Matt insults yet another classic movie (Now featuring: Chinatown)

[Spade]

After seeing it for a film introduction course, I thought it was...okay. My problem is that the whole film boils down to that one moment and one line at the end, so the film felt a little protracted. Either way, I didn't hate it nor did I think I beheld a masterpiece. It is what it is. Definitely agree about Jack Nicholson; his performance in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was far more inspired than what he did in Chinatown.

Now, you want to talk about a critically-acclaimed film that's undeserving of that status...Robert Altman's The Player. Good God. I'll never make the mistake of watching that tripe again.

 

[Spade]

EDIT: Double post.

 

[Sarge 2.0]

Thank God you didn't say "Robert Altman's Nashville", or we would have had some problems.

 

[Watson]

Chinatown is a great film IMO. I hadn't at all gotten Polanski's critical praise until seeing it. Great twist, great villian, great acting...what's not to like? I guess a lot if you're Matt, but I rate this highly on my personal list.

 

[.Rorschach.]

My God all of you people fail.

So Matt, what films deserve their legacy? Just because you have bad taste doesn't mean that Chinatown is undeserving of its legacy. It's a brilliant film and anyone who agrees with Matt should be ashamed of themselves.

Whatever. Having bad taste doesn't disqualify you from having an opinion, it just makes your opinion wrong.

Not bad taste,just an opinion.

 

[Matt]

My God all of you people fail.

So Matt, what films deserve their legacy? Just because you have bad taste doesn't mean that Chinatown is undeserving of its legacy. It's a brilliant film and anyone who agrees with Matt should be ashamed of themselves.

Whatever. Having bad taste doesn't disqualify you from having an opinion, it just makes your opinion wrong.

I feel you and have editted the poll to reflect your opinion as well.

No it shouldn't because it has nothing to do with his merits as a director. Gawd.

Yes it does. The man is a coward who fled the country and should be sitting in a prison cell. Anyone who works with him should be ashamed. The man raped a 13 year old girl.

But seriously Sarge, what is great about this movie? I provided my thoughts as to why I did not like it, why not do the same instead of calling us idiots?

 

[Matt]

Thank God you didn't say "Robert Altman's Nashville", or we would have had some problems.

Or as I call it, "A poor man's Dallas...with singing." Easily one of the worst movies ever.

 

[Sentinel X]

Never seen Chinatown so I can't say but can somebody please trash the so-called 'classic' piece of crap known as Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre!? ....seriously was I the only one who thought this was a bad comedy?

worst 'classic' film I've seen to date!

 

[Sarge 2.0]

I feel you and have editted the poll to reflect your opinion as well.

You are officially my nemesis.

Yes it does. The man is a coward who fled the country and should be sitting in a prison cell. Anyone who works with him should be ashamed. The man raped a 13 year old girl.

Well, the woman has said that she holds no ill will towards him because she believes that he made a mistake and has paid for it and is sorry. I believe the same, he did a terrible thing but I think he's paid the price because his career was almost ruined and he'll never live the incident down. Ironically, the victim is the one who says that he should not be in jail because she knows he's not a completely evil person and he just made a terrible mistake that is now a bad memory. He's not like R. Kelly or Michael Jackson because he's not a repeat offender. Besides, doing bad things does not detract from someones value as an artist. James Brown was a wife beater, that does not mean his music shouldn't be considered awesome. Because it is.

But seriously Sarge, what is great about this movie? I provided my thoughts as to why I did not like it, why not do the same instead of calling us idiots?

The movie is one of the few neo-noir films with an understanding that neo-noir can be done without simply being a shallow film noir parody. Jake is your classic film noir private eye without all of the annoying cliches. He is not a poorly dressed, unshaven slob who nurses a bottle or opens his mostly empty fridge to drink straight from the milk carton. He carries himself well, but he is still cynical and distrustful, something that is necessary for film noir detectives. He's simply a great character. Also, Nicholson plays him fantastically. It's incredibly well acted, and certainly one of the best and most tautly written thrillers ever made. I admired the films pace and the energy of the script. It's simply a great film.

 

[SatEL]

Also, Roman Polanski is a pedophille. Doesn't really say much about the quality of the movie, but I feel like it should be pointed out any time he comes up in discussion.

