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Da 5 Bloods


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Posted in Netflix thread, but....

Watched Da 5 Bloods.  It’s getting stellar reviews. I am not sure how I felt about it quite yet.  May need a rewatch.  There were .... choices .... made that maybe worked better for some than they did for me.  Despite “complaints” in spoiler, performances were tremendous. Eddie is Javert from 25th Anniversary Les Miserables concert for those that care.   

Spoiler

Checkov’s gun, snake, landmine, what else? I thought Paul might get killed by the last leopard in Vietnam.  The “surprises” were predictable and heavily foreshadowed.  When Eddie takes his first step back you know he’s stepping on a land mine.  It was pretty obvious early on Paul killed Norman, too.  You were just waiting to see how.  

 

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Still haven't finished it but not Spike's best work IMO.

 How many times has the question "you know who went to Morehouse?" been answered with Edwin Moses and not MLK?  I suppose if you're about to run hurdles you might answer that, but not standing in Vietnam.  That whole exchange seemed off, and I'll leave it to ordinance experts to opine if what happened immediately after that is even feasible, but I doubt it.

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It was more like his early work in some respects.  Some shots were held too long, and while that is his artistic view, it doesn't really work because of the actors or the moment isn't right.  The hug with his long lost daughter as she tried to cry, or the camera on Hanoi Hannah was just didn't work for me.    The walking backwards was pretty predictable and it seemed that Spike wanted to build tension with each step, but really it just came across as silly.  The  landmine scene was just awkward as well and not as intense as it should be.  

Delroy actually pulled off that MAGA hat for once, It normally looks clownish on people and ill-fitting but his dome made it look alright as if he was the model for it.   Not horrible, but not particularly memorable.  I thought the acting hit and missed at times.  I just don't know how I feel about Delroy, sometimes I think he does a scene well, others it seems as if he is over acting and being absurd.   I also don't think Spike's comedic voice is great, the Lamb logo reminds me of the MST3000 band and is more weird in its display rather than the humor of the bizarre ATV guys in masks painting that is Owen Wilson's house (Royal Tenenbaums) 

To me, Chadwick, the Vikings guy were the better actors on set, Jean Reno seemed to approach the role with the same mirth of Couple's Retreat instead of The Professional.   

 

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I was expecting something on the level of BlacKkKlansman going in... fell well short of the mark.

- They did a really poor job portraying Vietnam. The 'Vietnamese jungle' was unconvincing and looked like the woods in Ohio/WV.

- The special effects were a mixed bag. Explosions were practical effects, but the gunfire was pretty blatant CGI.

- The landmine scene was obnoxiously cheesy.

- The music was patchwork and didn't fit the movie.

- Overlong. It didn't need to be two-and-a-half hours long, I don't know why they felt like they needed to shoehorn in lines like that The Wire reference.

Maybe it's my fault, I went in with high expectations. My recommendation is to go see BlacKkKlansman instead.

Edited by satyanash
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2 hours ago, GreenspointTexas said:

Inside man? That movie was great

i actually watched this two days ago which is when i first had the thought about how his movies are just aight to me, if that. I watched BlackKklansman as well, but don't remember anything about it other than thinking that it was just ok. 

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On 6/20/2020 at 11:08 AM, Dr. Beeper said:

I like every actor in that movie. Yet, this movie was terrible. Waste of my time. 

My thoughts exactly.

I've never seen Clifton Peters in a role I didn't like.......until the Da 5 Bloods. That shit was comically bad. 

Edited by Catdaddyhorn
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On 6/17/2020 at 10:11 PM, satyanash said:

I was expecting something on the level of BlacKkKlansman going in... fell well short of the mark.

- They did a really poor job portraying Vietnam. The 'Vietnamese jungle' was unconvincing and looked like the woods in Ohio/WV.

- The special effects were a mixed bag. Explosions were practical effects, but the gunfire was pretty blatant CGI.

- The landmine scene was obnoxiously cheesy.

- The music was patchwork and didn't fit the movie.

- Overlong. It didn't need to be two-and-a-half hours long, I don't know why they felt like they needed to shoehorn in lines like that The Wire reference.

Maybe it's my fault, I went in with high expectations. My recommendation is to go see BlacKkKlansman instead.

It was filmed in Thailand 

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On 6/13/2020 at 12:57 AM, Radical Larry said:

That was pretty damn good, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. dropping some Clay Davis brought the laughs.

