Cinematic Storytellers

POSTED BY: JEWELSTAITEFAN
UPDATED: Sunday, July 26, 2026 16:22
VIEWED: 9028
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Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
(As an aside, her career has taken a sideways turn. My guess is that her management team went for the quick dollar and advised her wrong by placing in front of her such iffy vehicles as Carrie and Let the Right One In, both remakes of very strong originals with cult followings. There are some movies better left alone - Some Like It Hot and Casablanca come to mind).

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The idea of Chloe doing Carrie is ludicrous to me.

I'm not saying that Sissy Spacek was ugly, but it was believable that she was an awkward teen that got bullied by the popular girls in high school with her looks.

There's no way that you could do that with Chloe and make it believable. They didn't even try from the scenes that I've seen of the movie. You're supposed to believe that somebody who looks like the head cheerleader in the school is being bullied by the popular girls?

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I failed to complete my response above.

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Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:

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Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:
We have discussed great films, our favorite films, wonderful performances, and one concept that I have not quite put into words before was the masters or one-timers who really merge storytelling and the majesty of cinema.

This is about Directors who brilliantly intertwine the cinematic experience while magically telling a story.

Lately we have heard laments of the dearth of wonderful films. Sometimes the technical or effects portion of a film, while successful, overshadow the story - or fail to supplant it. Sometimes the film has a wonderful story, but falls short of incorporating all of the tools, tricks, and breathtaking nature of the cinematic experience.

I hope to concentrate on films of the past 10 years, and perhaps stretching to the past 20 years - how many have there been?

I suspect in this concept will wear thinly in the category of Rom-Com, and perhaps Comedy. The stories might be great, but how much of the full silver screen potential is realized with these flicks? It seems Rom-Coms are largely dependent upon the music, attractiveness of the stars, and performances of the stars. Many seem to be just as ready for TV as the big screen. I am not sure if there are any which qualify, but expect not a lot. Perhaps some Adam Sandler works have encompassed a large portion of the cinematic capabilities.

Some great storytelling have been overshadowed by fiscal miscalculations, or major plot holes. Hopefully we can overlook minor traps of inconsistency, incontinuity, plot holes, if the cinematic experience helped cover or overlook other small problems.

One possibility is Kick-Ass, but I wonder if the Director was merely blessed enough to capture Chloe Grace Morentz at the right time, playing off Nick Cage. Hard for me to separate.

Past Examples:



So, who do you think have been truly gifted with their application of cinematic magic while crafting a story to tell you?

My suggestions:

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Wow, JSF really good topic! No, great topic!!

So much to comment on here, so I'll keep it as simple as possible.
First, I totally agree with your "Past Examples" list, bravo! More on that later.
I have some comments, however, about your contemporary list. Don't worry, I'll be civil.

Instead of going over everything I like about your Contemporary list, I'm going to pick out those that gave me pause...

JJ Abrams - Now, let me preface my comments by saying that I ordinarily like his work (Fringe - although a TV series is among his very best work, and SW Episode 7 was a crowd pleaser with several minor flaws) with Star Trek I enjoyed the set up within the story, but there were some elements that I had minor issues with. Overall I liked it, but for me, there needs to be so much more. For example Aliens, or perhaps Braveheart, a good solid story with solid acting, pacing and so on.
Star Trek, at times, felt a little forced, but parts of it (especially the first act) were excellent. Again, this is me and what I look for in a film - the storytelling must be genuine and solid through and through, in every aspect (Edge of Tomorrow comes to mind).

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I felt this reboot was one of the best Star Trek films, had a decent and original story, and brought it all to the screen in attention grabbing spectacle, which could not have been adequately presented on small screen.
Although all of the new Star Trek films seem to spend all their time on Earth, this first one was the only one with a decent excuse in the story.

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Michael Bay - Okay, I liked Armageddon and the first Transformers, but I wouldn't say that the cinematic part of the equation was solid through and through. Good stories, but not great. My quibble with Bay is his cinematic presentation, SFX and pacing. It's almost like he's racing us, the audience, towards the end of the movie. He films at a very frenetic pace. I prefer my stories told at a pace so

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