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| Syd |
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 12:01 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12944
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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I like a lot of Michael Douglas performances and he's been in plenty of good movies, It's just that I enjoy seeing him tormented. It's some sort of visceral reaction, probably dating back to Running, which I did really hate. An exception is Wonder Boys where I just didn't have the heart after seeing him in that bathrobe. I suspect if I saw him in Wall Street or Falling Down, I'd want to see nasty things happen to him, but then who wouldn't want to see nasty things happen to Gordon Gecko.
Now Schwartzman I simply don't like as an actor, except maybe in Fantastic Mr. Fox where I don't have to look at him. |
_________________ Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| jeremy |
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 12:05 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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| I think Billy's defence of Michael Douglas has some validity. And there is no denying he has presence. |
_________________ I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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| gromit |
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 3:14 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Zodiac did little for me. Kind of dull.
Fight Club kicked ass.
Well-conceived and executed. |
_________________ Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 7:04 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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gromit wrote: Zodiac did little for me. Kind of dull.
Fight Club kicked ass.
Well-conceived and executed.
My opinion is the exact opposite, except that I loved Brad Pitt's performance in FC. Norton's not so much. |
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| lshap |
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 10:28 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4248
Location: Montreal
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| I'd guess the antipathy toward Michael Douglas is more about his unsympathetic roles than about his personality. He usually plays the imperious authority figure, which makes those occasions when his characters fall from grace that much more appealing. We may love watching the underdog win, but it's often more fun to watch the alpha male lose. |
_________________ "Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?" |
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| billyweeds |
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 10:46 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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lshap wrote: I'd guess the antipathy toward Michael Douglas is more about his unsympathetic roles than about his personality. He usually plays the imperious authority figure, which makes those occasions when his characters fall from grace that much more appealing. We may love watching the underdog win, but it's often more fun to watch the alpha male lose.
That makes sense all around. |
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| Marj |
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 10:59 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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billyweeds wrote: I saw Zodiac twice and never found it stultifying.
Cannot figure out what the Michael Douglas bashing is all about. He's a fine and considerably underrated actor who happens to have been born into Hollywood royalty and married a gorgeous woman. Does jealousy have anything to do with it? Because performances like Wonder Boys, Solitary Man, Wall Street, Romancing the Stone, Falling Down...these are not chopped chicken liver. So the guy has dabbled in some trashy movies. This is unique?
Explain, please.
I can't explain it either. I like him very much. Even in some of his more trashy roles, he pulls it off. I'm hoping to watch Solitary Man soon. |
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| marantzo |
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 11:20 am |
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I like Douglas and admire his talent. He was good in Falling Down playing a stupid role in a ridiculous, lousy movie.
Nobody mentions his role in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Of course no one saw it, in spite of my recommendation. Good thing I'm not ultra-sensitive like the missing 3rd Eye posters who were very good and sadly missed.
Leaving this site for Facebook is like walking out of 8 1/2 to see Tommy. |
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| billyweeds |
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 12:22 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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marantzo wrote: I like Douglas and admire his talent. He was good in Falling Down playing a stupid role in a ridiculous, lousy movie.
Nobody mentions his role in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Of course no one saw it, in spite of my recommendation. Good thing I'm not ultra-sensitive like the missing 3rd Eye posters who were very good and sadly missed.
I saw it--as much of it as I could take--and was afraid to post what I thought. A Gary rebuffed is a scary thought. Found it unwatchable, including Douglas. This is the kind of trash I was referring to that he "dabbles in." It's my Signs. (You know what I mean.) Another--and worse--example of MD slumming is the remake of Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, which accomplished the near-impossible feat of being more inept than the original.
You're spot-on about Falling Down. A Joel Schumacher special (meaning lousy movie) in which Douglas managed to give a terrific performance anyway. |
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| marantzo |
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 12:35 pm |
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As I wrote in my review of GoGP, the first 15-20 minutes or so had me thinking "Oh oh, this is going to be awful," but then it gets much much better. I even recommended that one shouldn't be turned away by the opening scenes.
How long did you stick to it? |
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| Syd |
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 1:51 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12944
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| Douglas makes a much better president than Dabney Coleman or Billy Bob Thornton.. |
_________________ Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| gromit |
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 2:51 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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| Or Obama. |
_________________ Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| marantzo |
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 3:59 pm |
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| grace |
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 4:10 pm |
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Joined: 11 Nov 2005
Posts: 3215
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Syd wrote: Douglas makes a much better president than Dabney Coleman or Billy Bob Thornton..
I liked Kevin Kline's fake President better than all of them. |
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| Syd |
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2010 4:23 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12944
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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grace wrote: Syd wrote: Douglas makes a much better president than Dabney Coleman or Billy Bob Thornton..
I liked Kevin Kline's fake President better than all of them.
Though the President his fake President was substituting for was considerably worse than Dabney Coleman. |
_________________ Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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