked in the opposite direction?


Poster 1 -
Kathy Bates is a great actor. She was especially convincing in Misery.

Poster 2 -
http://www.hotflick.net/flicks/2007_P.S._I_Love_You/007ILY_Kathy_Bates_003.jpg

[Dukefrukem]

Not sure I said anything about her acting ability, I just think she's hot.

[number8]

Not sure I said anything about her acting ability, I just think she's hot.

I believe that is D's point.

[Dukefrukem]

The only reason I brought her up to begin with was someone in another thread said she looked too young to play some role... and the pic was proof that was an incorrect statement.

[Watashi]

Kate Winslet would be awesome in this - I think it'd be fun to see her in this kind of comedy, and she is a brilliant actor.

It's been done.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3420/3357653235_c5337564ff_o.jpg

[dreamdead]

I want the old David Gordon Green back. :sad:

[Henry Gale]

I want the old David Gordon Green back. :sad:

Let's at least wait until the third season of Eastbound & Down is done before we rush this idea.

[transmogrifier]

Can't believe so many people actually liked the trailer - it is easily one of the worst trailers I have ever seen. And it seems, based on the early reviews, that it is an accurate description of the actual film itself.

[Watashi]

Can't believe so many people actually liked the trailer - it is easily one of the worst trailers I have ever seen. And it seems, based on the early reviews, that it is an accurate description of the actual film itself.

http://www.northhollyhood.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Natalie%20Portman%20Thong.gif

[Ivan Drago]

I'm definitely looking forward to this, but it still boggles my mind that David Gordon Green would direct stuff like this and Pineapple Express. Then again he's making money off of it so I can't really blame him. And he's working with Deschanel and McBride again as well.

[Lazlo]

I'm definitely looking forward to this, but it still boggles my mind that David Gordon Green would direct stuff like this and Pineapple Express. Then again he's making money off of it so I can't really blame him. And he's working with Deschanel and McBride again as well.

The dude likes all kinds of movies and wants to be able to make all kinds of movies, so as long as they're good, which they have been so far, why does it matter what kind of "stuff" he directs?

[number8]

I was at the Pineapple Express premiere with him there a few years ago and that was the big question of the night. And he said this was the kind of movies he used to make in college, and this is what he wants to do. Not his fault that people dug his more artsy stuff and expected him to just stick with that. He wants to have a fun career making fun stuff with his friends. You can criticize the quality of the films, but I don't think anyone should question his integrity.

[Milky Joe]

DGG can make as many Pineapple Expresses and Eastbound & Downs as he wants to make. Some of the best comedies made in a while.

[transmogrifier]

The thing is, Pineapple Express is hilarious. This trailer very much not so.

[Raiders]

Yeah, Pineapple Express is a great, great film. I would argue it is better than Undertow and Snow Angels and damn near as good as All the Real Girls. Oddly, I may actually be its biggest fan on this site.

This has never looked that good to me, sadly (I'll still see it, but probably On Demand or DVD). That said, it is Green's next film that I'm really sad about. A comedy about Jonah Hill being forced to babysit. Ugh.

[transmogrifier]

Yeah, Pineapple Express is a great, great film. I would argue it is better than Undertow and Snow Angels and damn near as good as All the Real Girls. Oddly, I may actually be its biggest fan on this site.


I think Pineapple Express is probably the best thing of his I have seen, though I haven't seen George Washington.

[Pop Trash]

Ebert has long been one of Green's biggest supporters and he just gave this one star. I'm afraid this might be a trip to Bomb City.

[Ezee E]

I was at the Pineapple Express premiere with him there a few years ago and that was the big question of the night. And he said this was the kind of movies he used to make in college, and this is what he wants to do. Not his fault that people dug his more artsy stuff and expected him to just stick with that. He wants to have a fun career making fun stuff with his friends. You can criticize the quality of the films, but I don't think anyone should question his integrity.
I think it's the opposite honestly, despite what he says. His movies fared well critically, but never made a dime back. Combine the grosses of all three of his first movies, and you don't even get a million dollars. Undertow had financial backing from a big studio, and after it failed, I think Green understood he may never work again, so he essentially became a for-hire director, doing Snow Angels, and then Pineapple Express/Eastbound and Down and found a niche that he succeeded in, working with people he liked. So he's going to stick to these comedies.

