Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 21, 2007 at 12:05 PM
I can't decide which adjectives or catch phrases to use in this review of Paul Greengrass 's The Bourne Ultimatum (Universal, 8.3). I'm really kinda stuck. Pulse-pounding, edge-of-your-seat, bobsled, warp-speed, heart-in-your-throat...how many hundreds of times have I read those terms? It's gotten so they don't mean very much. But this final Bourne flick does, I feel, "mean" something. That is, apart from the fact that all I could say for the first five or ten minutes after coming out of last night's screening was "whoa" and "wow."

The Bourne Ultimatum is, naturally, one steriod orgasm action blast after another, but that's expected. What else could it be with those two super-Bourne's before it? So let's try and quantify. I think it's an action movie milestone in two ways. One, by pushing the velocity-junkie aesthetic to new super-pleasurable extremes. And two, by being so good at this go-fast game that you don't care that those hallowed dramatic substances -- character brushstrokes, echoes, deep-down emotion, dialogue that addresses something besides story points. -- are all but absent. You just don't care. You're in adrenaline heaven.
The best analogy I can think of is William Friedkin's subway-chase sequence in The French Connection, which lasted...what?...12 or 13 minutes? The Bourne Ultimatum runs 111 minutes and it has, at the most, 12 or 13 minutes of down time. The basic action-movie manual says you're supposed to let the audience catch a breath between "musical numbers." Ultimatum has a few of these, short ones, but they're all assessment scenes about what just happened or what may be coming 'round the bend. You never feel as if Greengrass is downshifting to any serious degree (i.e., no sensitive love scenes, no "I'm tired and I need to sleep," no talking softly while cooking in the kitchen).
Think of the three Bourne movies as high performance engines. Doug Liman's The Bourne Indentity ('02) had a few moments that took place in first and second gear, and one or two (the love scenes between Matt Damon and Franka Potente) in neutral. Greengrass's The Bourne Supremacy ('04) was a serious increase experiment -- a major pedal-tromp, cut-faster, crazy-legs thing -- but even that film had moments of relative calm when emotion was given a little room to spread out (i.e., the death of Potente, the remorse scene in Moscow at the end). But Ultima- tum is even more high-octane than this. Everything, it seems, is flying in third, fourth and fifth gear. Not a single neutral moment...not one.

When I lean forward in my seat during a film it usually means I'm in pain. At last night's screening I was leaning forward but without my hand covering the lower half of my face -- a significant thing. I was in one of those "holy shit, am I going to be able to keep up with this?" modes. It was like driving at high speed and being afraid to take your eyes off the road. A friend tapped me on the shoulder during the third act (i.e., the New York portion) to share a quick observation, but I reflexively flinched and indicated with my hands that I couldn't talk, not then, not even for five seconds...good God.
I was bitching after the second Bourne about Greengrass's overly-fast editing during three or four action scenes. There's a point at which hyper-cutting can be too much, but for whatever reason I was cool with it this time. Was there a different aesthetic this time? Was there an editing-room motto that said "no cuts longer than two seconds" on Supremacy and one that said "no cuts longer than three seconds" on this new one? I don't know. I wasn't carrying a stop-watch.
There was one moment when I realized Damon was no longer in London, but in Madrid. There had been nothing that said "travel" or "cultural transition"...he was just suddenly there. Nor is there any footage given to his flight from Europe to New York City. No getting to or coming back from airports, no taxis, no jet lag...none of that. It's all hammer-hammer-hammer.

I've written dozens of times about hating action movies in which the hero is unstoppable, unwoundable, unkillable. Damon's Jason Bourne is all these things and more. He's a damn cyborg -- no eating, no sleeping, no stopping for anything -- and I loved it. And yet if I see some lower-level action star do the same thing in some run-of-the-mill B movie two weeks from now, I'm probably going to hate it. Why? The Bourne Ultimatum is coming from a high-thread-count, ahead-of- the-curve place that I hadn't quite tasted or imagined before last night. It's an action movie for people who think they're too sophisticated to enjoy them.
