The Auteurnament

[Justin]

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

[jbailey84]

T2

[ShnizMuffin]

T2

[donny]

Thought it might be closer, but T2 annihilates Aliens. Next battle up shortly.

[donny]

The Auteurnament

4th Edition

Round Two, Battle Two

Region One (James Cameron, David Cronenberg, Paul Greengrass, John McTiernan)

The Cameron/Cronenberg Section

The Cronenberg Finals

The Fly





Released: 1986

Synopsis: David Cronenberg's remake of the 1958 classic transcends its genre to become a moving portrait of a man and his lover attempting to come to terms with his physical disintegration. "The Fly" stars Jeff Goldblum as a spaced-out scientist who invents a genetic teleportation machine and accidentally transforms himself into a fly. In the horrifyingly graphic detail that is his trademark, Cronenberg depicts the scientist's painful mutation from human into insect. What gives the film its tragic dimension is the emotional depth of the relationship between the scientist and his journalist girlfriend (Geena Davis) as she witnesses his slow, painful metamorphosis.

Cronenberg Bytes: - This is the 10th directed film by Cronenberg.

- The Academy Award-winning makeup seen in The Fly was designed and executed by Chris Walas, Inc. over a period of several months. The final "Brundlefly" creature was designed first, and then the various steps needed to carry protagonist Seth Brundle to that final incarnation were designed afterwards. The transformation was intended to be a metaphor for the aging process. Indeed, Brundle loses hair, teeth, and fingernails, and his skin becomes discolored and lumpy. The intention of the filmmakers was to give Brundle a bruised, cancerous, and diseased look that gets progressively worse as time goes on.

VS

A History of Violence





Released: 2005

Synopsis:Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is living a happy and quiet life with his lawyer wife (Maria Bello) and their two children in the small town of Millbrook, Indiana, but one night their idyllic existence is shattered when Tom foils a vicious attempted robbery in his diner. Sensing danger, he takes action and saves his customers and friends in the self-defense killings of two-sought-after criminals. Heralded as a hero, Toms life is changed overnight, attracting a national media circus, which forces him into the spotlight. Uncomfortable with his newfound celebrity, Tom tries to return to the normalcy of his ordinary life only to be confronted by a mysterious and threatening man (Ed Harris) who arrives in town believing Tom is the man whos wronged him in the past. As Tom and his family fight back against this case of mistaken identity and struggle to cope with their changed reality, they are forced to confront their relationships and the divisive issues which surface as a result.

Cronenberg Bytes: - This is the 17th directed film by Cronenberg.

- The film's title plays on multiple levels of meaning. Roger Ebert says that David Cronenberg suggests three possibilities: "(1) to a suspect with a long history of violence; (2) to the historical use of violence as a means of settling disputes, and (3) to the innate violence of Darwinian evolution, in which better-adapted organisms replace those less able to cope", with the last as the dominant focus of the film. "I am a complete Darwinian," says Cronenberg, A History of Violence is in many ways about the survival of the fittest—at all costs. Cronenberg did not come up with the title, however; that distinction belongs to John Wagner.

My Vote: A History of Violence

[iv3rdawG]

The Fly

[Big-Lead5]

A History of Violence

[Dhamon22]

A History Of Violence

[DVDAVE]

The Fly

[FranklinTard]

the fly

[HaDoKen]

the fly

[Deexan]

The Fly

[ShnizMuffin]

A History of Violence

[Justin]

A History of Violence

[Darth Maul]

A History Of Violence

[Sculder]

A History Of Violence

[wall jumper]

The Fly

[PG Cooper]

The Fly

[The Moose]

A History of Violence

[sniktawt]

The Fly (1986)

[Carnage Escobar]

The Fly

[donny]

The Fly barely escapes in a great battle. Next battle up shortly.

