Are You Watching Closely?
January 1st, 2008 | 14 Comments | Movies |
How many movies have you ever seen with so many plot twists, and such a surprising ending, that made you say, “I’ve got to watch that again?” A few I’m sure .. I know I have.
“The Prestige” is most definitely such a movie, and after watching it a second time I’m glad I did.
Set in a time close to it’s sibling magician movie “The Illusionist,” it’s the story of two magician’s assistants who get involved in a spiral of revenge after one of them causes the death of the other’s wife. But nothing is as it seems, and the mousetrap plots had more than enough twists to keep me off-balance. And the second viewing paid off, when after I knew the secrets I could see all the allusions to the illusions. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist that pun).
It stars Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Hugh Jackman, along with David Bowie, Andy Serkis, Scarlett Johanssen and Piper Perabo. It also stars some great cinematography. The scene in Colorado Springs where the field is illuminated by a grid of lightbulbs is one of the most striking tableaux I’ve seen in a while.
Rent it and watch it — twice.
I always get “The Illusionist” and “The Prestige” confused, like Bill Paxton and Bill Pullman.
It’s been so long since i’ve watched either movie. I can’t remember either story even tho you just summarized one of them. Christian Bale is good (someone in this house thinks he’s the next Edward Norton. I wouldn’t go that far)and Micheal Caine is great in everything he does. Plot twists? What plot twists? It’s on ONDEMAND right now so maybe tonite we’ll give it another go. After the Cavs game.
Don’t fall asleep — The whole thing is plot twists!
Will try to stay awake.
OK, i see what you mean now about The Prestige. It’s much better the second time even tho shortly into it I remembered how the Transported Man trick was done. Not that that helped much, given, as you say, the many plot twists.
Yet for awhile I couldn’t figure out why is he was letting his daughter be taken away by Angier when he was in prison when Fallon could’ve taken her, or why he let Fallon hang for the killing of The Great D’Antons wife, but then it all fell into place. It all came down to who really tied the knot.
That’s why in the morgue when Angier asked him “what knot did you tie” he said “I don’t remember.” I also liked his future wife’s nephew’s question, “what about his brother” the second time around.
That bit where he shackles the guard’s leg in prison made me laugh out loud both times. It all makes for a really neat package.
I see the similarities between Christian Bale and Edward Norton. I get the sense that Norton has more versatility and range.
Yeah, he asked him that question twice. The first time i thought he was lying. The second time i got it.
I don’t remember hearing the line “what about his brother?”. That’s the reason why i watch good movies so many times, because there are so many things i miss.
I swear i’ve probably watched JFK close to 50 times and each time i pick up something i missed before. Same with GWTW, but i watch it over and over because it relaxes me. And last night i watched Mississippi Burning probably for the 40th time. No lies here. And i caught some new stuff. My family thinks i’m wierd for watching the same movies over and over. They don’t understand.
I really don’t think Christian Bale is anywhere near Edward Nortons abilities as an actor. Maybe there’s some similarity in style or something, but the level of talent is not even close.
Have you seen “Memento”?
Actually i replied to this question yesterday but we’ve been having connectivity problems and i think it timed out before my reply met your server.
Anyway, yes, i saw Memento when it was first released. What 4-5 years ago? And i didn’t get it. The kids say “what’s not to get?”. What kind of question is that? If i knew what was not to get, i would get it. So i’ll have to give that one a second look. I did catch American Psycho 2 the other day and that movie stunk up the joint. Almost as bad as “Boat Trip” but not quite.
Stop me if this is obvious, but the “it” in Memento is the whole story is backwards. You see the end of the story. Then it backs up a little and takes you to where you started. Then it backs up a little more and takes you forward to where the previous segment had begun.
By doing this, they put you inside the head of the protagonist, who has no short term memory. You’re seeing something happen, you have no idea how you got there or who anyone is. Neither does he. Each scene is a self-contained unit stripped of its reference points.
Again, stop me if this is obvious.
How bad can “Boat Trip” be, if it’s not “Cabin Boy”?
STOP! I got that the story was backwards and that as a result the guy didn’t know the people as the scenes progressed etc etc. Altho, i’ll admit it took me a few scenes to get that. I guess what “it” was that i didn’t get was the plot. I can’t really remember. There was just something about it i didn’t get. It’s been too long. Oh nevermind, i’m a movie idiot sometimes.
LOL! I haven’t seen Cabin Boy, so i can’t say, but Jewelle wants to know how bad it can be if it’s not “Pootie Tang”.
So many bad movies, and I don’t even have time for the good ones.
The “it” in Memento is so complicated that I’d completely forgotten it until I read the plot synopsis on imdb. Even was an IQ as incredibly high as mine it’s possible to be a movie idiot. (Take that last sentence with great irony, if you please.)
Anthony Cartouche would ask, how bad can “Pootie Tang” be if it’s not “Skiddoo”? Though I gotta admit, you’d have to wake up pretty early in the morning to come up with a more sure-fire way of keeping me away from a movie than naming it “Pootie Tang.” Dear lord, I’d have to wear a bag over my head standing on line at the box office.
I’m pretty sure Jewelle didn’t pay actual money to watch that movie. It was probably a rental.
I’m laughing so hard here it’s hard to type. (bag over your head!) But yeah, what kind of a movie title is that?
btw, how much of this IQ have you got? Come on, don’t clam up now…….
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