Jingle All the Lounge

[squeekness]

I want to see it again.

 

[Lunar_Wolf]

The Hobbit: Dead Asses!

 

[squeekness]

Dead asses?

 

[Hawkingbird]

Wait, 7PM? It's that time here aswell. I thought you were American, haha.

Anyway, I'm watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade tonight.

Nope, I'm your English neighbour!

 

[CConn]

Shouldn't you two be off fighting for a tiny piece of Ireland that no one really cares about?

 

[JewishHobbit]

Doesn't mean I want to hear it. For many people...acting that way is not the norm...many of us do not like it...I won't listen to it in real life, I will not pay to hear it.

If a character says a curse word every other word they say...what is the point? There is no shock value after the 5th time in a minute. It does not make him look tougher or meaner. To me it makes him a laughable buffoon trying ever so hard to ACT like he's tough like some animal you see on a nature show.

I personally do not hang around people who talk like that. Anyone can say the occasional curse word or even throw out a good stream of them in certain occasions. But people who just do it over and over because they have no control....I have no need to spend my time around them.

I'm with C. Lee on this one. I don't curse, I don't like hearing other people curse. I only know one person from work who curses left and right and he's constantly being yelled at by other people to shut up. Why? Because we can all see how immature and stupid it sounds... and it's just annoying.

Why then would I pay money to hear people curse like a sailor when the same story could have been told at the same quality and effectiveness (or better) without it? I don't even watch rated-R movies anymore. PG to PG-13 for me and I'm perfectly happy that way.

 

[CConn]

It really depends on the situation. Sometimes gratuitous cursing is very called for, engaging, and even entertaining.

For instance, Colin Farrell's character in the movie In Bruges wouldn't have been nearly as humorous and memorable without his British colloquial cursing.

But yeah, I generally find the abundance of cursing in Tarantino movies really doesn't improve or refine his films in anyway whatsoever.

 

[E-Man]

*reads thread with the Samuel L. Jacksonizer*

 

[ThePhantasm]

Here's a random question: how does one define "good acting?" I ask because I have the suspicion that people generally think a person is a good actor if they can cry real good. The more intense the emotion, the better actor they are thought to be.

I tend to think acting is great if the actor really brings the character to life and makes me believe in the character - which means good acting is sometimes very subtle. But subtle acting doesn't get noticed or awarded, despite the fact that it can be a fine art.

Just some random thoughts...

 

[CConn]

I agree entirely.

While over the top and bombastic performances always end up being the most mentioned (and honestly, fun), true quality acting really comes from being able to imbibe a high level of humanity and nuance into a character in as minute ways as possible.

 

[squeekness]

Here's a random question: how does one define "good acting?" I ask because I have the suspicion that people generally think a person is a good actor if they can cry real good. The more intense the emotion, the better actor they are thought to be.

I tend to think acting is great if the actor really brings the character to life and makes me believe in the character - which means good acting is sometimes very subtle. But subtle acting doesn't get noticed or awarded, despite the fact that it can be a fine art.

Just some random thoughts...

This is me. When an actor so becomes a characer that no one else can replace him -- Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow, Heath Ledger as the Joker. That's true acting to me.

 

[CConn]

Those are both examples of over the top performances, not subtle acting.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I'm going to to take a stab at it and name big names like Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington as subtle actors. They don't do anything over the top in their different roles, and yet every movie they're in I get into the character and not who is playing him.

 

[SymbioticToxin]

It depends on the character they're playing. Joker and Jack Sparrow are meant to be over the top.

 

[squeekness]

It depends on the character they're playing. Joker and Jack Sparrow are meant to be over the top.

And so they were perfect. Andy Whitfield as Sparticus, when he died the guy who replaced him is but a pale shadow. Can't quite do it. That is what defines great acting to me.

The trouble with Denzel is that he often takes similar roles, so is that true acting? I don't know. What he does he does well, but it's not that diverse.

