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Post by Lauryn on Jul 15, 2006 22:04:20 GMT -5
You understand why some of them were excised, to keep it moving, or because they weren't quite sure how in how far or in what direction they wanted to take certain things, but execution of the scenes was never lacking by the actors. At least in these they saved, they really have their game on. Shame the people renting from Blockbuster have to miss them.
MORE SPOILER SPACE -------
Perhaps they could have softened the scene a little and kept it in. Have him peel off the five-hundred and her defend her virtue, keep in his line about her making minimum wage and bad tips then cut straight to "I thought you could use $500 and a good fuck. I guess I was wrong, etc." PB could still play that note by giving it a certain louche charm. The dig about her cheap haircut, and puffy eyes, etc. (after he had first complimented her on the latter) just leaves too acid a taste when directed at a character we feel sympathy for. Leave that out and you still get across that, by his lights, he's doing her a favor, and even though he could have had her for free he's hardwired to pay for sex out of habit. She can still give him the finger, LOL! Oh, and the way he says, "Can I..come...with you?" is priceless.
Shepard does admit (and not just here) they were afraid to get in too deep and it was a struggle to find the balance with the sunnier moments. Brosnan's character shadings throughout the film are relied on to convey what's not always made explicit. But I think this scene took the gloves off a bit and would have been worth the gamble. The darkness and self loathing is played pretty straight -- on-the-nose with the dialogue; he's honestly warning Kinnear off. But the way he leans in almost caressingly with that last line -- he knows at the same time he's drawing him in. Danny's fascinated despite himself. Somehow, there has to be a way to segue from this to the cafe scene! I'm thinking, I'm thinking...
Ditto. I think you get most of it in montage without Pierce losing his rhythm. I do love the woman's expression at the err, climax. And in long form I think it's even more clear that she's unaware of the dog, LOL!
One for the chop. Agreed on the timing of the scene. When I first saw it I just got the phallic-ness and not so much the nervous break-down weirdness, but that's probably just me, LOL! I wouldn't have minded if Julian had given guacomole boy the eye on his way to the table.
I love this extended scene. It could have been slightly edited for pace, but the interplay and the dialogue is wonderful. At one point I thought Dylan Baker's character was impersonating Donald Rumsfeld. "We do know these things. These things we know." Heh. I endorse the sentiment (and the delivery) of Mr. Randy's F-word loaded line but I haven't quite made up my mind on it. On the one hand, he's the sort of customer who hasn't got where he is by losing his cool or tipping his hand. He'll argue Julian's case and defend him -- he knows they may even expect that -- but be careful to preserve the notion that he's still a "company man." (Safer that way for the both of them, when it comes down to aiding and abetting.) On the other hand the messenger seems singularly uninterested - except in precisely what he's charged to impart. What the hey, it's such a kabuki dance, LOL! I wonder if they wrangled some product placement moolah from publisher Dorling Kindersley for those travel guides Mr. Randy carries around.<wink>
Davis hits every note perfectly but the lines that were cut, IMO, were rather awkward and stilted ones. Cutting them lessens the monologuish, sometimes artificial feel of the dialogue, which in the hands of a lesser actress could make you wince a little.
How often do you get to see Pierce do a primal scream? Wasn't that "alternate opening" we kept hearing about an extended nightmare sequence? Shame we didn't get it. I think the deleted scene we got could have worked as "flashes" in the start of the film or maybe in full elsewhere. I'd have loved them to go for it (the alternate opening) full monty, esp. if we could have got the Rolling Stones' "Paint it Black." Still, I do see where they might worry about the discombobulation effect in using that device to introduce the character and the movie. And it seems they weren't prepared to go dark for any great stretch for fear of tipping the balance with the comedy. I just wish we could have got the extended dream sequence in the deleted scenes, even w/o any music.
It does, and I found myself wondering about some of the side issues posed by this deleted scene -- such as how is Danny going to keep his wife from knowing he had to get a hefty second mortgage? And I rather like having it left to the imagination whether or not Julian would ask for payment or it was pro bono work. At that point might he have done it out of friendship, or the hope of it, or was it too early on? Or would it always be out of character for him not to require a fee? I think it's more provocative without a definitive answer.
