Robert Downey Jr...I love the way he brings all his roles to life. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is recommended, I know I really enjoyed it mostly because of his performance.
Hell, yeah man! My most anticipated movie of the summer! Can't friggin' wait! @JBRUU, Sorry, yeah I got too excited about Iron Man...
Thanks Kenny . I've got nothing under my belt in comparison to a lot of the film "snobs", but the more I see recent movies, the more I realize how they can't compare to the brilliance that used to exist. Don't get me wrong, No Country, There Will Be Blood, Magnolia, Shawshank, Pulp Fiction and The Matrix are all great movies, but they don't hold a candle to the true classics. I'm still astonished that the LOTR movies, Inception and the Batman movies are held in such overwhelming esteem. Don't get me wrong, I like huge ranges of films but I still cannot get how people go so gaga over those. I did a blind buy for The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, which just released on Criterion, and man was I not disappointed. Initially I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I think Deborah Kerr is stupidly talented and gorgeous and by the time they got to the duel I was absolutely entranced. The dialogue was superb and it covered such an amazing period of time in the world. The way certain things in film were handled are still amazing to this day. The boldness in certain shots was admittedly adapted by Tarantino and Scorcese, both who were openly smitten with Powell and Pressburger. Scorsese's 40-year editor ended up marrying Powell shortly before his death. But I will admit it's not the most accessible of old films, it takes a knowledge of the time and a willingness to give everything to the film. There's a lot of history there. Strangelove is a very accessible "old B&W" film, but it is also VERY quirky and benefits from knowing the general feeling of America during the Cold War, and how daring and important the film was. Some more accessible older films that I would strongly recommend are: The Hustler Cool Hand Luke To Kill a Mockingbird The Sting The French Connection On the Waterfront But if you want to challenge yourself a bit, take to some of the more brilliant, obscure and challenging classics: Metropolis M Citizen Kane The Third Man Modern Times The Great Dictator Paths of Glory 2001 Anatomy of a Murder La Grande Illusion There are lots more, Criterion is an excellent, excellent place to start. Just be forewarned, be careful if anyone suggests Salo Oh, and on Iron Man 2 - meh. All the subtlety and class of the 1st one was discarded for whiz bang emptiness. I felt no connection to the film, and was majorly underwhelmed, even going in with next to no expectations. The Avengers redeemed everything about Iron Man, and I pray and pray that 3 is better. The character deserves it.
So, are you saying you don't like LOTR, Inception, and the Dark Knight films, or you just think they are enjoyable, but they pale in comparison to older movies?
I don't care for LOTR, the Batman films were okay but insanely overrated and Inception just didn't excite me. I remember being so excited about LOTR, I made sure I read the book before seeing the film and went in like a giddy teenager... But seeing the film, the empty characters that were just bland and had no chemistry and seeing everything interesting about the book stripped down completely. AND they pale in comparison to their similarly rated classics.
YES. one of my favorite movies. Downey, Kilmer and a script/direction by the brilliant Shane Black (Lethal Weapon 1 & 2, Last Boyscout, Long Kiss Goodnight) made it an instant classic. I believe it's RDJ at his absolute best. It's stupidly underrated and under appreciated.
Oh, and Shane Black is writing/directing Iron Man 3. There's no way that won't be absolutely BRILLIANT.
That is very interesting. I don't find the characters empty at all in LOTR. There are a few shallow characters, like maybe the smaller roles. And I think the Batman films, especially the first two are excellent. Ledger's performance as Joker, amazing. But different strokes for different folks. I do agree that movies these days have lost something from older films. It's A Wonderful Life and To Kill A Mockingbird are good examples of that.
I disagree with you. There are many modern day movies that are well worth your time, and I'm astounded that you would dislike Nolan's Batman movies or LoTR. My guess is that you're not taking these films for what they're designed to be: you seem to me more into deep character studies and in-depth plots, with intricate & nuanced characters. That's great. But not every movie is going to be like that. Batman's claim to fame is that it's the first comic book movie that successfully combines superb acting, writing and action along with satisfying the comic book fans. It reaches a truly epic scale and never falls flat. That's amazing for a 3-part series. LoTR is good simply because it manages to successfully transfer Tolkien's epics to the screen without copping out - a HUGE accomplishment. I wouldn't say you dislike newer movies, I would reword it and say you enjoy different kinds of movies.
Kenny, you're gonna kill me, but I started watching Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and I got 38 minutes into it, but it just didn't click with me. I tried giving it time, but nope. Didn't click...
