Posts by briskhound2

Richard Wilson4 said:Man, what happened with Renée Zellweger? From the late 90s up through maybe 2005, she was basically in every massive blockbuster out there. How did she just tank in such a short window and then totally vanish from the radar?

It’s kind of like when Josh Hartnett just keeps picking these totally obscure, bottom-of-the-barrel roles...

The movie was a total train wreck. Honestly, I’m not even surprised they dragged it out for as long as they did... it was painful.

briskeagle3 said:I honestly don't get why everyone hypes up Judge Dredd and John Carter so much—both of those movies are just total garbage... like, double the disappointment. On the flip side, Escape Plan was actually great... and if we're talking about those gritty 80s anti-hero flicks, Charles Bronson absolutely destroys them all—he’d eat them up for breakfast and still be hungry for lunch. Still, Arnold Schwarzenegger seems to have that luck where he lands work with top-tier directors, so he definitely has more solid hits than Rambo does.

Look, Carter is definitely a dud, but Judge Dredd is easily one of the best sci-fi action flicks from the last few years. Compared to that Stallone movie, it's practically a masterpiece...

Escape Plan is actually pretty great though...

Nah, it’s just a decent enough flick. Honestly? It's crap. Just cliché after cliché, bad acting, and even worse writing. Luckily, it doesn't take itself seriously, which is the only reason it's fun to watch...

out of all those 80s tough guys... Charles Bronson would eat them all for breakfast and still be hungry for lunch.... though Arnold gets lucky working with top-tier directors, so he ends up with more solid stuff than Rambo...

I’ve always had a soft spot for old-school mrgud, but his movies—with all due respect to Shaky—are mostly just bottom-of-the-barrel B-movies where he isn't really acting and there's barely a script to speak of. Sly, on the other hand, actually tried to branch out, which is why he’s got things like Rocky, Copland, F.I.S.T., and an Oscar in his credits...

Frank Moore4 said:It’s the same old story here in the USA. 🙂 While absolute nonsense like Divergent pulls in massive piles of cash, the mindless masses still don't give Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone the respect they deserve. Just look at the terrible opening for Sabotage, which only pulled in $5.3 million during its first weekend—barely enough to land it in seventh place at the box office.

But hey, let's just hope audiences in other parts of the world carry the film, much like what happened with Escape Plan.

Yeah, a pretty weak start... honestly kind of surprising.

Nah, let's just hope the international crowds pick up the slack, kinda like how things played out with Escape Plan.

I had to go double-check what you were talking about, and now I see the movie actually cleared something like a hundred mil in pure profit... 😁Not bad at all.

Chloe Alvarez said:Like someone once said, it was just missing one little thing to make it a perfect ten.

If they’d stuck a bit closer to the actual facts, it might have landed better.

Otherwise, it's a decent enough flick, but—just like so many others before it—certain details were definitely massaged to make it more "palatable." Disney had the rights to the movie; she wasn't some blackmailer holding them over their heads, nor did he actually sit down and talk to her properly... let alone fly halfway across the country just to offer a sincere apology at her place. And honestly? She absolutely loathed the movie. She was so livid at the premiere—crying from pure rage, mind you, not sentimentality—when she saw that animation sequence. She basically told the whole lot of them where to shove it (there was even talk of a sequel) and banned those writers from ever touching her work again. But, man... if only real life were ever filmed quite like that...

Gary Taylor67 said:Hmm. No. There are plenty of people who have tried heroin and didn't become addicts. There’s clearly some specific factor that makes one person fall into it while another doesn't. Maybe it's genetics? And medicine calls it an addiction disease for a reason... they don't just make that stuff up.

Because you can't exactly become an addict the very first time you try something. Addiction is a process—it comes from repeated use. It's a choice. Unless someone is literally chaining you to a radiator and beating you with bricks, it's on them. I highly doubt anyone was doing that to Hoffman... So, when it comes to drugs, all those celebrities made their own decisions and, hey, that's their prerogative, but we shouldn't be making excuses for them. It's not like he was born with some hereditary heart defect or something where he couldn't help himself...