[donny]

The Auteurnament

4th Edition

Round Two, Battle Three

Region One (James Cameron, David Cronenberg, Paul Greengrass, John McTiernan)

The Greengrass/McTiernan Section

The Greengrass Finals

United 93





Released: 2006

Synopsis: UNITED 93, director Paul Greengrass's meticulous reconstruction of the events surrounding the crash--the result of a heroic struggle between the passengers and hijackers--of the fourth plane to be hijacked on September 11, 2001, is a landmark in filmmaking. Greengrass has chosen the most politically and emotionally charged source material available to an artist in the early 21st century, and shaped it into a psychologically draining, terrifyingly real, and technically brilliant film. Like his first feature-length work, BLOODY SUNDAY, UNITED 93 doesn't follow a traditional cinematic narrative structure; via hand-held cameras, grainy DV stock, and frenetic editing, it instead presents a visceral (at times sickening) in-the-moment documentary-style experience that maximizes the film's unavoidable air of tension and dread without being crassly manipulative. Yet for all of its precision and craft, UNITED 93 still depicts one of the most terrifying ordeals the United States has ever had to face--and that it was released less than five years after those events took place plays an undeniably enormous role in how the film is received. It is impossible to watch UNITED 93 and not be profoundly moved, whether that emotion is fear, sadness, anxiety, or pure rage. And it is an emotional catharsis far removed from what is the filmmaker's delicate hand and deft touch. Greengrass, though, is quite fearless in his depiction of the chaos of the day--the President is frustratingly missing; the FAC, NORAD, and local air-traffic control centers are shown in a disoriented panic; and the terrorists are brutal and remorseless--and, to his credit, he avoids soft-pedaling any political agenda and doesn't blindly canonize the flight's passengers. Rather, their heroism is treated as the product of a logical decision made by ordinary men and women who found themselves in the most extraordinary and illogical of situations. And that, ultimately, is where the power of UNITED 93 lies.

Greengrass Bytes: - This is the 6th directed film by Greengrass.

- The actors who played the terrorist hijackers and the actors who played the passengers and crew on the flight were kept in separate hotels during filming. They also worked out in separate gyms and did not eat meals together. This was so that the director could capture the separation, fear and hostility between the two groups of antagonists and protagonists.

VS

The Bourne Ultimatum





Released: 2007

Synopsis: he government's most wanted amnesiac super-spy returns in this thrilling third installment in the Jason Bourne franchise. THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM picks up where the THE BOURNE SUPREMACY left off, with Bourne once again racing around the globe, desperate to uncover the secrets of his identity. Having just lost his girlfriend and only companion, his search for answers is now fuelled by much more than his own self-preservation. The film kicks off with Bourne tracking down a British journalist (Paddy Considine) who he believes has valuable information about his past. He quickly discovers that the government conspiracy runs far deeper than he realized, and so begins a riveting, action-packed game of cat and mouse with the CIA. Bourne plows through the bad guys like a mini-tornado, and after some breathtaking fight sequences and several nail-biting car chases, he closes in on the truth in a climactic stand-off on the streets (and rooftops) of New York City. Joan Allen and David Strathairn are excellent as two battling CIA directors, and Julia Styles pops up for a small but important turn as Bourne's former government contact. Matt Damon continues to give Bourne the perfect mix of tough guy determination and sad-eyed desperation, and despite his physics-defying fists, he never comes off as the invincible super hero. Rather, the appeal of Bourne remains in his humanness--he feels pain, bloodies his knuckles, and mourns the loss of his lover. It's this emotional and physical vulnerability that keeps you on the edge of the seat, holding your breath for him. Well, that and the totally awesome fight scenes, of course.

Greengrass Bytes: - This is the 7th directed film by Greengrass.

- A set had to be created for the Moscow scenes. Since the opening scene of the film takes place directly after the ending of The Bourne Supremacy, yet the production time difference was several months, it was January in Moscow. This would have been too cold and Berlin was chosen as the location of the shoot. The fake snow was made using paper and foam, and took an excess of 5 hours to cover the entire set. Paper and foam were used instead of real snow so there was no risk of melting.

My Vote: The Bourne Ultimatum

[IanTheCool]

tough battle. I'll go with bourne, by an inch.

[jbailey84]

United 93