These notes are completely stream-of-conscious – along the lines of what I did with the abysmal Day After Tomorrow which, whaddya know, also had Emmy Rossum in it. Not a good sign.
As I wrote this thing I suddenly got VERY angry about Andre Braugher. I am in a RAGE about Andre Braugher right now.
Onward. My notes on Poseidon.
— The opening shot is incredible. It is a combination of CGI and actual footage but the blending is seamless. Huge swooping shot up out of the ocean, you see the ship, looming above, the camera swoops up and around … moving down the side of the ship, slowly moving higher and higher – so you get a sense of the length – the camera moves down and hones in on one guy jogging on the deck, the camera moves along with him, we see it is Josh Lucas – then the camera swooops away, leaving him, and continues on the side – although pulling out to sea a little bit – so we get some distance – the camera moves on and on down the ship – and then swoops around the front of the boat – where we catch up, yet again with Josh Lucas – who is now jogging along here – it all is one shot – the camera moves in, out, around – we go in towards the outdoor swimming pool, the camera moves back out – hovers along the side of the deck, moves back out to sea, so you can see the entire boat – then hones in, yet again, on a small figure – stretching on one of the decks – camera moves in on him – we see it is Josh Lucas yet again … and this time the camera skips over the railing of the deck, swoops around behind him, we get to see his head silhouetted against the vast ocean, then the camera moves around so we get a full-on CLOSEUP – of his face looking out to ocean – and then, the camera slowly pans out so we can see what we can see – a gorgeous sunset over the sea. End of shot.
That was inCREDIBLY boring to type but it was a pretty cool feat, however they did it. Only problem is: it called attention to itself. I am so sick of camera-moves like that unless they have something to do with the story. I guess you could say it was showing us how massive Poseidon was – but it felt really self-indulgent. And also immediately pulled you out of the story.
I was not sitting there thinking: “Hmmm, I wonder who this Josh Lucas character is.” I wasn’t thinking, “Wow, look at that huge boat.” I was thinking: “I wonder if those are little CGI people on the deck … now how did he make THAT look seamless … I wonder what’s real and what’s not.”
Movie directors: knock it OFF. I don’t care that you have all the toys in the world. Stuff like this leaves me cold and you are losing your ability to tell stories. You have lost the plot. You’re like little kids with Legos and while it’s cute when you’re 8, nobody’s impressed when you’re a grown man. If you don’t see yourself as primarily a storyteller – then what are you doing in the movie business? Give me Howard Hawks over you and your techno-boy-toys any day. Again: if you use the toys to good effect, to serve the story, then good for you. But if you just use those toys because they’re there, and why not? Kiss my ass with that nonsense. I actually have LIKED some of Wolfgang Petersen’s stuff – Das Boot in particular.
Now please realize that this was only the FIRST SHOT in the movie. That kinda tells you where we are going from here.
— Somehow Petersen manages to make everyone look like they are in a TV movie. Something about his lens and the way he shoots people’s faces. Kurt Russell is a movie star. But even he ended up seeming rather flat and 2-dimensional, made for a small screen. This is Petersen’s fault, not Russell’s.
— Richard Dreyfuss was acting up a storm. It was truly entertaining.
— I did not believe for ONE SECOND, not ONE SECOND, that Andre Braugher was “Captain” of that ship. He was so unconvincing that it was almost laughable. AndreL it’s a small part. You’re the captain. Step up to the plate and make me believe it. Character actors of yore could manage a small part like that in their sleep. His eyes were dead. He didn’t know what he was doing. Compare that to the briefer role of the “Captain” in Titanic. That guy had even less screen time that Mr. Dummy-Dum Braugher, but I totally believed that he was the captain, that that was his ship. I have never thought that Andre Braugher was as good an actor as HE thought he was.
— What the hell was Fergie doing in this movie?
— Kurt Russell is, as always, great, and very fun to watch. But … the whole overprotective father thing was contrived and poorly written. He tells her to button up her blouse while at the poker table? Additionally, if he truly felt that that shirt was immodest, then he needs to join a Mennonite colony pronto, because obviously the modern world is too much for him. I have no idea what was supposed to be happening with the father-daughter thing; I imagine that it was just a set-up for “tension” later, but Petersen doesn’t realize that the damn boat tipping over is tension enough.