Carol Myers3 said:briskhound2, come on, just stop it, please. I don't believe a single word of this story about your friend for one second. It feels way too convenient, almost scripted.

Addiction is a brutal, heavy disease. This man fought that battle for over twenty years, and now people are choosing to jump on him? It’s honestly pathetic.

Just go back and look at my old posts if you don't believe me—I was talking about this stuff even three years ago. It's all right there for anyone to see. 😉

Bradley Ramos11 said:Look, the analogy fails here because a predator causes direct harm to others. It’s perfectly justified to be outraged by him.
Jared Padalecki isn't wrong. Throwing your life away over drugs is just heartless and plain stupid.

However, this comment:

He’s clueless. Especially when he goes bold.

What about an addict? They hurt their families, their friends, everyone they know... Sure, superstars have enough cash that they aren't out there stealing things just to survive, but doesn't that still cause massive damage to the people close to them? I honestly think Hoffman's family and kids would say they suffered through it too—and in the end, they’re probably the ones left holding the bag.

Carol Myers3 said:Your analogy is fundamentally flawed.

What it is that you, myself, or anyone else knows is that he battled addiction for over twenty years, that he was a truly talented actor, and that he always presented himself with grace and a smile during interviews. That is the reality we recognize. It is frankly distasteful to see someone disparage a deceased individual in the manner that Padalecki does. I am certainly not disputing that his passing was senseless, but I choose to view him as an actor who, over the last two decades, actually contributed something meaningful to the film industry.

In my estimation, the comparison to a pedophile is completely off base. That is just my opinion. If you find it fitting, then fine.

Honestly, Padalecki knows exactly what he’s doing because he understands he has a devoted fanbase of young girls writing to him and following his every move. Every time someone steps up to moralize or cast stones at another person, they realize he knows how to play that game perfectly.

Not even slightly. I just forgot to mention that, theoretically, our guy hangs himself in a cell.

What we know—what I, you, or anyone else knows—is that he fought addiction for over 20 years, that he was a top-tier actor, and that he was always charming and upbeat in interviews. That’s the reality. And then people start talking trash about a deceased person just like Padalecki is doing. I'm not disputing that he left this world in a stupid way, but I look at him as an actor who actually managed to make something meaningful for the film industry over those last two decades.

Padalecki isn't trashing the actor at all. He just said it was stupid to throw life away for drugs. What’s so dramatic about that statement? Is he making stuff up? Well, like I said, pedophilia is also a disease. Let's say our theoretical subject struggled with that for twenty years too. Do we stay quiet about it, or do we bring it up?

In my opinion, the pedophile analogy is completely off base. That's just how I see it. If it works for you, fine.

Oh, wait—I still haven't gotten an answer to that. I guess the standards would be different then.

Man, Padalecki knows exactly what he's doing because he knows he has those fans out there who adore him, writing to him and all that. And every once in a while, someone comes along to moralize or spit on someone else. He knows how to play that game perfectly.

As someone already pointed out through pure deduction, it seems like Sam Winchester himself bothers you more than what was actually said.

Melissa Sanchez16 said:Of course you wouldn't adore him. I don't admire Hoffman for the kind of man he was. I admire him for his acting. I didn't know him as a person.

It's not about degradation; it's about judging him for his personal choices. But who is he to judge? I doubt he was even close to him. Like you said, he's talking about him as a human being. Honestly, if I actually knew the person, I'd be too embarrassed to write something like that. Who am I to judge?

Based on how you're talking, it sounds like you're from a tiny little town.🙂
I'm not even going to comment on the rest, otherwise I'll just end up insulting myself. Just two things: I really wonder if you'd say that if it happened to someone close to you.
And I'm not a fanboy. I don't admire Hoffman as a man, but as an actor, because that's the only version of him I know. Also, you could probably use a lesson in basic manners and maybe some grammar.😉

This keeps coming up... Yeah, I've been there. A friend of mine took his own life and left behind a wife and two kids. I said it was a stupid, cowardly move, regardless of whatever problems he was facing. And nobody branded me a heretic for saying it. In fact, his own family agreed. It wasn't that we were ignoring his pain or his struggles, but the final takeaway was that it was a cowardly way to escape his problems. Normal people deal with that reality every single day. It's just when actors are involved that everyone suddenly takes this high-and-mighty moral ground.

