list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around The Bourne Supremacy on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/The_Bourne_Supremacy/228958/default.aspx Title: The Bourne Supremacy
Year: 2004
Director: Paul Greengrass
Plot: The second chapter in the "Bourne Trilogy," based on Robert Ludlum's best-selling espionage novels, reaches the screen in this sequel to the 2002 thriller The Bourne Identity. Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) has abandoned his life as a CIA assassin and has been traveling beneath the agency's radar, eventually reconnecting with Marie Kreutz (Franka Potente), the woman he loves. But Bourne is haunted by vivid dreams and troubling memories of his days as a killer, and he's not certain how much really happened and how much is a product of his imagination. When Bourne is led out of hiding by circumstances beyond his control, he must reconcile his past and present as he struggles to keep Marie out of harm's way and foil an international incident with dangerous consequences. The Bourne Supremacy also features Joan Allen as one of Bourne's superiors, while Julia Stiles and Brian Cox reprise their roles as intelligence agents from the first film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 27
Number of Lists: 71
Number of blog posts: 15
Number of discussion threads: 3
SpoutRating: 4
]]>Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:25:21 GMTThe Bourne Supremacy2004Paul GreengrassThe second chapter in the "Bourne Trilogy," based on Robert Ludlum's best-selling espionage novels, reaches the screen in this sequel to the 2002 thriller <a href=/films/207478/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>The Bourne Identity</a>. Jason Bourne (<a href="/players/P____16762/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Matt Damon</a>) has abandoned his life as a CIA assassin and has been traveling beneath the agency's radar, eventually reconnecting with Marie Kreutz (<a href="/players/P___263424/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Franka Potente</a>), the woman he loves. But Bourne is haunted by vivid dreams and troubling memories of his days as a killer, and he's not certain how much really happened and how much is a product of his imagination. When Bourne is led out of hiding by circumstances beyond his control, he must reconcile his past and present as he struggles to keep Marie out of harm's way and foil an international incident with dangerous consequences. The Bourne Supremacy also features <a href="/players/P_____1026/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Joan Allen</a> as one of Bourne's superiors, while <a href="/players/P___230869/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Julia Stiles</a> and <a href="/players/P____86106/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Brian Cox</a> reprise their roles as intelligence agents from the first film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide27Tag Target (>10)711534http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/s228958.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/The_Bourne_Supremacy/228958/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2009/2/5/40271.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 2/5/2009 12:01:20 PM
Body: Are you one of the many sci-fi and comic book geeks who’d be more interested in Push were it not for Dakota Fanning? Sure, the precocious child star is now a teen actress (she’s about to turn 15), yet that probably makes you even more worried about her appearance in the movie. But what can you do? She’s literally everywhere this week – voicing the title character in the animated Coraline and starring in two new video releases, Hounddog and The Secret Life of Bees, both of which were released Tuesday. In the tradition of child actors continuing careers into adolescence, it’s only a matter of time before she ruins a movie that would have been better without her. We’ll have to wait until this weekend to see if that time is now, with Push, but in the meantime let’s take a look at some of the past offenders in this tradition. Most of the following former child actors (our definition: actors that began their career below the age of 13) have done great things in their adulthood, but each has done at least one film that could have been better without him or her. You may disagree with some of these picks, and you may think we’ve forgotten some (was Christian Bale really the worst part of The Dark Knight? did Mary-Kate Olsen’s disturbing kiss with Ben Kingsley take away from The Wackness?), so do share your own thoughts on former child stars below. We just ask that you keep your comments somewhat tasteful and law-abiding. BUtterfield 8 (1960) Elizabeth Taylor won her first Oscar for her performance in this film, and that’s basically the problem. Everyone knew then as they know now that she only won the award because she came down with a near-fatal illness weeks prior to the ceremony. Of course, she was nominated without such sympathy being the reason, so shouldn’t that mean the performance is still great? Well, that’s certainly debatable, but many critics today claim this to be one of the worst best actress wins of all time. So, if you go into BUtterfield 8 expecting an Oscar-worthy film, it’s going to be ruined for you. The Cat’s Meow (2001) Kirsten Dunst, who made her debut at age 7 in Woody Allen’s segment of New York Stories, got to work with another ‘70s cinema great, Peter Bogdanovich, in this comedic telling of an infamous Hollywood scandal. She portrays silent film actress Marion Davies, who becomes the catalyst in the scandal when her boyfriend, newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst (Edward Herrmann), discovers she’s having an affair with Charlie Chaplin (Eddie Izzard). The irony is that Dunst is so annoying in the role that it’s hard to believe any guys would fight over her. Many Dunst fans continually defend her performance in the film, but if it’s not her acting that ruins The Cat’s Meow, it’s at least her singing, which can be heard during the closing credits. Donnie Darko (2001) Drew Barrymore may be the most adorable thing to happen to romantic comedies since Jean Arthur, but occasionally she tries to make us believe she can do other roles. Unfortunately, she’s just not fit for most jobs, and English teacher is certainly one of them. Somehow in Donnie Darko her awkward speaking voice is even worse than usual, and she comes off sounding like she knows this and is attempting to enunciate as best she can in spite of the problem. Well, Drew, there’s a reason Spielberg hasn’t cast you in a sci-fi flick since E.T., you simply can’t pull off the dialogue. Garden State (2004) Natalie Portman didn’t make her film debut until she was 13 (in Leon, aka The Professional), but she did begin acting three years earlier, so we’re allowing her to make the list. How can we not? There isn’t a Garden State hater out there who doesn’t blame Portman and her obnoxious, flaky love interest character for ruining the film. Yet she was once the young girl that made tons of these cinephiles relate to a questionably friendly Timothy Hutton in Beautiful Girls. A year after Garden State, fellow former child starlet Kirsten Dunst (see above) played a similarly obnoxious and flaky love interest in the similarly plotted Elizabethtown. But at least Dunst had Orlando Bloom to make her seem talented by comparison. Portman is all alone in her ruination here. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) Ron Howard, child star-turned-Oscar-winning filmmaker, has a special circumstance that warrants his inclusion on this list. Unlike the other nine, he managed to ruin a movie he wasn’t even involved in. Notice both the title and the date above. Or click on the link. That’s the old animated adaptation of the Dr. Seuss holiday classic, which Howard ruined by directing his live-action version. You could also say that he ruined the book, and you could say that he ruined his own movie by making the latter so terribly horrendous. But it’s Chuck Jones’ earlier film that was most adversely affected by the release of 2000’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas (often listed simply as The Grinch), because how many children will now grow up with the ugly Jim Carrey-starring version instead of the wonderful Boris Karloff-narrated one? Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) Shia LaBeouf, like Natalie Portman, barely makes the child actor cutoff, but he needs to be included because we need to keep chastising him for ruining not only the latest Indiana Jones movie, but also the whole franchise. Maybe there were indeed other faults with Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Plenty of people credit the “nuke the fridge” scene as the downturn in both the film and the series, for instance. But most of us were forgiving up until Shia swung through the trees like Tarzan. So, he’s clearly to blame. It’s quite a shame, too, because he’s pretty much the only thing that really saves the Transformers movies. Inside Man (2006) Jodie Foster has often seemed out of place in movies. She doesn’t feel right in period romances, such as Sommersby and Anna and the King, but she’s a good enough actress that she’s forgiven for such casting faults. As for Inside Man, well, even her Oscar-winning talent couldn’t keep her from appearing ill fit for her role. Part of the problem is the character itself, that of a woman who comes off far less intelligent and tough than she should (the same kind of character ruined The Bourne Supremacy a year earlier). You want Foster, a smart and strong woman in real life and typically on screen, to be more and do more. But she hardly contributes to the film and if anything slows it and dumbs it down too much. Hopefully the rumors are correct that her character will not return in Inside Man 2. Monster (2003) Christina Ricci is not really a good actress to begin with, but if you cast her opposite a great performance she comes off as seeming a downright terrible actress. This is what happened with Monster, in which Charlize Theron does her Oscar-winning best at becoming unrecognizable. Next to that transformation, Ricci just looks like Ricci, and a really untalented Ricci at that. For the amount