Director Dissection with Seanc and Rauldc

Feel free. I am pretty sure there are people around who are willing to discuss anyone you want. Make your own thread, PM people. I have met lots of different people with lots of different film interests here. You make me want to fill this thread with Bay movies next.

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Start your own thread of Simseboy Dissects the real directors (whoever they are). Sean and Raul have put alot of effort into this, and i really like Payne of the two they have done so far.

As far as settings go I too am going with the Hawaii setting for The Descendants. I can't tell you how pumped I was to go to Hawaii and I remember watching this film before that. Some of the scenes I can watch now and it helps me to reminisce about being there. I'd love to go again, but who knows if that will ever happen. But I still consider myself lucky.

I will try to talk some Descendants tonight, I wanted to rewatch it and still will, but I won't get to it before we conclude Payne.

The Descendants

What I like about The Descendants is that the subject of the film really hits home and can probably relate to some sort of catastrophe that we all may have had in our life. It shows the true frailty of life and shows us the importance of family. It blends in the comedy where necessary and it shows us a deep sense on the meaning of life. It shows us to let go of the little things and to cherish the time that we have with those around us. I know it can seem like a fairly bleak film at times, but I think in that case it is effective because it is a film that makes me think personally about life.

The performances of George Clooney and Shailene Woodley are both excellent in my opinion. This is the film that made me a George Clooney fan and it is my favorite performance of his. The range of emotion he shows in this film is tremendous and he comes off very genuine. Shailene Woodley is just put into the perfect role that allowed her to make this her breakthrough performance.

Like all Payne films, the script is very strong. It is a very personable film. The cinematography is breath taking at times and shows some of the most beautiful sceneries that Hawaii has to show. It's a film that overall hit home to me so much and it is a film that will stay as a huge favorite of mine for years to come. I cannot justify how great I think this film is with my writing because it is a film that can't be fully described as to why I love it, so I apologize for that.

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What I love about The Descendants compared to Payne's other films is we het to see the effects of this broken man on his family. Both his kids have some rather serious issues for children their age and I never feel Payne sugar coats that. Its a very messy movie from a character perspective, and I absolutely love that.

Me, you, and Camo all picked The Descendants for our favorite Payne setting. The whole movie is beautiful, but the scene that punctuates for me is when he takes the kids to see the family property. Gorgeous, that scene alone makes me want to see Hawaii.

I don't have a lot to say about Nebraska. It was a film that I liked but I wouldn't overly call it a favorite either. I thought the performances from Bruce Dern and June Squibb were pretty good. It's more of a performance piece than a completely enjoyable film in my opinion. That being said I've only seen it once so I definitely look forward to seeing it again.

I'll wrap things up tomorrow with my Payne wrap-up. I'm assuming Wednesday or Thursday we will be moving on to our next director.

Payne Wrap Up

Favorite Film- The Descendants. Obviously, no surprise here. The film blew me away in theaters and is still great upon rewatches. Sideways is a film that I can't argue against anyone loving, as I love it too but I've only seen it twice. It will probably still grow but The Descendants will stay on top.

Best Screenplay- Sideways. I thout the writing was stellar and like I said you can plug in any actors for the cast and I think it still ends up being great. It produced great dialogue.

Best Cinematography- Nebraska would actually be in a close second, but The Descendants here. The Hawaii shots alone are enough for me.

Best Male Performance- George Clooney. And one of my favorites of all time.

Best Female Performance- Shailene Woodley. I think we will here a lot from her in the years to come. This is where it all started.

My apologies to Raul for not being a competent host for this round. Pretty late but here is my Payne wrap-up. I promise to try harder next director Raul. Movies are in descending order as the ratings should attest.

Citizen Ruth:



This movie really just didn't do anything for me. Poor characters and characterizations ruin what could have been an interesting premise.

Nebraska:



This one deserves a re-watch. It was one of my most anticipated of last year and just didn't live up to my expectations. I really like the characters played by Forte and Dern. It could go up with further viewings.

Election:



I love this movie. This is as much as I have ever liked Witherspoon who is my choice for favorite female performance in a Payne film. Broderick is great as well. Really good characters all around drive this film.

About Schmidt:



Nicholson is my choice for favorite male performance in a Payne film. This was my first Payne and although I have only seen it twice it has stuck with me. Very funny and heart breaking. I am itching to see it again.

The Descendants:



My choice for best Payne cinematography. Really compelling family drama. Has the Payne humor as well. I love everything about this movie, but it is trumped by one which has made its way into my top ten this year:

Sideways:



I can't get enough of Miles and Jack. Watching them fight and get into trouble together never gets old. These two characters are so well drawn. So much depth and humor in this simple story. Destined to be one of my absolute favorites forever. My choice for favorite Payne script and obviously film. Would also come in second and third for favorite male performance. My second favorite for Payne cinematography. A++ film.

That's a great ending post Sean. Glad to see you love Payne
As much as me.

We will start Spielberg on Monday or Tuesday with Markf as our special guest!

