American Gun

TheCentralScrutinizer · 06 Sep 06 :: 20:07

You know what, Anne, you are so gonna love what TeeJay will e able to do with the caps for AG now. You can see subtleties of facial expression you couldn't see in the VHS version. Especially in the scene between David and Janet in her room. I thought wow, I didn't see those puppy dog eyes the first time around when he's standing in the doorway, looking like he's afraid to go in.

Deb

domesticelefant · 06 Sep 06 :: 20:58

I don't doubt that, Deb.
With the new screencaps I will be able to make a better avatar than the one I have at the moment.

TeeJay · 06 Sep 06 :: 23:24

Sounds like the drool towel will get a good workout, once Anne and I get our greedy hands on that DVD. I so can't wait!

-TeeJay

Susanna · 22 Sep 06 :: 09:22

Hey guys!

I haven't watched this movie yet... but I will, especially now its holidays (yay) so there will be plenty of time to indulge in some good ole Chris watching.

I was perusing metacritic, which I'm not sure if you know of but it's a site that basically compiles all reviews of music, movies and the like, to give an overall score. I saw American Gun was listed, and thought that naturally, you'd all wanna have a look. http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/americangun

It got 48, average/mixed reviews. And it lists all the reviews they got for it.

domesticelefant · 22 Sep 06 :: 11:59

Interesting website. Some people there said, it's a Crash ripoff. I haven seen Crash yet, but I don't think so. Crash has a totally different storyline if you ask me.
You should definitely watch it, Susanna. Ok, the movie is not a masterpiece, it's the debut feature of the director, but it's still worth to watch, at least because of Chris's performance.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 22 Sep 06 :: 15:28

Yeah, Susanna, Chris's storyline is definitely the best in the movie. You may be a little worried that the whole story will involve him yelling and crying for a little bit, but he settles down and has some very lovely quiet moments in the latter half of the film. Two particularly sweet ones --- one with Nikki Reed as Tally and the other with Marcia Gay Harden as his mom. It's not just about the meltdown. He's really wonderful in the movie, right down to the final shot of him.

Deb

domesticelefant · 22 Sep 06 :: 15:56

And please know that you'll certainly suffer from DAVIDNEEDSAHUG-Syndrome when you're finished with watching!

irina · 04 Oct 06 :: 21:40

i just watched the movie. i did like it. but i feel the acting in the movie is better then the movie itself. chris is absolutly amazing in the movie.

domesticelefant · 04 Oct 06 :: 21:46

That is very true.
And, are you suffering from DAVIDNEEDSAHUG syndrome now?

irina · 04 Oct 06 :: 21:52

yes

shrams · 22 Oct 06 :: 07:23

Just finished watching AG. I really liked Chris's performance in it, but it was a tad confusing with so much intercutting of the various storylines. It was certainly quieter than some movies with similar themes (like Bowling For Columbine), but very affecting, nonetheless. Especially Chris's last scene, waiting for Tally...and waiting...

TheCentralScrutinizer · 22 Oct 06 :: 07:59

It's kind of unanimous around here that the meltdown scene is just fantastic. But there's a lot more to Chris's work in the film than just that. When I first watched it, I was taken aback by the intense emotion between David and Janet. But also, I saw a lot of my relationship with my mom. I was glad when things quieted down between them and you could see how much they really love each other. That scene between them in Janet's room is also really special. They're all they have. The scene between David and Tally as he "tattoos" her foot is quite wonderful too.

Our interpretation of David's last scene has always been that he's sitting on the curb in front of his house, crying after learning of Tally's fate. We also find it aching real how he's medicating himself with food.

Deb

TeeJay · 22 Oct 06 :: 11:23

Sisterdebmac wrote:

Our interpretation of David's last scene has always been that he's sitting on the curb in front of his house, crying after learning of Tally's fate. We also find it aching real how he's medicating himself with food.

Yes, I agree with Deb here. To me it also looked like he had just heard about what happened to Tally. I can't really see him crying and being this sad just because she didn't turn up without him knowing why. What confuses me a little is that he's wearing different clothes than in the scene when he last spoke to Tally on the phone. Would he have learned about her fate a day or two later?

