@jonny_anonymous: Ah gotcha, I was wondering if they had the same DP or something. I need to give Macbeth a rewatch with subtitles because of the language barrier.
@humanity: Fear X is the only one of his that went the wrong way for me. Pusher 3 gets kinda weird too. Only God Forgives felt like a reaction to the popularity and success of Drive more than anything, so I can respect the man for not milking the cultural phenomenon that he created and instead doing something even more bizarre.
@liquiddragon: Macbeth is great and it reviewed great as well. The reason AC gets hate is entirely down to it being a video game movie nothing more. If it wasn't one, it would likely have around 50-60% on RT rather than 16% or whatever it's at now. Also the guy did the King's Speech which is critically acclaimed.
Macbeth is a perfectly fine adaptation with some very pretty cinematography. Valhalla Rising also looks quite nice and has some good action at the beginning, but I've tried to watch it at least 3 times and always fell asleep after an hour.
@liquiddragon: The guys that produced Kings Speech produced Macbeth. Also check the Macbeth reviews, 80% on RT, 3/4 Roger Ebert, 6.7/10 on IMDB, 71 on Metacritic.
@jonny_anonymous: I've seen Drive, Only God Forgives and most recently Neon Demon. Drive has become this cult darling but I honestly think it's the best he has done as it's incredibly atmospheric without being too esoteric and symbolic for it's own good. Also banging soundtrack. Only God Forgives was, in my opinion, abysmal. Neon Demon had some wonderful cinematography and a pretty basic story. Sort of interesting to see the time honored saying of "showbiz will eat you up" taken to weird extremes.
I haven't seen Valhalla Rising but like I said, I dunno if I want to or not anymore.
@jonny_anonymous: I'm pretty sure I was talking about directors if you look at my first post and every movie has at least a half dozen producers, it doesn't mean shit. And you really care about RT rating? And King's Speech, that long forgotten award season movie? I wasn't attacking you when I said "you're the first person that I've heard say it was good." I meant that in the most literally way. I'll get around to it eventually and hope I like it too but no one I no has said anything positive about that movie.
@humanity: I mean you've seen the rest, may as well go all in at this point right?
Only if you follow it with Bronson and Pusher. Bronson is probably my favourite Winding Refn film, but I do really like the most recent 4 for the visual aspects of them all.
@jonny_anonymous: lol is that how you decide if a movie is good or not? ok, you're on GB so you're really into games like I am. How many games w/ with a budget get good to great reviews these days? Nearly all of them. And how many are actually really good? A lot less. Unfortunately, many critics tend to reviews things very technically and it's very easy for certain types of movies or games to review well but it doesn't align with reality. Look at the IMDB rating. That's a pushover audience and it has a 6.7? That's actually terrible on that site. Don't get defensive about it, it's cool you liked it. That's a good thing.
Valhalla Rising I remember being pretty alright. I've not seen Macbeth but have been meaning to for a while now. I remember Valhalla Rising not being what I expected it to be but that can be said for most Nicolas Winding Refn movies.
@liquiddragon: No, I decide a movie is good by watching it and I have done that. You said nobody has said it was good, all I did was point out that was not true.
I recently watched a number of Refn films, spurred by my viewing of Neon Demon. I'll say this much, and I know people like Valhalla Rising, I merely thought the film was okay. Minus Bronson and Pusher, I feel like Refn films are always a balancing act: seeing how much of his indulgence you're willing to tolerate and how much of it you actually enjoy. Pusher Trilogy is fantastic and has Mads in it (the first and especially the second film), Neon Demon justifies itself by style alone, and Bronson is of course awesome. Only God Forgives I frickin hated though: felt like it was somebody parodying Refn's style.
As for Macbeth, didn't like it. A case of too much style. It sure looks pretty, though. And I can see how that film would make for great trailer fodder. Macbeth doesn't need the treatment it gets in that film--it was damn distracting. Polanski's Macbeth is good if you're interested in watching another version of it.
Refn's head is so far up his ass he can eat and shit from the same hole.
And heck, I wish I could separate his work from his personality, but dude's personality is the only thing I can notice when watching his movies (I understand that this is also the same reason why a lot of people like him).
The awkwardly deliberate and SUBTLE!!!! (I imagine that's how he spells it) symbolism, imagery, and direction that the guy uses is really annoying to me. I never find myself getting immersed into his movies because I feel like I'm watching the "making of" a movie rather than a movie itself.
Now, I know nothing about that Macbeth movie, but I'm willing to choose it over anything Refn does.
Every time I think back to Valhalla Rising, I think of how badass the movie is.. then I go watch it again and am reminded how much I don't like watching it. Just saw it again within the past month. Can't recommend it at all.
Log in to comment