@mechajutaro said:

Megan Fox is an actor. Not just a hot bod.

As hip as repeating that incantation has become of late,

Who says it?

it's still woefully disingenuous to say.

How so?

In reading the cast list though, it is fascinating to note that the director also dug up Emilie Hirsch and Lucas Haas

Fascinating how?

@mechajutaro said:

Within Woke-leaning circles , it's become fashionable to pretend that underneath all of those Maxim and GQ photoshoots, Fox was one of the 21st Century's great thespians.

I didn't gather that from that series of interviews at all. For me, it demonstrates that what I was seeing with my eyes wasn't just my imagination but was deliberate, calculated - she is indeed not only aware of her image but taking ownership and making decisions to change it.

And, again, I say, good on her, because she is realizing recognition for her efforts - at least, from those willing to give her credit where it's due, without resorting to labelling and name-calling and denigrating and seeking ways to be negative about it.

In the same way it's become fashionable among Fox Non-News conservatives and the Generically Red Pilled to pretend that Trump was the second coming of George Washington, rather than yet another goofball celebrity who achieved high office, on account of the fact that he is a celebrity, ala. Arnie , Jesse Ventura, and Sonny Bono

Of all the goofball celebrities to achieve high office, curious you only got as high as state governor yet managed to not mention the Bedtime for Bonzo goofball who achieved the highest offices among them, not only governor but also PotUS. Go figure.

Well, she has been nominated for her 8th 'Razzie' for her performance in this movie.

@bratface said:

Well, she has been nominated for her 8th 'Razzie' for her performance in this movie.

If you've seen it, did your own opinion of her performance match what a "razzie" would suggest?

If you haven't, I'd encourage you to check it out; as well as Bruce Willis' quite subdued supporting role - there was no John McClane upstage in this movie at all.

@mechajutaro said:

How so?

It was painfully obvious that Megan Fox was little more than another hot-pants-of-the-week ala.

Yes, was. People change. People are allowed to grow. Where is this meritocracy people like to claim America is?

It's thus nothing less than deceitful for so many of us to pretend that she had anything more minimal acting talent.

"Thus" nothing. There's no deceit to say "hey, she's doing something different" and find out that she had intention to change things up, which was resonance.

Just as it's deceitful for at least one commenter on the Don't Look Up Thread to claim that DiCaprio is a versatile actor, rather than modern day Tony Curtis

Again, "just as" nothing. I'm not clear on what you think of Tony Curtis, but if by that comparison you are suggesting that you don't think DiCaprio showed versatility in roles that range from Dr. Randall Mindy to Calvin Candie to Frank Abagnale Jr. to Rick Dalton, I don't understand what you're even doing on a movie discussion board.

Fascinating how?

You're trying to be a more PC version of Tommy DeVito, it would seem

It would only seem that to you, Mech. I actually asked because it was not at all readily evident to me what you were talking about.

So, instead of my trying to figure out some way of making sense of it, or guess, or put words in your mouth, I thought it'd be easier to just ask you to expand/clarify.

My mistake.

@mechajutaro said:

@bratface said:

Well, she has been nominated for her 8th 'Razzie' for her performance in this movie.

I'm open to being proven wrong in my assessment of Megan Fox as an actress, nonetheless her robotic recitation of her lines in this trailer

Hold a tick - are you saying you haven't even seen this movie yet? All of this from you is based on your assessment of the trailer?

FFS.

If you really are "open to being proven wrong in my assessment of Megan Fox as an actress", watch the movie.

Love it, hate it, praise her performance, tear it to shreds...but watch it and then form an opinion based on her total performance in the movie.

At this point, if you have not yet seen it, all you have is an untested hypothesis.

@DRDMovieMusings said:

@bratface said:

Well, she has been nominated for her 8th 'Razzie' for her performance in this movie.

If you've seen it, did your own opinion of her performance match what a "razzie" would suggest?

If you haven't, I'd encourage you to check it out; as well as Bruce Willis' quite subdued supporting role - there was no John McClane upstage in this movie at all.