 

[C. Lee]

Here's a random question: how does one define "good acting?" I ask because I have the suspicion that people generally think a person is a good actor if they can cry real good. The more intense the emotion, the better actor they are thought to be.

I tend to think acting is great if the actor really brings the character to life and makes me believe in the character - which means good acting is sometimes very subtle. But subtle acting doesn't get noticed or awarded, despite the fact that it can be a fine art.

Just some random thoughts...

Sometimes NOT reacting to things is impressive. Watch Peter Sellers in BEING THERE for example.

 

[WillardNation]

Doesn't mean I want to hear it. For many people...acting that way is not the norm...many of us do not like it...I won't listen to it in real life, I will not pay to hear it.

If a character says a curse word every other word they say...what is the point? There is no shock value after the 5th time in a minute. It does not make him look tougher or meaner. To me it makes him a laughable buffoon trying ever so hard to ACT like he's tough like some animal you see on a nature show.

I personally do not hang around people who talk like that. Anyone can say the occasional curse word or even throw out a good stream of them in certain occasions. But people who just do it over and over because they have no control....I have no need to spend my time around them.

I agree with this 100%. It comes across as immature and silly when people do it in real life, and the same in movies.

That's all well and good for you guys but I must say that I think you are amongst the minority on this topic.

In other words....I feel Tarintino uses cursing as a crutch. He uses it in place of more creative writing.

That's absurd and takes away all respect I'd ever for your opinions on any movie topic.

Yeah, but a majority of the characters in Tarantino's movies are horrible people you probably wouldn't want to spend time around anyway. We're looking at thieves, assassins, mobsters, and other hard bastards who likely would spend a lot of their time trying to sound tougher or meaner than the next person. I doubt Tarantino peppers his dialogue with 10,000 F-bombs for shock value; I think he does it because that's how he'd expect people like that to talk.

^This. Whether you like it or not, the people that Tarantino portrays in his movies WOULD use a lot cursing. If that's not what you're into, cool, don't watch those movies. But to say something isn't creative just because it has a lot of cursing is dumb and over idealistic. The world isn't rainbows and lollipops. I wouldn't expect to watch a movie about gangsters and use the fact that characters are killing people to say that the writing isn't creative just because I don't agree with murder. It's just silly. As is your argument about Tarantino's cursing.

 

[ThePhantasm]

That's absurd and takes away all respect I'd ever for your opinions on any movie topic.

That's a bit of an overreaction!

The world isn't rainbows and lollipops. I wouldn't expect to watch a movie about gangsters and use the fact that characters are killing people to say that the writing isn't creative just because I don't agree with murder. It's just silly. As is your argument about Tarantino's cursing.

Bad example. Here's a better one - slasher gore flicks are the trash of the horror genre, because they rely on the crutch of extreme violence and shock value rather than on cleverly constructed suspense and building dread. Similarly, using excessive profanity is a writing crutch.

Writing 101 is that you use high-calibre words sparingly, lest you dilute their effect and make them a mockery. A character's use of profanity can punctuate an emotional scene effectively, just like a good adjective in literature, but used over and over it simply becomes inane and tiresome. It's like a Michael Bay movie in dialogue form - explosion after explosion after explosion gets boring. It ceases being effective and instead turns into drivel.

 

[WillardNation]

You're missing the whole point. Go hang out with any type of person that Tarantino bases his characters off of in real life and they will curse with the same amount of fervor as the characters in his movie. He's just being true to the source material.

 

[C. Lee]

That's all well and good for you guys but I must say that I think you are amongst the minority on this topic.

So? Does being in the minority mean that I am not allowed to give my opinion? People were discussing Tarintino's movies. Even people who do not worship him are allowed to express their opinions.

That's absurd and takes away all respect I'd ever for your opinions on any movie topic.

How will I ever make it through the night?

