Ridley Scott is one those directors I forget whether or not he belongs in the category of modern greats. When I really think about though, Alien is his strongest work and the further we go from there the weaker it gets.
Genuinely curious, aside from Blade Runner and Alien, what are those other home runs?That being said he's definitely a hit or miss director but when he hits it, he hits it out of the park.
Mmm, you could give an argument about Blade Runner being his peak especially considering the impact that film had on the science-fiction genre and being a leading factor in making the cyberpunk sub-genre popular today. But you could also say the same thing about Alien and it's impact on horror so it just boils down to personal preference.
That being said he's definitely a hit or miss director but when he hits it, he hits it out of the park.
Agreed, and it's almost unfair to give the credit of Alien just to Scott. He inherited assets and talent from the canceled Jodorowsky Dune project that served as the foundation for the atmosphere that Alien came to be known for.
Genuinely curious, aside from Blade Runner and Alien, what are those other home runs?
I was not.
I would go with the latter as well, especially after Prometheus. Having said that, I didn't at all care 2049 and I sitll don't understand the hype around it.Another genuine question: Was Blade Runner 2049 a missed opportunity for Scott since he opted to do his bad Alien reboot instead (lol), or a blessing that he didn't ruin it and we got Villeneuve's vision? I'm picking the latter.
Another genuine question: Was Blade Runner 2049 a missed opportunity for Scott since he opted to do his bad Alien reboot instead (lol), or a blessing that he didn't ruin it and we got Villeneuve's vision? I'm picking the latter, BUT to be fair Scott has had a very successful career outside his most transcendent works in the genre we happen to like, so it's probably not fair to insinuate he's an irrelevant fraud or one hit wonder either just because his biggest hits since aren't necessarily our personal cup of tea.
Genuinely curious, aside from Blade Runner and Alien, what are those other home runs?
Yea I'm one of those that think, as good as Blade Runner is, it's pretty overrated, special effects aside (and a few of the performances, not enough). Alien's aesthetic is far more aligned with my personal taste.
I just watched the two Sicario movies today, back to back. I enjoyed them. They had some really amazing setpieces. Car and helicopter chases, violent shootouts at the border, realistic bombings of civilian areas. The action was intense. The only thing that got in the way was the overly dramatic, heavy handed seriousness that movie forces on you via soundtrack and grim expressions from stern, gruff and gritty badasses and soft spoken, glossy eyed good guys. Most of it centered around Benicio Del Toro's character who is obviously this movies version of Anton Chigur. And boy are they trying. Unfortunately I couldn't fully buy into in Benicios grim dark persona with complete seriousness no matter how long the camera hung out his blank face or how ominous that deep, pulsating bass played, a soundtrack that by the way was already done to perfection in, yet again, T2 for the T-1000 (maybe it didn't help that I had rewatched T2 a few days ago (as well as No Country for Old Men)).
I was not.
Another genuine question: Was Blade Runner 2049 a missed opportunity for Scott since he opted to do his bad Alien reboot instead (lol), or a blessing that he didn't ruin it and we got Villeneuve's vision?
Side note here but I cannot WAIT for the new Dune movie especially the track record that Denis has had the past decade. Haven't read the book yet but any Sci-fi epic will have me watching it no matter what.
Dune is my favorite novel and I'm not very confident about this adaptation.
Agreed. It's also a movie I'm in no rush re-watching (did it 3 times on the big screen and I've had my fill). I'd like to wait a few years and revisit Blade Runner 2049 to see how it ages with time.I don't think Ridley Scott would have done it justice. I wasn't a huge fan of Villeneuve's take, but it felt like a decent effort to me. I still think the movie did not need a sequel though.
Difficult to adapt.Why's that?
He sure did. Playing to the audience. Maybe he missed the mark when he went brought Prometheus too far outside of the Alien world. But as you say, changing the narrative mid way to please an audience not only squandered the future but also damaged the past. Now Prometheus sits alone, a red headed step child, behind a lame attempt at mass market approval, run of the mill schlock fest that is Alien 5 (or 6 ... or 8): Covenant.Scott made a hotchpotch that was Prometheus (base story/ philosophy with its biblical theme) and when we thought he could probably fix its issues, he went even worse with the follow up. It's unfortunate hearing him react to criticism that Prometheus got about not having a classic Alien design in it, saying "Oh you want more aliens, I'll give em to you, it'll be a bloodbath". Sure, by all means go for it but ... the final product wasn't even that! He blew it.
I don't know man. That's a tall order. While Villeneuve isn't the worst young filmmaker chosen by big studio executives as the latest director of whatever reboots/remakes/sequels/prequels they have in store, I can't say I'm optimistic about any of it. I haven't seen all his movies, but with 2049 and Sicario basically being middle of the road for me, and I HATED Prisoners with a passion (I didn't know until just now he was behind that, but I remember being really annoyed with whoever was behind the camera for that one) that puts him below the mark for adapting something like Dune. God bless him.Side note here but I cannot WAIT for the new Dune movie especially the track record that Denis has had the past decade.
