Author Topic: The Most influential Film of a decade  (Read 6998 times)

Teproc

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Re: The Most influential Film of a decade
« Reply #30 on: February 20, 2017, 02:59:31 PM »
I guess I should have reworded it as a cinematic universe as IM2 really put that idea in the mind of Hollywood and it only seems to be gaining more and more momentum each year.

Didn't Iron Man do that ? IM2 was the consequence of Iron Man's massive success and its post-credits tag, I'd say that's the influencer. Or if you want to pick the movie that proved the value of the whole cinematic universe thing, thatd be The Avengers, no ?
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Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: The Most influential Film of a decade
« Reply #31 on: February 20, 2017, 04:20:25 PM »
Sure, either of those pics would work. I just felt Spider-Man 2 was a rather isolated film in terms of only really spawning Spider-Man 3 and not much else from Sony until they had to use Spider-Man again or lose the movie rights.

chardy999

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Re: The Most influential Film of a decade
« Reply #32 on: February 20, 2017, 07:17:39 PM »
Fight Club summed up the 90's. Don't know if it's more influential than Pulp Fiction though.
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Beavermoose

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Re: The Most influential Film of a decade
« Reply #33 on: February 20, 2017, 07:29:38 PM »

From last year, Hunt For The Wilderpeople felt like Wes Anderson in the bush.

I didn't find that Hunt for the Wilderpeople felt like a Wes Anderson film at all. I really had it's own thing going for it.

smirnoff

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Re: The Most influential Film of a decade
« Reply #34 on: February 20, 2017, 09:00:42 PM »
Whatever the first movie was that put the ending up front, and then went back to the beginning to tell us how things got there. Whatever that movie is is infuential. We've been plagued with the idea ever since. I will turn off the next movie that does this btw. I don't care what it is. This trend must end!

ps. Casino is in my top 100.  I like it in spite of this stupid editing choice. It's grandfathered in. :P

Junior

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Re: The Most influential Film of a decade
« Reply #35 on: February 20, 2017, 09:14:16 PM »
Isn't that the Citizen Kane structure, to some extent? That's got a few extra wrinkles, but it ends with the guy dying and then tells his life story afterwards.
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Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: The Most influential Film of a decade
« Reply #36 on: February 20, 2017, 09:22:35 PM »
Some movies do it well, but it's generally a lazy tool now.

1SO

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Re: The Most influential Film of a decade
« Reply #37 on: February 20, 2017, 09:36:25 PM »
My own top films include Pulp Fiction, Fight Club, Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, Forrest Gump, Grave of the Fireflies and Memento. So I don't have a problem with it.

smirnoff

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Re: The Most influential Film of a decade
« Reply #38 on: February 20, 2017, 11:01:44 PM »
What is it that compels an editor to do it? A lack of early footage that would hook an audience? The idea that putting a promise of something big up front gets people more invested? Those seem like fair reasons.... but what is the cost?  I guess you kind of have to take it on a case by case basis.

Forrest Gump in an interesting example... a mild case perhaps. I guess the whole story-telling structure would have to change if you weren't going to begin it with him on the bench. It would just start with him as a kid. It kind of gives away "the ending" inadvertently, by way of setting up the idea that Forrest is telling this story to people who sit next to him. But yea, a pretty mild reveal.

1SO

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Re: The Most influential Film of a decade
« Reply #39 on: February 20, 2017, 11:38:54 PM »
What is it that compels an editor to do it? A lack of early footage that would hook an audience? The idea that putting a promise of something big up front gets people more invested? Those seem like fair reasons.... but what is the cost?  I guess you kind of have to take it on a case by case basis.

First of all, this is not decided on by the editor. This is the will of the director and/or producers. Sometimes it's in the script that way already. The worst example I know is Carlito's Way. Brian DePalma felt it was important to view the film knowing what happens at the end of Carlito's story, so he has David Koepp open his script with the end, emotionally gutting the film.

Compare it with the opening of Gladiator, which reveals that Russell Crowe is on a quest to get back to his family. Since his family is slain, the only way to return to them is to die himself. Ridley Scott doesn't make this explicit, but he implies it with a repeated shot of hand thru wheat. You know the film is getting to an explanation of this moment but there's still the voyage of discovery the first time and an extra layer when you re-watch the film.

On one of the DVD commentaries for the TV series Alias, they talk about JJ Abrams having the idea that the best way to hook the audience right away is to open with the most exciting moment of the episode, use that as the initial tease. Anyone who remembers the show may remember that starting with the back half of Season 1, more often than not they would do this. Putting the promise up front.