Interstellar (Christopher Nolan)

[Irish]

But we aren't talking about David O. Russell...

Oh, c'mon dude. If you're gonna bait me, put some effort into it.

[DavidSeven]

How did you guys consciously choose to talk about the two dullest moviemakers working in the industry today?

Didn't you just recently say that The Dark Knight Rises was the best film from last year to not get a BP nomination?

[Irish]

Didn't you just recently say that The Dark Knight Rises was the best film from last year to not get a BP nomination?

Yes. I liked Dark Knight Rises for it's ambition. What it was reaching for, what it attempted, and not necessarily for what it did. But Nolan tends to overwrite and over think. He requires effort. You've got to read in between the lines of his ambition, and not look to his output in order to get anything out of him.

In the context of Match-Cut itself, I think these two specific individuals are the dull because they've got to be the most discussed and over discussed directors on the forums.

Granted, this is a cranky opinion. I am cranky today.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Irish, sounds like your mood needs lifting, and I recommend the feel-good conclusions a Spielberg film provides.

[Irish]

Irish, sounds like your mood needs lifting, and I recommend the feel-good conclusions a Spielberg film provides.

:lol: Touche.

Well played, my friend.

[Pop Trash]

I thought Spielberg 'fuckin' up his endings' was cw. I remember reading a Film Comment review of Munich that was amazed that it stuck its landing. That said, AI's ending actually makes it more fascinating since it was widely misunderstood or dismissed as treacle, but in fact improves the movie the more times you see it (and is really depressing when you think about it). I think the only thing I don't like about AI anymore is Williams' score goes from being really rad and modernist to being -all of the sudden- the usual major key snoozer (cf. Lincoln) in that final scene.

[baby doll]

Fun fact about Steven Spielberg: he always pees on the toilet seat.

[number8]

I feel bad for Spiely that people blame him for WotW's ending when it's really HG Wells'.

[Dukefrukem]

But we expect the ending to be different in a remake. No?

We see endings changed all the time; Dawn of the Dead, The Wicker Man, Hills Have Eyes...

[Spinal]

No, for a classic piece of literature like War of the Worlds, I expect the ending intact. It is an essential part of that story's identity. Hamlet living to be an old man is no longer Hamlet. It's a shame that many people don't appreciate the ending to War of the Worlds. It's much more meaningful and thought-provoking than some giant battle or whatever else people imagined should have gone there.

[number8]

I feel like WotW, like AI, would have been a pretty useless story without those specific endings.

I don't even like most of WotW.

[Qrazy]

I feel like WotW, like AI, would have been a pretty useless story without those specific endings.

I don't even like most of WotW.

The whole story of WotW was useless and needed to be reworked. I mean the adaptation with the stuff in the basement and the son and daughter, etc.

edit: Oh I read the other posts now. The ending isn't bad because of the germs killing the aliens, that's good. What's bad is the very end of the film with the son surviving. Him leaving the way he did in the first place was also bad.

Anyone else notice that Spielberg repeated the whole son wanting to go to war storyline in Lincoln?

[Qrazy]

I won't deny that some of the endings here are bad, but the idea of Spielberg actually ruining an ending implies that the movie was good up until that point, or that the ending somehow hurt the overall quality of the film. Minority Report was, in my view, bad before the ending. I also thought War of the Worlds, Amistad, and The Terminal were pretty weak quite apart from their endings.

Lincoln, on the other hand, is a nice film, and I thought the ending was fitting and appropriate for its style. Schindler's List is great front to back for me. AI is also great front to back. Munich and Catch Me If You Can are some other nice films where I thought the endings were fine.

It's also worth pointing out that his earlier work contains some great cinematic endings by my lights.

I haven't seen Tintin or Warhorse so I can't comment on those.

I agree the endings of Munich and Catch Me if You Can are fine so I didn't include them on the list. Schindler's List is great to me except for that ending. I agree with you in regards to Amistad and The Terminal but I think their endings are especially worse. Lincoln devolves into ridiculous shmaltz with the passage of that bill and the stuff with the younger son clinging to the rail at the opera is fairly bad as well. Minority Report I really like except for the ending. War of the Worlds has many problems throughout but none as painful as the ending for me. I like a great deal of that movie in terms of production design and shooting style.