I don't know man. That's a tall order. While Villeneuve isn't the worst young filmmaker chosen by big studio executives as the latest director of whatever reboots/remakes/sequels/prequels they have in store, I can't say I'm optimistic about any of it. I haven't seen all his movies, but with 2049 and Sicario basically being middle of the road for me, and I HATED Prisoners with a passion (I didn't know until just now he was behind that, but I remember being really annoyed with whoever was behind the camera for that one) that puts him below the mark for adapting something like Dune. God bless him.
He sure did. Playing to the audience. Maybe he missed the mark when he went brought Prometheus too far outside of the Alien world. But as you say, changing the narrative mid way to please an audience not only squandered the future but also damaged the past. Now Prometheus sits alone, a red headed step child, behind a lame attempt at mass market approval, run of the mill schlock fest that is Alien 5 (or 6 ... or 8): Covenant.
Have you seen Arrival or Enemy? Might be up your boat more than the other two?
I've noticed a lot of people despise Prisoners with a passion but some people absolutely love it to death. Why do you hate it so much?
Have you seen Arrival or Enemy? Might be up your boat more than the other two?
I've noticed a lot of people despise Prisoners with a passion but some people absolutely love it to death. Why do you hate it so much?
Ehhh I thought Gladiator was fine.
I don't think Ridley Scott would have done it justice. I wasn't a huge fan of Villeneuve's take, but it felt like a decent effort to me. I still think the movie did not need a sequel though.
No but I have heard good things about Enemy and Arrival so I might watch them someday. Prisoners though... ugh. It started off promising. The panic inducing fear of a missing child was harrowing in the beginning. On the surface it seemed like this was right up my alley. But it just went on and on and on and I actually surprised myself at how impatient I got with the movie because I love slow, methodically paced films. For example, I watch the 5 hour version of Das Boot yearly (edited together from the original miniseries episodes). Same with The Godfather Saga (Coppolas cut of parts 1 and 2 together with additional footage totaling 7 hours). And yet Prisoners feels way longer to me. I tried watching it a second time and had the same problem. Also, didn't help that I have a strong aversion to most of the cast. Jake Gyllenhaal in particular. He's just one of those actors that I don't like. He always seems phony to me. Colin Farrell is another one. Now that I think about it, maybe it's part of the way Villeneuve likes to portray his main characters because I had the same issue with Gyllenhaal in Prisoners that I did with Ryan Gosling in 2049 and it's the same thing I was talking about with Benecio Del Toro in Sicario. Attempting to make the hero, or antihero, come across as dark and mysterious but ends up just being window dressing on actors I have a predisposition to dislike, perhaps unfairly.
The most interesting thing about is it has McNutty from The Wire playing another cop in Paris for the Baltimore crossover we never knew we wanted (because we didn't =). Manhunter, save me from this mediocrity with your glorious 80s motifs!
Hey Griff, do you think Manhunter is better than Silence of the Lambs?
No. =)
Maybe Manhunter will sway me again tonight, but without saying anything bad about it, Silence is truly transcendent, Foster and Hopkins are incandescent, and the story is deep, multilayered and more relevant than ever today. It's just hard to beat! That doesn't diminish Manhunter, but let's not be Cox > Hopkins Hannibal contrarians here either.
Another interesting thing about "the trilogy", other than being made by different great filmmakers with completely different styles and casts, is they're all so emblematic of their times: Manhunter the mid-80s, Silence the early-90s (mostly in its themes, otherwise it's more timeless than the others), and Hannibal the early-2000s. Even Hannibal Rising is an excellent example of mid to late 2000s direct to video quality IP cash-in bullshit! And of course the franchise transitioned to prestige TV in the 2010s, as one does.
That's so true. Maybe "better" wasn't the right word. I asked because while there's no denying Silence, I personally prefer Manhunter, even putting aside the Cox/Hopkins debate. Silence is transcendent, especially when it came out and it got all the awards and praise it deserved at that time (it's a tragedy about what it did to Demme's career though). But so was Manhunter in many ways and that had the bad luck of coming out in a year filled with great movies and being overshadowed a few years later by Silence's much more slick and polished production, with a great score and big names. I don't think this counts as being contrarian either. I saw Silence when I was very young and was told by my mother beforehand that it was a masterpiece and one of the greatest movies ever made. So even at that young age I had bad weight of high expectations going in. As opposed to the thrill of digging through an old box of poorly kept vhs tapes and discovering something for myself, which may have impacted my preference on this one.
I don't remember how I got into the books or films exactly, probably heard my dad making some joke about "Hannibal the Cannibal",
BTW, have you watched the Hannibal TV show? The first two seasons are basically a 24 episode prequel to Manhunter. =)
Haha, now that you mention it I distinctly remember the chain reaction starting with me asking my parents whether Hannibal the Cannibal was a real person.
I started to a week or two ago but lost interest during the first episode after only a few scenes. I really have a hard time getting invested with anything on tv these days. That's my cross to bear. But I should try again.