OAO Troy Thread

[razazteca 0]

I can't believe the good responses to Bana's performance. I still just can't see it, but it's super-exciting that's he's doing well for himself. It'd be so hilarious if he won some supporting actor gongs or something.

Aussie tv never leaves the island so unless there is a "Before They Were Stars" special on VH1! Nobody will know if he was ever a "funny" comedian.

 

I guess it would be like seeing Will Sasso or Jimmy Fallon in a drama and getting a Golden Globe for their work in The Fantastic Four movie or something.

[Guest Nanks]

That's a very good analogy actually. Except we know who Will Sasso & Jimmy Fallon are. But that is basically the gist of it. I imagine they will dig up some old Full Frontal footage for a "Before They Were Stars" at some point. Problem is that most of his comedy was very Australian, taking off local celebs and doing a bogan character and such, I doubt it would be understood over there.

[LJSexay 0]

I really can't see him as a comedic character. But hey, I guess this just goes to show how versatile the man is.

[tommytomlin 0]

Found some pictures of Bana's sketch comedy days, just so the Americans don't think we're making this all up:

 

 

That's him as some 60 year old guy that always complains about stuff he buys.

 

 

There's him as either his yobbo character Poida, or Warwick Capper, the AFL player.

 

 

And finally, Hector as Mike Willesee, an old current affairs show host.

 

 

So there you have it, the many faces of Eric Bana.

[Guest Nanks]

Came across this one searching for more pics of Bana from his Full Frontal days. Someone should give this one a try, I wonder what the going rate is to book Eric Bana to appear at your private function these days!!

 

http://www.entertainoz.com.au/acts/1380.html

[Mik 0]

Holy Crap, I clicked that link and it said that Eric Bana was in the Castle. I didn't remember him, so I threw in the DVD to check, and sure enough he's the kickboxing husband. Damn, I didn't realize. So I do own some Eric Bana comedy, I guess making me one of the few Americans.

[Guest croweater]

How'd you hear about "The Castle" as it's basically an Australian orientated movie, also, what did you think of it?

[Mik 0]

I studied abroad in Melbourne for six months, and we watched it for one of my classes. I love the movie, I think it's hilarious. I even showed it to my girlfriend, who has never been to Australia and she found it to be a really funny movie.

 

And then Coco had a son. We named it "Son of Coco".

 

I also saw Garage Days when I was over there, about the band that wants to play a festival and it turns out they are really terrible. I thought it was pretty funny, and it has an August US DVD release date, so I'll be picking that up as well.

 

I think the humor in the Castle is easier to get if you've been to/live in Australia but it's funny for everyone nonetheless.

[Guest Nanks]

I was gonna ask about The Castle actually. I know it got released over there, I was seeing some ads for it in Canada. He has a very minor part in that movie, top flick though. Is Chopper out over there, that's a fuckin' great movie, that's his best performance for mine.

[Kardo 0]

I was gonna ask about The Castle actually. I know it got released over there, I was seeing some ads for it in Canada. He has a very minor part in that movie, top flick though. Is Chopper out over there, that's a fuckin' great movie, that's his best performance for mine.

The funniest thing about the Castle is any joke related to Sunshine TAFE, considering I used to go there... (Did a short course on MCSE)

[Guest JMA]

I saw this movie last night--and I did enjoy it. I'm a big Greek mythology aficionado, but the changes didn't really bother me too much. The gods being there would've been cool, but it also would've shifted some of the focus off the mortals. You could also argue that there was one supernatural being in the film--Achilles' mother. It was never stated if she really was a sea nymph or not, but she did like the ocean and seemed to be able to tell the future. You could argue against this, however, by pointing out that she was aged.

 

I would've preferred it if Achilles was more of a jerk, but that's a small complaint. I actually liked Paris because he never got his comeuppance for what he did. It's kind of funny that a non-warrior like Paris was the one who finally killed Achilles. I wasn't surprised that Helen and Paris got away, since Hollywood probably wouldn't allow a woman to be subjugated by someone forever. Still, despite the changes, I thought they captured the tragedy of the story quite well. The Aeneas cameo was pretty cool as well.

[Guest JMA]

There was one part of it where I laughed my ass off. It was when Paris and Helen were discussing their plans and Paris was like "We can run away together and live off the land....I will hunt rabbits and deer." There was just something hysterical about that line. Was anyone else amused by it?

I thought it was funny because Paris was trying to act "manly," and failed at it. Still, he probably was a good hunter. He wasn't raised in Troy as a child, but by a simple herdsman. Of course, that's just mythology.

[starvenger 0]

Well, got to see it today, and it was pretty good for what it was - a retelling of the Iliad without the presence of those pesky gods. Yeah, that took away from the plot points involving Paris and Helen, but really didn't affect anything else. Peter O'Toole ruled it, but man he looked really old and frail. Good jobs all around.

