The Prestige

[embrassezla]

I am SO geeked for this. Christopher Nolan is my favorite director, and Christian Bale one of my favorite actors. I'm gonna skip the crowd tonight, and catch an early show tomorrow. Can't wait!

[WorkInProgress]

Superexcited. Maybe not this weekend, though.

[embrassezla]

I dont see too much in the theatre (netflix junkie), but Christian Bale/Christopher Nolan are exceptions separately, let alone together!

There's a 10am tomorrow morning. Talk about avoiding crowds!

[Kitty]

Wow, I'm out of it..I haven't even heard of this move. I still need to see The Departed.

[meatwad]

Batman vs. Wolverine!

[wordsmith]

I've been wanting to see The Prestige since the earliest trailers. I like Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale, too.

I did see The Departed last weekend. I liked it lots.

[WorkInProgress]

Batman vs. Wolverine!
I have been saying that for weeks.

[wordsmith]

Batman vs. Wolverine!

This is a movie?

[WorkInProgress]

This is a movie?

No, although I would go see that. Batman (Christian Bale) vs Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). It's like a parallel universe where they are 19th century magicians!

EDIT: I swear I'm a normal-ish grown up woman. Really.

[wordsmith]

Hah, got it now. I'm so beyond NOT, NOT, NOT a comic girl.

[WorkInProgress]

Hah, got it now. I'm so beyond NOT, NOT, NOT a comic girl.

See here's the thing. I like the movies, but I personally have no use for comic books. It's weird, I know, but kinda the way things are.

[dengeist]

It looks good, I'm going to see it tonight. Then we can discuss!!!

[meatwad]

I have been saying that for weeks.

I'm in love. I mean...uh... :huge:

[Umbra]

I saw it today; it's a great movie. :)

[Nelzie]

I can't wait to see this! It looks really good.

[dengeist]

It was good!!! David Bowie as Tesla!!!

Never mess with a man's daughter.

[ebruening]

I loved it. I consider it one of the best movies I've seen this year. I highly recommend it.

[meatwad]

It was good!!! David Bowie as Tesla!!!

Never mess with a man's daughter.

I thought David Bowie was the Soverign of the Guild of Calamatous Intent?

[embrassezla]

One of my favorite movies of all time. Completely brilliant. I was speechless - SPEECHLESS! For an hour afterward. My SO dragged me around the mall while he tried on clothes and I was distracted the entire time. I can't wait to buy this. I don't even know what to say.

[WorkInProgress]

I really like it as well. More than made up for my previous night's bad movie experience. I must see it again, to catch what I missed.

[weary]

i saw it this weekend too. O. M. G!!!! ssssooooooooo good! i totally have to see it again to pick up all the clues that were there!

i don't want to ruin it for anyone so i'll be kind of general...but did anyone who saw it kind of think that was the case after the trick (THE trick, that triggered the obsession) was done? it crossed my mind, but then left and at the end i was just like, OH WOW!

[embrassezla]

I must see it again, to catch what I missed.
I know, right? SO much! Okay, spoiler time:

So, I totally missed this, but my SO caught it. Angiers is American, right. But Lord Craptastic (can't remember the name exactly) was British (or something). In the very end, when Angiers/Lord Crap is dying, he's speaking with no accent (American). So which is the fake, Angiers or Lord Crap? I thought that Angiers was always Lord Crap, which is how he was able to finance Tesla, but just kept that identity a secret (did his wife know he was rich?). But in the end, if he's not speaking with the accent, then I suppose that Lord Crap was the fake. In that case, where did the giant house & all the money come from?

[WorkInProgress]

i don't want to ruin it for anyone so i'll be kind of general...but did anyone who saw it kind of think that was the case after the trick (THE trick, that triggered the obsession) was done? it crossed my mind, but then left and at the end i was just like, OH WOW!

Yeah. I thought about it briefly, and then dismissed it more and more as the longer the movie wore on. The more I think about this movie, the more I like it.

[embrassezla]

idid anyone who saw it kind of think that was the case after the trick (THE trick, that triggered the obsession) was done?
Response:

The only (ONLY) thing that disappointed me was that I figured out that that dude was Bale's double pretty early on. The ONLY reason I figured that out was the conversation they had where he had to take his daughter to the zoo, & he said "Can you take her?". Once they revealed that Tesla's machine creates a copy, it was pretty easy to figure out what Angiers was doing. So kinda predictable, but too good a story to care.

[weary]

It was good!!! David Bowie as Tesla!!!

THAT was david bowie? how on earth did i miss that?
i guess i'm just stuck w/ bowie in my mind in tights and big hair (labrynth), so i didn't recognize him. :0
i'm SO going to buy this movie when it comes out on DVD.

[weary]

I know, right? SO much! Okay, spoiler time:

So, I totally missed this, but my SO caught it. Angiers is American, right. But Lord Craptastic (can't remember the name exactly) was British (or something). In the very end, when Angiers/Lord Crap is dying, he's speaking with no accent (American). So which is the fake, Angiers or Lord Crap? I thought that Angiers was always Lord Crap, which is how he was able to finance Tesla, but just kept that identity a secret (did his wife know he was rich?). But in the end, if he's not speaking with the accent, then I suppose that Lord Crap was the fake. In that case, where did the giant house & all the money come from?

spoiler response:

i think that lord crap (i can't remember his name either) was real/angiers was always lord crap and that his wife knew he was rich. remember the line about how she didn't like that he had to change his name [when she suggested the great danton or whatever] and he replied that he didn'tw want to embarras his family with his magic/theatrics? i think that was b/c he came from $$ and what he was doing (magic) was looked down upon.