of screen time Ricci’s lesbian love-interest character is allotted, Patty Jenkins really should have gotten someone better. Because not only does the performance end up awful next to Theron’s, it ruins a film that is otherwise worth watching for the acting. Silver Screen Confidential (1996) Scott Schwartz actually won an award for this adult film, in which he gives a non-sex performance. It wasn’t his first porn nor was it his last, but because of the recognition he received for this one, it’s being used as the exemplary title. While creepy people out there tend to count down to the day that female child stars reach the age of 18, probably in the hopes that the girls will quickly appear in their first legal nude scene, it is unlikely that anyone was waiting for the day the kid from The Toy, A Christmas Story and Kidco would enter a career in porn. To be honest, we haven’t actually seen any of Schwartz’s adult titles, but we can imagine his appearance is quite distracting to anybody who recognizes him as “Flick” while otherwise trying to get off watching Jenna Jameson. Still, Schwartz does star in his very own title, Scotty’s X-Rated Adventure, so maybe he’s somehow a draw? X-Men (2000) Anna Paquin is the prime reason why the Academy needs to stop allowing child actors Oscar nominations. Yes, Paquin was terrific in The Piano, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. But then look what happened: she grew up to be an irritating starlet who could ruin a film by Spike Lee, Cameron Crowe or Gus Van Sant with just a single whiny-voiced line while playing the same nymphet character over and over and over. So what if she can claim to have confirmed her talent with a recent Golden Globe win (for TV work)? That still doesn’t take back the fact that she stunk up the first X-Men, one of her rare deviations from her typecast Lolita roles, enough to make it a huge disappointment. Fortunately with the sequels, not even her lack of talent could depreciate X2, and she was far from the worst thing about X-Men: The Last Stand. Thankfully she won’t be in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, nor will she likely be given her own spin-off. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:01:20 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com2/5/2009 12:01:20 PMAre you one of the many sci-fi and comic book geeks who’d be more interested in Push were it not for Dakota Fanning? Sure, the precocious child star is now a teen actress (she’s about to turn 15), yet that probably makes you even more worried about her appearance in the movie. But what can you do? She’s literally everywhere this week – voicing the title character in the animated Coraline and starring in two new video releases, Hounddog and The Secret Life of Bees, both of which were released Tuesday. In the tradition of child actors continuing careers into adolescence, it’s only a matter of time before she ruins a movie that would have been better without her. We’ll have to wait until this weekend to see if that time is now, with Push, but in the meantime let’s take a look at some of the past offenders in this tradition. Most of the following former child actors (our definition: actors that began their career below the age of 13) have done great things in their adulthood, but each has done at least one film that could have been better without him or her. You may disagree with some of these picks, and you may think we’ve forgotten some (was Christian Bale really the worst part of The Dark Knight? did Mary-Kate Olsen’s disturbing kiss with Ben Kingsley take away from The Wackness?), so do share your own thoughts on former child stars below. We just ask that you keep your comments somewhat tasteful and law-abiding. BUtterfield 8 (1960) Elizabeth Taylor won her first Oscar for her performance in this film, and that’s basically the problem. Everyone knew then as they know now that she only won the award because she came down with a near-fatal illness weeks prior to the ceremony. Of course, she was nominated without such sympathy being the reason, so shouldn’t that mean the performance is still great? Well, that’s certainly debatable, but many critics today claim this to be one of the worst best actress wins of all time. So, if you go into BUtterfield 8 expecting an Oscar-worthy film, it’s going to be ruined for you. The Cat’s Meow (2001) Kirsten Dunst, who made her debut at age 7 in Woody Allen’s segment of New York Stories, got to work with another ‘70s cinema great, Peter Bogdanovich, in this comedic telling of an infamous Hollywood scandal. She portrays silent film actress Marion Davies, who becomes the catalyst in the scandal when her boyfriend, newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst (Edward Herrmann), discovers she’s having an affair with Charlie Chaplin (Eddie Izzard). The irony is that Dunst is so annoying in the role that it’s hard to believe any guys would fight over her. Many Dunst fans continually defend her performance in the film, but if it’s not her acting that ruins The Cat’s Meow, it’s at least her singing, which can be heard during the closing credits. Donnie Darko (2001) Drew Barrymore may be the most adorable thing to happen to romantic comedies since Jean Arthur, but occasionally she tries to make us believe she can do other roles. Unfortunately, she’s just not fit for most jobs, and English teacher is certainly one of them. Somehow in Donnie Darko her awkward speaking voice is even worse than usual, and she comes off sounding like she knows this and is attempting to enunciate as best she can in spite of the problem. Well, Drew, there’s a reason Spielberg hasn’t cast you in a sci-fi flick since E.T., you simply can’t pull off the dialogue. Garden State (2004) Natalie Portman didn’t make her film debut until she was 13 (in Leon, aka The Professional), but she did begin acting three years earlier, so we’re allowing her to make the list. How can we not? There isn’t a Garden State hater out there who doesn’t blame Portman and her obnoxious, flaky love interest character for ruining the film. Yet she was once the young girl that made tons of these cinephiles relate to a questionably friendly Timothy Hutton in Beautiful Girls. A year after Garden State, fellow former child starlet Kirsten Dunst (see above) played a similarly obnoxious and flaky love interest in the similarly plotted Elizabethtown. But at least Dunst had Orlando Bloom to make her seem talented by comparison. Portman is all alone in her ruination here. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) Ron Howard, child star-turned-Oscar-winning filmmaker, has a special circumstance that warrants his inclusion on this list. Unlike the other nine, he managed to ruin a movie he wasn’t even involved in. Notice both the title and the date above. Or click on the link. That’s the old animated adaptation of the Dr. Seuss holiday classic, which Howard ruined by directing his live-action version. You could also say that he ruined the book, and you could say that he ruined his own movie by making the latter so terribly horrendous. But it’s Chuck Jones’ earlier film that was most adversely affected by the release of 2000’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas (often listed simply as The Grinch), because how many children will now grow up with the ugly Jim Carrey-starring version instead of the wonderful Boris Karloff-narrated one? Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) Shia LaBeouf, like Natalie Portman, barely makes the child actor cutoff, but he needs to be included because we need to keep chastising him for ruining not only the latest Indiana Jones movie, but also the whole franchise. Maybe there were indeed other faults with Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Plenty of people credit the “nuke the fridge” scene as the downturn in both the film and the series, for instance. But most of us were forgiving up until Shia swung through the trees like Tarzan. So, he’s clearly to blame. It’s quite a shame, too, because he’s pretty much the only thing that really saves the Transformers movies. Inside Man (2006) Jodie Foster has often seemed out of place in movies. She doesn’t feel right in period romances, such as Sommersby and Anna and the King, but she’s a good enough actress that she’s forgiven for such casting faults. As for Inside Man, well, even her Oscar-winning talent couldn’t keep her from appearing ill fit for her role. Part of the problem is the character itself, that of a woman who comes off far less intelligent and tough than she should (the same kind of character ruined The Bourne Supremacy a year earlier). You want Foster, a smart and strong woman in real life and typically on screen, to be more and do more. But she hardly contributes to the film and if anything slows it and dumbs it down too much. Hopefully the rumors are correct that her character will not return in Inside Man 2. Monster (2003) Christina Ricci is not really a good actress to begin with, but if you cast her opposite a great performance she comes off as seeming a downright terrible actress. This is what happened with Monster, in which Charlize Theron does her Oscar-winning best at becoming unrecognizable. Next to that transformation, Ricci just looks like Ricci, and a really untalented Ricci at that. For the amount of screen time Ricci’s lesbian love-interest character is allotted, Patty Jenkins really should have gotten someone better. Because not only does the performance end up awful next to Theron’s, it ruins a film that is otherwise worth watching for the acting. Silver Screen Confidential (1996) Scott Schwartz actually won an award for this adult film, in which he gives a non-sex performance. It wasn’t his first porn nor was it his last, but because of the recognition he received for this one, it’s being used as the exemplary title. While creepy people out there tend to count down to the day that female child stars reach the age of 18, probably in the hopes that the girls will quickly appear in their first legal nude scene, it is unlikely that anyone was waiting for the day the kid from The Toy, A Christmas Story and Kidco would enter a career in porn. To be honest, we haven’t actually seen any of Schwartz’s adult titles, but we can imagine his appearance is quite distracting to anybody who recognizes him as “Flick” while otherwise trying to get off watching Jenna Jameson. Still, Schwartz does star in his very own title, Scotty’s X-Rated Adventure, so maybe he’s somehow a draw? X-Men (2000) Anna Paquin is the prime reason why the Academy needs to stop allowing child actors Oscar nominations. Yes, Paquin was terrific in The Piano, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. But then look what happened: she grew up to be an irritating starlet who could ruin a film by Spike Lee, Cameron Crowe or Gus Van Sant with just a single whiny-voiced line while playing the same nymphet character over and over and over. So what if she can claim to have confirmed her talent with a recent Golden Globe win (for TV work)? That still doesn’t take back the fact that she stunk up the first X-Men, one of her rare deviations from her typecast Lolita roles, enough to make it a huge disappointment. Fortunately with the sequels, not even her lack of talent could depreciate X2, and she was far from the worst thing about X-Men: The Last Stand. Thankfully she won’t be in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, nor will she likely be given her own spin-off. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/9/23/35442.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 9/23/2008 1:01:18 PM
