Author Topic: 90s US Round 6: Three Kings vs. Goodfellas (Deadline: August 9)  (Read 37925 times)

sdedalus

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Re: 90s US Round 6: Three Kings vs. Goodfellas (Deadline: June 21)
« Reply #30 on: June 26, 2009, 01:45:25 AM »
I could go either way on these films; I'm a fan of both. I just haven't had the time to watch 3 Kings.
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Re: 90s US Round 6: Three Kings vs. Goodfellas (Deadline: June 21)
« Reply #31 on: June 27, 2009, 12:01:16 PM »
Huh, so I watched 3K again... much like Smirnoff I've seen it a few times now and it really doesn't hold up.  I remember really digging it upon release but it feels kinda trite in a post "Operation Iraqi Freedom" world.  Reading some of the past verdicts on this it seems few people have seen it before which is why it keeps on chugging but I gotta say its in no way fit to be this deep into the bracket.  From what I can tell two of the 3 votes for it in the last round were because people were upset at a single scene in Schindler's List. Sad. The subtlety of Oscar's gradual move from self centered profiteer to besieged humanitarian is beautiful while this film lacks that kind of subtlety.  A woman gets shot... they take a stand and everything else just follows from that.  That's really the only thing that happens to change the attitude.  Forward, Forward, Forward, BANG... left.  How did this pass the last round?  The most interesting thing is the criticisms the film lobs at the first gulf war.  It was in good measure about the protection of oil reserves but it was also a failure and that Bush should've actually gone all the way to Baghdad, deposed Saddam and occupied Iraq.  So the film both slams the war for its intentions but pushes for an even more warmongering solution. And of course since then Gulf 2 happened and kinda rendered the arguement irrelevant. 

Its technically quite adroit and I even like the pacing to a point.  It has the balls to start off MTV and then gradually down shift over the course of the first hour or so till both Walbergh and Jonze are shot and the film finally stops for a bit.  Unfortunately after this it doesn't ramp back up in the same manner it slows down.  Instead its a bit of a slow mosey to a nice traditional ending that makes everybody happy and shows justice done (though I assume all the Iraqi's whop escaped into Iran were killed and their gold stolen but that's not really in the sphere of the film). 

The acting is mostly passable - I think Jonze plays his role as well as the rest of the leads (unfortunately as Emiliana said, the title gives away his storyline)  - but there is nothing superlative to speak of.  And all have moments where they fail pretty hard.  Jamie Kennedy just brings every scene he's in down which is really unfortunate as he's paired most often with the strongest player in Dunn. 

In the end its a single issue film with very little appeal beyond that other than style (ironic given Dunn's speech on the subject - an absurd amount of grandstanding by O. Russell on that one).  And even its issue centric content has passed it by with the debates of the following epoch offering better insight and more nuance.  I can't remember Menace II Society all that well but that second round verdict would've been the latest i'd've considered moving Kings past.

Goodfellas is of course Goodfellas so it currently stands 2-0.

smirnoff

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Re: 90s US Round 6: Three Kings vs. Goodfellas (Deadline: June 21)
« Reply #32 on: June 27, 2009, 12:17:54 PM »
Real nice write up Keith!

mañana

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Re: 90s US Round 6: Three Kings vs. Goodfellas (Deadline: June 21)
« Reply #33 on: June 27, 2009, 03:38:24 PM »
Three Kings

Goodfellas is a pretty darn good movie. It’s fun to be Mr. Contrarian, but to my mind, Goodfellas lives up to the hype. It doesn’t have The Godfather’s prestige ambitions, this isn’t grand classical tragedy or a critique of American capitalism, it’s about middle managers/wiseguy working stiffs, and I like that. I guess at its essence it’s a standard morality play, these actions ultimately have consequences, they rise and then they fall. What it lacks in structural originality it makes up for with good performances, terrific use of music, and awesome editing. It’s slick and stylized, and I like that stuff more than I maybe should. I should probably see Gomorra as repentance for my love of stylized mobster violence.   

It’s not perfect, it’s a little on the episodic side and maybe this leaves some a little unsatisfied. For me this really isn’t much of an issue, a lot of years are covered here and this structure suits the film nicely; I feel like it establishes these characters and this world pretty well.

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In earlier rounds, a number of people stated how bad the opening is. I thought it was good.

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Verdict
« Last Edit: June 27, 2009, 03:59:54 PM by matt the movie watcher »
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smirnoff

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Re: 90s US Round 6: Three Kings vs. Goodfellas (Deadline: June 21)
« Reply #34 on: June 27, 2009, 03:44:00 PM »
Totally! Nice analysis. Love that clip, great song.

worm@work

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Re: 90s US Round 6: Three Kings vs. Goodfellas (Deadline: June 21)
« Reply #35 on: June 27, 2009, 03:51:56 PM »
Loved the writeup, matt :). I've been putting off watching this for the bracket. Now I'm more excited..

mañana

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Re: 90s US Round 6: Three Kings vs. Goodfellas (Deadline: June 21)
« Reply #36 on: June 27, 2009, 03:52:43 PM »
Verdict: Three Kings is a good movie, but it kind of loses me in the second half, Goodfellas on the other hand is infinitely watchable. Sorry Junior, Goodfellas gets my vote. Besides, although I know it wasn't the Three Kings set, nobody talks to Lilly Tomlin like that and gets away with it if I have anything to say about it.
« Last Edit: June 27, 2009, 03:57:50 PM by matt the movie watcher »
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mañana

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Re: 90s US Round 6: Three Kings vs. Goodfellas (Deadline: June 21)
« Reply #37 on: June 27, 2009, 04:08:06 PM »
Totally! Nice analysis. Love that clip, great song.

Loved the writeup, matt :). I've been putting off watching this for the bracket. Now I'm more excited..

Thanks.
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mañana

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¡Keith!

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Re: 90s US Round 6: Three Kings vs. Goodfellas (Deadline: June 21)
« Reply #39 on: June 28, 2009, 01:46:28 AM »
Real nice write up Keith!

right back at the both of ya.  seems we three (kings?) felt quite similar on this one.

 

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