-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Just saw "Ray" and...
- Thread starter MIMIC
- Start date
- Status
Too short? I thought it dragged on for way too long and focused way too much on the bad parts of his life. The happy ending had very little to do with his struggle during the movie.
The acting was superb and the music was phenominal, but apart from that the movie is average at best.
The acting was superb and the music was phenominal, but apart from that the movie is average at best.
Die Squirrel Die
Member
MIMIC said:Wow, wow, and WOW!!
Jamie Foxx's performance was simply amazing. He encapsulated the heart and soul of a music legend and delivered it in an emotional carbon copy of Charles's incomparable talent.
Excellent movie (too short, though) I give it an A-.
It was excellent. One thing though
I thought the final withdrawal fuelled flashback was handled terribly. Not a movie ruiner but you've have to wonder what the hell they were thinking. You've spent over 2 hrs so engrossed in just how much Jamie Foxx was Ray Charles, only to have it thrust back in your face, 'oh wait it's actually just Jamie Foxx'. Total kick in the teeth for the suspension of disbelief and a disservice to Foxx's excellent performance.
robertsan21
Member
foxx was good in his role but i was not impressed by it as i was with leo in the aviator.
the amount of screen time Foxx gets in ray is not enough to be a worthy oscar winner.
i do NOT think he acted good enough to take home an oscar.
his role was not dramatic enough and it was not powerfull enough.
ray was not as big of a moneymaker at the cinema as the aviator was
Di caprio in the aviator had a harder part to play,it was more dramatic, it was more powerful acting and he had more screentime.
and he has been nominated before but never won.
the aviator is a blockbuster movie making millions at the cinema
how can the academy look past all of that?
Leo is my bet for the oscars as everything is talking for him to win.
foxx has one advantage and that is that this is the year that Ray chales died, but i hope that the academy sees past that and givese the oscar to one of the most deserving actors in hollywood tha statue, namely leonardo di caprio
the amount of screen time Foxx gets in ray is not enough to be a worthy oscar winner.
i do NOT think he acted good enough to take home an oscar.
his role was not dramatic enough and it was not powerfull enough.
ray was not as big of a moneymaker at the cinema as the aviator was
Di caprio in the aviator had a harder part to play,it was more dramatic, it was more powerful acting and he had more screentime.
and he has been nominated before but never won.
the aviator is a blockbuster movie making millions at the cinema
how can the academy look past all of that?
Leo is my bet for the oscars as everything is talking for him to win.
foxx has one advantage and that is that this is the year that Ray chales died, but i hope that the academy sees past that and givese the oscar to one of the most deserving actors in hollywood tha statue, namely leonardo di caprio
RonaldoSan
Member
I don't think anyone other than Jamie Foxx could have done Ray Charles so convincing.
DiCaprio's work in The Aviator is also very impressing. I would like to see any of them take home the prize.
robertsan some of your points are stupid. His role was not dramatic enough? The movie made less money? I can say for sure DiCaprio didn't have a harder time. Jamie Foxx was blind the whole movie through. He walked around the set with prosthetics on his eyes. He had to play the piano flawlessly. In fact he had to play with Ray Charles so he could get accepted.
DiCaprio's work in The Aviator is also very impressing. I would like to see any of them take home the prize.
robertsan some of your points are stupid. His role was not dramatic enough? The movie made less money? I can say for sure DiCaprio didn't have a harder time. Jamie Foxx was blind the whole movie through. He walked around the set with prosthetics on his eyes. He had to play the piano flawlessly. In fact he had to play with Ray Charles so he could get accepted.
robertsan21
Member
RonaldoSan said:
you say non other that foxx could have played ray?
denzel, fishburn i dont think they would have had any problems playing the part, they might not look alot like ray charles but i am sure they have acted better than foxx.
or anyother black actor for that matter.
"He had to play the piano flawlessly!"
dont think so! actors and producers always hype up their movies by saying BS like that for example "actor: it was so hard i had to start flying fighter jet just to see how it was to be in a real fighter pilot."
the only thing the actor did was to get a ride on a real fighterjets piloted by a real fighterpilot.
i am sure Foxx only learnt the basics on how to play a piano, we dont se foox in close up manytimes when they show him playing on the piano, so when you see the hands playing the piano it could be a real pianist playing it
Shogmaster
Member
Yeah, HBO showed making of Ray, and Ray himself is teaching Foxx how to play piano Ray Charles style. Foxx does all the piano "stunts" himself.
