Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
- Black Hat
- Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 5:34 pm
- Location: NYC
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
Actually many New York buildings were designed in the style of the Chicago School. Your pizza on the other hand has thankfully not been as influential.
- barryconvex
- billy..biff..scooter....tommy
- Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2012 10:08 pm
- Location: NYC
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
If I'm remembering correctly, wasn't it Moses who decided to run the Cross Bronx Expressway through the South Bronx, effectively decimating what was a largely Jewish area?Or do we need to throw in what Moses did for minority neighborhoods in the Bronx?
- mfunk9786
- Under Chris' Protection
- Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
Parted the sea?
- Lemmy Caution
- Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 3:26 am
- Location: East of Shanghai
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
Interesting discussion.
I think just in the context of the times -- Depression through early Post-war -- the idea that whites would benefit and minorities be less considered (ie usually screwed or ignored) was just a given.
Maybe some urban planners were concerned about blacks, but if so I'd be interested to hear about it.
I think just in the context of the times -- Depression through early Post-war -- the idea that whites would benefit and minorities be less considered (ie usually screwed or ignored) was just a given.
Maybe some urban planners were concerned about blacks, but if so I'd be interested to hear about it.
- mfunk9786
- Under Chris' Protection
- Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
Elderly Harlem residents driven into homelessness due to the production of this film
Edward Norton sez he had to call in so many favors to make this film that he will be starring in work that is "beneath him" for a decade to repay said favors
Edward Norton sez he had to call in so many favors to make this film that he will be starring in work that is "beneath him" for a decade to repay said favors
- Brian C
- I hate to be That Pedantic Guy but...
- Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:58 am
- Location: Chicago, IL
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
I can't wait for Chris's review of Collateral Beauty 2.
- mfunk9786
- Under Chris' Protection
- Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
The irony is so rich that anything could be beneath someone who put their heart and soul into making this piece of shit
-
- Joined: Sun Jun 02, 2019 9:13 pm
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
Which performance, unseen, is more atrocious, sleepwalking Bruce Willis or SNL parody Alec Baldwin?
Not as if I'm going to give my spare time watching this dreck.
Not as if I'm going to give my spare time watching this dreck.
- mfunk9786
- Under Chris' Protection
- Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
Bruce Willis' performance is barely there. He totally phones it in. Leslie Mann, who plays his wife, gives maybe the worst performance in the whole film. Baldwin is doing his usual shtick, but he's 100% committed.
- Black Hat
- Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 5:34 pm
- Location: NYC
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
I think a lot of people will tell you Baldwin, but that's only because his parody of a parody of a parody casts so much of a shadow that you forget Willis is even in this movie.Jack Kubrick wrote: ↑Sun Oct 27, 2019 9:47 pmWhich performance, unseen, is more atrocious, sleepwalking Bruce Willis or SNL parody Alec Baldwin?
Not as if I'm going to give my spare time watching this dreck.
As much as I want to say hey this is a rough comment to make, people worked incredibly hard to make this, the self importance Norton's projected throughout his press tour makes it hard to generate much sympathy.
-
- Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 3:07 pm
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
mfunk9786 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 27, 2019 8:10 pmElderly Harlem residents driven into homelessness due to the production of this film
Edward Norton sez he had to call in so many favors to make this film that he will be starring in work that is "beneath him" for a decade to repay said favors
I like to imagine this is karma over said displacement and the set fire.
It's fun reading these comments dumping on what looks like a massive ego-trip disaster to join the likes of
Anthony Newley's Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?, and
I look forward to using this film as an insomnia aid/mood stabilizer once the Taron Egerton/Jamie Foxx Robin Hood goes
off of HBO rotation
- barryconvex
- billy..biff..scooter....tommy
- Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2012 10:08 pm
- Location: NYC
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
When was the last time anyone left a theater saying "Boy, Willis was great in that!" Moonrise Kingdom was seven years ago and before that, off the top of my head...Pulp Fiction? He's not a box office draw anymore, at least not in this kind of role, and is known to be difficult on set. Why anyone would cast the guy at this point is beyond me.
-
- Joined: Sun Jun 02, 2019 9:13 pm
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
Ed Norton likes to bond over actors who are known to be professionally "difficult" I guess? I'm just perpetuated at the amount of DTV dreck on Willis recent resume, as he's usually in the film set for about a week or two and gives the most non-commitment performances this side of Harrison Ford. John Travolta and Nic Cage at least command the screen in their Redbox junk, Willis has no excuse to even be appearing in this realm.
- Mr Sheldrake
- Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:09 pm
- Location: Jersey burbs exit 4
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
I was planning to avoid seeing this in the theater given the above denunciations but after reading this surprisingly thoughful interview Norton gave the Smithsonian I've changed my mind.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-cul ... 180973429/
I know nothing about urban renewal but have heard that Moses played a significant role in the destruction of Penn Station, a magnificent structure I vividly recall from my childhood. Penn Station now is probably the most depressing experience any traveler could endure, especially as it is the hemisphere's busiest transit hub. Everytime I enter or exit the station I feel like what Senator Moynihan is quoted in the article. "You entered New York like a titan, and now you crawl in like a rat."
