11-23-2004, 09:19 AM | #1 (permalink) |
... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.
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Alexander: the great?
Alexander was arguabally the greatest military leader in recorded history. His story has become legend over the many years after his death. He created an army of Macedonians and Greeks that conquered the known world.
Now, on the heels of the epic Troy (2004, Wolfgang Peterson, available on DVD January 4, 2005), we have another posslby great epic. This film is based on the life of Alexander the great (played be Colin Farrell), and chronicles his life from childhood until the age of 32. Supporting Farrell is Anthony Hopkins as Old Ptolemy, Angelina Jolie as Olympias (Alexander's mother), and Val Kilmer as Philip (Alexander's father). This is a GREAT risk for director/writer Oliver Stone, who already has a reputation for mucking up really interesting stories with his personal political views (see JFK). We are also in danger of seeing a lot of blood, and a lot of dialogue, but little plot. I say that it's worth a try. Despite the fact that Angelina Jolie (29 years old) can play Colin Farrell(28 years old)'s mother, and the possibility of a bloodbath, this might actually be a really good movie. Besides, it's either this or Christmas with the Kranks. Alexander opens Wednesday, November 24th nationwide in the US. What do YOU think? |
11-23-2004, 09:27 AM | #2 (permalink) |
Junkie
Moderator Emeritus
Location: Chicago
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There's an interesting twist to this story....
Alexander May Go To Court Lifestyle: 23 November 2004, Tuesday. A group of Greek lawyers has threatened to file a lawsuit against Warner Bros. and Oliver Stone "for suggesting Alexander the Great was bisexual" in their latest blockbuster. Athens-based attorneys are demanding that Warner Bros. issue a disclaimer saying "Alexander" is a fiction. They claim that the unreleased version of the film made references to Alexander the Great's alleged homosexuality, "a fact that is in no historical document or archive on Alexander". In "Alexander," director Oliver Stone and actor Colin Farrell take on the legendary warrior who conquered most of the known world by age 25. By the time he died, just shy of his 33rd birthday, Alexander's empire spanned what now is Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of India, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan; two million square miles. All that happened in his short life, which spanned his birth in Pella, Macedonia (now Greece), in 356 BC and ended abruptly in 323 BC during a drinking bout in Babylon, now Iraq. ------------------------ Makes for an interesting twist to the story of Alexander the Great.... Was he or wasn't he?
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11-23-2004, 11:36 AM | #4 (permalink) |
... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.
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oliveer stone is great at putting great figures in odd sexual situations. Of course, I suppose Alexander could have ben bi. Who knows? Who cares? I don't think that his sexuality has any bearing on his greatness. It didn't win any battles, that's for sure.
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11-23-2004, 06:31 PM | #6 (permalink) |
It's All About The Ass!!
Location: In a pool of mayonnaise!!
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This movie is probably gonna be a dissappointment for me. Especially with the cast.
Asta!!
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11-23-2004, 08:23 PM | #7 (permalink) |
Junkie
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Homosexuality was actually considered normal (more or less) in both ancient Greece and Rome. At least during your youth.
This has got to be the most stupid story I've ever read. I have the utmost respect for ancient Greek culture, but ever since that ridiculous fake crash during the Olympics and now this nonesense, I'm having difficulty in not dismissing the current Greeks as a group of whiners and dodgers... Mr Mephisto |
11-24-2004, 10:02 AM | #11 (permalink) | ||
All Possibility, Made Of Custard
Location: New York, NY
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To be perfectly honest, Colin Farrell looks like an idiot with blond hair.
I don't think this movie is going to do very well. I'm not interested in seeing movies like this or Troy. I feel that the story is trumped by the huge budgets and A-list cast. Why else would you cast ANGELINA JOLIE as his mother??? Give me a break. I just went over to the New York Times to read their review...among all the ads for Alexander is a review that mentions, among other things: Quote:
Here's the full review: Quote:
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11-24-2004, 02:41 PM | #12 (permalink) |
... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.
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Mty review:
If you see thie movie, turn around and run as fast as you can. I just came back from this, and I wish I had just come back from eating back hair instead. This movie featured the worst acting, writing, directing, battle choreographing, music, and diologue in the history of mankind. That was no exaggeration, BTW. Colin Farrell has now proven that he is not an actor, and has just destroyed any acting credibility he may or may not have gotten from movies like the Recruit. With or without the gay thing, this was the worst piece of cinima ever to befoul a screen. I cannot overstate the awefulness of this film. I beg you not to put yourself through three long hours of it. I don't even think MST3K would tough this garbage. I would like to personally kill Oliver Stone, but I know after I did it, he'd make a movie about how I was gay. May he rot in hell. |
11-24-2004, 03:01 PM | #13 (permalink) |
beauty in the breakdown
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
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Im torn--I love historical epics, but this one has been thrashed in every review Ive seen. I probably wont see it--it has a 16% on rottentomatoes.com, probably the lowest composite review score Ive ever seen.
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11-24-2004, 03:55 PM | #14 (permalink) |
It's All About The Ass!!
Location: In a pool of mayonnaise!!
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^^^^ Actually I've seen zero on a number of films. But like I said..I could tell this was gonna be crap with the cast. Kilmer prolly woulda made a better Alexander.
Asta!!
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"I love music and it's my parents fault (closing statement)." - Me..quoting myself...from when I said that...On TFP..thats here...Tilted Forum Project It ain't goodbye, it's see ya later! I'll miss you guys! - Asta!! |
11-25-2004, 12:58 AM | #16 (permalink) | |
Junkie
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Quote:
An actor is only as good as the material with which he's presented. Mr Mephisto |
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11-25-2004, 01:41 AM | #17 (permalink) | |
Eh?
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow
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Quote:
Back to the movie. I knew nothing and had heard nothing of the gay/bi undertones and the like. Simple fact, this movie is a horrid excuse for cinema. Do NOT see this movie. |
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11-25-2004, 03:58 AM | #18 (permalink) |
Human
Administrator
Location: Chicago
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Unfortunately I could tell I wouldn't like the movie the minute reciews started coming out that showed the acting. I haven't seen it yet, but Colin looks like a tool with blonde hair and, as much as I like Angelina Jolie, her ... "accent" ... in the movie is absolutely horrendous. Talk about terrible casting. And then, once you get past that, the acting in the previews is terrible, and I can't help but assume it to be indicative of the rest of the movie.
I'll most likely not be seeing this movie in a theatre, and who knows about rentals.
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11-25-2004, 07:40 AM | #19 (permalink) |
Sarge of Blood Gulch Red Outpost Number One
Location: On the front lines against our very enemy
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Dammit! Why do things like this need to be fucked up? The gay thing I don't mind because it is a fact that male beauty was far more admired than female beauty, and that Alexander was bisexual. But argh, don't make that the focal point of the movie for cryin out loud. Maybe focus on how Alexander effectively managed to kill more Greeks than any opponent in history. Or perhaps the battles and his genius and ingenuity of using his small force to his advantage time and time again... But no, we have to be obsessed with why he was gay. Anyone wanna back me or join me in making a movie about Alexander that isn't utter crap?
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11-25-2004, 08:53 AM | #20 (permalink) | |
Junkie
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Quote:
I fully agree. If it's a gay love story, fine. But marketing it as an epic of alexandar's conquest of the known world was false advertising.
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11-25-2004, 11:09 AM | #21 (permalink) |
...is a comical chap
Location: Where morons reign supreme
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[/QUOTE]Mty review:
If you see thie movie, turn around and run as fast as you can. I just came back from this, and I wish I had just come back from eating back hair instead. This movie featured the worst acting, writing, directing, battle choreographing, music, and diologue in the history of mankind. That was no exaggeration, BTW. Colin Farrell has now proven that he is not an actor, and has just destroyed any acting credibility he may or may not have gotten from movies like the Recruit. With or without the gay thing, this was the worst piece of cinima ever to befoul a screen. I cannot overstate the awefulness of this film. I beg you not to put yourself through three long hours of it. I don't even think MST3K would tough this garbage. I would like to personally kill Oliver Stone, but I know after I did it, he'd make a movie about how I was gay. May he rot in hell. [QUOTE] LOL @ that review...gave me quite a chuckle. I love historical epics, but from the reviews, I don't know that I'll go see it.
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11-26-2004, 02:52 AM | #22 (permalink) |
Insane
Location: USA
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basically, read the reviews, go to rottentomatoes, and dont doubt either source (providing youre seeing a negative opinion). ive seen worse movies, but most of them had the common decency to stay below 3 hours in length
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11-26-2004, 08:18 PM | #24 (permalink) |
Drifting
Administrator
Location: Windy City
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Well, I went and saw this last night since I wasn't going to spend my WHOLE weekend doing homework. Managed to stay awake for the 3+ hours. There weren't captions for the show, so I didn't catch all the dialogue, but I don't feel like I really missed anything. There was TONS of sappy eye batting by everybody. Ugh. And EVERY time a scene was changing, there was a pan up to the sky and a white out. Virtually no coherent, fluid timeline of events. If I don't see this again in my life, I'll be happy.
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11-27-2004, 10:00 AM | #27 (permalink) |
Upright
Location: montreal,canada
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i thought it was good but not great. It touches on a lot of things at the same time: mother/son and father/son complexes.
angelina jolie looked so beautiful the WHOLE time. Imo, she was reason enough to watch the movie. Being of greek decent myself and contrary to what many pro reviewers have said, I thought she did a great job with the accent. |
11-27-2004, 01:09 PM | #28 (permalink) |
Natalie Portman is sexy.
Location: The Outer Rim
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The movie DOES suck, I walked out of the theater about 45 minutes into it, the dialogue and acting was so bad.
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11-27-2004, 08:50 PM | #29 (permalink) |
Insane
Location: Virginia
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Just got back from seeing it and I wanted to walk out but a few factors stopped me, A) I didn't drive but came with a couple of friends; B) I paid to much to see it so I was going to watch it no matter how much my eyes bled.
Edit: I must agree Jolie is beautiful as always, however, she does not justify reason enough to see this movie.
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11-29-2004, 06:45 AM | #30 (permalink) |
Psycho
Location: the hills of aquafina.
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Saw it this past weekend. simply a bad movie.
I couldn't feel anything for any character at all. The movie made alexander look like he's just some nomad with an army, running around and taking over nations. There purpose behind his actions was never really brought out in the movie. I thought the A&E documentary on him was much more entertaining than the movie was. I really feel sorry for my wife, who loves mythology and was really looking forward to this movie. =|
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11-29-2004, 07:32 AM | #31 (permalink) |
All Possibility, Made Of Custard
Location: New York, NY
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I hate to say it (no, I don't), but I'm glad that this movie bombed over the weekend. Maybe Hollywood will learn that big budgets and big name-casting do not necessarily make a box-office smash, and will concentrate on higher quality, lower-budget films.
Ehh, who am I kidding.
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11-29-2004, 07:51 AM | #32 (permalink) |
Professional Loafer
Location: texas
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I saw it Saturday night TG weekend. Quite frankly, the movie was bad. Bad bad bad.
It was boring and long. Granted, I'm not complaining about length, because I really enjoyed Braveheart which was also 3 hours long. But, if Alexander in the movie wasn't warring, he was whining. This is not a movie I will buy. Although, Angelina Jolie looked absolutely GORGEOUS in this movie.
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alexander, great |
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