RonaldoSan
Member
Do you have something against Jamie Foxx? The man is a comedian, he is genius at mimicking people. Denzel Washington and Laurence Fishburn are great actors. I still don't think they could have pulled of Ray Charles. Denzel did portray Malcolm X, but Denzel weighted the acting over the mimicking of the real person. Denzel moved and behaved like Denzel. Jamie Foxx had the whole thing down from the movements to the piano playing.robertsan21 said:
robertsan21
Member
dream said:
ok so he is a classically trained from his childhood, so he did not learn how to play piano for this movie!
no i do not have anything against him, i loved him in Collateral and i liked him in Ray, but i am not talking about how much i like or not like foxx.
its about who should win the oscar for best actor
Di caprio had a harder part to play than foxx did, and Di caprio pulls it off perfectly like he always does.
foxx however in my eyes did not act that good, dont get me wrong he did a great job,but his part is not hard to act out for an actor.
he might have had some moves of ray charles but that does not cut it to beat Di caprios performence.
playing piano with charles is of course something he had to do so he could get in the mind of ray.
every actor does study the charakter he is going to play, dont you think di caprio did that for the aviator?
and howard huges is dead so he had even a harder time getting inside howards head and how he must have feelt like.
I won't argue the merits of Jamie Foxx's performance vs. Leonardo DiCaprio's, but--
It depends on how you look at it. Looking at Box Office Mojo, Ray's gross to date is $83 million on a $40 million budget--accepting the industry conventional wisdom that a film has to gross somewhere around twice its budget to break even, then Ray's already done that, with about 90% of that money made in the United States.
On the other hand, The Aviator has only just now reached the $111 million mark on a $110 million budget, and a third of that is foreign gross. At this rate, unless it wins enough Oscars to draw attention to itself again, it probably won't make back its money until it hits DVD.
robertsan21 said:
It depends on how you look at it. Looking at Box Office Mojo, Ray's gross to date is $83 million on a $40 million budget--accepting the industry conventional wisdom that a film has to gross somewhere around twice its budget to break even, then Ray's already done that, with about 90% of that money made in the United States.
On the other hand, The Aviator has only just now reached the $111 million mark on a $110 million budget, and a third of that is foreign gross. At this rate, unless it wins enough Oscars to draw attention to itself again, it probably won't make back its money until it hits DVD.
robertsan21
Member
Prospero said:
With just a few weeks to go, The Aviator passed Ray to become, so far, the biggest box office champ of the five best pic contenders. Earning money at a decent rate, The Aviator has earned $76,326,000 million"domestic"111million totaly domestic+overseas" to Ray's $73. Million Dollar Baby is still at the bottom but will probably pass Finding Neverland next week.
psycho_snake
I went to WAGs boutique and all I got was a sniff
Ive not got round to watching it. Ive heard that its excellent, so I'll have to watch it, but thats after I watch meet the fockers tomorrow
robertsan21 said:
For most country's Ray was just released overseas some as recent as 1-2 weeks ago. Outside of the US Howard Hughes probably IS more known than Ray Charles.... that's not really surprising therefore it would definitely affect the viewership outside of this country.
Finally I don't remember box office overseas gross as being one of the factors considered when determining an Oscar winning performance... but I could be wrong....
robertsan21
Member
Azih said:
learning how to play like ray...hmmm now that must be hard for a pianist HAHAHAHA
try to learn somestuff from Rachmaninov, now that is hard
robertsan21 said:learning how to play like ray...hmmm now that must be hard for a pianist HAHAHAHA
try to learn somestuff from Rachmaninov, now that is hard
I'm curious robertsan do you even know how to play the piano? or any other instrument?
robertsan21
Member
DarienA said:
no your right darien, overseas gross = who cares.
robertsan21
Member
DarienA said:
well i did play some gitarr when i was young. i tried drums, i tried violin but i settled on Piano, thats right Piano!
i been playing it for about 6 years and man it is hard, if your not a natural.
i just do it for fun and i am not trying to live of it hahaha
after six years i kind of suck at it to be honest but hey its fun so
i love piano music and that was the main reason why i wanted to see Ray
both Ray and The Aviator are good movies. Here's how I think it will go down...
Best Picture: The Aviator
Best Director: Martin Scorsesse for "The Aviator" (it's his time).
Best Actor: Jamie Foxx for "Ray"
Best Actress: Hillary Swank for "Million Dollar Baby."
Best Supporting Actor: Thomas Hayden Church for "Sideways."
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett for "The Aviator."
As far as technical awards such as costuming, makeup, original score, sound, cinematography, etc. It's completely a toss up. Personally here is what I think..
Best Makeup: The Passion of the Christ
Best Sound: The Aviator
Best Original Screenplay: John Logan: The Aviator
Best Adapted Screenplay: Paul Haggis: Million Dollar Baby
Best Cinematography: The Passion of the Christ
Best Animated Featurs: The Incredibles
Best Art Direction: Finding Neverland
Best Costume: The Aviator
Best Documentary Feature: Supersize Me
Visual Effects: (I would personally give it to I, Robot but I think Spiderman 2 will win).