Body: On October 28 the world will plunge into an irradiated nightmare, littered with the wreckage of civilization, overrun by savage super mutants. Or, my world will be, anyway. Next month is when the hotly anticipated new video game Fallout 3 will be released. It’s been over a decade since the first Fallout, a now classic post-apocalyptic role-playing game. How has the franchise maintained such a devoted fan base? Simple: great story, great characters, great setting, and killer cinematics. The games have always been deeply indebted to post-apocalyptic cinema. The opening sequence of the first game is almost identical to the one in The Road Warrior, and the similarities don’t end there. As the Max Payne movie is (hopefully) about to prove, there is an elegant solution to the problem of videogame movies sucking: make movies about games that are already steeped in cinematic influence. In other words, a Fallout movie would kick serious ass. It would have a similar feel to classics like The Road Warrior, but Fallout has its own brand of dark humor and retro-futurism. For the purpose of assembling a dream cast for such a film, I’m going to stick to characters from the first game, where it all began. The game follows The Vault Dweller, a young person raised in the safety of a large underground vault. The vault community intended on riding out the nuclear storm for 200 years, but their water purification chip broke, so our hero must go and seek another. The Vault Dweller The badass wanderer of the wastes could be almost anyone, as Fallout gave the player the option of creating an entirely original protagonist. The game also provided three pre-made heroes, any of which could translate well to the screen. Albert – Leonardo DiCaprio The option to play Albert lets the player capitalize on charisma, while still doing a fair amount of damage with small arms and unarmed combat. Albert’s strength is talking his way out of tough situations, but some situations require action when words fail. DiCaprio has a great way of wearing frustration on his face, which is perfect, as I imagine that killing ghouls while fighting an addiction to radiation-resisting drugs would be quite frustrating. Max Stone – Ron Perlman Max Stone is set up in the game to be a big dumb bruiser, but Perlman could give the character depth beyond that stereotype. This choice is obviously informed by Perlman’s work in Sin City and the Hellyboy movies. Also, Perlman had to be on the list somewhere, given his involvement in the games. He provided the voice-over narration for the openings of Fallout 1 and 2, and provided character voices. Natalia – Carrie-Anne Moss While we can all agree that the Marix trilogy went downhill, that shouldn’t ruin things for Ms. Moss. She has a lot of potential as an action star, and the role of Natalie, a thief/assassin daughter of KGB spies would serve her nicely. The other Vault Dweller option: use all three as a team! It would break from the lone-wanderer feel, but it would be pretty cool. Other Characters In the spirit of all great role-playing games, Fallout let the player wander around at his or her own pace, exploring, doing quests, making friends and making enemies. It wouldn’t make sense to include all the characters in the film, but here are some essentials: The Overseer – Brian Cox The Overseer is the leader of Vault 13, the hero’s home up until this point. He sends the Vault Dweller on a mission to save the vault by finding a replacement water purification chip before it’s too late. The Overseer starts out as a kindly father figure, offering advice and encouragement. But in the final scene of the game, he betrays the Vault Dweller in a way that’s so maddening, the game designers actually included a rare alternate ending in which the Vault Dweller blows the Overseer’s head off. Cox is really good at being both fatherly and a total dick, example: The Bourne Supremacy. Harold – Harry Dean Stanton Whole regions of the scarred world of Fallout are populated by ghouls, most of them mindless flesh-eaters. The Vault Dweller encounters one ghoul who’s different, who provides him with some key information. Harold was once a vault dweller like our hero, but was infected by a virus that both killed him and kept his consciousness alive in his animated corpse. That pretty much explains the choice to cast Harry Dean Stanton. Morpheus – Michael Palin Morpheus is the leader of The Children of the Cathedral, a sick cult that worships The Master (see below). Michael Palin is the natural choice, because he seems like a nice and funny guy whose religion you’d join, until you find out that he’s completely nuts. He pulls off this double role in Terry Gilliam’s dystopian masterpiece, Brazil. Also, there are only two people that could pull off that mustache, Michael Palin and Salvador Dali, and Dali is dead. General Maxson - Max von Sydow General Maxson is the leader of the Brotherhood of Steel, a league of soldiers with incredibly high-tech weapons and armor. With luck and a fair bit of skill, the Vault Dweller joins their ranks and gears up for the final confrontation. Max von Sydow is one of those actors who can bring the clout he carried in The Seventh Seal to a movie like Judge Dredd. Perfect. The Master – James Earl Jones and Angelia Jolie The Master is a pulsating mass of human flesh and machinery with the ability to capture and incorporate intruders into its body. It speaks with multiple voices, representing the unlucky souls who are now a part of its writhing conglomeration of body parts. The Master would have to be CG of course, but what better voices than Jones and Jolie for that perfect mix of ominous and seductive? Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:01:18 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com9/23/2008 1:01:18 PM On October 28 the world will plunge into an irradiated nightmare, littered with the wreckage of civilization, overrun by savage super mutants. Or, my world will be, anyway. Next month is when the hotly anticipated new video game Fallout 3 will be released. It’s been over a decade since the first Fallout, a now classic post-apocalyptic role-playing game. How has the franchise maintained such a devoted fan base? Simple: great story, great characters, great setting, and killer cinematics. The games have always been deeply indebted to post-apocalyptic cinema. The opening sequence of the first game is almost identical to the one in The Road Warrior, and the similarities don’t end there. As the Max Payne movie is (hopefully) about to prove, there is an elegant solution to the problem of videogame movies sucking: make movies about games that are already steeped in cinematic influence. In other words, a Fallout movie would kick serious ass. It would have a similar feel to classics like The Road Warrior, but Fallout has its own brand of dark humor and retro-futurism. For the purpose of assembling a dream cast for such a film, I’m going to stick to characters from the first game, where it all began. The game follows The Vault Dweller, a young person raised in the safety of a large underground vault. The vault community intended on riding out the nuclear storm for 200 years, but their water purification chip broke, so our hero must go and seek another. The Vault Dweller The badass wanderer of the wastes could be almost anyone, as Fallout gave the player the option of creating an entirely original protagonist. The game also provided three pre-made heroes, any of which could translate well to the screen. Albert – Leonardo DiCaprio The option to play Albert lets the player capitalize on charisma, while still doing a fair amount of damage with small arms and unarmed combat. Albert’s strength is talking his way out of tough situations, but some situations require action when words fail. DiCaprio has a great way of wearing frustration on his face, which is perfect, as I imagine that killing ghouls while fighting an addiction to radiation-resisting drugs would be quite frustrating. Max Stone – Ron Perlman Max Stone is set up in the game to be a big dumb bruiser, but Perlman could give the character depth beyond that stereotype. This choice is obviously informed by Perlman’s work in Sin City and the Hellyboy movies. Also, Perlman had to be on the list somewhere, given his involvement in the games. He provided the voice-over narration for the openings of Fallout 1 and 2, and provided character voices. Natalia – Carrie-Anne Moss While we can all agree that the Marix trilogy went downhill, that shouldn’t ruin things for Ms. Moss. She has a lot of potential as an action star, and the role of Natalie, a thief/assassin daughter of KGB spies would serve her nicely. The other Vault Dweller option: use all three as a team! It would break from the lone-wanderer feel, but it would be pretty cool. Other Characters In the spirit of all great role-playing games, Fallout let the player wander around at his or her own pace, exploring, doing quests, making friends and making