— TS referred to this kind of extraneous “human-interest” detail as either “situational motivation” – or “unnecessary situational motivation”. I’ll have to ask him the exact wording because it’s a perfect example of what was wrong with this movie (and many other movies, as well). It’s the Freudian influence on adventure movies, par for the course in current-day films, the “but WHY” influence, which is SOMETIMES appropriate, but it’s not ALWAYS appropriate, and in movies like Poseidon it’s annoying. There’s a sense that we need to know WHY someone behaves that way, as opposed to just letting them behave and letting the audience figure it out. We have to be spoonfed REASONS. Stupid. Just let the disaster unfold, and let people react to it. Here’s the deal: what is the plot of this movie? A boat tips over and people try to escape. It is through their struggle to get out that we get to know them, but the MAIN THING is the getting out of the boat – NOT the fact that the father inexplicably disapproves of the daughter’s choice in men and also her fashion sense. Along these lines, are we honestly supposed to believe that Emmy Rossum was a teenager? I’ll get to Rossum’s horrible-ness later. TS said that Petersen was “focusing on the wrong things, mainly” and I totally agree. There was one LONG extended moment when Emmy Rossum was weeping over her father’s death. Meanwhile: fire is raging at her heels. Water surges into the area. There are live electrical wires shooting sparks. The boat is now tipping up on its edge. And there she is a-boo-hooing about her own personal loss. It was self-indulgent. Disasters should have urgency. But here, Petersen lingered on her crying, ignoring the larger context of the scene … and her boyfriend was comforting her and telling her she had to go on, be strong, grieve, whatever … and the whole thing was lachrymose and ridiculous, due to the fact that shooting charges of electricity were whizzing by their heads. It made Emmy Rossum look like a bad actress, too (which is not hard to do, but again, I’ll get to that later.)
The point of the movie is the disaster. Plain and simple. I honestly don’t care about the father-daughter dynamic. The only way I will care about it is if you do not linger on it, insisting that I “get it”. Oh, I get it, believe me, I get it. I’ll weep only if you stay within the context of the story, what Mike Nichols says is his main thought-process when going to direct a movie: “What is this REALLY about?” Petersen lost the thruline of what Poseidon was REALLY about.
— Josh Lucas is best when he is directed to keep it simple, rein it in, and underplay. Think of his wonderful acting in Beautiful Mind. I think he’s the reason to see that movie. His performance, for me, (well, his and Paul Bettany’s) are really the shining moments of that film. He’s WONDERFUL in it. But for whatever reason, he hasn’t become a major star. I think he needs to stop trying. He is a supporting player, not a major star. This is not a criticism. It is actually an opportunity for Lucas, if he only chooses to accept it. He’s cast as the guy who decides to get out of the upside-down ballroom, against the advice of the “captain” Andre Braugher. Lucas’ character must have taken one look at that “captain” and thought: “He is so not convincing to me as an authority figure. He’s no captain, clearly, and I am so out of here.” His character is supposed to be Mr. I’m on my own, Mr. Whoo-hoo No Strings On Me. Fine. Good character. I am not convinced by his acting, but whatever, I got the point. But there’s a moment later in the film, where one of the little band of escapees dies and Josh Lucas has a close-up where he looks absolutely devastated, and then he turns away, and begins to weep. It was unconvincing. It made Lucas look bad, again. It made Lucas look like a self-indulgent actor. And maybe he is – who knows. But I don’t think he can take all the blame here. Maybe he wanted to have that weeping moment … but I doubt it. I think it was in the script, and he had to do it. But I don’t like that character because he suddenly cracks open and we see he has feelings. I like that character because he keeps. moving, forward. You would WISH to be hooked up with a guy like him during an emergency.
— The special effects of the wave are shockingly bad. It just didn’t look real enough. And like it or not – if you are going to have a scene where an enormous ocean liner tips its ass up out of the water, with the propellers high in the air, half of the boat submerged … If you are going to do a scene like that, then you just need to deal with the fact that it has already been done, and on a grand scale, that looked real. Don’t act like you’re re-inventing the wheel. The Poseidon had its big ass up out of the water – like another big boat I am thinking of, and something about the size of the waves, the quality of the water … you just could tell it was a model. Not good enough.
