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Three somewhat obscure movies, everyone should see


Lefty

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Ben Affleck -

I disagree. He´s nothing special. He thinks he is though.

 

   Well, he is only 40, so give it time; his best work may be ahead of him.

 

 As I say, for sure he has made some stinkers in his time, and his career was threatened by some really bad choices;  whoever signed him up for Gigli and Daredevil is surely not advising him anymore. Watch some of his better movies like Argo and Gone Baby Gone, and hopefully *all* of his future work; you may have a slight change of heart.

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yes, I enjoyed that one too....saw it in the theater and also here at home, Ben had his hand print all over that movie; filmed it right near where he grew up and put his younger brother in the lead role.

 

The lady who played Amanda's mother did a great job as a skank/drug addict/ non-caring Mom right till the very end......prior to that she also played a good role as a customs patrol agent in "The Wire" for a whole season.

 

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0752407/

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   Well, he is only 40, so give it time; his best work may be ahead of him.

 

 As I say, for sure he has made some stinkers in his time, and his career was threatened by some really bad choices;  whoever signed him up for Gigli and Daredevil is surely not advising him anymore. Watch some of his better movies like Argo and Gone Baby Gone, and hopefully *all* of his future work; you may have a slight change of heart.

I haven't watched Argo, Gone baby gone or The Town, so maybe i will change my mind about him.

But he is in the same generation of Leo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Benicio Del Toro and compared to them he's a lightweight.

I didn't like DiCaprio either  his first years, thought he was just another pretty boy, but in his case i have completely changed, he's one of the great actors of his generation. In We own the night and the Departed he´s fantastic.

 

Edit: for some reason i thought he was in We own the night, but of course that was Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix.

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Edit: for some reason i thought he was in We own the night, but of course that was Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix.

  2 more guys from the new school of pretty boys like DiCaprio and Damon, who have turned out OK. Heck, Wahlberg started out his career as a rapper!

 

Remember ''Marky Mark and the Funky bunch''?  I am sure he would like to forget LOL

 

    Not trying to sway you one way or the other, Seven.....as I always say, watching movies is subjective; what many people find interesting or good I may find to be total crap, and of course vice versa........I just think someone like Affleck [as well as Wahlberg and any other actor] can be given a little slack for the early part of their careers. His reputation from 10 years ago was as a boy-toy for J.Lo and for making crap like Armageddon .....he's doing his best to rehabilitate his career in the past 5 or 6 years and to be taken seriously in Hollywood and is doing a pretty decent job of it.

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Speaking of Joaquin Phoenix, here is a somewhat-obscure movie some of you may have yet to see; ''Return to Paradise".

 

   Joaquin was actually supporting Vince Vaughn, who later went on to make what I consider to be a series of unfunny movies. Vaughn's role in this one, as a young, narcissistic traveler, and the hippie environmentalist [Phoenix] he meets on his trip to Malaysia, is well-acted by all.  Anne Heche also did a good job, before she went off the deep end  LOL.

 

  Good scenery - it will remind you of southern Thailand - good story, good acting....in my opinion well worth 2 hours of your time.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0124595/?ref_=sr_1

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But he is in the same generation of Leo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Benicio Del Toro and compared to them he's a lightweight.

I didn't like DiCaprio either  his first years, thought he was just another pretty boy, but in his case i have completely changed, he's one of the great actors of his generation. In We own the night and the Departed he´s fantastic.

I didn't much care for Leo in his early years either...But then I saw him in Blood Diamond and realized he was all grown up and could really act...Haven't seen enough of Benicio's work to rank him with the best...I do enjoy his films...Matt Damon on the other hand is a light weight compared to Leo and Brad and company...His films can be entertaining...but I don't think he can act his way out of a paper bag...Leo and Jack carry The Departed  along with strong performances by Mark, Martin and Alec...

 

I just picked up a copy of The Fighter with Wahlberg and  Christian Bale...A very good film with a very strong performance by Bale...