enemies. It wouldn’t make sense to include all the characters in the film, but here are some essentials: The Overseer – Brian Cox The Overseer is the leader of Vault 13, the hero’s home up until this point. He sends the Vault Dweller on a mission to save the vault by finding a replacement water purification chip before it’s too late. The Overseer starts out as a kindly father figure, offering advice and encouragement. But in the final scene of the game, he betrays the Vault Dweller in a way that’s so maddening, the game designers actually included a rare alternate ending in which the Vault Dweller blows the Overseer’s head off. Cox is really good at being both fatherly and a total dick, example: The Bourne Supremacy. Harold – Harry Dean Stanton Whole regions of the scarred world of Fallout are populated by ghouls, most of them mindless flesh-eaters. The Vault Dweller encounters one ghoul who’s different, who provides him with some key information. Harold was once a vault dweller like our hero, but was infected by a virus that both killed him and kept his consciousness alive in his animated corpse. That pretty much explains the choice to cast Harry Dean Stanton. Morpheus – Michael Palin Morpheus is the leader of The Children of the Cathedral, a sick cult that worships The Master (see below). Michael Palin is the natural choice, because he seems like a nice and funny guy whose religion you’d join, until you find out that he’s completely nuts. He pulls off this double role in Terry Gilliam’s dystopian masterpiece, Brazil. Also, there are only two people that could pull off that mustache, Michael Palin and Salvador Dali, and Dali is dead. General Maxson - Max von Sydow General Maxson is the leader of the Brotherhood of Steel, a league of soldiers with incredibly high-tech weapons and armor. With luck and a fair bit of skill, the Vault Dweller joins their ranks and gears up for the final confrontation. Max von Sydow is one of those actors who can bring the clout he carried in The Seventh Seal to a movie like Judge Dredd. Perfect. The Master – James Earl Jones and Angelia Jolie The Master is a pulsating mass of human flesh and machinery with the ability to capture and incorporate intruders into its body. It speaks with multiple voices, representing the unlucky souls who are now a part of its writhing conglomeration of body parts. The Master would have to be CG of course, but what better voices than Jones and Jolie for that perfect mix of ominous and seductive? Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/6/26/31749.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 6/26/2008 5:00:43 PM
Body: Over the weekend, Wanted had a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.com. It’s since gone down to 81% (at the time of this writing — and with top critics it’s down to 67%), though that’s still pretty good for a movie that initially looked like just another Matrix knockoff. But will the good reviews make for great box office? Last night, while viewing the latest trailer in a theater with some friends, I mentioned that Wanted was receiving great reviews. Nobody believed me at first, and then they didn’t care; they still thought it looked terrible. Good reviews rarely help an action movie, and bad reviews rarely deter audiences from seeing them. However, if we look at the top 5 most critically acclaimed action movies, it’s clear that people do often prefer a good action film to a bad one. The next 5, on the other hand… The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 94% (top critics: 98%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #9 ($377 million) Sample Critic Quote: “The film event of the millennium.” (Richard Corliss, Time) My Analysis: In terms of both reviews and gross, it is possible that, yes, this final LOTR film was the film event of the millennium only three years in. It even won the Oscar for Best Picture, as well as ten other Academy Awards. However, we do have a few hundred years left, and Corliss’ assessment is likely to be challenged one of these centuries. Casino Royale (2006) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 94% (top critics: 95%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #133 ($167.5 million) Sample Critic Quote: “This is the best James Bond film in at least 17 years, and Daniel Craig might be the best 007 … ever.” (Eric D. Snider, EricDSnider.com) My Analysis: Most critics and audiences agreed that this was one of the best 007 films ever and that Craig was at least the best Bond since Connery. Still, it only grossed a mere $7 million more than Die Another Day, which was certified rotten by RT. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 93% (top critics: 97%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #62 ($227.5 million) Sample Critic Quote: “It is probably the best action films to date that doesn’t involved so much special effects.” (Wilson Morales, BlackFilm.com) My Analysis: I agree that it’s the best of the series and one of the best action movies in years, maybe even best to date not involving special effects, as Morales says. But really the only reason that Ultimatum is higher up on the b.o. charts than The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy is because people took awhile to get into the series, with many of Ultimatum’s audience having seen the previous two for the first time on DVD. Still, along with both Return of the King and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it’s one of the rare threequels that earned the highest gross of its series. Considering Return, that says one thing, while considering Indy, that says something else. Spider-Man 2 (2004) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 93% (top critics: 95%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #10 ($373.6 million) Sample Critic Quote: “[It's sure to] join the upper echelons of action movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, and Die Hard.” (Jeffrey Overstreet, Looking Closer) My Analysis: If this sequel were switched in ranking with its predecessor (see below), it might say something more about reviews equaling revenue, but otherwise between the two installments, there is evidence that good superhero movies will perform better than bad ones. Just don’t pay any attention to Spider-Man 3, which is also pretty close on the b.o. charts, but which is pretty far below in RT ranking (62%, whole; 44%, top critics). Iron Man (2008) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 93% (top critics: 92%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #26 ($305.9 million and counting) Sample Critic Quote: “It’s the best movie of its kind since the second Spider-Man movie four years ago.” (Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle) My Analysis: Fitting to LaSalle’s quote that Iron Man is just behind Spider-Man 2, and with only another $70 million to go in order to be just behind it on the b.o. chart. Unfortunately, as far as ticket sales show, it’s really only the best movie of its kind since the third Spider-Man movie one year ago. Spy Kids (2001) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 92% (top critics: 96%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #309 ($112.7 million) Sample Critic Quote: “To sum up, if you want your children to someday appreciate the true art of cinema, Spy Kids is a terrific movie to start with.” (Bob Strauss, Los Angeles Daily News) My Analysis: If by “true art of cinema” Strauss means the kind of action movies that receive good reviews, then he’s right. Film critics love the well-directed spy movies (see #2 and #3). As for kids, they don’t care about reviews, which explains why Alvin and the Chipmunks made almost double what Spy Kids grossed. Out of Sight (1998) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 92% (top critics: 90%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #1,395 ($37.6 million) Sample Critic Quote: “In a summer filled with mega-hyped disappointments, Out of Sight proves the undeniable value of story, characterization, and — most of all — intelligence.” (Mike McGranaghan, Aisle Seat) My Analysis: The mega-hyped disappointments of that summer include Godzilla, which made about $100 million more than this film. Of course, Out of Sight isn’t really an action-packed action movie, and it only starred George Clooney, who despite being a huge movie star has never really been that big a box office draw. Meanwhile, 1998’s biggest box office winner, the more-action-packed Saving Private Ryan (which RT apparently doesn’t consider to be an action movie), was also one of the five best-reviewed films of the year. Hot Fuzz (2007) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 90% (top critics: 92%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #2,029 ($23.6 million) Sample Critic Quote: “Hot Fuzz is everything an action-comedy should be. It achieves through parody what most films in the genre can’t accomplish straight.” (Nathan Rabin, The Onion A.V. Club) My Analysis: The best action buddy comedy in ten years, yet it’s gross is hardly comparable to the box office success of the Rush Hour movies, Bad Boys II, Lethal Weapon 4 and … Starsky & Hutch? Even Jimmy Fallon’s Taxi performed better domestically. Rescue Dawn (2006) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 90% (top critics: 88%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #3,970 ($5.5 million) Sample Critic Quote: “A potentially commercial audience-pleaser that retains all of the characteristic Herzog complexity and nuance, Rescue Dawn is an electrifying action adventure that clamps your nerves with jaws of steel.” (Rex Reed, New York Observer) My Analysis: Too bad more moviegoers don’t read Rex Reed, because that’s a mighty good sell. Unfortunately, Rescue Dawn suffered a double blow because of who directed it. Critics certainly overpraised it, just because it’s an Herzog film; audiences likely avoided it because of the same reason (not by name, but had it opened bigger right away, audiences wouldn’t have even noticed the art house connection and might have gone to see the new action movie starring “Batman”). Spider-Man (2002) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 90% (top critics: 85%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #7 ($403.7 million) Sample Critic Quote: “Let the gauntlet be thrown: Spider-Man may be the best comic adaptation of all time.” (Todd Gilchrest, FilmStew.com) My Analysis: In terms of box office receipts, it is indeed the best comic adaptation of all time. But as we see by two titles above, it’s since been beat in terms of critical acclaim, just in this decade alone (and from earlier, at least Superman: The Movie has a better RT score). Still, it would almost be evidence that critics and box office can sometimes go hand in hand if it weren’t for that certified rotten movie that ranks just above it on the box office chart: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:00:43 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com6/26/2008 5:00:43 PMOver the weekend, Wanted had a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.com. It’s since gone down to 81% (at the time of this writing — and with top critics it’s down to 67%), though that’s still pretty good for a movie that initially looked like just another Matrix knockoff. But will the good reviews make for great box office? Last night, while viewing the latest trailer in a theater with some friends, I mentioned that Wanted was receiving great reviews. Nobody believed me at first, and then they didn’t care; they still thought it looked terrible. Good reviews rarely help an action movie, and bad reviews rarely deter audiences from seeing them. However, if we look at the top 5 most critically acclaimed action movies, it’s clear that people do often prefer a good action film to a bad one. The next 5, on the other hand… The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 94% (top critics: 98%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #9 ($377 million) Sample Critic Quote: “The film event of the millennium.” (Richard Corliss, Time) My Analysis: In terms of both reviews and gross, it is possible that, yes, this final LOTR film was the film event of the millennium only three years in. It even won the Oscar for Best Picture, as well as ten other Academy Awards. However, we do have a few hundred years left, and Corliss’ assessment is likely to be challenged one of these centuries. Casino Royale (2006) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 94% (top critics: 95%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #133 ($167.5 million) Sample Critic Quote: “This is the best James Bond film in at least 17 years, and Daniel Craig might be the best 007 … ever.” (Eric D. Snider, EricDSnider.com) My Analysis: Most critics and audiences agreed that this was one of the best 007 films ever and that Craig was at least the best Bond since Connery. Still, it only grossed a mere $7 million more than Die Another Day, which was certified rotten by RT. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 93% (top critics: 97%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #62 ($227.5 million) Sample Critic Quote: “It is probably the best action films to date that doesn’t involved so much special effects.” (Wilson Morales, BlackFilm.com) My Analysis: I agree that it’s the best of the series and one of the best action movies in years, maybe even best to date not involving special effects, as Morales says. But really the only reason that Ultimatum is higher up on the b.o. charts than The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy is because people took awhile to get into the series, with many of Ultimatum’s audience having seen the previous two for the first time on DVD. Still, along with both Return of the King and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it’s one of the rare threequels that earned the highest gross of its series. Considering Return, that says one thing, while considering Indy, that says something else. Spider-Man 2 (2004) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 93% (top critics: 95%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #10 ($373.6 million) Sample Critic Quote: “[It's sure to] join the upper echelons of action movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, and Die Hard.” (Jeffrey Overstreet, Looking Closer) My Analysis: If this sequel were switched in ranking with its predecessor (see below), it might say something more about reviews equaling revenue, but otherwise between the two installments, there is evidence that good superhero movies will perform better than bad ones. Just don’t pay any attention to Spider-Man 3, which is also pretty close on the b.o. charts, but which is pretty far below in RT ranking (62%, whole; 44%, top critics). Iron Man (2008) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 93% (top critics: 92%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #26 ($305.9 million and counting) Sample Critic Quote: “It’s the best movie of its kind since the second Spider-Man movie four years ago.” (Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle) My Analysis: Fitting to LaSalle’s quote that Iron Man is just behind Spider-Man 2, and with only another $70 million to go in order to be just behind it on the b.o. chart. Unfortunately, as far as ticket sales show, it’s really only the best movie of its kind since the third Spider-Man movie one year ago. Spy Kids (2001) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 92% (top critics: 96%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #309 ($112.7 million) Sample Critic Quote: “To sum up, if you want your children to someday appreciate the true art of cinema, Spy Kids is a terrific movie to start with.” (Bob Strauss, Los Angeles Daily News) My Analysis: If by “true art of cinema” Strauss means the kind of action movies that receive good reviews, then he’s right. Film critics love the well-directed spy movies (see #2 and #3). As for kids, they don’t care about reviews, which explains why Alvin and the Chipmunks made almost double what Spy Kids grossed. Out of Sight (1998) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 92% (top critics: 90%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #1,395 ($37.6 million) Sample Critic Quote: “In a summer filled with mega-hyped disappointments, Out of Sight proves the undeniable value of story, characterization, and — most of all — intelligence.” (Mike McGranaghan, Aisle Seat) My Analysis: The mega-hyped disappointments of that summer include Godzilla, which made about $100 million more than this film. Of course, Out of Sight isn’t really an action-packed action movie, and it only starred George Clooney, who despite being a huge movie star has never really been that big a box office draw. Meanwhile, 1998’s biggest box office winner, the more-action-packed Saving Private Ryan (which RT apparently doesn’t consider to be an action movie), was also one of the five best-reviewed films of the year. Hot Fuzz (2007) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 90% (top critics: 92%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #2,029 ($23.6 million) Sample Critic Quote: “Hot Fuzz is everything an action-comedy should be. It achieves through parody what most films in the genre can’t accomplish straight.” (Nathan Rabin, The Onion A.V. Club) My Analysis: The best action buddy comedy in ten years, yet it’s gross is hardly comparable to the box office success of the Rush Hour movies, Bad Boys II, Lethal Weapon 4 and … Starsky & Hutch? Even Jimmy Fallon’s Taxi performed better domestically. Rescue Dawn (2006) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 90% (top critics: 88%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #3,970 ($5.5 million) Sample Critic Quote: “A potentially commercial audience-pleaser that retains all of the characteristic Herzog complexity and nuance, Rescue Dawn is an electrifying action adventure that clamps your nerves with jaws of steel.” (Rex Reed, New York Observer) My Analysis: Too bad more moviegoers don’t read Rex Reed, because that’s a mighty good sell. Unfortunately, Rescue Dawn suffered a double blow because of who directed it. Critics certainly overpraised it, just because it’s an Herzog film; audiences likely avoided it because of the same reason (not by name, but had it opened bigger right away, audiences wouldn’t have even noticed the art house connection and might have gone to see the new action movie starring “Batman”). Spider-Man (2002) Rotten Tomatoes’ “T-Meter” score: 90% (top critics: 85%) All Time Domestic Box Office Rank: #7 ($403.7 million) Sample Critic Quote: “Let the gauntlet be thrown: Spider-Man may be the best comic adaptation of all time.” (Todd Gilchrest, FilmStew.com) My Analysis: In terms of box office receipts, it is indeed the best comic adaptation of all time. But as we see by two titles above, it’s since been beat in terms of critical acclaim, just in this decade alone (and from earlier, at least Superman: The Movie has a better RT score). Still, it would almost be evidence that critics and box office can sometimes go hand in hand if it weren’t for that certified rotten movie that ranks just above it on the box office chart: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/6/4/30500.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 6/4/2008 4:00:49 PM
