love

Author Topic: Nightcrawler  (Read 7147 times)

Melvil

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 9977
  • Eek
Re: Nightcrawler
« Reply #10 on: February 16, 2015, 07:20:59 PM »
Obviously he wouldn't know that he would be shot or die the way he did.

It's played as if he does though, which is where my complaint comes from. Bloom makes it pretty explicit when he talks to Rick as he's dying that it was his expected outcome. I don't have a problem from a story point of view with Bloom having Rick killed, but in the context of the events it feels pretty contrived.

smirnoff

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 26251
    • smirnoff's Top 100
Re: Nightcrawler
« Reply #11 on: February 16, 2015, 07:32:26 PM »
What did you guys think of the opening scene (with the security guard and the watch)? It establishes him as a pretty ruthless guy, but is the film better for it? Does it make the ruthlessness of the ending more believable? Or does it rob some of the impact that those future scenes would've had?

verbALs

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 9446
  • Snort Life-DOR
Re: Nightcrawler
« Reply #12 on: February 17, 2015, 12:47:01 AM »
I liked how that opening established how detached he was from the world. The guy won't give him a job because he is dishonest! That Bloom asked him for a job; having clearly just stolen to earn money from him. It established that he doesn't seem to know what he looks like. The guy knows he is buying stolen goods, and he still takes the attitude that Bloom isn't someone he can trust. Funny and ironic
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy

Bondo

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 23082
Re: Nightcrawler
« Reply #13 on: February 17, 2015, 12:49:34 AM »
In terms of the scene with the security guard, I had actually forgotten about that. Arguably it is a weakness because they haven't built the systemic factors yet.

I appreciate the scene at the junkyard a lot more because it shows a certain hypocrisy. Here's a guy perfectly willing to do criminal business with a criminal, but only if he can exploit him. So while it shows Lou as having lost perspective, it also shows the systemic issues.

The Deer Hunter

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1809
  • My name is Jeff
Re: Nightcrawler
« Reply #14 on: February 17, 2015, 12:53:28 AM »
Apart from sabotaging Bill Paxton's van the opening is the only other time that springs to mind where Lou takes things into his own hands physically. He orchestrates everything else in the movie but that's the only time he has to do it himself.

Bondo

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 23082
Re: Nightcrawler
« Reply #15 on: February 17, 2015, 01:05:08 AM »
Apart from sabotaging Bill Paxton's van

Wait, what?

Melvil

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 9977
  • Eek
Re: Nightcrawler
« Reply #16 on: February 17, 2015, 01:08:52 AM »
I like the introductory scene. I think the pre-Nightcrawler sections are important to establish how Bloom operates before he hits any sort of success. They are never shy about showing us the quality of his character, so we may be surprised by the lengths he is willing to go to, but we really shouldn't be.

Apart from sabotaging Bill Paxton's van the opening is the only other time that springs to mind where Lou takes things into his own hands physically. He orchestrates everything else in the movie but that's the only time he has to do it himself.

That's the other thing I wasn't too keen on. The Paxton rivalry was a fun element of the film, but that outcome again felt a little too convenient with Bloom so easily getting exactly what he wanted.

Wait, what?

Remember when he rolls under the van and cuts something and the next day the van crashes?

Bondo

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 23082
Re: Nightcrawler
« Reply #17 on: February 17, 2015, 01:40:43 AM »
I don't remember that. And I watched this one with all electronics firmly stowed and lights off so nothing could possibly distract me. I guess there's no stopping one's brain from momentarily disengaging perhaps to ponder one thing a bit longer than the film gives it. This is why I never took notes in class, by the time I finished writing one thing I'm sure to have missed the next. Also why I never laugh at comedians (okay, I might have made that one up).

verbALs

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 9446
  • Snort Life-DOR
Re: Nightcrawler
« Reply #18 on: February 17, 2015, 03:29:43 AM »
No I didn't notice it either but I'm suspecting that I was ignoring all faults in my love for the tone and drive of it. In fact if Bloom doesn't act and it's just chance then That reinforces the coincidental fault being observed. I need to see it again. Own it in fact.
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy

The Deer Hunter

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1809
  • My name is Jeff
Re: Nightcrawler
« Reply #19 on: February 17, 2015, 05:09:39 AM »
It was only a short scene.

All this talk is making me want to rewatch it.