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Matt Damon on the other hand is a light weight compared to Leo and Brad and company.

You´re right.( his name just popped up when we were talking Ben Affleck).  He really isn't in their league.

Benicio Del Toro is one of my favorites.  Traffic and 21 grams are probably his best so far.

 

 

 

 

I can´t post multi quotes anymore. Sorry about that

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Benicio gives us a strong performance in The Usual Suspects...I guess that was his break out film...

But my favorite role of his is as Dr. Gonzo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas...He was made for that role...

I have always felt an attachment of sorts to Benicio.   I grew up and lived many years in a town with the female version of his name...Benicia...Named after a Mexican governor's wife way back when Mexico claimed ownership of California...

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Benicio gives us a strong performance in The Usual Suspects...I guess that was his break out film...

 

I just saw a young Benicio in one of his earliest roles as a gangster in Licence To Kill. I had never seen it, I had never seen any Bond film with Timothy Dalton as JB. I still haven't. I had to turn it off, it was fuckin' awful. The most condescending, puerile, overacted, dumb piece of shit I have seen in a long time. Dalton with his foppish haircut is the gayest Bond ever. He looks like he couldn't pull the skin off rice custard but he runs around knocking people out with one punch while his hair never gets out of place. 

 

OK, he's not that bad but whoever approved the script needs condemnation. Is there a worse Bond film? There can't be, surely!

 

Here's Benicio in Licence To Kill:

 

post-83-0-31020700-1358118867_thumb.jpg

 

But my favorite role of his is as Dr. Gonzo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas...He was made for that role...  

 

 

Oh dear. I wish you hadn't mentioned that movie. I found it hard to watch. I remember going with a male friend of mine & he walked out. I stayed because I figured it couldn't get worse & it may have some redeeming feature still to come. There was no redeeming feature & it did get worse. Nicholas Cage full of existential angst while portraying the most disgusting drunk ever seen on screen, I still feel revolted by his performance. I can't ever remember praying so hard for a movie to end.

 

Then he won Best Actor for his role FFS. I suppose when he is so bad that he is good, there is logic to his award but I honestly wouldn't recommend anyone go see it. Execrable IMO.

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I saw Django today. Liked it a lot. Truly well crafted film. Can't find any fault with it really. Good story, right run length, terrific photography, excellent editing, sensational soundtrack and stellar performances from all. QT makes an appearance and my oh my has he put on a number of pounds since his lean years. I guess success and the Weinstein brothers can do that to a man. 

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Oh dear. I wish you hadn't mentioned that movie. I found it hard to watch. I remember going with a male friend of mine & he walked out. I stayed because I figured it couldn't get worse & it may have some redeeming feature still to come. There was no redeeming feature & it did get worse. Nicholas Cage full of existential angst while portraying the most disgusting drunk ever seen on screen, I still feel revolted by his performance. I can't ever remember praying so hard for a movie to end.

I think you confuse it with Leaving Las Vegas, which i think is a great movie. Fear and loathing is about Hunter S Thompson starring Johnny Depp

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I haven't watched Argo, 

 

I have. Quite enjoyable, Affleck is good, good plot & script.... but how does this deserve a Best Picture nomination? I have seen better episodes of Mission Impossible. The fact that Argo is based on real events makes it more interesting but it is a well filmed action drama with nothing much in particular to lift it out of its 'average-ness'. A nice date film but up there with Life Of Pi? No way in the world.

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I think you confuse it with Leaving Las Vegas. Fear and loathing is about Hunter S Thompson starring Johnny Depp

 

Ahhhh.....        80

 

Thank you Seven. Another senior moment. I wondered who the hell was Dr Gonzo but in my haste, I fucked it up completely. Oh well...   as you were gentlemen.

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I saw Django today. Liked it a lot. Truly well crafted film. Can't find any fault with it really.

 

 

Sam, did you find all the gun violence and all the bloody visuals necessary or were they a bit overdone?  

 

Secondly, did you feel at all uncomfortable with every other sentence using the "N" word? 

