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Banky checks out THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (remake)
Hey there everyone... Harry here with Banky to give out his opinion on this early test screening of THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR. I'm a bit of a fan of the original... and well... I wasn't too high on a remake, but I like John McTiernan and Pierce Brosnan so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.. but doubt isn't in Banky's world... he's seen it, and here's what he has to say. Remember... it is not the finished film... and many things like the score, effects, and final editing are yet to be done. Enjoy...
I wanted to send in a review of The Thomas Crown Affair, which I saw a
few weeks ago. At the screening I saw, they said that the filming had
just been completed two weeks before and the film was in a very rough
cut. A score from The Firm was used as accompaniment. The film
clocked in at just under two hours.
The film still needs a little work, but could be one the summers
bigger movies if cleaned up correctly.
THE SCRIPT AND THE ACTORS:
Pierce Brosnan was excellent in the title role of Thomas Crown, a
millionaire who gets bored with his daily life and decides to steal a
priceless painting. Rene Russo was good in her part of the insurance
investigator who tries to track down Brosnan. The chemistry between
Russo and Brosnan was good. Dennis Leary plays a small role of the
police detective on the case. The script does not give Leary any room
to really make his presence felt. Leary is often stuck with cliched
lines that really don't work that well. Faye Dunaway plays Brosnan's
psychiatrist and is quite terrible. She should be a major concern for
McTiernan and company as she is the biggest problem in the film. Every
scene with her just doesn't work and is not needed for the plot. She
should be cut from the film completely. She was in the original (I
have not seen it), which might explain why the filmmakers tried to
toss her into this version.
THE SPECIAL EFFECTS:
The special effects, although not extravagant and not really needed,
worked well. There was one scene with Brosnan sailing that didn't
seem complete.
THE STUDIO'S CONCERNS:
It seems that the studio is weary of a few scenes in the film. Most
of them deal with Rene Russo being naked. The film had one of the
longest love scenes I have ever witnessed. There was also a dance
scene between Brosnan and Russo that was good, and the dress Russo
wore was black and see-through. The final scene left a few unanswered
questions and I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to reshoot it.
OVERALL OPINION:
Overall, the film was a lot of fun to watch. The plot had many twists
and turns and really flowed. With a little fixing, this might turn
out to be a stand out film among an overcrowded summer lineup.
Just call me Banky
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I had a little puppy.
His eyes were black and dead.
I killed him every morning,
and buried him in my bed.
Oh puppy where are you hiding?
In the yard or in the street?
It's time to die my puppy
cause you're just a piece of meat.
Oh puppy puppy puppy.
Oh puppy puppy please?
Don't make this any harder.
You're just a meet of peas. -
MGM/ua do not edit out the scenes with Ms. Russo in the buff. that would be one terrible tragedy. What can I say, I am man.
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This sounds pretty good -- too bad it'll be coming out the same summer as the similarly-themed "Entrapment" with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Once again, Pierce Brosnan gets to be compared to Sean Connery, which is totally unfair because what mere mortal can compete with Sean Connery? Not to mention that the chemistry between Sean and Catherine ZJ looks to be quite sizzling, based on the "Entrapment" trailers -- "Thomas Crown" is going to have a hard time competing.
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First it was "Dante's Peak" and "Volcano," then "Deep Impact" and "Armaggeddon". Even smaller flicks, like "Stag" and "Very Bad Things." A few others that I won't waste space with. Now there is "Entrapment" and "Thomas Crown" affair, one of which is based on an older film. While both look like solid projects, both of which I'll probably watch and enjoy, I can't help but wonder if all that save-the-planet crap talk (sincere or otherwise) has somehow made it's way into the people who are in charge of putting films together. If it's going to be like this, I say either screw the environment or write scripts on a laptop. Show us some original work.
