Me And Orson Welles

[tazber]

Posted: 8/12/09 at 5:12pm

So here's the trailer.

All I have to say is that I hope the movie is better than this makes it look, b/c this doesn't look like much.
Basically, this is Zac posing in flattering light and doing nifty things (look! He caught a peanut!; Check out that little wink - he's so cuuuute!).

It reminds me of Cradle Will Rock (the movie) but without the starry cast

Oh, and check out that quote from Ebert that flashes across the screen at about 30 seconds in.





Me And Orson Welles

Updated On: 8/12/09 at 05:12 PM

[nmartin]

Posted: 8/12/09 at 7:03pm

I love Welles, but that trailer did not make me want to go see the movie.

[insertclevernamehere]

Posted: 8/12/09 at 7:11pm

I've read on some movie sites that I generally trust that the movie is actually good, but that trailer is terrible.

[tazber]

Posted: 8/12/09 at 7:19pm

Yea, I've read that too, clevername. That's why I do think this will be a good movie.

And also why I'm so baffled at the trailer. I guess they're going his teen female (and gay male) demographic.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/12/09 at 8:03pm

This inspire the same feelings I had when I saw previews of Julie & Julia- When you have a movie about two people and one of them is one of the most charismatic & amazing people in the world you can't help but resent the moments they aren't on screen. I will probably see this as I do respect Ebert's opinion.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 4:35pm

Why is my post not showing up? That's peculiar. Well, here it is again:

I really loved this film.

It was mainly Ebert's quote that made me want to see it. It sounded a bit hyperbolic, but I figured there had to be something there for him to make a statement like that.

I certainly see where he is coming from. I loved every second. Christian McKay is wonderful as Orson. Beyond wonderful. The production design is perfectly evocative. The film looked beautiful. I loved listening to the underscoring and trying to pinpoint the various songs.

Efron is fine. It's a role where things happen around him more than anything else. He has very little agency, thus while he is the lead the movie is much more about the whole surrounding him.

By the time we got to see the production of JULIUS CAESAR that the film centers around, I was in love with this film. I'll be seeing it at least once more in theaters.

All in all, I feel safe saying I highly recommend it. Reminded me of the many, many reasons why I love theatre. And it made me want to rent a lot of Welles films. I am ashamed to say that the only one I have seen is CITIZEN KANE.

Also, the trailer does not do the film justice. McKay as Welles is the pulse of the film (He would have to be, or else the film would be a failure. It's Orson Welles!) But the trailer did not convey that at all.

Updated On: 12/13/09 at 04:35 PM

[nmartin]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 5:06pm

Priest, you must watch Welles's Touch of Evil. It is superb and my favorite film. Be sure and get the restored version. Also, The Magnificent Ambersons,although heavily cut by RKO, is still a gem.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 7:41pm

Touch of Evil is indeed amazing. I also really like his Othello (Macbeth, however, is another story) and The Trial under his direction as well. The Lady of Shanghai and Dr. Arkadin also had their moments. Only film I haven't seen is The Stranger.

I think the film's trailer was simply to get people into the seats because of Zac Efron. Nobody knows Christian McKay, as legendary of a figure he plays, Efron is more en vogue. Plus it is not like Linklater can get fans of Welles to come on in marketing his own filmography when his most well-known works are Dazed & Confused and School of Rock. Good movies but not likely to get people to buy he can do a film about Orson Welles and the theater.

[nmartin]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 7:47pm

Strummer, you must watch The Stranger,not a great movie but a very good one.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 9:11pm

nmartin: Thanks for the suggestions! I'll put those at the top of my list.

strummergirl: I agree. I don't fault the distributors/studios for that trailer, hoping to get people in the seats. But I felt those on the board should know that the trailer surely doesn't capture what I think many would love about the film.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 9:16pm

I do agree. When I saw the trailer BUT also read the reviews I would have to say I would say the reviews want me to see it. It reminds me that Inglorious Basterds did nothing else in promoting than Brad Pitt even though when it hit America every critic talked about the performances of Melanie Laurent and Christopher Waltz, yet you never saw them featured at all and Pitt himself had about as much screen time as them if not less. I hate deceptive trailers, btw. Even if it is to protect the plot you are pulling people in with the wrong idea.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 9:23pm

Wow- I envy anyone who hasn't seen Touch of Evil- you get to see it for the first time! I wish I could do that (again).

[strummergirl]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 9:27pm

The opening scene alone is worth the watch.

[nmartin]

Posted: 12/13/09 at 10:16pm

The scenes with Welles and Dietrich go beyond everything else in the movie.