 

I see that QT won a Golden Globe this evening for best screen play for Django...The best direction award was won by Ben Affleck for Argo...Argo also won best film of the year and Daniel Day-Lewis won the best actor award...

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I haven't watched Argo, Gone baby gone or The Town, so maybe i will change my mind about him.

But he is in the same generation of Leo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Benicio Del Toro and compared to them he's a lightweight.

I didn't like DiCaprio either  his first years, thought he was just another pretty boy, but in his case i have completely changed, he's one of the great actors of his generation. In We own the night and the Departed he´s fantastic.

 

Edit: for some reason i thought he was in We own the night, but of course that was Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix.

I do not agree. I like Affleck better than any of them. I don't see what all the fuss is over DeCaprio. Some thought he'd get an Oscar nomination for Django, but I thought Waltz was better in it and more deserving. Only role I ever liked DeCaprio a whole lot in was What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Other than that, he is meh to me. 

Matt Damon would be 2nd out of the group to me. Good Will Hunting was a superb movie. I read several folks say he wasn't any good in True Grit, but I thought he did just fine. 

Maybe I am just not a sophisticated enough of a movie fan. 

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Sam, did you find all the gun violence and all the bloody visuals necessary or were they a bit overdone?  

 

Secondly, did you feel at all uncomfortable with every other sentence using the "N" word? 

 

Not at all is my answer to your first question. I think if one goes to a QT movie they should expect to see the things he does well. One of things he does extremely well is violence. Sam Peckinpah was a pioneer in cinema violence however no one choreographs it as well as QT. Interestingly while watching it I was not so much impacted with the violence itself as much as I was about how well it was done. You have to hand it to him. He's good at it. I think he makes fun of it himself since he elected to do a cameo playing a character who gets blown to bits in one of the best cinematic visual achievements in violence I've seen. 

 

Personally I do not think using the word "nigger" is such big deal. Perhaps that is because I am Canadian and as such it does not carry the same historical weight and significance. It is a word. It is a demeaning, pejorative word and used extensively for a long time. We as a society today have evolved, are more educated and enlightened. We do not use words like "nigger" any longer because it conjures up a lot of wrong in our history that we would rather forget. Even your question does not use the word. You refer to the "N" word. Nonetheless the word is part of history and as such we cannot erase or hide it if we wish to teach our history honestly.  

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I do not agree. I like Affleck better than any of them. I don't see what all the fuss is over DeCaprio. Some thought he'd get an Oscar nomination for Django, but I thought Waltz was better in it and more deserving. Only role I ever liked DeCaprio a whole lot in was What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Other than that, he is meh to me. 

Matt Damon would be 2nd out of the group to me. Good Will Hunting was a superb movie. I read several folks say he wasn't any good in True Grit, but I thought he did just fine. 

 

As it happens I just watched Good Will Hunting the other day, a truly excellent movie which I've seen numerous times, perhaps one of Matt Damon's best and Affleck was very good too. But in my opinion the outstanding performance went to Robin Williams, who as a comedian I cannot stand, but as a serious actor I find very watchable. I'll be watching Awakenings again soon too.

 

I generally enjoy DiCaprio. I recently watched This Boy's Life and Basketball Diaries, both very enjoyable.

 

The Town was highly enjoyable too, much recommended, Ben Affleck was superb in that.

 

Brad Pitt was mentioned recently and that made me watch Sleepers again. Kevin Bacon, Robert DeNiro, Brad Pitt, Dustin Hoffman and Bruno Kirby. Another great movie.

 

On the subject of Tarantino. I've enjoyed all that I've seen with particular mentions to Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown and True Romance, loved them. Never saw any of his Kill Bill movies though, just something about them never appealed.

 

 

Maybe I am just not a sophisticated enough of a movie fan. 

 

In my opinion we are ALL valid critics. Whatever you think is what YOU think. Your opinion (and mine) is just as valid as the next person's. What I dislike is when people (critics) think that a film is naff purely because it is commercial or because it is not intelligent enough. A movie should captivate and entertain. There is nothing clever or sophisticated about liking a movie just because few others have seen it or because it is smart. Sophistication often equals pompous.

