Cool News
Barsoom!! Stars of THE WIRE, CAPRICA and MINORITY REPORT Join Cast of JOHN CARTER OF MARS!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
I am – Hercules!!
Three top-flight British actors have signed on to play extraterrestrials in “John Carter of Mars,” based on the seminal Edgar Rice Burroughs novels about a Civil War vet unexpectedly transported from Apache territory to a highly populated Red Planet.
* Dominic West, who played Baltimore cop Jimmy McNulty on five seasons of “The Wire,” will play Sab Than, the Martian prince who in the books tried to force the fabulous red Martian princess Dejah Thoris to marry him.
* Samantha Morton, psychic-girl Agatha in “Minority Report,” will play Sola, the 10-foot-tall four-armed green secret daughter of Martian warrior Tars Tarkas. In the books she instructed Carter in Martian language and culture.
* Polly Walker, a secret human monotheist in Syfy's "Caprica" and Octavian’s mom Atia on both seasons of HBO’s “Rome,” will play Sarkoja, the old green martian chieftan who in the books killed Sola’s mom long before Carter’s arrival.
They join previously announced Taylor Kitsch (“Wolverine”), Lynn Collins (“Wolverine”) and Willem Dafoe (“Spider-Man”), who play John, Dejah and Tars, respectively.
"Mars" is slated to hit cinemas in 2012. Writer-director Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo,” “WALL-E”) makes his live-action directorial debut from a screenplay by Stanton and Michael Chabon (“Wonder Boys,” “Spider-Man 2”).
Find all of the Hollywood Reporter’s story on the matter here.
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...a bit dated. Though I love me some Polly Walker. Hopefully she'll do full nude in this, too.
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--If so I'll pass.
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I still contend Josh Holloway from "Lost" would have made the perfect "John Carter". He even sort of resembles the old Burroughs-inspired Frazetta paintings, and he definitely has the twang down.
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Why hasn't somebody taken a crowbar to that catchphrase's knees yet?
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And Snoop for Llana! She can tell who's from Mars and who's from Baltimore based on their knowledge of the local hip-hop scene.
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I had zero interest in this, but the casting is piquing my interest.
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Aug 24, 2009 12:51:44 AM CDT
Hercules just ain't big on books is he
by guy who got a headache and accidentally
All that tv will rot your brain
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Anybody know anything about Asylum's "Princess of Mars"? I've seen a couple pics here and there but no trailer. According to their website it's coming out at the end of December and will be starring...Traci Lords and Antonio Sabato, Jr.!?! http://tinyurl.com/nhrjdw
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You aren't fairly new. You should know everything mentioned on this site will "fuck your eyeballs out."
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"Well get on with it motherfucke--*boom**boom*"
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Aug 24, 2009 2:00:50 AM CDT
FNL should be in parentheses after Taylor Kitsch.
by the_genteel_gentile
Not that Wolverine travesty. Although he is the best thing in that debacle, he should be refrence as being one of the best things on THE absolute best TV show of the last 20 years.
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fuck this shit.
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After Avatar, there's nothing really on the horizon that I'm eager for... except this. Is it due in 2010?
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That is bizarre. The book "The Princess of Mars" has lapsed into public domain, so it's possible to get competing movies out there... kind of like what happened with "War of the Worlds".
The Asylum's version will be terrible, of course... but might be fun to watch. I've waited thirty years for a John Carter movie... it'll be a blast to get two in the same year. -
for this film.
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this just keeps getting better and better!
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Oooh, Jimmy McNulty...how I've missed thee.
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Jar Jarkas the butt monkey of mars
I have zero confidence in this project being faithful to the source material
Hollywood is incapable of making a movie like this without the retarted sidekick -
Crudup, Cazeivel, even McConnaughy... but some dead-eyed teeny-bopper as John Carter? Blech.And whatever happened to Harry Knowles' Edgar Rice Burrough's John Carter of Mars?
