Nothing Up My Sleeve

[urbeatle]

Over the past 2-3 days, I watched "The Illusionist" and "The Prestige" again. I said once before that I consider "The Illusionist" to be a better movie, and I'm saying it again. "The Prestige" had the potential to be the much better movie, even with the cheap trick at the end. However, there's just an editing problem that drags it down. Frequently

Comments

[akumatatsu61]

I agree about the differences between The Illusionist and The Prestige - as much as I enjoy seeing David Bowie and Andy Serkis, Illusionist was a much better film. Both are more or less about stage magic, or at least, the general principle of trickery; There's a lot of flash in Prestige, but it comes off as schlocky, and ends under a large pile of schlock (Due respects to Howard Tayler). The Illusionist can and does keep you guessing, until the very end, as we see Giamatti's detective figure it all out - and the truth is known, that it was a master piece of a plot to topple a brutal and superstitious noble from his lofty perch.

Now about the other Paul Giamatti film - I saw something in this one, but it really got buried under Shymalan's rather obvious attempts at busking his talents - and his Mary Sue characters and message. This one got him nominated for four Razzies, for worst directing, supporting actor, screenplay and picture, of which Shymalan himself collected two (Worst Director and Worst Picture).

[sunburn]

I listen to the BBC's Friday afternoon movie reviews, primarily for leads on British movies that'll be coming over here, but it's also pretty entertaining. Mark Kermode reports that, for whatever reason, The Illusionist and The Prestige arrived in England in the reverse order that they played here. Like Kermode, I had the feeling that the movies were treading the same ground, but having seen both (Illusionist and then Prestige) I stopped feeling that way. If saw them in the other order, it'd be rather bizarre, because Illusionist is so understated compared to the brash Prestige. Hence, I think England is going to largely miss out on the excellent qualities of The Illusionist, and it's a pity

[pjamesharvey]

I have yet to rewatch it, but I am sure I'll find The Prestige to be the better film for me. I had little problem with the editing jumps, and I think the film needs a non-linear time-line for dramatic purposes. We don't work anything out too quickly, and we get to see what all the drama is about as it builds up