American Gangster

[sadora]

Originally Posted by fotze

I am probably the only person in the world that is not a fan of Denzel Washington.

Well then I guess I'm the second because the guy is overrated. The only time he's really stretched as an actor was in Training Day.

[J pold]

My bet is that is doesn’t do that well I remember how pumped everyone was when “Inside Man” was coming out, but it was a rather mediocre movie

On an off topic note, what is with these crime/gangster movies that are coming having awful titles?

“American Gangster”
“Gone Baby Gone”
And by far the worst
“We own the Night”

[The Unabomber]

Originally Posted by J pold

My bet is that is doesn’t do that well I remember how pumped everyone was when “Inside Man” was coming out, but it was a rather mediocre movie

On an off topic note, what is with these crime/gangster movies that are coming having awful titles?

“American Gangster”
“Gone Baby Gone”
And by far the worst
“We own the Night”

I thought the trailer for We Own The Night looked great, kind of similar to the Departed which was a great movie.

[J pold]

Originally Posted by The Unabomber

I thought the trailer for We Own The Night looked great, kind of similar to the Departed which was a great movie.

The book is still out on the movie...it's just the title that bothers me

"We own the Night"

Lame.

[burnin_vernon]

Originally Posted by VANFLAMESFAN

I really hate this argument, how has his role been the same in 50 movies??

I didn't say his roles were the same; I said he played them the same. He plays every character with the same intensity, charisma, emotion; hell, even the same intonations in his voice reguardless of the role. He shows very little diversity in character portrayal. He is not the only actor guilty of this , obviously, but is a top ten-er in those that cash in on being so overrated.

[Juventus3]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Maybe you are thinking of Will Smith. He plays the same role in almost every movie. His character is always a renegade (typically a cop or ex cop) that plays by his owns rules, has a troubled past, cool calm and collected, ladies man, and is out to prove someone wrong.

Really?

Fresh Prince = Pursuit of Happyness?

Bagger Vance = Wild Wild West?

Bad boys = men in black?

iRobot = Hitch?

I think not.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Juventus3

Really?

Fresh Prince = Pursuit of Happyness?

Bagger Vance = Wild Wild West?

Bad boys = men in black?

iRobot = Hitch?

I think not.

What's all this? I said "almost every movie." Not "comparing arbitrary Will Smith movies with each other..." Fresh Prince is a television show by the way.

Fine, let's break it down.

Renegade cop that plays by this own rules:
Bad Boys
Independence Day
Men in Black
Wild Wild West
Men in Black II
Bad Boys II
I, Robot

Troubled Past:
Bad Boys
Independence Day
Men in Black
Enemy of the State
Wild Wild West
Bagger Cance
Ali
Men in Black II
Bad Boys II
I, Robot
Hitch
Pursuit of Happyness

Calm cool and collected:
Every movie.

Ladies man:
You guessed it, every movie.

Prove someone wrong.
Guess he doesn't do that in any of them...oh wait, no, all of them. I didn't bother going through every list, but you get the idea. I never said he was a good or bad actor or that Fresh Prince is the same as the Pursuit of Happiness, but that most of his roles are very similar.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by VANFLAMESFAN

I really hate this argument, how has his role been the same in 50 movies?? How is role in Malcolm X and similar to the one in Crimson Tide? how is He Got Game and man on Fire similar??? How is Manchurian Candidate and Glory similar?? How is Virtusoity and The Hurricane similar?? This argument holds zero merit whatsoever, Denzel has done quite the selection of challenging roles and he delivers each performance differently. Sometimes, he alone cant save a movie, John Q comes to mind, that was dreadful. But you can't tell me that he plays each role the same way and if you do, gimme examples, otherwise your above post makes no sense.

I think for a while Denzel was type cast as the dreamy intelligent good guy, which resulted in a lot of his movies having similar roles. That being said, the hollywood execs (and maybe a little himself) were just cashing in and that has little to do w/ his talent as an actor. I think Denzel has (especially lately) done a wide range of roles, and are people in this thread actually comparing him to Will Smith? Wicky Wild Wild West? Really?

[Juventus3]

Originally Posted by Burninator

What's all this? I said "almost every movie." Not "comparing arbitrary Will Smith movies with each other..." Fresh Prince is a television show by the way.

Fine, let's break it down.

Renegade cop that plays by this own rules:
Bad Boys
Independence Day
Men in Black
Wild Wild West
Men in Black II
Bad Boys II
I, Robot

Troubled Past:
Bad Boys
Independence Day
Men in Black
Enemy of the State
Wild Wild West
Bagger Cance
Ali
Men in Black II
Bad Boys II
I, Robot
Hitch
Pursuit of Happyness

Calm cool and collected:
Every movie.

Ladies man:
You guessed it, every movie.

Prove someone wrong.
Guess he doesn't do that in any of them...oh wait, no, all of them. I didn't bother going through every list, but you get the idea. I never said he was a good or bad actor or that Fresh Prince is the same as the Pursuit of Happiness, but that most of his roles are very similar.

I guess our understanding of movies differs.

[return to the red]

so anybody seen this movie yet, I'm going this afternoon

[Incinerator]

Saw it on opening day, Denzel is still as badass as he always was, no disappointments here.

[rockstar]

Denzel pisses me off. I liked him in Man on Fire, but haven't liked any of his other movies.

Inside Man was awful, as was Training Day. I know I'm in the minority but I thought Training Day was one of the worst movies I've ever seen, and was shocked that he got an Oscar for it. Blech.

[FlamingLonghorn]

For anyone who doubts how good Denzel is go to the library and rent a video of Malcolm X speaking than go rent the movie Malcolm X... Denzel was phenomenal in that role and got screwed by the academy for Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman which by the way is not a very good movie...

[return to the red]

thought American Gangster was well done and both my wife and myself really enjoyed it

[Temporary_User]

Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Will Ferrell: most actors are basically the same in every movie they do. Of course they play different types of characters, but in the end their demeanor is essentially the same. Very few change from character to character. Johnny Depp is a great example of an actor that is drastically different from movie to movie (and there is really only one Johnny depp movie that I really like).
If you like the actors demeanor then to you they are a great actor. I used to like Will Smith, however lately I grew tired of him.
Denzel, I'm neutral on. I saw American Gangster, I didn't really think it was that great. The preview certainly makes it seem like it will be a good movie though.

[feartheflames]

ok i dont care what anyone says... In pursuit of happyness... Will Smith was brilliant- he played that perfectly

[feartheflames]

Originally Posted by Temporary_User

Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Will Ferrell: most actors are basically the same in every movie they do. Of course they play different types of characters, but in the end their demeanor is essentially the same. Very few change from character to character. Johnny Depp is a great example of an actor that is drastically different from movie to movie (and there is really only one Johnny depp movie that I really like).
If you like the actors demeanor then to you they are a great actor. I used to like Will Smith, however lately I grew tired of him.
Denzel, I'm neutral on. I saw American Gangster, I didn't really think it was that great. The preview certainly makes it seem like it will be a good movie though.

He is probably one of the only people i have seen that has been capable of doing that, every movie, he talks/acts/walks differently... and manages to do so realistically-just brilliant

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Saw it this weekend, thought it was great, Denzel was great, Crowe was solid. I liked the fact that the two didn't have a scene together for the first two and a half hours, it made the scene at the end that much more special.

8 out of 10.

[Flames89]

Character actors vs Leading Men

[return to the red]

In case anybody is interested, a little Bio on Frank Lucas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lucas_(drug_lord)