The new Orson Welles?

Started by Spike, August 23, 2003, 07:15:01 AM

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Sigur Rós

The new Orson Wells, that's about the most stupid thing I have ever heard. How can you compare Wells' work with PTA?

EL__SCORCHO

I don't think he's the new Orson Welles....he's fucking PTA. He is what he is. I'm sure he doesn't want people thinking he's trying to be the next Welles, if anything he's probably saying I want people to say they want to be the next Paul Thomas Anderson. And that's that.

AntiDumbFrogQuestion

I think we should let whatever comes next decide the PTA legacy to decide if he's an "Orson Welles", but really he's just a good filmmaker, one of the same breed as who he is being compared to.  He's done so well so young, I'm quite elated to see what he has ready for us next. And I also can't wait for a few years down the line when the PTA wannabes start comin' out the woodwork (some dipshit like me)

abuck1220

Quote from: OnomatopoeiaBleh.  I get so sick of people comparing PTA to anyone, especially Martin Scorsese.  First off, Scorsese is not that great a director (only Taxi Driver is worthy of note in my opinion; everything else he's done has been marginally accomplished at best).  Second, PTA is his own person, and his body of work can't be compared to any one director because of its diversity.  I've heard some people compare Hard Eight and Boogie Nights to Scorsese, Magnolia to Altman, and Punch-Drunk Love to Kubrick, but I really think they're stretching even though I can see why they say so.  What PTA is developing is his own original unique style, that 20 years from now, we'll be identifying as vintage Anderson, and comparing new young punk directors to him.  And there will be some people writing the same type of posts I've just written elaborating on how stupid it is to compare said "young punk" directors to Anderson.  Plus, unlike Welles Anderson doesn't act.  Double-bleh.

that's classic. you say that scorsese "is not that great a director" as if it's some kind of fact. then you admit that you haven't seen over half his films...probably even more. oh, but you saw part of raging bull on espn and you heard that kael didn't like king of comedy, so you that's probably good enough. when does your book on scorsese come out?

ono

So you have to see all the movies by a director in order to have an opinion?  Okay, so shut up about Solondz until you've unearthed Fear, Anxiety & Depression and Schatt's Last Shot.  Or about Linklater until you've seen It's Impossible to Learn to Plow By Reading Books.  Or about Spike Lee until you've seen Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (though I realize he's used this movie as inspiration for later works).  Or about Kubrick until you've seen Fear and Desire, Flying Padre, and Day of the Flight.  Or about Scorsese until you've seen all of his early work including his NYU shorts, and stuff like Italianamerican.  I think I've made my point.

Five posts is a little too quick to get snippy.  I know I need to see more movies by Scorsese, but there are very few people aroud who've seen every movie by every director they discuss.  Bottom line, you don't have to reserve having an opinion on a director until after you've seen all his work.  When the best that people say Scorsese has to offer ends up being this lackluster, I have a right to question the level of reverence in which he's held.  And it's not that I didn't like the movies that I've seen by Scorsese, it's just that I think they're way too highly regarded, and not nearly as good as people (critics especially) make them out to be.  My opinion of him is subject to change, but only based on the quality of whatever movie I see of his next, and not based on some rabid fanboy who got his panties in a wad because I said something disparaging about his lord and master.

Again, Raging Bull the best movie of the 80s?  Puh-lease.  Not with Ran around.  Goodfellas, the best of the 90s?  I don't think so.  I could probably name ten movies from 1999 alone that top that one.  It seems I've touched a nerve here, knocking on Scorsese, but I don't see why so many people bow at the altar of his movies and kiss the ground he walks on.  Or PTA, or any director for that matter.  Fandom is fine, but your knee-jerk reaction is just sad.

mr_boz

that being said - i think PT could beat up SCORCESE in a fight.  PT would probably pull hair and fight really dirty.

:)

cb

abuck1220

So you have to see all the movies by a director in order to have an opinion?  Okay, so shut up about Solondz until you've unearthed Fear, Anxiety & Depression and Schatt's Last Shot.  Or about Linklater until you've seen It's Impossible to Learn to Plow By Reading Books.  Or about Spike Lee until you've seen Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (though I realize he's used this movie as inspiration for later works).  Or about Kubrick until you've seen Fear and Desire, Flying Padre, and Day of the Flight.  Or about Scorsese until you've seen all of his early work including his NYU shorts, and stuff like Italianamerican.  I think I've made my point.

no you didn't.

A) did you hear me talking about those other films/directors?
B) comparing raging bull to obscure movies that are nearly impossible to find is laughable.
C) you said "First off, Scorsese is not that great a director" which, to me, sounds like you're stating it as though it's a fact.

Five posts is a little too quick to get snippy.  

ha! seeing five of scorsese's films is a little too quick to get snippy.

let me know when i've reached the point of message board posting that allows me to know anything. didn't know there was a correlation.

Fandom is fine, but your knee-jerk reaction is just sad.

i would consider your knee-jerk reaction...."i've seen 1/3 of scorsese's movies > he's not a great director" to be just as sad.

phil marlowe

Quote from: abuck1220let me know when i've reached the point of message board posting that allows me to know anything.
well i'll start by pushing you in the right direction and teach you about the button.

abuck1220

Quote from: phil marlowe
Quote from: abuck1220let me know when i've reached the point of message board posting that allows me to know anything.
well i'll start by pushing you in the right direction and teach you about the button.

i know about the quote button...as evidenced by my mastery of it here.  :-D

i just wanted to address several parts of his post separately and i didn't feel like messing w/ it.

jasper_window

Quote from: OnomatopoeiaOr about Spike Lee until you've seen Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (though I realize he's used this movie as inspiration for later works).

Have you seen this?  I've always wanted to see it and figured it wasn't available.  I got a few PTA shorts off Ebay and the quality sucked so I haven't bothered pursuing any others.

ono

Quote from: jasper_window
Quote from: OnomatopoeiaOr about Spike Lee until you've seen Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (though I realize he's used this movie as inspiration for later works).

Have you seen this?  I've always wanted to see it and figured it wasn't available.  I got a few PTA shorts off Ebay and the quality sucked so I haven't bothered pursuing any others.
Nope, sadly.  I figure it's one of those holy grail type films a director doesn't want you to see.  Though this one, like Scorsese's work at NYU, is supposed to be very good.  I'd like to see a successful director so comfortable with his accomplishments that some day he'd be able to laugh at his early work (if it is laughable) and release it for the public to enjoy.  That'd be nice with PTA, too, though I know some people here have seen his early stuff (namely The Dirk Diggler Story) and said it wasn't too great.

SoNowThen

Quote from: filmcriticAbsolutely. And if he's not the new Orson Welles, he certainly the new Martin Scorsese. I think that if he keeps it up, he could eventually have as successful of a career as Scorsese. So far, he's doing great. "Boogie Nights" was his "Mean Streets" and "Magnolia" was his "Taxi Driver".

Actually, Hard Eight was his Mean Streets, Boogie was his Taxi Driver, and Magnolia was his Raging Bull. Oh, and PDL was his After Hours.

So we can still look forward to his Last Temptation Of Christ, Goodfellas and his Casino. And for those with any taste whatsoever, we can also look forward to his Bringing Out The Dead and Gangs Of New York.
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

filmcritic

"You're too kind."
-Richard Roeper

"You're too cruel."
-Roger Ebert

Vile5

PTA is PTA and i hope he will forever
"Wars have never hurt anybody except the people who die." - Salvador Dalí

markums2k

So when somebody better comes along, with they be the next new Orson Wells, or with they be the new PTA?  Hmmmmmm...

I wonder what Brett Ratner would do in a situation like this...?