— Richard Dreyfuss had a little glittery diamond earring in one ear. I love his intensity.
— Are Emmy Rossum’s 15 minutes up yet? I was sick of her 3 years ago. She was bad in Mystic River, glowing in a presentational way at her daddy, practically telegraphing to us: “Hi! I’m about to be murdered!!” She is such a presentational actress, always aware of the proscenium arch. She is getting shockingly huge jobs on almost no talent.
— How on earth did those people know their way around the boat? It was like they had an intrinsic understanding of watertight compartments, bunkers filling with water, how the valves would open if you flood the chamber, where the propeller tube was … Maybe it’s me. But if I was wandering around in an UPSIDE DOWN OCEAN LINER, would I understand the bulkhead system, and how to reverse the propellers, so that the suction created would blah blah blah … Totally unrealistic. (But enjoyable.) Josh Lucas peering at maps of the ship with his flashlight, saying, ‘The watertight compartments are this way … if we open this valve here … we should be flooded to the next compartment…” Dude. ARE YOU SURE? How on EARTH do you know that?
— Kevin Dillon adds to his long resume of pathetic characters. They are all trying to sidle across a metal beam with fire and surging water all around them, like the Balrog scene in Lord of the Rings. And suddenly in the middle of all of this … he starts to make fun of Kurt Russell who was the Mayor of New York … and making fun of his daughter … making lewd remarks … and instead of Kurt Russell just bitch-slapping him which seems to me would be more realistic (you have FLAMES surging up OUT OF THE UPSIDE DOWN CHAMBER), instead of having Kurt say, “Dude. Time and place. You hate me. Whatever. Now go across the beam …” Russell is forced (by Petersen) to sit there and listen to the diatribe, as though it has truly rocked his world to hear someone insult him … and we can see Emmy Rossum’s horrible-actress face in the background, with huge eyes, feeling SO SAD that someone is insulting her daddy … Uhm. What planet are these people from? Go across the damn metal beam and stop dicking about with your stupid personal problems. Might I remind you that you are in AN UPSIDE DOWN BOAT. Who CARES that Kevin Dillon is a disgruntled voter? Dillon starts out across the metal beam, cackling evilly, and taking swigs from his flask. TS whispered to me, “What do you want to bet, he’s about to die.” Then, of course, crash bang boom, a disgruntled drunken New Yorker dies in a fiery mesh. No great loss. Moving right along.
— There is a scene in an empty elevator shaft which is worth the price of admission, in my opinion. It was truly suspenseful. Suspenseful? I could barely watch it. That scene is an example of why, I think, we go to disaster movies. We can’t help but put ourselves in those people’s shoes. We think: “How would I respond? Would I be brave? Would I pull through? How would I conduct myself?” That scene was nearly unwatchable it was so damn frightening.
— Oh! And guess who had a small part!! Good old Rico from 6 Feet under. I have MISSED seeing him on a weekly basis!!
— There was another horrifying scene when they all were crawling up the shaft. The water was coming in behind them, but the shaft was pressing in on them, and one of the girls was claustrophobic (of course), but the actress didn’t just sketch in the outline of being claustrophobic: she truly WENT THERE in her performance. If you know people who have claustrophobia, then it is no joke. Her panic and desperation to get out of that small confined space was so palpable that I had to put my hands over my eyes.
— There’s a moment at the very end when the remaining survivors escape, and they get to this perfectly blown-up raft, and something about the waves, with the big ship in the background… It just looked very fake and like the opening sequence of Land of the Lost. They all heave themselves into the raft and Josh Lucas flops onto his back, and starts to laugh. And then he just laughs and laughs and laughs. Is it supposed to be a catharsis? Or is he just breaking down emotionally? It looks like neither. It makes Lucas look like a bad and self-indulgent actor – which again, is maybe the case – but the director should definitely protect an actor from his own bad habits. It’s part of being a director. I didn’t get the big long belly laugh. Maybe it worked in rehearsal? Maybe it seemed like a good idea? No. It was not a good idea.