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Aug 24, 2009 7:06:05 AM CDT
Pixar is doing this? Live action with Pixar animation?
by stereotypical evil archer
Pixar knows how to tell a story, but can they break the two hour mark and and make something epic with extreme action?
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this is probably one Asylum movie I might watch.. i have been wanting a JCoM movie for quite a while now lol.
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I didn't know Willem Defoe was "playing" Tars Tarkas. That could be interesting. I just feel kinda sorry for this movie because Avatar seems to have borrowed a lot of its visuals from the novels. (And no doubt, Jimmy C would agree to that.) Hopefully, by the time this movie comes out, people won't be burned out on planetary romance. "Oh, great, another movie on a savage planet fill of tall aliens and dangerous, multi-limbed creatures." Hope Stanton breaks a leg with this one. He can write.
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Herc, why did you pick the UGLIEST book covers for illustrating this article? Was that all you could find on Amazon?
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Omar from the Wire would go up there and turn Tars Tarkas into his sweet thing and then kill any motherfucker who tried to mess with him. lol.
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this alone would get me there.
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Get out your camcorders and get cracking - I demand - DEMAND - at least ten different versions of this movie by the time Stanton and Pixar get it done. What the hell have we been wasting our time with stupid Star Wars fan pics anyways?
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As Bayformers 2.
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Hahahaha, The Asylum FTW!
Their movies are all kinds of awful but I can't help admiring their business model and the sheer balls of their ripping off of fucking EVERYTHING.
The head of The Asylum was interviewed in one of the UK's bigger movie magazines a while back and the question was put to him why anyone should go see their version of War of the Worlds when Spielberg's was two hundred times more expensive. His answer? "Sure, but was Spielberg's film two hundred times BETTER than ours?" -
...I'm a huge fan of John Carter and had hopes of seeing Billy Crudup in the title role. While a lot of the supporting cast seems interesting/good, this Kitsch fella really took the wind out of my sails regarding this project.
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There is still time.
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I had the same reaction- this is a golden opportunity for all of us to have some fun and learn about the real parameters of public domain. Maybe somebody needs to come up with a new term for 'sweding' a film before it even comes out? -And let's face it: James Cameron just teased us with what amounts to a bunch of blue-tinted, pretty-faced tharks and a giant calot chase, minus a leg or two...so he's on board, right? The Mars stories are so archetypal they DO demand a number of different takes. Can't wait.
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(whistle)
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is to have the same production values as 80's FLASH GORDON.
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loved the series as an adolescent and would love to read the script so I can forestall my outrage (though if they reduce the racism that would be great)
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That's what this really needs...I am joking of course. They really fucked up casting those two kids in the leads. John Carter is a man, not a child.
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Hate to be so pessimistic about such a great story, but John Carter is one of those things that is great on the page, but no matter how good the effects are, is going to come across as daft onscreen. Much like Avatar appears so far.
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but he will be in The Road as the theif in a small but to be sure great part
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check out The Punisher 2 .. He is in full camp mode and really goes fuckin bananas
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Will reinvent the way movies are experienced Epic masterpiece mind-blowing Photo-realJaw-droppingCGI unlike anything you have seen before Like dreaming with your eyes open Revolutionary Cameron's Lawrence of ArabiaGame-changerThis generation's Stars Wars Unlike anything you have seen before Truly amazing Prepare to be blown away Breathtaking Like a highly addictive drug that had left my mind yearning for more Can't stop dreaming about it This movie had activated parts of my brain that were previously untouched by conventional, two-dimensional films
Does not look like shit
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Michael Whelan has the ONLY Barsoom book covers...and that includes Frazetta who drew Frazetta not Barsoom.
