Posts : 7656 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : You're the man now, dog!
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Thu Aug 15, 2013 1:24 am
Great idea for a trailer, but I think it's a misfire. Unfortunate, because he's really good with his other video edits. I knew something was off when the bit with Bond hanging on the elevator came up. And replacing "I think he got the point" with "open the door please", not working. Oh well.
I think using THE SPY WHO LOVED ME trailer as a model for a fan trailer would fit SF better, if done right.
Instead of the mountain jump, it's the carriage jump, cue the adjusting of the handcuffs and the gun barrel centering on him.
Murdock
Posts : 38 Member Since : 2013-09-08 Location : USA
I really can't stand Haphazard anymore. Everything up to the Brosnan era was okay but then he got Really smug and just went to full on Brosnan Bash. I respect that he wasn't a fan of him but christ he makes it look like everything wrong was Brosnan's fault. Granted Brosnan should have pushed harder for Quality Material but he wasn't what went wrong with his films Post GoldenEye.
Not a very good combo. The original Purvis & Wade draft was actually much better and presented Bond being less foolish and Elektra being even more batshit crazy.
And Vic Armstrong, I think his work qualifies as the most dull, stagey sequences. A step down after GE's more fantastical, clever and inventive sequences.
As for HaphazardStuff, I can get most of what he says. I definitely agree with his assessment of TWINE though and how scenes deflate whatever good tension would have come. I especially agree with the point he made about the lack of a build up to Bond making love to Elektra. It just comes out of nowhere. Sloppy storytelling.
Makeshift Python 00 Agent
Posts : 7656 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : You're the man now, dog!
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Tue Oct 21, 2014 12:16 am
The first part of his review of QOS is finally up: http://haphazardstuff.com/QuantumofSolace.html
As always on his videos, great use of archive footage. I forgot about Forster's strange interest in the four elements being a thing for the film. It's a movie that I was fine with on first viewing, but over the years it really aged badly. I still don't think it's the worst, but it would likely be placed among the bottom quarter of my Bond rankings. Overall I'm agreeing with his thoughts so far and really look forward to seeing the rest.
Hearing "Another Way to Die" again, it is terrible. I remember the first time hearing it back in 2008 that it wasn't clicking, and it never got better in my ears. Bloody awful.
CJB 00 Agent
Posts : 5495 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : 'Straya
I do like that little bit where the journalist actually asks him how he integrated the four elements and there's a long pause.
Makeshift Python 00 Agent
Posts : 7656 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : You're the man now, dog!
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Sat Nov 01, 2014 8:13 pm
Part 2 is up: Helga takes a beating.
Guest Guest
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Sat Nov 01, 2014 8:33 pm
So many politically incorrect jokes to choose from I'm lost for words.
Largo's Shark 00 Agent
Posts : 10588 Member Since : 2011-03-14
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Sat Nov 01, 2014 9:00 pm
Makeshift Python 00 Agent
Posts : 7656 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : You're the man now, dog!
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Sat Nov 01, 2014 9:06 pm
I agree about Greene coming off as a middle man, but that's not because of his introduction but rather that Bond's ultimate goal doesn't involve Greene. Bond wants to find Vesper's Algerian boyfriend, and Greene happens to be a guy who might know something about that.
Guest Guest
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Sat Nov 01, 2014 9:41 pm
Brown got it right with Helga - said she looked homely or somesuch. Certainly not traditional Bond girl material and in truth she hasn't done much better at Baker St. I suspect that in the good old Saltzman days Helga wouldn't even have been given a bit part as receptionist. I mean I've seen better looking girls on Russian Mail Order Brides. Not that I've ever looked at Russian Mail Order Brides, you understand. Plus she towers over Craig as does Gemma Awfulton. (No way Craig can be 5'9" or whatever he claims. Must be 5'8" tops.) As for the rest of the review, Haphazard's section on editing is interesting. If I had to sum up QoS in one word, I'd go for 'incompetent'. That or 'shit'.
Makeshift Python 00 Agent
Posts : 7656 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : You're the man now, dog!
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Sat Nov 01, 2014 10:06 pm
Helga I never minded, looks wise. But as said in the review, the character was derivative and unimpressive. It's interesting how after the near perfect FRWL, all other second Bond entries have been plagued with very similar issues when it came to the production process They were either too rushed (TMWTGG, TND) or hit by the writers strike (LTK, QOS).
I also like that point brought up about Severine. Within just a few minutes you're already drawn to her character and her troubled past, but with Helga it's not working the same.
Control 00 Agent
Posts : 5206 Member Since : 2010-05-13 Location : Slumber, Inc.
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Sat Nov 01, 2014 10:33 pm
Nice review. I liked that he grabbed some of those frames between the rooftop chase, showing that the editor was cutting to sloppy shots with nothing of importance in the frame.
What a team of hacks.
Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 00 Agent
Posts : 8477 Member Since : 2010-05-12 Location : Strawberry Fields
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Sun Nov 02, 2014 7:59 am
Hmm… Just a couple of thoughts:
- Camille was what Bond would turn out to be had he gone down the revenge route. Don't agree that she's the most inconsequential Bond girl. - Do agree that Stacey is a better Bond girl. - Interesting how he sees the film doesn't build tension, and that he likes the surprise when Mitchell reveals himself as the insider, but suggests he's disappointed that the surprise is nearly given away by the suspenseful cutaways to the Palio and Arnold's music. - He seemed to forget the build up leading to the boat chase. - The scene with M and Bond in Mitchell's apartment was there to build tension! What could be seen as debatable is why M is there. It's not a job for the Head of MI6 to carry out fieldwork of that level. But then again, Bond got M and the MoD out to Venice to look at Drax's lab… - I find Dominic Greene much more interesting to watch than Stromberg to be honest. - I do like how he references TWINE and TND at points to show how they're superior in one regard or other. :)
Makeshift Python 00 Agent
Posts : 7656 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : You're the man now, dog!
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Sun Nov 02, 2014 8:18 am
Does the leading up to the boat chase count as being a build up? It's so poorly done, I can't call it a build up when it's just nonsense happening one after the other.
CJB 00 Agent
Posts : 5495 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : 'Straya
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Sun Nov 02, 2014 8:32 am
It pains me to have to relive the monstrosity that is QOS through these reviews.
Makeshift Python 00 Agent
Posts : 7656 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : You're the man now, dog!
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Sat Nov 22, 2014 5:21 am
The last two parts.
Guest Guest
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Sat Nov 22, 2014 10:37 am
Just watched part three - it's lonnnngggggg. It's coming to something when reviews are longer than the film. Still, it does a good job of showing that Quantum of Solace is a Quock of Shit. Doesn't explain why, though.
I'd say QoS stinks because it's a director's film. This is what happens when you sideline the writer - you know, the story teller - and let the dumb dahlings improvise without regular electric shocks. A lot of QoS is a sobering reminder that acting is a form of exhibitionism and not the occupation of a real man.
So Quantum of Solace is shit: no news there then. I'm more interested to know why some on the Bond boards liked it so much that they named themselves after characters from it. Now, that's embarrassing. Or why some at BaBs think that Skyfall is only a marginal improvement on QoS. What bullshit.
I'd say Skyfall is the Sistine Chapel ceiling compared to its duff predecessor.
Largo's Shark 00 Agent
Posts : 10588 Member Since : 2011-03-14
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Sat Nov 22, 2014 10:30 pm
Quote :
A lot of QoS is a sobering reminder that acting is a form of exhibitionism and not the occupation of a real man.
Quote :
I'm more interested to know why some on the Bond boards liked it so much that they named themselves after characters from it. Now, that's embarrassing.
Really got it in for Jason today, huh?
Guest Guest
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Sat Nov 22, 2014 11:04 pm
Largo's Shark wrote:
Erica Ambler wrote:
acting is a form of exhibitionism and not the occupation of a real man.
That's Lawrence Olivier. But you knew that, right? Jason would, I'm sure.
And it was Oppers who said Skyfall was not much of an improvement on QoS. Have I got it for her as well?
Largo's Shark 00 Agent
Posts : 10588 Member Since : 2011-03-14
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Sat Nov 22, 2014 11:21 pm
Erica Ambler wrote:
And it was Oppers who said Skyfall was not much of an improvement on QoS. Have I got it for her as well?
I think you've got it in for everyone, just as it should be.
Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 00 Agent
Posts : 8477 Member Since : 2010-05-12 Location : Strawberry Fields
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Sat Nov 22, 2014 11:25 pm
I agree, actors are kids at heart.
I like QOS because: - I like the photography outside the action pieces. - I like Arnold's score - his best after TND. - I like Greene - there seems to be more going on in him than someone like Stromberg, and that's attributed to Almaric's performance. - I really dig the murder-suicide contemplation at the end, which seems like it was inspired by the MR novel. - Camille is one of the few times the Bond equal thing has been done right. - I love how it brings back some cultural flavours which wasn't present in CR, i.e The Palio. - Fields I adored from the moment I saw the trailer. I think Arterton is a babe, and love her retro vibe. But my viewing of the film earlier this year, I thought that her acting was a bit stilted, and her five minutes on screen couldn't overpower the great Bond girls of the past, like Tracy, Fiona, Domino, Pussy and Elektra to name a few. And if it helps you sleep at night, Ambler, I asked admin quite a while back to have my username changed, but was denied because people knew me as FieldsMan. - Plus the other moments in between like Tosca, the opening car chase, Perla De Las Dunas…
They're just some pointers. I do prefer SF over QOS FYI. QOS isn't in my top 10 anymore, and SF is. But I still enjoy QOS.
Largo's Shark 00 Agent
Posts : 10588 Member Since : 2011-03-14
Subject: Re: Haphazard Stuff Reviews Sat Nov 22, 2014 11:36 pm