Body: Over at the AMC blog SciFi Scanner, there’s a post about the accuracy of Jason Bourne’s condition in the Bourne movies. At the World Science Festival, held last weekend in NYC, there was a panel titled The Brain and Bourne: Neuroscience in the Bourne Trilogy that featured Bourne Identity director Doug Liman and psychiatrist and neuroscientist Giulio Tononi. And according to Tononi, the sort of amnesia that Bourne suffers from, which includes the ability to retain certain skills despite an overall loss of memory, is rare but does exist. Interesting, but does it really matter? Nobody making the Bourne movies seems to have known its accuracy, and they probably didn’t care. And neither do most moviegoers. Amnesia is simply a good plot device for movies, and oftentimes they’re more about something else than the condition, accurate or not. So, here’s a list of some of my favorite movies with amnesia at its forefront, plus the respective reasons for my not caring if they are realistic or not. The Bourne Identity (plus The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum) - Because I’m not rating these in order, I’ll begin with the one already mentioned. Jason Bourne’s amnesia is, of course, a good excuse for a thrilling story, but to me it’s also a metaphor for U.S. intelligence post-Cold War and certainly post-9/11, showing us how, despite efforts to forget or disconnect from foreign policy decisions and/or controversial operations of the past, certain things, people, relationships (etc.) may come back to bite us on the ass. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - I’m pretty sure that Tononi couldn’t find accuracy in the forced-amnesia process featured in this admittedly fantastical film, and again it wouldn’t matter if he could. The idea of surgically eliminating specific memories is representative of our more general attempts to immediately forget an unsuccessful romantic relationship and the eventual difficulty of trying to recall good times associated with a past love we’re no longer with. Memento - Here’s a film that supposedly is, like the Bourne trilogy, fairly accurate. But as a device, the amnesia is so much more interesting than as a real condition. I’ve read that it’s a metaphor for “forgetting everything we hold dear when humans embark on a quest and want to succeed at any cost,” and that (courtesy of Simon Cowell) it’s a metaphor for America’s attention span. I’m undecided on which of these I prefer, or if I’d even go with another (there’s surely more ideas out there), but the point is that it doesn’t just have to be about a guy with anterograde amnesia. Overboard - While on the surface it’s an innocent comedy about a single father who takes advantage of an amnesiac woman of wealth. But it can also be read as a male fantasy in which the feminist movement is forgotten and women return to the pleasures of homemaking … even after they regain their memory. For a sort of reverse of this plot, see Desperately Seeking Susan, in which a housewife loses her memory only to become her fantasy: the liberated, sexually independent woman (as perfectly portrayed by Madonna). Amateur - Not the first and probably not the best example, but a personal favorite movie dealing with the bad man who’s turned good through amnesia. It’s a more abstract tale of identity reinvention than others, and Roger Ebert said it best in his review that it’s a movie in which the idea of the plot is more interesting than the plot itself. Most of the film’s characters are attempting to drastically change their lives, but unfortunately not everyone can have the fortune of suffering an amnesia-inducing blow to the head. Other favorites include Spellbound, The Muppets Take Manhattan and Total Recall. Certainly I’m excluding a good number of amnesia films, most of which I’ve likely never seen (or, appropriately, I’ve forgotten about them). For a much more comprehensive examination of amnesia at the movies, check out this article written by clinical neuropsychologist Sallie Baxendale. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:00:49 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com6/4/2008 4:00:49 PM Over at the AMC blog SciFi Scanner, there’s a post about the accuracy of Jason Bourne’s condition in the Bourne movies. At the World Science Festival, held last weekend in NYC, there was a panel titled The Brain and Bourne: Neuroscience in the Bourne Trilogy that featured Bourne Identity director Doug Liman and psychiatrist and neuroscientist Giulio Tononi. And according to Tononi, the sort of amnesia that Bourne suffers from, which includes the ability to retain certain skills despite an overall loss of memory, is rare but does exist. Interesting, but does it really matter? Nobody making the Bourne movies seems to have known its accuracy, and they probably didn’t care. And neither do most moviegoers. Amnesia is simply a good plot device for movies, and oftentimes they’re more about something else than the condition, accurate or not. So, here’s a list of some of my favorite movies with amnesia at its forefront, plus the respective reasons for my not caring if they are realistic or not. The Bourne Identity (plus The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum) - Because I’m not rating these in order, I’ll begin with the one already mentioned. Jason Bourne’s amnesia is, of course, a good excuse for a thrilling story, but to me it’s also a metaphor for U.S. intelligence post-Cold War and certainly post-9/11, showing us how, despite efforts to forget or disconnect from foreign policy decisions and/or controversial operations of the past, certain things, people, relationships (etc.) may come back to bite us on the ass. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - I’m pretty sure that Tononi couldn’t find accuracy in the forced-amnesia process featured in this admittedly fantastical film, and again it wouldn’t matter if he could. The idea of surgically eliminating specific memories is representative of our more general attempts to immediately forget an unsuccessful romantic relationship and the eventual difficulty of trying to recall good times associated with a past love we’re no longer with. Memento - Here’s a film that supposedly is, like the Bourne trilogy, fairly accurate. But as a device, the amnesia is so much more interesting than as a real condition. I’ve read that it’s a metaphor for “forgetting everything we hold dear when humans embark on a quest and want to succeed at any cost,” and that (courtesy of Simon Cowell) it’s a metaphor for America’s attention span. I’m undecided on which of these I prefer, or if I’d even go with another (there’s surely more ideas out there), but the point is that it doesn’t just have to be about a guy with anterograde amnesia. Overboard - While on the surface it’s an innocent comedy about a single father who takes advantage of an amnesiac woman of wealth. But it can also be read as a male fantasy in which the feminist movement is forgotten and women return to the pleasures of homemaking … even after they regain their memory. For a sort of reverse of this plot, see Desperately Seeking Susan, in which a housewife loses her memory only to become her fantasy: the liberated, sexually independent woman (as perfectly portrayed by Madonna). Amateur - Not the first and probably not the best example, but a personal favorite movie dealing with the bad man who’s turned good through amnesia. It’s a more abstract tale of identity reinvention than others, and Roger Ebert said it best in his review that it’s a movie in which the idea of the plot is more interesting than the plot itself. Most of the film’s characters are attempting to drastically change their lives, but unfortunately not everyone can have the fortune of suffering an amnesia-inducing blow to the head. Other favorites include Spellbound, The Muppets Take Manhattan and Total Recall. Certainly I’m excluding a good number of amnesia films, most of which I’ve likely never seen (or, appropriately, I’ve forgotten about them). For a much more comprehensive examination of amnesia at the movies, check out this article written by clinical neuropsychologist Sallie Baxendale. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/2/14/25149.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 2/14/2008 4:00:29 PM
Body: I have been making the case for Doug Liman for years now. I’d even recently given up the claim that I completely despise Swingers (it’s mostly the neo-swing soundtrack I hate). I constantly argued that his The Bourne Identity was better than Greengrass’ The Bourne Supremacy — in the end Greengrass’ The Bourne Ultimatum turned out ultimately the best — and still continue promoting the genius of Mr. and Mrs. Smith (I watched it with a newbie just the other night, and that person was convinced). But now, I am on the fence about Jumper, which I haven’t yet seen and which arrived in theaters today. I can’t decide whether to bother seeing it. The movie certainly looks stupid. I’ll admit it. Yet this is where my Liman defending came about in the past year, especially recently, as its release got closer. Every time the trailer or TV ad came on the screen, someone would turn to me and say it looks really stupid. Or I would overhear a similar statement coming from the mouths of strangers. Oh, it has to be better than it looks, I would say. It’s Doug Liman, a great action director who tackles seemingly stupid movies. But now the reviews are out. It has an 18% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I can’t find one trustworthy critic who offers good enough reason to see it. (more…) Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:00:29 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com2/14/2008 4:00:29 PMI have been making the case for Doug Liman for years now. I’d even recently given up the claim that I completely despise Swingers (it’s mostly the neo-swing soundtrack I hate). I constantly argued that his The Bourne Identity was better than Greengrass’ The Bourne Supremacy — in the end Greengrass’ The Bourne Ultimatum turned out ultimately the best — and still continue promoting the genius of Mr. and Mrs. Smith (I watched it with a newbie just the other night, and that person was convinced). But now, I am on the fence about Jumper, which I haven’t yet seen and which arrived in theaters today. I can’t decide whether to bother seeing it. The movie certainly looks stupid. I’ll admit it. Yet this is where my Liman defending came about in the past year, especially recently, as its release got closer. Every time the trailer or TV ad came on the screen, someone would turn to me and say it looks really stupid. Or I would overhear a similar statement coming from the mouths of strangers. Oh, it has to be better than it looks, I would say. It’s Doug Liman, a great action director who tackles seemingly stupid movies. But now the reviews are out. It has an 18% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I can’t find one trustworthy critic who offers good enough reason to see it. (more…) Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/mswallack/archive/2008/1/17/23991.aspx Post By: MSWallack
Post To: MSWallack Blog
Post Date: 1/17/2008 12:43:42 PM