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I meant "Thomas Crown Affair." This is what happens when I post articles after less than 2 hours sleep :P
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Shame you have seen the original movie. The McQueen-Dunaway movie, which is great, features one of the movie famous scenes in cinema history. The erotic chess game is on par with the eating scene in Tom Jones, and the "kiss" is or at least was the longest ever filmed. They are memorable. I do like Pierce Brosnan, but I fear he can't stand up to the ultimate in coolness, Steve McQueen. That's not going to stop me from seeing this movie though.
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First of all, in the original THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968), Steve McQueen was a multimillionaire who robbed banks just for the hell of it. Second of all, the chess game scene and the long kiss are among the most erotic ever put on film, and guess what ... neither McQueen nor Faye Dunaway (incredibly sexy in this one, I must say) takes off his/her clothing!! Shock of shocks!! Eroticism WITHOUT nudity or sex? Hmmm. I don't care how good or bad this remake is. The original will long be remembered and revered.
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We all have the lustful guy spirit in us (although some of us keep better in control then others)but umm...it is my experience that all the best movies do not have big sex scenes or nudity. Those are 99% of the time non-talent-requiring, gratuitous stuff that people throw in for the hell of it -- recently. Remember that thing in the Player, Joe Levinson throws in some sex to that British guy's movie about death row? =D
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I could be wrong, but I thought the longest kiss was in Hitchcock's Notorious during the chicken dinner scene. Its like a three minute unbroken shot with Cary and Ingrid kissing the whole way through. Thats my personal fave. REMAKES SUCK ASS! HERE'S A QUARTER...BUY AN ORIGINAL THOUGHT, HOLLYWOOD!
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No one can compare to the coolness of McQueen. And he
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The remake will blow goats! Brosnan will not be able to fill McQueen's shows. The chess scene was a hallmark of sensuality in filmaking. McQueen's character was the coolest of the cool in his calculating moves. Watch the scene where he gets called into the police station and won't talk to the cops unless he talks to his lawyer first. McQueen did his acting with a look, not loquatious dialogue! Cut the Dunaway scene in the remake too. It will blow the fourth wall of credibility in the film. Russo is sexy and very babelicious. A good choice for the Dunaway role, but why a remake when you know what's going to happen? Movie middle-management once again shows that their heads are securely up their ass in Hollywood. They lack creativity and the sense and style of originality. They are feeding off the dead scribes of yesteryear and are affraid to sample new, envigorating meals. Dumb bastards!
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Yes, L'Auteur, you are right. The longest kiss was in "Notorious". The second longest kiss was in "Pee Wee's Big Adventure". To think that the future of romance lay in Pee Wee's hands...so to speak. Uncle Cracky, loved the puppy poem. Glad to see your back from your stay at the talking monkey asylum. STEVE McQUEEN ROCKED!
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L'Auteur, Brian de Palma also used split screen to great effect in the prom scene of "The Rage 1" (aka "Carrie"), which I'm sure will be much more familiar to most people than "Sisters" (huh? De Palma directed an episode of that series with Swoosie Kurtz and Sela Ward?). Also, if you go back and look closely at the kissing/chicken dinner scene in "Notorious," you'll see it's actually a series of short kisses during one long, unbroken clinch -- also incorporating a phone call and the aforementioned chicken dinner. They did it this way on purpose -- the Production Code forbade kisses beyond a certain time limit, so they worked around it while keeping the whole scene one continuous "kiss" in all but name. I'm not sure whether that means it doesn't count as the longest, but you should know about the asterisk attached.
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Well, this is a bit off subject but...
Is it just me or is Cathrine Zeta Jones perhaps the most attractive woman in the world. The scene in the Entrapment trailer where she is crawling under the infrared beams (or whatever they are)....ladies and gentlemen, THAT is an incredible backside. -
I know about the asterick and the Code and I know that no on-screen kiss was allowed to last longer than three seconds. But i dont care. I still consider it the longest, and best, kiss in cinema history. It helps that its Cary and Ingird too! Notorious wins my award for Most Beautiful People EVER film!!! GOD Cary Grant is what every man should aspire to be (i wanna drop mad LSD when im old too!), and if Natalie Portman is the most beautiful woman alive, then Ingrid Bergman is the most beautiful corpse!! I can watch that film over and over just to look at the people! Even Claude Rains makes a devilishly handsome villian (stangley empathetic too). God, i hafta go watch it now....i need my Ingrid fix.
