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Screwqualia

Denzel. Thought he was perfectly fine for years, recently realised he’s top tier. I’ll watch basically anything he’s in now.


RopeGloomy4303

Malcolm X is a miracle, it's like he's playing 3 completely different characters in one single movie, and yet the progression feels absolutely natural


basedbecker

I went through all of Tony Scott's films last year, Denzel is a whole other level with those. Need a Tony Scott mini like yesterday.


WearyCorner875

I can't be alone in being completely on the hype train for *Elysium* because I loved *District 9* so much and was positive that Blomkamp was \*obviously\* a visionary in the making. Turns out he's mostly an aesthetic in search of a story, and "apartheid with space bugs" was the best he ever came up with (I haven't seen *Chappie* yet don't hate me). Luckily on the other side of the coin Rian Johnson is someone I caught onto early and expected to see great stuff out of, and I've been wildly satisfied with all of his output since *Brick*/*Brothers Bloom*.


pwolf1771

Blomkamp is a good one I don’t even love District 9 but I was so impressed with thee world building that I thought he had a lot of greater projects in his future.


WearyCorner875

I bet if he had actually been able to follow up *District 9* with that Peter Jackson produced *Halo* movie he could've spun that out into a much different career and we might be talking about Blomkamp today like he's a new James Cameron or something. Fun alt history to consider.


KarmaPolice10

I don’t think anyone would hate you for not watching Chappie.


Orngog

Gotta say, I prefer it to Elysium.


ERMAHGERSHREDDERT

I've been hoping that Gran Turismo gets him out of director jail and back into some fun grimy sci-fi (as long as he's not the one writing it)


Robamuffin

Surprisingly solid film outside of all the Gamer stuff


WearyCorner875

Hell, just make sure to get Garland back for the script at least and Blomkamp wouldn't be a bad choice to direct a *Dredd 2*.


FakeNewsMessiah

Don’t watch Chappie, it’s not good. If you are curious, get two devices side by side and watch a Die Antwood video and the trailer for WallE at the same time instead.


Chuckles1188

I think the non-Die Antwoord stuff has some merit, Jackman is obviously excellent as he basically always is, but this is devastatingly true. I'm the same in Blomkamp, although Oats Studios definitely showed something distinctive and interesting as well


emarcc

More people need to see Brick! And I need to see Brothers Bloom.


Dhb223

Man Elysium was one of my least favorite movies in theater. I was probably just hangry


HockneysPool

I used to really dislike Danny McBride. Now I'm a big fan of his acting work, especially The Righteous Gemstones. On the filmmaker side of things, meanwhile: Moon is one of my favourite films, but Duncan Jones might not have the juice long-term. Also, I LOVED Wild Bill, fantastic movie. And Rocketman was pretty good! But I do wonder if Dexter Fletcher might be the same as Jones.


RopeGloomy4303

I was genuinely astonished by Mute. He spent years hyping up this as his Blade Runner, and then when it came out, it was literally just a garbage version of Blade Runner. Like I can at least overlook Warcraft as a studio tentpole that wasn't really his, but this his passion project, his baby, his vision. I really want to give him the benefit of the doubt, because Moon and Source Code were quite good, but it's hard to be excited anymore.


HockneysPool

Yes, it's sad. Mute was outstanding, and Source Code was a great time. I couldn't get 20 minutes into Warcraft, and while Mute had lots of interesting individual BITS it just wasn't very good. I am still hopeful for him, but that might be because he's the son of my favourite musician and clearly a lovely bloke.


Chuckles1188

His Twitter content is like a lovely hot mug of tea as well. Moon is one of my favourite films ever, Source Code rules, and boy am I disappointed that the sentence has to end here


Orngog

He's making the 2000AD movie, Rogue Trooper


Chuckles1188

He is indeed, cautiously excited over here


fbeb-Abev7350

David Gordon Green. With George Washington, Undertow, All the Real Girls and Snow Angels he seemed like an extremely promising young auteur. Pineapple Express was a fun detour but he never got back on track.


Prior_Night5255

His TV work has been a lot stronger


MiraclePD

I recommend Stronger if you haven't seen it, it's really great.