Keep in mind, he was also pegged to do A Confederacy of Dunces for the longest of time with Will Ferrell, and it got scrapped after Undertow.

[Lazlo]

Keep in mind, he was also pegged to do A Confederacy of Dunces for the longest of time with Will Ferrell, and it got scrapped after Undertow.

Pretty sure this wasn't Green's fault. The producers lost their rights to the book and a whole new script had to be written once rights were re-acquired and the thing never got moving again.

Plus, his next two projects after The Sitter are Suspiria and Ice Station Zebra remakes, hardly what mainstream audiences are clamoring for.

[Ivan Drago]

He's directing the Suspiria remake???? My interest has piqued.

[Boner M]

I love George Washington but DGG's 'arty' films are a textbook case of diminishing returns. I think it was Kent Jones who said a lot of GW's poignancy was seeing a 24-year-old doing a film like that in 2000, as much as anything in the actual film. Right now you can't throw a stone in a film festival without hitting a 'poetic' Amerindie in the vein of Green's first few films, and there's a few directors doing it just as well if not better (Lance Hammer, Aaron Katz, Matthew Porterfield on the basis of Putty Hill's reception).

As such, it's no real loss that Green's moved into the mainstream. And as Raiders mentioned, Pineapple Express is pretty great.

[Pop Trash]

Ehhh I dunno Boner...first two DGG films >>> first two Aaron Katz films. I mean -Jesus- the cinematography alone...

[Raiders]

I admittedly have seen nothing from Katz, but I really don't believe anything from that mumblecore nonsense is better than any of Green's films I have seen outside Snow Angels. And Lance Hammer, no sir. Ballast is weak sauce.

[Pop Trash]

I didn't mean for that to sound like a knock against Aaron Katz. Both Dance Party USA and Quiet City were pretty good.

But I get what Boner is saying; there seems to be a resurgance in 'naturalism' in Ameri-Indies lately. Kelly Reichardt flicks, Winter's Bone, Blue Valentine, and Sugar being some others that come to mind. But that doesn't mean DGG should make stoner comedies for the rest of his life.

[Derek]

I admittedly have seen nothing from Katz, but I really don't believe anything from that mumblecore nonsense is better than any of Green's films I have seen outside Snow Angels.

:|

[Pop Trash]

:|

Huh? You're a mumblecore fan in yet you give Kicking and Screaming one star? :|

[Raiders]

:|

I'm not going to write off the whole subgenre, but I wasn't much of a fan of either Bujalski I have seen and I could only really take about half of Swanberg's Hannah Takes the Stairs. So unless Katz is doing something totally different, I feel confident in my statement.

[Sycophant]

I liked both Katz films I've seen quite a bit more than Mutual Appreciation (which I also liked).

I'm pretty sure I like Quiet City more than any David Gordon Green film, though I like George Washington and All the Real Girls very much.

[Dead & Messed Up]

He's directing the Suspiria remake???? My interest has peaked.

Don't you mean "is piqued"? Not much point if your enthusiasm can only descend from this point.

[Derek]

Huh? You're a mumblecore fan in yet you give Kicking and Screaming one star? :|

But that's because it sucks, not because it's a mumble core film, which it isn't. It's much more of Whit Stillman style filmmaking that became somewhat popular in the early to mid-90s, when K&S was made.


I'm not going to write off the whole subgenre, but I wasn't much of a fan of either Bujalski I have seen and I could only really take about half of Swanberg's Hannah Takes the Stairs. So unless Katz is doing something totally different, I feel confident in my statement.

I've heard Swanberg's films incredibly obnoxious, so I wouldn't put too much stock in that. As for Katz, I don't think it's so much that he's doing something different from Bujalski with Quiet City as that he focuses almost solely on the birth of a relationship. So in that sense, it actually has more in common with All the Real Girls than Bujalski's films.

[Raiders]

FINE, people. I take back my generalization. I will now watch Quiet City and I swear if it ain't awesome, all your rep is getting set to ZERO.

[Ivan Drago]

Don't you mean "is piqued"? Not much point if your enthusiasm can only descend from this point.

Yes, that's what I meant.

[Pop Trash]

I once saw Metropolitan listed as one of the top ten best conservative movies ever made; which confirmed my dislike of Whit Stillman.

[Derek]

I once saw Metropolitan listed as one of the top ten best conservative movies ever made; which confirmed my dislike of Whit Stillman.