— Kurt Russell had the Shelley Winters part. Without the bouffant, of course. But somehow the scene of sacrifice just … didn’t pack the punch it did in the original. Maybe because Kurt Russell, the character, was such a winner, a “hero” already. He was a fireman, he was macho, he was rich. Who CARES if a guy like that is heroic? Also, he’s Kurt Russell: We EXPECT such things from Kurt Russell. But Shelley Winters? Do we expect heroism and self-sacrifice from Shelley Winters? So his death doesn’t have the same impact as the death of someone who is whiny, overweight, querulous, and downtrodden by life, like the Winters character. To see HER overcome her own ego, her own self-involvement … and do something so heroic … Hell, she won a damn Oscar for that very reason. We are not at all surprised that the Kurt Russell character would be so selfless, and so brave. Of COURSE he would be. But Shelley?
— I just want to say again that I was bummed about the fake-ness of the wave. Richard Dreyfuss was on deck and actually SAW the wave before it hit and his response to it – his reaction shots – were FAR more horrifying than the actual “visual” of the wave. I was more frightened from what I saw in Dreyfuss’ eyes – than in what they created digitally. God bless actors. They don’t need all that digital stuff, when you get right down to it. Dreyfuss conveyed to me absolute horror and disbelief and also a realization that: Nobody on earth has lived to tell the tale of seeing such a big wave. Sailors, obviously have been confrtoned with such monsters – but we have very few live-witness accounts of rogue waves. They kill all that is in their path. So Dreyfuss, with his own imagination, his own talent … projected to us in the audience the absolute terror of what it would be like to see such a monster-wall of water comin’ at ya.
Wow, you really hate Emmy Rossum. In my opinion, she’s one of the better young actresses out there today. Have you seen her in Passionad or Songcatcher? Obviously not, or you would’ve known that she is quite a talent.
Hey Katie – thanks for leaving such a condescending comment as your first comment on my blog. What a treat!
It reminds me of the run-ins I’ve had with Henry James fans.
I DARE to say “I hate Henry James” and they are so horrified that they have to say, “Have you read …. You obviously can’t have read THIS title because then you would obviously ‘get’ James.” Uhm – I’ve read them all. I ‘get’ it. And I still hate it!
No offense to those who love Henry James!
I just love reading this kind of stuff from you. “Mr Dummy-Dum Braugher.” HA! There are exceptions, but so many special effects just draw attention to themselves while detracting from the story. I loved the first parts of King Kong, but the scene with the dinosaurs running down the narrow canyon with the crew members beneath them was just plain ludicrous, and it completely removed me from the story. Using special effects like that remind me of people I knew who did drugs until it ruined them. They weren’t content to get a good buzz that augmented their life experience. No, they had to end up with deviated septums, emaciated dark-eyed faces, stealing money from their friends, and at the police station, or emergency room with heart arrhythmia. You just wanted to shake the shit out of them. OK, rant over. Anyway, please don’t ever stop writing about movies. You are a treasure.
hahahaha I had no idea that Andre Braugher made me MAD until I saw that movie last night!! I mean, I’ll let it go – my rage will not eat me up from the inside … but I just had to let it out!
I love that you have compared over-use of special effects to a deviated septum and that it totally makes sense!!
I saw Emmy Rossum having dinner with Kevin Spacey once.
Was Renee Zellweger there? Or Jewel? hahahaha
Speaking of Spacey – I saw the preview for the new Spiderman last night. Kate Bosworth is aaaaaaaaadorable. I got a thrill just seeing the preview – it was very well done – so time will tell how good it is!!
Down on Jewel too? Am I too out of the loop to ask why? Not that I’m defending her – I just love your rants!
If Emmy Rossum is “quite the talent” they’ve really lowered the bar on talent. Hell, I might even be able to land a role in a big production!
I must confess I haven’t seen (or even heard of) Passionad or Songcatcher, so obviously my opinion counts for nothing. But now that I do know she’s in them, I’ll not be watching them.
Oops – no, I meant to write SUPERman not Spiderman.
Stop. Reverse that. Go back. Do it again.
Scott – heh heh heh
Dave – I honestly don’t feel like going into it. It’s too painful. hahahaha Bullet points:
It’s her bad “poetry”, her snaggle-tooth, her fake sincerity, and the fact that she called Bob Dylan a “fag” during one of her concerts. I don’t buy her sweet little coffee-house bullshit for one bit. She’s a fucking bitch.