Hopefully they will be true to the books...but I doubt it. -
Aug 24, 2009 9:37:33 PM CDT
At least Asylum has the balls to put the word Princess in the ti
by snootyboots
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Taylor Kitsch is 29. Lynn Collins is 30.HOW MANY FUCKING TIMES do I have to correct dumbass talkbackers who think every actor who plays a teenager on TV or in a movie actually still IS a teenager? I think AsimovLives started this horseshit with his "Dawson's Trek" douchebaggery.NEWSFLASH: Chris Pine is 29, only six years younger than Shatner was in 1966. Zachary Quinto is 32, only three years younger than Leonard Nimoy was in 1966.Check imdb for birthdates before you call people KIDS. Lauren Ambrose was already 23 when she STARTED playing Claire Fisher on Six Feet Under. She's 31 now and still looks too young to buy beer.
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To The_Genteel_Gentile, FNL the best show in the last 20 years? C'mon! What about Rome, The Sopranos, Lost, BSG and heck Buffy? Sure FNL's deeper than Dawson's Creek but that don't put it nowhere near the top.
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To cymbalta4thedevil, sure Taylor Kitsch may be 29 but he'd probably get carded going to the liquor store. Which is what all the other posters mean. John Carter's a Civil War veteran officer, not some High School football player. Sure Jonah Hex may suck but Josh Brolin's exactly what you would need for John Carter.
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Polly Walker's crazy hot. She looks like what a real woman should look like. I have this crazy fantasy of having crazy monkey sex with her while eunuch priests would sacrifice a bull over our heads. Covering us in blood... Sorry about that. I'll try to keep my fantasies to myself next time.
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Aug 25, 2009 12:26:36 AM CDT
MrMajestic - All those shows but Lost are WAY overrated.
by the_genteel_gentile
Just about every show HBO does (without Tom Hanks) eventually devolves into a "look ma we can show penis" parade instead of a really thoughtful character and plot driven program. But in particular Rome and Sopranos are both just totally lowest common denominator drivel. I could never get into BSG because it was such an ugly show from a visual standpoint that the bland color pallett actually made me feel sick every time I made an attempt. I get the impression BSG was likely pretty good, but there's no way it betters FNL for accurately portrayed, fully realised, richly achieved characters. Buffy's too cutsy ironic for my taste. Although a liget talent, Wheddon panders to a very spacific group that I find truly annoying. I will say Lost is the 2nd best show of the last 20 years though (3rd season not withstanding). I understand The Wire is extremely good, however I have yet to delve into my DVDs, so I can't factor the rightful placement of that one. There you go buddy, qualified and vindicated!
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Easily within the top 5, if not very possibly the greatest dramatic TV show ever. To establish some credence to that claim, allow me offer up my personal favorite currently running shows behind FNL as being that of Mad Men, Lost, 24 and Kings. Atop my best all-time list are such greatness as The Wonder Years, Quantum Leap and Freaks & Geeks. So that's where I'm coming from. Embarrassingly I admit that I watch an obscene amount of TV and Film, much of which are guilty pleasures at best, however I proudly proclaim FNL as my most favorite and offer it up with my highest recommendations and regaurds.
Although portrayed accurately, the good news is Friday Night Lights really has virtually nothing to do with (American) Football, which is fine as I personally loath the game as a spectator sport. However what it is about, for those that don't know, is...well everything...life...humanity...choices, integrity, love, race, class, religion, morality, confusion, compassion, mistakes, ethics, triumph, loss, family, sadness, joy, bigotry, marriage, adolescence, work...really EVERYTHING that has any true significance in this life is given a fair treatment, without ever stooping to demonize anyone.
For those that have shied away from the mistaken belief that this show is about Football or is in any way akin to the frivolous, soap opera superficiality of other teen centered programs, you're worry's are understandable but in this case unwarranted and you are missing out. Your initial apprehensions are thusly forgiven and I hereby release you from all misbegotten assumptions, in the purest of hopes that you may still be able to discover the brilliance of this show while it still has breath. It's truely a gift for all who choose to invest themselves in it's majesty.
