The money was too good. I got stupid.

Jayne ,'Ariel'


Buffista Movies 6: lies and videotape  

A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.


BigDuluth - Oct 18, 2007 7:21:59 pm PDT #1720 of 10000
"I am the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world"

Eh no real thoughts on Kirk's casting... he's a total unknown for me. And something tells me his LL flick won't end up on my Netflix queue


Matt the Bruins fan - Oct 18, 2007 7:35:31 pm PDT #1721 of 10000
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand

I think he's cute, so I hope he continues the tradition of Kirk getting half his shirt ripped off in a fight.


tommyrot - Oct 19, 2007 4:59:15 am PDT #1722 of 10000
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.

Photos of all the cast of the new Trek. [link]

Has actor photos next to shot of the characters in TOS. Plus a (poor) photoshop of the new actors faces into a group shot from TOS.


Volans - Oct 19, 2007 5:51:21 am PDT #1723 of 10000
move out and draw fire

Finally watched The Prestige last night. I was favorably impressed. I really liked the book, but for once I approved of the changes they made to adapt the story to film.

I also liked the fact that it rewarded the attentive viewer, and that if you'd read the book and thus knew how the tricks were done, you still could maintain a fair amount of interest.

The incongruity yet coolness of Tesla's inclusion stayed.

The one thing, and this is weird, that bugged me (okay, one of two things, but the other isn't weird): Both magicians were nutbars, clearly mental, and not particularly sympathetic. This was perfectly good and kind of interesting in the book, but bugged me in the movie. At the end, I sort of felt like I was supposed to think one was the good guy, and I didn't.

The second thing that bugged me was how much Bale looked like Tom Cruise. He always does a little, but it was really pronounced in this movie, and thus hard to watch.

Any more detail, and I'll have to go to spoiler font...but it was nice to be pleasantly surprised.


le nubian - Oct 19, 2007 5:59:58 am PDT #1724 of 10000
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."

Well, I have to say that the magician who didn't commit murder is the one I favor, though his nutbar tendencies clearly destroyed lives.


Tom Scola - Oct 19, 2007 6:03:43 am PDT #1725 of 10000
Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.

By the end of the film, I disliked both magicians so much that I didn't care any more.


Juliebird - Oct 19, 2007 6:13:01 am PDT #1726 of 10000
I am the fly who dreams of the spider

Having neither magician be sympathetic in the end kinda detracted from the love I have for the rest of the movie. I loved the structure of the movie and the reveals and I liked the parrallels to Tesla (David Bowie!). But in the end, I kinda hated everybody, magicians, wives, girlfriends, mistresses, and magicians assistants. And near the end, when Hugh Jackman's character is waxing on about the reason he did it all, the pure joy of it and the wonder... it was such total B.S., because he was just as obsessed and f*cked up as Christian Bale. Perhaps that's how he started out, pure and innocent, but once the death and the rivalry started, he lost that innocence, and it seemed out of place that he would lie to himself and to... the other guy... at that final moment. At least for the structure of the story. It should have been a moment where the story became clearer as it revealed itself fully. Not muddied with lies presented as truths to the audience.


beekaytee - Oct 19, 2007 6:16:26 am PDT #1727 of 10000
Compassionately intolerant

Juliebird is me. Those were my exact thoughts about the Prestige. I started out loving it, and was impressed by how much discussion it engendered, but I ended up not liking/caring about the characters at all.


Nutty - Oct 19, 2007 6:52:46 am PDT #1728 of 10000
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."

I don't know -- I twigged to the Borden secret pretty early on in the film (not, at that point, having read the book yet), and began to separate out behavior: I think there was one magician I did really like in the film; I just didn't like his partner, and he wouldn't forsake his partner for any reason.


Juliebird - Oct 19, 2007 7:15:50 am PDT #1729 of 10000
I am the fly who dreams of the spider

If there really were tells to help separate the Bordens, I didn't find it obvious which brother did what, or which died, and which pulled the trigger in the end. The fact remains that they were twisted enough to live their charade, even as it negatively impacted the women they loved, leaves both sullied in my eyes.