DVD Review HTF REVIEW: A History of Violence (Highly Recommended) (1 Viewer)

[TonyD]

i thought it was a great film too.
but.

i didnt even notice hurt was nominated for some reason i thought it was ed harris.

i thought harris was frightening as fogarty.

when he first shows up, "you sure took care of those bad men."

hurt was laughable as the, well i can't say what he was but his dialect/accent, what was he going for with that?
was pretty bad.

 

[Brett_M]

Hurt's Irish mob boss had a dead-on South Philly accent. They don't talk like New York Italians. Irish mob guys have their own style of speech. Fantastic performance.

 

[TonyD]

really, not the same philly i'm from. i grew up there and still live just outside of philly.

i never heard that accent.

irish mob boss from south philly.

thats an italian area.

i think he sounded like a bad italian voice.

 

[Justin Hargis]

How this movie wasn't nominated for Best Picture, I do not know. This is my second favorite movie of 2005.

Viggo was great in it. He had me fooled.

 

[Brett_M]

TonyD,

I stand corrected.

South Philly is Italian and I knew that (my mom grew up there).

I should have simply written that it's Irish mob from Philly. My mother commented after seeing AHOV that the Irish mob didn't sound like the Italians and she thought Hurt did it just right.

Thanks for stickin' to me in a nice way.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

AHOV is a top shelf film. I was lucky enough to see it in theaters. I was unlucky enough to see it with a crowd that was very uncomfortable with the sex and violence, and resorted to giggling

In comparison to my top ten, I had AHOV at #7. I felt it circled a lot of big themes, but never committed to any. but circling is way more than most films, and it delivered a fantastic entertainment at the same time, so I am not complaining.

On my list of Oscar snubs, I have Maria Bello at the top. She gave a commanding performance, but couldn't scratch up a nod. I suppose AHOV is too "on-the-nose" for the awards shows, too dirty, and too brutal.

Just like real violence.

 

[Jeff Swindoll]

Okay, it was my player. For some reason my cheapie Cyberhome insisted on playing the deleted scene before going to the menu, causing my confusion. Weird.

Fine performance all around. Viggo da man, Maria was robbed at Oscar time, Hurt's accent is on purpose (there's a part in the long play docu devoted to it).

What strikes me as veddy odd is that the MPAA objected to two scenes of blood squirting for seconds but seeminly made no peep about Stephen McHattie's scene in the diner which made me go ewwwwwwww.

 

[TonyD]

since i don't obviously know what irish mob guys sound like i'll take your word for it.

now i want to know what part of philly is irish mob.




the deleted scene and the making of the deleted scene is true cronenberg, check it out.

brett, didnt mean to seem as if i was stickin it to to you. sorry about that.

 

[Tim-H.]

Thanks for the review, I agree it's a terrific 1-disc presentation.
(Too bad, as I REALLY wanted to spend $30 on another 2-disc SE...)
Theatrically I recall a bit of grain & softness, so the DVD looks right to my eyes. Hope this performs well on DVD!

 

[Brett_M]

TonyD,

I'll look into which part of Philly is Irish mob -- I'm not really sure.

I'm glad that Fogarty, Cusack & Co. are not Italians -- seen that a million times. These guys were more sinister -- off kilter anyway. More dangerous.

And re: stickin' it to me, all I meant was you could have really buried me and you took the high road. I appreciate that.

 

[Yumbo]

rewatchability?

 

[Matt Stone]

It's a little early to comment on re-watchability, but if it's anything like other Cronenberg flicks, I'll probably give it a spin at least once a year. Maybe more. Hell...maybe I'll go watch it again right now

 

[Holadem]

I still don't get it. Perhaps everyone knows Mr. Hurt from some place that I don't and see that his performance is nothing like him. But I found absolutely nothing out of the ordinary in these what, 10 minutes? this guy spent on screen.

I think Viggo was fantastic in this movie. To this day I can't figure out the extent to which he buried his former self. He certainly convinced me that he believed he was Tom Stall. Yet, all the talk in town is about Hurt and Bello (I found her no different from countless "wifey under duress" performances!). Why is everyone so enamored with Hurt, whose performances that didn't even register on my radar when I watched the movie? What am I missing? .

--
H

 

[Matt Stone]

I definitely think Viggo stole the show, but Hurt's role was very memorable for me. I've seen him a bunch of times, and I've never, ever seen him play a role like that.

 

[Holadem]

Sounds like Hurt stole the show then, Viggo being the main character.

--
H

 

[Matt Stone]

From that definition, are you saying that it's impossible for a supporting character to ever be good? I think Viggo was great...his performance was the biggest highlight of the film for me. I also thought Hurt was great too.

 

[TonyD]

i take it to mean that since viggo was the star he already was supposed to be the show so he couldnt steal it.

supporting actors cansteal the show because they arent really supposed to be the "show".

also i agree with holadem, about bello and hurt.
bello just annoyed me.
and hurt as you said wasnt in the movie much.
thats why i thought that it was harris who was nominated as he was in it about
as much as hurt but harris just
did it for me in this.

and i was surprised as to how he... well i cant say.

 

[MatS]

watched the movie tonight
let's just say I'm glad I rented and didn't buy blind

 

[Sam Davatchi]

 

[Joel C]

Sam-

I don't think he had much of a choice. He didn't want innocents killed, and he couldn't "choose" to kill them in a less conspicuous way without risking their lives even moreso. Doesn't really seem like much of a choice, he had to do it. If he hadn't, everyone in the diner, including himself, would be dead.