Drive

[Boner M]

Trailer (http://au.ign.com/videos/2011/07/21/drive-red-band-trailer)

Can't watch this at the moment, but I'll just say it looks awesome cuz it likely does.

[Ezee E]

Awesome looking indeed. Can't wait.

[Pop Trash]

Have any of the reviews mentioned The Stunt Man? Seems like a pretty obvious reference point.

[Pop Trash]

Also: I really need to get on seeing Valhalla Rising and Bronson.

[Ezee E]

Valhalla Rising is an interesting failure to me. Shows what type of talent that Refn has, but he gets carried away with the vision. Bronson, similar problem...

Definitely someone with a masterpiece or two in his career at some point though.

[Pop Trash]

I don't know about a masterpiece, but this looks sufficiently badass.

[Boner M]

The Pusher films are pretty good (the third one is the best and most underrated for me, although that's an unpopular opinion) but I found Bronson and VH to be vapid exercises in substanceless style, especially the former. Refn's a hell of a director though; I think he's gonna be a real force as a Hollywood gun-for-hire, which is why I'm super-excited for this and Logan's Run.

[Pop Trash]

Hm, not too excited about a remake, but that does remind me I need to see the original. JENNY AGUTTER!

[Kurosawa Fan]

Yeah, that trailer was fantastic. Can't wait for this to hit theaters. Or in my case, DVD.

[DavidSeven]

Cast of the year? This looks tremendous.

[Derek]

Cast of the year? This looks tremendous.

It's up there. And yes, it does.

[Winston*]

Seeing this in three weeks.

[Morris Schæffer]

Still sort of curious to see just how awesome the direction really is to merit the Cannes award, but I believe there are glimpses to be seen here. looks like an arthouse action/thriller. and it looks great.

If I get a chance to see it in theatres, I will not hesitate.

[Barty]

Saw it tonight, fantastic direction and suspense.

[Morris Schæffer]

Saw it tonight, fantastic direction and suspense.

Is this one of those movies where critics throw out the likes of "some of the great car chases in movie history?"

[number8]

This movie was fucking amazing. Way better than Captain America.

[Acapelli]

where did you see it 8?

[Sven]

where did you see it 8?

Probably ComicCon. Wish I were there.

[Acapelli]

oh damn i forgot he was there. was hoping it was playing somewhere in nyc

was sold on it when i saw this trailer a month or so back

yZQ2qOeoE88

[MadMan]

Wow. That's one movie I'm going to add to my "Must See" list. And it has one hell of a cast, too.

[Henry Gale]

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww32/weezermcfly/tumblr_lnm578ZnOa1qdk87d.gif

[B-side]

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww32/weezermcfly/tumblr_lnm578ZnOa1qdk87d.gif

Yes, this!

[Watashi]

http://www.awardsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/drive-lg.jpg

The poster for this is kind of amazing and very misleading. I kinda love it.

[B-side]

It's brilliant.

[Boner M]

I think it's saying no matter how much badass machismo you want from the film, you'd still go gay for Gosling.

[megladon8]

I really don't like Gosling, but man oh man I want to see this baaaad.

Looks like a Steve McQueen movie in the 2010's. In other words, awesome.

[Pop Trash]

What's your problem with Gosling? He tore it up in Blue Valentine.

[MadMan]

I don't recall ever seeing a Gosling movie (well some of the godawful The Notebook counts, I guess) but from what I've heard he's a really good actor. Guess I'll have to check out Half-Nelson and Blue Valentine sometime.

[Robby P]

Gosling is clearly one of the best actors in the world. I can't comprehend not liking him.

[Raiders]

Gosling is clearly one of the best actors in the world. I can't comprehend not liking him.

Not only talent, but I have yet to see anything contentious about him off the screen. Plus, he's Canadian. Seems a pretty random person to dislike.

[number8]

Yeh, Gosling is tops.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I don't want to pile on meg here, but I've honestly never heard someone say they didn't like Gosling. This is a first. I've liked him ever since his performance in The Believer. He turned a pretty poor movie into one worth watching.

[number8]

I don't want to pile on meg here, but I've honestly never heard someone say they didn't like Gosling. This is a first. I've liked him ever since his performance in The Believer. He turned a pretty poor movie into one worth watching.

Not saying this is meg's reason, but I've heard plenty of shit-talks about Gosling from guys who have never seen any of his movies solely for the fact that he was in that Notebook chick flick and girls go crazy over him so he must suck.

[Dukefrukem]

+1 for Gosling being awesome.

Can't wait to hear why Meg doesn't like him.

[Pop Trash]

Not saying this is meg's reason, but I've heard plenty of shit-talks about Gosling from guys who have never seen any of his movies solely for the fact that he was in that Notebook chick flick and girls go crazy over him so he must suck.

Those guys are fuckin' douchers. That's the same reason DiCaprio got trashed on in the late 90s for Titanic. But when you say "oh he was actually quite good in This Boys Life, Gilbert Grape, and The Basketball Diaries" they'd reply with a shrug.

[D_Davis]

Those guys are fuckin' douchers. That's the same reason DiCaprio got trashed on in the late 90s for Titanic. But when you say "oh he was actually quite good in This Boys Life, Gilbert Grape, and The Basketball Diaries" they'd reply with a shrug.

He was also really good in Titanic, a film that is totally not terrible. One of the best actors around.

Gosling is also in a really, really good band.

[Morris Schæffer]

Winding Refn anecdote


“I was originally set to do a movie with Harrison Ford where he plays a secret agent who dies at the end – but seeing that through wasn't going to work… So while I was working on these things, I got a call from Ryan Gosling. I’d never met him, but he asked if I would meet him, and I said yes."

"And so I went to meet him, but strangely, I had got a very high fever flying in and so I was taking these anti flu things, and these American anti-flu things are strong. Basically, I was high as a kite, like I was on morphine or heroin or something, couldn't say a sentence at this restaurant with Ryan."

"He was all professional, but I was sitting and I couldn’t move. He’d seen all my films and knew a lot about them, and he wanted to do a movie called Drive based on this very good book. It was like a blind date, and I was just wanting to say 'When can we leave?'"

"Eventually I asked him, “Would you please take me home?� I was too sick to take a taxi, you see. In the car, another awkward silence."

'Can't Fight This Feeling' by REO Speedwagon came on the radio. Then suddenly, here I was in Ryan’s car, crying to this song on the radio. I was singing, “I can’t fight this feeling any more!�, banging my fists against my legs to the drum solo. I was having all this emotional catharsis, and I screamed in Ryan’s face, “I GOT IT, I KNOW WHAT DRIVE IS! He drives around in cars at night and his emotional relief is pop music. So that’s why I made the movie.�

[B-side]

Nice.

[Winston*]

This was a really good movie to watch knowing nothing about it.

[megladon8]

Well admittedly I haven't seen what are supposed to be some of his best performances (or best movies for that matter), but I have yet to see anything particularly impressive from Gosling. He's fine enough, but I haven't seen the magic that others do who say things like "he's one of the best actors in the world".

[EyesWideOpen]

Well admittedly I haven't seen what are supposed to be some of his best performances (or best movies for that matter), but I have yet to see anything particularly impressive from Gosling. He's fine enough, but I haven't seen the magic that others do who say things like "he's one of the best actors in the world".

What movies have you seen him in? Because I find a big difference between saying "He's fine enough" and "I really don't like him".

[Raiders]

I'd like to say that I personally thought he was great (McAdams too) in The Notebook, a film that needed the elder Cassavetes behind the lens (there were a few raw moments that hinted at a far better film--mainly courtesy of the conviction of its two leads).

I honestly haven't seen a single performance from him that I would describe as less than good. And then when you have his work in Half Nelson and Blue Valentine, he's sensational.

[chrisnu]

Didn't expect to see Albert Brooks in that kind of role, at all...

[megladon8]

What movies have you seen him in? Because I find a big difference between saying "He's fine enough" and "I really don't like him".


I've seen Murder by Numbers, Stay, Fracture and Lars and the Real Girl.

I haven't gotten a sense of him having much charisma, nor did I find him an overly impressive actor in any of these roles.

So yeah, I'm not going to like an actor who gets heaps of praise that I have yet to see as warranted.


Anyways, I really want to see Drive.

[megladon8]

Not only talent, but I have yet to see anything contentious about him off the screen. Plus, he's Canadian. Seems a pretty random person to dislike.


Thats another thing. Cornwall is like an hour away from here. I've actually heard some not-so-nice things about him from people who know/knew him.

But that had no bearing on my statement. I guess "dislike" was a little too strong. More like apathy.

[Raiders]

Thats another thing. Cornwall is like an hour away from here. I've actually heard some not-so-nice things about him from people who know/knew him.

Yeah, this is almost always the case.


But that had no bearing on my statement. I guess "dislike" was a little too strong. More like apathy.Apathy is fine, but when someone routinely is praised as among the best actors working and all you have seen are four films, three of which are crap and gave him relatively crap or easy parts, perhaps you should do more investigation before forming any opinion.