And I kinda always wanted to write a fan fiction snippet between Davin and Janet that surrounds that last scene there. Maybe one day.......

We also see such a lot of range in one character from Chris here. He is sweet, caring, loving (think of the scene when he finds Janet drunk when he comes home or the scene in her bedroom that I also love), he is raving mad and angry (when he and Janet yell at each other), he is shy but managed to gather his courage (when he tattoos Tally's foot), he has this huge meltdown when his world falls apart and in the end he's just devastated. Wow. I'm sure Chris got a lot out of shooting this movie.

-TeeJay

domesticelefant · 22 Oct 06 :: 13:13

Yeah, I agree with everything Tina said.

shrams · 22 Oct 06 :: 19:33

Okay, that makes sense. Part of the problem is that I can't see very well, and the TV is half-way across the room. I couldn't even see that he was crying, and didn't notice his clothes were different. I thought he was still waiting for her to show up, not knowing (yet) why she wasn't there. It makes sense that he might have found out a day later, and then be crying about it, because it's not like he'd be one of the first people who would be informed. More likely he heard about it in school.

In fact, it wasn't till after she was shot that my mom asked me, "Is that the girl who's supposed to meet him?" Then it clicked, and I said, "Yeah, she said she was going to stop by the store first." Neither of us was positive it was her at first. I blamed it on the fact that "all these young kids look alike to me," which isn't really fair, but somewhat true because it's true in real life, too. I often have a hard time even recognizing people I know fairly well until they get close enough. That's one reason it's so helpful to go to a message board like this and find out what all I missed!

TeeJay · 22 Oct 06 :: 19:54

What confuses me about that fact that he's wearing different clothes is that I don't think David found out a day later. I mean, think about it: Tally tells him she's gonna come by that same day they talk on the phone. He'd be waiting for her, probably calling her cell or home at one point. Could even be that he triggers people to look for her and finding out that she was shot. If that was the case, then he'd know on the day. And it would make sense that he ends up crying on the curb that night.

But of course there's the scenario that Tally just doesn't show up at his place, he's confused but doesn't think much of it, goes to school the next day and then--boom--finds out from Ike or Mouse or someone else entirely.

Wow, I think I need to go write this right away, I'm suddenly hit with this scene flash.

Later guys, I need to write! Frantically.

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 22 Oct 06 :: 20:01

I think it was probably the next day. It's not like her parents are gonna bother to call some boy she just met to say, "Hey, sorry, Tally can't make it to your house tonight because she's dead." They'd be far too frantic after finding out to even think of anyone else. Heck, maybe they didn't even know about David at all. So then who would tell him that night? No one. I think he would learn about it in school the next day.

But then again, as we all know, you can't trust clothes as an indicator of time in this movie. TeeJay, you know exactly what I'm talking about: The driving to school scene that's supposedly before he changes schools matching up with the the scene of David's first day at Ridgeline.

Deb

domesticelefant · 22 Oct 06 :: 21:54

Yeah, the driving scene confused me, too. Or the fact that he suddenly doesn't wear his jacket anymore after finding out that his mother has lost her job and that he has to change schools. It's all a litte confusing, but it's still my favorite performance.

TeeJay · 22 Oct 06 :: 22:34

Deb and I concluded that the scene at the beginning of the movie when Janet and David drive in the car and the one later, when she drives him to school must be the same scene initially. And later they decided that they need to show the friction between Janet and David a little earlier, so they took a bit of the driving to school scene and put it earlier in the movie. Which is just confusing like hell because it makes no sense.

Him taking off his jacket is not that confusing. They just made a tiny cut there. He comes home, finds his mom home, asks her why she's there. The camera stops. Off camera, he takes off his jacket, Janet explains that he needs to quit the private school and go to Ridgeline. Camera is switched on again. David melts down. It's not that hard to follow, is it?

And, yes, undoubtedly a great, emotionally involving performance.