Oh boy. Now Katie’s gonna tell me what Jewel albums I need to listen to, because obviously I just haven’t listened to the right ones!
I would never want to cause you pain – or hijack a thread. Okay – the Bob Dylan comment is bizarre. I was actually listening to Blood on The Tracks this morning – opps, getting away from Poseidon again.
Isn’t Kurt just great?!
Dave – no it was so ridiculous – She said he “must be a fag” because “he’s not into me”.
Okay? Vain BITCH.
Oh … so the ONLY reason that someone isn’t “into” you is because he’s a “fag”?? I hate women like that. She’d steal your husband from right under your feet, she’s that type. She can’t BELIEVE IT that someone would not be attracted to her.
Also – I don’t give people “three strikes and you’re out” with the use of the word “fag”. I’m a one-strike kinda girl with that word and a couple others.
hahaha and yes – Kurt is great!! I loves me some Kurt Russell!! He just keeps geting better and better looking.
He is one handsome dude. And it’s not like I’m not in Jewel or anything… but he is one handsome guy. He always looks like he’s having the time of life –
*meekly*
i love andre braugher.
Oh, I know people who are into Jewel – of course. I don’t care, honestly. I have strong opinions – they’re just my opinions, and here is where I get to vent about all that stuff.
of course, i haven’t seen this movie. and i prob. won’t. :-/
beth – bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha
I think one of the issues (or what I noticed) was an awkward adjustment from small-screen to big-screen. He looked like he didn’t know how to use his face effectively – TV is where he is comfortable, so he seemed a bit frozen – knowing his face had to be 80 feet tall or whatever.
Just a guess. :)
yeah, i actually, really love the character frank pembleton homicide, more accurately, than braugher himself. i can’t say i’ve seen him in anything else.
it’s just funny how i waxed rhapsodic about homicide today, and specifically braugher, today and you waxed infuriated about poseidon, and specifically braugher. like oscar wilde said, “the only thing worse than people talking about you behind your back is them not talking about you at all”. or something like that.
Beth – no way. You just had a conversation about Braugher? That is so so weird.
Day after tomorrow – one of the worse movies ever – and of course I watch it everytime its on HBO – just to be horrified again. You hope everyone dies in it, as painfully as possible and I like Dennis Quaid and Sela Ward. Jake no so much and Emma – she seemed cute enough.
Back to the thread – I will see it this weekend – I loved the first one so hopefully they didn’t screw it up
//and of course I watch it everytime its on HBO //
hahahahaha Me too!!! I thought it was so dumb … and yet I have now seen it about 20 times. hahaha Such as we are made!
“There’s a sense that we need to know WHY someone behaves that way … as opposed to just letting them behave and letting the audience figure it out. We have to be spoonfed REASONS.”
One of the things that mkes pieces of art great is the possibility to interpret things in multiple ways. A true artist recognizes that behaviors and social phenomena usually have multiple root causes, and forcing the audience to focus on only one of them usually makes the work of art flat and preachy, rather than rich and textured. I think that’s at the heart of the “show, don’t tell” rule of writing.
John –
great point.
nah, i posted about it. it was a weird post about gospel music and homicide.
maybe you had to be there. :-)
to Katie(whoever-u-are)…ive seen Songcatcher..great soundtrack…Janet McTier is wonderful…Emmy Rossum…sooooo bad and one-dimensional…the movie is a charmer though..i’ll give u that…Iris Dement(favorite obscure alt-country singer) is in it. Word of advice..dont mess with Sheila…ive known her for 20 yrs and she’s always the smartest in the room!!!
Mitchell – hahaha Emmy Rossum is the hot topic of the day!
Does Songcatcher take place in the Appalachian Mountains? Is that the one I’m thinking of?
Until this moment I had totally forgotten about Iris Dement. I think I still have a tape you made me of her stuff!
yeah..its about a music teacher and archivist who goes to the mountains to collect all those songs…Aiden Quinn and Jane Adams are in it as well…i liked it a lot..Emmy doesnt ruin it..but she’s out of her league..really great soundtrack!