Even better than the movie on which it is based, FNL is surely the truest, most accurate depiction of small town America ever represented on TV and most definitely the best portrayal of the lives of booth average middel-class teenagers as well as the larger community around them. From what usually get shown on television I bet non-Americans might think we all live in two story white houses and drive Porsches around to an endless parade of extravagant drug fueled debauchery, that certainly is not my experience let me tell you.
Other than highschool football being the focal point, gathering place and one uniting object of interest within the community, it really only serves as a backdrop for the most realistic and earnest look at youth ever articulated on dramatic telvision. There's no villian or great conspiracy, no malice or agenda, it's just really fine character drama. Being from a not too disimilar small town in California myself, I can vouch for the authenticity of this show. Nuanced, subtle and heartfelt, FNL is a beautifully woven tapestry detailing the intricacies of life and adolescence in America. FNL really gets it right. -
I too am not sure of what to make of Kitsch as John Carter. I have the feeling however that Kitsch may have what it takes to take a stab at having a Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson kind of career, if he can choose wisely and discriminately. The guy has got a ton of potential to really crossover in a big way, I'm assuming that's what Stanton sees in him as well.
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I personally loved the aesthetic of BSG, but I get you on the bland pallet. But it was that way on purpose. They made what I consider to be one of SF's best production design decision ever when they decided not to worry so much about showing life on "a space ship," and just show life on a ship period. And for what it's worth, I think S4 of The Wire is the best thing I've ever seen on television.
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Aug 25, 2009 1:42:01 AM CDT
hippie_killer - Yeah man, I've just got to muster up the courage
by the_genteel_gentile
and delve face first into The Wire. It's been sitting on my shelf taunting me for months now. I just don't know if I'm ready to make the commitment yet. I think the problem I had with BSG is that I already had such a speciffic idea of what I wanted out of a remake of Battlestar Galactica that when the actual show eventually came, it threw me. And the insufferably dull and nauseatingly bland look of grey upon grey with a hot top light really inspired me to discontinue watching. No sense of Feng shui at all, if people really lived for that long in such a drab and dreary environment, they'd all be driven to either insanity or suicide. Guess I missed out though, maybe someday I'll give it another chance.
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Says Lost is 2nd best show in 20 years, yet says Rome and Sopranos is lowest common denominator TV. And yet holds 24, the most predicatble TV show ever, as a high standard. Good job I like FNL, otherwise you would have been sent to a TF2 talkback, which is where such silly theories belong ;) Oh. BSG for the win :)
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Aug 25, 2009 12:29:03 PM CDT
Col. Tigh-Fighter - You're actually almost totally correct
by the_genteel_gentile
I'm pretty finicky about my TV & films, I do have a strong opinion on what good storytelling is all about. So yeah, a bit of a snob I suppose. But I'm willing to hear you out, which is more than most people on here. I'll concede you 24, although originally fresh, is totally by-the-numbers predictable. Although every other season or so 24 does have a pretty crackling plot, it really should have been a one season affair devoid of cougar attacks. However I do maintain that Rome and The Sopranos both pander to base instincts and have very little merit other than being entertaining exploitation. I think were closer in opinion than you would assume though, because I too agree with you on the "stupid" remark. It's an absolute fact that with every passing day I get that much dumber. Do doub't about that. I wish you would have had the compassion to reframe from airing my dirty little secret for mass consumption though. Fortunately this talkback is fairly dead, so maybe I'll be able to continue on without being called out on the very perceptive observation made by yourself. Although, my continued deminishing mental faculties may be beyond apparent at this point, so I can't really fault you for stating the obvious. Being a snob and all, I must admit that it pains me to do this, but I'm even gonna break down and type one of those smiley faces, just so you know it's all good. Breath...breath...breath. whooahh...here we go:)
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Aug 25, 2009 2:02:47 PM CDT
HBO's ROME: Let me just state this once and for all!