-TeeJay

domesticelefant · 22 Oct 06 :: 22:55

TeeJay wrote:

Deb and I concluded that the scene at the beginning of the movie when Janet and David drive in the car and the one later, when she drives him to school must be the same scene initially. And later they decided that they need to show the friction between Janet and David a little earlier, so they took a bit of the driving to school scene and put it earlier in the movie. Which is just confusing like hell because it makes no sense.

Yeah, that's what I assumed, too after watching it a second time.

TeeJay wrote:

Him taking off his jacket is not that confusing. They just made a tiny cut there. He comes home, finds his mom home, asks her why she's there. The camera stops. Off camera, he takes off his jacket, Janet explains that he needs to quit the private school and go to Ridgeline. Camera is switched on again. David melts down. It's not that hard to follow, is it?

Well, for me it is confusing, because I think it's weird when he suddenly has no jacket anymore with no indication that he's about to take it off, but that's just me and you don't have to care about that. It doesn't mean that I couldn't follow the storyline. I could follow it. I just didn't expect a missing jacket, that's all.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 22 Oct 06 :: 23:30

We talked about the jump cuts before. It's a stylistic thing that I don't care for at all because it lifts you out of the flow of the story. It's kind of an arrogant, film school gimmick that just needs to go away. Mainly because I really wanted to know how many girls David had kissed and Avelino chose to jump-cut right there.

Deb

shrams · 23 Oct 06 :: 01:03

I got the impression David was either going to say, "None," or something clever to indicate he wanted to kiss her.

I found the jump cuts very irritating, and the overall continuity was confusing. I prefer stories that are told in linear fashion, with very few exceptions. But I do think Chris gave a great performance there.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 23 Oct 06 :: 01:17

Yeah, I think we all kind of have the same complaints about the way the movie was put together. Avelino could've made it more straight forward and it might've gained a wider audience. Instead, he tried to be clever and left a lot of people cold. But almost universally, people write about how powerful the Janet/David story is. I'd love to see that cut together normally, like an episode of a TV series, sans jump cuts. And I wish it had been shot with a more interesting color palatte as well.

Deb

TeeJay · 24 Oct 06 :: 00:01

So here's my first ever story that involves one of Chris's characters which is not Adam:

Gunshot Residue - by TeeJay

Let me know what you thought, I love the feedback. Warning: Rated R for violence and language!

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 24 Oct 06 :: 01:16

Looks great on the page and I think it rocks.

Deb

Chris Marquette Message Board

#26 06 Sep 06 :: 20:07

Re: American Gun

#27 06 Sep 06 :: 20:58

Re: American Gun

#28 06 Sep 06 :: 23:24

Re: American Gun

#29 22 Sep 06 :: 09:22

Re: American Gun

#30 22 Sep 06 :: 11:59

Re: American Gun

#31 22 Sep 06 :: 15:28

Re: American Gun

#32 22 Sep 06 :: 15:56

Re: American Gun

#33 04 Oct 06 :: 21:40

Re: American Gun

#34 04 Oct 06 :: 21:46

Re: American Gun

#35 04 Oct 06 :: 21:52

Re: American Gun

#36 22 Oct 06 :: 07:23

Re: American Gun

#37 22 Oct 06 :: 07:59

Re: American Gun

#38 22 Oct 06 :: 11:23

Re: American Gun

#39 22 Oct 06 :: 13:13

Re: American Gun

#40 22 Oct 06 :: 19:33

Re: American Gun

#41 22 Oct 06 :: 19:54

Re: American Gun

#42 22 Oct 06 :: 20:01

Re: American Gun

#43 22 Oct 06 :: 21:54

Re: American Gun

#44 22 Oct 06 :: 22:34

Re: American Gun

#45 22 Oct 06 :: 22:55

Re: American Gun

#46 22 Oct 06 :: 23:30

Re: American Gun

#47 23 Oct 06 :: 01:03

Re: American Gun

#48 23 Oct 06 :: 01:17

Re: American Gun

#49 24 Oct 06 :: 00:01

Re: American Gun

#50 24 Oct 06 :: 01:16

Re: American Gun

Board footer