1. Welcome to VegasMessageBoard
    It appears you are visiting our community as a guest.
    In order to view full-size images, participate in discussions, vote in polls, etc, you will need to Log in or Register.

The Irishman

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by Viva Las Vegas, Nov 6, 2019.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Viva Las Vegas

    Viva Las Vegas Elvis has left the building

    Joined:
    May 31, 2008
    Messages:
    3,505
    Location:
    None
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    0
    Disappointing on multiple fronts, not the movie which I haven't seen yet, but the production and roll out. I don't have a Netflix account, but that doesn't change my opinion as I would like to see the film on an actual movie screen.

    The secondary issue is the extremely limited roll out. In Chicago, there are three options, one in a far north suburb and one in the city for one week only, a third in a nearby suburb for three days Thanksgiving Day weekend. 17 days total in the state of Illinois. This is primarily due to the fact that Netflix is showing this film on their service within the next few weeks, and theatres to protect their business need a gap between theatre availability and streaming/DVD availability.

    The primary issue is the fact that Marty choose to make this film using a very expensive "de-aging" process, which only Netflix was willing to bankroll. This article explains the process and impact on the film. This film spans a period of decades. There is no doubt Scorsese would have been able to fund this film if produced under a traditional method of using other actors to play younger versions, and allow his three primary veteran actors to play the last decade or two. Robert De Niro was excellent as a young Marlon Brando in Godfather II. They would have been able to roll this out in an actual nationwide release, allowing longtime fans of their work to see it at the movies for their likely final collaboration.

    I'll be able to see the film next week. I am not sure if I will be neutral or actually dislike the way the film looks and feels. I created this thread for others to share their opinion, both pre and post viewing, regarding the roll out and impact of this process on the film.
     
  2. hammie

    hammie VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2006
    Messages:
    8,341
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    8
    The limited roll out to theaters is because none of the large chains wanted to exhibit the film knowing it would be released to Netflix within a few weeks. It will be screened by independent theaters so it will be eligible for th Oscar awards. Just get a Netflix free trial and buy some Orville Redenbacher.

    Netflix has some serious competition with new streaming services from Disney, Apple, HBO. I read that Netflix is spending $15 Billion on content per year.
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
  3. stlguy197239

    stlguy197239 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2018
    Messages:
    2,062
    Location:
    St. Louis
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    14
    Marty: Marvel movies are not real cinema
    Also Marty: Please let me use that sweet de-aging tech you figured out, Marvel.
     
    • Funny Funny x 4
    • Like Like x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1
  4. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2010
    Messages:
    21,510
    Location:
    Tennessee
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    50
    I think you're probably right about that choice being the main factor in the cost of the film. But I disagree that using multiple actors to play the same role is traditional. Maybe a couple decades ago. But the de-aging effect has been around for a while now and its sufficiently impressive that I actually like it (which surprised me; I was concerned it would appear too fake). Part of the reason is because I would rather watch the superior actor play the character at different ages (which you seem to agree with since you emphasize the opportunity to see the collaboration between these actors and the director). The other reason is that the effect looks much better than the other common used method of makeup to give the same actor a different appearance in each decade. For example, I love Once Upon a Time in America, but the old person makeup on the characters in the future scenes is distracting.
     
    The plans have changed
    Post-Shopping Recovery Period
    • Agree Agree x 1
  5. jack v

    jack v MIA

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2019
    Messages:
    299
    Location:
    wisconsin
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    12
    Sounds like the closest place for me to see it is in Madison WI, a long, long way, I guess I wont see it till it comes out on video.
     
  6. Viva Las Vegas

    Viva Las Vegas Elvis has left the building

    Joined:
    May 31, 2008
    Messages:
    3,505
    Location:
    None
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    0
    Meh, still recall their endless pop-ups slowing down my 53.333 kbs dial up connection in the 1990s. I swore them off and have held on this long. Besides, would rather watch on the big screen. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Shoplifters (Japanese Film) were the only two I've seen at the movies this year (would recommend Shoplifters, liked the other until the ridiculous end). I do agree with Marty most American films are rubbish these days.

