JayDee's Movie Musings

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Sometimes you just baffle me, Sexy.

Leonardo DiCaprio is an excellent actor with a broad range and I don't doubt that he could have done a decent performance as the abbe du Coulmier. However, I don't think he could've portrayed that descent into darkness and depravity as well as Phoenix did. Leo's proven that he can do crazy and paranoid (The Aviator, Shutter Island), but I just can't picture him being anywhere near as convincing as Joaquin in that role. I think the filmmakers made the absolute right casting choice and this is the movie that truly made me love Joaquin Phoenix.

Plus this movie came out only three years after the monster that was Titanic, so for Winslet and DiCaprio to go from that to this, especially in such a short time, just seems somehow wrong.
Oh, I didn't say Winslet had to play that part, either. In fact, no -- that would be terrible to see Leonardo and Winslet together again in something like Quills. It would have looked cheap and gimmicky. I just can't think of another actress who could have done it.

I just like Leonardo DiCaprio and had he played the part, the movie would have been more intriguing to me.

I've said before that Joaquin Phoenix, to me, plays dark and depraved ALL THE TIME. To me now, he just naturally comes off as weird and strange. So, this would have been something interesting for Leonardo to do. Jake Gyllenhaal could have done it as well, but actually, that type of role actually seems very common for Jake and would showcase a typical performance for him. So no to Jake on grounds that it would have been boring.

It's like when I said I hoped Michael J. Fox raped Thuy Thu Le in Casualties of War in my now deleted comment -- it just would have been fascinating to see Michael J. Fox go all dark. I root for actors who wanna stretch themselves and go outer limits sometimes. When they keep playing the same character OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER again, I think they're Rodent.



I've said before that Joaquin Phoenix, to me, plays dark and depraved ALL THE TIME.
Which of his films have you seen?

I don't think there was much in the way of "depraved" in his roles in Signs, Clay Pigeons, Reservation Road, U-Turn, Ladder 49, or Inventing the Abbotts. Even porn shop clerk Max California from 8MM is essentially a pretty normal guy. And his character in the upcoming movie Her certainly doesn't seem to fit the description.



There's just something about Joaquin Phoenix that comes across as "off" to me.

I can't explain it. After seeing him in I'm Still Here, The Master, Two Lovers... he just does not seem like a normal kind of guy to me. Clay Pigeons had a weird and twisted storyline, so to me, even if Joaquin's character wasn't very twisted, the movie itself fitted how I feel about him. And Quills is another example of Joaquin's strangeness.

It's like he does these projects because they're weird. I mean, Signs is about aliens!

The rest of his stuff I haven't seen (well, I did see Buffalo Soldiers, which wasn't strange, but he felt wrong in that to me). I'm not sure if I'm forgetting something....

He's even odd in Gladiator.

I just think he's a bizarre person. This, to me, was strongly evident when he did I'm Still Here and LIVED that character and went on Letterman and acted like he really did transform into that messed up version of Joaquin. For me... he just can't live that down. It has, like, messed up his reputation for me. He can't really go back. To me, there was some kind of truth about it and about him.



Even Her is another example of Joaquin Phoenix being utterly strange.

He's playing a guy WHO FALLS IN LOVE WITH A VOICE COMING FROM HIS COMPUTER.

It totally fits Joaquin Phoenix.

There is something very... deviant about Joaquin Phoenix, I think.



So in other words you haven't seen enough of his work for your broad generalizations about what he "always does" to hold water. That's what I thought.

Also, a lot of his movies aren't weird. I fail to see the "weirdness" of Ladder 49, Inventing the Abbotts, Reservation Road, We Own the Night, Walk the Line, Brother Bear or Hotel Rwanda.

I also don't think there's anything inherently weird about doing a movie about aliens. According to him, he chose that role because he wanted to do something that had a stronger comedic element to it than what he usually does.



It's an intuition I have about him.

He's a Phoenix. He's River Phoenix's brother. He was born "Leaf Phoenix" and his siblings' names are River, Liberty, Summer and Rain. His family joined the religious cult Children of God and traveled throughout South America. They changed their last name to "Phoenix" to symbolize a new beginning.

