Anyone else seen Buried?

I think we can draw a finer distinction on "likeable characters" between that that we respect and those that we do not.

In the Godfather, the members of the Corleone family et al all had varying aspects of dislikeableness. However, some we could respect, like Vito looking out after the family, Michael's calculating decisions, and Tom Hagen's prudent skill at achieving legal recourse and influence. While other family members we do not respect, like Connie's sycophant tendencies, Sonny's brashness, and Fredo's distorted sense of importance.

Paul Conroy was a dislikeable pr!ck with no redeeming qualities going into the box or dying with him in the box.

Gimme someone I can sympathize with even at the last bloody gasping second, not someone I'd wanna drill holes so the sand could suffocate him faster.

I guess it's a matter of opinion but I did not find any characters in the Godfather redeeming. I wanted them all to go down, a lot more than Paul Conroy, but that's me.
 
I guess it's a matter of opinion but I did not find any characters in the Godfather redeeming. I wanted them all to go down, a lot more than Paul Conroy, but that's me.
When antagonists are good at their job they scare us, so we want them to go down so that we can feel safe.
When antagonists are stupid they irritate us, so we want them to go down just on general principle.

Modern protagonists are flawed yet should provide a great deal of "hope" that they may become a better person after surviving that which does not kill them or by accepting their ill fate in a dignified and stoic way.

"I want my mommy!" is justification for just shooting them myself.
EDIT: It's arguable that the reason I/we/the audience doesn't like jerk-off protags is that their revolting behavior incites us to harm them ourselves, and I don't enjoy "entertainment" that makes me feel like becoming the antagonist.

I want inspiration rather than irritation from my protags.
I want to say "H3ll, yeah! That's how ya do it!" rather than "Dumb mutherf#cker deserves to die".
Actually, it woulda been pretty sucky if a worthless POS like Conroy had been rescued. THAT would be a grave injustice.

I hope his kid takes after his mother.
 
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I thought this was going to be a question about how to film with the guy under ground.:)

I enjoyed Buried. Now I'm waiting for Immersed, Submerged, and Interred. The knock offs, get it.:)
 
When antagonists are good at their job they scare us, so we want them to go down so that we can feel safe.
When antagonists are stupid they irritate us, so we want them to go down just on general principle.

Modern protagonists are flawed yet should provide a great deal of "hope" that they may become a better person after surviving that which does not kill them or by accepting their ill fate in a dignified and stoic way.

"I want my mommy!" is justification for just shooting them myself.
EDIT: It's arguable that the reason I/we/the audience doesn't like jerk-off protags is that their revolting behavior incites us to harm them ourselves, and I don't enjoy "entertainment" that makes me feel like becoming the antagonist.

I want inspiration rather than irritation from my protags.
I want to say "H3ll, yeah! That's how ya do it!" rather than "Dumb mutherf#cker deserves to die".
Actually, it woulda been pretty sucky if a worthless POS like Conroy had been rescued. THAT would be a grave injustice.

I hope his kid takes after his mother.

Well Conroy was still a very innocent person, who did not deserve his fate, at least not to the point that Sonny, Vito, or Michael did. Sure he was an idiot. I would not call him an SOB since we didn't know exactly what he was like in his personally life, but he was smarter than the average person in that situation. If you read about people being murdered in the news, most of them can't seem to think on their feet. So I think they wanted to make it more realistic when it comes to the average person.

I just felt so sorry for him, much more than characters in The Godfather by comparison. Probably cause he was in a position, where he didn't have a choice, being in a coffin, and brainwashed to a panicked state of mind. In Godfather, the characters could think straight and still chose to make all bad choices, so I respected them a lot less therefore. Don't get me wrong, The Godfather is still a great movie, I was just using it compare how I care about characters.
 