Steven Spielberg is our next dissection. I highly look forward to the thoughts of Sean and our special guest for this one, who is Mark!
Spielbergs filmography is so huge that surely anyone can find something they love.

Opening Questions
1. What is the most recent Spielberg film you saw and what did you think?

2. Do you think Spielberg has another great film in him to make yet, or do you think it will just be average blockbusters from here on out?

3. How many of Spielberg's films would make it into your top 100?

I'm supposed to be the Spielberg Sycophant around here, so anybody who wants to, can go get their rotten tomatoes to throw at me. I think the last of his flicks I watched was "Duel", and I thought pretty much what I did when I first saw the 74-minute version on ABC TV when it premiered Nov. 1971. I thought it was a simple story that generated some terrific suspense and played out like a monster movie. Of course when I was 15, I didn't know Spielberg from Adam although I had seen the "Night Gallery" pilot and his episode of "Columbo". I've seen "Duel" an unhealthy number of times, mostly the 90-minute overseas version, but I think the extra length is mostly padding and lessens the tension a bit.

Spielberg will always have the chops to make a masterpiece if the material calls out to his sensibilities or takes him somewhere new he wants to try to go. Most people get out of Spielberg what they put in. Most naysayers are predisposed to find whatever they consider his weaknesses and forgive the self same from their faves. But that's their right.

OK. you've got those tomatoes yet? I've got eight Spielberg in my Top 100. I've actually got a top 165 or so in my thread, but these would all fall in the first 100.

Jaws
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Schindler's List
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Saving Private Ryan
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
E.T. the Extraterrestrial

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Question for Mark (and the others if they want to answer). Do you think Spielberg has style? I do. He certainly has themes, tropes and ideas that transcend his individual films and speak for much of his overall filmography. I feel like you can often tell a Spielberg film when you see it, and that's a good case for him having style. I think maybe, a lot of people don't think he has any style because he's been imitated so many times.

Curious what your opinion is.

There's definitely a style but it's a hard to describe style. He has made such a different wide range of films that it really is hard to key in on a certain theme that he often uses, but I know that he has often drawn back on his own childhood memories with a few movies. I don't however think his childhood memories consisted of meeting Abraham Lincoln or meeting an alien from outer space, so then there is that.

I actually haven't seen Duel, but it sounds interesting enough. It seems like it would be average but I could be wrong. It's going to definitely be a watch for me soon hopefully.

I remember reading somewhere that Spielberg said that E.T. was his childhood dreams, and Poltergeist was his childhood nightmares. (I think it was in an interview in an old Starlog magazine back in the 1980s.)

Does he have style? Maybe his more recent films have toned down his style, but his earlier ones are ripe with stylistic camera movements. editing, musical flourishes timed to the visuals, trademark humor. Spielberg is also a master of long takes, which most people don't seem to notice since they seem to think all his films are full of rapid edits. But like I said earlier, you get out of him what you put in, whether it's Spielberg, PT Anderson or Jean-Luc Godard.

"Duel" is average, but it's average good.

Agreed mark. Spielberg's long takes are amazing. I remember watching a video about it - the way he controls the audience is just masterful.

I rewatched Schindler's List a couple of nights ago knowing we would be talking about Speilberg. My most recent first watch was Close Encounters which was about a year ago. I have seen 25 Speilberg films. There a couple I have seen that I don't remember very well Always and Lost World. There are a couple I really dislike, War Horse and War Of The Worlds. I have five of his movies in my 100. E.T., Raiders, Munich, Lincoln, and Saving Private Ryan. I really feel like I need to make room for Schindler's List as well. There are two Speilberg films I feel like I must get to and they are Empire Of The Sun and Duel. I may try and do that before we are done talking about him.

I may get to tthe questions kind of scattered today. I am on my phone at work.

Raul, how many of his movies have you seen and besides Duel, what do you feel is essential viewing for you?

I have criminally underseen Spielberg all my life. I think my count just got to 10 films last year with the watching of the Indiana Jones trilogy for the first time. I will certainly make an attempt to see a few as we are talking about him so I can at least have a few more things to talk about. Of the ten I've seen, eight of them would be considered essential viewing. I could almost say 9, because I actually really like the cheesiness that is The War of the Worlds. Speaking of War of the Worlds, it is actually the only Spielberg film that I saw at a theater. I'd be willing to bet Mark has seen at the very least 25 there, but correct me if I'm wrong .

To answer my own previous question, I would currently have a pair of Spielberg's in my top hundred. Schindler's List, which is one of the most moving pictures ever made and Saving Private Ryan, one of my favorite war films of all time.

And like I said, the last Spielberg movie that I have seen was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which I had watched for the first time. I really enjoyed watching the trilogy for the first time ever. How I didn't get to it until 2014 is baffling, but it is what it is.

So, how many have you guys seen at the theater?

And what movie sticks in your head as the best first time viewing experience?

Non-blockbuster Spielberg is best Spielberg