[megladon8]

Apathy is fine, but when someone routinely is praised as among the best actors working and all you have seen are four films, three of which are crap and gave him relatively crap or easy parts, perhaps you should do more investigation before forming any opinion.


Eh, no.

I was pretty open that I hadn't seen a few of his most praised roles.

And for an actor who only has like a dozen or so major roles under his belt so far, seeing a third of them is enough to form some sort of opinion, especially when, like I said, I have yet to see but am interested in seeing some of his more critically praised work. And Drive.

I mean, much more damning opinions have been voiced here based on much less.

[Ezee E]

Meg's probably done the opposite of what you've all done. Seen his more mediocre work.

I find him good, with plenty of potential. Blue Valentine and Half-Nelson shows that he certainly has talent, and I can't friggin wait for Drive, but moreso for Refn then GOsling.

[Ezee E]

It's especially silly to compare Gosling to Brando. Let's look at their first nine performances.

Gosling
The Believer
Murder By Numbers
Notebook
Stay
Half Nelson
Fracture
Lars and the Real Girl
Blue Valentine
Drive

Brando
The Men
A Streetcar Named Desire
Viva Zapata
Julius Caesar
The Wild One
On The Waterfront
Desiree
Guys and Dolls
Teahouse of the August Moon

[Raiders]

What does that matter? I'm looking at what he has done in his best performances and the talent, depth and raw emotion that is very reminiscent of what Brando brought forth more than anyone else ever really has. I don't care about their grade report over the first few years of their career.

[Ezee E]

What does that matter? I'm looking at what he has done in his best performances and the talent, depth and raw emotion that is very reminiscent of what Brando brought forth more than anyone else ever really has. I don't care about their grade report over the first few years of their career.
I'm just showing that it isn't reminiscent at all, even as a supporter of Gosling.

[Raiders]

I'm just showing that it isn't reminiscent at all, even as a supporter of Gosling.

What isn't reminiscent? His talent, or his project choices at the start of his career? Your post only shows one of those, and it isn't the one anyone would have been actually comparing.

[Ezee E]

What isn't reminiscent? His talent, or his project choices at the start of his career? Your post only shows one of those, and it isn't the one anyone would have been actually comparing.
Both.

[Raiders]

Both.

Well, I would say his performances in Half Nelson and Blue Valentine are worth comparing to almost every Brando performance on that list, a couple of which are among the best I have seen. This isn't the same as saying he is as yet worth placing alongside Brando, or that he has been as consistently challenging or good with his projects and performances, but that the talent he shows when at his best is indeed reminiscent.

Isn't that all anybody has really said?

EDIT: Though truth be told, I don't remember this comparison being made here. If it has, I would assume it is as I say above.

[Ezee E]

I haven't seen it here either, lots of publications have.

[Robby P]

If you haven't seen The Believer, Half Nelson or Blue Valentine (or even The Notebook for crying out loud) then you haven't seen Gosling truly act. That's like forming an opinion of Marlon Brando based on The Score, The Island of Dr. Moreau and Don Juan DeMarco.

[megladon8]

If you haven't seen The Believer, Half Nelson or Blue Valentine (or even The Notebook for crying out loud) then you haven't seen Gosling truly act. That's like forming an opinion of Marlon Brando based on The Score, The Island of Dr. Moreau and Don Juan DeMarco.


No it's not, because those three films don't represent a full third of Brando's filmography.

[Robby P]

This is a silly, pedantic argument. If you haven't seen an actor's most prolific roles how can you be in any position to judge his or her abilities? Every actor does a shit role for a paycheck. Brando, De Niro, Pacino, Streep, they've all mailed it in countless dozens upon dozens of times. Doesn't make them any less great at what they do.

[Winston*]

He got a lot of praise for Lars and the Real Girl to be fair.

[megladon8]

This is a silly, pedantic argument. If you haven't seen an actor's most prolific roles how can you be in any position to judge his or her abilities? Every actor does a shit role for a paycheck. Brando, De Niro, Pacino, Streep, they've all mailed it in countless dozens upon dozens of times. Doesn't make them any less great at what they do.


So I can't have an opinion on an actor if I haven't seen the "right" movies they're in?

That's silly.

[megladon8]

He got a lot of praise for Lars and the Real Girl to be fair.


But it's not one of the qualifying movies required to have an opinion, so it doesn't count.

[Robby P]

The right movies? Those are the three most acclaimed performances of the guy's career. Of course you need to watch them to have any meaningful opinion on the merits of his work. This is beyond ridiculous. You're grasping at straws here.

[Robby P]

I can comfortably say that on the basis of watching The Lost World, Hook and Indiana Jones 4 that Steven Spielberg is a complete hack. What am I supposed to do, watch Schindler's List or something?

[number8]

Okay, I think this got ridiculous the moment the Brando comparison got thrown around.

Listen, here's a better analogy: it's like slighting Heath Ledger having only seen in A Knight's Tale, Ned Kelly, Casanova and Lords of Dogtown.

[number8]

I can comfortably say that on the basis of watching The Lost World, Hook and Indiana Jones 4 that Steven Spielberg is a complete hack. What am I supposed to do, watch Schindler's List or something?

The Lost World is better than Schindler's List. Terrible example.

[Raiders]

This is silly. I don't care about film-to-film comparisons. So what? I don't care about how many films someone has seen. I'm talking about the quality of his acting when he is at his best; his intensity, emotional openness, conviction and so forth. But I can't show this to meg, because he has watched only one of his four or five most praised performances (the one I haven't seen of course). That was the point.

[Ezee E]

Okay, I think this got ridiculous the moment the Brando comparison got thrown around.

Listen, here's a better analogy: it's like slighting Heath Ledger having only seen in A Knight's Tale, Ned Kelly, Casanova and Lords of Dogtown.
This is a little more like it.

[megladon8]

Once again, I want to see Drive.

[megladon8]

This is silly. I don't care about film-to-film comparisons. So what? I don't care about how many films someone has seen. I'm talking about the quality of his acting when he is at his best ; his intensity, emotional openness, conviction and so forth. But I can't show this to meg, because he has watched only one of his four or five most praised performances (the one I haven't seen of course). That was the point.


That's pretty subjective though.

People disagree over what is an actor's "best" work all the time.

[Ezee E]

That's pretty subjective though.

People disagree over what is an actor's "best" work all the time.
True. Although I don't think anyone says one of Gosling's best movies (or even his second or third) are in the ones you've seen. :)

[megladon8]

True. Although I don't think anyone says one of Gosling's best movies (or even his second or third) are in the ones you've seen. :)


Lars and the Real Girl

[Ezee E]

Nope.

Blue Valentine.
Half Nelson.
Drive. (gonna assume this will be right when it's all said and done)

Boom...

[Ezee E]

Hey Girl. (http://fuckyeahryangosling.tumblr.com/)

[Raiders]

That's pretty subjective though.

People disagree over what is an actor's "best" work all the time.

That's irrelevant to my contention. My view of his best work lies in the films you haven't seen.

For what it is worth at this point, I apologize if I inferred your opinion was invalid. I simply wanted to point out that as far as the general consensus goes, you have not viewed the films that people equate with his brilliance (possible exception of Lars). So... yeah. That's all.

[megladon8]

Has anyone read the book this is based on?

[chrisnu]

Hey Girl. (http://fuckyeahryangosling.tumblr.com/)

Ryan Gosling Addresses A Certain Internet Meme (http://www.mtv.com/videos/movies/604790/ryan-gosling-addresses-a-certain-internet-meme.jhtml#id=1653867)

[Robby P]

The Lost World is better than Schindler's List. Terrible example.

Not sure if serious.

[DavidSeven]

Gosling handpicked Nicolas Winding Refn of all people to direct the first movie he had any control over. Dude deserves massive props just for the balls it took to do that. That aside, he's tops among North American leading men right now on pure talent, and I don't think it's close.

[Ezee E]

Gosling handpicked Nicolas Winding Refn of all people to direct the first movie he had any control over. Dude deserves massive props just for the balls it took to do that. That aside, he's tops among North American leading men right now on pure talent, and I don't think it's close.
Have you seen Refn's other movies D7?

I'll still say it's a risk, simply for picking a foreign director, but the guy definitely has chops.

[DavidSeven]

Have you seen Refn's other movies D7?

I'll still say it's a risk, simply for picking a foreign director, but the guy definitely has chops.

Haven't seen them, but it seems ballsy based on the fact that the guy is relatively obscure and unproven in Hollywood. I respect the fact that Gosling seems to have picked Refn based entirely on his existing work, potential, and as you say, chops.

[Ezee E]

Haven't seen them, but it seems ballsy based on the fact that the guy is relatively obscure and unproven in Hollywood. I respect the fact that Gosling seems to have picked Refn based entirely on his existing work, potential, and as you say, chops.
Refn's already brought us two big actors. Tom Hardy and Mads Mikkelsen.