When Damon took out three guys in a first-act scene set in London's Waterloo station, I didn't cringe for a second at the improbability of such a move. I loved it, the audience loved it and we all clapped. I imagined the bad guys (i.e., young grunt-level assassins) as being in the employ of Dick Cheney and all the other black-heart D.C. hardballers, and seeing them get beaten and out-maneuvered time and again is a joyous thing.
The triumph of Jason Bourne in this film is, no lie, a triumph of humanism. Bourne is not a sadist or even a killer as much as a survivor. The movie is not about killing villains as much as shaming them -- making them fail so badly and so repeatedly that they have no choice at the end but to go to jail, give up or re-think their game.
There's a hand-to-hand combat scene in Tangier between Damon and a contract assassin named "Desh" (Joey Ansah) that's an instant classic. It's right up there with Sean Connery's fight to the death with Robert Shaw in the train compart- ment in From Russia With Love. Above and beyond it, I'd say. I'm trying to think of others in this class.

Each and every computer works perfectly in this film, and everyone has light-speed broadband. Each and every cell-phone video transmission and upload works every time. Technology is perfect, dazzling and awesome at every step. The Bourne Ultimatum is a fantasy film.
There are lines every now and then that sound a little flat, a little pulpy...but I wouldn't call them speed bumps. The only thing I really didn't care for is a bit in which (I need to be careful here, can't say when it happens) a simulation of a certain state of being is offered for several seconds, and is then reneged upon just so Greengrass can go "fake out!" It's a cheat, a schmuck move.
I could do the whole plot recitation thing and congratulate all the actors for being note-perfect...okay, I'll do that. Damon is The Man, and I'm really, really sorry that he's declared that this is the final Bourne. He is so much more "the guy" than Daniel Craig, and I'm fine with Craig. Cheers to Joan Allen, Julia Stiles (especially good in her one-on-one scenes with Damon), David Strathairn, Scott Glenn, Paddy Considine, Edgar Ramirez and the dozens of other actors who make it all seem sharp and true.
A crisp salute to screenwriters Tony Gilroy, Scott Burns and George Nolfi, and a deep bow of respect to cinematographer Oliver Wood, editor Christopher Rouse, composer John Powell, production designer Peter Wenham. The biggest tip of the hat goes to Greengrass, of course -- he is truly the top dog in the high I.Q. action realm. I love Bloody Sunday, United 93, The Bourne Supremacy ...the guy hasn't slipped up once. It's good to have him around. Someone this good, I mean.
Comments
"Julia Stiles (especially good in his one-on-one scenes with Damon)," She's a man, baby. WELLS TO JOE B.: I was typing fast, baby, and then I fixed it. Bug fucking deal.
Posted by: Joe B.
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July 21, 2007 03:43 PM
So Jeff, you're saying that it's like the final 15 minutes of John Woo's Hard Boiled stretched out to 151 minutes? If really, then fucking GODDAMN.
As for hand to hand combat, for my money, the best fight I've ever seen was Jackie Chan vs. Ken Lo in Drunken Master 2.
Posted by: Daniel Tayag
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July 21, 2007 03:56 PM
Can't wait to see this. Joe, Daman was always a hot mon, but Julia, mon dieu, I saw her in Rock 'n Roll Ralph's one night, and she took my breath away -- porcelain goddess.
Posted by: thollyung
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July 21, 2007 04:09 PM
Jeff: please, Please, PLEASE try to avoid the words "high thread count" for the next several weeks. Thanks.
Posted by: snackyx
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July 21, 2007 04:14 PM
My guess is there's no awkward Rip-Torn-Norman-Mailer grappling-and-falling down action in this film.
Posted by: nemo
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July 21, 2007 04:14 PM
"So Jeff, you're saying that it's like the final 15 minutes of John Woo's Hard Boiled stretched out to 151 minutes? If really, then fucking GODDAMN."
Yeah, but without the fucking doves and shitty music, I hope.
Glad to hear you liked the movie, Wells. Of all the summer movies opening this year, this is the one I've been looking forward to most.
I saw the first two movies 3 times in a theatre, and numerous times on DVD. Can't wait to see Ultimatum.
