The Majestic

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thats exactly what happened what did you do read the script?

I loved the truman show, that was good drama, but i didnt much like his performance in this movie.
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No, Mecurdius, I didn't read the script or see the movie, I just watched the trailer and TV spots. It's obvious as Hell what is going to happen every step along the way, which is why I didn't bother to see the thing.


I gave The Truman Show a chance, if for no other reason than director Peter Weir is one of my all-time favorites (Fearless, The Mosquito Coast, Witness, Gallipoli, Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Cars that Ate Paris). And while Truman is easily the best, most mature thing Carrey has been involved with to date, I thought it was one of Wier's weakest efforts and extremely overrated. Carrey's performance was fine, but far from Oscar-worthy. I understand he didn't talk out of his @ss this time out, but that doesn't mean he automatically did an amazing job.

I thought Man on the Moon was a major waste of time, especially coming from Milos Forman, and glad it flopped. The rest of Carrey's projects have been intentionally ridiculous and juvinile, which is fine I guess and people seem to dig 'em, but they don't do anything for me personally.
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Holden didn't read the script -- those were his impressions from the trailer. Am I right?
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i thought the both the mask and liar liar were really funny movies, i saw the mask on tnt a few nights ago btw. AS for man on the moon, i liked him in it, but i didnt think the movie was great thought it was ok. And as for Ace ventura: Pet Detective, i thought they were really funny when i was like 8 but probably woudnt if i saw them today. DId jim carrey get an award or nom for the truman show or man on the moon. I cant remember.



No, Jim Carrey has never received an Oscar nomination. This has led his fans to yell that he has been snubbed, but if you look at the other performances eligible in those given years, I don't think he's been robbed of anything.

At the slightly less prestigious Golden Globes, Carrey has been nominated for Best Actor in a Drama for The Truman Show, and he won the award. In the Globes' Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical category he has been nominated for The Mask, Liar, Liar, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Man on the Moon, winning for Man on the Moon (which more properly probably should have been in the drama category anyway).



He auditioned as Andy Kauffman for the Grinch.

He won the role. Jim Carrey playing Andy Kauffman playing the Grinch got the role.

That's pretty funny.



Female assassin extraordinaire.
Yeah "Everyone Says I Love You" - I wasn't saying Carrey was in it, but that's an example of people trying to make "feel-good movies" and failing. Honestly, the film was entirely forgettable to me and the only good thing about it was Tim Roth who actually made me feel SOMETHING while watching it. I'm not saying it was a crappy movie. Just ... not worth going out to watch, let alone buy to put on my shelf. There are a lot of such movies - one-timers that most people could live without. No, you won't scream at the screen or roll your eyes when you watch it, but you won't remember or care to remember much about it. At the point in life where I had not seen it, I said, should I, or shouldn't I? In order to support the film musical and to see how the stars did, I saw it. But other than that, there is really no reason to see it - for me.

HOLDEN!! Your take from the trailers - EXACTLY!! I haven't seen it either and that's EXACTLY it! I didn't have the name of the supporting actors or their characters or anything. I think the trailer I saw I wasn' t paying attention for the first few seconds so I missed the screenwriter melodrama but other than that, yeah. And:

WARNING: "The Majestic" spoilers below
Also there seems a bit of tension as to the townspeople sort of feeling - especially the older folks - that the original hero might really be dead but they "need" a hero and sort of gently coax themselves and Carrey into believing in the lie in order to restore badly needed hope to the town. Loved that bit you added about the imposter-exposer, betraying girlfriend, and dog - tha is so true! goes to show ya how used up those Hollywood conventions are.


And yeah, that commercial was just bad. I didn't actually ever think Carrey would do something like that.

And it's not about me not wanting to give Carrey a chance - i actually loved Ace Ventura (1) to death, enjoyed The Mask, and enjoyed Liar,Liar. For "feel good" I feel Carrey's talents are not capable of "forgetting the funny" and so the best way for him to make such a movie is to do it as he did with The Mask. The Mask was outrageous, yes, but also - about the little guy with a big heart who's put upon, the everyman, who people identify with. There are other ways to explore this venue. As for dramatic - Truman Show was still off-funny cuz he just can't shake that part of him - unless he is outright crying the man is usually adding some dash of his natural humor because, I honestly think he's MADE of it and you can't remove a limb so you USE it.