Jane Adams is so great! I loved her harassed cameo in Eternal Sunshine – you just so got who that character was, with that whiny husband making birdhouses and being a general jackass. I love her face.
Ugh. I just read some interview with Jewel yesterday (it was a self-flagellation exercize in an effort to become closer to God), and she’s STILL pushing that whole “I lived in my car” crap. Well, if you @#$%ing decide that you’re an “artist” that shouldn’t have to get a friggin’ job while you’re struggling because you are too special to do the menial work like other lower forms of life, you friggin’ DESERVE TO HAVE TO LIVE IN YOUR CAR. And don’t even get me started on how this woman makes Vogon poetry look like it could give W.H. Auden a run for his money.
Sorry. Off topic rant over.
Jane Adams will win a supporting Oscar someday..she’s always good if not great!
But didn’t she like live in her car in her own backyard? It wasn’t like she was hooking under a bridge in Seattle. She could go inside her mom’s house and take a shower if she had to. It’s just a silly story she made up to sound cool and give her cred.
Member the day you, me, and Alex wrote poetry Jewel-style? hahahaha
that post was soooo enjoyable. i will never see this movie and now i do not need to. so very funny. “THE BOAT IS UPSIDE DOWN, PEOPLE!” the disgruntled voter comment. very funny.
I couldn’t find anything about that anywhere in any of her bios. If it’s true, she’s totally pathetic. Even if it’s not, it’s not like it’s the only choice she had. Why in the world should we feel sorry or respect an otherwise able-bodied woman that refuses to get a job and work like the rest of us because she lived in her car as a result? Plus, it just irritates me that so much attention was given to this little piece of information – STILL is, for jeebus’ sake! – like it was all a very, very deliberate PR thing to round out her image. Like everyone carrying on about James Blunt having served in the British Army. Okay, dude. Thanks for risking your life and everything, but do you think you could get through one interview about your MUSIC without mentioning it?
Oh – just to give credit – I looked up the chick who did such an unbelievable job showing her character’s claustrophobia (it was acting on another level than literally everyone else in the film – totally real, unbearable to watch)- and her name is Mía Maestro – she was a regular on Alias. She has a very bright future, based on the little I saw from Poseidon. Good job!!
siobhan – disgruntled voter – hahahahaha I liked that line myself – It was just such a weird moment. The ship is literally collapsing and they’re having a bitter standoff about NY politics. WHAT????
//I don’t buy her sweet little coffee-house bullshit for one bit. She’s a fucking bitch.//
I heart Sheila. ;-)
And I gotta roll with Beth on the Braugher thing. I gotta respect The Man Who Was Pembleton.
Guys, what do I know. After all, I am the woman who openly SCORNED Patrick Dempsey for nigh on 20 years and now I DON’T ANSWER MY PHONE on Sunday nights because of Grey’s Anatomy. Because of him.
So I could totally be full of crap.
But Jewel? I’m right about. I KNOW I’m right.
Of course you’re right. I had to take a trip down memory land and look up the Jewel pile-on. That was a lot of fun.
I have brown hair
I like pie
hahahahahahahahaha
Your masterpiece is my favorite:
Shhhh
Can you hear the
children’s
laughter?
Oh.
Wait.
That’s just
Emily
Sheila
and
Alex
making fun of me.
Bitches.
HAHAHAHAHA I am shaking with laughter … that was such a CRAZY day … hahahahaha
Okay, I haven’t read any of the above comments and I haven’t even read this whole post yet. Actually, I’ve literally ONLY read what you wrote about the opening shot of the movie, but I have to comment NOW on your plea to Movie directors to “knock this shit OFF. I don’t give a shit that you have all the toys in the world” with a hearty AMEN.
I kind of feel like (and I’m not really exaggerating here) CGI has ruined the art of moviemaking. Imagine if they had made Jaws now? The reason Jaws is such a harrowing movie is because we only see the shark in bits and spurts, and the reason we see so little of the shark is because THE MECHANICAL SHARK WOULDN’T WORK the way they wanted it to. But it created suspense, it heightened the drama, it made the movie feel so real that people literally stopped going to the beach. If they made that movie today, Steven Spielberg would show be showing us a CGI shark from minute one and we would see so much of that shark and the movie wouldn’t be nearly as good as it is.
