FOT Forum
The Best Show on WFMU => Mike And His Ilk. => Topic started by: B_Buster on January 17, 2012, 01:41:12 PM
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The most ridiculous movie I've seen since The Gauntlet. Was it meant to be a comedy? Discuss.
My favorite scene: when he offers the kid a toothpick.
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Refn is good at building suspense though montage (like with the opening sequence and the bit in the pawn shop parking lot) and coming up with occasional cool images like the weird stunt mask. He seems to be pretty bad at almost everything else.
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Refn is good at building suspense though montage (like with the opening sequence and the bit in the pawn shop parking lot) and coming up with occasional cool images like the weird stunt mask. He seems to be pretty bad at almost everything else.
The Pusher movies are some of the best crime movies ever, in my estimation. So Refn has that going for him. I liked Drive and Bronson a ton. Valhalla Rising was boring.
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Hands down my fav in a long long time.
The best bit is obviously when Brooks slices Cranston but the mask and the slo-mo Perllaugh are also fantastic.
A damned funny movie. I was giddy the whole time.
On a serious note: the sparse/stark/minimalist whatever is completely justified in the offering and acknowledgement of that glass of tap water. Nice touch, Refn.
His other two movies are fucking awful, so I'm assuming he doesn't know what he's doing and it's just a fluke. In interviews he keeps referring to Drive as a fairy tale. UMM.
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Hands down my fav in a long long time.
The best bit is obviously when Brooks slices Cranston but the mask and the slo-mo Perllaugh are also fantastic.
A damned funny movie. I was giddy the whole time.
On a serious note: the sparse/stark/minimalist whatever is completely justified in the offering and acknowledgement of that glass of tap water. Nice touch, Refn.
His other two movies are fucking awful, so I'm assuming he doesn't know what he's doing and it's just a fluke. In interviews he keeps referring to Drive as a fairy tale. UMM.
He has more than two movies, I'm telling you people!
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He has more than two movies, I'm telling you people!
SO HE DOES. Thanks bub--I'll check 'em!
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It kind of reminded me of Taxi Driver. There's a song at the end of the movie (I loved the soundtrack and now own it) called "A Real Hero" that says "You have proved to be a real human being and a real hero," and I think it's sort of song ironically. Or maybe it's what Gosling's character imagines what Carey Mulligan thinks about him.
He's like Travis Bickle in that he's pretending to be the kind of human he thinks he should be. He's such a weird character, like an alien, throughout the movie, so it makes sense that he'd try to mimic the actions of a hero. Even wearing an ill-fitting (and hilariously creepy) mask of the hero in a movie fits in with this theme.
So I really liked the movie.
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He's weird to me because he's an undeveloped character. That's just bad writing. In Taxi Driver, over the course of the movie, you understand how the character has become disconnected from other people.
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I think Drive purposely spared down any unnecessary dialogue or character development because it's trying to make it clear the black-and-white worldview the Driver has. He's the hero saving the damsel in distress (in his mind). And without the internal narration, we're not privy to his motives, but we don't need to be. He's a blank slate, a guy who only knows how to drive. That's his identity. If this were going for any trace of realism, it failed, but I think it's more of a fable.
Taxi Driver takes place in a recognizable New York City. It's Scorsese's vision of NYC. Drive is a glossy, unspecific view of Los Angeles. It's similar to Taxi Driver in that the leads are both delusional anti-heros (but Drive is a bit more ambiguous with the audience about the Driver's mental illness). Other than that, they have very different motives and means of telling their stories.
But if it didn't work for you, it didn't work.
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An underdeveloped character is not always "bad writing".
Sometimes movies need to be about cardboard people doing pretty things for vague or uninteresting reasons. Sometimes movies need to be ABOUT film techniques.
Many films under those two categories are big budget shitshows. But they often fail by assuming the viewer identifies or cares about its characters.
Drive succeeds because it doesn't care that you don't.
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Are you addressing me? Are you addressing *me*?
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Now that I know that Drive didn't care if I liked it, I feel much better about hating it. Thanks, thom.
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I really can't understand why Brooks got such raves for this movie, other than the novelty of Albert Brooks playing a murderous psycho. I thought Cranston did more with his much less flashy role.
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My favorite scene: when he offers the kid a toothpick.
Mine as well. I was the only person in the theater that busted up at that. I was also the only one who busted up when Ron Perlman blurted out "now that is one fine ass pussy mobile!"
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I really can't understand why Brooks got such raves for this movie, other than the novelty of Albert Brooks playing a murderous psycho. I thought Cranston did more with his much less flashy role.
I suspect it had something to do with the fact that he was able to keep a straight face long enough to get through it.
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I really can't understand why Brooks got such raves for this movie, other than the novelty of Albert Brooks playing a murderous psycho. I thought Cranston did more with his much less flashy role.
I suspect it had something to do with the fact that he was able to keep a straight face long enough to get through it.
