28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[soitgoes...]

Well, if he peaked with Exiled, that is perfectly OK, because that film is brilliant. Any director should consider themselves lucky to have a film that good in their filmography.

It wasn't as much as disparage of To and Exiled (which I completely agree is brilliant), but his three subsequent films that decrease in quality to mediocre. I would have liked to see him make something at least approaching that greatness afterward. I can be greedy.

[Watashi]

I hate Walk Hard.

That's one thing we have in common, Derek.

[D_Davis]

It wasn't as much as disparage of To and Exiled (which I completely agree is brilliant), but his three subsequent films that decrease in quality to mediocre. I would have liked to see him make something at least approaching that greatness afterward. I can be greedy.

I figure that any director who makes as many movies as To (sometimes more than 2 a year) is bound to have some that are totally mediocre. He's always been a little hit-or-miss, but at least his misses are usually pretty to look at and somewhat interesting, and they almost always have a few good performances from the Milky Way gang of regulars.

[Spinal]

I can think of 1 or 2 posters who could start off a sentence that way and actually be the only one.

Maybe. Like for example, "Am I the only one who thinks that the Coens' best film of the decade is The Ladykillers?"

[Spun Lepton]

Am I the only one who thinks that the Coens' best film of the decade is The Ladykillers?

*punches Spinal*

[Qrazy]

It wasn't as much as disparage of To and Exiled (which I completely agree is brilliant), but his three subsequent films that decrease in quality to mediocre. I would have liked to see him make something at least approaching that greatness afterward. I can be greedy.

I feel that formally he's still in peak condition. He just needs to get the scripts to nail out of the park.

[D_Davis]

I feel that formally he's still in peak condition. He just needs to get the scripts to nail out of the park.

There are definitely more than a few gorgeous moments in Vengeance.

[Spinal]

*punches Spinal*

That opinion does not belong to me, but I have many others you may wish to punch me for.

[Rowland]

I thought To was in fine form with the underrated Mad Detective, but I haven't seen any of his subsequent releases.

[D_Davis]

I thought To was in fine form with the underrated Mad Detective, but I haven't seen any of his subsequent releases.

I'll be watching that this week. Really looking forward to it. It looks interesting.

[number8]

Haven't seen Vengeance yet, but I'll agree that he's been gradually decreasing in quality since Exiled. That's not a flak, though, because I still think Sparrow was pretty cool.

[Stay Puft]

Yeah, I enjoyed Mad Detective. Linger is the opposite of good, however.

I know Davis has mentioned it many times in the past, but I also admire these directors like To and Hark who seemingly just crank them out. It's great watching them flex their metaphoric filmmaking muscles with a rapid succession of films. Watching them change, evolve or refine various elements of their craft, picture to picture, even within the same year.

Obviously, you take the good with the bad in that approach. It can be interesting regardless of the final quality. I certainly don't regret watching Linger, bad as it was.

[Spun Lepton]

Aside from the final tanker truck action sequence at the end of The Road Warrior, I was pretty bored by it.

[Bosco B Thug]

I could've sworn I once read a stretch of posts on here where Walk Hard got pretty majorly wailed on by a solid string of aggressors.

Sooo I was kind of underwhelmed by this view of The Fly. It's dramatically compelling and full of convictions, but I don't know... never felt absolutely amazed. And the cheesier bits kinda got to me, negatively.

The Box had some extremely graceful directing work from Kelly, and it's lovingly offbeat. The chicken kernels of existential nuggets popped in there like candy just for me were often sweeping, if ultimately self-satisfying... although that water bubble gateway scene is just not good. I loved the odd sort of affection I felt for the two main characters, even as they're presented as totally normal, somewhat pathetic, button-pushing humans. Good performances.

[Spun Lepton]

Has John Cusack always been a douche or is this a new development for him?

[Raiders]

Has John Cusack always been a douche or is this a new development for him?

Is this about the dig at John Hughes films? 'Cuz really, it's not only somewhat true but rather nice to see someone realize slavish kindness to the dead does no service to the living.

[MadMan]

Walk Hard is the best spoof of biopics, ever. In fact its better than the two biopics its actually making fun of. That said, it drags a bit too much near the end-Anchorman is better. I also loved Talladaga Nights and Stepbrothers. That said, despite the fact I like Will Ferrell I refused to watch Land of the Lost.

[Winston*]

Walk Hard is the best spoof of biopics, ever.

[youtube]hxPjYSay9g0[/youtube]

[Spun Lepton]

Is this about the dig at John Hughes films? 'Cuz really, it's not only somewhat true but rather nice to see someone realize slavish kindness to the dead does no service to the living.

It's the digs he's been taking at a lot of the stuff he did in the 80s. And the attitude he displays in recent interviews.

[Winston*]

Neat.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I actually quite liked Fritz the Cat. But then again, I love Crumb, the Fritz comics, Bakshi and hedonism, so maybe this isn't so weird.

[BuffaloWilder]

Aside from the final tanker truck action sequence at the end of The Road Warrior, I was pretty bored by it.

[Derek]

Fret not, young Wilder. This fail isn't even in the same stratosphere as Spun's.

[Grouchy]

Yeah, peaking with something like Exiled is actually pretty high praise for any filmmaker. But then again, you can never tell - after watching Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers, I thought the Coens were done with their great films, and look what happened afterwards.

[BuffaloWilder]

Fret not, young Wilder. This fail isn't even in the same stratosphere as Spun's.

I'll fix this, even if I have to go the long way around.