Film Talk (WARNING: Spoilers!)

[Doc4]

I was talking to a friend yesterday about Indiana Jones ...

"They should have stopped at the trilogy."

 

[luvmysuper]

I was talking to a friend yesterday about Indiana Jones ...

"They should have stopped at the trilogy."

I can't disagree with that sentiment.
If they were going to go out with a last one, they should have stuck to the franchise abc's

 

[DrStrange]

There's a lot of film franchises that I really don't want to see any more of.

Off the top of my head, an incomplete list includes:
Star Trek
Star Wars
James Bond

They keep making them,
but I can't remember anything from the last few of those that I saw
and I've stopped watching them.

 

[luvmysuper]

There's a lot of film franchises that I really don't want to see any more of.

Off the top of my head, an incomplete list includes:
Star Trek
Star Wars
James Bond

They keep making them,
but I can't remember anything from the last few of those that I saw
and I've stopped watching them.

I think personally that modern times and fear of public reaction have made it very difficult to recreate the success of these famous franchises. Film makers won't do today what made them successful to begin with.

 

[DrStrange]

I think personally that modern times and fear of public reaction have made it very difficult to recreate the success of these famous franchises. Film makers won't do today what made them successful to begin with.

Now I'm going to ramble like an old man.

I liked Modern Times.
There's a scene that stuck with me because it used context
to imply color in a silent black and white film, which I thought was clever.
He's being chased by police and he sees a communist party rally
marching down the street, waving their flags.
At the same time, he sees a truck with a flag attached to the end
of the load of lumber extending out the back.
If you know the rules of the road, then you know that the flag is red.
He grabs the flag and gets away, blending in with the marchers.

Woody Allen adapted that bit for a scene in Bananas.
This time it was Christians marching, and a guy changing a flat.
He grabs the tire iron, holds it up like a cross and ...

 

[ivan_101]

A few points that, to me, really indicate his true nature:

The part in the desert at the beginning when he holds up the wanted poster and says "Misanthrope? I don't hate my fellow man. Even when he's tiresome and surly and tries to cheat at poker. I figure that's just a human material" and then goes on to disparage the nature of mankind - missing entirely, despite the fact that he is so loquacious, that the definition of misanthrope is one who generally dislikes and distrusts the human species, human behavior, or human nature.

The part where he tells Surly Joe's brother, "Buster Scruggs don't shoot nobody in the back", having just come from the cantina where the last bullet he fired was squarely into the back of the barkeeper. Admittedly, the barkeeper was reaching up for a scattergun, but still... the barkeeper had not yet tried to pull it down.

And finally when Surly Joes brother mistakenly calls him the "West Texas Twit" instead of the "West Texas ***, on account of that particular bird's mellifluous warble." the look that passes over his face is enough to kill on the spot, and leads to the fellow being methodically tortured by having his fingers shot off before being unnecessarily killed, as illustrated by the playful way he's killed with a trick shot while looking in a mirror. Buster has his back to the fellow, obviously indicating that Buster feels the man is no threat at all.

As an aside, two great parts in the cantina scene that I just noticed this last watching - when he first walks in, kicks the door shut and pats the dust off, he steps forward and for a moment, there is a perfect dust ghost outline of him that quickly fades and passes. And then, when he does finally shoot that bartender in the back, for the briefest of moments, the sunshine streaming in through the cracks in the wall can be clearly seen streaming through the hole that Buster just placed in the barkeeps back.

Well, to tell you the truth I haven't seen that movie, but watched it last night. I will agree with your conclusions about the last part, Phil.

The line in the beginnig of the film that made my day:
I'd say that you could use yourself a shave and a brighter disposition.

 

[emwolf]

There's a lot of film franchises that I really don't want to see any more of.

Off the top of my head, an incomplete list includes:
Star Trek
Star Wars
James Bond

They keep making them,
but I can't remember anything from the last few of those that I saw
and I've stopped watching them.

I could do without Trek or Wars (or any new Matrix movies) but I am interested to see if they can jump start Bond after running the franchise into the ground.

 

[Chef455]

I could do without Trek or Wars (or any new Matrix movies) but I am interested to see if they can jump start Bond after running the franchise into the ground.

Would you care to elaborate? Simply out of curiosity, not a challenge to your viewpoint.

I find the 007 movies to be satisfying bubblegum in the theater. I think it continues to be somewhat obtuse and a tad (or more) misogynistic but I appreciate the cannon mostly because its longevity allows me to get a sense of the decade/era it was released in for all the nostalgia and absolutely dated pop culture.

Basically I'm saying that while the films don't necessarily age well I find them an interesting snapshot of the time that they were released. I can't think of another "series" that captures the breadth of time that the James Bond movies do.

 

[emwolf]

Would you care to elaborate? Simply out of curiosity, not a challenge to your viewpoint.

