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Jersey Jedi Carves Up RIGHTEOUS KILL!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Merrick here...
...with another look at RIGHTEOUS KILL, in response to reviews we posted yesterday (FIND THEM HERE!)
Could be sounding better, folks. Could be sounding better. But, again, keep in mind there's a while between now and the film's September release...so the movie might change a bit between now and then.
On a side note: it sounds like the bozos running this screening were total tools. This reviewer mentions how rude they were, as did one of the write-ups we ran yesterday. The folks running such screenings...their job isn't to offend their audience, or to intimidate those who don't follow some prescribed (or desired) party line. Their job is to show an audience a film & gather objective information to take back to marketing folks, studios, filmmakers, etc. Period.
So, I'm not sure what these particular reps were thinking. But...and this presumes our readers are being honest and accurate...what happened at this screening was way uncool, and bad news all around.
Here's Jersey Jedi with his thoughts on the film...and a dress down of the dude wrangling the subsequent focus group.
I just read the two Righteous Kill reviews on the site and I thought I would send in my thoughts too.
Starting with some background: I am clearly a Jersey boy 100%. I come from the kind of typical Italian-American family that pronounces every other word in a dialect straight out of the Calabrese country side. So, naturally, I have been brought up to worship Pacino and DeNiro as being slightly less holy that Jesus (you know those scenes in "Garden State" where everyone keeps referencing 'Jersey's DeNiro' because Zach Braff's character is an actor? - That's what I'm talking about). So when I received an invitation to see the first flick with both legends together since the definitive crime movie "Heat" (and the first where they directly play off each other for the duration of the picture), I could not have been more ecstatic. Pig in shit does not begin to describe the sensation.
Me and my girlfriend arrived nice and early, sat front row center and just raved about how amazing this was going to be. We were even asked by the guy running the thing to stay after and talk to the filmmakers. At 7:30, lights go down, temp score kicks in and DeNiro confesses to 14 murders while looking directly into camera.
My stomach dropped.
And not in a good way.
I knew going in that this was written Russell Gewirtz, who also wrote the spectacular "Inside Man". So I felt a deep sense of distress when I realized this was the same exact opening that was utilized in "Inside Man" (you know, when Clive Owen speaks directly into camera stating that his plan to pull of the perfect robbery worked... yea). And that fact completely defines what kind of a movie "Righteous Kill" is; It is a mash up of all the great conventions contained in modern crime films, but executed in the most haphazard, lazy and intellectually offensive way humanly possible.
In the aforementioned scene, DeNiro's character states that his name is David Fisk and proceedes to detail how he performed the murders, his paranoia concerning being caught and a million other perfectly timed statements that unconvincingly coincide to what's happening on screen. So when you find out after the entire length of the movie that Pacino's character was actually the one who committed all the murders (DeNiro was only reading from a pocket journal that Pacino wrote in - Pacino's character's name is actually Fisk, not DeNiro) it is not only unsurprising but downright enraging. This is disrespect for the audience's intelligence on a level that is staggering. If you thought the ending for "the Village" was contrived and incongruent with what came before, wait to you get a load of these shenanigans.
The thing is that if anyone else besides Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino were in this movie, it may have turned out to be a fun little distraction. I may have been able to ignore the hundreds of logistical missteps and just gone along for the ride.
But they are in this movie together. So I just can't.
If you are going to put Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino in a movie together as partners, it has to be great. That's it. I'm not saying that it has to be complete perfection and a revelation like "Godfather 2" and "Heat" were. But at the very least it should play to their strengths as the two greatest actors of their generation and give them something worth doing together. And this sure as hell isn't it. A little originality would have gone a long way. But, as it turns out, "Righteous Kill" is easily one of the biggest missteps in the entirety of both Pacino and DeNiro's career.
Such a fuckin shame.
Jersey Jedi
P.S. That guy (Andy was his name) that asked my girlfriend and I to attend the discussion after the movie - the same one that the previous reviewer called a 'jerk off'.
Well after the movie ended, and we've filled out our surveys, he comes over to us and asks us what we thought of the movie. So we show him that we kinda hated it (she gave it a 'fair' rating and I said 'poor'), he reads it out loud so everyone can hear it, and walks over to his assistant and states just as loudly that he's "not going to be using those two over there".
After that the assistant berated us, asking "How could you hate that movie!?". The only thing that saved me from total embarrassment was that a couple of guys above us chucked after he read our shitty reviews and seemed to feel the same way.
If this is how they treat loyal fans who are willing to give honest and heartfelt feedback, I have lost an incredible amount of disrespect for the Hollywood system.