Carol Myers3 said:What exactly are we supposed to learn from them? I find it quite embarrassing that you’re sitting there moralizing to others, acting like some wannabe star alongside Padalecki. Sure, decorum is important. But while he's busy criticizing, people are forgetting what a brilliant actor he actually was. He left us in a tragic way, and nobody is disputing that, but the way Padalecki and his circle are handling this is frankly ridiculous. They ought to be the ones teaching us a lesson, 🙄heaven knows how bleak the world would be if they did.

Just get a grip and show at least a shred of respect for the deceased. It's as if he was nothing but absolute trash with zero positive impact.

Good article http://www.fishwrapper.com/post/2014...natural-drugs/

The thing is, since we apparently have to spell it out for people like Jared, Philip struggled with an addiction most of his life. Philip wasn't some hasty punk kid who had a little too much fun one time at a party and tragically died because of it. Philip was a smart, talented, 46-year-old man, as well as a father to 3 young children, and to assume that Philip was behaving intentionally recklessly with the lives and hearts of those that had been entrusted to him in his private life is heartless at worst, and moronic at best.

Addiction is a heavy burden, yet here is someone like Padalecki trying to lecture others. Going online to tear apart someone's private life is a low move. I wonder how low someone has to sink to do that, though it isn't surprising given how well he knows how to manage his fanbase and how much they adore him.

In short, Jared, how about this: count the undeserved blessings that have been bestowed upon you, and thank your lucky stars that your children have a father who's going to come home to them tonight. It's called "compassion" -- why not try it out for size?

Hypothetical question here—not about Hoffman specifically—but if someone were some kind of violent predator caught in a horrific situation with a child... but they happened to be a legendary actor... shouldn't we stop trashing them and just celebrate their talent instead? Like, just stay quiet out of pure politeness? If that’s how people think, it’s a pretty interesting way to look at things...

Side note; where exactly is Padalecki dragging or degrading Hoffman? The guy is just stating the plain truth—that as a human being (not as an actor), he threw his life away because of drugs. Honestly, he wasn't the first person to do that, and he certainly won't be the last.

Padalecki was just being real about what a whole lot of people are thinking. By saying it, he kind of sparked this debate where people feel like they're judging Hoffman's talent or who he was as a person based on his drug use. Let's set the record straight—it's not about judging. There are really just two things to look at here: his career and how it ended. And yeah, those two things are tied together. People can try to make excuses all they want, but if someone says he died in a really stupid way, that’s just the truth. Just because he was a famous actor doesn't mean we have to gloss over that. No one is trying to diminish his acting or what he achieved. I mean, did people trash James Dean's legacy because he died in a car crash? No. Did they call him foolish for driving a car way too fast that he could barely control? Well, yeah, because it was a foolish move. I've seen Hoffman in some films that people here haven't even heard of (or at least that's my impression), and he was a great actor. But he left us in a really senseless way. It's just a fact...

Michelle Long6 said:Just a comment that says a lot about both the judgment being passed and the person writing it.

Why?

If we’re going to lump Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin into that category of legends who basically traded their genius for a fix—and yeah, Jim Morrison usually ends up on that list too—or if we call James Dean an idiot who couldn't handle a car, or say drugs turned Elvis Presley into a shell of himself... then I don't see why we can't say Hoffman left us in a way that was just plain, incredibly stupid. Once they find you with a needle in your hand, you're pretty much etched onto that list forever.

Look, I’m not questioning his talent at all—not even a little bit—that stays with him regardless. But saying he went out in a senseless way? Yeah, I'll stand by that. If he'd been thinking clearly, he would've been looking out for his kids... and since even they couldn't keep him clean after 23 years, it feels like he just didn't care. Which is totally fine. We can be honest about that. But let's not pretend to be hypocritical moralists here. If this had been some random nobody on the street, everyone would be saying he finally got what he was looking for.