Posted by: Ogami Itto
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July 21, 2007 04:17 PM
I pretty much feel the same way. I've been toiling over my review most of the day (I finally published about a half hour ago) trying to say EXACTLY how much of a machine this film is. What a rush, and bring on Imperial Life in the Emerald City.
Posted by: Kristopher Tapley
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July 21, 2007 04:34 PM
Universal said you could go 2 weeks early?
Posted by: thollyung
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July 21, 2007 04:37 PM
151 minutes? Are you sure, Jeff? I didn't keep track of time last night, but I felt like it was maybe one reel longer than SUPREMACY. If it's 151 minutes, Greengrass is The God of Pacing.
Posted by: Jeremy Smith
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July 21, 2007 04:38 PM
"The triumph of Jason Bourne in this film is, no lie, a triumph of humanism. Bourne is not a sadist or even a killer as much as a survivor. The movie is not about killing villains as much as shaming them -- making them fail so badly and so repeatedly that they have no choice at the end but to go to jail, give up or re-think their game."
Best thing in this review, truest thing, amidst all the Bourne love-jizzum.
By the way, I think you might have meant 1 hour 51 minutes, because unless I nodded off (unlikely), this wasn't a two and a half hour (151 minute) film. And there was, by the way, a super claiming the setting as "Madrid" that you must have (forgiveably, given the intensity of the film) missed.
Posted by: Kristopher Tapley
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July 21, 2007 04:41 PM
Hmmm...
Based on the movie's qualities listed above -- non-stop action, frenetic camera, machine gun editing, lack of character development -- I have to wonder... Would this still be a positive review if the picture was identical, only Michael Bay's name was on it instead of Paul Greengrass'?
Posted by: mutinyco
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July 21, 2007 04:45 PM
Oh, anyone else that was there last night feel rubbed the wrong way by the new version of Moby's "Extreme Ways" and the weird, "Terminal"-like design during the closing credits? I wish it would have stayed in keeping with the other two films in this light, but ah well, minor quibble. Over closing credits, of all things.
Posted by: Kristopher Tapley
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July 21, 2007 04:46 PM
Yeah I was initially surprised that they let you run with a two-week early review. I guess Universal will take all the raves they can get. They put themselves in an absurb position with EVAN ALMIGHTY, especially after the runaway monster success of KNOCKED UP. Either that or you violated the embargo, and you're fucked. Needless to say my anticipation for this film is now ridiculously high.
Has any director had such a good run in the past few years? BLOODY SUNDAY, THE BOURNE SUPREMACY, UNITED 93, now this, with EMERALD CITY on the way. I want Greengrass to bring James Nesbitt along with him too. He was the best thing about MATCH POINT, and isn't seen enough over here. I encourage all to check out MURPHY'S LAW on BBC America. All right, didn't mean to go on a random rant there.
Posted by: BurmaShave
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July 21, 2007 04:52 PM
No embargo was violated. The studio told us to write.
Posted by: Kristopher Tapley
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July 21, 2007 04:57 PM
Well, "told us" sounds wrong. "Was cool with us writing." That's better.
Posted by: Kristopher Tapley
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July 21, 2007 04:57 PM
Y'all know it's a requirement to check your watch at the beginning of a press screening and again at the end, don't you? A stop watch wouldn't have helped in the action stuff, good to hear though; it practically sounds attenuated. Can't imagine it's not going to get a feature story in the august editors guild magazine.
Posted by: thollyung
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July 21, 2007 05:07 PM
"I imagined the bad guys (i.e., young grunt-level assassins) as being in the employ of Dick Cheney and all the other black-heart D.C. hardballers, and seeing them get beaten and out-maneuvered time and again is a joyous thing."
Huh. Will the movie still work if I imagine them in the employ of, say, Hillary Clinton?
Posted by: Stephe96
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July 21, 2007 05:16 PM
Lazespud to Wells:
What about that shot from the trailer of Bourne jumping through the window with the camera following him? Having seen the film, does it look like a crane or handheld?
Posted by: lazespud
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July 21, 2007 05:29 PM
Wells to Tapley: Whoops...a Universal publicist said "one-fifty-one" last night. I guess he meant one hour and fifty one minutes. I just knew I didn't think about my watch the whole time. Wells to Mutiny Co.: If Michael Bay had directed this thing, I...well, I think I'd probably still like it. I'm fairly sure I would, although it would be harder to write the review because he's Rosemary's Baby. Wells to Burma Shave: I got a clear go-ahead to write something this morning.