They are very brief snapshots and they do bookend each other so it would have been nice.
I notice you left out JULIAN'S BIRTHDAY NIGHT OUT AT THE SEX CLUB. I'm devastated. Not that you left it out, but that Richard Shepard apparently did, LOL! You can't have a birthday night out at the sex club in 37 seconds! (Well, maybe you can, but Dr. Ruth will cluck cluck over you.) It didn't come close to the deleted scene I had running in my head -- the one in which Julian was a participant and not just a tourist. Should have been retitled A FEW HOLIDAY SNAPS AT THE HELLFIRE CLUB.
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Post by Ace on Jul 16, 2006 1:08:57 GMT -5
MORE SPOILER SPACE ------- Perhaps they could have softened the scene a little and kept it in. Have him peel off the five-hundred and her defend her virtue, keep in his line about her making minimum wage and bad tips then cut straight to "I thought you could use $500 and a good fuck. I guess I was wrong, etc." PB could still play that note by giving it a certain louche charm. The dig about her cheap haircut, and puffy eyes, etc. (after he had first complimented her on the latter) just leaves too acid a taste when directed at a character we feel sympathy for. Leave that out and you still get across that, by his lights, he's doing her a favor, and even though he could have had her for free he's hardwired to pay for sex out of habit. She can still give him the finger, LOL! Oh, and the way he says, "Can I..come...with you?" is priceless. I really don't know how he kept a straight face saying all these wonderfully tacky and horrid things! I love the idea that Julian is so divorced from the concept of regular relationships and human contact that not paying for sex would seem almost rude. So that part makes perfect sense for his character. But being nasty about her hair and eyes just seemed over the line, and being nasty for no reson that I could tell. He sparrred with the kid but the kid was interrupting his work, and even though he insulted his mother it wasn't to her face, rather he winked at her. Julian has a great line -- that there's nothing decent about him, that he finds all the things he does to be highly indecent. That he is his job because there's nothing else in his life but his job. I like that Julian was warning Danny off in one breath and in the next as you say leaning in and forcing intimacy. As the one reviewer said PB has the ability to slap the audience and kiss it in the next breath and it's what he does with Danny. They could have shown Danny stomping off which is no doubt what they first filmed and then having re-meet Julian at the gardens (even catching him sating at the Guacomole boy). If they wanted to keep that hotel scene after the garden scene they could have still moved that. It does seem though that they were sometimes hamstrung by not enough coverage which is really discussed in the Mr Randy scene. And her kid at the door --oy. LOL I too thought the phallic-ness was the point but it seemed to just not fit in the middle of his asking Danny to help him kill someone. It seemed less like he was hallucinting and wigging out than he was just being distracted by thoughts of sex and that didn't make much sense in the context of the scene. It probably does make more story sense that Mr Randy doesn't tip his hand. But oh the performances are so darn good and it's amost a sin to have Hoffman and Baker do such fine work and then leave 80% on the cutting room floor. Davis does ALOT with what is rather an underwritten role. She's given a nice sized monologue and some great lines but she does so much more than what seems to be on the page. She imbues her character with such warmth, wit ,vitality and soul -- she's brilliant. I hope the DVD sells and sells and sells so that we'll eventually get the exrta special DVD edition -- complete with alternate opening scene with Stones -- the entire documentary those two brothers filmed about the making of the film and any other deleted scenes of the same quality. Agreed. Much more provacative without the nuts and bolts. I didn't mention it because there's not much to mention except how much I feel cheated. Damn that BBC! Promising 4 plus minutes of Birthday Dungeon sex and we get 20 more seconds and the main highlight -- if one can call it that -- is Richard Shepard's cameo! Oh the injustice. Oh did you notice on the commentary that PB said about the "I learned to dance in jail by a chap named Morales" that he loved the line and wanted to know about that story. Heh. Ace
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Post by Ace on Jul 18, 2006 11:49:58 GMT -5
In it's second week in Canada's DVD Rental Chart- Matador moved up from #2 to #1 'The Matador' tops DVD chartThe top ten DVD rentals, according to Rogers Video for the period ending July 16, 2006 1. The Matador 2. Failure to Launch 3. Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction 4. Syriana 5. Eight Below 6. The Libertine 7. 16 Blocks 8. The Hills Have Eyes 9. Ultraviolet 10. Firewall Also Blockbuster Canada To 10 Rentals: 1. The Matador 2. Failure To Launch 3. Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction 4. Syriana 5. Annapolis 6. Eight Below 7. Ultraviolet 8. The Hills Have Eyes 9. Firewall 10. 16 Blocks ==================================== Matador remained #2 on the US rentals chart with 6.2 m for a 12 day total of $13.6m (107% of it's US theatrical gross)
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Post by Yuliya on Jul 24, 2006 10:38:11 GMT -5
Any opinion yet on which deleted scens should have been cut? I'll need to watch them again to be sure, but at the moment I think it was the right decision to cut them all. They would have changed the pace of the film and it plays a lot better the way it is now. I'm glad the scenes were included in the DVD, though, some of them are really worth seeing. Shepard mentioned a few times some scenes had to be cut because the movie was supposed to be 90 minutes only. Why is that? What defines the length of a movie? I thought most of them were 120 minutes long. BTW, out local WalMart doesn't seem to have any more bonus pack sets left.
