Harold_Z Posted October 9, 2006 Report Posted October 9, 2006 (edited) My wife and I went to see it it yesterday. Clifton Commons multiplex theatre. The theatre I was in was empty. Myself, my wife and maybe two other couples. I guess this flick is offically a flop. I dunno. I dug it. Was it as good as LA Confidential ? No. Not imho. My wife thought it was good. Nothing special. Not bad. When I read the reviews panning it I thought ..well..that's what someone who doesn't dig Ellroy as an author would say. Also, I dig Ellroy; so I'm going to see this flick. At the end it all comes together. Anybody else see it? Anybiody else who is an Ellroy fan? Edited October 9, 2006 by Harold_Z Quote
ghost of miles Posted October 9, 2006 Report Posted October 9, 2006 I love the L.A. QUARTET and AMERICAN TABLOID, but after reading MY DARK PLACES--also great--I thought, "How the hell is he gonna keep writing after that?" I think it's always a bit perilous for a writer to excavate as much of his/her psyche as Ellroy did in that one... and I thought THE COLD SIX THOUSAND showed some degenerate tendencies towards self-parody (that whole "see-Spot-run" style JE's been operating in since WHITE JAZZ..."Pete flew fast. Pete flew low. Pete flew solo," etc.). I'll read the next one, whenever it comes out, but don't have high hopes for it. When it comes to the books, my faves are probably TABLOID and THE BIG NOWHERE. Did they strip BLACK DAHLIA's storyline down as well as the writers did in L.A. CONFIDENTIAL? Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted October 9, 2006 Report Posted October 9, 2006 Did Bob Belden do the soundtrack? Quote
GA Russell Posted October 9, 2006 Report Posted October 9, 2006 Completely by coincidence, last week I was rummaging for the first time in ages through a box of unread books, and I found The Black Dahlia in there. I had completely forgotten that I had bought it. The only Ellroy I have read is LA Confidential, which I enjoyed. So I'll pick up Dahlia soon. When White Jazz was new, Ellroy was visiting Atlanta on a book tour. I bought a copy of the casette audiotape of it for my brother-in-law for a Christmas present, and had Ellroy sign it for him. I don't know if my b-i-l ever listened to it! Quote
Werf Posted October 10, 2006 Report Posted October 10, 2006 This was such a disappointment, especially since The Black Dahlia is such a thrilling read. All of the crackling tension, paranoia, and brutality was cast into a nostalgic window-dressing of a flick. I figured that DePalma was a good choice to translate Ellroy's tone into a decent adaptation, but this was so limp. L.A.Confidential KILLED in comparison. The cast was lukewarm, the props, clothes, cars, etc., spotlessly clean, thus unreal, and the violence and depravity was cast into the background. DePalma should've unleashed a few of his own demons into the mix, to up the ante, but maybe all of those slasher movies drained him. What a bummer. Quote
Harold_Z Posted October 10, 2006 Author Report Posted October 10, 2006 ghost of miles: Did they strip BLACK DAHLIA's storyline down as well as the writers did in L.A. CONFIDENTIAL?I thought so. The flaws in my book were a certain quirkiness that I'll attribute to De Palma and possibly the casting and acting of the two male leads. Werf: What a bummer. Werf, I can see you're a JE fan and you really disliked the movie. And that seems to be the opinion of most of the criticism I've heard and read of BD. I don't see where it's that bad. Quote
king ubu Posted October 10, 2006 Report Posted October 10, 2006 I am totally unfamiliar with Ellroy, but I loved De Palma's "Femme Fatale" and am looking forward to seing this new one a lot. He's showing Hollywood the finger, and rightly so Quote
RDK Posted October 10, 2006 Report Posted October 10, 2006 I am totally unfamiliar with Ellroy, but I loved De Palma's "Femme Fatale" and am looking forward to seing this new one a lot. He's showing Hollywood the finger, and rightly so Eh, no one in H'wood gives a flying fuck about DePalma anymore, so he can flip us the bird all he likes. Seriously, though, I'm a big Ellroy fan, but I generally hate DePalma, so I saw Dahlia with mixed expectations. There were parts of it that I thought were good - better than expected - and parts that I thought were absolutely horrible/laughable. Overall, it's disappointing - not so good. L.A. Confidential was far, far better. Quote
Big Al Posted October 10, 2006 Report Posted October 10, 2006 How is Hilary Swank in this movie? Hot? Miscast? Quote
Harold_Z Posted October 10, 2006 Author Report Posted October 10, 2006 How is Hilary Swank in this movie? Hot? Miscast? Hot. In general I thought the women were better cast than the men. Quote
king ubu Posted November 13, 2006 Report Posted November 13, 2006 (edited) Hilary Swank is the hottest thing in this movie, for sure! She easily outshines Scarlett Johansson, but then she's got the fatale part, while Johansson has the platinum blonde cool part... I greatly enjoyed the film - but again, I'm not familiar with Ellroy so I can't comment how well or how wrong he may have translated the book to the screen... anyway, the film stands on its own just fine, and with the story (as I understand) altered quite a lot from the book (and the historical case, notwithstanding the 2003 book that might or might not have closed the dahlia case), it deserves being looked at on its own, I'd say. Big from me. (edited for spelling both ladies' names the wrong way... ) Edited November 13, 2006 by king ubu Quote
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