APOCALYPTO --- Mel Gibson's Latest (1 Viewer)

[Chuck Mayer]

Except for the political aspects of that review (which I find presumptuous towards the director and professionally distasteful), I am extremely excited that the film is so close. I wonder if other reviewers will separate the film from their desire to talk about "the incident".

 

[Tino]

Fat chance.:

 

[Andy Sheets]

To me, the thing I've noticed is that virtually no one I know really gives a crap about "the incident". That seems more like something Hollywood itself is struggling with. From what I've seen personally, if Gibson is carrying any baggage around these days, it really stems more from the fact that he's now widely perceived as "Jesus Guy", and that every film he does is now supposed to be somehow about Jesus. Someone I know just saw the Apocalypto trailer the other day and, completely bypassing the imagery of the trailer, turned to me and asked, "So what's that supposed to be? Is that like The Passion 2: After Jesus Comes Back?"

 

[Nathan V]

I've noticed a similar thing. One can't deny that the movie looks awesome. In interviews he's still his same, easygoing self. Having lived in Hollywood for a while, I can say that the community there has a strong dislike for him (and incidentally, Steven Spielberg, another self-made success) that I have not noticed elsewhere; newscasters down there were actually comparing him to Nixon and Watergate. The fact that Variety ran that sympathetic article (which I excerpted above) gives me hope that even the insular community might be able to take his art on its own terms.

Regards,
Nathan

EDIT: The H'wd Foreign Press has added this and Letters from Iwo Jima to their list of films under consideration for the Globe Foreign film nomination. In a sentence that doesn't begin to make sense, Variety states: "Unlike their counterparts in Oscar voting, the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press consider a foreign-language film regardless of its country of origin." Somehow, that means that Apocalypto is an official US foreign film, while Letters is the Japanese entry.

 

[Chris Atkins]

Each successive glimpse of this film left me more impressed (and excited) than the last. Can't wait to see it.

 

[Paul Case]

I'm counting down the days until I can see this film. It looks amazing from the trailer and I love all the positive press it's getting of late. I just have to hold on a little bit longer!

 

[Abby_B]

Well, for me personally, I don't think that Mel's personal problems or whatever has any affect on his ability to directorially conceptualize movies - I think most movie fans feel the same way. If the movie looks good, I'll see it. This looks good, so I'm there. Mel's drama doesn't really influence me one way or the other.

In more Apocalypto-related news - Four new clips went up today at IESB, here: http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option...=822&Itemid=27

Worth checking out!

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

Quite a good interview with Mel over at EW.com.

My favourite part:

 

[Adam_S]

David Carr loved Apocalypto

 

[MikeRS]

I just read that Gibson used the Genesis HD camera for this. If I'm not mistaken, that's what Singer used on SUPERMAN RETURNS.

 

[Chris]

Yeah, I think the Academy needs to revisit this issue. More filmmaking done by hispanic and other filmmakers in the US is not in English. And some of it is very good. You'd think if anything, Hollywood would be interested in being more open about it and go for "Foreign Language" films; after all, films from England are rarely put into the Foreign Films category, they vie for the top spots or not at all. (4 Weddings & A Funeral; Howard's End.. I don't remember those getting a shot at Best Foreign Picture)

 

[DaveF]

I saw the preview for Apocalypto last night, before Casino Royale. While it may be a great movie, this was one of the worst trailers i've seen in a while. There was no sense of what the move was about: disconnected images giving no sense of the movie's plot (if it has one). And even worse, it was also a prime example of trailer cliches: bass hits to emphasize cuts between scenes; creepy children talking to the camera; overly loud "stressful" breathing; fast-motion sunsets and cloud motion; fast cut action sequence montage with pounding "industrial" music. The only thing it lacked was a deeply intoned introduction "In a world..."

It was very amateurish, almost a spoof of Blockbuster trailers.

 

[mattCR]

Variety apparently loved it.

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117...&cs=1&nid=2854

 

[Seth Paxton]

I can agree with that.

Still, knowing what the film is and what he has tried to do the footage in the trailers is pretty compelling to me. I was not the target audience for PotC and didn't see it at the theater, but while the "violence fetish" point has merit the guy still pulled off an amazing looking film that did have some emotional power. A bit indulgent, but powerful.

MI3 was a film I avoided slightly because of Cruise, much more so because of MI2. But again after tons of positive reviews I watched it and was impressed.