Starting with some background: I am clearly a Jersey boy 100%. I come from the kind of typical Italian-American family that pronounces every other word in a dialect straight out of the Calabrese country side. So, naturally, I have been brought up to worship Pacino and DeNiro as being slightly less holy that Jesus (you know those scenes in "Garden State" where everyone keeps referencing 'Jersey's DeNiro' because Zach Braff's character is an actor? - That's what I'm talking about). So when I received an invitation to see the first flick with both legends together since the definitive crime movie "Heat" (and the first where they directly play off each other for the duration of the picture), I could not have been more ecstatic. Pig in shit does not begin to describe the sensation.
Me and my girlfriend arrived nice and early, sat front row center and just raved about how amazing this was going to be. We were even asked by the guy running the thing to stay after and talk to the filmmakers. At 7:30, lights go down, temp score kicks in and DeNiro confesses to 14 murders while looking directly into camera.
My stomach dropped.
And not in a good way.
I knew going in that this was written Russell Gewirtz, who also wrote the spectacular "Inside Man". So I felt a deep sense of distress when I realized this was the same exact opening that was utilized in "Inside Man" (you know, when Clive Owen speaks directly into camera stating that his plan to pull of the perfect robbery worked... yea). And that fact completely defines what kind of a movie "Righteous Kill" is; It is a mash up of all the great conventions contained in modern crime films, but executed in the most haphazard, lazy and intellectually offensive way humanly possible.
In the aforementioned scene, DeNiro's character states that his name is David Fisk and proceedes to detail how he performed the murders, his paranoia concerning being caught and a million other perfectly timed statements that unconvincingly coincide to what's happening on screen. So when you find out after the entire length of the movie that Pacino's character was actually the one who committed all the murders (DeNiro was only reading from a pocket journal that Pacino wrote in - Pacino's character's name is actually Fisk, not DeNiro) it is not only unsurprising but downright enraging. This is disrespect for the audience's intelligence on a level that is staggering. If you thought the ending for "the Village" was contrived and incongruent with what came before, wait to you get a load of these shenanigans.
The thing is that if anyone else besides Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino were in this movie, it may have turned out to be a fun little distraction. I may have been able to ignore the hundreds of logistical missteps and just gone along for the ride.
But they are in this movie together. So I just can't.
If you are going to put Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino in a movie together as partners, it has to be great. That's it. I'm not saying that it has to be complete perfection and a revelation like "Godfather 2" and "Heat" were. But at the very least it should play to their strengths as the two greatest actors of their generation and give them something worth doing together. And this sure as hell isn't it. A little originality would have gone a long way. But, as it turns out, "Righteous Kill" is easily one of the biggest missteps in the entirety of both Pacino and DeNiro's career.
Such a fuckin shame.
Jersey Jedi
P.S. That guy (Andy was his name) that asked my girlfriend and I to attend the discussion after the movie - the same one that the previous reviewer called a 'jerk off'.
Well after the movie ended, and we've filled out our surveys, he comes over to us and asks us what we thought of the movie. So we show him that we kinda hated it (she gave it a 'fair' rating and I said 'poor'), he reads it out loud so everyone can hear it, and walks over to his assistant and states just as loudly that he's "not going to be using those two over there".
After that the assistant berated us, asking "How could you hate that movie!?". The only thing that saved me from total embarrassment was that a couple of guys above us chucked after he read our shitty reviews and seemed to feel the same way.
If this is how they treat loyal fans who are willing to give honest and heartfelt feedback, I have lost an incredible amount of disrespect for the Hollywood system.
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+ Expand All
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did anybody think that those two could coexist in a good move?
naa, me neither....
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In my perfect little world, this movie doesn't exist.
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you dildos
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Pacino couldn't even share the stage with Robin Williams in the self fulfilling prophecy that was "Insomnia"
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If I were you I would have told him where to go. Movie sounds terrible, thanks for the heads up.
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Mar 01, 2008 5:42:29 PM CST
Felch Master: They put the red "spoiler box" on the headlne
by skinjob69
But I think a spoiler warning in the text itself would have been helpful, too.
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Quick, intelligent, too the point. Now I kinda hope this movie does suck just so "Andy" feels like an ass.
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More than one reviewer of this film has suggested that it can be fixed with improved editing, etc. Not sure a deeply flawed film (as this one might be) can be buffed up THAT much in post.
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Would you sit "front row center" at the movie theatre if you arrived early?
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I gave the film a rating of "Good", everyone I spoke to after the screening (and I stayed around and did lots of chatter) rated it "Very Good" to "Excellent" - there was applause at the end.....the film got a better reaction than this review and the one in the other thread are making it appear........I kinda have to agree with Andy here - how could you hate that movie? It's an entertaining popcorn flick - nowhere near one of the biggest "missteps" of their careers.......especially since DeNiro's last 10 years has been nothing but missteps. This whole "if it isn't Godfather II or Heat it sucks" thing is stupid - the film (and twist) work in this.
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PPPLLLLAAAAANNNTTTT!!!!!!!
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He has done absolutely nothing worthwhile in over a decade. DeNiro's not much better.