So other people's classification of a director's film caused you to dislike that director?

[Qrazy]

So other people's classification of a director's film caused you to dislike that director?

YES.

He just answered your question Derek. God damn.

[Pop Trash]

So other people's classification of a director's film caused you to dislike that director?

NO.

It was just an affirmation of my previous dislike.

[Qrazy]

Anyway, Metropolitan and Kicking and Screaming both suck, so who cares.

[Pop Trash]

Mumblecore I've seen ranked for shits and giggles:

-Mutual Appreciation
-Dance Party USA
-Funny Ha Ha
-Quiet City
-Humpday
-Baghead
-Kissing on the Mouth
-LOL
-The Puffy Chair
-Cyrus

[right_for_the_moment]

Cold Weather is quite good too.

I don't there's anything particularly conservative about Stillman's films either. Metropolitan has conservative characters, but it isn't conservative itself, imo. Maybe Barcelona to a certain extent.

[transmogrifier]

Mumblecore I've seen ranked for shits and giggles:

-Mutual Appreciation
-Dance Party USA
-Funny Ha Ha
-Quiet City
-Humpday
-Baghead
-Kissing on the Mouth
-LOL
-The Puffy Chair
-Cyrus

I can quite easily see myself never ever watching a single one of those movies. Eh.

[Derek]

I can quite easily see myself never ever watching a single one of those movies. Eh.

You would give every one of them a 48. There, I just saved you 15 hours of your life.

[MadMan]

I enjoyed and liked Last Days of Disco. That's the only Stillman movie I've seen. Never bothered with mumblecore, but I'll eventually check it out just to see what all of the fuss is about.

As for Green, I thought that Pinapple Express was hilarious and that George Washington was a great movie worthy of all the praise its received. I think I have All The Real Girls on my Netflix queue.

[transmogrifier]

You would give every one of them a 48. There, I just saved you 15 hours of your life.

Much appreciated. I'll take care of watching Park Chan Wook films for you for the rest of his career to pay you back.

[Derek]

Much appreciated. I'll take care of watching Park Chan Wook films for you for the rest of his career to pay you back.

But I like Park! Reminds me I need to check out Mr. Vengeance since it's on Instant Watch.

[Rowland]

But I like Park! Reminds me I need to check out Mr. Vengeance since it's on Instant Watch.Oohh. My favorite of his.

[transmogrifier]

But I like Park! Reminds me I need to check out Mr. Vengeance since it's on Instant Watch.

Oh. I must have confused you with 90% of the rest of the board. :)

[DavidSeven]

I bet the split is more like 70/30 (in favor of Park). Maybe more. Mumblecore wishes it had that much support here.

Funny Ha Ha was such shit. Katz's stuff does look a little better.

[transmogrifier]

I bet the split is more like 70/30 (in favor of Park). Maybe more. Mumblecore wishes it had that much support here.

Funny Ha Ha was such shit. Katz's stuff does look a little better.

Yeah. Derek's all over the place, so I took a punt that he was one of those deluded fellows that dislike Park's ability to take technical showmanship and build a kind of trashy emotional maelstrom out of it.

[Ivan Drago]

Apparently the founder of the mumblecore genre was an SIUC alum. I don't know whether to be proud of that or not.

[Pop Trash]

So...um...anyone see this yet? Still curious about it.

[Ezee E]

So...um...anyone see this yet? Still curious about it.
I think the awful reviews scared us all away.

[Derek]

Funny Ha Ha was such shit.

Love this movie. Probably my favorite mumblecore.

[MadMan]

I think the awful reviews scared us all away.Well that and the fact that I'm flat broke. But really if I had cash right now to blow on a movie, I'd rather go see Drive Angry or Rango.

[Kiusagi]

I don't think this is as horrible as the reviews are saying. It's just not good. A few laughs, but it really is one joke stretched out to a feature length film. Maybe if they had embraced the adventure aspect a little more it would have been fun and worthwhile. Or maybe not.

[origami_mustache]

Pineapple Express is one of the best comedies I've ever seen and certainly on par with his first two films. He has the potentially to be a great comedy director and he's continued to show this on the episodes of Eastbound and Down he directed, but Your Highness doesn't look too appealing. I'm sure he's having a lot of fun making these kinds of films though, and I have faith that he will return to more serious work later in his career if not sooner.