More power to him for trying, at least, with a powerful story like Andy Kaufman's. I don't know, it just feels like he made fluff and in so doing, isn't helping anyone. There's no creativity The Majestic. There's nothing new. In his comedy, there's burning creativity and humor, there's genius and madness and freedom. In Man on the Moon, which I haven't even seen, I'd assume there's burning creativity and talent and genius, too. But at least it's not cheesy fluff.



Well, sorry; I liked "Everyone Says I Love You," and I'm glad to have seen it. Holden: "wrong thing"? Aren't we talkin' about exposing some damn dirty commies? Or did I miss something?

Personally I think "Man on the Moon" warranted, at the very least, an Oscar nomination. He was dead-on. He was exactly the way Kauffman appears in all those specials on Comedy Central, at least. Everything from his normal, semi-worried voice, to his drum-beating routine, to his "angry voice" in the wrestling matches.



I'm a huge Andy Kaufman fan and have been for years. I have many of his specials on tape or DVD. I've probably seen "My Breakfast with Blassie" alone over thirty times, including twice on the big screen. And speaking as a fan, I didn't think Carrey had him at all. He did the abrasive alter-ego Tony Clifton well enough, but that was as much about the make-up, and the point of the character became that co-conspirator Bob Zmuda could do him just as easily in real life, so it makes sense that Carrey could slip into the costume too.

I thought Carrey's performance was average, and that he never nailed Kaufman. Not even close.


In general I find biopics of media figures from the last half of the 20th century pointless. There is so much actual footage of the actual subjects around, why bother 'dramatizing' it all with actors who can't possibly live up to the countless times you've watched the real person? Michael Mann's Ali is the same problem for me.



Honestly? I mean, I hear Kaufman in those specials, and I then I hear Carrey, and he sounds exactly like him. I suppose a case could be made for mannerisms and body language, and appearance, but in terms of voices, at least, I'd say he was borderline perfect. Was there anything particularly specific that you found off? I thought it was an amazing performance.

I see what you mean about recent biographies...but I don't think they're without use. I think some are, because they show us nothing new. A movie about Ali, though, that shows us his underbelly, and what his life was REALLY like, from various perspectives, would have lots of value, IMO. I haven't seen the movie yet, but from what I hear, it fails to do this. "Man on the Moon" showed me a bit more about Kaufman than I'd seen before...but not a whole lot. I wasn't nuts about the movie as a result...Carrey's performance was the reason for seeing it, IMO. It just went through the same sorts of motions I saw in the Comedy Central specials, with just a few exceptions.



No, Carrey certainly didn't look much like Kaufman, he didn't have his mannerisms down, and personally I don't think he got his voice either. I suppose the Latka-type voice, which he did WAY too often as if the guy walked around like that all day, was acceptible from an impressionist/Rich Little point-of-view (though not dead-on either - Carrey does a much better Jimmy Stewart in his oldest stand-up). But what he never came even close to was Andy's "normal" voice. Not in one scene did I find it even resembled Kaufman, much less perfectly echoed. Not to my ear anyway.

Like I said, an average performance to me. It would have been fine in a "SNL" or "In Living Color" quickie sketch, but was dead and way off on the big screen.

To me anyway. You're mileage may vary, of course.



Originally posted by Holden Pike
In general I find biopics of media figures from the last half of the 20th century pointless. There is so much actual footage of the actual subjects around, why bother 'dramatizing' it all with actors who can't possibly live up to the countless times you've watched the real person? Michael Mann's Ali is the same problem for me.
Isn't the entire point of a biopic to give insight into the part of a famous person's life that we don't see on television? Ali disappointed me too, but it wasn't because I think a biopic of Muhammad Ali is pointless. It disappointed me because it didn't show me anything new, or shed any light on the Muhammad Ali persona everyone knows from TV.

What are your thoughts on Spike Lee's Malcolm X? (IMO, it's one of the best biopics ever made)

Jim Carrey didn't play Andy Kaufman. He impersonated him. There's a difference. I think he was short-changed on a nomination for the Truman Show, though - that was a great performance.

I'm going to see The Majestic tonight, for the hell of it. I know the gist of what's going to happen, but that won't have any effect on how good I think it is - it just softens the blow, so to speak. Which I hate. But I digress, I'm seeing it anyway.
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