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i dont really care anymore cuz this movie sounds like a turd covered in vomit
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...The director hasn't been firing on his mediocrity engines in somewhile (hes never been good). The two leads died and were replaced by Mannequins 15 years ago. The writer is a fucking dreadful hack. Its produced by Millenium films. What the hell is anyone expecting? Divine intervention?
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Seriously, what bitches!
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Pacino in the last decade/10 years : DONNIE BRASCO, THE INSIDER, CHINESE COFFEE, INSOMNIA, ANGELS IN AMERICA, MERCHANT OF VENICE......there, that was easy enough.
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Hence the "I am...a boy" in the second sentence of the review. Good reading, Merrick.
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I'm sick as a dog, so maybe I'm reading this wrong... but if you "lose disrespect" then you're basically gaining respect.. so this reviewer just gained respect for Hollywood by them shitting out a mediocre movie, then chastising the audience for calling it just that?? hrmm..
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I've been through that once, and that's HIGHLY annoying. Even when taking this formality with the utmost seriousness (like, not advising to add GIAT FUCKING robots in the third act to bring TOTAL FUCKING DESTRUCTION. Seducing, but not that useful for the studio. Unless it's a Michael Bay movie) you can't totally set apart the movie itself and the jackasses running the following focus group.
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merchant of venice and will be portraying Salvador Dali. DeNiro will be playing a mobster again unfortuantely in Frankie Machine
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Fair enough that the movie is intellectually insulting, but don't bring The Village into it - I f***ing loved that ending. Loved it as a film actually, although not many people seemed to appreciate it
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Sorry, just thought I'd join in.
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Just by describing the beginning we all know that Deniro is just covering up for his partner's crimes.Also, if I were at the screening, i would have told Andy that judging by the two hours of your live that you just suffered through, its pretty obvious he's not taking any healthy criticism...
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Mar 01, 2008 7:44:55 PM CST
Don't mention The Village when talking about lame and predictabl
by iamjack'suserid
Mperry91 will start crying. He's the only one in the world who liked that shitcarnival of a movie so mentioning the film in a negative light is OFF LIMITS!!!
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words in the goddamn subject line, than have the goddamn cursor stop when we've reached the goddamn limit!! Your backwards ass, medieval forum technology is SHIT! Get with the now, goddammit!!
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actually spoilers, not PLANT!
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Mar 01, 2008 8:17:51 PM CST
at least you didnt tell spoil the xtra twist after the credits.
by duchuvney_post_x
deniro's character learns the truth about perez's twin.
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Not only is the film awful and misogynistic, but the director is a total douche.
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Mar 01, 2008 8:32:05 PM CST
jjgittes, you're talking out of your ass--
by the gospel according to bastardface
The film is a boring crapfest and everyone involved in it knows it. It is nowhere near the film Inside Man was, and that was heavily influenced by Spike Lee. Righteous Kill has Jon Avnet at the helm. The guy cannot direct piss into a bucket.
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He does like three films a year and they tend to be bad.
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B-Face - You saw the film or you didn't? Refresh my memory. I never mentioned "Inside Man" at all so wtf are you talking about....all I said was that it was a good genre piece and it got a better reaction in Paramus than 2 of the 3 reviews on AICN are leading you to believe..... the positive review in the other thread is closest to reflecting the quality of the film and the crowd's reaction to it........what exactly is your problem with what I'm saying? Do you want new wave or do you want the truth......because I ain't giving you new wave.
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Jon Avnet has directed 2 theatrical films in the last 10 years : 88 Minutes with Pacino (lame) and Righteous Kill (pretty good/solid going off the Paramus screening cut).....not sure how that translates to "3 films a year".....maybe in the same way that Pacino hasn't done anything good in "20 years" when Merchant of Venice was 3 years ago.....must be that new math I keep hearing about.
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I remember when that film came out, too. Pacino was savaged by most critics who accused him of being out of his depth. Everyone I know who saw that film hated him because of that new york accent that he couldn't lose. Same thing happened to pacino in revolution. For you to act as though Merchant of Venice is some universally reguarded film for Pacino is nothing short of extraordinary.
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what a name. Best name on this site is messi, gus van rant and TOTAL FUCKING DESTRUCTION.
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I don't even have an interest in this silly movie...but if your reviewer is going to spill the plot...give us a heads up! Man, it's gotten lazy around here!
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Inside Man sucked.
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thanks for spoiling the MOTHERFUCKING MOVIE, YOU FUCKING, CUNT. I wish I could make these caps bigger you fuck. deniro and pacino together, finally, again, almost there - SPOILED, FUCK FUCK FUCK. "thanks baby i had a real nice time"
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The ending to the villiage was genious! ...okay now hear me out. The first time you watch it, it's like this crazy thriller with monsters and shit and then the ending hits and your like wtf?! ...But how many of you have watched it a second time knowing the ending? When you watch the movie and you know the ending, it's a completely different movie and all kinds of new themes pop out at you. It's really great. And yes I'm being serious.
