'Don't write dialogue we've all heard before' vs The November Man

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  • #31
    Re: 'Don't write dialogue we've all heard before' vs The November Man

    Originally posted by dirtbottle View Post
    The Equalizer will flop. And while Denzel is a big A-List star, no doubt, his movies since 2000 going back to Remember the titans are not juggernauts. In fact, he's only had three movies break 100 million domestically and there have been five of them that failed to even make back their budget domestically.. American Gangster, Safehouse (miraculously I know), and Remember the Titans are his only 100mm plus movies in the last 14 years according to IMDB.

    He's no RDJ.

    Worldwide I'm sure the numbers are bigger for Denzel but my point is that these guys are fading stars and there remains room for a new, hotter crop of talent to take over, especially since movies don't rely as much on acting now as they do on supporting properties like the comic book character or what have you.
    The Equalizer will flop? I'm trying to keep from falling off my chair right now from laughter. Not sure where you're getting your entertainment info. from, but the film is expected to do gangbusters. Here's an excerpt from an article: "The Equalizer has been testing through the roof, prompting Sony to move quickly on a sequel so the project has momentum by the time the first film hits theaters on Sept. 26. A mid-December test screening reportedly earned the highest scores for an R-rated movie in the studio's history.-
    http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/02/...l-get-a-sequel
    Um, sorry, but doesn't sound like a flop to me.

    To judge Denzel's star status by his number of $100 million movies is ridiculous. Studios don't base a star's value on hitting that mark. Two factors are way more important: 1) opening weekend numbers -- like I said, he hasn't had a movie open under $20 million in a decade (except his directorial debut, "The Great Debaters", which was in limited release):
    http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/...er=DESC&p=.htm
    and 2) profitability -- the vast majority of his films' box office numbers exceed their budget.

    And you're really comparing him to Robert Downey, Jr.? You are giving me a lot of good laughs on a Sunday. RDJ has only had one major hit outside of the Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes franchises as a lead actor -- Due Date.
    http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/...er=DESC&p=.htm
    In fact, he's stuck to those two franchises because he knows very much that he doesn't really appeal to audiences as much when he's not the cocky type of character he plays in them. Audiences would never flock to see him in a movie like "Flight" or "Safe House". They'd prefer an actor with more versatility.

    I agree that there is a vacuum that needs to be filled of younger stars, especially as these established titans get too old to do the same roles. But Hollywood is going to hold onto the Denzels and Cruises for as long as it can, because they have proven to be reliable. And frankly, with the shift in emphasis towards concepts and established properties over movie stars, I don't think we'll ever live in the same era again. Face it, the Cumberbatches and Hardys, even the Jennifer Lawrences, of the world are never going to be as big individual stars as the Denzels and the Cruises and the Jolies.
    "I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.-- Peter De Vries

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    • #32
      Re: 'Don't write dialogue we've all heard before' vs The November Man

      Originally posted by Rantanplan View Post

      Sure there are the Twilight type stars and the younger Appatow type stars, but it seems like nobody's really replaced the mega, mega A-listers of the 90's, or if they did, it sort of skipped a generation or half a generation.

      Why is that? Is it just that movies today are less talent driven as opposed to content driven (read: comic books, novels and video games), or was there actually a gap in talent, for some reason?
      Or maybe there's a simpler explanation: namely, that Cruise, Hanks, and Denzel rarely do junk films. Too many of their younger contemporaries cannot say the same, and as a result the latter group has taken a credibility hit with filmgoers.

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      • #33
        Re: 'Don't write dialogue we've all heard before' vs The November Man

        I can't believe this, but I was watching commercials for Run All Night and The Gunman and I heard "He'll come at us with everything he's got" or some variation of it in both trailers. Including The November Man, that's three films this year with that line. Why do professionals continue to re-use these cliché lines?
        I'm never wrong. Reality is just stubborn.

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        • #34
          Re: 'Don't write dialogue we've all heard before' vs The November Man

          Originally posted by FoxHound View Post
          I can't believe this, but I was watching commercials for Run All Night and The Gunman and I heard "He'll come at us with everything he's got" or some variation of it in both trailers. Including The November Man, that's three films this year with that line. Why do professionals continue to re-use these cliché lines?
          I'm guessing they put as much effort into the writing as the audience requires, and the fans of these films mostly couldn't care less about cliched dialogue.

          All of these Bad-Ass Kicking Ass movies are basically the same. I'm 90% certain that within 10 years there will be software that can produce CIA/Seal/Hitman Revenge Fantasy screenplays indistinguishable from those produced by humans.

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          • #35
            Re: 'Don't write dialogue we've all heard before' vs The November Man

            Originally posted by FoxHound View Post
            I can't believe this, but I was watching commercials for Run All Night and The Gunman and I heard "He'll come at us with everything he's got" or some variation of it in both trailers. Including The November Man, that's three films this year with that line. Why do professionals continue to re-use these cliché lines?
            I had already seen "November Man." When I saw the trailer for "Run All Night" on TV I just shouted, "Really? Really?!"

            Just for the sake of the game, I repeated the exact same dialog the second and third times I saw the trailer.

            For the record, I love revenge/heist/crime flicks, but I strive like crazy to come up with original tough guy lines in my own scripts. (The day I come up with one better than "I ain't got time to bleed" is they day I hang it up.)

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            • #36
              Re: 'Don't write dialogue we've all heard before' vs The November Man

              BTW the line's not in a March 2013 draft I have as far as I can tell.

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              • #37
                Re: 'Don't write dialogue we've all heard before' vs The November Man

                The film was poorly reviewed. Michael Mann has done better work. Last of the Mohicans comes to mind. He also did Miami Vice....on the down side.

                The thought that you can get a small slice of a quirky story no one has seen before, contract a star like Brosnan and you think you are home free. You are not.

                I find that in general dialogue is not what it used to be. But worst of all is the neglect of powerful story lines with real people suffering, triumphing, etc.

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