Case Study

Discuss past, present, and future releases. This is the place for news, reviews, and your 'best' lists.

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transformers2
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Re: Case Study

Post by transformers2 »

Chien: The prestige/arthouse-leaning Netflix titles (Mudbound, The Meyerowitz Stories, Beasts of No Nation, even Kodachrome) tend to get limited theatrical releases here in the US, so you can always fly across the Atlantic if there's a streaming title you really want to see ;)

As for The Truman Show. It's an ambitious, thoughtful movie anchored by an excellent performance from Carrey, but I've always found it to be a bit overrated 7.5/10
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Re: Case Study

Post by Buscemi2 »

The Truman Show takes a few viewings to understand (as a result, I call such films Truman Show movies) but once you get it, it's a fulfilling experience. Peter Weir and Andrew Niccol also warned us about the reality TV culture and we ignored them. 9/10.
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Walleye413
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Re: Case Study

Post by Walleye413 »

I really enjoyed The Truman Show at the time. I actually really enjoy Weir as a director, Dead Poets is one of my favorite movies of all time, and The Truman Show might be my second favorite from him. I think the supporting cast is excellent (Laura Linney just starting to show what she was capable of), and Carrey finally got a chance to show everyone he could be really good without all the tricks and gimmicks used in his previous movies. (Although, to be fair, I laughed quite a bit at his previous movies.) I will say this though - in terms of predicting our Reality TV obsessed culture, I think EdTV actually has proven to be way more prophetic. It's not as good a movie as The Truman Show, but wow is it The Kardashians, and Real Housewives, and so many more long before their time. EdTV is worth a second look just for that. And for Ellen :)

For The Truman Show I think i'd go 8 out of 10. As for Harris, I never saw Affliction either - but it was a pretty good year. Geoffrey Rush was quite good in Shakespeare in Love, Billy Bob Thornton excellent in A Simple Plan. But my pick for Supporting Actors for the year would have been the soldiers from Saving Private Ryan. As a group, their work was brilliant, and helped anchor the two "stars" in Tom Hanks and Matt Damon by being more than nameless/faceless young men facing the horrors of war.

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numbersix
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Re: Case Study

Post by numbersix »

From what I remember, Affliction is just Coburn and Nolte coughing heavily. But they did it well.

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Ron Burgundy
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Re: Case Study

Post by Ron Burgundy »

Next film up is:

Schindler's List (1993)

Before we veer off into another decade i want to get the opinions from the highest grossing black and white film ever (i think). Its sits at No. 6 in the imdb top 250, 93 on metacritic and 97% on RT.com. It won 7 Oscars.

Directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Thomas Keneally (book), Steven Zaillian (screenplay).

Liam Neeson stars in what is his first major role in a big production film (seriously, give the person who gave him this role some credit: was it Spielberg?, check out his resume before and after) with strong supporting roles played by Ben Kingsley and Ralph Fiennes .

The film runs for 195 mins, it was made for a budget of $22m. It grossed $96m in the US and another $225m internationally, back in 1993. Adjusted ticket sales for US alone would be $213m.

On a personal note, i still think highly of this film, i don't think the long run time matters, the harrowing character Amon Goeth and performance by Fiennes will stay with me forever.
8/10

PS: Out of curiousity, here's the imdb.com review btw:
(1/10 stars)
Here is Barbara's List of all the reasons why Schindler's List is the most annoyingly overpraised film of all time. 1.Overlong 2.Spielberg's most self-indulgent film, which is pretty pathetic, considering that he also made Saving Private Ryan 3.self-consciously arty 4.overabundance of cheesy filmmaking gimmicks.
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numbersix
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Re: Case Study

Post by numbersix »

That imdb review is pretty baseless. Whenever anyone uses the word "arty" they generally are clueless.

Kubrick said that the holocaust was about the deaths of several million jews, while Schindler's List was about the rescusing of several hundred. His point is that Spielberg couldn't reflect the horror of what happened. It's a point, but I think Spielberg managed to get it both ways - by making a moving film that didn't end on a note of naive joy, but instead took us ona journey through that atrocity. Sure, he uses Hollywood storytelling, and even utilises humour at times, but it's not like we are pulled away from what happened. It's a moving film. I had no idea it's over 3 hours, because it's so engaging. Ye, I could have done without the final sequence in the present, but it's nevetheless a powerful piece of cinema.