^This. Whether you like it or not, the people that Tarantino portrays in his movies WOULD use a lot cursing. If that's not what you're into, cool, don't watch those movies. But to say something isn't creative just because it has a lot of cursing is dumb and over idealistic. The world isn't rainbows and lollipops. I wouldn't expect to watch a movie about gangsters and use the fact that characters are killing people to say that the writing isn't creative just because I don't agree with murder. It's just silly. As is your argument about Tarantino's cursing.

Funny. I loves me some rainbows and lollipops.

Just for the record.....I have watched all his movies except for his latest one Django Unchained. I never said I didn't watch his movies. I said I don't pay to see them (as in going to the theater or buying the DVD). I also said in this thread a couple of pages back - I think he's very inventive....he does good things with editing, musical presentation, dialogue, etc.....I just get real tired of hearing every curse there is and it's million variations in all of his movies. He;s shown he can write wonderful dialogue between characters, I just wish he would go that one extra step and show that he doesn't have to rely upon the F word to get his point across. - so as you see, I have called him inventive (which is the same as creative)....but feel that he doesn't push himself enough. He relies upon cursing too much. He uses it as a crutch. I feel that he is a good enough writer to come up with other ways to express himself than the million uses of curse words. Apparently I give him more credit as an inventive writer than you do.

 

[SymbioticToxin]

You're missing the whole point. Go hang out with any type of person that Tarantino bases his characters off of in real life and they will curse with the same amount of fervor as the characters in his movie. He's just being true to the source material.

To be fair, I don't think Jules from Pulp Fiction was written with the amount of F-bombs he had. I just figured that's how Sam L. Jackson normally talks and they went 'Alright, we'll keep it in'

 

[Iceman]

That's a bit of an overreaction!



Bad example. Here's a better one - slasher gore flicks are the trash of the horror genre, because they rely on the crutch of extreme violence and shock value rather than on cleverly constructed suspense and building dread. Similarly, using excessive profanity is a writing crutch.

Writing 101 is that you use high-calibre words sparingly, lest you dilute their effect and make them a mockery. A character's use of profanity can punctuate an emotional scene effectively, just like a good adjective in literature, but used over and over it simply becomes inane and tiresome. It's like a Michael Bay movie in dialogue form - explosion after explosion after explosion gets boring. It ceases being effective and instead turns into drivel.

Uh..it's entirely supposed to be a mockery. These are caricature characters, not any attempt at realism. I don't think you get Tarantino at all. His films are black comedies where the excessive cursing is part of the joke about the character. Not serious films where 'profanity is being used to punctuate emotional scenes'.

How do you want Marcellus Wallace, the hardcore mob leader who has just been, well brutally ..*ed to talk about the experience in a way that would be entertaining in a black comedy? Write me some dialogue that would work for that t:

I agree that excessive cursing would be/is silly in most other films but these are over the top characters who are supposed to define the over-excess of that type of character. It's not the swearing itself (unlike the gore for slasher films & the explosions for Bay films) that gains Tarantino his plaudits/fans. And there's a reason why nearly all Tarantino films are highly regarded while nearly the entire extreme slasher genre & Michael Bay films are not.

 

[Matt Mortem]

Tarantino does tend to over do it. I'm thinking mostly of that dead N***** Storage scene in Pulp Fiction. That was too much.

 

[Godzilla2000]

Yes yes yes yes yes!!! Thank you God for dumping so much snow in so short a time in the little city I live in!!

Why you might ask am I exalting about getting feet and feet of snow accumulation? Well, if anyone was paying attention I set for myself a goal to plunge into a deep snow drift in our front yard before the end of the year. Well, 30 minutes ago I just did a belly flop into a 6 foot drift in our front yard that was a build up of the plow and shoveling. It was cold as heck but oh so gloriously satisfying for me.

 

[Hawkingbird]

The graphic novel I'm getting for my birthday is late, but I know it's either Days of Future Past or Extremisis t: