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He was a lonely kid too, who had learning difficulties but he also was a bit of asshole too. No one is perfect in life, you saw his good side when he gave the present to Sam, wanted to entertain the rest of the group with his rap, said something nice about Clyde's Sandwiches. But you saw his bad side, abusing physical and mentally others in the group about their sexuality, with suicide of Marty's dad, bullying of Sam. He didn't deserve to die, but he was no saint either and that's why I loved this film he was just a normal person with good sides and bad. I do agree with Marty though that he was hiding his true side cause it an advantage for him to get something out of it.
Great performance from Josh Peck.
I agree, I think it's in her top 5 performances, she's that great in it. She's got great chemistry with Timothy Hutton. She's probably the heart and soul of the film. Portman is one of those young stars that went on to have a successful adult career that her young career isn't her weakness part. Leon, Beautiful Girls, Heat, Everyone Says I Love You, Mars Attack that's not a bad run for a young actress.
This film is massively underrated but it's one that get's better anytime you watch it.
I think she was only doing the film cause a woman director was signed on to do the first Thor film. But she dropped out and Portman having already signed on had to do the film. You can just tell she's going through the motions in those two films, especially the 2nd Thor film. I think it was before the purchase I believe.
I can see why she did the films but the critical drumming of those films and the way SW fans look down on those films. Didn't do her any favors, she did bounce back with Garden State and Closer. She didn't learn her lesson as she went on to do those Thor films, and she was wasted in those films as well. The one she's not in ends up been on eof the best films from MCU.
Tough one, but I'd go French Connection. I just love the way William Friedkin give it's a grimy low down feel, like it's a documentary. Gene Hackman was well deserving of his Best Actor Oscar, and Roy Scheider is every bit as awesome in this. Fernando Rey and Marcel Bozzuffi are fantastic villains without having to be OTT. Plus the famous chase scene is still the very best nearly 50 years on.
Also the sequel is so great, not a patch on first film but Hackman is even better as Popeye Doyle. That weening himself of heroin scenes are fantastic acting. Plus the end chase is one of my favorite endings ever, could you imagine if that happened today people be complaining "is that it".
Love Dirty Harry by the way. Still my favorite from the series and one of Eastwood's very best.
Thank you. I think she's a fine actress, for a while there she was one of the better actresses out there. But over the years, she's not been at the level of her early career. It happens to make talented people, some night disagree with me that she hasn't lost a step.
I have to agree with Mathilda in "Leon: The Professional". She hasn't come close to topping it for me.
I loved her in Beautiful Girls, a really underrated film back in 1996. She's got a lovely little role in that film. Garden State was probably her adult breakout role, she's fantastic in that. I liked her performance in Black Swan, but I don't think it was Oscar worthy imo.
My list would go
1. Leon
2. Garden State
3. Beautiful Girls
4. Black Swan
5. Closer
6. Jackie
Those 6 performances are her very best imo.
I don't think she's aged too badly, we all do in the end. In term's of her cuteness I'd say circa Closer (2004) is her at her peak, so mid 20's. She's still a beautiful looking woman.
She's got some fantastic films on her C.V, Heat, Black Swan, Jackie, Leon,Closer, V for Vendetta, Annihilation, Heat, Garden State, Beautiful Girls, Cold Mountain, the Darjeeling Limited. That alone isn't a bad start. Sure in most of those she's not the lead. But I think Swan, Jackie, Leon, Garden State and Beautiful Girls, she's probably the best thing in those films.
She's done thing's for money like most actresses like Stars Wars No Strings Attached, Your Highness and Thor films. And she's done stuff that had potential but didn't quite hit the mark like her work with Terrence Malick, Jane Got A Gun, Brothers and My Blueberry Nights. She's also done quite a lot of lower budget stuff and directed a film herself, which wasn't a success overall but at least she tried it. There's a bit of filler in there too that drags down her C.V a bit.
Her career for me probably was at it's very best from her teenage years until her late 20's, she will give you a performance here and there to remind you that she's still around. But I wouldn't say overrated, she's stalled a bit in recent years but a few good films could put her on track very easily.
Would have been more interesting if just dealt with adult woman having a bit of a nervous breakdown who befriends a rebellious Teenage girl, who shows her their is more to live in life then men and partying. Just have both of them growing from each other's lessons. But instead they put in a stupid romance which came out of nowhere (love Sam Rockwell, but he deserved better) and it lost all what made it special for me. I disliked Knightly's character too.
Some say he's made a ton of enemies in Hollywood cause of his outspoken views. He's not one to mince his words when it came to what he thought of Hollywood. Maybe he has the same problem as his buddy Nic Cage, he's overspent and needs to pay off his debts so stares in anything that pays him the most. Whatever it is, he's stared in some trash, but he will star in a David Cronenberg or Spike Lee film to show he's still around while he still shoots out those direct to DVD films.
I have to agree on Say Anything, I like it but I don't quite the love in that film has gotten within the film circle. I think The Sure Thing is a far better early Cusack romantic film imo. But yeah High Fidelity is one of those rare adaptions that work. The move from London to Chicago doesn't hurt the film at all. The Music from the film is fantastic. Jack Black is at his best when he's not front and center. Tim Robbin's delivers one of his best performances. Also great to see Joan Cusack, Lili Taylor and Lisa Bonet (her daughter Zoe looks the splitting image of her) in a film. I thought Iben Hjejle (to see her at her very best watch Dogma 95 film Mifune, she's awesome in that) as Laura didn't warm to me at first but over the years her performance strikes home to me more. John Cusack is great (probably his best performance) as Rob Gordon. I love that he's a bit of a dick throughout the film but you like him nonetheless. The stuff with him, Black and Todd Louiso in the record shop is fantastic and high points of the film. Also you get a Bruce Springsteen cameo, what more could you ask for.