    Yes, meant to mention this in my OP. I haven't seen any cartoon / theme park films, but I said the same thing when this whole de-aging computer discussion came up. I said it may be worth it if the technology could raise Frank Vincent from the dead and secure a tie with Joe Pesci's character.

    Raging Bull: Joe Pesci beats up Frank Vincent
    Goodfellas: Joe Pesci kills Frank Vincent
    Casino: Frank Vincent kills Joe Pesci
    The Irishman: Frank Vincent beats up Joe Pesci ???

    Alas, it was not to be.

     
  7. hammie

    hammie VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2006
    Messages:
    8,341
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    8
    Unfortunately its a creative medium in a business run by accountants, hence the reliance on formulas, sequels and action hero flicks. Robert Downey Jr. was smart to negotiate "points" on his Avenger's movies, I think starting with the second one. He mentioned in an interview that his paycheck is obscene.

    I just watched De Niro last night in "The Deer Hunter" (Showtime), damn, he was young looking in 1977.
     
  8. stlguy197239

    stlguy197239 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2018
    Messages:
    2,062
    Location:
    St. Louis
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    14

    It's all a matter of perspective. I bet if you go back to the 60s, David Lean and Alfred Hitchcock called movies not like theirs crap and rubbish. I am old enough to remember when people laughed at Spielberg and Lucas for their movies in the 70s.

    Marty can argue that the business is changing but it's sort of 'old man yells at clouds' for him to complain about Marvel movies when he spent 4 years trying to figure out how to make a 'Joker' movie before giving up because it was too difficult to tell the story he wanted (only to watch a questionable director in Todd Philips make a billion dollar version of a film Marty couldn't).
     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1
  9. bdautch

    bdautch VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2013
    Messages:
    2,265
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    24
    I'm kind of looking forward, because the first time I ever hung out at the Friendly Lounge in Philadelphia, the bartender, a great older guy named Ted, told me about the book, "I Heard You Paint Houses". So this film will kind of close that loop for me, although I'm worried about being disappointed and feeling like I already knew what I wanted to know about this story.
     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1
  10. Viva Las Vegas

    Viva Las Vegas Elvis has left the building

    Joined:
    May 31, 2008
    Messages:
    3,505
    Location:
    None
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    0
    David Lean is the only director above who produced movies I enjoyed. Film / art is a matter of taste or perspective.

    There are many great directors across the century + of cinema. If I could only bring films from 10 directors to a desert island, here are my ten

    Paul Thomas Anderson
    Joel & Ethan Coen
    Clint Eastwood
    Jean-Luc Godard
    Abbas Kiarostami
    Krzysztof Kieslowski
    Akira Kurosawa
    Terrence Malick
    Marty Scorsese
    Francois Truffaut
     
  11. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2010
    Messages:
    21,510
    Location:
    Tennessee
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    50
    Kiarostami! :vomit: lol

    But seriously, great list! Off the top of my head with almost no forethought, here are ten I would bring with me:
    Stanley Kubrick
    David Lynch
    Alfred Hitchcock
    Martin Scorsese
    Coen Brothers
    David Lean
    David Fincher
    Lars Von Trier
    Quentin Tarantino
    Brian DePalma

    That catalog would keep me entertained for a long while!
     
    The plans have changed
    Post-Shopping Recovery Period
    • Agree Agree x 1
  12. stlguy197239

    stlguy197239 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2018
    Messages:
    2,062
    Location:
    St. Louis
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    14
    You forgot John Carpenter if only because of the original Halloween, Big Trouble in Little China, and The Thing.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  13. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2010
    Messages:
    21,510
    Location:
    Tennessee
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    50
    You're right! This is what happens when you list without thinking, lol. Sorry DePalma, you're off the list
     
    The plans have changed
    Post-Shopping Recovery Period
  14. Flowers

    Flowers VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2014
    Messages:
    14,642
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    30
    Yep, I have seen now two interviews of the lead actors and Scorsese. As Hammie notes, the movie has to be on the big screen to be Oscar eligible but the team -- I recall my beloved Mr. DeNiro -- said it really should be seen on a big screen and without interruption rather than on a small screen and when folks are stopping the film to answer the phone, take a bathroom break, etc. I am paraphrasing but that was the gist.