Jamie Turner80 said:He remains one of those rare actors who carries an undeniable sense of integrity in both his expression and his tone. Every single role he took on was executed with absolute perfection. Personally, I shall remember his performance in A Late Quartet for the rest of my life.

I’m not really going to go overboard with the praise here—I mean, let's be real, he had a few roles that were kind of meh... like *Twister* or *The Getaway*—but hey, we can forgive those since he was just starting out and finding his footing. Even later on, he did *Red Dragon*, which was solid, obviously. He was a top-tier talent, truly... it's just such a shame that it took him passing away for everyone on the forums to actually start talking about him...

Casey Cox2 said:what exactly were you watching?😲

Of course I watched 😁 That's how I know what it's actually like.

Kenneth Taylor80 said:They all fit the action category. I mean, fair enough...

If we’re going by that logic, then a Pokémon movie is an action flick too. We all know how this goes... Trying to compare genre structures just to nitpick their flaws is honestly kind of a silly way to look at it.

Kenneth Taylor80 said:Goodfellas,

Crime

Scarface,

Crime

Heat,

Crime

Where Eagles Dare,

War-adventure

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,

Historical-martial

Kill Bill

Historical-martial Quote: Kill Bill nonsense

The Matrix,

Sci-Fi

Alien,

Horror-Sci-Fi

The Fugitive,

Thriller

Hero,

Historical-martial

Taken,

Do we really need to use our brains for this? Seriously... and 🙄Quote: The Rock
is garbage.

Bullitt...

Crime Quote: Where Eagles Dare

Man, what a question to drop... These are those kinds of topics where you actually have to switch your brain on, you know?

I mean, honestly, looking at the way things are going, I can see why you asked that question—you clearly have no idea what actually makes a solid action movie. If you had just mentioned stuff like Speed, Face / OFF, or Air Force One... then maybe I would’ve even taken you seriously...

Quote: The Rock is just high-budget, mindless, sensationalist garbage... honestly.

And once again... the critics absolutely hate it while the audience eats it up. Go figure...

Casey Cox2 said:Honestly, I think the Carlito remake would probably hit me a lot harder...😍

Man, that’s just how it goes... old school... I'm just kidding... 😁 Technically speaking, it’s not even a remake—it’s more like a prequel... though honestly, once you see how similar the whole setup is, the distinction feels pretty thin. It follows basically the same hook, just with a happy ending instead...

wiredraven82 said:I mean, sure, but when you make a remake that's basically un-remakable...🙂 you kind of have to earn that respect once you actually hit cult status...

Oh, look at that. You know what Carpenter went through when he did his take on The Thing? People hated him more than they hated osama bin Laden 😁 And now? It’s a total classic that everyone swears by. It was pretty much the same deal for Michael Bay when he stepped up to produce the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake—everyone thought it was a disaster until it actually turned out great. Or look at Snyder with Dawn of the Dead; the guy was practically lynched for touching a masterpiece, yet he ended up making something that’s arguably better than the original. Who knows, really... maybe we shouldn't judge things before they even happen.

Kenneth Taylor80 said:The quality of those Bourne films is miles away from Mission: Impossible.

Based on what? That shaky cam stuff? That doesn't make them better—it just makes them almost unwatchable... And honestly, Brian De Palma is a master when it comes to both Liman and Greengrass. Even if John Woo didn't always hit the mark, he’s still a pro when it comes to directing action sequences. The third installment was such an unexpected shift toward a more serious tone, which actually worked out great. As for the fourth one, it's just pure fun.

It's kind of like comparing a deep, thoughtful action flick to some mindless Michael Bay explosion fest.

How is an action movie supposed to be "serious and thoughtful"? I'm genuinely curious about that one... And hey, even Bay directed one of the absolute best action movies of the 90s—Quote: The Rock. From what I can tell, both the fans and the critics seem to love it.

You realize that Scarface is actually just a remake, right?