Chris Nolan Saving Movie Theaters

So, I watched about 20 minutes of "Greyhound". The CGI ships were pretty good but I could definitely tell the mock-up from the CGI. For the visual continuity, one might as well have shot everything "external" in front of an LED wall.

The first action scene, which is as far as I got, was edited quite poorly as a film sequence. Neither the director nor the writer was able to achieve the sense of the battle a la Josef Vilsmaier in "Stalingrad" (1993), Steven Spielberg in "Saving Private Ryan" or Tony Scott in "Top Gun".

The sense of danger of the whole expedition was far too muted.

And, on a sillier side, a destroyer in open ocean waters can indeed to battered by waves ... but the actors were obviously on the sound stage with feet firmly planted on a stationary set rather than rocking and rolling along with the choppy seas. The SPR opening shots with the soldiers throwing up on their LSVP's before landing in Normandy this was not.
 
DLD said:
So, I watched about 20 minutes of "Greyhound". The CGI ships were pretty good but I could definitely tell the mock-up from the CGI. For the visual continuity, one might as well have shot everything "external" in front of an LED wall.

The first action scene, which is as far as I got, was edited quite poorly as a film sequence. Neither the director nor the writer was able to achieve the sense of the battle a la Josef Vilsmaier in "Stalingrad" (1993), Steven Spielberg in "Saving Private Ryan" or Tony Scott in "Top Gun".

The sense of danger of the whole expedition was far too muted.

And, on a sillier side, a destroyer in open ocean waters can indeed to battered by waves ... but the actors were obviously on the sound stage with feet firmly planted on a stationary set rather than rocking and rolling along with the choppy seas. The SPR opening shots with the soldiers throwing up on their LSVP's before landing in Normandy this was not.
Click to expand...

I watched it this weekend and liked it. But I think that ironically, it's a good thing it debuted on a streaming service instead of getting a theatrical run, because to me, it felt at home, well... at home. As I said, I liked it, but it just did not feel like a "big screen movie". It felt like something I would have watched on Discovery or History(but they would have shown more action). You know, back when they actually did educational and historical programming.

And yes, there were some times when the ship was obviously leaning HARD or was bing battered by rough seas and NO ONE MOVED. There was one scene were the ship looked like it was almost on its side, but everyone standing outside stood there like they were on a cruise ship standing by the railing watching whales swim by.
 
Run&Gun said:
But I think that ironically, it's a good thing it debuted on a streaming service instead of getting a theatrical run, because to me, it felt at home, well... at home. As I said, I liked it, but it just did not feel like a "big screen movie".
Click to expand...

I actually feel like Hollywood movies have felt smaller and smaller and more like TV in recent years. There are exceptions, but they often seem to come from foreign directors. Maybe I'm just being a grouse. But I feel like the '90s was the recent peak of movie grandeur, even just for run of the mill releases. Maybe it's a budgetary thing I dunno

As for the rocking on the ocean - now that's just an embarrassing lack of realism. A land lubber like me probably wouldn't have noticed though, I'd have to see
 
Run&Gun said:
... And yes, there were some times when the ship was obviously leaning HARD or was bing battered by rough seas and NO ONE MOVED. There was one scene were the ship looked like it was almost on its side, but everyone standing outside stood there like they were on a cruise ship standing by the railing watching whales swim by.
Click to expand...

My dad was drafted at 18 and was sent to serve in Petsamo (now called Pechenga under its Russian rather than Finish name). It's not far from Murmansk but the roads or railroads were too few and far in between, so the rookies all got shipped there. Winter. Barents Sea. He said, the waves were so large, he was the only person on the ship who was not throwing up a storm.

I was definitely not of the same complexion. In 1979, we toured Southern Italy and stayed overnight at Sorrento, down from the Bay of Naples. In the morning, we were treated to a tasty breakfast that even included eclairs. Then, we were off to Capri Island. A piece of cake, so to say. A half hour boat ride. But it was really choppy and those eclairs must have tasted real good to the little fishes swimming next to the boat.
 
FWIW, my interests in WWII began with the Eastern Front and ground forces but, back in 1998, I met a fellow on the old AOL WWII forum, who was totally obsessed by the U-boats. How obsessed, you ask? Well, he had an 8-foot (I think it was 8 feet) replica of Typ VII, which fully floated, but the culmination of his pursuit in the early days of eBay was him outbidding others for an original parade uniform of a WWII ace Günther Prien. The winning bid was $12,000.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Günther_Prien

A piece of history, one might say.
 
There is so much of that war that I was unaware of. Hollywood likes all the obvious pro-western hero stories. We hear so much about the eastern and western front. I had no idea what devestation Greece went through until recently. I'm reading a book now about the years after the war. That's a topic that could use a movie.
 
About a decade ago, I was going to write an alternate history book that would begin on December, 31st, 1943 with Hitler's fatal car accident (those roads leading up to Berchtesgaden could be quite treacherous, especially during an avalanche). I thought I knew as much as one needed to know for a reasonable scenario. Then I began to read about fortifications such as the Gustav Line and the Gothic Line. Then I began to read about the motor jets. Then about the financials and the production efficiency per unit of floor space. Then about the tandem engines. Then about the rocket engines. Then about the mixed propulsion aircraft. Then about Cromadur and Tinidur. Then .... I am still learning.
 
Yes the Dunning-Kruger Effect is a double-edged sword: the more you know, the more you realize you don't know
 
Run&Gun said:
I watched it this weekend and liked it...
Click to expand...