[Ezee E]

Refn's already brought us two big actors. Tom Hardy and Mads Mikkelsen.
p7sESVgtlhI

[Boner M]

This was sooo hottt. Most purely enjoyable straight-up genre exercise in eons. Dunno if it'll hold up on reflection, but the movie-movie narcotic effect of it is off the charts. Saw it with a bunch of friends and we all basically just shouted psychosexual metaphors at each other in lieu of discussion; wasn't pretty.

[Winston*]

Audience reaction?

[Boner M]

Was a media screening, so it's always gonna be a little muted no matter what the overall reception is. Lots of nervous laughter during the brutality, ditto with the Gosling/Mulligan flirting (which is almost comically swoony but not enough to be alienating).

[Boner M]

Just discovered the budget was $13 million. That's very impressive.

[Winston*]

Was a media screening, so it's always gonna be a little muted no matter what the overall reception is. Lots of nervous laughter during the brutality, ditto with the Gosling/Mulligan flirting (which is almost comically swoony but not enough to be alienating).

There was a lot of that nervous laughter in the packed theatre I saw it in. "Too much, too much" I remember hearing.

[number8]

I saw it with a Comic-Con crowd, so as expected, lots of loud cheering for the gore.

[Barty]

Soundtrack came out today, highly recommended. Some of the best use of songs in a movie, well, ever.

[Boner M]

First paragraph from Jaime Christley's review (http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/drive/5743):


Ryan Gosling's driver in Drive behaves, for the most part, the way lots of guys would like to behave in real life, but can't, often for physiological reasons. When I got home after the screening, I was sweating like a bloated rhino, feeling all of my 30 overweight pounds, my hair askew. There are dirty dishes in the sink, I'm out of toilet paper, expended coffee grounds are still in my percolator, and I'm distracted by the urge to watch that creepy trailer from The Minus Man on YouTube, for no reason whatsoever. Ryan Gosling's driver from Drive would have none of this.

:lol:

[number8]

Today! Review!

http://www.justpressplay.net/reviews/8493-drive.html

[Dukefrukem]

You can always tell when 8 likes a movie with how he posts his reviews. Can't wait to see this.

[eternity]

That was mostly good.

[Henry Gale]

I still haven't seen things like Certified Copy, The Tree of Life, Jane Eyre, Midnight In Paris, Of Gods and Men, Beginners, I Saw The Devil, Submarine and Meek's Cutoff, so it makes it all that much easier to call this my favourite movie of the year so far.

Absolutely excellent.

I love the marketing for this movie as much as I hate it. I don't think my theatre would have been half as full if this had been made to be exactly as it was to the general public, but it's also a sad thing to think that you almost have to trick audiences into seeing a movie this good. Do not watch the trailer for this if you haven't already. I was lucky to have not seen more than a couple of clips, but watching the red-band trailer after the fact, it spoils so much it hurts. This is a film that builds, develops, engages and then throws unexpected things at you once you've already adjusted your mood to fit the careful atmosphere of what's on screen. The trailer essentially complies those surprises into a loud, "exciting" package to make people think they're paying to see Transporter 4.

So yeah, everyone see this, and I know I'll absolutely see anything Refn makes now. Logan's Run? Wonder Woman? An original boxing gangster from him (with Gosling once again) set to come out next year? Whatever, I'm in.

[Sxottlan]

Excellent film. Felt and looked like something that should have actually come out in 1984, from the great and intentionally crappy locations to that incredible soundtrack.


Soundtrack came out today, highly recommended. Some of the best use of songs in a movie, well, ever.

It's already out? I literally went straight from the movie theater to the store to find it and the clerk told me it wouldn't be out until September 27th.

I did find the list online though and I've already played this a dozen times:

9K7rmxjk5RQ

[Boner M]

I've gotta say, all the Taxi Driver comparisons I've been reading (elsewhere) are really baffling, and don't flatter the film at all.

[number8]

Ha. A line I deleted from my review at the last minute because I thought it through, in reference to the lack of an internal monologue:

"Like Taxi Driver, if Travis Bickle knows he's full of shit and doesn't bother to justify himself."

[Ivan Drago]

This was fucking awesome.

[Sxottlan]

Drive (Nicolas Fucking Refn, 2011) 9

:lol:

[Raiders]

There's a moment late in the film where Gosling's driver looks at Mulligan and shamefully drops his head and whimpers about staying with her and them running away together with her son and some stolen money. It's a wonderful moment that beautifully underscores the film's ability to create in Gosling a ferocious rage yet transcend that with a genuine softness and tenderness. This isn't your typical gruff antihero with a golden heart but rather a shy and awkward loner with a great and violent rush that he exerts both behind the wheel and against those trying to kill him. That moment is also the final nail in this man finding any way out; it's a last-ditch effort to salvage himself and one that is obviously futile; she's a broken woman and he's on the run from the dirty money sitting in his trunk. The yearning and sadness in Gosling's voice in that moment is truly heartbreaking--so honest and open is that moment and so in contrast with what we usually see that there were nervous chuckles in the theater, unsure of how to process such a naked exchange.

The screenplay by Hossein Amini smartly leaves a lot of room for Refn to craft the milieu and emotional connections he wants. A lot of the film just coasts, giving the director plenty of time to use his splendid visual imagination to create a kind of detached and roaming spirit with a lot of high pans of the city and the fades in and out of both the music and the action. Refn also is able to convingly make driving an intellectual artform; not the kind of rules spelled out by Statham's Transporter but where in the very opening job the car chase is not some high-level rampage through the streets but is more cat-and-mouse, hiding and waiting, ducking in alleys and just out-of-sight of the search lights; also where we see that a car is not about looks, but about usefulness and even anonymity.

It's a bold film, one that is unafraid to feature a moment of slow motion tenderness and follow it up with the image of a man stomping another's face into a bloody pulp. It's somber, with dialogue often coming almost as an echo against the raging soundtrack or ever-present lilting hum, yet when the moments of violence hit they erupt into deafening sounds and large splashes of crimson. All very befitting a film which wears its emotions on its sleeve; not its characters but the film itself, dealing with its modulated emotions via an eclectic array of wonderful pop music, perhaps most notably recalling the way Friekdin incorporated the outsized persona of Wang Chung's music into the pumping rhythms of Los Angeles in To Live and Die in L.A.. The film trades exclusively in hard-lined genre and archetypes, but for the neon-drenched cityscapes and the lingering ghosts of films and characters gone-by, it seems tangibly intentional as though Refn was striving to create the perfect and crystallized version of this subgenre.

And finally, I think we all should give a resounding, "fuck yeah, Albert Brooks."

[megladon8]

Wow.

[Rowland]

And finally, I think we all should give a resounding, "fuck yeah, Albert Brooks."Recent tweet by Brooks (kinda spoiler for those who haven't seen it):

"Just came back from a morning showing of DRIVE. To make it like 3D I stabbed 6 people in the theater"

[number8]

Awesome.

[megladon8]

Want a toothpick?

[Henry Gale]

Not sure if it's been talked about very much but Bryan Cranston was on the Nerdist podcast a few weeks back and he talked about how before they started filming, Refn brought him, Gosling, Mulligan, Brooks and Perlman over to his house, sat them all down in his living and had them pitch him different ideas, dialogue and other sorts of attributes for their characters. They bounced off each other, wrote down whatever they had in mind, and then Refn apparently re-wrote the final script to include most of it.

Cranston said how much of a fantastic, collaborate experience it was for him as an actor, and considering he's already the multi-award winning star and producer of one of the best TV shows around, that's cool to hear.

[ledfloyd]

this exceeded my already extremely high expectations. i was completely engaged with the film from the very first frame in a way i can't remember being in a long long time, like a at least a year or two. kind of hard to come up with too much more at this point, but wow.

[megladon8]

I don't really know what I could say that hasn't already been said, suffice it to say that I really loved this film.

Every aspect worked in this deconstruction of genre and style, blending perfectly modern pop with retro sensibilities in what is one of the most completely absorbing and haunting films of the last few years.

Can't remember the last film I saw that left me with so much to think and talk about.

[MadMan]

I did find the list online though and I've already played this a dozen times:

9K7rmxjk5RQLove that track, and I also decided to play Don't Call, which by Desire as well.

My goal is to see this in the next two weeks. Probably next Monday, hopefully.

[chrisnu]

Soundtrack came out today, highly recommended. Some of the best use of songs in a movie, well, ever.
YES.

DSVDcw6iW8

[Rowland]

I was listening to the soundtrack yesterday, which is indeed sublime, and decided after a bit that I didn't want to overplay it too much for fear that it'd lose some of its effect in context of the movie.

[Sxottlan]

Recent tweet by Brooks (kinda spoiler for those who haven't seen it):

"Just came back from a morning showing of DRIVE. To make it like 3D I stabbed 6 people in the theater"

Ha!

And as he stabbed them, he kept telling them, "It's done. It's over now. No worries."

[megladon8]

So were the tracks like "A Real Hero", "Nightcall" and "Under Your Spell" actual '80s songs, or were they performed by modern bands mimicking an '80s sound?

I can't seem to find anything about the artists on AllMusic.

[Raiders]

I guess you could say they are modern songs performed "retro" and the artists are rather obscure. None of them are original to the film though.