9/10

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Buscemi2
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Re: Case Study

Post by Buscemi2 »

That reviewer probably loved I Can Only Imagine (which last time I checked somehow had a 7.8 rating).

As for the film itself, I'm going to wait for the reissue to fully re-evaluate the film. As of now, it's a solid 10/10.
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Walleye413
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Re: Case Study

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One of the best films ever made. The fact that Spielberg did this and Jurassic Park in the same year is an astounding feat as well. But Schindler's List deserves all the praise and accolades it's ever received. Simply brilliant performances - Ralph Fiennes was terrifying (remember the nominees for Best Supporting Actor that year? What a line-up!) Liam Neeson showed what a flawed, human character could do when faced with a horrible reality. Brilliant.

10/10

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Ron Burgundy
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Re: Case Study

Post by Ron Burgundy »

Thanks for the feedback so far!

As we switch up decades, going back a few years, next film up is:

Rain Man (1988)
Image
Winner of 4 Oscars, sitting at No. 152 on the all time adjusted Box Office totals, made from a respectable $25m budget (it went on to collect over $170m domestically and doubled that worldwide - over $400m adjusted). It has an imdb rating of 8.0, metacritic score of 65 and 89% from RT.

Directed by Barry Levinson and written by Ronald Bass & Barry Morrow (who won an Oscar for this then faded into obscurity)

It was also the launchpad for composer Hans Zimmer

Starring the 80s version of Tom Cruise consolidating his star status after Top Gun and Dustin Hoffman who hadn't a hit for 6 long years after Tootsie. Valera Golino was the main supporting actress.

My thoughts? Well, its an interesting little look at Autism which surely made the audience more aware of the condition with Hoffman playing well with a greedy Mr Cruise, both perform well as i buy in to the characters. But i don't think its an amazing movie.
6/10

PS: During filming, Dustin Hoffman was unsure of the film's potential and his own performance. Three weeks into the project, Hoffman wanted out, telling Barry Levinson, "Get Richard Dreyfuss, get somebody, Barry, because this is the worst work of my life." Hoffman would nab his second Best Actor Academy Award for his work. Both Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro turned down the part of Raymond

PPS: On "Oprah", Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman said the "farting in the phone booth" bit was improvised when Hoffman actually passed gas while the scene was being filmed. Hoffman said it was his favorite scene ever.
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Walleye413
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Re: Case Study

Post by Walleye413 »

I really like Rainman at the time, but I'm curious how I would feel on a rewatch. I'm a closet Tom Cruise fan, I think he gets a pretty bad rap. This, Color of Money, A Few Good Men really showed he could hold his own with the big boys, in my opinion. But I'm just not sure this movie really says anything. It's a road movie/buddy dramedy at it's base, and not much more. Dustin is pretty good, but yeah I'd rather rewatch Tootsie any day. Again, loved it at the time, but it's also mostly forgotten by me now.

7/10

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numbersix
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Re: Case Study

Post by numbersix »

Same with me. A nice film, what I thought were good performances at the time. But since I've seen it I've learned a lot more about autism. Giving it a tentative 6/10

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Ron Burgundy
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Re: Case Study

Post by Ron Burgundy »

Next is:

Stand By Me (1986)
Image

Directed by Rob Reiner, nominated for 1 Oscar. 8.1 on imdb, 75 on metacritc and 91% on RT.com

The novel was written by Stephen King.

The cast includes River Phoenix, Richard Dreyfuss, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell and Keifer Sutherland.

Ive only seen this once, but i was pretty disappointed.

5.5/10
“One time I wrestled a giraffe to the ground with my bare hands.” — Dale

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Buscemi2
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Re: Case Study

Post by Buscemi2 »

Not the best story in Different Seasons (that honor goes to Apt Pupil) but it's one of Rob Reiner's best films. 9/10.
It's like what Lenin said...I am the walrus.

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