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I don't mind at all when critics feel differently about certain movies than I do, or when other board members do the same......it's all a matter of what a person likes, who really cares what others think?  We can get idea's from other people,. but it all comes down to what WE like, not them.

 

 Will Ferrell makes a ton of movies people seem to find funny......I watched one of his on an airplane once and found him to be completely unfunny and have never watched anything from him again and never will, I just don't get his 'comedy' at all. Same with the fat guy from King of Queens; while that show is decent, I am 100% sure I could never sit through 2 hours of Mall Cop.

 

  Doesn't mean people who like them are 'unsophisticated', it just means they like different comedy material than I do. What I don't like is when someone will say "Oh, you didn't like {X}?"   or  "you don't think {Y} is a fine actor?"  Then you must be a stupid fool! No, because someone doesn't like their material or they way they act in it, it doesn't make them 'stupid', it just means 2 people have different tastes.

 

   OK, back to this crop of 30's and 40's actors; I think DiCaprio is OK; liked him in Blood Diamond and Gilbert Grape, also in The Departed, Body of Lies, Gangs of New York.......never saw Titanic, and never will; again, all subjective. He also did a good job in The Beach, filmed in the Koh Phi Phi area.

 

      Damon started out gangbusters in Good Will Hunting, a great movie Affleck was in also....as mentioned above Robin Williams played a good role and was awarded with Best Supporting Actor for his trouble. Damon also did very well in; The Talented Mr Ripley, Ocean's Eleven, Saving Private Ryan, The Informant and the 3 Bourne movies he was in. I loved those 3 movies, some people may think they were junk but that doesn't matter to me at all; they entertain ME and that's all I care about when I sit down to watch a movie. I thought he over-acted in The Departed, and why fake a Boston accent when you naturally have one? In fact, only Mark Wahlberg nailed the accent in that one, everyone else sounded completely phony.

 

            I do like Wahlberg, but he has made some stink bombs recently like Contraband.....he was great in Three Kings and The Perfect Storm, Boogie Nights also....Clooney and Pitt are just a little old to be in this group but I like them both a lot also. Don't care much for Johnny Depp, he comes across as a male bimbo to me and I don't get the Pirates of the Caribbean stuff at all.  Tom Cruise = NO......Denzel Washington, a resounding YES....Colin Farrell, NO. Edward Norton is very good, Sean Penn also.....lots of good actors in that generation.

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   OK, back to this crop of 30's and 40's actors

 

Interesting use of words JD... It piqued  my interest...So just how old are these young whippersnappers...

Of this crop surprisingly only two are in their 30s...That would be Mr. Farrell at 36 and DiCaprio at 38...Afflect is close at 40 and Wahlberg at 41 Damon follows at 42...then Norton at 43...del Toro at 45...both Pitt and Depp are 49...Moving along we find Cruise at 50, Clooney at 51, Penn at 52 and the old man Denzel at 58...I ain't telling how old I am...But they could all be my sons...

BTW:  Tarantino is 49...

Afflect and Damon wrote Good Will Hunting and won an Oscar for their efforts...It is indeed a great story and a remarkable film...as are many other Damon films...I have many copies of his films in my collection and watch them often...They do indeed entertain me...But to me that doesn't mean that Damon is a great actor...To me he plays the same character over and over...He is entertaining but you can't begin to compare his acting efforts to some of the other products in this crop...

In my mind there are two  elements to any good/great film...And those elements are not necessarily the actors...First, a great film requires a great story and that job falls to the script writer and perhaps the source of the film as well... But the most importantly element is a great story teller and that would be the director...Of this crop Afflect is clearly the best of the pickings...

And that's my opinion...Ain't trying to recruit any of y'all to join my club...Because we all differ in our opinions that is what makes the film experience so special...And I suppose that might also hold for most of our experiences...

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