I was only familiar with Desire prior to this film.

[Rowland]

I've known the band Chromatics since their last album Night Drive, which their track featured in Drive is from. Great album too btw.

[Henry Gale]

These guys are amazing together. (http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/09/14/drive-unscripted/)

[B-side]

I wrote a bit on this. (http://cinematicinsecurity.wordpress. com/2011/09/20/drive-refn-2011/)

[B-side]

Also...

Masochism, Sadism, and the “Perverse Pleasure of the Cinema� in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive (http://occupiedterritories.tumblr.com/post/10424020463/masochism-sadism-and-the-perverse-pleasure-of-the)

[ThePlashyBubbler]

I thought the music was effective until the very, very end.

Man, he sure has become a real human being, and a real...wait for it, hero. :rolleyes:

A little on-the-nose? The song itself doesn't bother me, and was fine when used earlier.

Just hope it's not just me, because that likely means I'm turning into a bitter old curmudgeon.

[Watashi]

Loved it. Reminded me a lot of Kitano's flicks.

[megladon8]

I thought the music was effective until the very, very end.

Man, he sure has become a real human being, and a real...wait for it, hero. :rolleyes:

A little on-the-nose? The song itself doesn't bother me, and was fine when used earlier.

Just hope it's not just me, because that likely means I'm turning into a bitter old curmudgeon.


I didn't really listen to the lyrics to be honest.

I thought the use of "A Real Hero" at the end of the film was more of a recollection of the earlier scenes in which it played, than it was a "listen to the lyrics!!" type of thing.

I was reminded of the days he spent with Irene and Benicio, and why he was here, at this point in the end of the film.

I thought it worked well.

[Melville]

I thought the music was effective until the very, very end.

Man, he sure has become a real human being, and a real...wait for it, hero. :rolleyes:

A little on-the-nose? The song itself doesn't bother me, and was fine when used earlier.
Very on-the-nose, but effectively so, I think. The whole movie is basically a swooning fairy tale fantasy, written in neon pink ink and set to equally swooning electropop. The main guy wants to be the knight, rescuing the girl, and he even wears a costume, like a superhero of sorts. (I love how his costume gets continually bloodier toward the end.) The song explicitly singing that he's a real hero fits perfectly with the somewhat ridiculous, ethereal style of all that. And as with the rest of the movie, it's touched with a bit of irony in its overstatedness. It has the same tone of almost ridiculous, surreal melodrama as the kiss in the elevator, and just as the look of horror on the girl's face after he stomps the guy's head in puts a bit of a twist on that fantasy-come-true moment, the whole movie puts a bit of a twist on the final song.

[Kiusagi]

Not sure if it's been talked about very much but Bryan Cranston was on the Nerdist podcast a few weeks back and he talked about how before they started filming, Refn brought him, Gosling, Mulligan, Brooks and Perlman over to his house, sat them all down in his living and had them pitch him different ideas, dialogue and other sorts of attributes for their characters. They bounced off each other, wrote down whatever they had in mind, and then Refn apparently re-wrote the final script to include most of it.

I find this very interesting. I read on Wikipedia that the character of Standard was originally an archetype. Oscar Isaac and Refn worked together to give the character more depth. I'm very interested to see how much changed from the original script. The movie was surely better off for Refn's willingness to take suggestions from his actors.

[Watashi]

The only unrealistic part of this movie is there wouldn't be many enthusiastic fans at a Raptors/Clippers game.

I know you're European, Nicolas, but c'mon.

[B-side]

Very on-the-nose, but effectively so, I think. The whole movie is basically a swooning fairy tale fantasy, written in neon pink ink and set to equally swooning electropop. The main guy wants to be the knight, rescuing the girl, and he even wears a costume, like a superhero of sorts. (I love how his costume gets continually bloodier toward the end.) The song explicitly singing that he's a real hero fits perfectly with the somewhat ridiculous, ethereal style of all that. And as with the rest of the movie, it's touched with a bit of irony in its overstatedness. It has the same tone of almost ridiculous, surreal melodrama as the kiss in the elevator, and just as the look of horror on the girl's face after he stomps the guy's head in puts a bit of a twist on that fantasy-come-true moment, the whole movie puts a bit of a twist on the final song.

Yup. I think, additionally to the point you made about his jacket becoming bloodier, you'll notice that his final transformation near the end is accompanied by a less figurative one when be dons the movie mask and ends up looking nearly identical to the guy whose hand he crushed and spoke to about the robbery.

[Henry Gale]

I find this very interesting. I read on Wikipedia that the character of Standard was originally an archetype. Oscar Isaac and Refn worked together to give the character more depth. I'm very interested to see how much changed from the original script. The movie was surely better off for Refn's willingness to take suggestions from his actors.

Apparently the script as it was before Gosling brought it to Refn (apparently meant for Hugh Jackman, directed by Neil Marshall) didn't even have the protagonist as a part-time stunt driver. So between the characters and some of the basic cogs in the story like that having being changed all the way up until shooting the final film, I think it's safe to say that it went through some healthy changes. Still, despite my curiosity about what it may have been before, I wouldn't have it any other way than what it ended up as.


I didn't really listen to the lyrics to be honest.

I thought the use of "A Real Hero" at the end of the film was more of a recollection of the earlier scenes in which it played, than it was a "listen to the lyrics!!" type of thing.

I was reminded of the days he spent with Irene and Benicio, and why he was here, at this point in the end of the film.

I thought it worked well.

Yeah, my exact thoughts, though I can see Plashy's side too. Either way, this is a movie that relishes in walking the line of potential cheesiness and brilliantly executed sequences of genuinely heightened emotions (whether its dressing itself in wistful throwback elements or not).

[Melville]

Yup. I think, additionally to the point you made about his jacket becoming bloodier, you'll notice that his final transformation near the end is accompanied by a less figurative one when be dons the movie mask and ends up looking nearly identical to the guy whose hand he crushed and spoke to about the robbery.
I loved that scene. It felt like it was unsewing the seams of reality. I love that kind of transcendent moment in movies. It was such a perfect, bizarre culmination of the movie's movie-movie style of genre-soaked emotionalism, making the costuming literal and taking the hero's blank-faced silence to its Micheal Myers-esque limit. Though I didn't notice the similarity in appearance to the crushed-hand guy.

[B-side]

I loved that scene. It felt like it was unsewing the seams of reality. I love that kind of transcendent moment in movies. It was such a perfect, bizarre culmination of the movie's movie-movie style of genre-soaked emotionalism, making the costuming literal and taking the hero's blank-faced silence to its Micheal Myers-esque limit. Though I didn't notice the similarity in appearance to the crushed-hand guy.

Indeed. Perhaps the resemblance to the bald criminal wasn't intentional, but I noticed it.

[Rowland]

One of the Links for the Day (http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2011/09/links-for-the-day-all-my-children-r-i-p-booing-a-gay-soldier-why-audiences-are-rejecting-drive-facebooks-changing-stance-on-sharing-more/) at Slant's The House Next Door regards the backlash (http://www.salon.com/entertainment/movies/drive/2011/09/23/drive_convo) against Drive by normal audiences. Ed Gonzalez throws in a brief thought as well that none-so-subtly illuminates his apparent antipathy for Drive, describing it as a "pretentious, feels-like-it-was-made-by-a-Pitchfork-loving-hipster" film. Rosenbaum also gave it an F over at indiewire (http://www.indiewire.com/film/drive1/).

[Boner M]

Ed Gonzalez throws in a brief thought as well that none-so-subtly illuminates his apparent antipathy for Drive, describing it as a "pretentious, feels-like-it-was-made-by-a-Pitchfork-loving-hipster" film.
Whoa, really Ed? Really?

[megladon8]

Gotta admit I really don't understand that "pitchfork-loving-hipster" part.

Uh...what?

[Watashi]

Pitchfork is not hipster.

[eternity]

Pitchfork is not hipster.

Pitchfork is the epitome of hipster.

Drive has a C- from Cinemascore, but that makes perfect sense. It's not the exact same movie it is marketed as, and that is what ultimately defines how general audiences respond to a film, it seems. If they get what they thought they will get, they like it. If not, they don't. It's silly, but it's true.

[Watashi]

I have heard of most of everything that Pitchfork recommends and I know nothing about music.

Indie does not equal hipster.

[eternity]

I have heard of most of everything that Pitchfork recommends and I know nothing about music.

Indie does not equal hipster.Hipsters treat Pitchfork reviews like they're religious texts. It's disgusting.

[Boner M]

WTF Wats; Pitchfork have been synonymous with 'hipster' since the former's rise to prominence.

I still take issue with Ed's diarrheic, kneejerk use of the term w/r/t Drive. It's rapidly becoming the new shorthand for 'anything with a following that I don't like'.

[Boner M]

I think one of the more confusing criticisms about Drive that I've read - even from Glenn Kenny's very persuasive mixed review (http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-critic-reviews/drive.8/) is that it's not really lean/stripped-down in the mould of The Driver/Melville/et al. That's actually one of the things I like about the film; that Refn improbably manages to push the minimalism of those neo-noirs into the realm of baroque.

