Overrated/Underrated Geek Media

[Bedrockgames]

I think it was momentum off the heels of Goodfellas. Dont get me wrong, as style over substance as Casino is, that style is executed expertly. It just so happens all that energy got placed in style and they forgot to write a good story or command top performances. Folks are often compelled about mafia stories because nobody had done one so well received since The Godfather. There is a sense of wonder at violence in a domestic situation that isnt quite present in a war pic done by soldiers. Its a spectacle, and folks tend to get lost in that moment and forget whats all around that spectacle. I think QT is a master of this, and has taken full advantage of it. Not to pull this discussion in yet another direction.

I am not going to defend Casino as a mstsrpiwce the way I would defend Goodfellas but I do think this gets us back to the point about 2001 which is film as a medium doesn’t necessarily need to be about story. It is a visual and audio medium so I think there is room for movies that are more about a mood. I will say I think I find the characters much more interesting in Casino seeing it recently (especially Ginger: who I probably wrote off the most the first time around). Sharon stone does do a good job of playing someone that bad while also getting us to believe De Niro would keep taking her back the way she did. I do like Casino but I can also see its problems ( from that era I would rate both Donnie Brasco and Carlito’s way higher)

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Btw if we're talking dodgy excuses for why movies failed: Borderlands film director blames flop on Zoom and Covid

This article was also how I found out Dark Horizons still exists, a website I don't think I've visited this side of the millennium!

 

[payn]

I am not going to defend Casino as a mstsrpiwce the way I would defend Goodfellas but I do think this gets us back to the point about 2001 which is film as a medium doesn’t necessarily need to be about story. It is a visual and audio medium so I think there is room for movies that are more about a mood. I will say I think I find the characters much more interesting in Casino seeing it recently (especially Ginger: who I probably wrote off the most the first time around). Sharon stone does do a good job of playing someone that bad while also getting us to believe De Niro would keep taking her back the way she did. I do like Casino but I can also see its problems ( from that era I would rate both Donnie Brasco and Carlito’s way higher)

I think that leads directly to my point. There is a sea of mafia stories out there that are mostly forgotten, but Casino sort of sticks out because of its heavily marketed release and style that got floated to the top artificially. While I didnt have a problem with Stone's portrayal, the character made zero sense in relation to Deniro's. In fact, a character so smart in a business that will get you car bombed if you step out of line, has this really smart dude played by Deniro, that surrounds himself with unstable people. It just didn't work.

 

[payn]

Btw if we're talking dodgy excuses for why movies failed: Borderlands film director blames flop on Zoom and Covid

This article was also how I found out Dark Horizons still exists, a website I don't think I've visited this side of the millennium!

Reminds me of Ridley Scott blaming Last Duel's failure on people "not liking history" instead of it just being a bad film.

 

[Umbran]

Mod Note:
Hey, @Ruin Explorer and @Bedrockgames

You are engaged in accusing each other of things you should have reported, but instead chose to make the basis of a personal clash. That's a trip out of the discussion for both of you.

 

[trappedslider]

at the point that QT started grinning during the destruction of an irreplaceable vintage musical instrument, I decided it was time to leave everything Tarantino.

 

[Gradine]

I stand by it.

 

[Gradine]

Jupiter Ascending is a movie I categorize as "Beautiful Disaster". So many great visuals, along with a story and script that is so amazingly terrible, and acting and worldbuilding that is all over the place. My other go-to example of this phenomenon is Hellboy 2. I think Mad God may be an example of doing "Beautiful Disaster" on purpose.

I feel the exact same way about The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, honestly. Well, that film is mostly dull a good chunk of the time, but quickly morphs into "Beautiful Disaster" mode the moment Helen Mirren and/or especially Keira Knightly are on-screen.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I stand by it.

I feel the same way about Barb Wire, if only for the astounding big brass ones it took to say "let's do a shot-for-shot remake* of Casablanca, starring Pamela Anderson in a post-apocalyptic wasteland."

* Plus a shower scene, which didn't make the theatrical cut of Casablanca

 

[Bohandas]

I can provide actual examples of audience review-bombing (this should link directly to the film section):

List of review-bombing incidents - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

A couple of the things on that list seem spurious. The 2016 Ghostbusters movie had nothing to do with the rest of the series, and The Last Jedi introduced plot holes and also had internal plot holes and it butchered the characterization of beloved Star Wars characters. I think in that era it was just fashionable to claim that you were review bombed to discredit your critics

Last Jedi by itself is a perfectly servicible sci-fi movie, but unfortunately it's not by itself; it has to fit into the larger Star Wars saga, and I think that they were mad that people judged it on those grounds