You've gotta love Oliver Stone (1 Viewer)

[Vic Cordova]

nothing, i'm assuming.

 

[James W. Johnson]

I would love to know this as well.

 

[RobertR]

It means that when the title of this thread says "you gotta love Oliver Stone", I'm not part of the "you". I don't "gotta" love him. Neither am I part of the "we" that gets what they want from him.

 

[Gareth Flynn]

You've never seen "Dave", then?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Then there's no need for you to thread crap in this discussion again.





Crawdaddy

 

[MarcusUdeh]

I really need Any Given Sunday on DVD I’ve been watching a Pay-Per-View dub VHS. Though the video is fuzzy the movie’s overall cinematography is beautiful. I’m buying the PS3 for my first fore ray into Blu-ray.
Yes during an Entertainment Weekly article circa the film’s release.

 

[Casey Neutron]

Vic,
U TURN has always been anamorphic, it's just not listed as such on the case. Every Columbia/Tri-Star dvd I have is anamorphic, though most of the earlier ones do not list it on the case as being such. The new version of U TURN is just a re-packaging of the same disc.

 

[Anthony Thorne]

I love most of Stone's movies and am really looking forward to ALEXANDER. Equally, I think Stone does really great commentaries - articulate, involving and entertaining.

JFK is a fave of mine and I'll casually mention that I agree with most of it without wanting to poke or provoke anyone here on that topic. It's such a beautifully made film and I've watched scenes of it many times over. It's fascinating to know that Jackson watched it a lot during the LOTR shoot - interestingly enough, I've also read a comment by him where he mentioned he watched Scorsese's CASINO repeatedly during the shoot as well. Both of those stylishly crafted 'scope films have Robert Richardson as a DOP.

I've read a Stone bio - a good one where Stone had his own say at various points - that discussed altercations between Stone and Richardson around NBK or U-TURN, I forget which. After working at high pressure over several films I think they burnt out the particular collaborative energy that they shared. Stone talks about it in the book and I remember that they continued for a little while thereafter for professional reasons before mutually calling it quits. Richardson seems like a decent guy.

As with that E. Weekly piece mentioned by Casey, Stone also mentioned in a Melbourne interview years ago at the time of U-TURN's release that the movie was cut somewhat by the MPAA. You'd hope that if he ever managed a S.E of that film he'd put the extra footage back in. The upcoming remaster of BORN will be a priority purchase for me despite the fact that I'm now slowing my purchases of 'big' studio movies (after ROTK and a handful of others) in anticipation of the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD wave of the future.

Stone does great interviews and articles about him are usually worth a read. Video Watchdog (whose editor Tim Lucas knew Stone for a while in the early 70's - pre-fame and Oscars - and interviewed him following the SEIZURE shoot) did a great piece once on THE DOORS and cleverly inserted subliminal imagery. (The death/Indian character crops up in more places than you'd expect). Likewise, JFK reportedly has some subliminal frame-by-frame stuff - there's reportedly a death's head or skull for a frame or so in one of the projector lights at films end, among other things - that doesn't get talked about much. Finally, through a DOP here in Melbourne I once managed to meet some tech people who have worked with both Stone and some of the other major big-name US directors - sound guys, an editor and other crew - and the gossipy stories and anecdotes about Stone's off-set behaviour are truly some of the funniest (if unprintable) that you could ever imagine. (Paul Verhoeven runs a close second in that respect).

 

[Nathan V]

Just thought I'd put in a good word for Stone. No other director, except maybe Scorsese, crafts such incredibly complex, dynamic, and dazzling films. The technical prowess of Any Given Sunday is absolutely staggering, and to me more than makes of for its various flaws. He makes those football games look like war scenes. Imagine what the battle footage in Alexander is going to be like! The extended NBK, which I consider to be one of his best works, is probably the most intense moviegoing experience I've ever had. An incredible intellectually stimulating work. The cinematography and editing are an absolute joy to watch- especially the use of slow motion (tommy lee jones' and sizemore's prison conversation, etc), close-ups, and fascinating angles. Robert Richardson's trademark lighting is terrific, esp. during Harrelson's interview. It's interesting that Peter Jackson repeatedly watched JFK & Casino (and also Goodfellas). Those two films are two of the most high-energy, sustained-intesity 3-hour pieces of cinema in movie history. Both those films feel like they're 15 minutes long, especially Casino, which just FLIES by! The ACE (editing guild) voted JFK as the best-edited film of the 20th century, and I am more than inclined to agree. The 45-minute courtroom sequence, actually the entire film, is just exhilerating to sit through. The 'look' of the film so perfectly replicates all the hundreds of photos taken of that period. I'm not even going to start talking about the greatness that is Nixon (the film, I mean) and Born on the Fourth of July.
Sorry, I couldn't resist an opportunity to rave about Stone's stuff. I CANNOT wait for Alexander. Hopefully it's going to be what Gladiator, Troy, and all other recent sword & sandal epics have tried to be.

For the poster who stated there isn't any humor in Stone's work, you should check out Nixon and NBK. Neither are exactly comedies, but they feature some hilarious moments, esp. NBK.

And yes, Stone is a great talker as well, and it certainly shows in his always excellent commentaries. Those are 2 different skills, conversationalism and directing; not too many directors have both qualities (Michael Mann, etc, fantasitic director, but not exactly the center of the party). Scorsese and Gilliam are some other great director-commentators.

Nathan

 

[Anthony Thorne]

I must have missed the previous post that suggested there was no sense of humour in Stone's wrok. The wry, prankish and witty humour that pops up in Stone's movies is actually one of my favourite things about his work. There's lots of examples but anyone here who is a fan of Stone's movies should get my drift.

 

[Kain_C]

JFK, Nixon, and Platoon are his masterworks. Even though I am a HUGE Doors fan and realize that the Stone film is more of a comic book version of the reality, it still entertains me to no end. I think it captures the mysticism of the era perfectly, and I believe no one today is quite able to capture an idea, concept, or period like Stone. The Doors is a terrific movie experience, especially when your own reality at the moment is a bit...hazy