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Post by Lauryn on Jul 29, 2006 13:10:50 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on Jul 29, 2006 13:18:54 GMT -5
Actually after three weeks Matador has $18.02m in rentals. VB doesn't track as many rental avenues (namely online and some non strict rental stores like Wallmart) as Home Media Retailing that the IMDB, Box Office Mojo & Hollywood Reporter use. I espect or rather hope Brisco to do very well until it burns out it's more fervent fanbase then come down like FireFly did. Update: Matador as of July 30 in it's 26th day of release is now at $21.4m. in the U.S. It's also doing very well in Canada and is #4 after it's 4th week on the rental chart. Ace
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Post by Ace on Aug 2, 2006 14:16:28 GMT -5
After listing it as an Editor's Pick for July, Amazon has now listed The Matador at #1 in it's Summer Discoveries 2006 section. DVD Discoveries: Summer 2006The curtain rises on an all-new festival lineup for Amazon.com's DVD Discoveries for summer 2006. We want you to discover some excellent titles that are off the beaten path, including new movies, classics debuting on DVD, and art house films that didn't play in a theater near you. We hope you have not heard of many (that's part of the fun) of these 20 DVD Discoveries that delighted, intrigued, and, well, just darned entertained the editorial staff. Our summer highlights include a top-notch, tense cerebral thriller from France, two fascinating and candid musical documentaries, a heart racing Italian television police miniseries by an acclaimed horror director, a satirical spin on the buddy/ hit man genre; Louis Malle's Film Noir classic with that superb, genre defining soundtrack; a depression-era drama that has finally made it's way to DVD; and a wonderful reality show about the real lives of professional Rollergirls. Come discover something new.
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Post by Ace on Aug 5, 2006 1:16:39 GMT -5
MCN: VSDA: Part IIExcerpt from much longer article: LAS VEGAS – As noted in last week’s column on MCD DVD, the 2006 edition of the VSDA convention was clouded by the announcement of statistics suggesting the decade-old video market not only had matured, but also has begun to show signs of joining every other entertainment platform in an industry-wide “slump.” Report the same results to a gathering of General Motors or Ford stockholders and the bearer of such “flat” tidings would be given a promotion and multimillion-dollar bonus. Unlike Detroit, Hollywood has never really been in any danger of sinking into the nearest large body of water. If the studios ever got serious about containing costs, you’d find purveyors of Armani, Humvees and organic muffins on the same bus leaving town as Wolfgang Puck and Larry King. The companies represented by the MPAA and Digital Entertainment Group make the loudest noise in matters of commerce, piracy and content, and it’s their interests that most concern the media. It’s the independent and foreign-based companies that tend to generate the most excitement among movie buffs, critics and talent scouts. Sadly, they’re also the ones who get the least support from exhibitors, features editors and video-store chains. Every Tuesday, dozens of new titles enter the DVD pipeline, far fewer than the half-dozen or so movies debuting each Friday. The trajectory of sales and rentals of DVDs tends to mirror that of the theatrical model, with films already familiar to viewers getting the most shelf space and advertising support. Typically, pre-marketed studio movies will ride on the backs of theirs stars to the top the charts for a week, maybe two, and then begin their inevitable freefall into the pre-viewed bins, where they’re sold for pennies on the dime. Because the life cycle of children’s, cult, foreign and documentary titles tends not to resemble that of a mayfly – and many fewer are made available to consumers on release date – it’s less important for specialized product to demonstrate its worthiness within a two-week window of opportunity. If a merchant’s new-release section isn’t constantly tilled, last week’s crop