Trust me -- he's odd. He has oddness in his genes. There's something very unusual about him. He's not like a typical guy.



He was born "Leaf Phoenix."
No, he wasn't. Leaf is a name he gave himself because his birth name didn't fit with the names of his siblings. Phoenix is a symbolic name his family adopted. He was born Joaquin Rafael Bottom.

I'm not denying that he's odd. His oddness makes him interesting. But he's quite capable of playing a wide variety of roles and doing it convincingly.



Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave
Is this still my reviews thread? It appears to have been waylaid somewhat!


I didn't really hate Quills once I finally watched it all. Obviously I cared for it enough to use it as an avatar. I thought it was kind of fun. I gave it
.
Oh I see. Didn't realise you had returned and watched the whole thing. Remembered you talking about how you only managed 45 minutes or something.

Sometimes you just baffle me, Sexy.
Just sometimes? That would apply that sometimes you can actually understand him. If that's the case you're doing better than I am!



Is this still my reviews thread? It appears to have been waylaid somewhat!
It's his fault. It's always his fault.



Oh I see. Didn't realise you had returned and watched the whole thing. Remembered you talking about how you only managed 45 minutes or something.
He and I did a commentary on it, actually. Quills Commentary


Just sometimes? That would apply that sometimes you can actually understand him. If that's the case you're doing better than I am!
Every once in a great while, it happens.



Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave
The Miss Vicky love-in continues!


Micro Musings - A Miss Vicky Special



mirror
mirror

Year of release
1999

Directed by
Troy Duffy

Starring
Sean Patrick Flanery
Norman Reedus
Willem Dafoe
David Della Rocco
Billy Connolly

Boondock Saints


Got to say that I really struggled to get into this one. It just felt really cheap and trashy to me, a pale and often unsavoury imitation of many similar but superior films. I will admit that it did have a few great moments and laughs but for the most part I actually found it really quite irritating. This was particularly the case with the tremendously undeveloped characters of the film with the two brothers (Connor and Murphy) and especially The Funny Man (god I was desperate for him to be killed!) being top of the list. The saving grace of the film however was most certainly the performance of Willem Dafoe, even if his character is truly ridiculous. And I thought Dafoe hammed it up in Spider-Man. Hoo boy! Here he takes his scenery chewing to a whole other level and is just a riot. Outside of him though most of the acting was pretty suspect I felt (particularly when it came to the accents). And in general I just found the film to be really quite sloppy, and way too self-conscious in its attempts to ape the work of Tarantino that it so clearly worships. It all feels just so immature, as if it's been written by a 12-year-old who after every line he came up with he thought to himself “oh that's so cool!” And he became so consumed by that line of attack that he forgets to attempt any characterisation whatsoever, often just falling back on simplistic and stereotypical caricatures. I can just about see why people like/love it but I personally was a long way from that. Oh I did enjoy its conclusion however with the news interviews showing the exploitative side of the media and the differing viewpoints that its possible to take away from the brothers' actions. There's quite a disparate opinion on this film. On rottentomatoes it has a score of 20% with critics, but a massive 7.8 rating on imdb. It may not always happen but I'm going to have to side with the critics on this one. Although I will give it another go someday as it seems like the kind of thing I could usually like. I'll admit that one thing that worked against the film for me personally was to be found in its very foundation - it's Irishness! For a start the accent; I know a lot of people love its lyrical, sing-song quality but I've always found it exceptionally irritating. And just generally the demeanour of the people turns me off; the glorifying of drinking culture and the fact that they all think they are hilarious comedians. It's like a whole country of Scousers!



As I mentioned when I returned I had been laid low by a nasty cold/flu and am still feeling pretty lousy. As such all my film-watching over the last week or two has been dedicated to catching up on animated films I've missed; their light, colourful, feel-good nature have been exactly what I felt in the mood for. So along with watching Mulan, Princess and the Frog, ParaNorman, Rise of the Guardians, Chicken Run etc I've also watched a couple from your list Vicky.

