The inaccuracies bothered me, not so much because they were inaccurate, but because it was a lot of wasted screen time that could have been spent actually developing some of the characters who were important. It’s always fun to see Baby Face Nelson, but he took time away from the people the story was supposedly about.
One thing that got to me about Public Enemies was how the make-up department has not kept pace with camera and lighting (I also have mild complaints with the lighting and how jarring it was with the HD medium used in the film). There is a close-up on Depp’s hand… an extreme close-up… the make-up job done to cover up his tattoo was not up to the job… the tat managed to bleed through. That just seems very sloppy and rushed. Cinematographer Dante Spinotti should have caught it. In the very least… it was a insert close-up for goodness sake… use one of the grip’s hands or a stand-in’s hands for the shot.
About the music… at times it was like Elliot Goldenthal was riffing on Edelman/Jones from The Last of the Mochicans… I half expected to see Day-Lewis storm onto screen a few times… and Bill the Butcher woulda shown Bale the what for…
I’m not saying a period piece shot on digital video can’t be done. I’m just perplex why Mann applied as much pixelated grain and muddy contrast as he did.
To be honest I found public enemies to be boring beyond all belief.
I could see what they were trying to do with making us feel compassion with both charachters and side with both of them but it didn’t work. Depp’s portrayal of dillinger didn’t convince me as the “lovable rouge” type regardless of how much of the banks money he’d take and leave the normal every day working people alone.
Also some scenes were too drawn out. The ending scene in the cinema seemed to go on for too long and the romance scenes between Depp and Cotillard just seemed to last forever and do very little to enhance the charachters.
Sean, I have to agree with your assessment of Dillinger being portrayed as some kind of folk hero.
We’re meant to believe that the public loves him only because the movie says they do. We never see him do anything other than serve his own interests. There is no reason for the public to idolize him so, unless they were attracted to the candor in his jailhouse interview?
I read the book the movie is based on way back and from my memory of it and from John Dillinger;s wikipedia page, he and baby Face Nelson did indeed pull a heist together and share a hideout.
Honestly can’t stand the idea of seeing Ice Age 3. Transformers was okay, though I think the robo-testicles was a bit over the top. I honestly enjoyed The Proposal more than anything I’ve seen this month.
As for Ice Age 3 and Transformers:ROTF. I still have no seen ROTF however, it was never high on my list of things to go see.
I saw Ice Age 3 the day after it came out and it was fairly enjoyable. Definatly better than the second one. The only problem is it’s still not as good as the first one for one simple reason. The animals are to anthropomorphisized (sp?) In the first film they were animals. The humour came parcially from the fact that they were confused about the way humans acted. Albeit in the third one they scaled back a bit more (i.e. no talking about mine fields) but they still have enough pop culture references to just ruin it a bit.
There is no doubt however, that Simon Pegg steals the show as Buck, plays the psycosis well and has some fantastic lines (“I dunno. I Don’t speak wind.”)
The inaccuracies bothered me, not so much because they were inaccurate, but because it was a lot of wasted screen time that could have been spent actually developing some of the characters who were important. It’s always fun to see Baby Face Nelson, but he took time away from the people the story was supposedly about.
Zodiac is a really good example of a period film that’s shot on digital video, so it can be done. That film looks stunning.
One thing that got to me about Public Enemies was how the make-up department has not kept pace with camera and lighting (I also have mild complaints with the lighting and how jarring it was with the HD medium used in the film). There is a close-up on Depp’s hand… an extreme close-up… the make-up job done to cover up his tattoo was not up to the job… the tat managed to bleed through. That just seems very sloppy and rushed. Cinematographer Dante Spinotti should have caught it. In the very least… it was a insert close-up for goodness sake… use one of the grip’s hands or a stand-in’s hands for the shot.
About the music… at times it was like Elliot Goldenthal was riffing on Edelman/Jones from The Last of the Mochicans… I half expected to see Day-Lewis storm onto screen a few times… and Bill the Butcher woulda shown Bale the what for…
I’m not saying a period piece shot on digital video can’t be done. I’m just perplex why Mann applied as much pixelated grain and muddy contrast as he did.
To be honest I found public enemies to be boring beyond all belief.
I could see what they were trying to do with making us feel compassion with both charachters and side with both of them but it didn’t work. Depp’s portrayal of dillinger didn’t convince me as the “lovable rouge” type regardless of how much of the banks money he’d take and leave the normal every day working people alone.
Also some scenes were too drawn out. The ending scene in the cinema seemed to go on for too long and the romance scenes between Depp and Cotillard just seemed to last forever and do very little to enhance the charachters.
Sean, I have to agree with your assessment of Dillinger being portrayed as some kind of folk hero.
We’re meant to believe that the public loves him only because the movie says they do. We never see him do anything other than serve his own interests. There is no reason for the public to idolize him so, unless they were attracted to the candor in his jailhouse interview?
I saw Ice Age this weekend – cute film, lots and lots of 2-level jokes. Simon Pegg pulls off a new character with a lot of fun.
I read the book the movie is based on way back and from my memory of it and from John Dillinger;s wikipedia page, he and baby Face Nelson did indeed pull a heist together and share a hideout.
Honestly can’t stand the idea of seeing Ice Age 3. Transformers was okay, though I think the robo-testicles was a bit over the top. I honestly enjoyed The Proposal more than anything I’ve seen this month.
As for Ice Age 3 and Transformers:ROTF. I still have no seen ROTF however, it was never high on my list of things to go see.
I saw Ice Age 3 the day after it came out and it was fairly enjoyable. Definatly better than the second one. The only problem is it’s still not as good as the first one for one simple reason. The animals are to anthropomorphisized (sp?) In the first film they were animals. The humour came parcially from the fact that they were confused about the way humans acted. Albeit in the third one they scaled back a bit more (i.e. no talking about mine fields) but they still have enough pop culture references to just ruin it a bit.
There is no doubt however, that Simon Pegg steals the show as Buck, plays the psycosis well and has some fantastic lines (“I dunno. I Don’t speak wind.”)