American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#26 Post by Matt » Wed Jul 31, 2013 4:59 pm

O'Russell
Sorry to be ever the pedant, but this is driving me nuts. His last name is Russell. The "O." is his middle initial.

I kept having a vision of him dressed like
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criterion10

Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#27 Post by criterion10 » Wed Jul 31, 2013 5:06 pm

Haha, my bad.

jojo
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2008 1:47 pm

Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#28 Post by jojo » Fri Aug 02, 2013 1:14 pm

On the other hand, I always think "What does the 'O' stand for?" whenever I read his name. :)

(It's Owen by the way)

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mfunk9786
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Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#29 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Aug 02, 2013 1:29 pm

I've begun using my middle initial because a guy in his 50s in the midwest with my name was arrested for secretly filming women in the bathroom. I wish I were making that up.

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#30 Post by Matt » Fri Aug 02, 2013 2:10 pm

M. O'Funk.

rs98762001
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2005 6:04 pm

Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#31 Post by rs98762001 » Fri Aug 02, 2013 8:17 pm

DOR has of course now turned into a complete hack, but Flirting With Disaster is one of the best American comedies of the last 20 years, and one of the few films that can hold its own against the classic screwball comedies.

The new one just looks like his attempt to 'do a Goodfellas' a la Blow, Boogie Nights, and a hundred other films.

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mfunk9786
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Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#32 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Aug 02, 2013 9:19 pm

I love the "of course," as if he didn't just release an incredibly successful film. So obnoxious to express a contrarian opinion as if it's noting the color of the sky.

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Shrew
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Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#33 Post by Shrew » Sat Aug 03, 2013 12:55 am

He made money with some films that won some acting oscars therefore he is a hack how do not understand this.

Anyway, this looks good.

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Luke M
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:21 pm

Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#34 Post by Luke M » Sun Aug 04, 2013 11:40 pm

The trailer reminded me of Boogie Nights -which I absolutely love. On the one hand, I don't think anyone aside from Anderson and Scorsese, can do a movie with that same structure and be successful but on the other hand I'm very excited to see someone like David O. Russell attempt it.

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#35 Post by zedz » Tue Aug 13, 2013 5:53 pm

Matt wrote:M. O'Funk.
I guess this is the name Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk uses to check into hotels when he's travelling incognito.



wattsup32
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:00 pm

Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#38 Post by wattsup32 » Wed Oct 09, 2013 8:34 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:I love the "of course," as if he didn't just release an incredibly successful film. So obnoxious to express a contrarian opinion as if it's noting the color of the sky.
A quick search of rs's profile ought to make it obvious that rs is an alt. for Armond White.

rs98762001
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2005 6:04 pm

Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#39 Post by rs98762001 » Fri Dec 06, 2013 2:03 pm

rs98762001 wrote:The new one just looks like his attempt to 'do a Goodfellas' a la Blow, Boogie Nights, and a hundred other films.
Which idiot wrote this?

Surprisingly, amazingly, this is a real return to form for Russell after the contrived, awards-baiting duo of The Fighter and Silver Linings, and is his most satisfying film since Flirting With Disaster. It takes too long to get going and too long to end, still occasionally suffers from his tendency to overwrite, and falls somewhat short of the emotional impact it's trying to achieve. But overall it's a beautiful, funny, and messy film. The characters are rich and unpredictable, slowly revealing themselves in layers, the performances ferociously committed (Adams and Cooper in particular - what a contrast for the latter from his hesitant, draggy performance in Place Beyond the Pines). And, while I suppose you could point to it wearing its influences on its sleeve (Scorsese would seem the obvious reference point, but it actually reminded me more of the Altman of Nashville and California Split) it still has some of the best pure filmmaking of Russell's career, and is surprisingly dynamic visually.

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Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#40 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Mon Dec 09, 2013 8:41 am

What's the song featured at the end of the recent trailer?

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salad
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Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#41 Post by salad » Mon Dec 09, 2013 10:44 am

flyonthewall2983 wrote:What's the song featured at the end of the recent trailer?
"10538 Overture" --which is the first post-Move ELO single if I'm not mistaken-- is featured at the end of the trailer currently available at Apple.

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FerdinandGriffon
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Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#42 Post by FerdinandGriffon » Mon Dec 09, 2013 11:06 am

If there's ELO in the film itself I'm suddenly way more excited to see this.


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Professor Wagstaff
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Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#44 Post by Professor Wagstaff » Sat Dec 21, 2013 2:00 am

I caught "American Hustle" this afternoon and consider it another winner in David O. Russell's recent run of films. The film took a very long time to gain momentum, something that really surprised me as Russell has excelled at set-ups in the past (his opening of "Three Kings" in particular). The movie depends on a lot of exposition early in the film when it covers Christian Bale and Amy Adams' relationship, a storyline that lumbers throughout much of the film's beginning until Bradley Cooper shows up as the head agent of the sting operation, a volatile and unpredictable con man in his own right, but without the finesse. Cooper really steals the film, along with Jennifer Lawrence and Louis C.K. when they occasionally pop-up. rs98762001's comparison to Atlman didn't occur to me earlier, though it feels apt in retrospect. So many of the highlights of the film are the comic scenes like the discussion of a "science oven" or an unfinished anecdote that do more for character/world building than pushing the plot along. Bale and Adams as the lead con artist duo, strangely enough, act as the moral center of this whole film. All the characters know how to play the angles, but these two have scruples about how and why they con others.