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::; Literally::;
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...or Andy, or whatever the fuck you call yourself, if you treat test screen audiences like shit, then you deserve bad reviews for your movie. You obviously haven't been trained in sales and marketing and you WILL be fired for your cock-up. Just for you, Andy, I will not be seeing this movie. And you can tell that to your bosses.
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Merriman - Change your name. You ain't Merry at all. I'm not Andy, I was just at the screening; I'm a movie fan just like you. Well not JUST like you because I'm not a seething cranky guy. Just sayin'......but yes I can confirm the people repping the film at the screening were kinda rude......and.......it's still a pretty good movie, regardless.
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So I take it nobody here liked S1mone?
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Rotten Tomatoes reviews are at the bottom of this post and they seem to suggest your memory is somewhat faulty.......... Read them (more than just the reviews for the film itself), you'll see he got mostly praise - even if the film didn't and some carping........NO American actor is going to play Shakespeare and get "universally" lauded for it now are they? There's too many biases built in towards Americans for that.......As for your "friends" who saw the film and thought he couldn't lose the NY accent, well, they're kinda dumb aren't they ......because if anything he overplays the Yiddish accent too much. The comparison to Revolution is inaccurate - the performances have nothing in common besides that they involved accents.....and there's a lot of people who think Pacino sucks in Scarface and think his accent sucks too......some of these people may be your friends also.....which means they'd be wrong about that too.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/merchant_of_venice/ -
I thought was pretty funny for the first half, then runs outta steam. Not terrible, but a one joke premise stretched to the limit.....fair to middlin' with some nice zingers here and there.
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Quiz me. The movie is fucking terrible and there isn't a single movie of Jon Avnet's entire career that was of any merit, aside from Fried Green Fucking Tomatoes. What else? And 88 Minutes is possibly the biggest heap of shit since the Up Close and Personal. Fuck off.
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Mar 02, 2008 4:45:45 AM CST
When John Leguizamo is the best thing in your film...
by the gospel according to bastardface
You are fucked! Face it.
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Thanks for that.
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Who are telling to fuck off you psycho loon? I didn't say you didn't see the film, I was just asking if you did......calm down. Go get laid or kiss a girl or something or get a new Star Wars calendar.....Are you expecting me to defend "88 Minutes"? (Not a good film, but no worse than stuff that's dumped in multiplexes every week); Are you expecting me to defend Jon Avnet (not a good film director, but his TV work "Boomtown" and "Uprising" have merit).....if this was an "88 Minutes" or Jon Avnet thread you'd have a point, but it's not, so you don't......RK is a pretty good film (in its existing state) that works as well enough as entertainment with good performances by the 2 leads......why that bothers you so much I'm not sure, but you're obviously not interested in talking about the film anyway, so I'm not sure what you're even going on about.
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Mar 02, 2008 5:39:33 AM CST
Pacino/De Niro Handling Good Dialog is the Best Thing In the Fi
by jjgittes
.......not Leguizamo.
Way to mislead people and get John Leguizamo's 9 fans falsely excited........
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I worked on the film. You did not. I have said my peace. You were lying about the film and I called you on it.
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Why do you have to take it like that? You hate the film, and I thought it was pretty good with quite good lead performances that will appeal to fans of DePac and it works as a genre flick........How does that translate into me being a "liar"? All I've said in any of these posts is this : there's 3 reviews posted for RK on this site - 2 negative, 1 positive; the positive one is closer to capturing the way I felt about the film personally and in my opinion is more reflective of the way the film tested in Paramus overall with the crowd by what I observed......that's it. Nothing more to it than that really.
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Isn't it nice when studio shills take the trouble to contribute to AICN talkbacks in a last-ditch attempt to save their jobs? Sorry Andy Mc Planty, your movie sucks, your marketing skills suck and you, my friend, are going down with the whole stinking ship.
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You think I'm Andy or maybe you're just a conspiracy theorist by nature I dunno but I told you that I'm not "Andy" and I told you that I am not a plant......this is the part where you say "Sorry jjgittes, I was wrong about you but this Andy guy sounds like a dick"
See, that's not so hard.
Also, you may want to actually SEE the movie before deciding that it sucks.
But then again this may tie into your whole not letting the facts getting in the way of your (rather disturbing) rants against the establishment, "the man", my marketing skills, the Knights of Templar, the Freemasons and the Trilateral Commission.
Wtf.
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Definitely not. And I realized posting that looked so. I just really couldn't stomach the shit from jjgittes. I will shut up now.
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Which "shit" of mine couldn't you take again? The part where my OPINION wasn't the same as yours? .......The part where you told me to Fuck Off completely unprovoked? .......The part where I talked about the actual Paramus screening which is actually the TOPIC while instead you wanted to talk about "88 Minutes", Jon Avnet's career, the relative merits of "Inside Man" and fuckall else.
That shit you mean? Yeah, sorry about that. My bad.
