| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 07/09/2009 : 09:53:20
My latest M* piece may be of interest. Not a film review as such, but stuff to contemplate while/after watching.
The sub-editor gremlins have again dared to alter some of my perfect prose 
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| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Demisemicenturian |
Posted - 12/27/2010 : 00:48:23
Here is an older thread about this film. |
| demonic |
Posted - 07/17/2009 : 01:25:03
I agree. It took at least 30 minutes to find its feet, which is far too long for a film-maker of Mann's experience. It did remain largely gripping from then on in - it didn't feel like a long film at all.
I had major issues with the grubby DV cinematography (has Dante Spinotti ever been DoP for an uglier looking film?) and the muddy sound matched it - I missed about 25% of the dialogue from poor mixing. I'm confused as to what Mann was achieving by shooting digital - other than the obvious speed of filming advantage and the immediacy of action, (cheapness shouldn't be an issue, but probably is, even at this level of film-making) but it just looked like a home video much of the time of well known actors messing around in gangster clothes when it would have hugely benefitted from looking more stylish. Maybe that's the point... about not glamourising the criminals; but that fails anyway becuase of the script and characterisation - Depp and his gang are always the heroes of the film - we want him to succeed from start to finish; not helped by the fact the cops are thinly characterised and Bale is positively dull (again).
This film convinced me that Johnny Depp is actually a very limited actor - he unquestionably a film star, always looks great on screen and has more than enough charisma to hold a two hour film single handedly, but I think he probably approaches his roles in pretty much the same way every time and gives variations of darkness as appropriate but never makes dangerous or really interesting choices. I don't think he would ever claim to be a particularly great actor -which actually makes him all the more appealing - but watching Billy Crudup as Hoover (not an especially great performance dictated as it is by a funny voice) made me think - Crudup would be a great Dillinger as well, and actually Depp doesn't have the range that Crudup has displayed. Crudup could play Sweeney Todd, The Earl of Rochester or JM Barrie, but Depp couldn't play Russell in "Almost Famous", Dr Manhattan in "Watchmen" or even Will Bloom in "Big Fish".
In the same way I was seeing through the cracks of Depp, Mann's mannerisms (excuse the pun) were out in force. He always loves his soundtracks and they add a lot to all of his films (Heat, The Insider, Manhunter, Ali, Collateral, Miami Vice - all have scenes that work purely from the choice of music matched to the visual) but the repetition of the fast electric banjo music over two bank robberies only pointed out to me how unexciting these scenes would be without the song choice. I realise it but it's a shame to see it so blatantly displayed by repeating the music for that sole effect.
There are flashes of customary brilliance - Mann knows how to shoot a gun fight (excuse another pun) and the tommy guns are filmed punishingly loud and frightening in their realism - the shoot out in the last third of the film and subsequent deaths of a few major characters are quite shocking and utterly thrilling cinema.
It's a real shame about the look, the sound and some of that casting, because this could have been an excellent film done properly, instead it's just a good one. |
| ChocolateLady |
Posted - 07/16/2009 : 17:03:28
quote:
Originally posted by BaftaBabe
quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
Am I missing the point if I want a bank robber movie to be fun?
Why would you want that? I guess you'd love Fun With Dick and Jane ... 
It won't be fun if he watches the remake, only the original.
My son saw this movie last night and said it was very unfocused.
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| damalc |
Posted - 07/16/2009 : 16:56:15
it must have been really hard to make a movie starring Johnny Depp so uninteresting. it felt like i walked into the middle and missed all the development. |
| MisterBadIdea |
Posted - 07/09/2009 : 17:20:56
Yeah, I don't subscribe to the idea that good movies have to be good for you. So I'm gonna go play some violent video games while blasting my old-school copy of Snoop Doggy Dogg's "Doggystyle." A lot of great works of art are patently immoral or amoral, and that doesn't bother me one bit. |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 07/09/2009 : 14:29:54
quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
Am I missing the point if I want a bank robber movie to be fun?
Why would you want that? I guess you'd love Fun With Dick and Jane ...
How about torture? Rape? Lots of fun there ...
PM me with your bank details and I'll rob you -- that should be fun.
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| MisterBadIdea |
Posted - 07/09/2009 : 13:50:12
If you don't like glamorization of gangsters, you should like Public Enemies, as it's certainly the least glamorous possible take on John Dillinger.
In fact, it's downright boring. I really didn't like this one, I think it may honestly be Michael Mann's worst movie. Michael Clayton all over again, man, all directionless plotting and unjustified gravitas. Am I missing the point if I want a bank robber movie to be fun? I'm beginning to think that Mann's only trick is to suck the life out of everything and turn up the volume during the shootouts. Also, Michael Mann's newfound love of digital video doesn't work at all in a period piece, it makes everyone look like they're wearing costumes and standing in a soundstage.
That cabin shootout in the woods is fan-fucking-tastic, and Michael Mann is a great visual filmmaker, but Scorsese can do everything he can and also make a movie that brims with vigor and vitality. Even with Johnny Depp as his lead and a handful of great badass lines, Mann does everything he can to undercut the character's appeal. He seems to actively want people not to enjoy it. |
| Demisemicenturian |
Posted - 07/09/2009 : 11:09:04
Perhaps you should team up with Giles Coren.
Public Enemies
I oscillated between finding it very generic and getting drawn in. I do though hate the glamourisation of gangsters in films. |
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