But that’s just one example. I just feel like CGI always seems so cold. When they used to use puppel animation–for movies like Gremlins–even though you KNEW it was a puppet, there was still a puppeteers hands there, hidden, somewhere, and that made it more real, somehow, and you believed that Gizmo was alive. At least I id. It’s the human element. It’s the artistry in making that fake thing come to life in the moment. It’s theatrical. It’s suspening belief. It’s seeing the strings sometimes, but because you know there is a human’s hands at the other end of those strings, you go with it.
I don’t know how articulately I’m arguing this. I’ve had a really long day and I’m exhausted, but I hate CGI as much as you hate Renee Zellweger.
Oh, and I miss hand-drawn animation too.
Damn the computers! Damn them to hell.
Erik..amen to ur amen…i sooo rarely see “blockbuster” movies…when i do..im almost always bored silly..or annoyed at the gaping holes in the plot or the fact that there is too much plot…or the fact that the special effects are sooo obvious and cold…i wish i liked these movies..people seem to get very excited for them and then make them into billion dollar hits..they leave me cold…Jaws scared the hell out of me..ive jumped off the bridge in Martha’s Vineyard that they used in Jaws..btw..its very fun!
Very articulate, Erik – I couldn’t agree more.
I mean, think about Gaslight or Night of the Hunter – just absolutely terrifying – and it’s all done with amazing lighting design, good storytelling, and phenomenal acting.
Of course those movies still exist – they just don’t make millions of bucks.
I think CGI is a phase. Now that it’s here it’s not going away – but I think the very fact that movies like Napoleon Dynamite, Lost in Translation and Eternal Sunshine were all made in the last couple of years and were surprise hits is very encouraging. People still look for good stories. They really do.
Eternal Sunshine was especially fascinating because it did have a lot of “effects” – but it almost felt like a stage play – the effects looked completely real – and were done with lighting changes, and set changes – there were obviously some computer graphics – but they didn’t have that cold shimmer that CGI has.
Sadly – in the preview for Superman – I noticed a lot of coldness. His flying through the air just doesn’t have that OOMPH that it should – I mean, Christopher Reeve flying was exciting – even though it was obviously not real. It still had a depth to it, a PURPOSE … that the perfection of CGI can’t get.
It’s an odd thing.
Anyway – I totally agree with what you said, is what I am basically trying to say.
One more thing, and normally this stuff doesn’t bug me – but here it did:
The two people who died (at least the two main characters) were Hispanic characters. I know most of this stuff is unconscious but it does have an effect and … there was no reason for one of the main characters who LIVED to not be a minority. Dreyfuss’ character could just as easily have been a black man, or Asian, or Hispanic …
Horror movies and disaster movies have a bad reputation in this regard – the minority folks always bite the big one – I mean, it’s like a joke almost – so there was an opportunity missed here to NOT do that.
Oh well. A minor point, just something else I noticed.
Not even Portrait of a Lady?
I’m KIDDING.
I loved Richard Dreyfuss in “Jaws” and even “Close Encounters”, goofy as that was.
Laura – hahahaha I’m telling you – that’s what it’s like to be someone who doesn’t like Henry James! It’s like a script!!
“Movie directors….You’re like itty bitty geeky boys with Legos and while it’s cute when you’re 8, nobody’s fucking impressed when you’re a grown man. Or – only other GEEKS are impressed.”
Sheila, it almost sounds…as if you’re…talking shit about Legos. But I trust you rank yourself among the geeks who are impressed.
OMG, yes, yes, yes, Christopher Reeve flying through the air was THRILLING. And “coldness” is a perfect word to describe how the new Superman looks (and how a lot of CGI looks). And Mitchell, I’m really impressed that you jumped off that bridge and didn’t freak out in the water. (Or did you freak out in the water?) (By the way, I read once about these screenings they used to do of Jaws–I think it was around the time of the movie’s 25th anniversary–they would project the movie up against a screen on the beach and people sat in innertubes and watched the movie while they were literally in the ocean. Just the thought of that…I think I would die of fright.