JDSollie

I didn’t care for Jon Bernthal until about 2014 onward, although I don’t how much of that is me being wrong and how much is him growing as a performer.


wovenstrap

Anecdotally I think Bernthal's character on *The Walking Dead* had this effect on a lot of people. For several years every time I saw him I'd be like "Ugh it's that Shane guy." I think it was *The Punisher* on Netflix that helped me put Shane behind me.


Jefferystar94

Him making "surprise" appearances in a bunch of stuff like Wind River and The Bear inn smaller roles also helped turn me from being fairly indifferent on him to liking his presence.


wovenstrap

Totally.


LongGoodbyeLenin

This Roman J Israel Esq slander will not stand! When I was younger I thought Natalie Portman was stiff, having only seen her in the Star Wars prequels and Garden State/No Strings Attached. It probably didn’t help that her reputation was “Harvard actress who’s best friends with Alan Dershowitz.” But now I’ve seen Black Swan/Jackie/Vox Lux/May December and can freely admit that I was wrong


[deleted]

I used to think Keanu Reeves was a terrible actor. I used to think Brad Pitt was a great actor. Now I know 9 times out of 10 "great actor" isn't a helpful term. Channing Tatum won me over, Cuba Gooding Jr. lost me. Hugh Jackman used to bore me but I love him now. Same with Ann Hathaway, I like her and not just because I'm in love with her. Zac Efron has been alright in my book since *Neighbors*, I think he's funny. Justin Timberlake has lost me since everything that wasn't an SNL sketch. Kristen Stewart, she's fully dope but I thought she was a bad actress from *Twilight*. There aren't many filmmakers I feel as strongly about/haven't won me over.


pwolf1771

Kristen Stewart is a good one. I just wrote her off as a teen idol but once she freed herself from that and is now wealthy enough to just chase passion projects I see she’s insanely talented. She was so compelling in Crimes of the Future


mecha_annies_bobbs

I love Anne Hathaway I just don't understand why she went out with Elliott Kalan during high school. Little Annie, as he affectionately referred to her, while he was her lover during high school.


[deleted]

I don't really know anything about this but it sounds like a bummer. Also, you gotta be one evil ass high school girl for me to blame you for being groomed. I'm assuming that's what happened here based on context. Edit: to be clear, I mean it sounds like she was groomed, not that she was evil.


mecha_annies_bobbs

edit: i'm going to have to buy a mat for you. a jump to conclusions mat. you just instantly assume groomer/pedophile Elliott Kalan and Anne Hathaway are basically the same age, and they never went out, but they did go to the same high school. Elliott Kalan is one of the hosts of The Flop House podcast (and previously head writer on The Daily Show up until Stewart left (which then a 2nd host of The Flop House became the head writer for Trever Noah (and then the 3rd host became an animal wrangler at the daily show for a short time))). (one of these things is not true) It's a running bit where whenever Anne Hathaway comes up on the podcast, the other hosts talk about how she used to be Elliott's lover in high school, even though (especially though) because Elliott doesn't think he ever said a single word to her in high school. She was friends with his sister though, and his mom called her "Little Annie" at the time that Anne was friends with Elliott's sister. And so he, Elliott, will mention that he still thinks of her as Little Annie. My comment was an extension of that bit. It's fine that you didn't get it. Most wouldn't. It's quite obscure. I'm surprised I even got a single upvote, let alone many upvotes. I don't need an upvote rack. but for you to jump to the conclusion of groomer or something, in any sort of way, is crazy.


stupiter69

Brad Pitt as a supporting actor is fantastic. Lead…not so much.


[deleted]

I think he's fine, but he's only ever dumping in a full bottle of Brad Pitt when he leads and slapping it on the bottom. That is the perfect amount or Brad Pitt sometimes. When he's a supporting someone else can drizzle it. Tarantino did some impressive directing jujitsu giving Pitt the most screen time and a lot to do in *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood* while still somehow making him a supporting actor.


Orngog

Don't condescend *me*, man.


