What are you watching RIGHT NOW.... or close to now. S03E02

[numbersix]

Many Cold war films such as???? Name one that has been a mainstream success in the last 15 years, featuring heavy Russian accents.

My point is that while YOU may think you have a sense of Russian accents, most don't have one to be able to accept that as normal and to hear a "strange" Swedish accent because neither are an issue.

As for the trailer, there's plenty of trailers that do not contain dialogue. It's not a sign of hiding anything unless you're so determined to hate a film that you see conspiracy in everything.

[Buscemi]

@W: But how many of those movies were in English and/or consumed by a mass market?

@Six: But don't you think that it's weird that Sony would release a trailer that tells you almost nothing about the film and does not release any dialogue from it? It could be that the film is so graphic that they cannot show you anything but the red band trailer didn't reveal anything either. But I doubt it. With three months from opening, Sony realizes they have a turkey in their hands and is expecting the adoration of Fincher's fanboys to tide it over.

As for Cold War films, Rocky IV and The Hunt For Red October are two good examples. Bad or lacking accents, yes. But audiences know what to expect.

And on Monkey's question, here is what really happened.

- I saw the trailer for The Last Station (way before the trailer for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo remake came out) and wondered why no one had an accent.

- Some time later, I read that David Fincher was having his actors practice Swedish accents for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I thought to myself, "This is never going to work" due to the history of movie accents failing to stick and because most audiences do not know what a Swedish accent sounds like.

- Long after seeing the trailer for The Last Station, I saw the movie on Starz. Not bad but the lack of accents still bothered me.

- Monkey brought up the issue.

I guess that it's just a case of doing the accent right. I don't like it when there's no accent and I don't like when the accent is done horribly. I have a feeling the actors in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo will do the latter. And by the looks of Sony not releasing anything with dialogue yet, it looks to be the case.

[W]

Oh... I was joking. I really don't care about this argument. I don't have any criteria for a "bad" accent, but I know it when I see it and if you are making a film and someone is supposed to have an accent, they should probably have one.

[Buscemi]

I apologize for derailing this thread. Enjoy your remake.

[NSpan]

As for the trailer, there's plenty of trailers that do not contain dialogue. It's not a sign of hiding anything unless you're so determined to hate a film that you see conspiracy in everything.

I think Pan's Labyrinth was actually promoted without dialogue--surprising some audience members when they found themselves at a subtitled film.

[Chienfantome]

There has been many american films taking place abroad with american or english accents impersonating foreign people without accent, it doesn't seem to bother many people. With or without the accent isn't an issue. As long as it's in english, american audiences doesn't seem to care.

[Geezer]

Precisely, my good friend, Chien.

[numbersix]

Ah Chien put it better than myself. Most people don't know what a good or bad accent is, regardless of the foreign country. No one is going to care about the Swedish accent being unfamiliar as they know it's a foreign country and that's all that matters.

And Boosch, saying The Hunt for Red October (which is what, over 15 years old and barely remembered) is an example of anything but the worst attempt at any accent, ever, is a joke!

[Donte77]

Not true if you are talking about English Subtitled films. UGH. Sometimes I am just not in the mood to read the subtitles and I turn on the dubbed dialogue. Shit, sometimes it is so baad that I will straighten up s I can read. It happens a lot in Asian films (13 Assassins by Miike recently) and in some low budget films. Surely there is a market for people to dub these films without sounding like a middle school play Virgin Mary.

I know it is lazy to use the dubbing but when you are eating or whatever, reading the dialogue is inconvenient. It is lazy but I only do it in dire circumstances. I used the subtitles during "Troll Hunters", 2010, which was good btw, but did not when I recently rewatched "The Seventh Seal."
There is a difference but all the same, these dubbing "actors" need to step up their game.

[silversurfer19]

How can you watch a movie like The Seventh Seal with such a blase attitude. Maybe a blockbuster which you are not really that interested in I could maybe understand the use of dubbing, but I tend to feel a movie like that requires a little attention, thus not eating or being distracted etc during the proceedings. Maybe it's just me and how I approach movies with the general intention of gaining something from (with the classics I mean, we all have our mindless entertainment needs - hence watching Jonah Hex last night which in turn was not that entertaining after all...), but I generally loathe dubbing.

[NSpan]

Aw shucks, Donte. You've gone and offended Surfer's delicate sensibilities!

[Chienfantome]

I understand Surfer's view on the subject. There was a time, when I was a teen, when I didn't mind seeing a film dubbed. I saw films with subtitles sometimes, but most of the times dubbed, but now it is something I deeply loath. I cannot watch a foreign film dubbed unless it's a bad film and I don't mind, or even better if it's a bad film that is even funnier dubbed poorly.

But I think it's a bit different if english is your language or not, because with all the american films being the favourite ones when you grow up, you are already bond to make a choice when english is not your language, and films in a foreign language being the ones you see the most, it's not like in America, where 4 films out of 5 you will see will be in your own language. I don't even see 1 in 5 films in my own language I think, so you get bored, and angry with dubbed films quickly that way. Here, subtitled films is not associated with arthouse cinema, it's just foreign cinema, even the big dumb Hollywood blockbusters.

[NSpan]

Nah, I actually had the same initial reaction as Surf. I just wanted to give him a hard time for bothering to articulate our mutual pretentiousness.

[NSpan]

watched Tim Burton's Alice in Underland.. meh. Not terrible--but it definitely had that "plastic" feel that I've ascribed to Burton's work in the 21st century. It's just as stilted as any production worthy of the criticism "wooden," but it's also superficially shiny and polished.

In terms of plot and themes, it could have just as easily been a CGI reboot of Return to Oz.

[Chienfantome]

The only Burton film I liked since Mars Attacks (although only half of it) was Big Fish.