Albert Brooks is a total mystery to me. I laughed so hard when Dave said this on Night People: "Albert Brooks is either the funniest or least funniest person ever. I just don't know." because I feel the same way but am leaning heavily towards 'least funniest.' All I've seen is the one with Meryl Streep and I don't think I laughed once but it kept me for some reason.
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Gosling refused to deliver his lines. His performance was really good but it called a lot of attention to itself. The scene outside the pawn shop was really nerve wracking. I give the movie 5/10. Maybe 6
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I really can't understand why Brooks got such raves for this movie, other than the novelty of Albert Brooks playing a murderous psycho. I thought Cranston did more with his much less flashy role.
I suspect it had something to do with the fact that he was able to keep a straight face long enough to get through it.
Albert Brooks is a total mystery to me. I laughed so hard when Dave said this on Night People: "Albert Brooks is either the funniest or least funniest person ever. I just don't know." because I feel the same way but am leaning heavily towards 'least funniest.' All I've seen is the one with Meryl Streep and I don't think I laughed once but it kept me for some reason.
Defending Your Life is a top 10 movie for me. However, if you're unsure, I'd check out his first three movies (Real Life, Modern Romance, Lost In America), which are among the funniest things I've ever seen.
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I really can't understand why Brooks got such raves for this movie, other than the novelty of Albert Brooks playing a murderous psycho. I thought Cranston did more with his much less flashy role.
Somebody who is cast against type and does a good job will always attract more attention than somebody who works more accustomed territory and does a great one. Also, there's a lot of good will towards Albert Brooks; his last few movies haven't worked out so great and people want to see him do well.
That said, I thought he was great.
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I really can't understand why Brooks got such raves for this movie, other than the novelty of Albert Brooks playing a murderous psycho. I thought Cranston did more with his much less flashy role.
Somebody who is cast against type and does a good job will always attract more attention than somebody who works more accustomed territory and does a great one. Also, there's a lot of good will towards Albert Brooks; his last few movies haven't worked out so great and people want to see him do well.
That said, I thought he was great.
I thought he did a good enough job, just not particularly award-worthy. He probably should have won every award there was for Broadcast News though.
Brooks' movies can be hilarious but they're not exactly gag-packed, which maybe takes some new viewers time to get used to. Plus, the characters in Lost in America and especially Modern Romance tend to cross the line from neurotic to genuinely, unnervingly out-of-their-minds at times (which was what led to him being cast in Drive in the first place).
But everyone should be able to agree this is great, right?
Albert Brooks Ventriloquist Bit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J43bcbIzfI#)
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He also gave a great, underappreciated performance in Out of Sight.
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Albert Brooks is a national fucking treasure.
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Albert Brooks is a national fucking treasure.
National Treasure 3: Brooks of Secrets
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How come Danny never made it into any of his movies?
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Albert Brooks is a national fucking treasure.
Yes.
Just for "Lost In America" alone.
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I really can't understand why Brooks got such raves for this movie, other than the novelty of Albert Brooks playing a murderous psycho. I thought Cranston did more with his much less flashy role.
Somebody who is cast against type and does a good job will always attract more attention than somebody who works more accustomed territory and does a great one. Also, there's a lot of good will towards Albert Brooks; his last few movies haven't worked out so great and people want to see him do well.
That said, I thought he was great.
I thought he did a good enough job, just not particularly award-worthy. He probably should have won every award there was for Broadcast News though.
Brooks' movies can be hilarious but they're not exactly gag-packed, which maybe takes some new viewers time to get used to. Plus, the characters in Lost in America and especially Modern Romance tend to cross the line from neurotic to genuinely, unnervingly out-of-their-minds at times (which was what led to him being cast in Drive in the first place).
But everyone should be able to agree this is great, right?
Albert Brooks Ventriloquist Bit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J43bcbIzfI#)
That whole thing is fantastic, especially the cigarette bit at 1:38 or so.
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I haven't seen Drive yet, partly because I don't think there'll every be a golf movie as good as Tin Cup.
http://instantrimshot.com/index.php?sound=slidewhistle (http://instantrimshot.com/index.php?sound=slidewhistle)
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Don't bother watching if these Downfall parodies have permanently worn out their welcome for you. They mostly have for me, but this mildly amused:
Hitler Learns Albert Brooks Was Not Nominated for Best Supporting Actor Oscar (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS-UpSkO0z8&feature=youtu.be#)
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Albert Brooks is a national fucking treasure.
Absolutely. Omar has my proxy on this, and almost everything else.
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Albert Brooks is a national fucking treasure.
Well said. Real Life is pretty much my favorite thing ever. Charles Grodin performing surgery on the horse? Oh my god.
As for Drive, I loved it. Brooks doesn't deserve any awards; it was just fun to watch him and Perlman play such monsters...and monsters you kind of feel badly for. And it is the depth of these other characters that makes me think that Gosling's shallowness is intentional (as opposed to being a symptom of poor writing).
But what do I know? I liked Joe Versus the Volcano.