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Things like this always happens when a bad movie gets bad reviews: some TB'er with a fresh handle calls us all troglodytes, all the while pleading for us to ignore our gag reflexes and buy a ticket. As for my friends being dumb and ignorant of Pacino's sad attempt at a yiddish accent, well, all I have to say is that seeing as how 9/10 of them were from NY in the first place, I can't say as I blame them.
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10 friends? Really?......Guess you didn't get around to clicking on that Rotten Tomatoes link, huh? Nope, guess not......Better a fresh handle telling you the truth than an old handle circle jerk presenting "facts" that turn out not to be true, right Moon?.....Right? Yeah, that's what I thought.
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Mar 02, 2008 8:42:56 AM CST
You don't run this talkback jjgittes so stop
by the gospel according to bastardface
acting like you do. I was following the discussion on here while you're hijacking it for some bizarre reason to tell us all that RK is this put-upon good movie. It simply isn't. And me backing up my opinions with reasons it is not good, for example Jon Avnet being a hack and a douche or the writer of Inside Man being heavily rewritten (20 drafts), it was all to bolster my rebuttals to yours. Oh and I apologize for telling you to fuck off, but oh well, FUCK OFF.
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And with that attitude, is it really any wonder why The Gospel referred to your antics as "shit?"Also, I never said that ten friends had seen the show. Counting friends and aquaintences, I'd say it was closer to thirty or so; roughly the size of the english/literature dept. that I hang with.
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Its simple: I work at UB and live in Buffalo NY.
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I think I am allowed to point out how bad Pacino's accent is.
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Now, scroll to the top of the thread : see that one post where I described what happened at the screening? Good.....now, scroll down to the part where you tell me I'm talking out my ass like some kinda psycho pit-bull......Now go to the part where you actually discuss something in the film itself or the Paramus event......oh wait that part doesn't exist.....you can say Fuck Off all you want, but you jumped down my throat pal, I ain't trying to run the talkback, I'm just replying to people directing shit at me.....Now be a man of your word and either shut up like you promised or talk about the film and respect opinions that differ from yours.
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The way that I've been talked to in this thread is way worse than anything I've given out; perhaps not in your case though...if so, then apologies for calling your friends stupid. I'm in full defensive mode........but you were wrong about the reaction to the film and that performance outside your circle of friends/acquaintances......the general assessment of that performance is that it's the definitive Shylock on film......click the link, read for yourself......end of.
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I don't see why everyone hates J.L., is he consistent... not really, but when he has good material and a director who knows how to utilize him, he can be very effective (look at what Baz did with him in Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!)
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When I pointed out that Merchant of Venace wasn't too good a film and that Pacino wasn't reguarded well, you gave me nothing but provisos and excuses: critics v. real viewers, bias against americans, etc. Then, flying in the face of irony, you derisively question my personal experience while ignoring the fact that your initial post was ALSO anecdotal. I guess the goose and gander are no longer on speaking terms, hmm? The fact is, if you truly are someone that regularly reads AICN, then you would know there is something of a track record here. The moment a film, typically a film that performs less than ideally, will, of course, get bad reviews by AICN. It is usually then that someone, whome we've never seen in other threads, starts posting about how we're all a bunch of lying SOB's. "Just give the film a chance," they say. And in every case, every single one, the moment that movie is released, they're never seen again. So, you'll have to forgive us if most of us are a bit skeptical. And your attitude isn't helping much, either.
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It's fucking Jersey, people are total douchebags in Jersey.. Of course the screening was going to go poorly, and the people running it were going to act like they have some mental connection with the Soprano attitude... If you live in Jersey, escape while you can, I did, went to college out west. Every time I have to go back there for business, i'm reminded how shitty it is there. Get out while you can.
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However, not one person on here ever asked me why I felt positive about the film or anything like that? All I get is shit like "Plant!!" blah, balh, blah....fuck, do you guys even like movies? Maybe the "pattern" repeats itself because many (not all) of you are cynical sarcastic jerks......I have posted here in the past, just not much, and I was excited to post on RK because I don't often get to go to these test screenings......Now I don't see how I'm talking out my ass at all when I'm the only one in the thread who actually spoke about the screening itself, so nah.....And we disagree on your "goose/gander" example. Your anectodal example was within what you presented as a fact. You said the performance was panned when it was not....the reply to your post by me should have just been to provide the link and refute that. You don't like the film/performance, that's cool; but you misrepresented the general response to it and I don't think that's in dispute now.....I just gave my opinion about the screening.
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God, Jjgittes, you're so green: a talkbacker can spot you guys a mile off - you give yourself away in so many ways, which I'm not about to let you in on, since I'm not about to help you plants blend in convincingly. So you're not actually the notorious "Andy"? Maybe you are, mabe you're not. But assure us that Andy has been fired and then we can talk. And no, I'm not going to see your movie.