    You just reminded me to make sure I see it on the big screen this month.
     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1
  15. Viva Las Vegas

    Viva Las Vegas Elvis has left the building

    Joined:
    May 31, 2008
    Messages:
    3,505
    Location:
    None
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    0
    Won't puke on the directors I'm not on the same page as. Spent 5 minutes on my list, sounds like we are happy with our respective lists. Kubrick definitely a solid choice. Love David Lynch and select films from Lean,Von Trier, Tarantino and DePalma. Have been disappointed with Tarantino since Kill BIll I and II. De Palma on the fence on my list (11th or 12th).

    Didn't forget John Carpenter, not among my favorites.



     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2019
  16. stlguy197239

    stlguy197239 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2018
    Messages:
    2,062
    Location:
    St. Louis
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    14
    I would have dropped Lars Von Trier like a bad habit from that list.

    There are very few directors I go out of my way to make sure I see their movies. Off the top of my head, Tarantino is the first one that comes to mind for me. I would have said James Cameron before Titanic and Avatar, or even Coppala before his 1990's run of trash films. But that is the problem, most directors have those trash films in their history. The films that make you rethink if the guy was good at all or the films you liked were just a product of the time you saw them in your life.
     
    Last edited: Nov 7, 2019
    • Agree Agree x 1
  17. Viva Las Vegas

    Viva Las Vegas Elvis has left the building

    Joined:
    May 31, 2008
    Messages:
    3,505
    Location:
    None
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    0
    I should have spent ten minutes, not five, since I forgot to list Werner Herzog, who is definitely in my top three. Sayonara Kurosawa.









    Also considered Carl Theodore Dreyer on the strength of The Passion of Joan of Arc alone. I only have seen on other film of his, Day of Wrath, which was good. Renee Jeanne Falconetti's performance was the greatest captured on film and the film was brilliantly shot.

     
    • Like Like x 1
  18. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2010
    Messages:
    21,510
    Location:
    Tennessee
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    50
    Yeah, didn't think that would be a popular choice
     
    The plans have changed
    Post-Shopping Recovery Period
  19. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2010
    Messages:
    21,510
    Location:
    Tennessee
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    50
    Herzog is a great choice also. He only mad ea couple films I really like, but they are fantastic.

    But Taste of Cherry. I watched it when it first made the rounds a couple decades ago and my immediate reaction was that the emperor has no clothes. All the praise it received was just nonsense. I watched it again about a decade ago and couldn't even make it through the whole film a second time. At best, the shooting style is interesting (albeit only mildly IMO), but its pointless. You know nothing about the main character and it trivializes suicide and the causes of it. You can't empathize with him or care about him. Thus, it doesn't create any discussion about the character motivations or any larger meaning (or context) to the film itself. Add on top of that fact that nothing, absolutely nothing, actually happens during the film. Finally, top it off with the arrogance of the director appearing as himself filming the movie at the end!!! There was just no point to it all. Waste of celluloid
     
    The plans have changed
    Post-Shopping Recovery Period
  20. stlguy197239

    stlguy197239 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2018
    Messages:
    2,062
    Location:
    St. Louis
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    14
    For me, his movies are all style and no substance and his last few have been so much more of him trying to push things that you wonder what story he is trying tell with them. "Antichrist" is a perfect example of that. What was the point of that movie other than to try and push some boundaries that he has always tried to push?

    If you are looking for someone new to add to a list of 'must see' directors, look at Bong Joon-ho. He is the Kroean director who did "Parasite" and before that "The Host" and "Snowpiercer"

    Anyway, movies are such a subjective thing. Arguing about good and bad is like arguing about good or bad music.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.