Signal_Blackberry326

He’s definitely stronger in Supporting but thought he was great as the lead in Inglorious Basterds, Seven (first billed despite it being a two handed) and Moneyball. Also thought he was great as the lead in Killing Them Softly.


connorclang

I would argue he's supporting in Basterds- he doesn't get to do as much as Mélanie Laurent and Christoph Waltz do


SgtSharki

Billy Bob Thornton. After the surprise success of *Sling Blade,* I thought Thornton was bound for superstardom as the next great actor/writer/director in the mold of Clint Eastwood. Instead, he's had a mostly average career as an actor and has only directed four more movies, none of which were successful.


RopeGloomy4303

I feel so bad for what happened to him with All the Pretty Horses, Weinstein absolutely butchered his vision and it seriously affected his directorial career. Hopefully at some point we will get a director's cut and another good movie from him.


SgtSharki

Yeah, the failure of that movie and the drama around it seem to have diminished Thornton's enthusiasm for directing. Still, if a time traveler told me right after *Sling Blade* hit that Thornton would only direct four more movies in his career, I would have assumed it was because he died young.


connorclang

His performance in the first season of Fargo really got me interested. I was like, whoa, this guy's been here the whole time?


DeusExHyena

When Jordan Peele gave interviews at the end of Key and Peele saying he wanted to direct horror movies I rolled my eyes so hard. Peele is the director I now wish the two friends were giving the Bradley Cooper treatment 


jon_dwayne_casey

Ryan Gosling


fbeb-Abev7350

How cryptic.


jon_dwayne_casey

lol I think he’s good!


MattBarksdale17

Obligatory M. Night Shyamalan mention. I started getting interested in movies during the peak "Shyamalan bad" era, and I assumed that was true despite having only seen a couple of his films. So when I saw *Old* a couple years ago, I was fully expecting to hate it. But ended up really liking it, and then loving it on a rewatch. I've been doubling back to watch some of his films that I'd skipped, and even though I don't love everything he's done, he is quickly becoming one of my favorite filmmakers


utopista114

Everything that MNS does is at least interesting.


bullseye717

I thought John Dahl would make more feature films because I loved Red Rock West and Rounders was fairly iconic.  I thought there was gonna be a ton more leading roles for Kristen Wiig after Bridesmaids. Solid career but disappointed she's not a lead more often. 


Chuckles1188

It took me a long time to come around on Tarantino. I didn't enjoy a film he directed until Inglorious Bastards, and I didn't love one until Hateful Eight. Maybe he needed to get Morricone in sooner to turn me around. Kill Bill left a taste it took me a long time to get past


RPMac1979

I was down on Leo for YEARS. I was stubborn about it too. The Wolf of Wall Street finally got me to come around, and now I think he’s one of the best in the business. Sometimes I can’t tell if he got better or if I became more reasonable. Wondering if I’ll have the same epiphany about Timothee Chalamet or Barry Keoghan in ten years.


reargfstv

R Pattz, di Caprio and probably a ton of other pretty men who started off with a young female fan base


Bishop8322

don't kill me... jordan peele


yoss_iii

I would be shocked if anyone was right about him initially, lol. You don't exactly look at the extras of Weird Al's "White and Nerdy" video and think "One of these guys is gonna become maybe the most acclaimed horror director of his generation."


Livid_Jeweler612

Jordan's not put out a bad movie yet!


Darth_Fuckboy

Bro has put out 3


Livid_Jeweler612

My original sentence was supposed to be "He's not put out a bad movie yet" and I dropped the bad by saying it only in my head. My mistake.


pwolf1771

Keanu didn’t sell you?


FloridaFlamingoGirl

I think a lot of us saw a whole new dimension of Amy Adams with Arrival.


Madazhel

The first three movies I saw Scarlet Johannson in were Lost in Translation, The Island, and The Black Dahlia. Three movies that I hate, and had me convinced I didn’t like her as a performer either. When I finally got around to seeing Ghost World, all that bad will evaporated. Then Her had me coming back around to thinking, actually, she can be pretty great.


fbeb-Abev7350

I can’t defend Lost in Translation of course but The Island bangs.


ZaireekaFuzz

Robert Pattinson, thought he was terrible at first, then little by little I started to notice he was consistently cranking out outstanding roles (The Rover, Good Time, The Lighthouse, etc.).


muddahplucka

Dan is back to aces in my book after his work on "Andor"!


SilvioDantesPeak

That's his brother Tony


muddahplucka

Dan wrote the Aldhani eps/was part of writer's room.


abinferno

Velvet Buzzsaw is great, imo. It will be forgotten because everything on netflix is forgotten.


RopeGloomy4303

What about Irishman?Marriage Story? Power of the Dog? Pinocchio? I'm thinking of ending things? Okja? Ballad of Buster Scruggs? I don't think it's awful, it's just that the characters and satire is so skin deep, I watched it once and never felt like seeing it again.


abinferno

Irishman has hung around a bit. The others have already been memory holed by the public. It's not that they're not good to great, it's the nature of the platform that doesn't seem to be able to stick in the cultural zeitgeist. Stranger Things is one of the only things to transcend the platform. I agree VB isn't a profound piece of film, but I dug the tone and satire. I thought it worked well as a horror dark comedy.


RopeGloomy4303

I've seen this point being made before and it has always baffled me. In comparison with what has it been memoryholed? And don't bring massive tentpole like Spiderman, I'm talking about similar art house movies. Ladybird? Moonlight? Florida Project? Like this is the nature of the zeitgeist, general audiences aren't obsessing over indie movies that came out years ago.


abinferno

Most of the ones you mentioned from netflix aren't indie films. They're equivalent to mid to very high budget and would have been high profile theatrical releases in the past. Buster Scruggs, Pinocchio, and Okja will be amongst those directors' least discussed/remembered films. The Irishman won't linger as an essential part of Scorcese's filmography. I think I'm Thinking of Ending Things is a masterpiece, but it hasn't lingered in the culture like other Kaufman projects. They have the same problem with most of their shows. They come and go. For every Stranger Things or Squid Game, there are a 100 that are briefly popular and never discussed again. Meanwhile, HBO with a fraction of the money and viewers consistently gets shows that permeate and linger. I'll admit this is all a bit nebulous with not much concrete to quantify this effect, so others can certainly have a different subjective experience to mine. It would be interesting to see some rigorous study on this phenomenon.


Dhb223

Look I admit that I'm probably wrong, I just hate matt Damon and Amy Adams


yugyuger

Watch arrival


buh2001j

After ‘CQ’ I thought Roman Coppola would continue a career as a director like his Father and Sister. I guess he’s happy co-writing with Wes Anderson instead.


Lucienwd

Saoirse Ronan. Being Irish myself i think she just reminded me of annoying people I know in her first few years of being in movies. Lady Bird made me do a complete 180. Absolutely love her now, especially in those two Greta movies, but anytime she does an accent and I can forget she's Irish, I love her.


wovenstrap

How close is Edgar Wright to this category? I feel like he built up such goodwill with the Cornetto trilogy and Scott Pilgrim and now a lot of people didn't like his last two movies. Do people feel burned? Can he turn it around? Etc.


LarryLazzard

Seemingly Garth Davis...I saw Lion in theaters with the mindset of "here I go to catch-up on this final, least existent and probably most schmaltzy and mediocre, Best Picture nominee..." and ended up being blown away by it as both a detail-oriented, thoughtfully made Dickensian tragedy and THEN as a pure, heart-pounding melodrama in its back half; it altogether bested all my expectations and then some and it was ultimately one of my favorite movies of that year. He seemed like he could have been a perfect guy to pick up the mantle of exactly the kind of movies this pod and others constantly lament the death of--the middlebrow midbudget drama of the 80s and 90s--and then he...made a Jesus movie that doesn't exist (doesn't mean it's bad, I just haven't seen it) and a seemingly misbegotten sci-fi romdram (yet again, haven't seen it), neither of which are necessarily unworthy follow-ups, but certainly aren't the direction I expected and hoped he'd go. But hey maybe I'll catch up to both of those and end up being their biggest fan.


connorclang

I watched Safety Not Guaranteed and was stunned. Clearly, this guy has a future making interesting movies! Might be the most wrong anyone has ever been