[Sxottlan]

What the hell is Pitchfork?

EDIT: Oh. *Shrug*

[Watashi]

WTF Wats; Pitchfork have been synonymous with 'hipster' since the former's rise to prominence.

I still take issue with Ed's diarrheic, kneejerk use of the term w/r/t Drive. It's rapidly becoming the new shorthand for 'anything with a following that I don't like'.
It's synonymous by people who probably don't know what hipster music is.

[Boner M]

It's synonymous by people who probably don't know what hipster music is.
:|

Pitchfork = biggest review site for indie music on the web. Unless I'm suddenly so out of touch that modern country has become the style du jour for contemporary hipsters, you are being willfully oblivious.

[Watashi]

:|

Pitchfork = biggest review site for indie music on the web. Unless I'm suddenly so out of touch that modern country has become the style du jour for contemporary hipsters, you are being willfully oblivious.
I listen to a lot of Pitchfork music recommends and most of it gets played on the radio.

Indie does not equal hipster.

[Derek]

I listen to a lot of Pitchfork music recommends and most of it gets played on the radio.

Wut? What radio station plays chillwave and Animal Collective or The Field? You're being willfully oblivious. I like Pitchfork, but they're unquestionably the hipster's music bible.

Agree with Boner about the anti-hipsterism getting out of wack.

[number8]

Wats, you're taking the hipsters only like obscure music thing too literally. Hipsters love bands that get radio play too. Take it from someone who lives in Brooklyn.

[Morris Schæffer]

Okay, I haven't seen busloads of movies in 2011 - 18 to be precise - but this is my new #1! In fact, I'm blown away. Conclusive proof that form can radically transform the most mundane and simplistic of stories.

[Sycophant]

Aaand the Drive-lash begins.

I didn't know this before I logged my vote in the consensus thread last night, but it turns out everyone loves Drive. Genuinely a bit surprising! I knew nothing about it (except that it had Ryan Gosling in it) when I sat down to watch it yesterday. Considering how much everyone here loves it, and all my friends I saw it with love it, and Walter Chaw loves it, I'll admit the possibility that perhaps I was in the wrong mood for it? That happens.

At any rate, in the experience of watching it yesterday, nearly everything about it rubbed me the wrong way, except for the very opening. Generally, the music, the performances, the dialogue all left me cold or annoyed. It's clear that a separate set of things was communicated to me than was to a host of others. Gosling didn't come across as an 80s-millennial hero mashup in a consciously "European" (to crib from Brooks's character--my least favorite thing I've seen him do--I thought it was crap) update of samurai convention. He read to me like a borderline idiot, and later sociopath. The insistence on continued space and distance offered me precious little, and often felt laborious for laboriousness's sake. And the film's apparent emphasis on becoming a "real human being" is hard for me to swallow with what feels like the most cartoony-cum-brutal depiction of organized crime since Next Day Air's final act.

But yeah. Drive-lash or whatever. I don't feel like Ed Gonzalez is wrong, even if his choice of description is as obnoxious as Armond White's "hipster nihilism," since I suspect they're getting at the same thing. Would actually love to read White's take. Though I'm pretty well dissatisfied when the term "hipster" pops up in conversation. Or its various associated terms and concepts. Like backlashing.

[Sycophant]

I've been trying to process a function for the scene in the strippers' dressing room. Particularly, the fact that few (if any) of the strippers had any reaction to a man about to pound a bullet into the head of a guy they were just talking to. They sit stone-faced with their exposed breasts anchoring the frame. Why this scene set here? Why the nudity (the only sex in the film aside from the elevator kiss (and perhaps her hand on his), which if I felt was really successful would've probably functioned as a nice contrast)? Why the indifference among a mirrored, backgrounded audience? Am I being indicted again for my violence fetishism or for my desensitization to violence and sexual exploitation?

If anyone's got an alternate reading of this scene, I'd like to hear it.

[Sycophant]

Loved it. Reminded me a lot of Kitano's flicks.

This is interesting! I wouldn't have made this connection myself. Especially since Kitano's films are among my favorites (I frequently cite him as my favorite filmmaker).

On a lot of surface levels, in approach to form and technique, a lot of Kitano's work doesn't seem very far from this. Ultimately, I think my chief gripe in comparison is that the human story in a film like Hana-bi resonates with me, despite its violence and its characters that frequently come across as cyphers; while Refn's story about human connections achieved almost nothing for me.

Guys, it's been a while since I engaged in a film discussion on here with anything resembling real substance. So the less "NO J00" and snarky reaction faces, the better.

[B-side]

So the less "NO J00" and snarky reaction faces, the better.

This is where I get off. It's been fun.

[Boner M]

I didn't know this before I logged my vote in the consensus thread last night, but it turns out everyone loves Drive. Genuinely a bit surprising! I knew nothing about it (except that it had Ryan Gosling in it) when I sat down to watch it yesterday. Considering how much everyone here loves it, and all my friends I saw it with love it, and Walter Chaw loves it, I'll admit the possibility that perhaps I was in the wrong mood for it? That happens.
Let me be clear that my comment was in no way intended to flippantly disregard the opinions of naysayers such as yourself as kneejerk contrarianism (one of my pet peeves). Even I'll admit that the film is pretty shallow and that I primarily enjoy it for its seductive surfaces. I can certainly see where you're coming from and I appreciate your criticisms as a relief from the partisan praise elsewhere.

[Sycophant]

Let me be clear that my comment was in no way intended to flippantly disregard the opinions of naysayers such as yourself as kneejerk contrarianism (one of my pet peeves). Even I'll admit that the film is pretty shallow and that I primarily enjoy it for its seductive surfaces. I can certainly see where you're coming from and I appreciate your criticisms as a relief from the partisan praise elsewhere.

Genuine thanks for the clarification.

[TGM]

I've been trying to process a function for the scene in the strippers' dressing room. Particularly, the fact that few (if any) of the strippers had any reaction to a man about to pound a bullet into the head of a guy they were just talking to. They sit stone-faced with their exposed breasts anchoring the frame. Why this scene set here? Why the nudity (the only sex in the film aside from the elevator kiss (and perhaps her hand on his), which if I felt was really successful would've probably functioned as a nice contrast)? Why the indifference among a mirrored, backgrounded audience? Am I being indicted again for my violence fetishism or for my desensitization to violence and sexual exploitation?

If anyone's got an alternate reading of this scene, I'd like to hear it.

Their reaction didn't really come across as indifferent so much as aversion to me. Like, they were afraid to move a muscle with this psychopath in the room, who knows what he might do? And, if I recall correctly, they were all looking away from him as well, as if to avoid garnering his attention.

Certainly different from the usual screaming and trembling you'd expect from a scene like that, though as you alluded to, there's the possibility that these girls might be used to this type of atmosphere, given their association with the guy, so they've learned how to react accordingly.

As for why the scene took place there, perhaps it was just to further emphasize how much of a dirtbag the guy was?

[megladon8]

From the behaviour the bald guy exhibited in previous scenes and the general lack of respect he commanded from his peers, I don't think the strippers much cared that he was getting roughed up. I doubt he was in line for boss of the year.

I imagine that if Driver had actually killed him, there would have been a reaction. As it was, they didn't much care.

I also think that the image of the nude women framing the violence was just that - an image. The same philosophy applied to them as the lights dimming during the elevator kiss - it doesn't make logical sense, but it creates an evocative image.

[Sycophant]

I read a lot of expressiveness in the lights cast on various characters' faces throughout the film. But if the carefully arranged exhibitions of the naked female form is supposed to be just an evocative image, what is that image supposed to evoke? What does it mean?

[megladon8]

Perhaps a visual metaphor for the savagery that Driver has succumbed to? That his actions and violence have become so far removed from usual human interaction that he leaves those around him in the most vulnerable of states?

That these women, who earn their living in one of the most morally demeaning jobs in society, are rendered frozen and speechless by what Driver is about to do?

I dunno...honestly even without delving into a deeper meaning, I found these catatonic nude women framing the extreme violence which may-or-may-not occur to be a striking image.

[Morris Schæffer]

For some reason, after the movie ended, I started to think of Anton Chigurh, except a good version. Probably because the kid walked away from an attack that probably should have killed him, his blank slate as a character, the way he seems to move throughout the world without everyone noticing him (the naked women, the guy in the elevator who doesn't act until the kid's done kissing, the way he cancels himself out just to help his hot neighbor's scummy ex-con like some samaritan who's been put on the world just to help folks.)

I'm probably reaching though.

[megladon8]

Hmmm...I like that, Morris.

Though...I think he died.

[Morris Schæffer]

Hmmm...I like that, Morris.

Though...I think he died.

I had the same, uneasy impression to be honest, but were there any clues beside the severity of the attack inflicted by Brooks?

I guess it's kinda pointless to argue over this. Either resolution is sort of one I can align with.

[chrisnu]

Hmmm...I like that, Morris.