Is he?

 

[Sarge 2.0]

Or as I call it, "A poor man's Dallas...with singing." Easily one of the worst movies ever.

Like I said, you=my nemesis.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Is he?

I don't think he was a fully fledged kiddie fiddler exactly, but he's still a filthy sleazebag.

 

[SatEL]

I don't think he was a fully fledged kiddie fiddler exactly, but he's still a filthy sleazebag.

Yeah I read above what Matt posted about him, preety nasty stuff.

 

[Sarge 2.0]

I don't think he was a fully fledged kiddie fiddler exactly, but he's still a filthy sleazebag.

He did a terrible thing, but I'd hesitate to call him a sleazebag. Especially since he hasn't done anything like that since. R. Kelly continues to pee on fourteen year olds. Hell, he's probably peeing on one as we speak.

 

[Hunter Rider]

He did a terrible thing, but I'd hesitate to call him a sleazebag. Especially since he hasn't done anything like that since. R. Kelly continues to pee on fourteen year olds. Hell, he's probably peeing on one as we speak.

Just b/c he didn't do it again doesn't make him any less a sleazebag for doing it at all, R Kelly just happens to be an even bigger sleazebag, but was anything ever proven against him ?

 

[Watson]

I actually feel a great deal of pity for Roman Polanski. His life has been so tragic (surviving the holocost, the murder of his wife, child, and friends). I think there is only so much a person can take before they snap, or loose some piece of thier sanity. It's by no means a justification for what he did, which was terrible, but when you look at the whole picture it's just a sad long life he has had.

 

[Sarge 2.0]

Just b/c he didn't do it again doesn't make him any less a sleazebag for doing it at all, R Kelly just happens to be an even bigger sleazebag, but was anything ever proven against him ?

He was never convicted in spite of a mountain of evidence. And there are multiple video tapes. Plus he was dating Aaliyah when she was like 15 and he was either in his mid twenties or early thirties. Straight pedo. Polanski did one bad thing, and if he's repentant why should would label him a sleazebag? Especially when you consider the black mark the incident will have on his reputation, I think he's paying the price so it would be unfair to heap insults on him.

 

[JLBats]

Could we rename these threads to suit the (hopefully) ongoing meta-joke Matt is making with his opinions of movies?

Like, I think everyone would get the idea much more if these were called

"Hairy Man-Monkey Slack-jawedly Watches Classic Movies While Drooling and Intermittently Forgetting How to Breathe"

Unless these are serious
in which case
ohhhh Matt... oh d00d... I... no way, man... n-n-no... way

 

[Sarge 2.0]

I actually feel a great deal of pity for Roman Polanski. His life has been so tragic (surviving the holocost, the murder of his wife, child, and friends). I think there is only so much a person can take before they snap, or loose some piece of thier sanity. It's by no means a justification for what he did, which was terrible, but when you look at the whole picture it's just a sad long life he has had.

I'm not defending his actions either, but I agree that you have to feel for the guy, especially when you consider the way his wife and unborn child were brutally murdered along with several of his friends. Didn't know he was a holocaust survivor though.

 

[Watson]

I'm not defending his actions either, but I agree that you have to feel for the guy, especially when you consider the way his wife and unborn child were brutally murdered along with several of his friends. Didn't know he was a holocaust survivor though.

He never went into the camps (he was hidden by a Roman Catholic family in Krakow), but his mother was killed at Aushwitz, and his father just barely survived a camp.

 

[Hunter Rider]

He was never convicted in spite of a mountain of evidence. And there are multiple video tapes. Plus he was dating Aaliyah when she was like 15 and he was either in his mid twenties or early thirties. Straight pedo. Polanski did one bad thing, and if he's repentant why should would label him a sleazebag? Especially when you consider the black mark the incident will have on his reputation, I think he's paying the price so it would be unfair to heap insults on him.

I remember reading that he was supposedly married to Aaliyah at one point in some foreign country but then it was denied. I am not saying he is not one but so far innocent until proven guilty in the eyes of the law.
I'm sorry but when you **** a 13 year old girl you should go to jail and really serve your penance, if he was so repentant he'd have done his time, he ran off to avoid it, repentance is easy when you're not sitting in Rikers, so he'll always be a sleazebag to me, like any other rapist, not denying he's a decent director though, b/c that is a different subject.