He was actually just dropping isiah Whitlock. His long “shitttttttttttttts” weren’t initially scripted in the wire. It’s something he brought to it.

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I enjoyed this film. 

As per the location, I honestly thought it was filmed entirely in Vietnam but, upon further inspection, looks like a lot of it was filmed around Chiang Mai.

Having said that, there was quite a bit filmed around Saigon. Nguyen Hue Blvd, The American War Crimes Museum towards the end.

The Apocalypse Now Club brought back serious memories. I remember that place in the 90's when it was a bar, dance floor and two pool tables. They've really fixed it up. Quite possibly the easiest place in the world to pick up women.  

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A few thoughts:

1) I am a huge Spike Lee fan. Not because all of his movies are great. Some of his movies are absolutely awful, and some are generational. I love Spike because he is a fresh breath of air in Hollywood and sticks to his convictions, no matter whats going on in the world.

 

2) This was very middle of the road for him. The acting was solid, but the direction and camera work were average. I honestly thought we might not get his trademark dolly shot in this movie until Otis and his daughter in the end.

 

3) The marvin gaye was great. Terrence Blanchard’s (who i like a lot) OST was also good. However, the two together with the vietnamese wah-wahhhh ost was odd. In He Got Game, I absolutely loved Spikes use of music... the juxtaposing of certain situations with american classic fanfare. This time, it just seemed all over the place.

 

4) I have yet to really be impressed by a Netflix film. Most of em suck. This was ok. I should have known better. This movie was definitely on par with Red Hook Summer.

 

5) Finally, as a Spike Lee fan, ive been waiting for either the crossover hit like Inside Man (2007) or the social commentary slight arthouse style flick like He Got Game or 25th Hour (1999 and 2002).

 

 

 

oh well... 13 years and  still waiting for him to produce another GREAT film. 

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A few thoughts:
1) I am a huge Spike Lee fan. Not because all of his movies are great. Some of his movies are absolutely awful, and some are generational. I love Spike because he is a fresh breath of air in Hollywood and sticks to his convictions, no matter whats going on in the world.
 
2) This was very middle of the road for him. The acting was solid, but the direction and camera work were average. I honestly thought we might not get his trademark dolly shot in this movie until Otis and his daughter in the end.
 
3) The marvin gaye was great. Terrence Blanchard’s (who i like a lot) OST was also good. However, the two together with the vietnamese wah-wahhhh ost was odd. In He Got Game, I absolutely loved Spikes use of music... the juxtaposing of certain situations with american classic fanfare. This time, it just seemed all over the place.
 
4) I have yet to really be impressed by a Netflix film. Most of em suck. This was ok. I should have known better. This movie was definitely on par with Red Hook Summer.
 
5) Finally, as a Spike Lee fan, ive been waiting for either the crossover hit like Inside Man (2007) or the social commentary slight arthouse style flick like He Got Game or 25th Hour (1999 and 2002).
 
 
 
oh well... 13 years and  still waiting for him to produce another GREAT film. 


You talk about slight arthouse style and social commentary, and you pick He Got Game over Do the Right Thing as an example? Just thought that was interesting
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Lumbering movie with embarrassingly simple characters. The cast gives life to some pretty tepid writing.

I'm not sure what Lee is trying to do by referencing other war movies. He chooses some sweeping music and visuals from past movies, but I can't tell why. He even uses lines from Lawrence of Arabia.

He clearly taps The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and quotes the famous line about stinking badges, but he fumbles the heart of that movie. Human nature (inherent) sours the miners' partnership in Treasure while something external, PTSD, triggers Da 5's Paul/Dobbs to go off the edge. So what's he saying?

The romances were pretty lame and tame. Lee is so much better than that. I wonder if he intended a send up of the earlier movies but couldn't find the rigtht key. Anyway, the movie was okay at best.

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On 6/15/2020 at 7:00 PM, Not a cat said:

 How many times has the question "you know who went to Morehouse?" been answered with Edwin Moses and not MLK?  I suppose if you're about to run hurdles you might answer that, but not standing in Vietnam.  That whole exchange seemed off

Thanks for reminding me. I think he was referencing Galipoli there. 

 

Maybe the movie was to be a love letter to these movies because the ones he references are mostly classics. Too bad Spike couldn't pull it off.

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