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Poll

What's your favorite by Ridley Scott?

haven't seen any
0 (0%)
don't like any
1 (3.4%)
The Duellists
0 (0%)
Alien
14 (48.3%)
Blade Runner
8 (27.6%)
Apple Mac: 1984 (commercial)
0 (0%)
Legend
0 (0%)
Someone to Watch Over Me
0 (0%)
Black Rain
0 (0%)
Thelma & Louise
0 (0%)
1492: Conquest of Paradise
0 (0%)
White Squall
0 (0%)
G.I. Jane
0 (0%)
Gladiator
1 (3.4%)
Hannibal
0 (0%)
Black Hawk Down
1 (3.4%)
Matchstick Men
0 (0%)
Kingdom of Heaven
1 (3.4%)
A Good Year
0 (0%)
American Gangster
0 (0%)
Body of Lies
0 (0%)
Robin Hood
0 (0%)
Prometheus
0 (0%)
The Counselor
0 (0%)
Exodus: Gods and Kings
0 (0%)
The Martian
3 (10.3%)
Alien: Covenant
0 (0%)
All the Money in the World
0 (0%)
The Last Duel
0 (0%)
House of Gucci
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 29

Author Topic: Scott, Ridley  (Read 17377 times)

1SO

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Re: Scott, Ridley
« Reply #130 on: September 25, 2017, 11:21:12 PM »

Updated Rankings

A Good Year (2006)
* * ½
Pleasant. Very light as entertainment and overly-routine as another story of a middle-aged man who learns there’s more to life than money. The more it tries to be funny, the less funny it is, so maybe it’s good there are so few jokes in it. Mostly warm smiles and hardly enough of those.
 

Body of Lies (2008)
* * 
The film aims for complexity and depth, but it needed a cleaner narrative to be more engaging, relying too much on the cast to make that happen. Thinking about the story after only made me realize how much everything is supported with unoriginal character motivations and story clichés. Mark Strong plays a character named Hani, but every time DiCaprio says it, it sounds like “Honey”, which is unintentionally funny.


The Counselor (2013)
* * ½
It’s been years now, so until I read Junior’s review I didn’t remember that Cameron Diaz having sex with a windshield was a thing, and yes it’s Javier Bardem’s description that really makes the moment. I did remember hearing about the decapitation machine, though I didn’t know when it would make an appearance until Scott’s masterful build-up. It’s another moment that doesn’t disappoint.

I liked the story’s noir nastiness, but Junior is also right that Cameron Diaz is outclassed by the other actors. She doesn’t even physically fit the part, playing dress up while the other stars inhabit their roles. There’s a good film in here, but somebody needed to recast Diaz, and it would’ve helped to trim down Cormac McCarthy’s philosophical ramblings. He’s a great writer and some scenes – like the ones with Brad Pitt – really pop, but there are a number of exchanges that get lost in the weeds of McCarthy’s word processor.


Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)
* *
The problem with the racist casting is Ridley Scott’s attention to detail only heightens the insult as the actors cover themselves in Egyptian totems. Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton are bad enough, and I cringed at the sight of John Tuturro, but the casting director goes the extra mile with Aaron Paul, Ben Mendelson and uber-Scot Ewen Bremner.

The plagues and miracles that make up most of the last hour are the highlight, created with a great deal of excitement by Scott and his effects crew. Aside from the casting, I prefer this piece of old testament cinema to Aronofsky’s overblown, loopy Noah.


Someone to Watch Over Me (1987)
* * ½
Ridley Scott films are always drenched in style, but this one is so steeped in the 80s I’m surprised the cinematographer never worked with Adrian Lyne. The entire high-gloss B-Movie cop thriller could be mistaken for a Lyne film, and I don’t mean that as a slam. Lyne made some good films, but he’s not as good as Ridley, who I hold to a higher standard. Still, I like B-Movie Ridley, typified by the beautifully staged and executed cat-and-mouse assassination attempt in this film. I would easily trade 1492 and Exodus for more like G.I. Jane, though scripts like those and this one always were a better fit for brother Tony.

Stars Tom Berenger and Mimi Rogers take a back seat to Lorraine Bracco who’s handed the thankless role of the scolding wife and makes her the film’s most appealing character. She taps into something deeper while everyone else is just going through the motions.

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Scott, Ridley
« Reply #131 on: September 26, 2017, 03:26:14 AM »
Would you recommend The Counselor? I've been wondering about that one for a while.

Definitely Exodus over Noah.
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1SO

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Re: Scott, Ridley
« Reply #132 on: September 26, 2017, 09:14:00 AM »
I don't think The Counselor will meet your standards. The first third is where the writing is most dry and aimless, and if I wasn't a fan of noir it would've been harder for me to find a way to engage with the material. Except for Pitt, the cast doesn't get much opportunity to stand on their own feet under the weight of the dialogue. Comparing this to No Country For Old Man, shows Ridley's great flaw of showing too much respect for the writing. The Coen Brothers shaped Cormac McCarthy into their type of film that still retains McCarthy's voice.

Why do you want to see it?

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Scott, Ridley
« Reply #133 on: September 26, 2017, 09:15:49 AM »
It sounds like the kind of crazy that could be good fun. Plus, windshield sex.
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1SO

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Re: Scott, Ridley
« Reply #134 on: September 26, 2017, 09:28:22 AM »
The reason why the best part of that scene is Javier Bardem’s description is because you can't show what's happening and having visuals that match the words would be difficult, but hilarious if possible. (No surprise that the screenplay comes from a writer of books.) This is why I prefer the decapitation machine. We hear about it, we imagine it and later on we get to watch it work in explicit detail.

Junior

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Re: Scott, Ridley
« Reply #135 on: September 26, 2017, 11:11:41 AM »
I'm glad we agree on The Councilor. What a wacky movie.

I think one of the major ways we differ is that I love the "loopiness" of Noah way more than I enjoy the standardness of Exodus. I had an image of Exodus in my head when I pressed play and it didn't ever deviate from that. Noah gives me rock monsters and the evolution of warfare scene and the screaming people on the rocks and it's just fantastic at being a singular vision of a story we all know rather than a fairly typical retelling of that story with a few extra character shades thrown on for good measure.
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pixote

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Re: Scott, Ridley
« Reply #136 on: September 26, 2017, 11:31:34 AM »
I'm glad we agree on The Councilor.

Spelling disagreements may persist, however.

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Junior

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Re: Scott, Ridley
« Reply #137 on: September 26, 2017, 12:23:31 PM »
I've got a degree that says when I misspell things it automatically becomes a real word.
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DarkeningHumour

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Re: Scott, Ridley
« Reply #138 on: September 26, 2017, 12:32:12 PM »
Fahrenheits can do amazing things.
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DarkeningHumour

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Re: Scott, Ridley
« Reply #139 on: September 26, 2017, 06:48:48 PM »
You weren't interested in Covenant? It's better than Prometheus.
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