Inside Man

[edison]

I really liked this one, didn't lag at all to me and as stated before it did feel like some t.v. show, and I mean that in a good way, if thats at all possible. I have always liked Clive and he was really badass in this, as well as Denzel. The argument over the logistics of Dalton's trick question was funny. Can't wait to buy this one.

So it was mentioned that the jewish guy started this as revenge for Case being Nazi friendly but what is really funny to me is that they drive off in a Touareg!

Here is a neat pic of the signature Lee shot http://media.movieweb.com/galleries/3241/2319/hi/cof.jpg

Anyone catch the name on the pizza box, Sal's, or the bottle of booze from Bamboozled, kinda neat throw-ins

[killafilm]

This was fun.

I haven't read this thread so I don't know what others have said.  Both Denzel and Clive are really good.  Somehow Jodi Foster ended up being the weakest part of the movie.  At least for me.  I couldn't tell that it was a Spike Lee 'joint' while watching it.  It seemed like a genre pic that a young Lee admirer would have made.  Throw in a couple of cool shots and a few tangets about racism and bring to a boil.  But all of the twist and turns, and what seems like an odd villain for 2006, make this a fun ride.

[hedwig]

i saw this a couple weeks ago but i haven't been feeling reviewy

spoils
it's an excellent piece of entertainment lathered in spike lee sauce. () in other words, i really liked it quite a bit, as much as LTH if not more. everyone's talking about whether it's a post-extra-pre-whatever action film and that's all good, but what i really liked was its giddy way of peeling away the layers to expose that this heist movie wasn't a heist movie, the bank robbery wasn't a bank robbery, that the real criminal wasn't the one ransacking the bank and shouting curses and wielding a gun, but seated calmly behind an office desk struggling to conceal his amoral deeds. haha, an excellent little summary of modern history, in a way. libatique's cinematography is so effective and colorful. it really fits spike's visual sense quite wonderfully. i like that everyone's pointing out how funny it is cause that's something people seem to ignore when discussing spike's movies, a lot of them are hilarious, including DTRT.

[pete]

man, it's kinda sad to see that all the things in the film that irked you are things you consider "non-plot-related", and it's kinda sad to see that you're so conditioned to following this plot or arc or whatever that you can't enjoy a scene a shot or an actor without thinking about its relevance to the "plot."
also, explain "densel reiving his role as the empowered black man" so I can be an even bigger asshole in my subsequent post.

[polkablues]

To those considering listening to Spike's commentary: spend two hours poking yourself in the eye instead.  I guarantee you'll feel it was time better spent.

I can't even imagine what his NYU classes must be like, after listening to a movie's worth of such insightful gems as, "This is the part where the bank robbers get out of the van," and "I really like this crane shot."  Wow, Spike!  Do tell!  Now can you list the films you've made with Denzel Washington and mispronounce Willem Dafoe's name about twenty times?  You can?  Nifty!

Now, this wasn't quite the worst commentary I've ever heard (that would be John Carpenter on "In the Mouth of Madness", in which he convinced me that he had never even seen the movie, much less directed it), but it may in fact be the most pointless.  I could learn more about the movie from the back of the DVD case than I could from listening to Spike Lee talk about it for two hours.

[matt35mm]

Now, this wasn't quite the worst commentary I've ever heard (that would be John Carpenter on "In the Mouth of Madness", in which he convinced me that he had never even seen the movie, much less directed it)

Don't let that turn you off of all of Carpenter's commentaries.  The commentary with him and Kurt Russell for Big Trouble in Little China is great.  Okay, yeah, they don't really talk about the movie that often.  But they are fun to listen to.

[children with angels]

Now, this wasn't quite the worst commentary I've ever heard (that would be John Carpenter on "In the Mouth of Madness", in which he convinced me that he had never even seen the movie, much less directed it)

Don't let that turn you off of all of Carpenter's commentaries.  The commentary with him and Kurt Russell for Big Trouble in Little China is great.  Okay, yeah, they don't really talk about the movie that often.  But they are fun to listen to.

Yeah - shouldn't let it turn you off other Lee commentaries either: his ones for Do The Right Thing and She Hate me are great. Haven't heard the Inside Man one yet though, and based on this I might not bother: I hate it when people waste the great opportunity that a commentary provides by just going, "Yeah, this shot took ages to get right..."

[MacGuffin]

To those considering listening to Spike's commentary: spend two hours poking yourself in the eye instead.  I guarantee you'll feel it was time better spent.

I can't even imagine what his NYU classes must be like, after listening to a movie's worth of such insightful gems as, "This is the part where the bank robbers get out of the van," and "I really like this crane shot."  Wow, Spike!  Do tell!  Now can you list the films you've made with Denzel Washington and mispronounce Willem Dafoe's name about twenty times?  You can?  Nifty!

Now, this wasn't quite the worst commentary I've ever heard (that would be John Carpenter on "In the Mouth of Madness", in which he convinced me that he had never even seen the movie, much less directed it), but it may in fact be the most pointless.  I could learn more about the movie from the back of the DVD case than I could from listening to Spike Lee talk about it for two hours.

