Neil Jordan vs Stephen Frears

i think SF might have more good films, but none as brilliant as NJ's The Butcher Boy.

really interested in seeing 'the hit'

yes, i want to grab that soon too.

The Hit is just okay. I'd say these guys are about dead even (both had made some great films and uh more than a few mediocrities as well), but the one plus in Frears favor is that he has made one great "American" film, The Grifters.

Jordan has made more horrible films but I think I like his best movies more than Frears' best. Except Gumshoe which is pretty fucking great so I'm gonna vote for Frears.

Good poll. I might enjoy Mona Lisa, The Crying Game, The Butcher Boy and The Good Thief more than anything of Frears' except Dangerous Liasions, which to my money is the only great film either one of them has made. As a writer and lover of kitsch, Jordan seems to like taking more risks that are beyond his modest cinematic gifts.

i get these two confused all the time.

frears directed the snapper and the van? did not know that.

Frears has very underrated comedy chops (sometimes). The Snapper and High Fidelity are both very funny the second and third viewings.

The Grifters is good, but I think both Cusack and Bening are kind of miscast, made a bit glaring by Huston's tour de force.

High Fidelity isn't funny no matter how often you watch it.

Really? I think they are both brilliant bits of casting. Cusack esp.

Yeah, Cusack's as ice-cold as Huston in The Grifters.

Plus they look an awful lot alike. I mean once you cast Huston you can't exactly cast some blond-haired, blue eyed everyman ya know.

Cusack too menschy for a grifter. Also, Huston and Pat Hingle seem to be acting in the book's '50s setting, which I guess was junked to keep the budget down.

That Cusack always mensching it up.

high fidelity is pretty damn funny in parts and in fact the scene where todd louiso nails tim robbins in the face with the phone (knocking his teeth out) got the biggest laugh i've ever heard in a theater.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I love The Good Thief, more than anything I've seen from either (which is pretty much just their late-90s on stuff), but Frears has quantity of films I've enjoyed. Bonus points for helping Altman get insurance for Gosford Park.

I saw The Hit this weekend; was a bit disappointed. Augured the sexy-but-empty Sexy Beast. Terence Stamp looks great.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

so anyone seen Ondine?

guess that's a no

ne1 seen 'tamara drewe'

i did but i totally have an alibi

I am (not) strangely drawn to Gemma Arterton but I don't fancy Frears in comedy mode tbh

unless Gumshoe (?) counts but it's hardly lolcentric

i was actually p impressed

she [her character] is the weak spot, but also the main action-motivator [lewd remark, seriously tho, daaaaaamn]

but it's not (all) light, bucolic comedy, and i thought it was 'legitimately good cinema' too, which i wouldn't always say about frears

i lolled anyway

Enjoyed Tamara Drewe much more than I expected to. Almost skipped it as the 2 star Time Out review made it sound like its the kind of British film I hate. But it's Stephen Frears,and I'd enjoyed the Posy Simmonds graphic novel, so I gave it a try - and its not bad at all. Good direction and excellent acting and a script that stays faithful to the original graphic novel.

it was a lot more truthful imo than 'cyrus', which TO went a bundle for. almost surprisingly well directed, or perhaps i was just not paying attention before. but there were a lot of different tones in this film, not jarringly, but skilfully modulated. not easy to pull off.

sorry 'formerly great listings magazine time out'

Holy cow, is In Dreams ever ludicrous. For the first hour, it's annoying--if there's some kind of internal logic at work, it by-passed me. Towards the end, maybe the last 10-15 minutes, it's out-and-out Ed Wood. Neil Jordan's made some reputable films, at least a couple of which I've seen. We all go a little mad sometimes, I guess.

Never saw, but I heard some good things about his new(ish) one. Seems to have gotten pretty much lost among the year-end talk, though.

I totally forgot that he did Interview with a Vampire.

Mona Lisa, Crying Game, Butcher Boy, End of the Affair, Good Thief are all very very good.Never even heard of Byzantium, sounds ... alright for a vampire movie?

just found out about this Frears TV film, Bloody Kids (1980), via a documentary on DP Chris Menges.

Will watch later but looks good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNePKW2gxGk