movies

[omaha_red]

I liked Cloverfield quite a bit, actually. But it does tend to be a polarizing, love it or hate it kind of film.

it would have been better without those pesky [expletive] main characters.

agreed.. and i know who you're talking about.. but overall i enjoyed it too..

[JL21]

I liked Cloverfield quite a bit, actually. But it does tend to be a polarizing, love it or hate it kind of film.

it would have been better without those pesky [expletive] main characters.

Yeah, but [expletive]... how many horror movies are out there where you actually like the characters? And they aren't walking, talking clichés? It's rare.

Mostly, I liked that they did more with less. You don't see the monsters/aliens/whatever in every single scene. They aren't beating you over the head with their CGI, which is a big pet peeve of mine (and probably why I think 'Avatar' looks so freakin' worthless as a film). And it was a nice little throwback, thematically, to campy 50's sci-fi horrors.

Usually, the beef I hear with 'Cloverfield' is the vomit-inducing cinema verité shaky camera.

[The Third Man]

Yeah, but [expletive]... how many horror movies are out there where you actually like the characters? And they aren't walking, talking clichés? It's rare.

Carrie, which you dissed in the Grievances thread, you monster.

[cards2468]

finished it... it really sucked, hardcore.

[JL21]

Yeah, but [expletive]... how many horror movies are out there where you actually like the characters? And they aren't walking, talking clichés? It's rare.

Carrie, which you dissed in the Grievances thread, you monster.

Yes, because Brian DePalma flat-out stole/ripped off Hitchcock and the new wave. He wasn't even subtle about it. It's one thing to borrow but that was some of the worst thievery I've ever seen in a film. And that split-screen effect was ridiculous.

He's done it other times, too. I even liked The Untouchables but the shootout scene on the steps is straight out of both the Godfather (when Al Neri pops one of the heads of the five families on the steps) and more obviously, Battleship Potemkin, right down to the freakin' baby carriage. DePalma's a hack, the Carlos Mencia/Robin Williams of directors.

[The Third Man]

I've seen plenty of Hitchcock and I never at any point thought to myself that Carrie was a ripoff. Haven't seen enough new wave to comment. Alls I knows is I've seen two De Palma movies (the other being Scarface) and love both.

[JL21]

I've seen plenty of Hitchcock and I never at any point thought to myself that Carrie was a ripoff. Haven't seen enough new wave to comment. Alls I knows is I've seen two De Palma movies (the other being Scarface) and love both.

The scene with the bucket of blood, where he uses the music from Psycho? Amongst other things. I know, I know... it's just a soundtrack, but that music is very iconic and tightly associated with Psycho.

Could you imagine if, say, a slasher film used the theme from Jaws?

[clevername]

I'm not going to excuse Cloverfield's horrible characters because the bar is set too low.

It's part of what annoys me about all the Avatar love, even from some well respected critics and film makers. They're letting a clichefest story pass because of the big sparklies Cameron distracted them with and some are using the "it's supposed to be fun" line of defense.

Of course, I also had a blast watching GI Joe in the theater, so what do I know.

[The Third Man]

The scene with the bucket of blood, where he uses the music from Psycho? Amongst other things. I know, I know... it's just a soundtrack, but that music is very iconic and tightly associated with Psycho.

Could you imagine if, say, a slasher film used the theme from Jaws?

I suppose I just have a more liberal standard for what constitutes ripping off. I love when directors wear their influences on their sleeve, or reconstitute elements from other movies in a new setting/context. My favorite movie, Apocalypse Now, owes a large debt both to Heart of Darkness and to Aguirre, the Wrath of God.

As to a slasher film using the theme from Jaws - well, I can imagine a director using tons of well-known Ennio Morricone pieces on his films...and he's one of my favorites, though I don't know your opinion of him.

FWIW, I agree that the split-screen effect in Carrie is pretty lame. That, and that weird scene where De Palma speeds up the dialogue of the high schoolers picking out tuxedos, are my two biggest marks against it. Other than that...one of my favorites.

[JL21]

The bigger question is- which Morricone pieces has Tarantino used? I know he's used plenty. But the only truly iconic one is the whistler guy from "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly". As long as he stays away from that, I'm o.k. with it.

Tarantino's a different animal altogether. He rips things off, but usually it's really, really, crazily obscure stuff that most people don't even know exists- blaxploitation characters, crazy car chase movies, the original Inglorious Bastards (which is very different, but there's plenty of stuff QT borrows). And then he squishes like 10 obscure rip-offs into one film and it comes out as something oddly unique. I guess I'd say I'm a fan in the same way I'm a fan of Adam Dunn or something. The homers and walks are neat but there's not a lot of substance beyond that. And that's cool. I'd never put QT up there with the Bergmans and Bunuels of the world but he's entertaining and fun and makes movies that I enjoy a lot.

Going back a step, I realize it's a fine line, and it's a very subjective one at that, when it comes to determining what constitutes "borrowing" and what constitutes ripping them off. The first 15 minutes of There Will Be Blood- that's a great example of what I'd consider borrowing. Thematically, it's the same as 2001- a silent 15 minute block surrounded by classical music. But it's far from thievery of 2001. Scorsese loves to compose ridiculously long tracking shots like you see in the French New Wave, and he loves to pay homage to the grit of the Italian Neo-realist films. But he's not stealing scenes.