Though...I think he died.
I thought so at first, but Driver living and not being able to be with Irene is worse than dying for him. He gets to die alone, and he isn't allowed to die a noble death. Hence the ironic use of "A Real Hero" at the end.

[Ezee E]

I'll need to watch this again, but it almost seems like there could have been no driver at all... I'll need to watch it again to get into it more. There's many a loopholes with this thinking, but the way the strippers do not react, the news reporting that there was no car chase, etc. Something to think about here.

I liked it, but I think I overhyped myself to it. Didn't love as I was hoping to.

Direction, music selection, and sound is top notch though. Despite being "minimalist" according to some, I found it to be an excess in style, and I do not mean that as a bad thing at all.

The characters are sorta one-note, and seems like something could've been dug deeper with a few characters. There's also something there with people worrying how they are perceived by others. Ron Perlman's character in particular.

Good stuff though. Need to see again.

[Lucky]

I'm not as enthusiastic about this as some of you, but I enjoyed it for its stylistic merit.

My question is...Why and how did they rope Christina Hendricks for this role? Shock value? That just struck me as odd.

[ledfloyd]

I'm not as enthusiastic about this as some of you, but I enjoyed it for its stylistic merit.

My question is...Why and how did they rope Christina Hendricks for this role? Shock value? That just struck me as odd.
as the vast majority of people have no idea who christina hendricks is, i'm sure it wasn't for shock value.

[Ezee E]

Certainly shocked me. She gets billing in the credits, and millions of people DO, in fact, watch Mad Men.

Probably the biggest shock I've had watching a movie in some time in fact.

[Lucky]

Is it possible to agree with both of you? I thought if shock value was their intention, isn't there a better actress to pick? As it stands it just seems a bit "wha?" They also didn't make her character anything more than a glorified extra. For shock, they gotta let her do something. No gratuitous shots of her beauty, either. She offered nothing to the screen.

A successful example of this technique would be Julianne Moore in Children of Men.

[megladon8]

I'll need to watch this again, but it almost seems like there could have been no driver at all... I'll need to watch it again to get into it more. There's many a loopholes with this thinking, but the way the strippers do not react, the news reporting that there was no car chase, etc. Something to think about here.



Hmm...I don't know that there's much to this reading. It seems like Shyamalan-ing the movie for no good reason.

Considering Driver was the catalyst for all of the events involving the characters played by Brooks, Perlman, et al, and there was really no indication of the Driver being some kind of figment of the immateria or whatever.

The car chase wasn't reported because the police were not involved. They were told by the shop owner that a negligible amount was stolen and Standard had acted alone, because it was mob money and they didn't want to incite an investigation.

[ledfloyd]

millions of people DO, in fact, watch Mad Men.
like 3 million. for example, my parents would have no idea who she is. and my grandparents. and the majority of my aunts, uncles and cousins. she's not sandra bullock.

[[ETM]]

She's been voted various "Sexiest..." in actual paper magazines. She's way beyond Mad Men now.

[Derek]

like 3 million. for example, my parents would have no idea who she is. and my grandparents. and the majority of my aunts, uncles and cousins. she's not sandra bullock.

Uh, she was 8th billed in Life as We Know It (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1055292/). Stop pretending like she's not Julianne Moore.

[Ezee E]

The violence whenever he's involved is so stylized and overthetop that it's almost cartooney. Match that with the elevator scene with the dimming lights, and the sudden cut to the fight, and I feel like there's something going on.

Then take the Brooks/Cranston scene, and that scene of violence is a little more realistic.

I don't know. Just something going on there. I'm probably being overanalytical... But I'm fine with that.

[megladon8]

The whole film is uber-stylized, though. I don't think it's at all indicative of Driver not being real.

[Morris Schæffer]

Confused about the Hendricks question. She was cast because, perhaps, she wanted to be cast? Bryan Cranston apparently choose Drive over a bigger movie + role. And it seems the whole process of making the movie was fun what with everyone gathering at Refn's appartment.

[Boner M]

I think the movie would've been better if Hendricks played Mulligan's role and the former had sex w/ Gosling a lot.

[Lucky]

Confused about the Hendricks question. She was cast because, perhaps, she wanted to be cast? Bryan Cranston apparently choose Drive over a bigger movie + role. And it seems the whole process of making the movie was fun what with everyone gathering at Refn's appartment.

Cranston had a character though. Did Hendricks even have five minutes of screentime? And in that five minutes I would be surprised if she had five lines. I would imagine she has enough clout as an actress to actually obtain a major part in a Hollywood film. I mean the part that boggles me is that she gets billed for this movie. It's almost like they paid to just use her name, she adds nothing to the part that I can see (which was part of my question).

[Ezee E]

Cranston had a character though. Did Hendricks even have five minutes of screentime? And in that five minutes I would be surprised if she had five lines. I would imagine she has enough clout as an actress to actually obtain a major part in a Hollywood film. I mean the part that boggles me is that she gets billed for this movie. It's almost like they paid to just use her name, she adds nothing to the part that I can see (which was part of my question).
With that, knowing who she is (at least for me) immediately made me think she was at least someone of importance. All the more surprising when it went into that hotel room.

[Henry Gale]

There's a screener copy that made its way online, but it isn't the final version of the movie at all. I first noticed as I rewatching the opening that the music was credited to Angelo Badalamenti when it should have been Cliff Martinez. Then quickly jumping through the rest of it I wasn't sure if there was any actual original Badalamenti score to be found, but I know I definitely heard multiple Reznor / Ross Social Network cues in there, assuming this was at a stage that they were using it as temp music. Some of the editing around certain things like the bigger gore moments seemed slightly different too (including the ones I thought were aided by CGI when I saw them on the big screen).

Not sure what else is different or if that's how anyone here happened to see it, but just know it's definitely not the final theatrical cut.

[Morris Schæffer]

Driver, or kid, seems very disciplined. There's the 5-minute window, the lack of firearms, telling the dude in the bar to fuck off, but starting at the halfway point I was really surprised by his nearly gung-go attitude, meeting his baddies head-on as if he'd never done anything else in his life. I suppose he really cared immensely about his neighbor or he was always bottled rage. Some might call that contradictory, but I guess if kid is something of a mythical figure, a superhero of sorts, it would make sense that he would self-effacingly help those in need.

[Morris Schæffer]

http://cdn.buzznet.com/media-cdn/jj1/headlines/2011/05/ryan-gosling-drive-photocall.jpg

Christoph Waltz?

[TGM]

Not really seeing the resemblance to Christoph Waltz myself...

[Raiders]

The violence whenever he's involved is so stylized and overthetop that it's almost cartooney. Match that with the elevator scene with the dimming lights, and the sudden cut to the fight, and I feel like there's something going on.

I don't know what you mean, though. It's the film's style, matching outsized and styled emotion via music and lighting with over-the-top, gruesome violence. It is successfully corny and grotesque at the same time.


Then take the Brooks/Cranston scene, and that scene of violence is a little more realistic.

Well, it's not a brutal scene strictly because Brooks respects Cranston and regrets having to kill him. He clearly wants to do it as painless and quickly as possible; he even says as much. Brooks has a scene right before it where his violence is every bit as gruesome and cartoonish.

[number8]

Eh, I thought Hendricks' fine acting brought some terror into the role that was very good, especially during the interrogation scene where she's basically only acting using her eyes. I'm sure it would have made a difference if it was just some extra.

How long her role was and what marketing motivation went behind it don't concern me. She was great in it, that's all.

[NickGlass]

Wait, no one is questioning whether Hendricks is bonkers awesome in her brief screentime, are they? Because that's, like, totally wrong. That sashay!

[Sycophant]

That sashay!

Yep.

[Watashi]

Driver, or kid, seems very disciplined. There's the 5-minute window, the lack of firearms, telling the dude in the bar to fuck off, but starting at the halfway point I was really surprised by his nearly gung-go attitude, meeting his baddies head-on as if he'd never done anything else in his life. I suppose he really cared immensely about his neighbor or he was always bottled rage. Some might call that contradictory, but I guess if kid is something of a mythical figure, a superhero of sorts, it would make sense that he would self-effacingly help those in need.
I'm pretty sure the Driver is autistic or has some mental handicap.

[Morris Schæffer]

He sure was extraordinarily introverted, during bouts of violent rage it looked like he wasn't even himself. Like he existed on a different plane altogether.

[megladon8]

I think these ideas of Driver being an imaginary figure, or even the idea of him being autistic, are really reading too much into something that's not there or intended.

Driver was pretty clearly meant to be a Steve McQueen type of cool, man of few words type. He's not autistic.


And coming off that, aside from the music, I found the movie had much more in common with '70s crime fare than '80s.

[Rowland]

I've had a difficult time pinning down my thoughts on the film, but it resonates most immediately for me as a romance, one that is deeply invested in notions of intimacy, devotion, sacrifice, and redemption, all without losing sight of the hero's essential pathology, which only renders it all the more tragic and haunted in its ineffible way.

[Derek]

Driver was pretty clearly meant to be a Steve McQueen type of cool, man of few words type. He's not autistic.

