Comments on: Million Dollar Movie

By: Alex Belth

Alex Belth — Fri, 29 May 2015 14:10:09 +0000

8) Good point about the exposition. The movie is packed but it also felt taut, nothing wasted, from dialogue, to the cutting. But I had the opposite reaction to The Road Warrior where I felt there was a certain reality that I bought into. This one, from the start, pushed me away and so I was never gripped by it.

By: Matt Blankman

Matt Blankman — Thu, 28 May 2015 21:50:21 +0000

Miller says there are more Mad Max movies coming, and he did leave things nicely open for the next chapter, with Hardy as Max somewhere out there in the wasteland again.

I liked that the film let the audience fill in some of the blanks, honestly. It kept my wheels turning, especially in this age of WAY TOO MUCH EXPOSITION.

The being bored I can’t relate to – much like THE ROAD WARRIOR, I spent large chunks of the movie sitting on the edge of my seat.

By: Chyll Will

Chyll Will — Thu, 28 May 2015 20:20:48 +0000

[5] Funny you say that; the last thing I said to my buddy in my initial text about Mad Max was that I’d like to see Miller direct a live action series of “Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood”; Mad Max definitely had an anime feel to it.

By: Chyll Will

Chyll Will — Thu, 28 May 2015 20:18:11 +0000

I had a text discussion with a buddy of mine about this; he taking the “It’s GLORIOUS” side and me the “Eh, it’s good, but no classic” side. He posted our conversation to his blog (wasn’t thrilled that he ended the conversation there as opposed to in our texts), but in short, there are a few ways you can read into each character’s motivation; what you get is what you likely what you want to get from it. Strange that this movie could be that flexible, but it was not a wasted ticket in my view.

By: Alex Belth

Alex Belth — Thu, 28 May 2015 14:16:49 +0000

4) I’d like to see Lorenzo’s Oil again. I recall that Nolte’s accent was a distraction but one that was admirable too because it was true to the character. I never did see Miller’s animated movies. The new Mad Max felt like a live action animation mash-up.

You eager to see the new Clooney flick?

By: Matt Blankman

Matt Blankman — Thu, 28 May 2015 13:57:46 +0000

Oh, I’m not trying to convert you – you clearly weren’t into losing yourself in that world – just saying I really, really dug it and not just Miller’s staging (which is pretty incredible).

By: Alex Belth

Alex Belth — Thu, 28 May 2015 13:48:31 +0000

2) Maybe Max is an audience surrogate but I thought he was dull, dull, dull, which was a change from the original Max. And I didn’t find Furiosa that much more interesting either. And the beautiful mothers, especially that first shot of them drinking water, man that was so corny, like something out of a Brian DePalma movie. I liked the old lady warriors and the big bad guy had a scary mask. But all that silver spray paint stuff? Eh. Just seemed silly.

Thanks for the review link. I’ll check that out. Who knows, maybe I’d enjoy it more a second time. I certainly wouldn’t pay to find out though.

By: Matt Blankman

Matt Blankman — Thu, 28 May 2015 13:25:18 +0000

I should say I was skeptical, too. I went in with a real “Oh this BETTER be good” attitude and it didn’t initially click with me for the first few scenes.

I liked Glenn Kenny’s piece on the movie: http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/some_came_running/2015/05/mad-max-fury-road.html

By: Matt Blankman

Matt Blankman — Thu, 28 May 2015 13:09:02 +0000

I pretty much loathe all recent action films and I’ve seen this one twice. I loved it.

I will also say that the second time through, the story worked better for me. I picked up on things in the script early on that gave the rest of the film more resonance.

I don’t think Max is an action figure, he’s the audience surrogate. The War Boys continually ask each of each other “Witness me!” before throwing themselves (fatally) in harm’s way. Max is our witness – it’s Furiosa’s story, told by Max.