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wigwam
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Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#45 Post by wigwam » Sun Dec 22, 2013 12:09 am

I laughed at some of Jennifer Lawrence's parts but the stuff I was most excited about was the plot and main characters, the schemes and interplay and whatnot, and it was all very underwhelming and flat and scene after scene I just sat there aware of not caring about what was going on. I've liked all of David O. Russell's movies and was really looking forward to this one but it was a bust. Also Jeremy Renner continues to be cinematic antimatter sucking the life out of every frame he is in.

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Luke M
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Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#46 Post by Luke M » Sun Dec 22, 2013 3:02 am

I thought this was actually pretty damn good. After growling through Nolan's Batman flicks, it's nice to be reminded that Bale is an incredibly gifted actor. Hard to single out a single performance as being the best of the four, if I had to, I'd go with Jennifer Lawrence's performance. There's a scene where she's bouncing around her living room while her son looks on singing "Live and Let Die" - it's kinda magical.

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Drucker
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Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#47 Post by Drucker » Sun Dec 22, 2013 10:03 am

Saw this film yesterday and I too thought it was another winner. I loved Silver Linings Playbook as a tale of underdogs just trying to get something right, and I strongly identified with a father-son duo with all the communication problems the two in that movie had. This film doesn't have that, but the feeling of underdogs just trying to do something right in their lives permeates the film.

I thought the beginning was a bit slow, and all of the back-story needed to explain everyone went on a little longer than I would have liked it to, but when the movie got going I was constantly engaged. I think Bale stole the show as a small-time con man who is forced to get in over his head over his own objections.
SpoilerShow
The scenes where Cooper is digging deeper and deeper into the pool of people he can try to bust, Bale's face and expression is perfect. He is just in disbelief, and as Cooper gets more and more amped up, just excited to make some busts and make a name for himself, Bale can't belief he let himself get pulled so deep into a scheme.
Honestly, it didn't hit me until halfway through the movie that Bale and Adams really are the underdog, and once it did, I had someone to root for in the film. One other thing that I loved was that the ending was just more believable and convincing than in Silver Linings Playbook. The ending fit with the rest of the film and was very satisfying, where as in Silver Linings you needed to rely on some less believable storytelling to have the ending fit.

Robert de la Cheyniest
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Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#48 Post by Robert de la Cheyniest » Sun Dec 22, 2013 10:23 am

I guess I'll dissent on this one. I'm lukewarm on Russell and I suspect I might feel differently is this movie wasn't being acclaimed like it was but I really don't get the praise for this one. Some nice performances and scenes with some unbelievably sloppy cutting (why are we constantly tracking in and out of the actors faces, the DeNiro sequence, in which close-ups are arbitrarily smash cut and zoomed in for no other reason than to make it more "intense").

The voice-over, which is a pretty clear example of pasting holes after the fact considering it just explains everything that's going on on screen. Lawrence is good but I may be the only one who was embarrassed by the "Live and Let Die" karaoke scene (though I'm sure this is already a GIF'd list on Buzzfeed). The performances are basically constantly pitched at hysteria (Amy Adams, who is one of my favorite actresses has done much better work elsewhere).

And those music cues, some of which are quite good, and many of which have the awful habit of being so on the nose as to be groan worthy (Steely Dan's "Dirty Work" to show that are in fact doing...dirty work!). I'm inclined to agree with Glenn Kenny's take on it, especially when he invokes Scorsese and The Wolf of Wall Street which I've seen and agree with what he says about it.

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Matt
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Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#49 Post by Matt » Mon Dec 23, 2013 1:46 pm

I'm surprised to see everyone expressing disappointment with the first half-hour or so. I think the development of the relationship between Irving and Sydney is probably the best part of the movie. The Abscam plot is just scaffolding on which to hang a bunch of interesting characters and their interactions, and once I realized I didn't need to pay close attention to every little plot turn in order to enjoy and appreciate the movie, I felt very relieved. I wonder if Eric Singer is as pissed at Russell for changing his script and allowing so much improvisation as Ring Lardner Jr. was at Altman after MASH. And Altman does seem like much more of a touchstone for the film than Scorsese, as has been noted (though Scorsese is clearly a major influence as well). Russell creates this amazing world and lets his characters bounce off one another.

It's a very patient film, unfolding at a leisurely pace, and every single performance is great. Jennifer Lawrence is clearly the most talented actress of her generation, and she gives a spectacular, showy performance. But it's Amy Adams who really impressed me the most (even more so than in The Master), and Christian Bale, who completely disappears into his character. Russell did a very smart thing by focusing the first scene of the movie on Irving's obsession with his hair. It gets the joke of the combover out of the way right away, and then it just becomes another character detail. And speaking of character details, if this movie doesn't win every possible award for costuming, hairstyling, and set design, there is no justice in this world.

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Matt
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Re: American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

#50 Post by Matt » Mon Dec 23, 2013 1:48 pm

Robert de la Cheyniest wrote:why are we constantly tracking in and out of the actors faces
I don't know either, but I loved it. Parametric style.

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