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For calling me great. I will take your compliment at face value.......We're getting there I think....before I "was" Andy, now "maybe" I'm not....that's progress!! Feel da love haters. :)
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of Kajagoogoo!! Too shy too shy too shy too shy too shy too shy too shy
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I hate fuckers named "Andy". Just want to smack you.
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Nevermind. :)
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While it does seem that most people thought hte movie wasn't very good, according to Rotten Tomatoes, most people did like Pacino's performance. In hindsight, I recall a lot of people saying that this film was a bad shakespeare flick, and since I didn't like Al's performance (neither did very many people that I knew), I guess I remembered his role as being panned by critic. I guess I was wrong.
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Peace Through Superior Firepower
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Mazel Tov!
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in Stardust. Good movie. Travis Bickle in a pink tutu.
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Thanks for posting that, which you didn't have to do. The flick I think was at 71% on RT so that wasn't too bad for it overall - I thought it was a good (and beautifully shot) version myself except for Joseph Fiennes who was just blandsville missing all nuance in the line readings.......I shall bow out of this thread now, there's nothing for me left here and I've significantly overstayed my welcome.....This will not be the last time you see me post, I'm not one of those disappear people you described....Cheers/Out.
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Farewell foliage.
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That you had to reach all the way to a relatively little seen, barely remembered film to prove that Pacino had done something worthwhile in ten years. True, he also did The Insider, but it wasn't anything special, unlike Russel Crowe.Still, all debating over the merits of this film v. that, the fact remains that our two leads in this film have been putting out some pretty spotty performances for nearly a decade. To top it off, judging by the reviews, yours included, this film is a relatively mediocre, "enjoyable popcorn film" at best, and a mysoginistic, and idiotic, paint-by-the-numbers flick at worst. Considering how long people waited/desired to see Pacino and Deniro in the same film, even after Heat, that is just plain insulting. I am forced to agree with the consensus on this one: they deserved better. It is BECAUSE of this film's banality that I will not enjoy it, and should the film prove to be as tawdry as it seems, I would hate it with an absolute passion. I see no reason why the jeering should cease, and, frankly, those that are okay with this film on the grounds of its banality, are part of the problem in Hollywood.
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And it doesnt matter if you're Andy or one of his colleagues: it's clear from your lack of response to my question that Andy HASN'T been fired - all the more reason not to see your movie. So tell your bosses that you're achieving the opposite effect to the one intended. The fact that you guys have to descend to this kind of damage limitation makes you look pathetic. If you had put as much effort into making sure your movie got the basics right, you wouldn't have to be doing this.
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sometimes i have to wonder how the staff here decides whick emails with reviews they decide to post..is it based on the quality of the review?...or a slant of a review? while this film may totally suck,i have to wonder how many positive reviews linger in said staff's inboxes..its cool that a bunch of likeminded ppl have a website like this,i love it,just seems like opinion avalanche sometimes
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Once a genius, Pacino's acting style has deteriorated to the point where it now consists of SHOUTING every third WORD down the TELEPHONE.
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That review has just spoilt the picture for me & for many others......assholes!!
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and he said, "Righteous kill, brother!"
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THIS IS ONE HELLUVA WAY TO COMMUNICATE.
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yeah dude I dont even post in here that often and it looks like jiggites has an axe to grind or something.
Also, just from reading the reviews, I can tell the movie sucks. I havent seen a movie I didnt like in about 8 years (except Transformers, but I HAD to, Im a diehard), since I tuned my BS meter after a bad experience. I can read between the lines on reviews, especially AICN reviews written by regular people..and this movie sounds lame. 25 minutes of trying to catch 50? 50 and pacino/deniro? confessions at the beginning straight into the camera? "stars" only in the movie for a few scenes? get outta town, this shit is weak.
@thebearovingian: LOL -
Thanks for ruining the movie for us, I simply love it when that happens. And Pacino as sucked for many years. His Ham style acting works in few movies.
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...has posted in no more than two previous talkbacks. One dealing with the The Passenger back in May 2007, and the other dealing with.... 88 Minutes, which he tries to salvage.
Gotta love his "Star Wars" and "The Matrix" references as well as the lame "go kiss a girl" thing.
As plants go, jjgittes is one of the worst. -
He actually also posted in the previous Righteous Kill talkback.
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...like all plants, incessantly complains about people being haters because they don't get a "perfect" movie.
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Pacino's performance in that was great. Bobby though, hasn't impressed me lately.
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It's kind of an oddly structured play. I thought they did a pretty good job adapting it. Pacino's performance was good--at the very least, he was not "phoning it in" or any such nonsense.
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Mar 02, 2008 1:23:40 PM CST
awwwwww fuck, Inside Man? that was the worst movie of its summer
by spandau belly
After those two previous reviews I figured this was just a conveluted mess like Black Dahlia, but Inside Man was even worse. That movie was all cocky about being all over the place and introducing endless plotlines that went nowhere.Shit, count me out. If that guy who wrote Inside Man and this had one talent it must be to convince big names to jump on his clusterfuck cliche-ridden genre mish mashes.I'd be happier to see a third rate version of HEAT than a first rate version of INSIDE MAN.