Posted by: gruver1
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July 21, 2007 05:32 PM
Wels to lazespud: it looks like something smooth and steady was behind the camera operator, that's for sure. It's an amazing shot.
Posted by: gruver1
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July 21, 2007 05:35 PM
Sweet... I just hope you aren't building up our expectations too much.
Posted by: Jay T.
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July 21, 2007 05:50 PM
Hello Jeffrey,
How does the quick-cutting in the new Bourne compare to the last Bourne? I admired the directorial skill that went into the last one but I saw the film on the big screen and the quick edits (it felt like every shot in the film only lasted half a second) gave me one hell of a headache when the film was over.
Posted by: cinefan
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July 21, 2007 05:53 PM
Cinefan sounds drugged tonight, Jeffrey said it was better than 2 in that way. It all feels fast, but no one has probably ever seen a cut in a film under under 24 frames. Maybe 22 by accident, but less than a second is thought not to register with the eye at all and just looks weird.
Posted by: thollyung
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July 21, 2007 06:02 PM
Wells, good to hear. Great review.
Posted by: BurmaShave
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July 21, 2007 06:12 PM
Jeez, the NYC all-media isn't for another week (July 30th) - you guys really got a good jump on things. I think I may be a little jealous as this is the one summer sequel which I was looking forward to seeing.
Posted by: NYCritic
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July 21, 2007 06:15 PM
Sorry, I skimmed through the posting and must have overlooked the paragraph where he mentions the editing for this film. Based upon what he said, though, it looks like the new Bourne is pretty close to the last one in terms of how it is cut together and paced. By the way, thollyung, I know that there weren't any half-second shots in the last Bourne (that's why I said "they felt like" they lasted only a half-second).
Posted by: cinefan
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July 21, 2007 06:15 PM
No, he said the shots felt 3 times longer. They went from a one second rule to a three. I'm messing with you cinefan, don't be so easy.
Posted by: thollyung
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July 21, 2007 06:22 PM
Jeff: One of these days, I'll rent these suckers. It's not that I'm not interested. I just haven't gotten around to them yet.
Ogami: "Yeah, but without the fucking doves and shitty music, I hope."
That's The Killer, and if you hate the music there, you could always see Spice World.
mutinyco: "Would this still be a positive review if the picture was identical, only Michael Bay's name was on it instead of Paul Greengrass'?"
It couldn't possibly be identical to a Bay film, because there'd be more explosions as well as stupid wisecracks from Damon.
Burma: "They put themselves in an absurb position with EVAN ALMIGHTY, especially after the runaway monster success of KNOCKED UP."
Forty Year Old Virgin actually did better than Knocked Up, but I guess the latter didn't do too badly, considering the subject matter and the lack of an even lesser-known name than Carrell.
Stephe: "Huh. Will the movie still work if I imagine them in the employ of, say, Hillary Clinton?"
No, because Hillary wouldn't out her own secret agents for political reasons.
gruver: "Wells to Mutiny Co.: If Michael Bay had directed this thing, I...well, I think I'd probably still like it."
It's ok. You don't have to make him feel, better.
Posted by: D.Z.
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July 21, 2007 06:42 PM
"I was bitching after the second Bourne about Greengrass's overly-fast editing during three or four action scenes. There's a point at which hyper-cutting can be too much, but for whatever reason I was cool with it this time. Was there a different aesthetic this time? Was there an editing-room motto that said "no cuts longer than two seconds" on Supremacy and one that said "no cuts longer than three seconds" on this new one? I don't know. I wasn't carrying a stop-watch."
Where are you getting the shots felt three times longer, thollyung? The above passage by Wells seems to indicate that each shot lasted one second longer on average than the last film. Don't be so easy yourself, thollyung.
Posted by: cinefan
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July 21, 2007 06:59 PM
Yeah, I know. Can we revisit this after we've seen it? (2 to 3 is one and a half) Sometimes people complain about the editing, and it's really a cinematography issue. Layter.