Best Picture: The Aviator
Best Director: Martin Scorsesse for "The Aviator" (it's his time).
Best Actor: Jamie Foxx for "Ray"
Best Actress: Hillary Swank for "Million Dollar Baby."
Best Supporting Actor: Thomas Hayden Church for "Sideways."
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett for "The Aviator."
As far as technical awards such as costuming, makeup, original score, sound, cinematography, etc. It's completely a toss up. Personally here is what I think..
Best Makeup: The Passion of the Christ
Best Sound: The Aviator
Best Original Screenplay: John Logan: The Aviator
Best Adapted Screenplay: Paul Haggis: Million Dollar Baby
Best Cinematography: The Passion of the Christ
Best Animated Featurs: The Incredibles
Best Art Direction: Finding Neverland
Best Costume: The Aviator
Best Documentary Feature: Supersize Me
Visual Effects: (I would personally give it to I, Robot but I think Spiderman 2 will win).
robertsan21
Member
Azih said:
tell me one comedian that cannot mimic another star?
thats part of their job, and i cant see anything groundbreaking in foxx performence
but hey guys thats just my opinion
i could bet all my money on
morgan freeman to win best supporting actor award!
and even cinematography will go to house of flying daggers
robertsan21
Member
DarienA said:
yeah but that comes natural to a comedian you see.
comedians are verysmart and if there is something they know then that is mimicing people as usually comedians start out mimicing people..
oh well we will see who wins at oscarsnight
i wish that Leonardo di caprio takes it as he deservs it more than anyone nominated
I just saw Ray the other day and I have to say I was unimpressed. Jamie Fox was very good but the movie itself wasn't all that great. It was just way too much of the same old same old. It's a true story but it plays out like your standard Hollywood movie. Your standard guy beats the odds on talent and determination. Then slips into the standard drug abuse asshole routine but it all works out in the end.
darscot said:
Ummmm wtf? ... no I'm not commenting on this post... I refuse... refuse to....
bishoptl said:
:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol
Thank you bish... I didn't want to be seen again as being rude for exploding on another forum member making stupid comments...
I'm not saying they should have changed the story just maybe the story wasn't that good. It was ok but not worth the hype its recieving. They don't need to make anything up. They could have just went deeper with the racism issue. Or deeper with the drug issue or the death of the brother. So many other movies have just been more powerful to me. The whole drug abuse rehab thing has just been done to death. The film had no real climax and it went on for a long time where he was making great music and doing drugs.
Smiles and Cries
Member
just got this from Netflix... I have a question the DVD has
> Play Extended Edition
> Play Theatrical Movie
I never saw it because I've been busy so before I play it can anyone tell me what the extended edition has? Thanks
Maybe I will just play the extended version only
> Play Extended Edition
> Play Theatrical Movie
I never saw it because I've been busy so before I play it can anyone tell me what the extended edition has? Thanks
Maybe I will just play the extended version only
andthebeatgoeson
Junior Member
I'll probably buy the movie just to see the scene where he tell's Regina King to hit the road.
:lol
:lol
I'd advise against playing the extended version. The way it cuts in and out took me out of the film on every switch.
And while some of the earlier scenes are welcome additions, later in the film the fat they trimmed needed to be cut out, I believe. Their removal made the film less manipulative, less preachy.
Watch the deleted scenes afterward. And only the performance ones...
And while some of the earlier scenes are welcome additions, later in the film the fat they trimmed needed to be cut out, I believe. Their removal made the film less manipulative, less preachy.
Watch the deleted scenes afterward. And only the performance ones...
Smiles and Cries
Member
Goreomedy said:
thanks I found that out the hard way 10 minutes in I gave up and watched the normal version
Great movie loved the much damn I was never a big fan of Ray Charles but I have to get some of this into my iTunes
No way, you opted out of the extended version? The extra scenes do make it longer, but some of them are great. You get more insight on how Ray mistreated his family and backup band. It seems like some of the worst aspects of his personality were trimmed down for the theatrical release.
Also, you get a nice extended scene of him smoking dope with Warwick Davis.
I didn't mind the way they integrated the cut scenes. Yeah, a music note appears and it pauses a second before transitioning to the new scene, but they're inserted chronologicallly and you don't have to press anything on the remote. In fact, I was glad that it drew my attention to what had been cut out, so that I new when a restored scene was being played.
Also, you get a nice extended scene of him smoking dope with Warwick Davis.
I didn't mind the way they integrated the cut scenes. Yeah, a music note appears and it pauses a second before transitioning to the new scene, but they're inserted chronologicallly and you don't have to press anything on the remote. In fact, I was glad that it drew my attention to what had been cut out, so that I new when a restored scene was being played.
Jonnyboy117
Member
Shinobi said:
Uh, no, he really is. Went to college on a piano scholarship. It says so in one of the DVD featurettes.
- Status