Agreed, especially when he laughs at his own movie. I've never been a fan of his tracks. (Yes, Spike, we know Denzel was robbed an Oscar for Malcolm X.) Their forgetable right when the movie's over.


And I think Rob Reiner does the worst commentaries.

[pete]

I had this roommate who once challenged me to sit through the commentary for bamboozled.  like, we both just sat there and he was stoned, and he said the first one to turn it off loses.  I lost.  but I think the only reason he could stand it was because he was stoned.
he spoke in the most awkward rhythm, like he was on the phone with someone and then saw a car crash and trying to continue the conversation or something.  and then he would laugh at his own jokes (I never thought any of his jokes were laugh-out-loud funny) and then give props and shoutouts to random people.

[modage]

Overall, better than usual crap, but in pure modageian terms, it's a rental.

it looks good, but i figured as much.  its already in my queue.

indeed it was.  the actors were good  and the setup was interesting enough to hook me right away.  but it wasnt much more.  i did appreciate SPOILERS that the 'bad guys' got away with it.  and that they werent really bad anyhow, and the good guys were kind of the bad guys END SPOILERS so for that it was definitely better than a typical heist picture.  the denzel shot was the best part, so i wish there had been a little more spike in this.  oh, and the music was insane, from the opening closing eastern tinged song to the HEAVY orchestral pumping up the drama stuff, to the CRAZY AS HELL bassline during the scene towards the end with denzel and his girlfriend. it was a perfect rental. 

and i agree with pete on his theory on how/who commisioned dalton to pull this off, atleast thats what i was thinking when i watched it.

[MacGuffin]

'Inside' team takes another U turn
Helmer Lee leverages 'Man' sequel
Source: Variety

Spike Lee and Brian Grazer are developing a sequel to "Inside Man" for Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment.

Lee is still in negotiations on a helming deal for the project, but he's already working with the original's writer, Russell Gewirtz, on a script.

For now, the pair are keeping their sequel concept under wraps, including whether it would involve the return of the original's main characters, played by Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster.

Bank heist thriller became the biggest-grossing pic in Lee's helming career, earning $184 million at the worldwide box office earlier this year.

Sequel is now on a list of several projects Lee is considering for his next helming gig.

In addition to "Man," this year Lee also directed Hurricane Katrina docu "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts" for HBO.

[pete]

Hurricane Katrina docu

is it like su docu but with floods and racism?

[MacGuffin]

'Inside' work, and an inside job
Source: Los Angeles Times

Russell Gewirtz has burglary on the brain. As of last week, the 41-year-old screenwriter was working on breaking the stories (industry-speak for developing the story outlines) for two very different heist movies: a potential sequel to his first script, "Inside Man," and an untitled thriller starring Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock as Trump Tower janitors who scheme to rip off its luxury tenants.

Bill Collage and Adam Cooper ("New York Minute," "Accepted") wrote the first draft of the Trump project, from an original Murphy idea. But when Imagine Entertainment came to Gewirtz for a rewrite, he pitched a take in which an unsuccessful, oh-so-last-millennium high-tech heist is pointedly juxtaposed against the decidedly low-tech but no less artful plot of a couple of blue-collar guys with much more to gain and more believable motives. It's "a bit lighter than 'Inside Man' while still aiming to hit those clever plot twists," says the Long Island native.

Brett Ratner ("X-Men: The Last Stand") is attached to direct the film in March (with the Donald's unavoidable participation), when all the principals next have a free window.

Gewirtz's "Inside Man," which starred Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster and Clive Owen, turned out to be Spike Lee's biggest hit. After earning $184 million worldwide this year, a sequel seemed an inevitability — especially when Gewirtz informed everyone involved that he already had an idea for a continuation of the story that included the return of several of the main characters.

Originally slated for Imagine's Ron Howard, who at one point had worked on a rewrite with Gewirtz until Russell Crowe became available to do "Cinderella Man," "Inside Man" later passed into the hands of writer-director Menno Meyjes ("Max," co-writer of "The Siege"), who drastically changed the script over 18 months. The project had effectively stalled, and Gewirtz shelved his sequel idea, which would no longer work given the shape of the Meyjes rewrite.

But in one of those lucky Hollywood twists of fate, Lee independently happened to read Gewirtz's earlier script the day before a meeting with Imagine producer Brian Grazer, whom he spontaneously pitched on reviving the project by reverting to the Gewirtz-Howard version.

Two weeks ago, Lee announced that he is considering "Inside Man 2" for his next directing project. Also on Lee's short list is the supernatural thriller "Selling Time," about a man given the opportunity to trade years off the end of his life for a chance to change his worst days, which the director has recently rewritten. For the last five years, the Fox project has floated through different hands, but this summer it attracted the attention of new United Artists savior Tom Cruise, who has had conversations with Lee about working on it together.

"The fact that we've reached the point of wanting a sequel [to 'Inside Man'] is a victory," says Gewirtz, given the original screenplay's near-death experience. "And the fact that I already had one ready to go makes it even sweeter for me."