Someone uploaded the final battle scene onto the YouTube. "Here's a torpedo. Duck".

This is why the U-boats attacked at night (with an exception of their medium range homing torpedo attacks in 1943).

Furthermore, on his initial convoy, "Greyhound" sinks four U-boats. The Germans lost 87 of them in the whole of 1942 to a variety of causes. Chances of a single destroyer claiming four in one raid were infinitesimal.

(the details on U-boats sunk in 1942, location and the likely culprit - https://uboat.net/fates/losses/1942.htm)

Which brings me to the source. CS Forester's book seems more like a military adventure novel, while Hanks's script was closer to a documentary. The former was a twin to Ian Fleming; the latter to Jack Webb.
 
"Warner Bros. will open "Tenet" in 70 countries, including China, the U.K., Canada and South Korea, on Aug. 26. But it won't see a U.S. release until a week later...

Per an IndieWire report, the movie's breakeven point is $800 million. That's a huge sum for a blockbuster to rake in during the best of times — and it's more than the total worldwide grosses of his last two movies "Interstellar" ($690 million) and "Dunkirk" ($525 million)."

https://www.axios.com/tenet-christopher-nolan-9aaef726-9afb-4f51-9c20-d58476e0fe97.html
 
"Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga" is a slapstick Will Ferrell flick that was targeted for the May, 2020 release but ended up on Netflix. It went #1 the first week, slid down to #8 in the second. Rated as 6.6 on IMDB. Budget or the sales/acquisition price are unknown. A typical Ferrell production is $50M-$70M, with the "Eurovision" likely being on the lower end of that range. Netflix probably covered the costs.
 
DLD said:
"Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga" is a slapstick Will Ferrell flick that was targeted for the May, 2020 release but ended up on Netflix. It went #1 the first week, slid down to #8 in the second. Rated as 6.6 on IMDB. Budget or the sales/acquisition price are unknown. A typical Ferrell production is $50M-$70M, with the "Eurovision" likely being on the lower end of that range. Netflix probably covered the costs.
Click to expand...

It's terrible, even for a Will Ferrell movie. And most Americans don't get Eurovision, which I imagine is a barrier to understanding it. And weirdly it's Skitch but Eurovision IS KITCHSH so it's making a pastiche of something that is already making a parody of itself for many years...I don't think it's a successful movie at all in terms of the usual Will Farrell audience or reaching beyond that.

JB
 
From your analysis, I'm sure it's a bad movie. But I doubt that would stop it from being commercially successful if the individual punchlines and scenes worked
 
ahalpert said:
"Warner Bros. will open "Tenet" in 70 countries, including China, the U.K., Canada and South Korea, on Aug. 26. But it won't see a U.S. release until a week later...

Per an IndieWire report, the movie's breakeven point is $800 million. That's a huge sum for a blockbuster to rake in during the best of times — and it's more than the total worldwide grosses of his last two movies "Interstellar" ($690 million) and "Dunkirk" ($525 million)."

https://www.axios.com/tenet-christopher-nolan-9aaef726-9afb-4f51-9c20-d58476e0fe97.html
Click to expand...

That math doesn't work out.
 
ahalpert said:
Per an IndieWire report, the movie's breakeven point is $800 million.
Click to expand...

As I've said before here, the standard cinema release formula is 4 x production budget before you break even. I don't know what the film cost, but I bet it's not far from 200 million.

JB
 
John Brawley said:
Eurovision IS KITCHSH s
JB
Click to expand...

Is this what you call kitsch?


Dsching... Dsching... Dschinghis Khan
He, Reiter; ho, Leute; he, Reiter, immer weiter
Dsching... Dsching... Dschinghis Khan
Auf Brüder, sauft Brüder, rauft Brüder, immer wieder

Lasst noch Wodka holen
Ho, ho, ho, ho...
Denn wir sind Mongolen
Ha, ha, ha, ha...
Und der Teufel kriegt uns früh genug

The "ho, ho, ho" alone makes it royal kitsch. Immer weiter!
 
DLD said:
Is this what you call kitsch?
Click to expand...

Well that's an easy gag. It's all like that.

For those that don't know, it's a song writing competition for original songs. Each country in the EU enters and all the member countries vote for who should win (you can't vote for your own country).

Weirdly Eurovision is HUGE in Australia. We all sit up in the middle of the night to watch it. And for the last 5 years Australia, the only country not in the EU, has been allowed to compete simply because of how popular it is in Australia.

They are amazing events. This opening was memorable in my mind, for live and event lighting.

This 9 min clip tells you everything you need to know. This was 2014 ( this year was also notable because a trans singer won) and if you want to skip the preamble and just see what they put to air live, go to the 4 min mark and take a look at the way this is shot, lit and staged. It's jaw dropping. Especially because it's a one-off event in one evening. (and check out the costumes for each country)

https://youtu.be/gtBrADWFjq8

(the winning country hosts the next year's broadcast)

They're also famous for doing some pretty crazy Steadicam choreography as well. Three steadicams used last year....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krPHYXV0AVw&list=ULEpqtbSIQ3ho&index=639

Kitsch much ?

Eurotrash and we love it...

JB
 
Eurovision is kitsch even if the music is passable. Or, on a few occasions, quite good. Or sometimes eternal.

 
They have pretty fantastic lighting and camera production.

Amazing to think that 75 years ago, their ancestors were butchering each other.

I feel like part of the kitsch comes from playing up and exaggerating/mocking one's own culture as both a celebration of difference and an acknowledgement of how superficial their differences are.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top