I find the 007 movies to be satisfying bubblegum in the theater. I think it continues to be somewhat obtuse and a tad (or more) misogynistic but I appreciate the cannon mostly because its longevity allows me to get a sense of the decade/era it was released in for all the nostalgia and absolutely dated pop culture.

Basically I'm saying that while the films don't necessarily age well I find them an interesting snapshot of the time that they were released. I can't think of another "series" that captures the breadth of time that the James Bond movies do.

I feel the Daniel Craig era ran the series into the ground because...
Once they killed off Bond, there really is no coming back. Further, it was so out of the Bond character that was in any of the books or previous movies to sacrifice himself in that manner. Oddly enough, in the book You Only Live Twice, Bond finds himself in a very similar predicament as at the end of No Time To Die. In character, rather than die in the garden of poisonous plants, Bond gets a weather balloon and floats away only to lose his memory after falling into the ocean and washing up on shore, thus setting up a sequel very nicely. I am not confident that Bond will return with EON. They've kind of peed in their own bathtub.

 

[luvmysuper]

I feel the Daniel Craig era ran the series into the ground because...
Once they killed off Bond, there really is no coming back. Further, it was so out of the Bond character that was in any of the books or previous movies to sacrifice himself in that manner. Oddly enough, in the book You Only Live Twice, Bond finds himself in a very similar predicament as at the end of No Time To Die. In character, rather than die in the garden of poisonous plants, Bond gets a weather balloon and floats away only to lose his memory after falling into the ocean and washing up on shore, thus setting up a sequel very nicely. I am not confident that Bond will return with EON. They've kind of peed in their own bathtub.

I don't disagree with your opinion, but just wanted to say

Harry Hart (Colin Firth) died in Kingsmen: Secret Service, but came back in a sequel.
Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) died in Alien 3, but came back in a sequel.
Spock (Leonard Nimoy) died in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, but came back in a sequel.
Honorable mention goes to Mike Myers from the Halloween series, Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th series, and
Freddy Krueger from the A Nightmare on Elm Street series all of whom died numerous times but were successfully brought back for sequels.
Just saying that it's Hollywood - they can do it if they see dollars. How well they do it remains to be seen.

 

[emwolf]

I don't disagree with your opinion, but just wanted to say

Harry Hart (Colin Firth) died in Kingsmen: Secret Service, but came back in a sequel.
Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) died in Alien 3, but came back in a sequel.
Spock (Leonard Nimoy) died in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, but came back in a sequel.
Honorable mention goes to Mike Myers from the Halloween series, Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th series, and
Freddy Krueger from the A Nightmare on Elm Street series all of whom died numerous times but were successfully brought back for sequels.
Just saying that it's Hollywood - they can do it if they see dollars. How well they do it remains to be seen.

I agree, however my point is that the death mentioned above contradicted the character.

 

[luvmysuper]

I agree, however my point is that the death mentioned above contradicted the character.

I get that, and do not in any way disagree.
I'm hopeful that it will turn out that it WASN'T in his character, and he had a back-up plan all along.

 

[emwolf]

I get that, and do not in any way disagree.
I'm hopeful that it will turn out that it WASN'T in his character, and he had a back-up plan all along.

I have a feeling that if there is a follow up, it will be a reboot. Hollywood is very fond of reboots these days.

 

[Shoegazer]

Would you care to elaborate? Simply out of curiosity, not a challenge to your viewpoint.

I find the 007 movies to be satisfying bubblegum in the theater. I think it continues to be somewhat obtuse and a tad (or more) misogynistic but I appreciate the cannon mostly because its longevity allows me to get a sense of the decade/era it was released in for all the nostalgia and absolutely dated pop culture.

Basically I'm saying that while the films don't necessarily age well I find them an interesting snapshot of the time that they were released. I can't think of another "series" that captures the breadth of time that the James Bond movies do.

For me, the problem is that the current incarnation of Bond, is simply not the bond I read as a kid. The personal vulnerability that's written into the Craig character is anti-Bond.

This is why I watched the Bond films even thru Brosnan.

Moore was a parody, and the series was amusing, but... Don't recall Lazenby, and Dalton was too affected by his circumstances to be Bond--who at his best tended to distance himself from emotion so as to be able to do his job, which was basically a no-hold-barred wildcard in the world of espionage.

I thought Brosnan did a good job with the character of Bond, as created in the books, but was physically too puny.

 

[FarmerTan]

They have made some amazing films, and their version of True Grit was much truer to the book than the John Wayne version.

I must admit I have seen neither movie, nor did I know that it was based on a book!

How does one NOT watch either of those movies with two of my favorite actors?

Lazy or busy I suppose...

 

[luvmysuper]

I must admit I have seen neither movie, nor did I know that it was based on a book!

How does one NOT watch either of those movies with two of my favorite actors?

Lazy or busy I suppose...

They are both very good films, as is the book.

 

[steveclarkus]

My wife and I have been watching Betty Davis and Bogart movies lately. My intention is to watch all of Bogart while my wife is intent on Davis.There are some really great flicks in that lot.