Whereas Baltimore's Inner Harbor is a glorious urban space.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-cul ... 180973429/
I know nothing about urban renewal but have heard that Moses played a significant role in the destruction of Penn Station, a magnificent structure I vividly recall from my childhood. Penn Station now is probably the most depressing experience any traveler could endure, especially as it is the hemisphere's busiest transit hub. Everytime I enter or exit the station I feel like what Senator Moynihan is quoted in the article. "You entered New York like a titan, and now you crawl in like a rat."
Whereas Baltimore's Inner Harbor is a glorious urban space.
- Never Cursed
- Such is life on board the Redoutable
- Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 12:22 am
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
This is something that the film directly comments on as well - there is a critical scene set in the old Penn Station (recreated using visual effects) that is almost an elegy for the building.
- mfunk9786
- Under Chris' Protection
- Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
Which is very funny, because the building looks pretty lousy in the scene, and most of the time is spent with Norton standing by some lockers
- Never Cursed
- Such is life on board the Redoutable
- Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 12:22 am
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
Yeah, I wish Norton hadn't relied on the CG as much for that scene, though I understand the thematic significance of doing so
- mfunk9786
- Under Chris' Protection
- Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
- Black Hat
- Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 5:34 pm
- Location: NYC
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
Considering the budget they had to work with all this stuff was well done.Never Cursed wrote: ↑Thu Oct 31, 2019 10:57 amThis is something that the film directly comments on as well - there is a critical scene set in the old Penn Station (recreated using visual effects) that is almost an elegy for the building.
What's funny is the old Penn Station didn't have lockers like that.
- mfunk9786
- Under Chris' Protection
- Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
It would have if James Rouse had redesigned it
- Black Hat
- Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 5:34 pm
- Location: NYC
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
It's a shame this one person peanut gallery of yours displays a lack of effort as I do enjoy clever pieces of humor, especially when directed at myself. Then again it's perhaps more an issue of capability than effort. Keep practicing tho, I appreciate the attention.
- mfunk9786
- Under Chris' Protection
- Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
There's a "salty" joke in there but far be it from me to do the math to extricate it
- Brian C
- I hate to be That Pedantic Guy but...
- Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:58 am
- Location: Chicago, IL
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
Conversation overheard as I was leaving the auditorium after watching this:
PERSON 1: I guess it was OK, but why did the story have to be so complicated?
PERSON 2 (in a tone that indicated sympathy for this question if not outright agreement): Eh, well, they were telling a story.
PERSON 1: Yeah but I could have just read the book!
I can't say this critique really parses for me in a literal way, but I kinda know what they meant. This is a movie that's really in love with its plotting, at the expense of actually making a movie out of it. I haven't read the book, but I suspect that Norton faced a problem here similar to The Goldfinch adaptation, where it was structurally challenging to leave anything out but impossible to leave everything in. So the tradeoff is to hit as many beats as possible without having time for most of them to have much impact. Leslie Mann's character, for example, seems like someone who obviously had more of a role in the book.
I didn't think this was terrible, really, and unlike a lot of movies that I do think are terrible, I thought it was pretty easy to see the appeal of the material and why the filmmakers would want to make it. If nothing else, it's made with a degree of conviction and enthusiasm that at least makes it watchable.
But, I would agree that it's still not very good.
PERSON 1: I guess it was OK, but why did the story have to be so complicated?
PERSON 2 (in a tone that indicated sympathy for this question if not outright agreement): Eh, well, they were telling a story.
PERSON 1: Yeah but I could have just read the book!
I can't say this critique really parses for me in a literal way, but I kinda know what they meant. This is a movie that's really in love with its plotting, at the expense of actually making a movie out of it. I haven't read the book, but I suspect that Norton faced a problem here similar to The Goldfinch adaptation, where it was structurally challenging to leave anything out but impossible to leave everything in. So the tradeoff is to hit as many beats as possible without having time for most of them to have much impact. Leslie Mann's character, for example, seems like someone who obviously had more of a role in the book.
I didn't think this was terrible, really, and unlike a lot of movies that I do think are terrible, I thought it was pretty easy to see the appeal of the material and why the filmmakers would want to make it. If nothing else, it's made with a degree of conviction and enthusiasm that at least makes it watchable.
But, I would agree that it's still not very good.
- knives
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
Wow, this is pretty bad in a way that makes it weirdly compelling. I was getting major Sacha Guitry vibes from Norton and they really should have cut out a huge chunk of the movie.
- therewillbeblus
- Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm
Re: Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton, 2019)
Yeah I was all set to give it some rope as an interesting mess for a bit but by 1/3 of the way through it couldn’t even form into that, with any eccentric amusement being bogged down by clunky narrative