Against The Wild

June 17, 2014

Edit: What have you done that makes you an authority to not only act like your opinion is superior to mine but ALSO to throw subtle comments that diss Richard's work? I am sure he didn't miss your comment about torturing people with movies with talking dogs (reference to the Dogfather.) At least he makes films and doesn't pipe dream about having enough money. Sorry, someone had to say it.

I took no offense to that Matthew. The dog doesn't talk in The Dogfather. Well not until the end anyway.

R,

James Steven Beverly · June 18, 2014

Are you sure you are from Texas? You seem to lack the...urm...testosterone of the males I have met from Texas.

So now your balls are bigger than mine, THAT really is funny. :lol:

I still say Jolie (you said Jollie) is overrated. There is far superior talent in the industry. Maleficent is hardly Citizen Kane, mate.

Kane is a great movie but Lawrance of Arabia was better so what's your point? Oh Yeah, she really really sucked in all those roles like Girl, Interrupted, A Mighty Heart, Beyond Borders, Changling, you know the one when she was nominated for a second Academy Award. Yeeah that performace must have really blown. Maybe she should give back that first Academy Award she won and renounce her nomination for second one. Hey, I know what you can do, you could prove how good you are by showing her YOUR Academy Award. :rolleyes:

Matthew W. Phillips · June 18, 2014

So now your balls are bigger than mine, THAT really is funny. :lol:

Kane is a great movie but Lawrance of Arabia was better so what's your point? Oh Yeah, she really really sucked in all those roles like Girl, Interrupted, A Mighty Heart, Beyond Borders, Changling, you know the one when she was nominated for a second Academy Award. Yeeah that performace must have really blown. Maybe she should give back that first Academy Award she won and renounce her nomination for second one. Hey, I know what you can do, you could prove how good you are by showing her YOUR Academy Award. :rolleyes:

I'm not from Texas so your point is invalid.

Yeah, she did suck in Girl, Interrupted. Brittany Murphy was better in that movie than Jolie was. Jolie tried way too hard to be this tough girl which people can see right through. Does anyone really think she is hardcore? Way overacted.

Oscar doesn't equal talent. If you think it does, why not say Vivian Leigh is one of the greatest actresses of all time? Gone with the Wind is laughably overacted by her and no one now days would want to emulate that performance.

What exactly DO you value in terms of acting?

James Steven Beverly · June 19, 2014

Neather am I, I was born in Rock Springs, Wyoming so that makes my point even more valid. You should HAVE such a terrible actress in a movie. Apparently Angelina wasn't too bad as a tough girl because she's have several action franchises and made a freakin" FORTUNE playing one as in 20 mil per plus backend. She along with Milla Jovovich are the top female action stars on the planet! BUT OMG, you're so TOTALLY RIGHT that Vivian Leigh, you know that woman who beat out 1400 unknown actresses and 32 of Hollywood's BEST to win the most coverted role in motion picture history, was EVER SO WRONG for that role!! What could Selznick, the meticulous, micro-managing perfectionist from Hell who insisted with SHEER IRON WILL that EVERY SINGLE FRAME of Gone With The Wind be PURE Margaret Mitchell, have been THINKING!! I'm aghast! YOU should do a remake and SHOW EVERYONE how Selznick and Leigh TOTALLY screwed up!

The last time I entcountered this kind of arrogance I was reading an article about a guy in prison who was suing himself for selling drugs so he could cash in on criminal tendencies.

I started acting when I was six and worked with 70s and 80s auteur director Hal Ashby when I was a teenager, who, BTW, took the time to come to my trailer between setups and thank me for the excellent work I was doing. The value I have for actors is do they resonate with their audience. Gary Cooper was never flamboyant and when you watched him on set, it didn't look like he was doing much of anything but when you saw him on screen you couldn't take your eyes off him. Will Ferrell is insane, at times even full blown psychotic, and again, you can't take your eyes off him. Take a look at PBS's American Cinema episode 2 "The Star" and maybe, just MAYBE you might start to get it, but quite frankly, I somehow doubt you every really will. Movie stars really are different from other people and that's something you'll really never understand. It isn't about the acting or the looks or the voice. It's about the identification the people have for them. The audience lives vicariously through their art and there is no way to understand how the mechanism works, it just is.