[Dukefrukem]

I do appreciate it. I appreciated it the first two times I experienced it. I don't expect the third time to be the same.

[number8]

The whole story of WotW was useless and needed to be reworked. I mean the adaptation with the stuff in the basement and the son and daughter, etc.

edit: Oh I read the other posts now. The ending isn't bad because of the germs killing the aliens, that's good. What's bad is the very end of the film with the son surviving. Him leaving the way he did in the first place was also bad.

Man, I forgot all about that. Yeah, that was a bizarre choice. I think most people who complain about WotW's ending are usually referring to the non-climax, so that's what I was thinking of.

[DavidSeven]

I honestly think it was a combination of the two things that bothered people. I recall a lot of people just hated how the whole son thing was handled throughout the film and him popping up out of nowhere at the end was harshly ridiculed. That moment fits with Spielberg's reputation for tacking on schmaltzy and unnecessary bits to his endings.

[megladon8]

I really liked the defeat of the aliens with germs in WotW. Like someone else said earlier, that's kind of the point of the thing.

I was, too, very much bothered by the son's return unscathed.

I also found it a little silly that seemingly the entire city was destroyed, but that little nook where the ex-wife's house is remains completely untouched. I practically expected them to be having a little barbecue out back.

There are things like this scattered throughout the movie which I feel greatly weaken it as a whole.

When Cruise and the kids hole up in that house and the passenger jet crashes outside, and absolutely everything is destroyed but their van looks like it was just driven off the lot.

Or how about when they're driving the van down the freeway and all of the other vehicles are conveniently placed to provide a perfect path for them, where they never have to slow down, stop or change direction.

I found these things much more troubling than the implausibility of the entire premise (aliens under the ground for millions of years waiting to invade from below).

[Raiders]

I was, too, very much bothered by the son's return unscathed.

I also found it a little silly that seemingly the entire city was destroyed, but that little nook where the ex-wife's house is remains completely untouched. I practically expected them to be having a little barbecue out back.

This is why I do love it. I think it has a genuinely "alien" (sorry) feel and almost heavenly vibe that is at odds with everything else. It's so obviously a bit of schmaltzy bliss that I think is earned by the rest of the film. It's short and sweet too, not overly explained and tied-up (like Minority Report).

[Morris Schæffer]

I honestly think it was a combination of the two things that bothered people. I recall a lot of people just hated how the whole son thing was handled throughout the film and him popping up out of nowhere at the end was harshly ridiculed. That moment fits with Spielberg's reputation for tacking on schmaltzy and unnecessary bits to his endings.

That moment yes, and I don't necessarily have an issue with that moment, but rather with the son running into a mammoth explosion half an hour earlier. He should have been dead or he should have earned his maturity another way. This movie is not Michael Bay. It's definitely more chilling. I don't recall Spielberg's best movies having moments that are quite so unearned as that one.

[Dukefrukem]

@Meg "I also found it a little silly that seemingly the entire city was destroyed, but that little nook where the ex-wife's house is remains completely untouched. I practically expected them to be having a little barbecue out back."

It was in a completely different area from the initial attacks. And the whole block was fine.

[megladon8]

@Meg "I also found it a little silly that seemingly the entire city was destroyed, but that little nook where the ex-wife's house is remains completely untouched. I practically expected them to be having a little barbecue out back."

It was in a completely different area from the initial attacks. And the whole block was fine.

The initial attacks didn't happen in just one place.

And the tripod that they took down (in which most all of the city around it was destroyed) was like 2 streets away from their house.

[number8]

I probably would have liked it if they were having BBQ. Even better if there was a block party going on.

[Qrazy]

I probably would have liked it if they were having BBQ. Even better if there was a block party going on.

And even betterest if it were Dave Chappelle's Block Party going on. :lol:

[Lazlo]

Anyone else notice that Spielberg repeated the whole son wanting to go to war storyline in Lincoln?

Oh, you mean that thing that actually happened in real life?

[Winston*]

Oh, you mean that thing that actually happened in real life?

Lots of things happened in real life that weren't in the movie.