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Apr 14, 1999 12:15:19 PM CDT
Speaking of remakes, guess what film I just heard on the radio i
by spike lee
SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT!!! Swear to God I heard it on the radio! Universal has hired a group of writers to put the pedal to the metal. I will probably be the only person to say this film is a guilty pleasure of mine. How can you hate Burt Reynolds and Jerry Reed! I thought you could take Coors beer past Texas and it was not bootleggin' these days. What will the Bandit haul now? Drakes' Coffee Cakes!
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Remake "Smokey and the Bandit"?! It was the second highest grossing film of 1977 after "Star Wars"! While were at it, lets just remake "The Garbage Pail Kids Movie", "Under the Cherry Moon" and "Cool As Ice"."Ice, Ice, Baby!" as sung by Leonardo Di Caprio. I mean, what the fuck?!
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Auteur, I am in agreement with you 100% about "Notorious." I don't care whether that scene is the longest screen kiss or 50 of the shortest screen kisses, I'm just sorry when it has to end. Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman define both "star power" and "screen chemistry" for all time in this movie -- it's amazing to me that they were only paired onscreen a couple of times besides this film (only "Indiscreet" comes to mind as another one). And Claude Rains does indeed play a wonderful, empathetic villain -- it's very typical of Hitch to make you feel sorry for the villain's being shafted the way Claude is. In fact, when you think about it, Claude Rains is the only character in the movie who is acting from straightforward motives -- yes, he's a Nazi, but he also falls genuinely in love with Ingrid Bergman and gets punished for being trusting, while our heroes seduce and deceive him. Gotta love that Hitchcock touch. Pardon me for gushing, but I've been into Hitch in a major way since I was in high school.
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SISTERS was Brian De Palma's first horror/suspense movie released in 1973. It stars Margot Kidder as Siamese Twins -- one's a charming, well-brought up young woman, the other is ... well, the other is a homicidal maniac. This was the first De Palma film criticized for being a rip-off of Hitchcock, but, like other De Palma works, it has a style all its own. Incidentally, SISTERS is being re-released theatrically this year to celebrate its "25th" anniversary.
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I found the original Thomas Chrown Affair a brilliant film, but maybe thats coz im hung up on Mcqueen, he made a lot of films that appear in my top 20; Bullitt, The Great Escape, Papillion and of course the TCA.
BUT, the one thing im disagreeing with here is people saying that the chess games was erotic! neither the chess game (ooh their picking up the pieces!!) or the kiss were very erotic, i mean, they brought a smile to my face but thats it, if you want erotic then go rent...(naww, no matter what i say you'll make fun of me)
Faye Dunaway's nadir came in Bonnie and Clyde...but that was one of her first (if not her first?) anyways, This film has the potential to rock! -
What's up with this and Entrapment being released at the same time? What's up with the airbrushed-from-hell poster of Brosnan and Russo? I could barely tell it was her, it looked like a CGI creation! Connery and Zeta-Jones have "sizzling" chemistry in the Entrapment trailer? Come to think of it, he does look like a piece of bacon left on the pan too long...Catherine has more chemistry with the floor than she does with Sean, and if you've seen the trailer, you'll know what I'm talking about.
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will be remembered for years to come. Watching the trailer, I could almost hear a collective groan coming from the film crew. I wonder how many times they shot that scene?
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Apr 14, 1999 4:25:35 PM CDT
HCaulfied-watch the chess scene with a girl sitting next to you.
by uncapie
instead of your stuffed Yoda doll. You'll see why its sensual. By-the-way, I read your book. You wouldn't know what to do with a girl even if you did get one!
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Are they gonna have "Windmills of Your Mind" somewhere in the remake? I love that song. BTW, Uncapie, when I read your post about Smokey and the Bandit, I almost pissed myself laughing. It was just so on target!
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