of under-achieving “hits” would sit there and rot like so many un-harvested pumpkins or watermelons. Come Friday, copies of V for Vendetta and The Shaggy Dog --.both of which did reasonably well in theatrical release – will begin flying off the shelves. Plenty of copies will be made available for customers of chain stores, and a goodly number will be sold, as well, in supermarkets and drug stores, big-box retail outlets, truck stops and kiosks in shopping malls. Overexposure is rarely a problem on opening weekends, but, as a rule, the demand for blockbusters not favored by parents of young children is short-lived. There are certain things that distinguish the DVD business from its theatrical and video-cassette counterparts. Shrinking release “windows” may be the scourge of exhibitors, but not having to re-launch a marketing campaign in its entirety has had nothing but a positive effect on DVD revenues. It helps explain how so many box-office disappointments are able to do well in their digital incarnation. After only 12 days in video, revenues for Richard Shepard’s nifty black comedy The Matador already had surpassed those earned during its entire theatrical release. The same thing also recently happened to Basic Instinct 2, 16 Blocks, Annapolis, Firewall and Ultraviolet. This phenomenon isn’t likely to have escaped the attention of Hollywood’s decision-makers, who’ve had to construct new economic models for their expectations of a film’s afterlife. How does one explain this anomaly? Have the multiplexes of America become too scary for the adults who might normally have taken a shot on a movie starring Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford or Pierce Brosnan? Maybe. Have consumers become so savvy about the ways of Hollywood that they now routinely factor “windows” into their calculations of entertainments options? Probably. Are there enough loyal repeat-viewers out there -- anxious to sample the bonus features and commentaries – to boost DVD revenues of a so-so picture that much? Probably, not. It’s the closest thing the studios have to found money, and, for once, consumers reap the benefits, as well. They probably wouldn’t have to add a single supplementary feature for the same numbers to register.
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Post by Ace on Aug 9, 2006 16:39:08 GMT -5
Box Office Mojo: July 31–August 6, 2006Rental Data Courtesy of Home Media Retailing. The Matador in it's 5th week of release ranks #8 (down one spot) with a total of $24.11 million (191.4% of it's US Box office) In Canada it's the #6 rental in it's fifth week (down from #4)
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Post by Ace on Oct 2, 2006 13:43:38 GMT -5
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Post by Lauryn on Oct 2, 2006 22:35:35 GMT -5
Kind of like redacting all the f-bombs from a Colin Farrell interview. What's left over? LOL! Interesting that there's a Clean Flicks version that made it out there. I believe the studios and directors that sued Clean Flicks won an injunction in early July '06 against them to cease and desist all altering of DVDs and selling of unauthorized copies due to clear copyright infringement. I suppose they can appeal, but in the meantime, I would think they're out of business. It would certainly be consummately bad law if Clean Flicks were ever to prevail in court.
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Post by Ace on Oct 2, 2006 23:02:56 GMT -5
They are out of business and sales like this and others on Ebay are being called liquidation sales -- which as you say they're not really legally allowed to do.
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Post by Yuliya on Oct 3, 2006 10:23:25 GMT -5
Yes, I also wondered if it's legal. But at least even their site now says they're closed.
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Post by sparklingblue on Oct 6, 2006 15:35:40 GMT -5
I would think if they got a half decent attorney to draft this cease and desist declaration, which I am sure they did, there is certainly no loophole allowing for Clean Flicks selling their products on ebay. They might be facing rough times if this gets to the right people.