Mr. Willis was also nominated for a 'Razzie' for this movie & seven others. There were so many they gave him his own category!

WORST PERFORMANCE by BRUCE WILLIS in a 2021 MOVIE

(Special Category)

Bruce Willis / "American Siege"

Bruce Willis / "Apex"

Bruce Willis / "Cosmic Sin"

Bruce Willis / "Deadlock"

Bruce Willis / "Fortress"

Bruce Willis / "Midnight in the Switchgrass"

Bruce Willis / "Out of Death"

Bruce Willis / "Survive the Game"

@bratface said:

@DRDMovieMusings said:

@bratface said:

Well, she has been nominated for her 8th 'Razzie' for her performance in this movie.

If you've seen it, did your own opinion of her performance match what a "razzie" would suggest?

If you haven't, I'd encourage you to check it out; as well as Bruce Willis' quite subdued supporting role - there was no John McClane upstage in this movie at all.

Mr. Willis was also nominated for a 'Razzie' for this movie & seven others. There were so many they gave him his own category!

WORST PERFORMANCE by BRUCE WILLIS in a 2021 MOVIE

(Special Category)

Bruce Willis / "American Siege"

Bruce Willis / "Apex"

Bruce Willis / "Cosmic Sin"

Bruce Willis / "Deadlock"

Bruce Willis / "Fortress"

Bruce Willis / "Midnight in the Switchgrass"

Bruce Willis / "Out of Death"

Bruce Willis / "Survive the Game"

Yep. I not long ago observed that Bruce Willis takes a lot of scripts. Like, a lot. And they're not all that good, either. The link goes to that discussion.

Meanwhile, is Midnight in the Switchgrass a good movie? It's rating here on TMDb is currently at 62% which, for what it was, is fairly decent.

As for Willis' performance, well, we can get good performances in bad movies; bad performances in good movies; good in good, and bad in bad. I started this thread to talk about Megan Fox's performance - to digress is fine. As I mentioned, Willis is not looking to reprise his A-lister type image or upstage the other actors in this flick. In that, I respect that he accepted the role and played to it. He didn't write the script, nor did he direct. To me, he played the role about as good as anyone would have.

@mechajutaro said:

Yes, was. People change. People are allowed to grow. Where is this meritocracy people like to claim America is?

I've never claimed that America or any other civilization on the planet is a meritocracy; the only folks who do are both vanilla conservatives and Woke-leaning liberals. The latter of whom mischaracterize anyone who suggests that factors other than and additional to racism and sexism might explain a person lack of success as "promoting the myth of meritocracy". That said, M. Fox's Jennifer's Body co-star Amanda Seyfried comes pretty close to exemplifying what's possible in America, if one is willing to work not just hard but also intelligently. Girl is the daughter of pharmacist from Allentown, Pennsylvania, who demonstrated beyond any doubt that she was much more than a pretty face, and she's not only gone on to great heights, but also was nominated for an Academy award this year. By most accounts, she's also a dedicated professional on set, and a really cool person overall. The inverse of what's mostly been heard about Fox, who's been known to admit in Rolling Stone interviews that she threatened to stab Brian Austin Green more than once during their marriage. Get yourself a reputation for being a first-rate c-nt both on set and off, then couple that with a dearth of talent.... That'll get an actor or actress dropkicked into the F-list, just as quickly as they rose to the top

Hold a tick - are you saying you haven't even seen this movie yet? All of this from you is based on your assessment of the trailer?

FFS.

If you really are "open to being proven wrong in my assessment of Megan Fox as an actress", watch the movie.

Love it, hate it, praise her performance, tear it to shreds...but watch it and then form an opinion based on her total performance in the movie.

At this point, if you have not yet seen it, all you have is an untested hypothesis.

To be quite blunt, Mus, I'm putting only limited stock in the judgment of someone who's bought into Critical Race Theory hook, line, and stinker. So much so, that he can express buzzword laden thoughts such as "This is not racial equity at all. Give this false equivalence claptrap a rest. In North America, neither Black people nor Asian people have been in positions of centuries-entrenched political, socio-economic and institutionalized power, " without recognizing that he's hiding behind jargon like "institutionalize power", in a woefully pathetic attempt to mask just how non-empirical his thoughts and beliefs really are. A not insubstantial number of black people in The US bought their freedom, then became slave holder themselves, the so-called civilized tribes not only owned black slaves but continued to do so for several years after The Civil War, The Comanches and The Plains Tribes took white people and mestizos as slaves, etc etc.....

You'll forgive me if I'm now skeptical of your assertion that Megan Fox is really anything more than another ex-flavor of the week that's taking whatever she can get, though again I'll freely admit that I could be wrong

To be just as blunt, Mech, I started this thread. You are welcome to just not engage.

But, if you insist, if you must engage this topic - which, to be reminded, is how Megan Fox acted in this movie - if you haven't SEEN the movie, you ought to type less until you've seen it and can discuss the topic as it is. You couldn't even answer one of my questions about your curious comment about Hirsch and Haas. Honestly, what's the point of this?

@mechajutaro said:

Thus" nothing. There's no deceit to say "hey, she's doing something different" and find out that she had intention to change things up, which was resonance

Fox claims that she had intentions change things up, just as she now claims that her getting paid in the millions to pose half-naked in excess of 50 times plus get ogled by the camera during her eighteen minutes of fame was "exploitation". If we're going to believe that without question, we might as well start believing that Flat Earthers and David Icke have a strong likelihood of being anything more than cranks

Again, "just as" nothing. I'm not clear on what you think of Tony Curtis,

He, like DiCaprio, is one of many pretty boys who was just an OK enough actor to carve out a career. That's not a knock on either DiCaprio or Curtis, but let's pretend that these fellas evolved to the degree that Burt Lancaster or Brad Pitt did and have done

but if by that comparison you are suggesting that you don't think DiCaprio showed versatility in roles that range from Dr. Randall Mindy to Calvin Candie to Frank Abagnale Jr. to Rick Dalton, I don't understand what you're even doing on a movie discussion board.

Again, I'm not saying the guy is Casper Van Dien or Ian Ziering. Let's just not get too effusive in our pretending that he has much range either. I'm hardly the only one who's noticed

I really enjoyed Red Letter Media's breakdown of the problem with the Star Wars prequel trilogy. But, I disagree with his assessment of DiCaprio. Yes, it is well-documented that child actors have difficulty transitioning to adult actors, and he rhymes off some of the more notorious. But I hardly number DiCaprio with the likes of most on his list. AND, it's not as though child actors are doomed to never succeed as adults; exhibit Jason Bateman.

At any rate, regardless Red Letter Media's opinion, again, Mindy to Candie to Abagnale to Dalton, what he argues about DiCaprio does not measure up to how I saw those roles all played by this actor.

You are welcome to espouse the view that DiCaprio is limited. We can agree to disagree, which is pretty much par for the course with us anyway.

@mechajutaro said:

Mr. Willis was also nominated for a 'Razzie' for this movie & seven others. There were so many they gave him his own category!

This entire movie could serve as the basis for a doctoral thesis on just how far A-listers in Hollywood. This is regrettable, in regards to Willis, an actor who's been perennially underrated and also been given very few roles where he was able to demonstrate his range and versatility. Yeah, I'm aware that he's reputed to be a difficult guy to work with, nonetheless his career trajectory still remains tragic

That's one way to look at it.

I think, if you're an up and coming actor, the opportunity to work with an actor like Bruce Willis would be neat, even if he's a PITA on set. And, as an actor, he seems quite comfortable - which is to say, not insecure about his image - to take roles that aren't Oscar-bait. He seems to actually like acting, as we don't expect he really needs the money. He's evidently an actor who's not afraid to take risks, not afraid of what people will think of him if he's not in a star-studded cast...

Of course, I could be wrong. I'm not a big fan of him as a person. Who knows? Maybe Mech is right, and he can't get scripts with actors who have any clout because they won't put up with his on-set shit.

@mechajutaro said:

To be just as blunt, Mech, I started this thread. You are welcome to just not engage.

I've been enjoying the sparring, and these boards are set up to be venues for vigorous discussion. This is what keeps a person's wits sharp like the katana

I guess that's something. I guess.

But, if you insist, if you must engage this topic - which, to be reminded, is how Megan Fox acted in this movie - if you haven't SEEN the movie, you ought to type less until you've seen it and can discuss the topic as it is.

I'll give it a whirl at some future date. Her acting in that nearly three minute trailer didn't so much as hint that she's grown much as a performer since her days as the newest hot piece of a-s during the 2000s though

I will look forward to your impression of the movie and how she portrayed the role whenever you are able to give it a whirl.

You couldn't even answer one of my questions about your curious comment about Hirsch and Haas. Honestly, what's the point of this?

It's striking that the director also dug these two former hot young newcomers up, both of whom likewise didn't reach the heights of stardom that they were initially considered destined for. They were male equivalents of Megan Fox, had Megan Fox ever displayed much talent for anything other than standing around looking vampish

Well, here they all are together. You let me know if all they did was stand around looking vampish. Whenever you give it a whirl.

@mechajutaro said:

I really enjoyed Red Letter Media's breakdown of the problem with the Star Wars prequel trilogy. But, I disagree with his assessment of DiCaprio. Yes, it is well-documented that child actors have difficulty transitioning to adult actors, and he rhymes off some of the more notorious. But I hardly number DiCaprio with the likes of most on his list. AND, it's not as though child actors are doomed to never succeed as adults; exhibit Jason Bateman.

You apparently misheard Plinkett's observation: He acknowledge that DiCaprio has a knack both playing a retarded person and also shouting at the top of his lungs, and he also remarked that this is more talent than many other former child actors display. This ain't saying much though; like Natalie Portman, they've ridden off their good looks, payable enough acting talent, and being paired up with directors who were eager to exploit their name brand. This all brings us back around to Megan Fox, in a way: She's still fun to look at even after going to town with all that plastic surgery, and that may very well keep her in demand for a minute more. Nonetheless, her abilities have never extended further beyond looking f-ckable and sounding sneery and contemptuous, then mistaking this for showing emotion. It's disingenuous in the extreme to rank DiCaprio alongside Jeffery Wright, or Megan Fox alongside Julianne Moore

I watched part of that clip & could you tell me why that guy kept calling Kate Winslet Rose McGowen?

@mechajutaro said:

I really enjoyed Red Letter Media's breakdown of the problem with the Star Wars prequel trilogy. But, I disagree with his assessment of DiCaprio. Yes, it is well-documented that child actors have difficulty transitioning to adult actors, and he rhymes off some of the more notorious. But I hardly number DiCaprio with the likes of most on his list. AND, it's not as though child actors are doomed to never succeed as adults; exhibit Jason Bateman.

You apparently misheard Plinkett's observation: He acknowledge that DiCaprio has a knack both playing a retarded person and also shouting at the top of his lungs, and he also remarked that this is more talent than many other former child actors display. This ain't saying much though; like Natalie Portman, they've ridden off their good looks, payable enough acting talent, and being paired up with directors who were eager to exploit their name brand. This all brings us back around to Megan Fox, in a way: She's still fun to look at even after going to town with all that plastic surgery, and that may very well keep her in demand for a minute more. Nonetheless, her abilities have never extended further beyond looking f-ckable and sounding sneery and contemptuous, then mistaking this for showing emotion. It's disingenuous in the extreme to rank DiCaprio alongside Jeffery Wright, or Megan Fox alongside Julianne Moore

FWIW, I've never argued that DiCaprio is the greatest. I'm not his biggest fan, by any stretch. I think he has quite held his own on set with some of the biggest stars (Catch Me If You Can, The Departed, Django Unchained, Once Upon A Time in Hollwyood), and I would not take that away from him nor diminish his efforts, especially as his peers respect his work and give him the credit he's due.

Is Lukas Haas the killer?