Exactly – too many people relying on CGI to do their work FOR them, that’s the problem. For example – in the original Empire Strikes Back, the Wampa was frikkin’ scary because you just heard it coming, and you were just dying because it looked like Luke was about to be a snak-pak. Then Georgie-boy had to go yutz it up afterward.
And I salaam to those who brought up the original Superman. When Reeve just stepped off of that glacier and floated toward the screen with the score building up like that, it was awesome.
I think the obvious thing about CGI (that too many smart movie folk overlooked) is that it isn’t actually there. It’s too obvious to really think about, but once you do, you realize that it isn’t there for the actors either. Interacting with a Yoda puppet, as goofy as it may look in person, is still interaction – just talking to a mark on a stick is ridiculous. It hurts the product, even if you’re dealing with good, hard-working actors. If those had been my movies I would have insisted on complete sets and props, everything as physical as possible, even with the mockups that would eventually be replaced or enhanced with computer imaging. Just building all of that stuff and being able to walk over and lay hands on it – even if you never do it on screen – adds to the experience and I’m convinced it comes through to the audience.
Nightfly – totally – CGI is cool and all, lots of technology is cool – but something’s been lost in the translation. Maybe it’s truth, maybe it’s … I mean, there’s got to be a reason why so many “blockbusters” totally FAIL now.
I mean, yay, it’s great to make CGI crowds of thousands in movies like Alexander … but when you look back at movies like Ben Hur and other huge blockbusters back then – somehow they ACTUALLY got crowds of thousands … and they costumed them all, and they had them run this way and that way, and they had them shout, and hold spears – THOUSANDS of extras – and it just FEELS different. It FEELS … real. Because, well, it IS!
Yeah – and come on – YODA. Yoda was REAL. There was a GUY in there.
And one of the reasons I, personally, love to go to the movies – is because of the human ingenuity and the collaboration that is existent up on the screen. Not to say that people who create CGI etc are not collaborators – obviously they are – but when you see those Yoda scenes in Empire … You are not at ALL thinking: “Hm, I wonder what’s real … is that computer-animated?” You are totally involved in the story, in the characters of Yoda and Luke, and their SCENES together.
God, it just makes me sad – if it’s not about the STORY being told, then what the hell is it about???
Erik..i didnt freak about being in the ocean per se..its the unbelievable undertow under that bridge that is scary..but really exhilaratiing too!!
Braugher was really good in Thief, the FX mini-series.
Okay, I said AMEN earlier in this thread, and now that you brought up YODA, I must say AMEN again, because yes, you believe those scenes with Yoda in the first three Star Wars movies (i.e. Episodes 4-6) because, yes, “there was a GUY in there,” and thus, there was someone for the other actors to act with and, yes, it makes a difference. I didn’t believe Yoda in the most recent Star Wars movies. (Though, in defense of CGI, I will say that Peter Jackson has figured out ways around this–by using an actor to play King Kong and Gollum, and then doing the CGI around that actors performance, he’s created the only two CGI “actors” whom I’ve ever believed.) (Because Peter Jackson recognizes that we need actors if we want there to be any damn acting in movies…computers can’t produce genuine emotion.)
I finally read all of the comments above my comment…I have to admit that after I left my comment, I read the rest of your post, but I never went back and read the comments before mine, and I am laughing so hard right now.
Five minutes ago I was completely ambivalent about Jewel. Never listened to her music, never read her poetry, assumed she was kinda dumb because people are always making fun of her poetry, but mostly ignored her existence. And now I hate that bitch.
And Emmy Rossum is just plain bad. (But I’ve seen The Day After Tomorrow at least 20 times, too.)
//and now I hate that bitch//
Yay! Another convert!!
Erik – and I totally think CGI can be used for VERY good effect. I know no one agrees with me about this one, but I thought it was used perfectly well with Titanic. There was a mixture of CGI and real boat – but there was really a boat up on its ass, and people bungee-corded to the deck – so it looked completley real and horrifying. There was an element of human CHAOS there that really resonated for me.
But then there was something like Spiderman – and I was disappointed in the CGI there – I wish I had felt like that little red figure zipping around the sky scrapes was REAL. I don’t know how you do that … but it didn’t quite work for me in Spiderman. It was all completely CGI and it left me cold
And i agree with you about Gollum. I “believed” him, too.