Body: First the caveats: (a) I really enjoyed The Bourne Identity and (b) I really enjoyed the novels upon which these movies are (very loosely) based. That said, I also loved The Bourne Supremacy. Matt Damon may not play the same character that Robert Ludlum penned, but his Jason Bourne is just as interesting. The action is frenetic and the use of moving cameras gives the viewer a sense of being in the midst of the action. I love that, as in the first film, the car chase utilizes a beat-up "clunker" rather than a high-powered sports car. Similarly, many of Bourne's actions feel as if they were scripted by someone that has at least some clue as to espionage tradecraft (although a few errors, such as having a taxi take him directly to a particular address, were glaring). Without offering any spoilers, it is worth noting that one of the two surprises in the film was actually quite surprising. And I like being surprised in an espionage genre movie, because it is, frankly, quite rare. All, in all, this one is definitely worth watching, and definitely on the big screen. (In fact, I fear that the feeling of some of the action sequences -- in particular the foot pursuit in Berlin -- will not translate very well to television screens.) Finally, please note that this movie and the book upon which it is "based" share nothing more than a title and the names of a few characters; there is far less similarity between the book and movie than there was for the book and movie of The Bourne Identity. The novel The Bourne Supremacy is a very good book and, while I recommend it, I do so on the basis of that book and not this movie. In fact, I wish that the producers of the film had found another title to eliminate the confusion that this will inevitably cause.
]]>Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:43:42 GMTMSWallackMSWallack Blog1/17/2008 12:43:42 PMFirst the caveats: (a) I really enjoyed The Bourne Identity and (b) I really enjoyed the novels upon which these movies are (very loosely) based. That said, I also loved The Bourne Supremacy. Matt Damon may not play the same character that Robert Ludlum penned, but his Jason Bourne is just as interesting. The action is frenetic and the use of moving cameras gives the viewer a sense of being in the midst of the action. I love that, as in the first film, the car chase utilizes a beat-up &quot;clunker&quot; rather than a high-powered sports car. Similarly, many of Bourne&#39;s actions feel as if they were scripted by someone that has at least some clue as to espionage tradecraft (although a few errors, such as having a taxi take him directly to a particular address, were glaring). Without offering any spoilers, it is worth noting that one of the two surprises in the film was actually quite surprising. And I like being surprised in an espionage genre movie, because it is, frankly, quite rare. All, in all, this one is definitely worth watching, and definitely on the big screen. (In fact, I fear that the feeling of some of the action sequences -- in particular the foot pursuit in Berlin -- will not translate very well to television screens.) Finally, please note that this movie and the book upon which it is &quot;based&quot; share nothing more than a title and the names of a few characters; there is far less similarity between the book and movie than there was for the book and movie of The Bourne Identity. The novel The Bourne Supremacy is a very good book and, while I recommend it, I do so on the basis of that book and not this movie. In fact, I wish that the producers of the film had found another title to eliminate the confusion that this will inevitably cause. http://www.spout.com/blogs/downwest/archive/2007/12/14/22810.aspx Post By: downwest
Post To: downwest Blog
Post Date: 12/14/2007 5:18:13 AM
Body: Another excellent installment to the trilogy. In hindsight I appreciated this film just as much, because it was ultimately about Bourne coming to grips with the consequences of his past actions as an agent for Treadstone. The atmospherism toward the end helped with that. It wasn't like the first one, which was more about creating a variety of conflicts that we want Jason to pull through in the end. A brilliant sequel.
]]>Fri, 14 Dec 2007 10:18:13 GMTdownwestdownwest Blog12/14/2007 5:18:13 AMAnother excellent installment to the trilogy. In hindsight I appreciated this film just as much, because it was ultimately about Bourne coming to grips with the consequences of his past actions as an agent for Treadstone. The atmospherism toward the end helped with that. It wasn&#39;t like the first one, which was more about creating a variety of conflicts that we want Jason to pull through in the end. A brilliant sequel. http://www.spout.com/blogs/dibot/archive/2007/9/20/19969.aspx Post By: dibot
Post To: dibot Blog
Post Date: 9/20/2007 3:05:12 PM
Body: I don't really feel like writing reviews today. But I'm getting so far behind that I have to do it. They're going to be short though.When I heard that Russell Crowe ("A Good Year") and Christian Bale ("Rescue Dawn") were going to be in the same movie, I almost passed out. It's just too much goodness for one screen to hold. But 3:10 to Yuma offered much more than just eye candy. Keep in mind that I have not seen the original film. The story was tight. We feel Bale's despair in being a disappointment to his son. We see why people become infatuated with Crowe's villain even though he is terribly evil. The score was awesome. And I don't usually notice a score. There's some good action. Plus, the other big bad guy rocked. I do love a good bad guy. And Ben Foster ("X-Men: The Last Stand") is one of my favorite younger actors. I can't wait for him to bust out.Smiles of a Summer night is my first Ingmar Bergman ("Saraband") experience. And I think it was a good place to start. The story follows four couples as the cheat and deceive their way to happiness. Much of it is funny. Some of it is weird. And the dinner scene is fairly disturbing. I don't really know what else to say about it except that I'm sorry I put off Bergman for so long. And I'm eager to see more of his work.I'm not the biggest fan of the Bourne franchise. The second film, The Bourne Supremacy, has some good action and suspense. But I just don't care about it. Sorry. At least Matt Damon ("The Bourne Ultimatum") is a better action star than Ben Affleck ("Smokin' Aces").Friends with Money is basically a study of four friends, three of whom have money and husbands and one who has neither, and how these things either do or do not make them happy. The acting is very solid. Especially Jennifer Aniston ("The Break Up"). But I've seen better movies about the same subjects. This isn't an awful film. Just very average.
]]>Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:05:12 GMTdibotdibot Blog9/20/2007 3:05:12 PMI don&#39;t really feel like writing reviews today. But I&#39;m getting so far behind that I have to do it. They&#39;re going to be short though.When I heard that Russell Crowe (&quot;A Good Year&quot;) and Christian Bale (&quot;Rescue Dawn&quot;) were going to be in the same movie, I almost passed out. It&#39;s just too much goodness for one screen to hold. But 3:10 to Yuma offered much more than just eye candy. Keep in mind that I have not seen the original film. The story was tight. We feel Bale&#39;s despair in being a disappointment to his son. We see why people become infatuated with Crowe&#39;s villain even though he is terribly evil. The score was awesome. And I don&#39;t usually notice a score. There&#39;s some good action. Plus, the other big bad guy rocked. I do love a good bad guy. And Ben Foster (&quot;X-Men: The Last Stand&quot;) is one of my favorite younger actors. I can&#39;t wait for him to bust out.Smiles of a Summer night is my first Ingmar Bergman (&quot;Saraband&quot;) experience. And I think it was a good place to start. The story follows four couples as the cheat and deceive their way to happiness. Much of it is funny. Some of it is weird. And the dinner scene is fairly disturbing. I don&#39;t really know what else to say about it except that I&#39;m sorry I put off Bergman for so long. And I&#39;m eager to see more of his work.I&#39;m not the biggest fan of the Bourne franchise. The second film, The Bourne Supremacy, has some good action and suspense. But I just don&#39;t care about it. Sorry. At least Matt Damon (&quot;The Bourne Ultimatum&quot;) is a better action star than Ben Affleck (&quot;Smokin&#39; Aces&quot;).Friends with Money is basically a study of four friends, three of whom have money and husbands and one who has neither, and how these things either do or do not make them happy. The acting is very solid. Especially Jennifer Aniston (&quot;The Break Up&quot;). But I&#39;ve seen better movies about the same subjects. This isn&#39;t an awful film. Just very average. http://www.spout.com/blogs/jouni/archive/2007/9/17/19849.aspx Post By: jouni
Post To: jouni Blog
Post Date: 9/17/2007 2:18:37 AM
Body: Not as good as the first one, but it's still good in different category: more like a normal agent action thriller. Good action scenes, great car chases, good ending. The confused man from part 1 is almost gone now, but there's enough of him left (or missing) to add a nice human touch.
]]>Mon, 17 Sep 2007 06:18:37 GMTjounijouni Blog9/17/2007 2:18:37 AMNot as good as the first one, but it&#39;s still good in different category: more like a normal agent action thriller. Good action scenes, great car chases, good ending. The confused man from part 1 is almost gone now, but there&#39;s enough of him left (or missing) to add a nice human touch. http://www.spout.com/groups/Best_Trilogies/Re_Best_trilogy_ever/424/17773/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: KATTmandu
Post To: Best Trilogies
Post Date: 8/10/2007 10:00:33 AM
Body: [quote user="KATTmandu"]Going to see Ultimatum tonight. Can't wait![/quote] I wish I wouldn't have been as pumped up! I enjoyed the fiilm, but unfortunately it was my least favorite of the trilogy! Worth seeing, just don't expect more than action sequences and chase scenes.
]]>Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:00:33 GMTKATTmanduBest Trilogies8/10/2007 10:00:33 AM[quote user="KATTmandu"]Going to see Ultimatum tonight. Can&#39;t wait![/quote] I wish I wouldn&#39;t have been as pumped up! I enjoyed the fiilm, but unfortunately it was my least favorite of the trilogy! Worth seeing, just don&#39;t expect more than action sequences and chase scenes. http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/Loved-It/MemberTagFilms.aspxLoved-It
Number of films tagged: 509