Posted by: thollyung
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July 21, 2007 07:07 PM
Not sure I'd salute the screenwriters. From what I hear they never had a screenplay.
Posted by: erniesouchak
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July 21, 2007 07:12 PM
why bother with a script when you can cut every three seconds?
Posted by: christian
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July 21, 2007 08:09 PM
So good of Jeff to explain the visuals. Imagine a script that told the director not to shoot transitions? The nerve of such a screenwriter.
Kris, it turns out that the "Madrid" card was for the hearing impaired. That's music to the director's ears.
As usual, it doesnt' matter whether Jeff likes the film or not, it's a framework to enhance your own experience of the film:
"There was one moment when I realized Damon was no longer in London, but in Madrid. There had been nothing that said "travel" or "cultural transition"...he was just suddenly there. Nor is there any footage given to his flight from Europe to New York City. No getting to or coming back from airports, no taxis, no jet lag...none of that. It's all hammer-hammer-hammer."
I'm not going to get curious about the fake out.
Posted by: thollyung
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July 21, 2007 10:00 PM
D.Z., I know correcting your constant box-office errors is a pointless process, but I have to say: Knocked Up did better than 40yo Virgin. Knocked Up is already over $140 million and Virgin topped out around 110. Knocked Up will have about 150, 155 by the end of its run, which means even if you do the inflation thing with Virgin (which only came out two years ago), Knocked Up still wins.
Posted by: jesse
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July 21, 2007 10:08 PM
DZ, IMDb and the BO sites are resources so easily available to us. Please do some research before you comment. Culturally and fiscally, KNOCKED UP is more succesful than 40 Y.O VIRGIN. It will end up with about 150, plus an obviously eternal life on DVD. I wouldn't be surprised also if it ends up on a bunch of Top Ten Lists and even recieved a nomination for Original Screenplay, and I certainly hope somewhere someone is dreaming up a campaign for Leslie Mann. It's one of the great triumphs of the year.
Posted by: BurmaShave
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July 21, 2007 10:44 PM
DZ: Are you mentally impaired in some way? I don't know what the current PC term is for 'Totally fucking retarded,' sorry.
Posted by: Devin Faraci
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July 21, 2007 11:04 PM
Devin, I'm looking forward to reading your CHUD review. It's imminent, I hope...
Wells, this is an excellent post. Cannot wait to see the film.
Posted by: Nick J
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July 21, 2007 11:33 PM
Forty Year Old Virgin had a bigger worldwide box office than Knocked Up, and was an unexpected hit in a year of flops. The fact that the latter film's marketing campaign emphasized Rogen's connection to the former film only underscores how much of a failure Knocked Up could have been without it.
In addition, the fact that Carrell ended up doing Get Smart, and that, even though it flopped, Evan Almighty still had a higher total than other Jim Carrey-less sequels at the box office indicates that, thanks to 4OYoV, Carrell is a bigger draw than Rogen, who's chosen to settle for the Green Hornet, Fanboys, and a bunch of other no-name productions.
Posted by: D.Z.
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July 22, 2007 01:31 AM
Yes and because of this delicious sandwich I just made, it will rain tomorrow.
Posted by: BurmaShave
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July 22, 2007 01:54 AM
"Forty Year Old Virgin had a bigger worldwide box office than Knocked Up"
LOL:
KNOCKED UP so far has opened only in Australia and moved to Russia this weekend. It will open across Europe until October...
Posted by: Mark G.
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July 22, 2007 02:02 AM
Mark: Yeah, those Europeans are really gonna love a sex comedy that's, in actuality, a fanboy movie with cussing. That's why Kevin Smith is huge over there.
Posted by: D.Z.
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July 22, 2007 03:24 AM
You blew it and you know it. Slink away.
Posted by: BurmaShave
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July 22, 2007 04:00 AM
Believe it or not, but the KNOCKED UP previews are getting great responses here in Germany. I'm pretty sure it will do great here. In fact, I'm predicting a tally at least twice as big as 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN...
Posted by: Mark G.
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July 22, 2007 04:14 AM
BTW: Sex comedys like AMERICAN PIE or PORKY'S worked just fine in Europe...