Edited June 19, 2014 by James Steven Beverly

Matthew W. Phillips · June 19, 2014

Not just me, James. I recall sitting in a film class when they were showing Gone with the Wind and everyone was laughing at her antics. Clark Gable was a much more authentic character. Afterward, people commented that it was pathetic and a complete 180 from the Marlon Brando school of acting where people became real people instead of caricatures.

And you go on about Jolie making money. So I guess now you think money = talent. Next you will be telling me that Kim Kardashian is talented because of her wealth.

James Steven Beverly · June 19, 2014

Kim Kardashian isn't an actress, she's a celebrity but I'll be damned if I can find anyone who knows WHY ao she's known for being known.... and after that video, in the biblical sence.

The reason Jolie makes all that money is she puts asses in the seats. Studios aren't charities, they expect their films to make money and they make money because of the stars they hire to be in their movies so if an actress is making a WHOLE LOT of money to be in one of their movies, chances are she pretty damn good at what she does and a WHOLE LOT of people know that. The money is more of an indicator of what the star brings to the table.

Now, as for your contempt for Gone With the Wind, You actually have the unmitigated gall to diss one of the top 10 greatest motion pictures in the history of film and the Academy Award winner in arguably the greatest year of cinema?

And with ALL these BRILLIANT cinematic masterpieces ONE FILM stood head and shoulders above the rest in it's epic exicution, Gone With The Wind. Some might say The Wizard of Oz was a close second but even though it is one of my favorite all time films, it can not compare to the grandeur of Gone With The Wind. As for Vivian Leigh's performance in Gone With The Wind, she was pitch perfect. She was EVERYTHING Scarlett O'Hara should have been and was, beautiful, spoiled, self absorbed, cruel, ruthless, passionate, frivolous, iron willed, resourceful, tyrannical and singleminded. She carried the movie, Gable also gave a great performance perhaps his greatest with the exception of The Misfits, but he had far less to do. Leslie Howard and Olivia DeHavilind also did some of their finest work in the picture. Hattie McDaniel was so good in the picture that She, a black woman, became the first black actor to win an academy award and in 1939 no less when racism was out in the open and in full swing! ALL of that happen because Leigh gave every other actor on set something to play off of. Without Leigh's greatest performance, Gone With The Wind would have NEVER became the iconic classic it is.

As for Brando, Brando's style of acting wouldn't have WORKED in G.W.T.W. , As good as he was, he couldn't have POSSIBLY played Rett Butler. the very idea of putting a guy like Brando in an epic costumed melodrama is patently ridiculous and before you start spouting off about Mutany on the Bounty, remember it bombed harded than a B-52. Quite frankly, if you and your film students laughed at Leigh's performance in Gone With The Wind then that "Film Class" of your's was a joke and you are an amature.

Edited June 19, 2014 by James Steven Beverly

Matthew W. Phillips · June 19, 2014

Quite frankly, if you and your film students laughed at Leigh's performance in Gone With The Wind then that "Film Class" of your's was a joke and you are an amature.

Says the guy who has been in development on the same low brow horror films since 2004 at least? :D

I'm done with this thread...think what you want.

James Steven Beverly · June 20, 2014

Actually, the only picture I wrote in 2004 is ######### which was a Sci/Fi pic. I have continued to write and am still writing screen plays. ####### was written in 2006 action/adventure/horror, ##### in 2007 action, ##### in 2008 thriller noir, ######## 2009 Sci//Fi ##### action adventure/horror in 2010, ###### in 2010 comedy action/adventure, ######. 2011 mob movie, ###### 2012 Sci/Fi action ###### 2013 Horror, ######## 2014 post apocalyptic action, ###### 2014 war comedy, not to mention my automotive TV series pilot ####### 2010 and our animated web series ####### 2014 that is currently being created. That doesn't include the titles still in development of which there are currently six. I had originally put the titles in this text then remembered one of my title names was usurped for some D picture starring Ron Jerrimy in a NON-porn piece of crap so I decided to keep my titles my business. You know, you must be thinking I'm some whole other person. I work every day on my craft pending almost every waking moment on educating myself in the art of film production. I consider myself an eternal student of the cinematic arts and no matter how good I get, will always strive to be better and learn from those who have something to offer. I very much will think what I want because in the end I find, despite my occasional doubts, that I am inevitably right most of the time. That's not arrogance, it's the confidence of having taken great pains to learn what I need to know to do this job. Maybe that's what you should be concentrating on right now instead of ragging on those who have already proven their worth.