Number of people who tagged: 179

Number of times used: 921

]]>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:56:35 GMT509179921Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/action/MemberTagFilms.aspxaction
Number of films tagged: 319

Number of people who tagged: 112

Number of times used: 461

]]>Fri, 25 Dec 2009 03:10:56 GMT319112461Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/fantastic/MemberTagFilms.aspxfantastic
Number of films tagged: 106

Number of people who tagged: 74

Number of times used: 137

]]>Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:19:21 GMT10674137Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/sequel/MemberTagFilms.aspxsequel
Number of films tagged: 126

Number of people who tagged: 46

Number of times used: 171

]]>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:25:48 GMT12646171Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/spy/MemberTagFilms.aspxspy
Number of films tagged: 366

Number of people who tagged: 46

Number of times used: 97

]]>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:24:02 GMT3664697Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/assassination/MemberTagFilms.aspxassassination
Number of films tagged: 1052

Number of people who tagged: 44

Number of times used: 90

]]>Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:55:14 GMT10524490Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/chase/MemberTagFilms.aspxchase
Number of films tagged: 880

Number of people who tagged: 44

Number of times used: 109

]]>Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:13:34 GMT88044109Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/espionage/MemberTagFilms.aspxespionage
Number of films tagged: 2176

Number of people who tagged: 38

Number of times used: 109

]]>Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:02:54 GMT217638109Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/government/MemberTagFilms.aspxgovernment
Number of films tagged: 1063

Number of people who tagged: 21

Number of times used: 126

]]>Sun, 16 Aug 2009 05:39:36 GMT106321126Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/control/MemberTagFilms.aspxcontrol
Number of films tagged: 292

Number of people who tagged: 19

Number of times used: 55

]]>Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:07:45 GMT2921955Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/doublecross/MemberTagFilms.aspxdoublecross
Number of films tagged: 343

Number of people who tagged: 14

Number of times used: 20

]]>Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:56:52 GMT3431420Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/cia-centralintelligence/MemberTagFilms.aspxcia-centralintelligence
Number of films tagged: 277

Number of people who tagged: 9

Number of times used: 15

]]>Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:07:18 GMT277915Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/franchise/MemberTagFilms.aspxfranchise
Number of films tagged: 63

Number of people who tagged: 6

Number of times used: 71

]]>Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:01:48 GMT63671Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/secret-agent/MemberTagFilms.aspxsecret-agent
Number of films tagged: 7

Number of people who tagged: 6

Number of times used: 10

]]>Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:27:30 GMT7610Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/riveting/MemberTagFilms.aspxriveting
Number of films tagged: 21

Number of people who tagged: 5

Number of times used: 22

]]>Mon, 15 Dec 2008 04:58:48 GMT21522Tag