Posted by: Mark G.
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July 22, 2007 04:16 AM
Guys, don't waist your time with DZ. This is the same retard who said Transformers would not earn $150 million. As of this writing, US total for Transformers is $248.4 million, worldwide is $395 million, and it still hasn't opened in several foreign markets, including UK and Japan.
Posted by: jse33
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July 22, 2007 05:23 AM
I said it'd have a tough time making $150 million, not that it wouldn't make that kind of dough. And making less money than Pearl Harbor-especially when you adjust for inflation-and being kicked to #4 at the box office after only two weeks isn't anything to be bragging about, either.
Posted by: D.Z.
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July 22, 2007 05:53 AM
And yet another thread RUINED by D.Z.
I really wish Wells would ban him. Or that people could learn to ignore him.
Posted by: OddDuck
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July 22, 2007 06:18 AM
Burma - great point on Leslie Mann, I'm glad you mentioned that. She needs to get nominated for Best Supporting Actress, I was telling everyone that on the way out of the theater. Put her in the Oscar bubble! Also, I know KNOCKED UP is a bigger financial hit that 40 YOV, but I'm not entirely sure it's had the same impact "culturally," as you say. It's funny, everyone loves 'Knocked Up' but I never really hear too too much buzz about it for some reason, whereas I felt like everyone was talking about 40 YOV. I thought Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigle were going to blow up and become automatically A-list the way Carell did, but I'm not entirely sure that's the case. This is just my vague feeling and probably doesn't make a lot of sense if KNOCKED UP makes 50 million more, but I swear it seems like there was way more water-cooler buzz about 40 YOV. It seems like more and more these big hits come and go in 2 weeks and everyone forgets about them, maybe that's what it is.
Posted by: Breedlove
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July 22, 2007 06:49 AM
D.Z.: Go watch your gay anime porn, Danny boy.
Posted by: Ogami Itto
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July 22, 2007 07:12 AM
Review embargoes aside, am I the only one who misses the days when reviews would come out just before the movie in question? By the time I see the movie, this apparently well-written review will be dead and buried and even if I scroll back to find it to see what it said, any discussion about it will have long ended.
Posted by: cjKennedy
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July 22, 2007 10:06 AM
Not to join the D.Z. piledriving, but Daniel ... what the hell is this from your last post?
"In addition, the fact that Carrell ended up doing Get Smart, and that, even though it flopped, Evan Almighty still had a higher total than other Jim Carrey-less sequels at the box office indicates that, thanks to 4OYoV, Carrell is a bigger draw than Rogen, who's chosen to settle for the Green Hornet, Fanboys, and a bunch of other no-name productions."
I'm flabbergasted by that sentence. Are you the love child of David Milch and Peter Bart?
Even just dipping a toe into it, I'm wondering about Jim Carrey-less sequels. "Dumb and Dumberer" ? "Son of the Mask" ?
Posted by: MickTravis
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July 22, 2007 10:26 AM
D.Z., you will never, ever come close to typing a thought out or logical argument on any subject. Ever. You're a legendary kind of retarded, the kind of retarded they write books about. The shere fact that you can't look at two numbers and tell which one is bigger shouldn't blow my mind, but it does. You're as dumb as a person with a keyboard could ever be. You're also the closest I've come to hate someone I don't know and will never meet.
And Knocked Up is going to do gangbusters overseas (for the genre) because getting pregnant is fucking universal, you goddamn fucking moron. And Rogen and Stephen Chow in Green Hornet could make double Evan Almighty's gross. And he settled for Fanboys? When you get offered a role, after getting next to no acting gigs for years, that lets you play five or six funny characters in one movie you take it. A bunch of other no name productions? Superbad, which he also wrote, is going to make over a 100 million. Pineapple Express will make even more.
Posted by: Rothchild
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July 22, 2007 11:04 AM
Wow. Harsh response. All I did was joke about one amusing little (now fixed) typo. These postings have TONS of people pointing out every mispelling, etc.
"WELLS TO JOE B.: I was typing fast, baby, and then I fixed it. Bug fucking deal." Harsh from someone hammering the Babel video re-release because of an inappropriate abbreviation. And the "bug" is priceless.