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It's the 75th Anniversary of the film's release in New York and there's no editorial by Harry? Show some fucking love, guys!
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Sorry for the pun, squirples, but you all bore me. I happen to have seen this film and found the structure to be cohesive as any film since none other than CITIZEN KANE. I truly do believe this will garner significant both OSCAR and ACADEMY AWARD attention. I'd ask what you people think, but i might f all asleep reading your responses.
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Welcome to the Department of Redundancy Department, how may I welcome you?
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thanks a lot.
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Respect your elders. I went to college. Harvard Undergrad. Yale overgrad. Get a life, will you? Just because the people on these boards look up to me doesn't mean you have to get so jealous that you start gnawing on your own arm. get a life.
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T'was a joke.
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didn't come off as suchly
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But I'm glad I was able to snap you out of your boredom.
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Why donet you learn how to spell? Check your Grammer while you're at it. For your information, I am that which is still boredom.
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"[I] found the structure to be cohesive as any film since none other than CITIZEN KANE" you have set yourself up for, at the very least, a joke.
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Well played, sir.
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PLEASE...YOU ARE ONE WHO HAS TO BE OF THE JOKE BEING MADE. Have you ever been to film school? Have you ever even lain your eyes on which is called by society a film? obvously not. I speak for everyone on that is which is this bored when i say: LEAVE AND DON'T BACK OR LOOK.
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[Pause] "Hand over that boy!"
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I was referencing the character Sherriff of Rottingham from the zesty 1993 film "Robin Hood: Men in Tights". Filmgenius was employing the same awkward, grammatical style (albeit without the blatant dislexia)
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...Win-win-win scenario because De Niro and pachino were together in just one scene. Besides the script, director, soundtrack, other actors, editing, cinematography, and a large etcetera
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BTW, I loved the performance of Mr. De Niro in "City by the sea"
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He should do more movies like that and "Angels In America" not this boring crap. And De Niro should just retire. Especially, after "Meet the Fockers." For assaulting us with such an unfunny and intellectually depraved film, SAG should of demanded his union card back. Same with Stiller. He's totally lost it. I bet Drew Barrymore has dated all of them and thats the cause of the above mentioned actors loss of talent. Drew's now got her vampire tentacles in Justin Long. Say goodbye to his talent. Stop her before she continues the destruction. Tom Green should start a survivor group for survivors of Ms Barrymore.
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Please tell me you're trying to imitate someone with the way you type. I wouldn't expect a Yale "overgrad" to come off like a 9 year old trying to sound like a grown up.
And TerryMalloy, nice Men in Tights reference. -
I'm REALLY sorry about not separating the spoiler from the rest of the review guys. I figured the red outline would suffice, but compared to the previous 2 reviews I obviously give away a lot more info than them.
Seriously, that was totally uncool and not my intention at all. I would say that it was predictable so it shouldn't be even worthy of a spoiler warning, but that's totally inconsiderate of individual opinions. Again, I cannot apologize enough: Douchebag = I -
He is most definitely taking the piss
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They need to create a special spoiler tag on this site that exclaims: "This review gives away the ending". But you did spoil the movie for me. So I just hope it sucks and wasn't worth my time in the first place.
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1) I am a dude.
2) By front row-center, I meant the front and center row of the stadium seating section. Not the front looking upwards at a 87.8 degree angle. -
And managed not to vomit.
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the role of Sonny in the first Godfather? I'd like to see him stretch out and do a role like that--play the fasttalking smooth operator. He needs to stretch himself again. No more comedies.
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And Jersey Jedi is right on the money. The movie was a complete turd, and I too was "uninvited" to speak to the filmmakers afterwards because I rated it "poor". The direction was godawful and the script was the most insulting use of the "twist ending" I've ever come across.
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Do we need flashing neon arrows and sirens? Fuck sake people, stuff with spoilers has a red box around it before you click it - it's been that way for years. I don't care how new/stupid/dropped on your head as an infant you are, it says
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
down the fucking side of the box (well, sometimes 'poile'). How shit of a monitor do you need to have to be unable to read it? If you cant see that text, how the fuck can you read the main body text containing the spoiler?
Honestly, the stupidity around here is starting to piss me off - STOP READING THE SENTENCE IF IT SEEMS SPOILER-Y. "Hmm, this sounds vaguely like detailed description of the plot, think I'll keep reading..........FUCK, you spoiled it!!!"
Dipshits! -
Your reverse psychology won't work on me!
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I'm Gruby from the first review.
I specifically remember Jersey Jedi at the screening, he was 2 rows in front of me.. reason I remember is cause me and my friend took his place at the focus group. I was pretty shocked when "andy" told his assistance "we won't use them".
I mean, dont they want honest opinions?
Anyway, the focus group was handled by Nielsen or atleast that's what is said on the bottom of the survey sheet. -
You're very angry. And a meanie.
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I'm losing respect for you the more you type hombre,time of the month or you trying to mess with us all big TIME!? This is probably a bad movie,signs are it is...but you mow it down with a geek like saw(where can I buy one). Don't trust you to be honest...sorry
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You've managed to create a PR disaster for your clients. I hope they feel that the money they paid you was well spent - and that this movie's $60 million budget is safe in your hands. So what's next? If people don't like a movie, are you going to beat them with sticks until they do? Good job.Attention talkbackers: let's all keep a lookout for mistreatment of test audiences - and the movies these turkeys represent. And let's particularly post updates on the behaviour of one "Andy" working for Nielson Media Research - automatically boycott any movie this prick is associated with.
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Mar 03, 2008 12:33:43 AM CST
I have a trick for them to get good audience reactions for the s
by tourist
Make a good movie. Making a shit movie that also looks cheap and boring is not a good start. Its not always going to ruin your chances, but sometimes its easier to sell quality. Especially if your drawcard is the supposed quality of the lead actors.
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...And for the fellow somewhere up there who remarked that 88 minutes was no worse than whats being released in the cinemas, your either a fuckng liar or a drooling halfwit.
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yeah its easy. make a good movie. I'm not being sarcastic. I've come up with fixes for so many bad movies its ridiculous. Lets no forget anything that is totally needless should be thrown out. I am still bitter over Prime saying "sorry..brother..." to Megatron in TF. That was so fucking lame and had NO POINT AT ALL! It was a line from freaking beverly hills ninja for Petes sake! I hate you Michael bay!! (rant off)
please make good movies and fire douchebags like jiggites. -
They have been for years, which is a shame. Talk about tarnishing your legacies. How about *really* challenging yourselves again, guys? Give us something we haven't seen a dozen times before.. enough with the cops! There are other characters out there. Play a couple of transvestites! Painters and decorators! Indian fakirs! Surprise us!!
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Mar 03, 2008 2:09:13 AM CST
You're bitter over a line of dialog from Transformers?
by skywalkerfamily
Dude, you need some serious help.
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agreed with you there. real shame. DeNiro died after Goodfellas. Pacino at lesat is the last hope but he aint getting younger and his voice not smoother so he's kind of gone too. still though i cant fault Pacino for giving mesmerizing performances in the 70s/80s since Brando no matter the quality of the films.
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are fucking sickening. I don't know what I hate most about them- either their patronising attitude to us by writing in mock internet lingo to try to blend in, or their immense condescension when they believe that we will fall for this shit over and over again, just because they say so. Aarrrrghhhhh, FUCK OFF WANKER. And on filmgenius- he's imitating the gone and unlamented M-O-M (he did this last year) and laces his posts with deliberate mistakes such as INGRID BERGMAN director of the 7th seal. It isn't that funny.
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This movie sounds like my ex. It's like, you want to see it, you rememeber the good times, but you have this feeling if you give in to temptation, you'll only be disappointed and regretful. I don't want to go through that with Al and Bobby.
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memories of cock. but look at the errors, he's stylistically very similar and hits the condescending attitude to a T
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says "Poiler". How were we to know that the review would reveal the ending? I don't even know what a "Poiler" is!
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by Jersey Jedi. Thanks for the apology man, but the movie's ruined for me and that's AICN's fault. They usually put the bar around the headline in the page, and most reviews spoil minor plot points, not the entire denoument! My dad spoiled Sixth Sense for my sister right as she was starting to watch it, this is basically the same thing. "Hey, before you see Usual Suspects, Verbal is really Soze, and everything he says is suspect. Enjoy."
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Mar 03, 2008 2:50:10 PM CST
"I have lost an incredible amount of disrespect for the Hollywoo
by 3 bag enema
Pardon me if I'm not impressed with the reviewer's credentials.
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I am NOT a meanie...an asshole yes, but not a meanie. Your response made me laugh my ass off though, and I don't really know why.
I'm very tired, that could be it. -
Pacino has never worked with Scorsese. How fucked up is that? I mean, Pacino has been making mostly crap for a while, but I think he needs to hook up with Scorsese for a flick. I bet Marty could tone him down, make sure he isn't yelling every other word. I just hope Pacino gets to let loose that immortal line one more time: "She's got a GREAT ASS!!!" Heat rules.
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Seriously. If you couldn't tell this movie was a brain-dead potboiler cooked up by a roomful of monkeys by A) who made it, B) who's in it, and C) the fact that even these test screening jerks hated it, then you must actually be one of the execs who greenlighted this surefire piece of shit. It wouldn't be shitty enough without the ridiculously predictable last-minute twist. DUH!
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Nothing's changed around here. A bunch of losers, all of you. I'm out of here for good.
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