[Bosco B Thug]

I did not find this horribly odious (though isolated, minor scenes approach the "Not funny, not cool" spectrum) or unpleasant, and I'd say I enjoyed it about as much as Pineapple Express. I'd say Green and writer Danny McBride's spoof/gag film comedy benefits from having the structure of fantasy film's formula and action set-pieces, and provides a clearer path for [half-assed] satire and lampooning, over Pineapple Express's vague pot proselytizing and vague character-driven dramatizing.

As with Sucker Punch, if you hated the trailer, you'll hate the film. But even McBride's "profanity in a period setting" running joke is handled much better than the critics would lead you to believe, and Green, as in Pineapple Express, does not lack for interesting and idiosyncratic directorial decisions, even though these comedies of his have no interest in being good or being of higher purpose.

[number8]

I wonder if any of you remember this project.

Was listening to Danny McBride on a podcast interview and he said something interesting. Apparently the first screenplay he'd ever sold to a studio was a Seann William Scott vehicle (back when they were still doing that kind of thing) called Nerd Camp, which is him as a stoner counselor in a summer camp for genius kids. It sounds terrible and it never got made, but he wrote it with David Gordon Green.

This is even more interesting: I also found out that David Gordon Green said he had two dream projects, which are Confederancy of Dunces and a live-action Fat Albert. No joke. He was going to make one and he was really pissed when they did the one with Kenan.

[Sven]

a live-action Fat Albert. No joke. He was going to make one and he was really pissed when they did the one with Kenan.

Now I can see that George Washington was just a practice run.

[number8]

Reading this now is just bizarre. Interview from 2003:


Still, he can look forward to working with one of his most beloved books when he takes on the adaptation of John Kennedy Toole's celebrated "A Confederacy of Dunces." Scoring that creative feather in his cap wasn't quite as easy as his recent coups. It was Green who had to bang down the doors of producer Steven Soderberg.

"They had another director that I told them was totally wrong," Green said. "I heard who they'd been talking to and I got angry and just tried to campaign for it. I mean, I've got no business making movies that cost more than $5 by Hollywood standards, but [I wanted it]."

His candid tongue has gotten Green in trouble in the past. He once made headlines by calling fellow cinemaphile Kevin Smith's movies the Special Olympics of filmmaking, but now he shrugs off the feud. "I feel like [Smith's] probably OK. He doesn't give a sh-- what I think anyhow. He makes money. I don't."

If there's one thing audiences don't recognize about Gordon, it is this type of sharp, wry sense of humor — but it's something he's hoping to put to good use. Green wants to make a live-action version of the cartoon "Fat Albert."

"I've had two goals as far as movies are concerned forever that I can remember. One of them was to [make] 'Dunces,' and [then] more than anything in the whole world, I really wanna do 'Fat Albert,' " he admitted. "I got really depressed because they were about to go into production on 'Fat Albert' a year ago with Forrest Whitaker directing, so I was super pissed."

Creative differences between Whitaker and Bill Cosby, who owns the rights to the original cartoon, caused plans to be scrapped, and now Green is campaigning hard for the film.

"I swear to God, I wrote Bill Cosby a letter 20 minutes [ago]," he said.

[Raiders]

I'm optimistic that once this Jonah Hill nonsense gets released in the fall, Green will move on to different kinds of films than he has done before. I'm still hoping that his Suspiria isn't just some career-long dream (like Dunces).

[Ezee E]

I bet after the Jonah Hill movie is out, he's going to be working on the third season of Eastbound & Down.

[number8]

I bet after the Jonah Hill movie is out, he's going to be working on the third season of Eastbound & Down.

It's the last season, though, so after that he should be free for anything in 2012.

[Pop Trash]

My interest in Green is slowly fading. Why would anyone 'hope' his Suspiria remake sees the light of day?

[Raiders]

My interest in Green is slowly fading. Why would anyone 'hope' his Suspiria remake sees the light of day?

Because I want to see his take on it? I don't have it in me to automatically hate remakes and I would love to see him take on a giallo.

[Bosco B Thug]

I fully liked Snow Angels, so I have hope for whatever his next "serious" movie is. I'm rather giddy that it might be the Suspiria remake.

Only once he's made his serious version will I allow him to make his stoner spoof Suspiri-da-'juana starring McBride as Suzie Banyon.