Posted by: Joe B.
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July 22, 2007 11:21 AM
If you guys hate DZ so much, why do you always fill up half of the comments talking about him? he seems like an idiot, just ignore him.
And I am personally sick of people complaining about the cuts in Supremacy. To steal a line from an earlier movie, which cuts would you have them take out?
Posted by: Mr B
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July 22, 2007 11:43 AM
Rothchild: "The shere fact that you can't look at two numbers and tell which one is bigger shouldn't blow my mind, but it does."
So $177 million isn't bigger than $140 million? Ninety million is less than $50 million?
"And Knocked Up is going to do gangbusters overseas (for the genre) because getting pregnant is fucking universal, you goddamn fucking moron."
It might be universal, but Rogen's name is hardly known outside of The Atlantic.
"And Rogen and Stephen Chow in Green Hornet could make double Evan Almighty's gross."
As much as I love Stephen Chow, Kung Fu Hustle did only slightly better than other recent MA flicks, and action-comedies do not necessarily equal big numbers here. See Tango and Cash, Kung Pow, Big Trouble in Little China, and Starsky and Hutch.
"When you get offered a role, after getting next to no acting gigs for years, that lets you play five or six funny characters in one movie you take it."
Yeah, it really worked for Dana Carvey...
Posted by: D.Z.
at
July 22, 2007 12:34 PM
Hey Jeff, maybe they used Walter Murch's 14-set-ups-per-minute rule. (About half way in, Jeff asks Murch about the action editing in Supremacy.)
http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/archives/2007/04/walter_murch_at.php
Mr. B, a few questions down, Murch equates astronomy and editing and making patterns from chaos, which is what D.Z. is doing very badly.
Posted by: T. Holly
at
July 22, 2007 01:04 PM
"See Tango and Cash, Kung Pow, Big Trouble in Little China, and Starsky and Hutch."
Also see STAR WARS, MARAT/SADE, CITY LIGHTS, THE MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN, and SCHINDLER'S LIST.
Seriously, what are you talking about?
Posted by: BurmaShave
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July 22, 2007 01:25 PM
"A friend tapped me on the shoulder during the third act (i.e., the New York portion) to share a quick observation, but I reflexively flinched and indicated with my hands that I couldn't talk, not then, not even for five seconds...good God."
Not surprisingly, this is exactly how Jeff behaves after someone gives him an orgasm.
Posted by: Aunt Sassy
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July 23, 2007 09:17 AM
: : "And Knocked Up is going to do gangbusters overseas (for the genre) because getting pregnant is fucking universal, you goddamn fucking moron."
: It might be universal, but Rogen's name is hardly known outside of The Atlantic.
DZ, let me see if I follow the progression of your argument:
- (You) "Knocked Up is doing worse than 40-Year Old virgin overseas"
- (somebody else) "But that's because it hasn't been released overseas."
- (You) "No, it's because nobody overseas knows who Seth Rogen is."
Allow me to point out, then, that nobody overseas knew who Steve Carell was, and that also, IT HASN'T BEEN RELEASED IN EUROPE YET. I could get a more sensible argument from my cat.
Also, after 'Superbad' opens at #1 -- which it will -- everybody in Europe will know who Seth Rogen is, because he will be officially one of the hottest comedians in America; in turn, he will be pushed heavily in these other countries, which is likely why they're waiting until October to release 'Knocked Up'.
: As much as I love Stephen Chow, Kung Fu Hustle did only slightly better than other recent MA flicks, and action-comedies do not necessarily equal big numbers here. See Tango and Cash, Kung Pow, Big Trouble in Little China, and Starsky and Hutch.
Wow, can you pull more random examples out from your ass, or is that well all dried up now?
: : "When you get offered a role, after getting next to no acting gigs for years, that lets you play five or six funny characters in one movie you take it."
: Yeah, it really worked for Dana Carvey...
Dana Carvey was never the main character in a successful film, nor did he ever write a successful film. Rogen will have acheived both by the end of the summer.
A better example would be Mike Myers. (Now comes the point when you change your argument away from financial success and towards artisitic success.)
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July 23, 2007 09:18 AM
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