 

Other thoughts:

- Nathan Jones as the guy who gets killed in about 5 seconds was hilarious.

- Good choice for whoever played Patroclus, but is it me, but did he look like a cross between Brad Pitt and Jodie Sweetin (Stephanie Tanner from Full House)?

- They could've made Paris hitting Achilles' heel be more of a fluke thing. They made him to be a bit too sympathetic in the end, I thought.

- Impressively, if they wanted to retell The Odyssey AND the Aneid, they've set it up pretty well.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I absolutely hated Brad Pitt in this movie. I don't know if it was the intention of the filmmakers, but Achilles comes off as an arrogant, egomaniacal asshole who seems to have some sort of regret (but more like rationalizing) what he does. Pitt is fucking terrible in this role, he basically runs around in a skirt and sword and goes "Look I'm Brad Pitt I'm so fucking hot I know you all want me, damn I'm such a manly man." He has done SO much better work, I can't even begin to state how much better he was in Fight Club. Maybe this is also stemming from his appearance on Conan O'Brien, where he also acted like an egomaniacal asshole.

 

Bana was fucking gold as Hector. Bloom did a decent job, and O'Toole is well, O'Toole.The part where his temple is being destroyed and desecrated is so sad, especially where he screams something to the extent of "Have you people no morality?" and they stab him, proving their point."

 

I think it would have been much better had they casted someone else to play Achilles, and a better job was done of balancing the story, as I couldn't care less about the whole Achilles/Perseus storyline. Not with Pitt's fucking terrible overacting when it comes to romance.

[tommytomlin 0]

I saw Pitt on Conan the other week, and I don't know if I agree with you saying he came off as an asshole. He just seemed a little...distant. He played along with Conan with the dress-up thing, and he was also interacting with the crowd and the band when Conan was talking about how much better looking he was compared to Pitt. I think he was just a different type of guest, he gave Conan less room to be silly.

[Guest JMA]

I absolutely hated Brad Pitt in this movie. I don't know if it was the intention of the filmmakers, but Achilles comes off as an arrogant, egomaniacal asshole who seems to have some sort of regret (but more like rationalizing) what he does.

I actually thought they should've made Achilles out to be a BIGGER asshole. I didn't much care for him being chivalrous. The thing with Greek heroes is that they're all very flawed. Many of them have done unsavory things--such as ravaging women, kidnapping, and having an extreme lack of mercy. But these are only minor complaints. Overall I liked Pitt's performance.

[Guest NaturalBornThriller4:20]

Just got back.

 

Very good acting by all involved.

 

Brad Pitt does a very good job, but Eric Bana was excellent. I actually found his performance to be much more moving. Orlando Bloom is good, to me he came off as an arrogant son of a bitch, and that just made me hate him throughout the course of the movie. Brian Cox, Sean Bean, and Peter O' Toole (During his scene with Pitt, and the takeover of Troy) were all enjoyable.

 

The epic battle scenes are very good, Achilles / Hector is one of the better fight scenes i've seen this year.

 

Paris being the one to "Kill" Achilles at the end seemed pretty stupid, seeing as he couldn't even old his own against Menelaus. But, that's the way the story goes...

 

Out of 10, I give "Troy" a 9.

 

The movie is clocked at 2 hours and 40 minutes, but it didn't seem like it. I felt it went by quick and seemed more like 2 hours. Anybody else ?

[Guest Vitamin X]

I absolutely hated Brad Pitt in this movie. I don't know if it was the intention of the filmmakers, but Achilles comes off as an arrogant, egomaniacal asshole who seems to have some sort of regret (but more like rationalizing) what he does.

I actually thought they should've made Achilles out to be a BIGGER asshole. I didn't much care for him being chivalrous. The thing with Greek heroes is that they're all very flawed. Many of them have done unsavory things--such as ravaging women, kidnapping, and having an extreme lack of mercy. But these are only minor complaints. Overall I liked Pitt's performance.

The flaw in making Achilles' character look anything like an asshole, is that we're suppossed to like him, to sympathize with him when he cares about Perseus, to care when he kills Hector, and I found myself cheering against Achilles throughout the whole movie, which I don't think is what the filmmakers intended.

[Guest Astro]

I just saw the movie this afternoon. I was rooting for That Big Bad ass to kick Paris' ass when Paris challenged him to a duel. It pissed me off to no end when Paris showed his true colors.

 

My girl friend cried during the whole last hour of the movie. I was marking out over some of the narly death scenes.

[Guest Random Hero]

Is Chopper out over there, that's a fuckin' great movie, that's his best performance for mine.

Chopper is out over here (England). It's an excellent film, and you're right it's easily Bana's best performance.