[Henry Gale]

Finally saw this last night, and it may be because the general reaction to it lowered my expectations significantly, I might have been in just the right mood for something goofy, but whatever the case, I... kinda, sorta loved it.

It's not something I can defend in many ways, and it's not amazingly well-scripted or even perfectly edited as a comedy for the most part, but it's a movie that I had fun with for many of its little moments, enjoying the dynamic between the leads, how it found a way to make me laugh very consistently, all while being impressed by how satisfying its adventure aspects were too. The best of it probably allowed me to ignore whatever flaws may have been floating along its edges, but all I know is that I had a great time watching it, and whatever I saw wrong with it is nitpicking my genuine reaction to it as a result.

I'm not really sure what people were expecting, but it may be a case of just not being something that interested more than a handful of moviegoers including myself (and possibly about 25% of RT critics) ever cared to see, but it is what it is, and pretty much as good as it could have been given that. But the easiest comparison I see to it is MacGruber in the sense that these are both movies that relish in being extremely silly, while making a strong effort to simultaneously embody and make fun of the tropes and conventions of the genres they set themselves in. From that standpoint, the two sides of that are probably however well you think they did a job of that type of parody, and then how much it made you laugh. I just happen to find myself on the positive end of both of those things, and I liked Your Highness significantly more than the Forte vehicle, because I found it more genuinely exicting, fun, and more hilarious overall.

It's not the sort of thing I would recommend to everyone, but it's definitely a movie I can see myself (as well as friends with similar tastes and sensibilities to mine) watching again.

***, possibly ***1/2

[Bosco B Thug]

Finally saw this last night, and it may be because the general reaction to it lowered my expectations significantly, I might have been in just the right mood for something goofy, but whatever the case, I... kinda, sorta loved it. Yay.


enjoying the dynamic between the leads, how it found a way to make me laugh very consistently, all while being impressed by how satisfying its adventure aspects were too. Yeah, the "journey" was surprisingly engaging. And I think Theroux's villain and his supernatural plans probably provide the film's sharpest lampooning material, while also not being too bad of a villain/element of threat at all.

And I also enjoyed the performances. I haven't seen McBride in anything else but Pineapple Express, but I thought he gave a really good comedy and acting job here. I don't know if he has range, but he can definitely carry this film by himself, probably more so than Franco.

[eternity]

Since that Fat Albert adaptation happened (and boy was it awful), I wonder what Green's thoughts are now.

[origami_mustache]

Why would anyone 'hope' his Suspiria remake sees the light of day?

Shouldn't be too hard to make something much better than the overhyped original.

[origami_mustache]

There were a few laughs here and there, but overall this was a pretty dull and not very funny comedy. Pineapple Express did such a great job satirizing the genre, while Your Majesty is filled with missed opportunities. It seems they spent too much time with straight forward gagless action sequences and special effects instead of improvising. I saw that they were trying to mimic Lord of the Rings a lot, but they never really did anything funny with it. There was only one scene that even remotely resembled the kind of filmmaking I know and love from DGG and that's when Danny McBride gets high and frolics through the meadow chasing sheep instead of attending his brother's wedding.

other notable scenes:
Wise Wizard, molesting puppet.
Voodoo hand dragon and tribe of naked women.
Danny McBride trying to give Natalie Portman his minotaur penis necklace as a parting gift.

[Dukefrukem]

3rd movie I saw over the weekend. I laughed a lot at this. I'm having trouble rating it up against Pineapple Express. I think I liked PE more than this overall, but then I remember how poorly PE ends and the lack of Danny McBride brings it down even more. However, James Franco is much better in PE and tilts the scale more in favor of PE.

It might be the fantasy element of Your Highness that I don't like very much but McBride's one-liners and 2011 attitude in a 12th century comedy got me chuckling. Loved the overuse of the word “quest”. :lol:

[EyesWideOpen]

Hey Duke, judging by your thoughts there it sounds like a yay. Over in the 2011 yay/nay thread you're listed as a nay.

[Bosco B Thug]

Hey Duke, judging by your thoughts there it sounds like a yay. Over in the 2011 yay/nay thread you're listed as a nay.
Blue Valentine yay
The Adjustment Bureau yay
Your Highness meh
The Tree of Life nay
Limitless yay
Fright Night yay :cry: