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Author Topic: UNSTOPPABLE Richard P. May Expert Film Handler Posts: 243 From: Los Angeles, CA Registered: Jan 2006 posted 11-14-2010 11:26 AM                     Whew!! Tired eyes and ears by the time this ended. The story is nothing not seen before (think of "Taking of Pelham 1-2-3" from the same director). The execution, meaning camera work and sound, are overwhelming. No hand held, to speak of, but lots of closeups and fast cutting. There is a love of the zoom lens rivaling TMZ cable gossip photography. Very often, when focusing on a face, there is a slight jump zoom to get closer. Very annoying. Music is "wall to wall" action. Someday I expect the speakers in a theater to rebel, and jump thru the screen. In spite of the above comments, the movie has suspense, even though it's predictable. Will the train stop before it gets to Scranton? I won't tell!  |  IP: Logged Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 11-14-2010 09:31 PM                        I saw UNSTOPPABLE today at the Regal Pearlhighland Theatre and enjoyed the film very much. As a professional photographer with some experience with cinema photography, I did not notice all of the things in the photography Richard had pointed out that had annoyed him. The only thing I had noticed was how gritty the picture looked and how it captured the way southern Pennsylvania looks from my many visits to that part of the country. I agree, the sound mix was intense and that contributed to my enjoyment of the film even more. I saw it in a auditorium that was almost full and a person sitting in front of me with a baseball cap was pissing me off when he kept leaning forward in this theatre with stadium seating and was blocking a good deal of the bottom of the picture. I politely asked him him to sit properly and he did but about forty minutes, he did it again. This time, I gently kicked the back of his seat to remind him and he quickly leaned back. It was a good thing he was good about it and not an ass hole. 4 out of five stars By the way, I just noticed this is exactly my 2000th post and it took me eight years to do it. I enjoyed posting all these years and look forward to many more years of sharing knowledge and learning from many of you. Most especially Brad, Mark Guibrandsen, Adam Martin Joe Radifer, Gordon McLeod Steve Guttag, Mike Blakesley and many others about Cinema and Bobby Handerson, Vern Dias Joe Tommasello and others about home video. -Claude  |  IP: Logged Michael Brown Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1522 From: Bradford, England Registered: May 2001 posted 11-15-2010 12:02 PM                     quote: Richard P. May Will the train stop before it gets to Scranton? Scranton? Didn't realise that the train was heading towards Steve Carell and the cast of The Office. Would make an interesting series finale to the current season.  |  IP: Logged Tom Petrov Five Guys Lover Posts: 1121 From: El Paso, TX Registered: Jan 2003 posted 11-15-2010 11:33 PM                    ** (out of ****) Saw this today. Was ok. I mean, Tony Scott does editing and camera work so fast...Sound mix was crazy too. My main problem with this movie is that Tony Scott didn't take any chances. He should of taken a chance and killed the horses, the train full children and more. Maybe completely destroy a town or something. Not enough special effects disasters for a $100 million budget. The back story of Chris Pine was crap. The best performance by far was character actor Lew Temple driving that crazy dually pick up truck. He brought life into the movie. DW was crap and boring and so was Chris Pine How did I know that the train was going to do "wheelie"? Cinematography was not bad. Running time was not too long, but Tony Scott really needed to take some chances with this movie and that was the problem. Make it R rated. No where near as good as "Runaway Train"  |  IP: Logged Preston Drum Film Handler Posts: 7 From: Charlotte, NC, USA Registered: Oct 2010 posted 11-20-2010 06:54 PM                        http://www.hulu.com/watch/193067/saturday-night-live-unstoppable-trailer#s-p1-sr-i1 this video says it all  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 11-20-2010 08:32 PM                     I watched 3 minutes of this and the below was spot on. It was so annoying I don't think I can sit through this film. quote: Richard P. May There is a love of the zoom lens rivaling TMZ cable gossip photography. Very often, when focusing on a face, there is a slight jump zoom to get closer. Very annoying. Very annoying? How about "hey Tony Scott learn how to shoot a movie annoying"?  |  IP: Logged Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 11-20-2010 10:18 PM                    Brad, you should have realized that was going to be the case - BEFORE seeing it! Or did you miss Tony Scott's name on the poster?  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-20-2010 11:02 PM                        I live in a railroad town, so I am sure this movie is going to be chock-full of "Yeah, riiiight!" moments.  |  IP: Logged Victor Liorentas Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 800 From: london ontario canada Registered: May 2009 posted 11-21-2010 12:02 AM                     I wish Tony Scott would go back to his Crimson Tide and True Romance style of film making! This movie has me at hello because i love trains and at least the photography is sharp. I also am a big fan of Denzel.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 11-21-2010 12:11 AM                        quote: Richard P. May Very often, when focusing on a face, there is a slight jump zoom to get closer. I hate that shit. But it's the trend these days. I guess the young'uns LOVE it. They have to, why else would people keep doing this?  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 11-21-2010 10:35 AM                     Tony Scott and certain other directors that abuse the style over substance method of shooting movies are older farts. Paul Greengrass, Michael Bay, John Woo, etc. are middle aged or older. Those directors just believe everyone under age 40 has ADHD and cannot hold their attention on screen for more than about 12 frames without an edit or camera shake. A few of my coworkers have seen Unstoppable and liked the movie quite a bit. I'm not sure I'm going to bother because Tony Scott has pretty much moved up to the top of the list of directors who annoy the shit out of me. Scott loves to employ camera moves/techniques that totally take me out of the movie. For example, Scott likes using 360 degree dolly moves in various scenes. Michael Bay does this shit in just about all his movies too! It's an unnatural camera move because no one in real life is going to go running circles around some people talking or some piece of action happening. I expect they'll start turning the camera sideways or upside down to make the angle even more unnatural and annoying. Scott will sometimes cut between two different 360 moves happening at the same time. In Spy Game a dialog only scene between Robert Redford and Brad Pitt on a German high rise rooftop had a 360 degree helicopter shot and dollying close-ups. It was just a damned dialog scene but the thing was shot and edited like the building was fixing to explode. I thought more about the Wescam™ gyroscope camera mount on the helicopter and what sort of telephoto lenses were being used rather than thinking about the movie and its characters. I caught a bit of the "HBO First Look" feature on Unstoppable and sure enough there's 360 degree dolly action in that show. They modified a train locomotive so they could run dolly track all the way around and through the cab. Thanks, HBO, for making even regular viewers aware of the 360 degree nonsense!  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-22-2010 03:55 AM                        quote: Bobby Henderson Those directors just believe everyone under age 40 has ADHD and cannot hold their attention on screen for more than about 12 frames without an edit or camera shake. And they are right.  |  IP: Logged Kurt Zupin Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 989 From: Maricopa, Arizona Registered: Oct 2004 posted 11-22-2010 09:38 AM                     Frank I can't tell if your trying to be funny or just trying to sound dumb?  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-22-2010 11:13 AM                        Your choice....but neither of which is snarky.  |  IP: Logged Kurt Zupin Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 989 From: Maricopa, Arizona Registered: Oct 2004 posted 11-22-2010 01:15 PM                     Just making sure since there are some of us that are in our 20's that enjoy more steady long shots lol  |  IP: Logged

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