by the_genteel_gentile
Rome had a guy with a bow tied around his inhumanly enormous penis! Now I don't know what kind of deviants are making shows for HBO, But I DO NOT need this in my life! There is absolutley no point in me having to be subjected to filth fetish imagery just so some slimeball producers can get their kinks out and rocks off for all to see on cable TV. What does a slave with a horse prick have to do with the upper echelon and class warfare of ancient Rome? Why not pull back and simply imply? When you have to rely on having a scene of graphic sodemy, rape, torture and mutilation in every episode, there is something wrong. I don't call that progessive, it's outright pornagraphic and debased. THAT is pandering to the lowest common denominator of crass instict and I don't respect or vauch for such efforts. In my estimation it's emblematic of a total lack of coherience in vision and an utterly transparent display of desperate panic. Such condescention portends a complete absence of faith and respect for the integrity of their story and their audience. It's condescending at best to try to pass off such depavity as being cutting edge storytelling. How about some class, some subtlety, some intellegence, some inuendo, some elegance, some focus, some nuance, some wit? Where's the conscientiousness, confidence, integrety and humanity at? I understand that a major theme is the inhumanity and decadence of ancienct Rome, but how dense do you take your viewers to be? Rome has a bit more quality than I'm giving it credit for, but not much. It's tripe and a guilty pleasure at best. Sopranos is afflicted with the same disease. Yeah, I said it. What?
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Watching HBO shows like ROME and THE SOPRANOS and then complaining that they have too much Sex and Violence makes you sound silly. That's the whole POINT of Pay Cable. They don't have moral watchdogs and the FCC telling them what they can and can't say or show. Don't you know what the L and the V and the N and the SC in the Ratings Guide stand for?And the SHOCK factor is a major attraction for people who watch those shows. We literally never know what's going to happen next, because ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN. Just like Real Life.You remind me of a scene from HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET where the White cop Tim Bayliss is lamenting how debased society has become and, asks his Black partner Frank Pembleton if he ever watches I LOVE LUCY and DICK VAN DYKE reruns on NICK AT NITE. People were nicer in the 50's and early 60's. There wasn't so much Violence. etc. etc.And Pembleton asks if those shows ever have a scene where White people in sheets bust into a Black person's house and drag them out and hang them from a tree? That was happening in the 50's and early 60's too.There's nothing "classy" or "subtle" about the Mafia. Or Ancient Rome for that matter. There's nothing "classy" or "subtle" about enslaving people and forcing them to work for you and then raping them when ever you get the urge. (Maybe someone should do a series like that about the pre Civil War South? Right Pembleton?) And if I'm watching a Roman orgy or a night at the Bada Bing!, I'm not looking for "class" and "subtlety" and "innuendo". I'm looking for gratuitous T&A and Strong Sexual Content. The depravity and brutality of THE SOPRANOS and ROME is far more true to the way things were and are in Real Life than other depictions of those topics. If you can't handle it, watch one of those "wink wink nudge nudge" Biblical epics from the 50's. Or watch Jimmy Cagney slap a girl or push a grapefruit in her face instead of beating her to death in the Bada Bing parking lot or having Silvio shoot her in the back and bury her in the woods. Watch Roy Rogers and Gene Autry movies instead of DEADWOOD while you're at it. And whatever you do, don't switch over to Showtime and watch WEEDS and CALIFORNICATION. Your head will explode.
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The fact that you're posting your thoughts in a JOHN CARTER OF MARS thread is particularly amusing. In one of the previous talkbacks there were a bunch of horny geeks saying if this wasn't a Hard R with the Martians being naked for the entire movie, it wouldn't be true to the material. I guess Burroughs having his entire cast of characters be naked and John Carter never actually get to have sex with Deja Thoris until the first book is over and they're married was his idea of "class" and "subtlety"? ;^)
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Aug 26, 2009 11:48:25 AM CDT
@ cymbalta4thedevil - You got me all wrong though
by the_genteel_gentile
I'm a fan of nudity and violence as much as the next guy, but I want it to make sense and be integral to the storytelling, not just thrown in because they've run out of ideas. I can't wait for John Carter Of Mars to look and feel like the violent erotism of a Franzetta or Boris Vallejo painting. But if that is ALL it's going to be, if story is not paramount...then we have a problem. I don't recall Gladator having a eight minute horny fuck scene in the middle of it. Becuase Ridley Scott is a great filmmaker with impeccable taste. John Milius & co...not so much. The Sopranos wished it was a Scorsese picture except that Scorsese's a genius and David Chase is not even close. These facts are totally apparent while whatching these two programs: They're very crude immitations of much greater films. It's not that my sensibilities are that delicate, it's just that I HAVE sensibilities. Now, can I get a witness?!
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and I'm actually mostly in agreement with you. I was simply paining my illustrations with a bold brush to make a point. The point being that those two programs are NOT the end all, be all of great television (and these are the reasons why). As a filmmaker you can choose to tell a story of violence and debachery from a moral highground. Sam Mendes can make a movie about a Mob hitman's family being slaughtered and setting out to avenge their deaths with a lot of subtlety and class. Godfather is the epitome of classy filmmaking. Even the POV to which Goodfellas and Casino are told have a real sense of decorum and restraint in comparison to some degree. Schindler's List, Saving Pvt Ryan, Amastad and Munich are about as violent as films get, but there told with purpose and with a sure hand, making very specific points about morality and humanity. HBO is just lazily indulgent sometimes.
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Proof positive I'm a moron. Sorry.
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OK, I see where you're coming from. I didn't mean to paint you as a Prude. I hadn't read one of your posts before, so I wasn't clear on what your issue was.I'm still working my way through the 2nd season of ROME DVDs, so I'm not sure how I'll judge it as a total work. I've seen all of THE SOPRANOS. I think both shows are actually smarter than you think, in the sense of subverting the audience's expectations. The first time we see Polly Walker nude and having sex it's titillating. By the second season we begin to realize that's the only power she has, and by the time she's tossed aside(for her own daughter!)we don't want to see her demean herself that way anymore.The first time we see Ray Stevenson lash out with sudden lethal violence it's shocking and exciting. About halfway through the 2nd Season I didn't want to see him kill anyone else. Kevin McKidd's character thinks too much and Stevenson's doesn't think enough. Their inability to compensate for each other's weaknesses becomes more and more depressing as the story goes along.If you're not emotionally invested, I can see where it would just be overkill after awhile.If you are, every argument, every act of violence, every sex scene is an important piece of the mosaic.As for THE SOPRANOS, I would say similar things. And that went on three times as long! I think it suffered from David Chase not having an endgame in mind from the beginning, or having to alter it from season to season. If HBO had their druthers it would still be on! And I would argue that if Martin Scorsese had done Goodfellas or Casino as a multiyear series rather than a single movie there would be just as many unresolved plot threads, just as much meandering and the same amount of ambiguity and outrageousness that Chase gave us. THE SOPRANOS is definitely a milestone in television history. You may feel free to consider it a millstone instead. :^P
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What you say makes alot of sense, and I do think those shows do hold some merit. I just never understood the multitude of acclaim. My only aurgument is that they're not the very BEST progams of the last 20 years, whereas I think FNL is. It's a consistency issue more than anything. But vulgarity IS the refuge of the lazy, I do believe that. Especially when the vulgarity is presented with exploitational glee instead of conscience contempt. Just because HBO can present subjects any way they wish doesn't always mean they should. It makes me question the integrity of those programs artistry when they seem to fluctuate between having a descerning clear POV and the many instances where I feel they don't. However I think your correct in everything you said and certainly within the broad spectrum of TV they do stand out as being alot better than most. Bravo.
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