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Anybody who would question the comedic skills of Albert Brooks has no place on my planet.
LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT.
Tom.
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I mean, what he pulls off here at 3:15 or so is really nothing short of a miracle (don't fast forward to it, it works more in context):
Albert Brooks New National Anthem (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7JBrN_R6es#)
ESPECIALLY in 1972, but come on, who could walk that line today?
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I absolutely loved Drive. LOVED IT.
That said, I completely understand everyone that thought it was pretentious garbage.
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I absolutely loved Drive. LOVED IT.
That said, I completely understand everyone that thought it was pretentious garbage.
I loved Drive for the first hour. Then in the last 40 minutes or so, it lost me. I think it was the degree of violence that really bothered me. I thought it was senseless and unnecessary, and actually detracted from the film.
With that being said, I can't particularly quibble with the quality of the acting. Gosling, Mulligan, Cranston, et al. were great. And I'll echo what many others have said, Albert Brooks was absolutely robbed of an Oscar nomination. I've seen a ton of Albert Brooks movies and that's the best acting I've ever seen the man do. He really was fantastic as Bernie Rose.
In conclusion, using Gary Tha Squirrel's rating scale, I give Drive two and a half nuts.
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In conclusion, using Gary Tha Squirrel's rating scale, I give Drive two and a half nuts.
Did pretty decent, too--70 mil domestic & foreign so far, on a production budget of 15 million.
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In conclusion, using Gary Tha Squirrel's rating scale, I give Drive two and a half nuts.
Did pretty decent, too--70 mil domestic & foreign so far, on a production budget of 15 million.
Indeed.
I suspect it will also make quite a bit of money in home video sales.
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Just saw it and loved it. The soundtrack at the beginning was my favourite part.
But I thought the whole movie was so much fun! Good, bad - either way I was riveted.
* I originally watched it on dvd and then went out today and saw it at the cheap theatre. Being able to watch it on the big screen as opposed to at home with other distractions I found it even better. And I wouldn't say it was fun, but still riveting. And I thought it was great.
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Loved it.
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I am always impressed when mainstream movies push the limit and totally suprise me. I've recently loved Drive, SourceCode and Inception, movies I didn't think I would like.
**SPOILERS** p.s. The only thing that bothered me about Source Code was the end. So does Jake Gyllenhal just go on living as the guy he doesn't know anything about? Poor girl. She is in this relationship with a total stranger. Poor EVERYONE who used to know and love the man who used to own the body that Gyllenhal now owns. Right?
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**SPOILERS** p.s. The only thing that bothered me about Source Code was the end. So does Jake Gyllenhal just go on living as the guy he doesn't know anything about? Poor girl. She is in this relationship with a total stranger. Poor EVERYONE who used to know and love the man who used to own the body that Gyllenhal now owns. Right?
I was bothered by the end of Source Code also. Did you see his previous movie Moon? I was hoping Source Code would be better because Moon was so great.
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Oh I didn't realize it was the same guy. I loved Moon. Sam Rockwell's best performance imho.
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Oh I didn't realize it was the same guy. I loved Moon. Sam Rockwell's best performance imho.
I just saw Sam Rockwell in a Law & Order rerun from the early 90s. "Hey, that's Sam Rockwell."
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Oh I didn't realize it was the same guy. I loved Moon. Sam Rockwell's best performance imho.
I just saw Sam Rockwell in a Law & Order rerun from the early 90s. "Hey, that's Sam Rockwell."
I saw him in Made a few weeks ago. "Is that Sam Rockwell?"
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Oh I didn't realize it was the same guy. I loved Moon. Sam Rockwell's best performance imho.
I just saw Sam Rockwell in a Law & Order rerun from the early 90s. "Hey, that's Sam Rockwell."
I saw him in Made a few weeks ago. "Is that Sam Rockwell?"
I really liked Swingers even on rewatching. I thought Made was one of the least enjoyable movies I've ever seen. Hard to catch lightning in a bottle twice.
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**SPOILERS** p.s. The only thing that bothered me about Source Code was the end. So does Jake Gyllenhal just go on living as the guy he doesn't know anything about? Poor girl. She is in this relationship with a total stranger. Poor EVERYONE who used to know and love the man who used to own the body that Gyllenhal now owns. Right?
The first thing I thought after watching source code was what the hell happened to the guy he replaced? Was his in Gyllenhaal's partial body? Did he then die? Somehow the guy Jake replaced got totally dicked over...
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It's like they made a whole movie based on the Seinfeld character that always wears army fatigues and is so scary Elaine can't fire him but rather promotes him.
Mike is right. It was completely ridiculous and I really liked it.
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"It's tough keeping your feet dry when you're kicking in a skull."
Eddie - Seinfeld ep140 - The Fatigues - Kicking in a Skull (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEkvortlXmc#)
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"It's tough keeping your feet dry when you're kicking in a skull."
Yes. That's the exact quote I was thinking of.