As a driver yes, but as Raiders pointed out, he's shy in his personal and emotionally vulnerable. Two things I wouldn't attribute to McQueen, though they do make him closer to a 70s anti-hero.

[DavidSeven]

Yeah, there's definitely something awkward about him. Everything he does/says outside of a vehicle is delayed/extended just long enough to go from potentially "bad ass" to uncomfortable.

It's a good film. I didn't like it as much as others seemed to, but I can't deny the craftsmanship and pure mood on display. For me, the characterizations and storytelling left something to be desired. It all seemed a bit wafer-thin. Gosling/Refn might have played the lead character a bit too close to the chest on this one, not revealing enough of Driver to the audience to make sense of what's going on around him. As a genre film, it's undeniably unique and it gets from A to B without much of a stumble. I thought it had potential to be more, but it's still an intriguing piece of technical filmmaking and worth returning to for that aspect alone.

[Qrazy]

Yeah I fall more into the meh/nay category as well. I agree that it's wafer-thin and other than the first scene I don't even think the car chases are staged that compellingly. It's the kind of film I want to like but this one, not really feeling it.

[Sxottlan]

So I go to a local B&N today to get the Drive soundtrack and now they're telling me it's coming out October 11th, pushed back from September 27th. :frustrated:

[TGM]

So I go to a local B&N today to get the Drive soundtrack and now they're telling me it's coming out October 11th, pushed back from September 27th. :frustrated:

Yeah, I was pretty frustrated to find this out myself this week.

[ledfloyd]

story is overrated.

[B-side]

story is overrated.

:fresh tomato:

[Raiders]

Yeah I fall more into the meh/nay category as well. I agree that it's wafer-thin and other than the first scene I don't even think the car chases are staged that compellingly. It's the kind of film I want to like but this one, not really feeling it.

I think we have all come to the conclusion if it ain't made by Aleksei German, it doesn't stand much chance with you.

[Ezee E]

Who buys soundtracks at stores these days anyway?

[TripZone]

Yeah I fall more into the meh/nay category as well. I agree that it's wafer-thin and other than the first scene I don't even think the car chases are staged that compellingly. It's the kind of film I want to like but this one, not really feeling it.

I feel the same. I actually felt it to be a mere sketch of a compelling film. Half-baked. It should have gone for several hours, detailing precisely every moment of that plot. As it is, the plot is not eschewed (in spirit) as many give it credit for, it is totally conventional. Stylisation is another matter, but it relies on easy self-reflexive pleasures. I also got nothing from Gosling's Driver that others have, all this psychotic, movie-warped, possibly retarded whatever. It makes me wonder how great a Pablo LarraÃ*n protagonist would have been in his place, Tony Manero in a noir.

[Qrazy]

I think we have all come to the conclusion if it ain't made by Aleksei German, it doesn't stand much chance with you.

;)

But for realz, here's a list of roughly 400 films I like.

http://www.icheckmovies.com/profile/favorites/qrazy/

[Qrazy]

story is overrated.

*shrug*

Even if we're judging it as a stylistic exercise I didn't find it hit the heights of a Melville or a To crime saga.

[megladon8]

Soundtrack's available for $9.99 on iTunes, guys.

That's how I got it.

[Morris Schæffer]

So guys, I'm amazed myself these songs have the impact that they do. They sound trashy, relentlessly and disturbingly retro, but somehow, they're lodged firmly in my head.

So, had this album not been about any movie, would we have been as enthusiastic about it? Or is it the synergy movie + score that really elevates the music? Must be right?

[Henry Gale]

Cliff Martinez was on Last Call with Carson Daly (which can actually be a somewhat decent show nowadays, especially for music) the other night and after talking about his history with bands like the Chili Peppers and discussing the Contagion soundtrack for a bit, he went fairly in depth about his approach to the score for this movie, even showing his home studio and a bunch of the instruments he used for it, even recreating a few pieces ("Elevator" in particular). I was stunned at how much of it wasn't simply synthesizers but actual physical things like drums and chimes, especially for some of its more airy, atmospheric, and even bassier sounds.

The show's website hasn't posted it for whatever reason, but if I find it I'll post a link. Cool stuff.


So, had this album not been about any movie, would we have been as enthusiastic about it? Or is it the synergy movie + score that really elevates the music? Must be right?

Well the songs were probably made even better by the movie using them all so amazingly well as my first exposure to them. But overall, they're still really enjoyable on their own, and the other half of the soundtrack (Martinez's work) wouldn't have existed at all without the movie, so technically the album always had to be the Drive soundtrack for that stuff. "Nightcall" particularly was something that never got put on my radar back when it was released, even with the involvement of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk and despite it being entirely awesome and captivating in any context. So for that song alone, I'm quite happy the soundtrack (as well as the movie that made it possible) exists.

All of it has pretty great replay value for me.

[monolith94]

This movie made me cry.

[Ezee E]

Best score of the year by the way.

[Raiders]

Best score of the year by the way.

I love how soothing it sounds listening to it out of context.

[Lucky]

This movie made me cry.

The Driver would not approve.

[Ezee E]

I love how soothing it sounds listening to it out of context.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RSQMApWYb9A/SlbrxGIDs0I/AAAAAAAAAd8/xIm_XrtTSr4/s400/trytheveal.jpg

[Morris Schæffer]

This movie made me cry.

It's oddly powerful, moving. I hadn't expected it. Still, no tears.:P

[Sxottlan]

Who buys soundtracks at stores these days anyway?

I still do. Bought three last year (Scott Pilgrim, Tron: Legacy & The Social Network), but that was pretty unusual to get that many.

Drive would be the first soundtrack from this year.

[Ezee E]

I still do. Bought three last year (Scott Pilgrim, Tron: Legacy & The Social Network), but that was pretty unusual to get that many.

Drive would be the first soundtrack from this year.
Yeah. The latter two are definitely very good.

I expect Dragon Tattoo to be on on my iPod whenever it comes out also.

[Bosco B Thug]

I've been trying to process a function for the scene in the strippers' dressing room. Particularly, the fact that few (if any) of the strippers had any reaction to a man about to pound a bullet into the head of a guy they were just talking to. They sit stone-faced with their exposed breasts anchoring the frame. Why this scene set here? Why the nudity (the only sex in the film aside from the elevator kiss (and perhaps her hand on his), which if I felt was really successful would've probably functioned as a nice contrast)? Why the indifference among a mirrored, backgrounded audience? Am I being indicted again for my violence fetishism or for my desensitization to violence and sexual exploitation?

If anyone's got an alternate reading of this scene, I'd like to hear it.
From the behaviour the bald guy exhibited in previous scenes and the general lack of respect he commanded from his peers, I don't think the strippers much cared that he was getting roughed up. I doubt he was in line for boss of the year. This.

I suspect it's further commentary on women on the sidelines of men's business, in addition to implying the sex business is itself a violent and unpredictable world. They're so indifferent because this stuff happens in their line of work, as TGM suggests.

This scene and the driver looking into the pizza shop (Fassbinder-qsue?) are the film's high points.

[EyesWideOpen]

Amazon has the soundtrack for $7.99 if anyone doesn't want to pay $9.99 on itunes.

[[ETM]]

Heh, there's a screener online, and websites are full of negative comments by kids who saw the imdb score and rushed to download the film.

[Derek]

This scene and the driver looking into the pizza shop (Fassbinder-qsue?) are the film's high points.

Reminded me of DePalma, but I can see Fassbinder as well. Either way, amazing shot.

[ledfloyd]

;375094']Heh, there's a screener online, and websites are full of negative comments by kids who saw the imdb score and rushed to download the film.
it doesn't help that the screener has a temp score and i think the scorpion and frog bit is missing as well.

[Henry Gale]

;375094']Heh, there's a screener online, and websites are full of negative comments by kids who saw the imdb score and rushed to download the film.

Even worse since, as I mentioned before, it's not even the final cut.

[Henry Gale]

Here's that Cliff Martinez segment from Last Call: http://vimeo.com/29885900

[MadMan]

Who buys soundtracks at stores these days anyway?*Raises hand* Guess I'm just old fashioned....

This movie was utterly fantastic, although I felt it took a bit too long to get going in the begining after the initial cat and mouse chase scene that was really quite tense. And I loved the soundtrack-the only reason though I didn't know that its release date had been pushed back to October 11 is because I avoided the rest of this thread for fear of spoilers.

Also this is one of the few movies I've seen in recent memory that I had no idea how it would end. I imagine that if Ryan Gosling gets an Oscar nom it will be for Ides of March and not this movie, even though I bet most people would prefer his work in Drive instead.

Oh and yeah I will no longer look at Albert Brooks the same way again in any of his movies. I'll be expecting in Finding Nemo that, to save Nemo, he will start slashing fishes' necks with a butcher knife.

[Boner M]

Reverse Shot's Andrew Tracy gives this a pretty epic pan (http://www.reverseshot.com/article/drive). Well played, I must say (apart from the uninformed Cannon films reference).