Along with High Fidelity and The Sure Thing, I've seen Grosse Pointe Blank well over a dozen times over the years. Those three films are the Cusack's best films imo. Blank has a great soundtrack, great cast, the central romance is enjoyable and the ending in the house is action packed. one of my fav's from the 90's. What in the hell has happened to John Cusacks career in the last 10 years or so.
I don't think I would agree with that, I think Steve Jobs is up there with his greatest work, T2 is a great film but just overshadowed by it's game changing and era defining first film. Trance is passable but is shot beautifully. 127 Hours is fantastic I thought and Slumdog is overrated but at least Boyle won his Oscars and that film is the closet to a Oscar bait type film he ever get to making. I think Steve Jobs, T2 and 127 Hours are up there with his best work imo.
I personally think Sunshine would be, but he's got so many underrated films in his canon. I think Steve Jobs is a masterpiece, Shallow Grave doesn't get put up with his very best work where it deserves to be along with, T2 Trainspotting is a far better film that many see it as, Millions is the closet we get to Boyle making a Family film and is excellent, Life Less Ordinary isn't a classic but it's deserves more attention and The Beach adaption biggest fault is casting DiCaprio (he's great in it) and not sticking to the book's character, who's a massive loser and doesn't get the girl and goes crazy. But it's a very good film in itself.
My Boyle film best to worst would go
1. Trainspotting
2. Sunshine
3. Shallow Grave
4. Steve Jobs
5. 28 Days later
6. T2
7. 127 Days
8. Trance
9. A Life Less Ordinary
10. Millions
11. Slumdog Millionaire
12. The Beach
I definitely think it's probably along with Sunshine, Boyle's most underrated work. I don't think it's better then Trainspotting but it's definitely it's equal. I think this is McGregor's best performance in a Boyle film, Kerry Fox delivers a amazing performance in a tricky role and Christopher Eccleston is always great. I love that McGregor's Alex is such a asshole for half the film, Fox and Ecclestion characters are more likeable but that turns itself around as Alex starts to figure out that they are in all over their heads and soon becomes the film's hero in a way. Fox's Juliet is probably the film's villain, sure Ecclestion's David kills a few people but Juliet is plotting and scheming for David to kill off everyone including Alex and is playing both men off each other. I wished she got more of a brutal ending.
I wish Boyle did a low budget thriller like this one again.
Really you didn't like All Good Canyon, that was probably my favorite along with The Girl Who got rattled. I suppose Canyon needs rewatching a bit, but The Girl who got Rattled hits you straight off the bat. None of the weaker shorts are awful they all range from good to awesome.
For sure it's the most heartbreaking of the segments, That part wouldn't have worked if Zoe Kazan wasn't so loveable as Alice but you get the feeling that the poor women wouldn't have lasted a minute on her own. It seems like her brother sheltered her for most of her life. She has that innocence to her which makes the ending all the more powerful and sad.
1. Pusher II (10/10)
2. Pusher (9/10)
3. Pusher III (8/10)
I love them all, it's probably my favorite trilogy of films as none are below 8/10 film. I just love Pusher II as it's a more tragic and has more heart to it as Tonny is just a loveable loser. Been stuck with a father who clearly hates the sight of him and clearly adores his younger son , his mother has died, his friends treat him like crap (I'd say Frank from Pusher was probably his only real mate, and even he turned his back on him and beat him up) and he's thrown a baby and told it's his, but you get the feeling that it probably isn't and the mother of the child is a coked up mess. And he can't get it up in a call girl's place. The guy gets no respect, funny as he has the word written on the back of his head. But you start feel for the guy, he's a fuck up but everyone around is much more horrible.
It's definitely the red headed step child of Refn's film's, it's a shame as I think it's just behind Drive and Pusher II as his best film. It's probably his most street level film in a way, imagine if Mike Leigh and 70's Martin Scorsese made a film together, this probably be what it look like. It's got a lightness to it in places and it also get's really bleak. It's got Kim Bodnia's best performance (even better then his performance in Pusher) as one minute you feel for his character the next you hate him and then back to feeling for the guy, he's kind of like a Travis Bickle.
It's great to see Zlatko Buric play a nice guy in a Refn film, as the Video shop owner. Levino Jensen is scarily good as the really nasty piece of work friend who also happens to be Bodnia's girlfriend brother. But the film belongs to a wonderful turn from the always great Mads Mikkelsen as nerdy, shy, video geek Lenny who works in a video store, he's the heart of the film and his romantic interest in coffee shop worker Lea (played by Refn's real life wife Liv Corfixen) is light away from the films real darkness. My favorite moments is seen this gang of guys hang out to watch films and just chat rubbish.
It's probably Refn's little seen film, along with Fear X (probably's Refn's only misstep for me). With his success with Drive and Mikkelsen recent fame, I thought this would have gotten more eyes put on it but it didn't. Shame. I think a company like Arrow Video could get their hands on this and give it a top DVD/Blu Ray release and get Refn to do a commentary and do a interview about the film. He shouldn't be ashamed of this film, as it's one of his classic films. 9/10
1. Pusher II
2. Drive
3. Bleeder
4. Pusher
5. Bronson
6. Only God Forgives
7. Pusher III
8. Neon Demon
9. Valhalla Rising
10. Fear X
Refn is definitely up there with Paul Thomas Anderson, Christopher Nolan, Ben Wheatley and Shane Meadows as my favorite filmmaker working today. His only film not to blow me away is Fear X. Everything from Only God Forgives to Valhalla Rising is very good. But Pusher II to Bronson are modern day Classic's.