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Well The Godfather has no likeable characters

Ha ha! I'lll catch hell for this, but I don't like the GODFATHER movies, partly for the very reason you state. I admire Pacino and De Niro greatly, but they are thugs in those movies. However, I'm a huge fan of THE UNTOUCHABLES, because I did care for Ness and his men. De Niro was a delightful Al Capone, perhaps because I could delight in his carnage.

I'm not your average cinephile, as I don't care for most of the Academy selected best features. I'm the kind of guy that got really pissed when ANNIE HALL beat STAR WARS and when CHARIOTS OF FIRE beat RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and when GHANDI beat ET. SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE beat SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL! Are you kidding me?!!! You see my pattern of thinking? :lol: I about fell out of my chair when SILENCE OF THE LAMBS actually won best pic, actor, actress, etc.

Now that doesn't mean that I have to have happy endings - I loved SE7EN!
 
Why are you making this personal, TheNoob? :hmm:

BTW, I just checked your profile. I like early Cohen brothers, particulary BLOOD SIMPLE and RAISING ARIZONA.

I didn't make it personal. I meant it literally; I was acting like you when I commented on 300 being pointless. I did it to give a different perspective to 300, in the way that you view Buried. It was not an insult.

One can say the point of Buried is to teach us about death, regrets, life and the way things work. It was entertaining, and It received pretty good reviews. I thought it was about an 8.5/10.

He was terminated by his employer to take away his insurance money

That's one of many reasons I was rooting for him to live, but sadly he died. :(
 
Ha ha! I'lll catch hell for this, but I don't like the GODFATHER movies, partly for the very reason you state. I admire Pacino and De Niro greatly, but they are thugs in those movies. However, I'm a huge fan of THE UNTOUCHABLES, because I did care for Ness and his men. De Niro was a delightful Al Capone, perhaps because I could delight in his carnage.

I'm not your average cinephile, as I don't care for most of the Academy selected best features. I'm the kind of guy that got really pissed when ANNIE HALL beat STAR WARS and when CHARIOTS OF FIRE beat RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and when GHANDI beat ET. SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE beat SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL! Are you kidding me?!!! You see my pattern of thinking? :lol: I about fell out of my chair when SILENCE OF THE LAMBS actually won best pic, actor, actress, etc.

Now that doesn't mean that I have to have happy endings - I loved SE7EN!

Yeah I see the pattern. I was very surprised Silence of the Lambs won, as that is not something the Oscars would usually pick. Out of the nominees, I would have picked JFK that year. They are both two of my all time favs but one weakness of Silence that makes it a little overrated is the cliched climax. It's a fantastic movie, but the climax has been done so many times before. The hero and the villain, walking playing hide and seek around a building or house of some sort. They each have a gun ready to shoot, and whoever pops up and shoots who first, wins.

This has been done in so many thrillers, even before it, that I expected a more unique and complex climax, from such a high praised film. Other than that though, the rest is very good, but still not quite worthy of winning Best Picture, cause of that.

I didn't make it personal. I meant it literally; I was acting like you when I commented on 300 being pointless. I did it to give a different perspective to 300, in the way that you view Buried. It was not an insult.

One can say the point of Buried is to teach us about death, regrets, life and the way things work. It was entertaining, and It received pretty good reviews. I thought it was about an 8.5/10.

He was terminated by his employer to take away his insurance money

That's one of many reasons I was rooting for him to live, but sadly he died. :(

Yes I agree. I haven't figured out how to black out spoilers yet, but the first spoiler you mentioned is the icing on the cake for the darkness to Buried, which makes it even more effective for me. I give it a 10/10, a perfect thriller for me, and when it comes to other 90 minute thrillers set in one place, most don't strive to be near as great!

I don't know why someone would think that 300 had more points in it. It was mainly 90 minutes of action to the point where the action scenes got repetitive and there was hardly any story. Not that that's always bad, but as a thriller it doesn't have near as much tension or character development, and relied a lot more on style over substance.
 
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Not the best film I've seen.

But damn thumbs up for people who can make something as simple as this and make me wanna watch it till the end.

mike d.
 
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