TMOS Set & Official Photo Thread - Discussion Welcome - Part 7

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Blade Runner's impact on cinema is strictly visual. Yes it looks amazing and its influence is all over the place. But in terms of the **** that matters to me (i.e. story, performances, etc.), it leaves a lot to be desired, a criticism not uncommon to Ridley Scott's work by and large, and a big point of contention on Prometheus.

This quote from Ferris Bueller's Day Off sums up Blade Runner perfectly. "It's like a museum. It's very cold, and very beautiful, and you're not allowed to touch anything."

Now I know I truly do love you. You gave a perfect summation of why I'm not a fan of Ridley Scott. I'm still seeing Prometheus though, how the hell could I miss out on Fasbot?

 

[Dr.]

This quote from Ferris Bueller's Day Off sums up Blade Runner perfectly. "It's like a museum. It's very cold, and very beautiful, and you're not allowed to touch anything."

What movies are you allowed to touch? Clearly, Blade Runner (not unlike 2001 or distopic fiction, e.g., 1984) presents the future and future technology as a dehumanizing influence. I’m not sure you can explore those kinds of themes as “feel good” stories.

 

[mclay18]

Those themes have been explored before Blade Runner.

True, but I think the marriage of Ridley's images and those universal themes are why Blade Runner has lasted as long as it has. I have problems with BR, but that movie wouldn't be where it was today if it just had great production design and cinematography (lots of movies have that, and they're pretty much forgotten by this point). It had some substance as well.

 

[FilmNerdJamie]

What movies are you allowed to touch?

Warm movies (with heart, emotion, etc.) I guess. Like The Wizard of Oz, ET or Back to the Future.

Clearly, Blade Runner (not unlike 2001 or distopic fiction, e.g., 1984) presents the future and future technology as a dehumanizing influence. I’m not sure you can explore those kinds of themes as “feel good” stories.

Sure you can! Like Bicentennial Man, the feel-good movie of 1999. Wait. That was the cut-your-wrists movie of '99.

 

[regwec]

While we're off topic, my vote for most boring English language film of all time goes to Peter Jackson's "King Kong". I would rather watch "Blade Runner" twice in a row than sit through the entire seven hours of "King Kong".

 

[flickchick85]

This description of Blade Runner as being cold and detached is completely accurate and also completely intentional, as that is one of the defining characteristics of noir, and Blade Runner was on the ground-floor of the relatively new sub-genre of "neo-noir." Note that this "coldness" is one of the (also accurate) criticisms leveled at Chris Nolan's work as well, for the same reason.

Some of us like that in our stories, though. I love a good cold, detached, cynical tale, because when I find myself feeling for the characters (as I did for Rachael in Blade Runner), I don't feel like it was the usual cinematic manipulations that caused me to do so - it was simply the sad nature of the characters themselves.

 

[Alchemy Arcade]

This description of Blade Runner as being cold and detached is completely accurate and also completely intentional, as that is one of the defining characteristics of noir, and Blade Runner was on the ground-floor of the relatively new sub-genre of "neo-noir." Note that this "coldness" is one of the (also accurate) criticisms leveled at Chris Nolan's work as well, for the same reason.

Some of us like that in our stories, though. I love a good cold, detached, cynical tale, because when I find myself feeling for the characters (as I did for Rachael in Blade Runner), I don't feel like it was the usual cinematic manipulations that caused me to do so - it was simply the sad nature of the characters themselves.

^This x1000.

 

[FilmNerdJamie]

I know the coldness on Blade Runner is intentional. It just doesn't work like how Kubrick does it or Nolan. Though Nolan's actually thrown some heart/emotion into the mix too.

 

[flickchick85]

I know the coldness on Blade Runner is intentional. It just doesn't work like how Kubrick does it or Nolan. Though Nolan's actually thrown some heart/emotion into the mix too.

Well I disagree as I've never been a Kubrick fan, but to each their own.

 

[Alchemy Arcade]

I love Ridley Scott's work, I really do, and Blade Runner is in my top 10.
But I have never walked away completely attached to the characters of his films.

Nolan on the other hand gets me every time.

 

[FilmNerdJamie]

Well I disagree as I've never been a Kubrick fan, but to each their own.

Kubrick's work is as hit and miss as Scott, I find.

 

[Krumm]

I love Ridley Scott's work, I really do, and Blade Runner is in my top 10.
But I have never walked away completely attached to the characters of his films.

Nolan on the other hand gets me every time.

I actually find Nolan's characters to be his weak point. My biggest issue with Inception was that I never cared about Leonardo DiCaprio's character given the way the story was framed. This was really disappointing considering he called Inception his most personal film. For me, his only true highlights in character are Leonard from Memento and Harvey Dent in TDK. His real strength is in weaving a narrative.

 

[FilmNerdJamie]

You felt bad for Cobb, but did you like him? Yeah, not really.

 

[regwec]

Nolan is all about themes. The themes are everything for him. This makes him a strange choice of director for movies like "Batman Begins", which are essentially fictional biopics. TDK was a much more Nolan-esque film, as it reduced characters like Harvey Dent and The Joker to physical representations of themes.

I think the reason that female characters and issues of love and sexuality come off so badly in Nolan's films is that he doesn't know how to deal with emotional contexts that cannot be intellectualized or married to overarching themes.

Nolan would be my first choice to direct a remake of "Metropolis", and my last choice to direct a remake of "The King's Speech".

 

[Krumm]

You felt bad for Cobb, but did you like him? Yeah, not really.

I'm not completely sure I felt bad for him. I think Nolan's mistake was that you learned all about Cobb second hand from the characters telling Ellen Page what his deal was. By the time the audience experiences his pain, I basically figured it out. I was kept distant from him, which works from the angle that the audience is Ellen Page -- a necessity for understanding their world -- but it did not do anything in terms of me connecting to him. I've always felt the connection would have been better served if you had kick the audience in the gut by starting the film with the tragedy or at the very least moving it up.

Then there is the idea that he spent decades with his wife in deep sleep and never once mentioning that he missed his kids and then all of a sudden they are his saving grace. Not sure about that.

 

[flickchick85]

Kubrick's work is as hit and miss as Scott, I find.

That much I definitely agree on.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Nolan's films just flat out aren't character pieces for the most part which is why I laugh when some of his fans imply that he is great at that. He isn't and that's not as flaw as much as it's just the way he likes to make his films. With the exception of the Joker and actor's who I already like I never really "like" his characters.

His movies are about themes and that's fine but that's why his movies are mostly a cold affair. I prefer him any day of the week over Scott though as I flat out feel nothing when watching most of his films.

 

[regwec]

I root for Ripley in the last act of "Alien" more than almost any other movie character. That may well be as much to do with a very sympathetic performance from Sigourney, but I don't think that Ridley has a blind spot for characters and emotions that is as big as Nolan's. "Gladiator", for instance, was really a character piece about bereavement, loyalty and fatalism.

 

[Krumm]

Nolan's films just flat out aren't character pieces for the most part which is why I laugh when some of his fans imply that he is great at that. He isn't and that's not as flaw as much as it's just the way he likes to make his films. With the exception of the Joker and actor's who I already like I never really "like" his characters.

His movies are about themes and that's fine but that's why his movies are mostly a cold affair. I prefer him any day of the week over Scott though as I flat out feel nothing when watching most of his films.

Totally agree on both accounts.

 

[Alchemy Arcade]

I felt Borden's guilt for his wife's suicide and his loss of his daughter.
I felt Cobb's last ditch effort to see his children again.
I felt Dent's loss of faith and loss of Rachel.
There's a coldness to Nolan's films, but it's that coldness that makes the rare warm moments grab me.
For example Bruce's flashbacks to his father ("why do we fall", stethoscope). Or the moment Cobb and Borden are reunited with their children.

But then that's me.

 

[Rowsdower!]

I don't find any of Nolan's films to be cold. I didn't even find Insomnia cold, and I hated that movie.

 

[Fudgie]

I don't find any of Nolan's films to be cold. I didn't even find Insomnia cold, and I hated that movie.

Agreed.

 

[I Am The Knight]

This description of Blade Runner as being cold and detached is completely accurate and also completely intentional, as that is one of the defining characteristics of noir, and Blade Runner was on the ground-floor of the relatively new sub-genre of "neo-noir." Note that this "coldness" is one of the (also accurate) criticisms leveled at Chris Nolan's work as well, for the same reason.

Some of us like that in our stories, though. I love a good cold, detached, cynical tale, because when I find myself feeling for the characters (as I did for Rachael in Blade Runner), I don't feel like it was the usual cinematic manipulations that caused me to do so - it was simply the sad nature of the characters themselves.

Thank you.

And by the way, I threw Vangelis' name out there to amuse myself. I'm pretty sure we'll get a Tyler Bates to score MOS. Who knows though.

 

[Astrodust]

Bladerunner is hands down my favorite film.

 

[mclay18]

Kubrick's work is as hit and miss as Scott, I find.

I don't see what the fuss is about Kubrick, honestly. For his big achievements, I did not like Dr. Strangelove, The Shining is beautifully-shot nonsense, and 2001 hideously overrated. (I have not seen A Clockwork Orange, Spartacus or Full Metal Jacket.) I loved Eyes Wide Shut and Barry Lyndon though.