re: Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford

Hey man, Kindergarten Cop is being discussed in another thread.

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This movie is overrated if anything. I was bored to tears.

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Me too. Too long and boring as watching grass grow.

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Sad part is most people were too god damn stupid to realize what they were.

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This is what gets you in trouble, man. No need to insult those who disagree/have different tastes.

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I agree. People get offended once you start calling them stupid. You will, however, skim this thread and see comments like:

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it should have been cut by at least half an hour

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unwatchable at times

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I was bored to tears.

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i also thought it was boring

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One of the worst movies I've ever sat through. It's just bad.

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It was boring at times

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Too long and boring as watching grass grow.

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Some people just don't have the patience to watch a good movie unfold. When threads about movies like The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford, There Will Be Blood, etc. begin popping up, you really get to bear witness to how many people need to be spoon-fed every plot detail or dazzled with action every few minutes or else the ADD kicks in and they discredit the movie. The movie wasn't boring. It was long and slowly paced but it certainly kept my attention the entire time. This is just another example of a good movie that you truly enjoy-- but never recommend it to your friends.

I loved this movie, but I hated There Will Be Blood. FWIW, I don't consider myself stupid and slow pacing does not bother me (hell, I read the Upton Sinclair book TWBB was inspired by).

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it says something about you.

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not half as much as your posts in this thread say about you

I think that in American film tradition that if you dont follow the Act I - Act 2 - Act 3 in tidy plot turning manners, in even 30-45 segments, than the audience usually gets a little impatient. It's like with Apocalypse Now, people can see its merits but everyone can agree that its pacing will test you. Not saying TAoJJ is the same quality, but I can appreciate its prosaic silences and attention to character development in place of snappy dialogue and rotating door plot points. I mean, plus, it's a historical film and takes place over a decade or two if I'm not mistaken. It's mostly biographical, furthering taking it away from the possibility of a fantastic, larger than life element.

Having said that, could it have used more time in on the killing floor during editing? Maybe. Personally I was satisfied overall with the film. Where you see 'trying hard to be art' I see a master class cinematographer : the beauty of landscapes, the lowlit moody interiors that add to the atmosphere and feel of the movie. The camera is a little more patient, the scenes numerous. But I don't mind staying to visit with a movie even if it gets a little unfocused. In the end it came back around.

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AJJCRF meanders a lot, and the fact that they spend SO MUCH TIME trying to achieve characterization makes it feel forced

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Hard to say something is forced when they spend extra time on it instead of cramming the characterization into a shorter movie. Just not normally the way you look at that. But I'm used to people around here being "bored" with a lot of the movies I like. I don't think TAJJBTCRF needs to apologize to anybody that thinks it was too long, if you need LOST drum beats to build up suspension every 15 minutes instead of quality film making, then you won't like this movie. Btw, that last part wasn't directed toward you slo.

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TWBB is a whole nother animal. a movie that tried to be amazing for the sake of being amazing

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Hmm. Tried to be different for the sake of being different maybe. Opening the movie with 15-20 minutes of no dialogue was pretty epic though. So I guess I can see that.

Great movie... To me the slow developing of the characters was absolutely perfect and the characters themselves were some of the most memorable in a film I can remember.

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This has been one of the most underrated films of the past 5 years. It actually lost money but I think it was due to the way it was released...about two years after filming was completed.

I thought the performances by Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck were phenomenal to say the least. Cinematography was praised and nominated for many awards...which I thought was spectacular (half the time it was like you were looking at an old photograph through a glass prism).

Without a doubt it is one of the best ten movies I've ever seen but it's more of a genre flick. You can't do much to distort history but I thought it was one of the best case studies of two characters we've witnessed on screen in years.

Very disappointed it wasn't bigger but still a masterpiece in my opinion.

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Seems to be a divisive film, but I'm going with the underrated/best of the decade crowd.

It's a great film.