[B-side]

Reverse Shot's Andrew Tracy gives this a pretty epic pan (http://www.reverseshot.com/article/drive). Well played, I must say (apart from the uninformed Cannon films reference).

Disagree with his take on it, but always nice to see another Neveldine/Taylor fan.

[Rowland]

Reverse Shot's Andrew Tracy gives this a pretty epic pan (http://www.reverseshot.com/article/drive). Well played, I must say (apart from the uninformed Cannon films reference).I was kinda expecting this, ever since I couldn't find a response to the movie from a single RS writer. Well, I was expecting it to show up as a surprise pick on their Offenses list at the end of the year, but this will do.

[Watashi]

Reverse Shot's Andrew Tracy gives this a pretty epic pan (http://www.reverseshot.com/article/drive). Well played, I must say (apart from the uninformed Cannon films reference).
Why are they comparing it to Anchorman?

[Melville]

What an awful review. Kind of pompous too.

[Watashi]

What an awful review. Kind of pompous too.
Seriously. Carey Mulligan has a usual elf-princess act? Has she ever done this?

[Winston*]

What an awful review. Kind of pompous too.

Yeah, that is insanely over-written.

[Qrazy]

Yeah, that is insanely over-written.

Nice Human Conditionage.

[Ezee E]

I don't think I'll even bother with it.

[Sycophant]

I basically agree with it, some choices in style and comparison (man, I love Andrew WK) notwithstanding.

[Boner M]

Y'all can't handle the truth.

[Boner M]

LULZ: woman wants to sue the distributor for misleading trailer; claims it also encourages violence against Jews (http://www.clickondetroit.com/video/29422658/index.html).

[Winston*]

LULZ: woman wants to sue the distributor for misleading trailer; claims it also encourages violence against Jews (http://www.clickondetroit.com/video/29422658/index.html).

I like the complaint that there is "verly little driving" in the movie

[megladon8]

"...complete with his own heraldic insignia in the golden scorpion emblazoned on his silver bomber jacket (the kind of instantly “iconic� touch that should make any mature viewer immediately wary)."


What the hell does this even mean?

[Boner M]

Well I can think of a lot of self-consciously bids for instant 'iconic' stature in recent films, like that godawful scene in Red Hill where the main villain puts a tune on the jukebox before hunting a guy down in a bar. Don't agree RE: the offending touch in Drive but I can see how those not on the film's wavelength could be annoyed by the repeated shots of it.

[Sycophant]

"...complete with his own heraldic insignia in the golden scorpion emblazoned on his silver bomber jacket (the kind of instantly “iconic” touch that should make any mature viewer immediately wary)."


What the hell does this even mean?


That it looked about as garish and goofy as a Spider-Man costume? I don't know much about this guy, but I'm betting he doesn't hold superhero movies in high regard.

[megladon8]

I don't really agree with the superhero comparisons that are made to this film.

I would say that his jacket and look are "iconic" in the way that Travis Bickle's mohawk and military coat are "iconic".

And Travis Bickle is hardly a superhero.

In fact I see much more worthy of comparison to Taxi Driver than I do to Spider-Man.

[Sycophant]

Disagree. The second it was on screen I was like "O RLY." It's loud and shiny and I thought weirdly at odds with how low-key the character was presented, though admittedly, I still can't put my finger on what was really supposed to be communicated by the character.

Travis Bickle, on the other hand, wore things and styles that people actually wear (mohawks and military coats), even if they constituted an iconic image when put together for his character.

Reason I selected Spider-Man as my reference: it's a big shiny outline of a pest on a big shiny garment.

The spoken parable about the scorpion later was a real eye-roller for me, too.

[Watashi]

He wears it because it's part of his mystique. A scorpion strikes violently quick and then retreats back into normal position.

It's not subtle because the entire film isn't subtle and it isn't trying to be.

[number8]

For what it's worth, Refn previewed this movie at Comic-Con and called it his take on a superhero story. That's why he had the Driver wear the stunt mask at the end. It was his superhero costume.

[Ezee E]

He wears it because it's part of his mystique. A scorpion strikes violently quick and then retreats back into normal position.

It's not subtle because the entire film isn't subtle and it isn't trying to be.
This. What 8 said... And the, "Real Hero" song...

C'mon.

Is that even being criticized by the writer?

[MadMan]

For what it's worth, Refn previewed this movie at Comic-Con and called it his take on a superhero story. That's why he had the Driver wear the stunt mask at the end. It was his superhero costume.Makes sense to me

Don't read this if you haven't seen Drive, Shane, and Taxi Driver

Also, the ending is a gigantic homage to Shane. Hero kills the bad guy, leaves the girl and the kid behind, especially since he really is as much a danger to them as the gangsters are. Rides off into the sunset even though he's probably going to die, or has a bad wound. Of course one could also argue that the final scene channels Taxi Driver, too, and I'd agree with that.

[megladon8]

This. What 8 said... And the, "Real Hero" song...

C'mon.

Is that even being criticized by the writer?


There's not much that isn't criticized by the writer, in an assholish, condescending way.

[Bosco B Thug]

I'm all for a Drive pan, but the review's more than a little superficial. It's a bad sign when a review is simultaneously highfalutin and making cheap celebrity jabs at actors. And he spends zero words on the film's thematic work and moral perspectives (which I like, so it should've helped him be nicer to the film).

[Boner M]

Tough crowd. I think he makes a lot of good points amidst the snideness. Especially regarding the film's bid for mythic resonance (which is more true of his Valhalla and Bronson). Anyway, nothing like a RS demolition of a now-canonical match-cut fave to get everyone's panties in a twist!

[Rowland]

*shrug* I can take it. I value Andrew Tracy as a writer even when I don't agree with him, which is plenty of the time. And RS is the best for epic pans, especially when I agree with them of course (Enter the Void springs to mind as a most recent example). Still love Drive.

[MadMan]

I didn't even bother reading the article, but then I actually rarely read film criticism these days. Why bother going to a some review site when I can just come to Match-Cut, RT, or the Correrino (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) and find out what people who's opinions I actually value think about it? This is especially funny considering that number8 actually does write reviews a lot for a publication. But I actually care about his opinion. I don't even really read Ebert anymore, and he's one of my all time favorites.

[megladon8]

I can take a pan of a movie I loved, I just thought it was a pretty poor review.

To be fair, one of the best reviews I've ever read was an absolute destruction of The Dark Knight.

[Sycophant]

And he spends zero words on the film's thematic work and moral perspectives (which I like, so it should've helped him be nicer to the film).

Probably not, since I doubt he saw anything to those angles, else he might have mentioned something about them.

[baby doll]

This definitely gets the job done, but I felt like I'd seen it all a thousand times before (though usually with less face-stomping).

[Russ]

Moviegoer sues: Not enough driving in 'Drive'

Lawsuit of the day: Sarah Deming of Michigan is suing FilmDistrict, the distributor of Ryan Gosling's flick “Drive,” because she wanted more driving in the film, CNN confirmed.

The suit also names Novi, Michigan’s Emagine Theaters, because Deming wants her money back. Deming hopes to get others involved in the suit so they too can recover the ticket cost. The complaint doesn't specify how much she is seeking, just that she allegedly suffered "damages including but not limited to the purchase price of the ticket."

Deming claims that the promotional material for the crime drama was misleading, suggesting the film would feature more action-y driving scenes.

“Drive,” by the way, tells the story of a Hollywood stunt driver (Gosling) who gets involved with a heist gone wrong. It does feature a good deal of action (and violence), but there are other elements to the film. For instance, a love story.

The suit alleges that the company "promoted the film ‘Drive’ as very similar to the ‘Fast and Furious,’ or similar, series of movies." But, Sarah was sad to learn, "’Drive’ bore very little similarity to a chase, or race action film… having very little driving in the motion picture."

Deming also claims the film is anti-Semitic, and that it “promoted violence against members of the Jewish faith.”

A spokesperson for FilmDistrict told CNN they don't comment on pending litigation.

Sarah Deming may not have liked “Drive,” but critics did. The movie earned a score of 93 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.


Suing to get a ticket refund?

To quote an old friend of ours:

"Sheeeeeeeeeeeeit"

[Kurosawa Fan]

Suing to get a ticket refund?

To quote an old friend of ours:

"Sheeeeeeeeeeeeit"

It's Michigan. People will do anything to get money right now.

[Izzy Black]

I read the review. I don't consider it an 'epic pan', but it's a very informed opinion, even if not a well-argued piece. Counts for something, so I'll make a fuller response shortly. I can say right off that where it goes wrong is with its initial premise that Drive is a "stupid film," which I reject. Much of what follows crucially hangs on this point. Tracy very persuasively takes this assumption for granted, thus giving much of what he needs to argue against the film's favor, but I don't think it's true that it's a stupid film, even if it might seem so at first glance.

More later.

Black

[Izzy Black]

I also think it's right to bring Michael Mann into the discussion, as Tracy has done. I think this reference, among two others (Sofia Coppola and Wong-Kar Wai) are the key to unlocking the thematic implications of the film's style.

[B-side]

Izzy! <3