[WorkInProgress]

More spoiler stuff: The drowned wife knew about Lord Crap (but we as an audience never heard the name). Angiers mentioned it in the beginning...after he was demonstrating the fishbowl trick. Perhaps he'd been leading his "double life" long enough to remember which accent went with which person. And the zoo business is when I first thought about the double stuff, but I dismissed it, which was probably the way it was supposed to work.

[weary]

[more spoiler]

yeah, there was just something about the way he asked him to take the girl to the zoo. something...
did anyone else think that angier's wife and scarlet johansson looked too much alike?
and, who's daughter was it, really? any clues that said for sure?

[embrassezla]

booyah:

YES the convo with his wife about embarassing his family! Brilliant.

I just assumed it was the twin that loved Sara that fathered the child (which I guess was the "original" and not the "double". I guess they only got it on when it was "a day that he loved her", ya know?

[WorkInProgress]

[more spoiler]
I am so sick and damn tired of Scarlett Johansen (sp?). But anyway, I think they only kinda looked alike, the way pretty, thin, blonde women with nice bone structure usually look similar.

I think that the kid is the one from the end...who was in love with her mother. But I think that mostly because that's what I want to believe. We didn't really know, one way or the other. I'd like to think that the one in love with (and married to?) the girl's mother was the one with her, and that the one in love with Scarlett Johansen's character was the only one dallying with her. But, since they presto-change-oed so much, who knows for sure?

And, also, does anyone recall ever seeing the "other guy" in the movie before Alfred got famous to begin with? I don't...because I recall thinking something along the lines of "huh, so he's got his own ingeneur now too." But I may have missed something in the beginning.

[embrassezla]

WIP,
WIP:And, also, does anyone recall ever seeing the "other guy" in the movie before Alfred got famous to begin with?

No, but I wouldn't be surprised if upon closer inspection, he appears in the crowd scenes when the early Alfred is giving performances & helping out at the larger shows. And, in fact, I suppose we never know which Alfred we are looking at. Perhaps that's why he insists he doesn't know which knot he tied - maybe the "other" Alfred showed up at Angiers' wife's funeral?

[WorkInProgress]

embrassezla, that's pretty much what I was thinking.

[weary]

oooooooohhh yes!

"how could he not remember!!!" (angier)
b/c it wasn't him. not the first him anyway. :rolleyes:

[weary]

it's pretty funny how much white space this thread it.

good stuff though. :razz:

[WorkInProgress]

it's pretty funny how much white space this thread it.

good stuff though. :razz:

It was like that on the X3 thread too. I figure it's a nice way for those of us who want to discuss to be able to do so without ruining anyone else's surprise. Win-win.

[embrassezla]

more praise for CN (w/ spoiler):

How brilliant is he, seriously? God, I'm flummoxed. The scene where the two Alfreds see each other for the last time, SO moving. My favorite bit of direction (editing, specifically) was when the doomed Alfred is about to be hanged, and they ask for any last words, and after a LONG pause, he says "Abracadabra". I got chills writing that just now! I think they may have cut off the last syllable of that word, and cut to whatever Angiers was doing, with a loud "thud" sound effect. Holy god, one of my favorite movie moments ever.

I'm SO glad this movie had a Memento feel to it (anachronisms, careful observation, multiple viewings). Memento is the best movie made of all time, IMHO. Completely flawless.

[Xander]

It's weird seeing you guys so excited about this movie. I thought it was worthwhile, but too predictable and 40 minutes too long.

[dengeist]

Best movie of the year!!!

David Bowie as Tesla!!!

I also loved the sooper sekrit spoilers you guys wrote. Maybe I'm wrong, but I always felt more for Borden than I did for Angier the whole time.

[WorkInProgress]

It's weird seeing you guys so excited about this movie. I thought it was worthwhile, but too predictable and 40 minutes too long.
Meh, to each his own.

[shadeofgreen]

It's weird seeing you guys so excited about this movie. I thought it was worthwhile, but too predictable and 40 minutes too long.
You're not alone on this. Reading the discussion here makes me see that there was a lot to it, which is cool. But I definitely don't see myself exchanging another two hours of my life to go back and watch it again to catch the clues.

[embrassezla]

I definitely don't see myself exchanging another two hours of my life to go back and watch it again to catch the clues.
Yeah, it's a type of movie for a specific type of moviegoer. I LOVE complex, anachronistic movies like this, but I am well aware of being in the minority on that one. I've recommended movies like Donnie Darko and Memento to my friends/family, and they are never into it. I've since stoppped making recommendations :)

[WorkInProgress]

Yeah, it's a type of movie for a specific type of moviegoer. I LOVE complex, anachronistic movies like this, but I am well aware of being in the minority on that one. I've recommended movies like Donnie Darko and Memento to my friends/family, and they are never into it. I've since stoppped making recommendations :)
Yeah, we're very niche. :huge:

It's why talking about stuff like this on the messageboard is so great. I can get all of that talking stuff done without having to bother people who don't care.

[embrassezla]

I'm am very lucky to live with someone who has the same taste in movies as I do. We talk endlessly about this stuff - last night he was talking about how Darren Aranofsky used sped-up video of yeast growing under a microscope to create the effects in the preview for The Fountain. It's those moments that make me realize how nerdy we really are :)

[WorkInProgress]

I'm am very lucky to live with someone who has the same taste in movies as I do. We talk endlessly about this stuff - last night he was talking about how Darren Aranofsky used sped-up video of yeast growing under a microscope to create the effects in the preview for The Fountain. It's those moments that make me realize how nerdy we really are :)
My brother is like this too, mostly, so we can bond over this kind of thing. But I like lots of movies that he doesn't, so I have to find someone else to discuss those with. Generally my mom.