 

[Sarge 2.0]

He never went into the camps (he was hidden by a Roman Catholic family in Krakow), but his mother was killed at Aushwitz, and his father just barely survived a camp.

That blows. Didn't know that at all.

 

[Dark Donnie]

I remember reading that he was supposedly married to Aaliyah at one point in some foreign country but then it was denied. I am not saying he is not one but so far innocent until proven guilty in the eyes of the law.
I'm sorry but when you **** a 13 year old girl you should go to jail and really serve your penance, if he was so repentant he'd have done his time, he ran off to avoid it, repentance is easy when you're not sitting in Rikers, so he'll always be a sleazebag to me, like any other rapist, not denying he's a decent director though, b/c that is a different subject.

I agree that he is a pedophile, but there is some back story as why he ran away. I would suggest checking out Wanted and Desired, a documentary of the case.

Little piece:

Spoiler

Just before the trial was to start, Samantha's attorney helped broker a plea bargain, so she could avoid testifying. In the film, she says the aftermath to the sex was more traumatic than the event: the probing questions of male detectives; the European photographers who staked out her house and junior high school.

Polanski pleaded guilty to "unlawful sexual intercourse"; probation was the recommendation. But the judge began to maneuver behind the scenes: he wanted to look tough for the press, though not necessarily send Polanski to prison. He asked a reporter for advice on what sentence he should give; he gave regular interviews to a Hollywood gossip columnist. The day before the sentencing—despite an agreement with Dalton and Gunson—Ritterband was overheard bragging at his country club that he was going to lock up Polanski for the rest of his life. The next day Polanski was gone, his Mercedes abandoned at the Los Angeles airport. Even the prosecutor now says, "I'm not surprised he left under those circumstances."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/138382

 

[Sarge 2.0]

I remember reading that he was supposedly married to Aaliyah at one point in some foreign country but then it was denied. I am not saying he is not one but so far innocent until proven guilty in the eyes of the law.
I'm sorry but when you **** a 13 year old girl you should go to jail and really serve your penance, if he was so repentant he'd have done his time, he ran off to avoid it, repentance is easy when you're not sitting in Rikers, so he'll always be a sleazebag to me, like any other rapist, not denying he's a decent director though, b/c that is a different subject.

Well, he wouldn't be in Rikers since it's in NY, but that's besides the point.

Anyway I assume you were using Rikers as an example. I don't know what prison you go to in California. Part of me wishes it was Alcatraz. That would be badass. But now I'm really getting off point.

People are multi-faceted. One action does not reflect someone's character as a whole. Nor does rule out the possibility of redemption. People who are evil or who have done evil things don't always stay that way. There was a man who was a Grand Cyclops in the KKK, he later became a prominent civil rights activist, renouncing his former racism, and he married a black woman.

I'd call Polanski more than decent, especially when you consider Rosemary's Baby, Macbeth, and Chinatown. The Pianist was great too.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Well, he wouldn't be in Rikers since it's in NY, but that's besides the point.

Anyway I assume you were using Rikers as an example. I don't know what prison you go to in California. Part of me wishes it was Alcatraz. That would be badass. But now I'm really getting off point.

Heh, yeah just an example, I wasn't sure what state he was guilty of the act in.

People are multi-faceted. One action does not reflect someone's character as a whole. Nor does rule out the possibility of redemption. People who are evil or who have done evil things don't always stay that way. There was a man who was a Grand Cyclops in the KKK, he later became a prominent civil rights activist, renouncing his former racism, and he married a black woman.

IMO redemption is only on the table to a certain point and in certain crimes, molesters and rapists don't deserve redemption after what they have taken IMO. Again though, in Polanskis case it was more he took advantage of an underage girl as opposed to a straight up rape.

I'd call Polanski more than decent, especially when you consider Rosemary's Baby, Macbeth, and Chinatown. The Pianist was great too.

I really only dug Frantic of his work but ive not seen The Pianist yet, although i bought it a few weeks ago.