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mirror

Year of release
2003

Directed by
Aaron Blaise / Robert Walker

Starring
Joaquin Phoenix
Jeremy Suarez
Rick Moranis
Dave Thomas
Jason Raize
D.B. Sweeney

Brother Bear

+

The second film listed here, Lilo and Stitch, has a very good reputation so I was kind of expecting to enjoy it. Aside from Vicky however I hadn't really heard much about this one at all. And as such it proved to be a really nice surprise, I highly enjoyed it and also found it to be really touching. It's certainly a very traditional Disney film featuring elements that they've utilised countless times before but I thought it managed to remain quite nice and fresh, with the mystical Native American angle being part of the reason. Brother Bear looks beautiful with nice animation creating some lovely images, and I also felt that the whole story was really quite beautiful. I was really taken with the story about souls and the connection between humans and nature/animals. I also found it to be very funny on numerous occasions, thanks to the interaction between Joaquin Phoenix's Kenai and the young Koda and especially thanks to the two Canadian moose character voiced by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas, they were brilliant. In musical terms I felt it was a little mixed. Phil Collin's songs were a bit hit and miss for me personally but it did feature some lovely score music I felt. All in all though quite a lovely film. If you hadn't put this on your top 100 list Vicky there's a good chance I would never have watched it, so thank you for that.


mirror
mirror

Year of release
2002

Directed by
Chris Sanders / Dean DeBlois

Starring
Chris Sanders
Daveigh Chase
Tia Carrere
David Ogden Stiers
Kevin McDonald
Ving Rhames

Lilo and Stitch

+

A really funny and highly entertaining little film, just really quirky and inventive which while also hitting some classic Disney tropes feels quite fresh and original. With the quite old-fashioned painted backgrounds sitting alongside the more contemporary, quirky story it made for a nice mix. It's a very funny film but also quite touching in parts. Most of the laughs come from the furious ball of energy that is the alien Stitch, who was just absolutely adorable. And I think Lilo has to be one of the best depictions of a child I've ever seen on screen, animated or otherwise. They just captured that perfect mix of adorableness and bang your head against the wall infuriation that kids create. I could just see my little nieces in that character so much. For all its quirks and alien characters I enjoyed the more grounded and even mundane elements of the film. Forget your princesses, your wizards, your talking animals etc the story here concerns dealing with the loss of parents, adjusting to new family dynamics and simply just trying to find a job. Really good fun.


I've got to say I was a little unsure as to how to rate Brother Bear and Lilo. I perhaps enjoyed both of them slightly more than the score I've given them but I've been burned in the past when I've watched a film when not in a great mood. For example 5+ years back around Christmas time I was in a really down mood and stumbled across The Princess Diaries. I really enjoyed, perhaps even loved it, and it really pulled me out of the dumps and made me feel a great deal better. Returning to it earlier this year however I didn't really find much to entertain me at all.





I'm quite saddened by your feelings on Boondock Saints. I think it's a really fun movie and I hope it improves for you when you rewatch it.


On the other hand, I'm delighted to see that you watched and enjoyed both Lilo and Stitch and Brother Bear. Both are very cute and touching, and I definitely agree about how believable Lilo is - so much better than any preening princess.



Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave
Well there's a challenge for you Gunslinger, or even Vicky if you fancy getting into the review arena. Next time you fancy watching Boondock why not write your own review of it, point out to me why you love it and what I'm missing.

Oh and HK - Nicely done.



Well there's a challenge for you Gunslinger, or even Vicky if you fancy getting into the review arena. Next time you fancy watching Boondock why not write your own review of it, point out to me why you love it and what I'm missing.

Oh and HK - Nicely done.
Thought I did one of those for my top 50 films list. Then again I could talk about that film some more...



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
reps for lilo and stitch, totally agree with what you said about it, and, like guns and vicky, sad to hear, but respect, how you felt about boondock. And yes, Defoe IS the highlight of that movie.



Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave
Hmmm....a post appears to have mysteriously disappeared. I wonder what ever could have happened to it.