The Prestige

[The Queen]

Well, now we know the results of Wolverine vs. Batman.

I thought it was a little slow, and I figured out the "big secret" pretty early in the movie and the accents were a little odd at times, but it was still enjoyable. I didn't recognize either David Bowie or Andy Sirkus, just really enjoyed both their performances and discovered it was them later -- that's always kind of cool.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Dammit. I knew I should have posted earlier. Now I don't get to use the Batman vs Wolvering gag.

Slow, but they were trying to tell a story. I know, a very odd concept in today's movie market, especially in the big budget arena. The whole picture was very well crafted, so well , you don't even think about until it's over. Although they did spend a fortune on . . . I won't spoil it.

It's funny that they gave Christain Bale's character the name of Alfred. I'm thinkin they should have called Michael Caine, Bruce. Then it really would have been funny.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I'm posting this here because I want to.

Both the Illusionist and the Prestige came out about the same time. They both dealt with magicians around the turn of the century. Both filmmakers wanted to be magicians and use the film as grand tricks to fool the audience. In both cases, that didn't happen.

Edward Norton is the titular Illusionist know as Eisenheim. He loved Jessica Biel but they could never be together becuase he was the son of a furninture maker and she was a countess. Society would tear them apart but they were destined to be together. Blah. Blah. Blah

Edward Norton used his consumate acting skills, showing a range of Emotion from A to A. Jessica Biel was the eye candy. Paul Giamatti was his twitchy whiny self.

My biggest complaint is they used CGI for all the illusions. I guess Norton didn't have time to learn the tricks or they thought would look better if the computer did them. Well, the computer did a poor job. At least in the Prestige, some effort was taken to make the actors look like real magicians. Not so much in the Illusionist.

The story was drivel. The Countess doesn't want to be a princess. She wants to stay with Eisenheim. He has to come up with a way to make it so. Spoiler*** They frame a guy for the countess's murder and he kills himself. At the end of the day, you have to feel good about that plan.

It's up for a cinematography oscar. This means that if you have a sepia filter for your camera, you can be nominated, too.

[King Bob]

Well I finally saw The Prestige and did enjoy it, BUT...

the idea that each magician would pick the other out of the audience as a volunteer was completely absurd and utterly unbelievable. Particularly since they only used beards as disguises!

[Drunk Monk]

I just now realized that there were two different films.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

There is magic in the world.

[El Dingo]

I thought I had seen this but I too had seen 'The Illusionist'.

I really liked the gritty feel of 'The Prestige'. It was dirty and bloody and had Tesla in it.

BTW in those days it was fairly standard practice to have 'plants' in the audience who check ropes and cages and such. Most theaters were lit by candles and you could get away with crappy disguises.

The Prestige message boards on IMDB have some great debates on the ethics of 'Transporting'. Probably the same people that debate the same thing on 'Star trek' boards but it's nice to see applied critical thinking when talking movies.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I see that I wrote a review for the Illusionist but for the life of me I can't remember anything about it. Although I can remember The Prestige.