So I suppose I agree with Olmos, you have to separate the individual from the work. Being a nice guy doesn't mean I have to like your crappy film, so why should I have to hate a great film made by someone I dislike? Even more so when the person isn't featured in the film.


Foreign language Oscar/GG
I don't see this as a category about the language spoken, but rather about the CULTURE that created the film. To me Run Lola Run, even if presented dubbed, still resonates a different culture than Hollywood or the US indy scene. It's not in the spirit of the FL Oscar to include US made films where actors speak another language.

It gets gray when you consider the American subcultures that still have strong ties to their foreign heritage, but a Chinese-American perspective is still not the same as a purely Chinese one, no matter what language is spoken in the film.

What makes those films a unique category isn't just that another language is being spoken. In fact occassionally a FL film barely features any dialog at all.


On the other hand if an American director or producer goes to work entirely with a foreign production outside the country - the studio, sets, actors, crew - at some point the amount of "Americanism" to the film is going to be very limited. To me that seems more like a US-based artist trying to engage in the mindset and values of a foreign country's film production.

In that way I could see support for Apoc. being a "foreign" film.

 

[Nick Martin]

First Listen: Apocalypto soundtrack

http://www.soundtrack.net/features/article/?id=215

 

[Michael:M]

If I refused to purchase movies, books or music because I disagreed with the artist's philosophy or lifestyle, I probably wouldn't own much. I try to base my purchases on the quality of the work, not on the quality of the person who made it.

As Seth points out, there are tons of well intentioned folks out there cranking out really crappy product. Them being nice doesn't obligate me to buy their stuff.

 

[Abby_B]

I got the chance to go to a screening of this yesterday.

This movie really lives up to all the positive press it's getting. I was blown away by how realistic, engaging and enjoyable it was. I really liked it a *lot*. Mel's done an awesome job here.

For me, the best part was the casting. Gibson was so right to cast unknowns in this - it adds to the realism aspect, and they all do great jobs. Rudy Youngblood is a real find, I think. They were so good, very natural, and totally believable.

And the visuals are stunning - this is a movie meant to be seen up on a big theater screen. Everything is very lush, beautiful and detailed - jungles, waterfalls, villages, the ancient city. I can't imagine the level of detail that must have gone into just, say, the costuming for this. (The city dwellers costumes are awesome.) The story moves well, you're completely caught up in the pace, and it doesn't let up at all, particularly during the big chase through the jungle sequences. And, mostly, it was a really good choice to set the decline and ruination/ending of a civilation as the backdrop of a more personal human story. That's the real focus, not the decline of empire, but the fact that the civilization is failing is apparent the whole way through.

I've seen a lot of reviews commenting on the violence in the movie, but honestly, it wasn't as bad as I'd been expecting, and it wasn't over the top for me. (If you watch horror movies with any regularity at all, you've probably seen worse, honestly.) The most bloody moments do illustrate the real problems with the civilization, so in that regard it serves the story.

In short, totally recommend it.

 

[Nathan V]

Thanks for the review, Abby B. Do you remember if the movie was in 2.35:1 or 1.85:1?

Regards,
Nathan

 

[unotis]

I still do not really believe all the hype about what really happened.

I don't see the leap from him being drunk, pulled over and starting to rant about how "the Jews are the source of all the wars" and referring to a female police officer as "Sugar Tits".

I don't see any reason anyone would scream anything like that at police officers, I think it is just more of that crap about how the "Passion of the Christ" was anti-Jewish and how he must hate Jewish people to make such a movie.

If I remember correctly the news media stated that there was nothing in the police report to say he said those things (although many people just thought the police were protecting him by deleting the evidence from the actual written report), I think it is just more lets bring him down just because we can if we want to!

I'm sorry I just don't think that things happened like the general public has been led to believe happened!:frowning:

 

[Kirk Tsai]

Kelly, did you read Gibson's apology? He stated that he was sorry to have made anti-Semitic remarks. If we are going to separate the Gibson's attitudes and behavior from his work, let's also be honest about the man himself.

Seeing the ads on tv and latest trailer in theaters, many of the shots look very unlike film. This could be an intentional artistic choice(see Michael Mann), the ads not reflecting the quality of the prints, or an oversight by the filmmakers. Any opinions on this so far?