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Post by Ace on Nov 14, 2006 20:28:52 GMT -5
The Matador is being released in a HD-DVD (High Definition) format in the U.S. on December 5, 2006 So far Amazon.com has it listed as Unrated but with no mention of features and with the same 97min running time. Price listings and street date at DVD Price Search
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Post by Ace on Jan 5, 2007 13:30:01 GMT -5
Barnes & Noble.com - DVD: Best of 2006: Staff FavoritesThe 10 Best Movie DVDs The Matador Richard Shepard A film seen by few during its theatrical run, The Matador makes our list of the year's best thanks to the winning performances of stars Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear, as well as the clever story and the stylish direction of Richard Shepard (who also wrote the screenplay). Playing a high-caliber hit man with a taste for booze and women, Brosnan shakes and stirs the suave image he cultivated in his seven-year run as 007. James Bond would never unleash the bawdy one-liners Brosnan spouts here, but you can tell he's having the time of his life letting it all hang out, including his beer gut. Kinnear is perfect, too, as the uptight marketing executive who meets Brosnan in a Mexico City bar and becomes, against all odds, his best friend. The Matador never aspires to be more than a well-made buddy comedy, and it succeeds with near-perfect execution. Also near perfect it the DVD's funny, spirited commentary track, which reunites Shepard, Brosnan, and Kinnear. ======================================= Hi-DEF: THE BEST (AND WORST) OF 2006MOST OVERLOOKED GEM Everyone loves a sleeper, and there were plenty of underrated gems that hit high-def this year. But if there is one you absolutely must not miss, it's The Matador on HD DVD. One of the Weinstein Co.'s launch titles, this hilarious black comedy features a terrific performance from Pierce Brosnan and plenty of surprises. And it's a mighty fine disc, too.
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Post by Yuliya on Jan 5, 2007 14:01:37 GMT -5
You know, I really resent them coming with so many different releases. From now on, I will never buy anything untill there is no hope the next edition will be better. Yes. To punish them, that is. :: stomps her foot ::
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Post by Ace on Jan 5, 2007 14:11:52 GMT -5
The HD Matador release has all the same extras as the regular DVD release. And if you were to wait to buy it you'd first have to buy a HD-DVD player which costs about 10 times what a regular DVD player costs -- and you still wouldn't be able to watch the upcoming Blue-RAY version of the Tailor of Panama on it.
Call me when one of them has won the format war, or a player can play both as well as being backward compatible to regualr DVDs and costs about 1/10th of it's current price. For now Hi-Def and Blue Ray are for the must be cutting edge videophiles with money to burn -- not so much for anyone else.
Ace
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Post by Yuliya on Jan 5, 2007 14:53:02 GMT -5
They don't have the same extras; mine came from Wal-Mart and has an extra disk. Still, wouldn't you hate it when one of the formats does win the format war and players are so cheap you'll get one for Christmas from your building manager? Or something? I've decided not to buy the Pirates of the Caribbean until the third one is out. I'm sure they'll come with some kind of extra-special edition then in addition to regular and special ones available now. Besides, then I'll know whether I want the 3 or the 2, depending on whether the 3rd one is any good. Besides, as much as I wouldn't mind having the DVD, I may not get to it until the 3rd is out - not with all those RS DVDs I've gotten for myself and all those Potter ones I've gotten for my son (who doesn't know what's going on when he's asleep, heh!) Regardless all that, I resent that they come up with many different releases to lure us in!!! (Why is this emoticon listed as Huh? That's not Huh?, that's more like Huh!!!) There was even an article on Amazon about it. About multiple releases, not emoticons.
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Post by Ace on Jan 5, 2007 15:14:26 GMT -5
Ah but that's not really a part of the DVD just anther DVD tossed in for special customers of Walmart. As for Pirates. Well I have the original 2 disc addition and frankly after watching the lamentable deleted scenes/bloopers where they already seem to be scraping the barrel of the bottom for quality extras I can't see how a third disc would be more appealing. The lone interesting extra was an Easter Egg with Keith Richards lasting about 60 seconds. Sometimes more is just more -- not necessarily better or worth waiting for. This also goes for length of film. Pirates would be better with 20-30 minutes cut from it's bloat which is more noticeable when you watch it at home. The ultimate joke in double/triple dipping though are the LOTR releases. First the theatrical edition, then the extended editions with extras, and now issues with both versions on the same disc even though they could have done that from the start with todays technology -- but with some extra not on the Extended Edition sets -- but lacking others so you'd have to buy both to get them all. Come on! Ace
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