Case Study

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Ron Burgundy
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Case Study

Post by Ron Burgundy »

Hello all fellow cinephiles!

In this thread we do as the title says, of a certain film.

Ill nominate a highly regarded film every week, i ask each and every one of you who have seen the following case study to remark on said film. It doesn't have to be long, you can say 5 words and give it a rating, i want to get a better grasp on what people think of movies and i think you people are probably the best way of scaling a movie.

So, join me in the quest of getting a handle on movies, what our peers think and perhaps why it is judged well or in some cases not so well.
“One time I wrestled a giraffe to the ground with my bare hands.” — Dale

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Ron Burgundy
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Re: Case Study

Post by Ron Burgundy »

The first movie on this thread will be:

American History X

A movie that sits on the imdb top 250 at No.33 with a 8.5 rating, 85% on rottentomatoes.com and 62 on metacritic.

Its directed by Tony Kaye, who had not done anything so highly regarded since.

Featuring a young Ed Norton and Ed Furlong with a decent supporting cast including Elliot Gould, Ethan Suplee, Beverly D'Angelo, Avery Brooks, Stacy Keach & Fairuza Balk

I dont think i'll need to go into the plot for ANY of these movies but ill recap the director and cast, maybe the other players involved if there's credit where credit is due, in this case, the writer was David McKenna.

Keep it simple, keep it short.

Personally, i like this movie, but ill hold off any reasoning until last, so for now.
8/10
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numbersix
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Re: Case Study

Post by numbersix »

Meeting a black person in prison doesn't stop a racist from being so. This film is a naive simplification of a deep-rooted problem. 5/10

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undeadmonkey
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Re: Case Study

Post by undeadmonkey »

Haven't seen it

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Re: Case Study

Post by transformers2 »

A powerful, brilliantly-acted masterpiece and pretty much the only movie that has ever made me cry. One of my all-time favorites. 10/10
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Re: Case Study

Post by Buscemi2 »

The best film of 1998. Edward Norton should have won the Best Actor Oscar but got screwed by the final cut controversy and Tony Kaye's response. 10/10.

And Ron, see Lake of Fire and Detachment if you can. Kaye's other two released films (a fourth, Black Water Transit, remains in legal limbo and outside of a Cannes screening has not been seen by audiences) are also high quality but didn't get the widespread attention.
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Re: Case Study

Post by Chienfantome »

The last time I watched American History X was.... in early '99 in theaters, when it got released here in cinemas. I don't remember having it seen it since.
I remember it really impressed me at the time (I must have been 17 at the time), with a powerful theme and performance from Norton, who at the time really was one of the most promising actor of his generation. A lot of image of the film still remain in my mind, even though in retrospect, I guess that if I rewatched the film today, I would find it lacking subtlety. I should try and rewatch it to see.
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Walleye413
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Re: Case Study

Post by Walleye413 »

Six makes a brilliant point, I don't disagree at all. Having said that, I thought it was a powerful movie when I watched it - about 20 years ago. The curb stomping scene has stayed with me ever since - just a horrific act that feels irredeemable - and yet by the end Norton has done such a good job I'm drawn into thinking maybe he could be. I'm not sure how it would hold up - but I think at least from an acting standpoint it would fare fairly well.

7/10

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Ron Burgundy
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Re: Case Study

Post by Ron Burgundy »

Hmm, my thoughts

Chien- how often do you see a film from a decade or more ago? I watch stuff like this every week.

Walleye- Agreed that Nortans performance draws you in

Boosh - i will def check out Lake of Fire and Detachment.

Six- A very good point indeed- but not in the movieworld, its not so far fetched that i cant believe such a thing wouldn't happen. Still, where would we be without you six?
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Re: Case Study

Post by Ron Burgundy »

Next film up is:

The Truman Show (1998)

Another 90s movie that currently sits in the imdb top 250 at #195 with 8.1 rating, 94% on RT.com and 90 on metacritic. It was nominated for 3 Oscars (Best Supporting Actor, Best Director & Best Original Screenplay).

Directed by Peter Weir, who has only made 2 films since this one.

Featuring Jim Carrey in his first serious role with supporting roles played by Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Paul Giamatti and Ed Harris. It was written by Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, next years Gemini Man).

Composer was Burkhard von Dallwitz.

