[shabbray2.0]

I havent read the whole thread, but I enjoyed shutter Island a lot.
from the soundtrack over the cast to the island.
it was like 2 1/2 hours quotes and memories of quirky old films/television series

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by atsonicpark

About the last mainstream Hollywood screwball comedy that was good = Freddy Got Fingered. Okay, it wasn't, er, TOO mainstream (it did make a shitload of money, though -- I, for one, saw it in theaters THREE times!), but it was just.. god... AMAZING. Genuinely funny, surreal as fuck, just one hilarious absurdity, with no gay jokes, fat jokes, drug jokes, etc. Truly the best comedy to come out of Hollywood since.. well.. I dunno... DUMB AND DUMBER?!

oh no, freddy got fingered isn't a "screwball" comedy-- neither is dumb and dumber-- screwball is a particular genre from the depression era that included strong female leads, "classy" settings, and elements of slapstick comedy and snappy dialogue. the best contemporary example i can think of is almodovar's "women on the verge of a nervous breakdown"--almodovar famously looks back a lot on classic hollywood films for inspiration. the reason i brought it up was because demoño mentioned "desperate housewives" and there definitely was a strong element of that in the first year of that show (which i happened to witness, to my embarrassment). the heir to the screwball genre are more the "romantic comedies" you see today but they are fucking weak and pathetic.

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by shabbray2.0

I havent read the whole thread, but I enjoyed shutter Island a lot.
from the soundtrack over the cast to the island.
it was like 2 1/2 hours quotes and memories of quirky old films/television series

I kind of agree with this. If anything I thought that Shutter Island was "bad" on purpose. Like it was just a film noir / hardboiled detective pulp throwback. With that in mind, it worked for me.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

oh no, freddy got fingered isn't a "screwball" comedy-- neither is dumb and dumber-- screwball is a particular genre from the depression era that included strong female leads, "classy" settings, and elements of slapstick comedy and snappy dialogue. the best contemporary example i can think of is almodovar's "women on the verge of a nervous breakdown"--almodovar famously looks back a lot on classic hollywood films for inspiration. the reason i brought it up was because demoño mentioned "desperate housewives" and there definitely was a strong element of that in the first year of that show (which i happened to witness, to my embarrassment). the heir to the screwball genre are more the "romantic comedies" you see today but they are fucking weak and pathetic.

Yeah, it's very much that world populated by Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, with lots of razor-sharp, mile-a-minute dialogue (written at a time when Hollywood employed screenwriters who really could write). Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday pretty much define the territory - totally different animals to the likes of Freddy Got Fingered and Dumb and Dumber.

It's pretty much disappeared now, besides in TV shows like Desperate Housewives and (to some degree) Ugly Betty. The Devil Wears Prada and Legally Blonde might be seen as a kind of attempt to revive the form for cinema but, as you say, its closest modern equivalent is probably more with stuff like 'Women on the Verge'.

Archetypal Screwball comedy scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrMcNk3MUgs

[shabbray2.0]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

I kind of agree with this. If anything I thought that Shutter Island was "bad" on purpose. Like it was just a film noir / hardboiled detective pulp throwback. With that in mind, it worked for me.

exactly, I took it as a hardboiled (more hardboiled then noir) schizo film with a splash of scorsese. and I really enjoyed his use of music. despite his often good poprock music soundtracks.

after watching it in the cinema I wasnt disappointed at all.

maybe its because I love hardboiled/noir stories in general + scorcese made some of my favourite films, this combination couldnt fail for me

[Rob Instigator]

there was NOTHING hardboiled about Shutter Island.
The whole fucking movie was one big soft boiled egg
They cold have done the whole movie as a 30 minute twilight zone episode and it woudl have ruled all.

if you want hardboiled read ANDREW VACHSS


Shutter Island felt to me like an excercise in ambiance. the meat of it did not match the quality of the presentation, if you know what I mean.

I got sick of seeing leo diCaprio squinting.

[SONIC GAIL]

after all this talk i am definitly gonna have to rent it

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

there was NOTHING hardboiled about Shutter Island.
The whole fucking movie was one big soft boiled egg
They cold have done the whole movie as a 30 minute twilight zone episode and it woudl have ruled all.

if you want hardboiled read ANDREW VACHSS


Shutter Island felt to me like an excercise in ambiance. the meat of it did not match the quality of the presentation, if you know what I mean.

I got sick of seeing leo diCaprio squinting.

rob refuses to see other ppl's perspectives? Get the heck out!

[SONIC GAIL]

thats why we love him

[Rob Instigator]

I see them. does not mean I have to agree or give them some sort of value.

in talking about art subjectivity is the key.

if we were talking about REAL shit...that's a different story!

like I said, it looked fucking GOOD, but left me wanting.

[SONIC GAIL]

like a bad french whore

[viewtiful alan redux]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

I kind of agree with this. If anything I thought that Shutter Island was "bad" on purpose. Like it was just a film noir / hardboiled detective pulp throwback. With that in mind, it worked for me.

That's something I hadn't thought about, and it kind of gives me more respect for the movie in retrospect.

Gangs of New York? Still a piece of shit

[atsonicpark]

Ah, I stand corrected re: screwball comedy, I always associated the term with... well, a more literal meaning. Like just another name for a wacky mainstream comedy without any specific theme (ie, not a spoof, not a stoner movie, etc) -- not a specific comedic subgenre. Interesting.

As for Shutter Island being an exercise in ambience.. I can see that, actually. It was clearly trying to be ambient, atmospheric.. it might have worked in a really nice theater, at least for a bit, but eh. It was just garbage. Just nothing to it.

[ann ashtray]

It was a nice film to watch. Very pretty. That said, it was also very predictable. So, despite the plot at least the visuals were nice so I'm going to say that it was "OK".

Should be added that the visual aspect of films have always been more important to me than the story. If both are good (like in say...Blade Runner or Alien 1 + 3), I'm in Heaven. Just not so common.

[chicka]

How can we talk screwball comedy without including Some Like It Hot?
Jack Lemmon probably the finest actor I have ever witnessed. Him or Gene Hackman.

[Rob Instigator]

Dave Letterman always said that John Cusack and jack lemmon were like brothers forma different mother, in what their roles and acting are like.

[LifeDistortion]

Any director who's been doing movies long enough has a few clunkers in their filmography, same with actors.

[Skuj]

Dude....er......

 

[atsonicpark]

Originally Posted by LifeDistortion

Any director who's been doing movies long enough has a few clunkers in their filmography, same with actors.

I dunno. Kitano's made films for 20 years and I wouldn't consider any even halfway bad. Fassbinder made 42 films and I've seen 41 of them and dug 'em all. I can think of plenty of directors with quite consistent filmographies -- and when they do fail, it seems to be because of studio interference, or some other unforseen circumstances.

Scorsese, on the other hand, has released nothing but clunkers for a long time now, imo.

[ann ashtray]

I've never understood why some think people should quit, just because one may cease to stir interest the way they may have in the past. It's like saying "you should quit being an artist because you're old".

If ya don't like it, don't listen to it anymore. Don't watch it anymore.

Forget the new stuff exists and fail to realize sometimes people just get older, less innovative, less whatever.

Some of that earlier Scorsese stuff is tough to beat. I personally find it inspirational when older people are still creating something, even if I don't happen to dig the new as much as the old. Think Pharoah Sanders...think Ridley Scott....I'll always check out whatever they do, even if my hopes aren't tooooo high. We're talking about peeps that have little else to prove.

Just, my take. Take it...or flush it.