| Posted by: auge_28 at June 12, 2008, 12:23 pm | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | Quote: Originally Posted by Payne by name Modern westerns like this film, The three deaths of Mesquile Estrada (ridiculous), Seraphim Falls (boring with lots of walking) are just killing the genre with their tedium and banality masquerading as intelligence and maturity. Modern westerns do this huh? . . . Hhmmmmmm And on and on and on . . . The genre has a long history of slow shots. Some folks are addicted to fast cuts and whiplash edits, we get this from TV programs. I love that good westerns slow the experience down, The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Once Upon A Time In The West have some VERY nice and VERY slow landscape shots and that shot of Elam messing with the fly and actually the entire scene before Bronson showed up was absolutely wonderful and VERY slow. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: Payne by name at June 12, 2008, 11:06 am | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | I watched it last night with my brother and thought it awful. Self indulgent nonsense. More narration than a wildlife documentary, tedious repetitive music to mask the 'oh so serious' and long, long, long lingering looks and wistful stares of each main character. It's like when they looked at the script they realised they had an hours worth of material but thought if we just shoot everything at half speed no one will notice. Besides which all those that consider themselves serious about film will pretentiously rub their chin and say 'yes, it displayed the inner torment of each character and you needed that extra time to really understand it'. Dare to criticise it as being long, slow and boring and you'll be easily dismissed as a shallow blockbuster junkie that just isn't clever enough to read all the subtlety and hidden depth. Modern westerns like this film, The three deaths of Mesquile Estrada (ridiculous), Seraphim Falls (boring with lots of walking) are just killing the genre with their tedium and banalit... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: APzombie at May 29, 2008, 8:28 pm | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | Clayton said the final product was exactly what Dominick wanted. Andrew had a drastically long cut with Dylan Tichenor (known for cutting P.T.A.'s films) and knew he had to cut that one down. He wasn't happy with that 3 and a half hour long version to begin with apparently. The studio brought in a big name editor (can't say who) and he cut it down to 100 minutes. Dominick was very displeased with that cut. Because Pitt was such a fan of Chopper, he fought for Dominick to have enough creative control for the studio to push back the release date until he was satisfied. Clayton said Pitt was very involved with post production too (in a good way). Tichenor's cut was shown at a few festivals. If it ever gets a home release, it would be the studios doing and wouldn't be a "directors cut" likely, whats out now is the Andrews proffered cut. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: chinton at May 29, 2008, 11:42 am | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | Quote: Originally Posted by APzombie I had a chance to get in a pretty great conversation with Curtis Clayton. He was the third and final editor brought in and the only one Andrew Dominick got along with. Apparently the folks upstairs had other well known editors come in and all of them apparently had drastic different cuts. One famous editor in particular (he asked not to repeat who it is) made it a 100 minute linear action film without voice overs out of it. haha. I love the film, very beautifully made. One of the years best. Really do you think you could give us more info. on whether how close the finished product is to Dominick's intended cut. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: auge_28 at May 29, 2008, 9:04 am | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | Quote: Originally Posted by DaMovieMan I have this film waiting for me when I get back, I'm gonna watch it first chance i get... The thing is, everyone of my friends I've talked to said it was boring, terrible and completely not worth my time. Most of you schmoes are loving it. Most of you schmoes love Zodiac too and I didn't listen to the friends who told me that movie was boring and a waste of my time. I really hope you guys don't disappoint me this time around with Jesse James. Just remember . . . this is not an action film. It is a longish story about a guy. But I really liked it. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: DaMovieMan at May 29, 2008, 12:28 am | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | I have this film waiting for me when I get back, I'm gonna watch it first chance i get... The thing is, everyone of my friends I've talked to said it was boring, terrible and completely not worth my time. Most of you schmoes are loving it. Most of you schmoes love Zodiac too and I didn't listen to the friends who told me that movie was boring and a waste of my time. I really hope you guys don't disappoint me this time around with Jesse James. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: APzombie at May 29, 2008, 12:24 am | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | I had a chance to get in a pretty great conversation with Curtis Clayton. He was the third and final editor brought in and the only one Andrew Dominick got along with. Apparently the folks upstairs had other well known editors come in and all of them apparently had drastic different cuts. One famous editor in particular (he asked not to repeat who it is) made it a 100 minute linear action film without voice overs out of it. haha. I love the film, very beautifully made. One of the years best. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: CosmicPuppet at May 29, 2008, 12:12 am | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | Quote: Originally Posted by Moviefan1234 It isn't really a twist... Right, the film actually is more of a brooding ticking time bomb that gives it a somber tone because you know he's going to die at some point. It's a very fatalistic film. Jesse practically committed suicide the way he acted in the film. If anyone is missing out on a film simply because of the title, I suggest you also not see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless. What a stupid title. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: moose1132 at May 28, 2008, 9:43 pm | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | I've actually put off watching this movie a few times because of the title. I really didn't know anything about Jesse James and I've heard nothing but good things about the movie. But the title just takes away from what probably could have been a really shocking scene for some people like me. Can you imagine if other movies were named after the massive twist at the end? I probably will watch this eventually, but I'm just saying... | | Static Link |
| Posted by: D.B. Cooper at May 28, 2008, 7:33 pm | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | Quote: Originally Posted by auge_28 In my post I wasn't singling you or any other JoBlow out. I was talking about the average movie goer. I never learned anything about cowboys in school either, I learned about WWII and beaver hunting here in the north-west . . . American history in grade / high school is a joke. What I meant was that I would think that in general the folks who want to watch this film would already have at least a mild background knowledge, at least enough to know that he was assassinated . . . if not by whom. I think the film makers started everybody on the same common ground . . . to let us know that this is not a hero film but rather this is a film about the last few days before the death of a icon that just happened to be told through the eyes of his killer. The film makers probably titled the film thus to give a hint that the film was not about train and bank robbers. Or they just really like very long film titles. Just to chime in, According to Andrew Dominik, Brad Pitt put it in his c... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: auge_28 at May 28, 2008, 4:09 pm | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | Quote: Originally Posted by echo_bravo Hmmm I never learned about Jesse James AT ALL while I was at school. But thats just me. I guess I am the only one here that never knew who Robert Ford was prior to seeing this. For the record, I LOVED the film. As I said before, but I just had a little issue with the title. Also for the record, I DIDNT want it to be focusing on all his train robberies and what not. I was fine with how the story went. In my post I wasn't singling you or any other JoBlow out. I was talking about the average movie goer. I never learned anything about cowboys in school either, I learned about WWII and beaver hunting here in the north-west . . . American history in grade / high school is a joke. What I meant was that I would think that in general the folks who want to watch this film would already have at least a mild background knowledge, at least enough to know that he was assassinated . . . if not by whom. I think the film makers started everybody on the same common ground . . . to let us... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: echo_bravo at May 28, 2008, 3:29 pm | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | Hmmm I never learned about Jesse James AT ALL while I was at school. But thats just me. I guess I am the only one here that never knew who Robert Ford was prior to seeing this. For the record, I LOVED the film. As I said before, but I just had a little issue with the title. Also for the record, I DIDNT want it to be focusing on all his train robberies and what not. I was fine with how the story went. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: Homyrrh at May 28, 2008, 1:07 pm | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | As for the comment, it was just being a smart-ass about the title. Regardless of what it's called, my history book says Robert Ford killed Jesse James. Though I did know he was murdered, I did not know it was by one Robert Ford. Sean's right about the story's intent. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: auge_28 at May 28, 2008, 12:04 pm | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | Quote: Originally Posted by echo_bravo But comparing the Titanic tragedy(which is widely known) to the Jesse James killing is a bit of a reach. Not many people know the background of Jesse James and how he died. All they know was that he was an outlaw. I wonder if the makers of the film did not want to insult folks intelligence? It seems to me that people who are interested in American history, westerns or The James Boys would know that he was at least shot and killed. The title was what sold me on the film . . . I was thinking "finely, a story about the guy that killed the guy", because up until now all we have are films were he is an anti-hero. I have seen all the bank/train robbing westerns I want to see. What I said above is also why I liked the film being character driven not plot driven. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: xseanymacx at May 28, 2008, 11:26 am | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | Quote: Originally Posted by echo_bravo No offense taken mate. I actually got a little chuckle out of it. But comparing the Titanic tragedy(which is widely known) to the Jesse James killing is a bit of a reach. Not many people know the background of Jesse James and how he died. All they know was that he was an outlaw. But again, the actual murder of Jesse James is not the focal point of the story. Hence the only attention to it is the actual scene. The story doesn't linger on it as after Ford does it, we're brought into his story afterward. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: echo_bravo at May 28, 2008, 11:00 am | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | No offense taken mate. I actually got a little chuckle out of it. But comparing the Titanic tragedy(which is widely known) to the Jesse James killing is a bit of a reach. Not many people know the background of Jesse James and how he died. All they know was that he was an outlaw. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: Homyrrh at May 28, 2008, 8:06 am | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | Quote: Originally Posted by echo_bravo Just saw this film. Loved it. Really got a Terrance Malick feel to it. My only complaint was the title. What were they thinking? I mean it gives away basically the whole jist of the film IMO. I wish the film was called The James Boys or just Jesse James. This is exactly why James Cameron didn't change the name of 'Titanic' to 'The Sinking of the Titanic by the North Atlantic Iceberg in 1912'... | | Static Link |
| Posted by: Homyrrh at May 27, 2008, 9:08 am | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | 8.5/10. Solid if any Western is, but not necessarily one of the best ever. My sole complaint was Brad Pitt. The scene where he yells at the conspiring Ford brothers from atop the hill was laughable. Also, I feel a conviction that more of the film should've taken place after the assasination. Other than that, basically the embodiment of what a Western should be. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: Pride at May 26, 2008, 9:15 pm | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | 9/10 I had high hopes for this film because I loved Chopper, but this movie really delivered. The assassination scene when Jesse James arranges his painting on his wall is one of my most memorable scenes ever. That beings said, Im pretty happy I saw it on DVD as I was able to stop it halfway through and take a quick break. Excellent film. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: eljefe15 at May 26, 2008, 7:58 pm | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | Quote: Originally Posted by Freddy Krueger My favorite film of last year. How it didn't win the Oscar for cinematography I'll never know, Roger Deakins is one of the best cinematographers ever. I agree completely. The unbelievable part is that he was nominated twice last with Assassination of Jesse James and No Country for Old Men and he didn't win. He is truly amazing and the film is really better than I expected. 8/10 | | Static Link |
| Posted by: CosmicPuppet at May 26, 2008, 5:25 pm | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | Quote: Originally Posted by chinton Brilliant film. One of the best Westerns ever made. Compelling every second, very well-written and beautifully acted. The last 20 minutes is heartbreaking. The movie is just about perfect. Also the title doesnt give away anything. Its part of history and the movie is not about the actual murder. Its about the characters. 10/10 My sentiments exactly. I'd even go so far to say this film snuck its way to the top of my list of 2007. It was between this and There Will Be Blood which is an obvious masterpiece but the subtleties of this film won me over. The cast which was very great. Everybody brought a degree of authenticity to the setting and everyone had their own distinct personalities from Robert Ford to Jesse's brother Frank to Dick Liddel. The cinematography was simply beautiful. Every shot felt nostalgic and like an old photograph from that era. The music was my favorite score of 2007. Very original and minimal. It brought a lot of weight to the film. Nick Cave and Warre... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: echo_bravo at May 26, 2008, 5:23 pm | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | Quote: Originally Posted by chinton Brilliant film. One of the best Westerns ever made. Compelling every second, very well-written and beautifully acted. The last 20 minutes is heartbreaking. The movie is just about perfect. Also the title doesnt give away anything. Its part of history and the movie is not about the actual murder. Its about the characters. 10/10 Yeah I got that part but for many people who arent history buffs the title of the film kinda took away the "shock factor" when Ford shoots James in the back. But I still loved the hell outta of the film and will probably buy it soon. 9/10 | | Static Link |
| Posted by: chinton at May 26, 2008, 5:12 pm | | Topic: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Forum: JoBlo | | Brilliant film. One of the best Westerns ever made. Compelling every second, very well-written and beautifully acted. The last 20 minutes is heartbreaking. The movie is just about perfect. Also the title doesnt give away anything. Its part of history and the movie is not about the actual murder. Its about the characters. 10/10 | | Static Link |
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