It was made from a $60mil budget and earned $126mil ($248mil adjusted for 2018 prices) domestically and $264mil worldwide.

I remember seeing this when it came out and fully expected some zany Jim Carrey, while i was a bit shocked to not see that, i still really like this movie.
8/10

PS: Ed Harris was beaten in his Oscar category by James Coburn -i haven't seen Affliction, to be honest i haven't even heard of it until today, has anyone seen it? Was Harris robbed?
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numbersix
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Re: Case Study

Post by numbersix »

Ron Burgundy wrote:
Six- A very good point indeed- but not in the movieworld, its not so far fetched that i cant believe such a thing wouldn't happen. Still, where would we be without you six?
Whether it may happen or not isn't the point. If it's a film about racism, a real world issue still today, then you can't portray it as being as easily resolved as they do in this film. It's naive and unrealistic and simply does not address the issue. Movieworld has to reflect realworld otherwise you've nothing to say.

Truman Show: Been years since I've seen but I liked it. Carrey flexing his acting muscles even more in a prophetic film about the unethical nature of "reality TV". Still seems pretty powerful to me. 7/10

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Re: Case Study

Post by Chienfantome »

Ron Burgundy wrote:Chien- how often do you see a film from a decade or more ago? I watch stuff like this every week.
There was a time when I bought lots of DVDs and watched/rewatched a lot of films that way, but I grew tired of the format and of watching films on a small screen. I already watch so many films on my computer or TV to select Korean films for my festival, that it consumes my desire/need for films on a small screen.
So every once in a while when there's a film on TV I really want to rewatch, I do, but it's really just once in a while, maybe once or twice a month. The other night there was "A Bridge too far" which I hadn't watched since probably the 90's, so I rewatched it.
But now I've become some sort of cinema theater nerd, the experience of watching a film on a big screen is much too important for me, and I'd rather spend years waiting for a film to be screened in Paris so I watch it in a theater rather than watch it on TV or computer. It's a luxury that living in Paris allows me to have. Those last few days I went and watch in theater 2 films by Ozu, one film by Imamura, and Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing.
But when it's a film I grew up with, watching it over and over on TV when I was a kid or a teen, I have no problem rewatching it on TV.
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numbersix
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Re: Case Study

Post by numbersix »

So will you ever watch Annihilation? Or Saulnier's upcoming Hold the Dark?

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Re: Case Study

Post by Chienfantome »

As for The Truman Show, it's a film I haven't seen in a long while, but I am still very fond of it.

The late 90's was the time when I grew very obsessive over cinema, when I started reading a lot of cinema magazines, and it was a time when I didn't have Internet yet. So when I read an article about a film in the making, by a director I loved, with an actor I loved, about a subject I loved, I remember I used to spend months almost counting the days til the release of the film, quenching my thirst of it with the photos in magazines and trailers in cinema. And The Truman Show was such a film for me, I remember I was so excited to go see it in theaters, all the more that it was a time when films were not released everywhere at the same time like it's now become common - at least for the Hollwyoood studio films. So The Truman Show was only released in the fall in France, 4 or 5 months after the US release.

I adored it immediately when I finally saw it in theaters, and I remember the minute I left the film, I stormed into the Virgin Megastore on the Champs Elysées to buy the soundtrack.

It was such a briliant film, creative, well written, ahead of its time in what it said about the new decade to come. And such a great performance from Carrey. Bought the DVD and watched it several times. I still occasionnally listen to the music of the film by Dallwitz and Glass.
I haven't seen it in years but I'm sure it's still a very accurate and fascinating depiction of the time we live in.
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Chienfantome
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Re: Case Study

Post by Chienfantome »

numbersix wrote:So will you ever watch Annihilation? Or Saulnier's upcoming Hold the Dark?
I hope I will, I certainly want to. I hope a festival will screen them in Paris one day, or there will be a retrospective that will enter them in the line-up somehow at the Cinemathèque or something.
Becoming a cinema lover at a time when there was no Internet and films were released in France months after the US or wherever they were from, has made me a very patient cinephile. I think it's important to be patient when you love cinema. Because there are many films you can't see right away, and to me, the way I discover the films is important, so I'd rather wait and discover it the best way possible rather than rush on it just for the sake of watching it quickly.
But I'm know some don't feel the same way and don't care how they watch the film as long as they see it soon.
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