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'Knives Out' Cements Rian Johnson as one of the Greatest Writer / Directors of This Era

digitalrelic

digitalrelic

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Oct 25, 2017
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Knives Out was brilliant. Kept the viewer on the edge of their seat guessing until the final shot. Beautiful cinematography, extremely tight script, very funny, and did a brilliant job using its' cast against their typical roles. Daniel Craig as a plodding detective with a southern drawl. Chris Evans as a cocky, sarcastic asshole. Anna De Armas, typically cast as a bit of a sex symbol, instead portrayed as naive, innocent, and conservative. Michael Shannon, usually an intelligent, intimidating force, as kind of a burnout goofball with a bad knee.

Can't wait to watch this again. One of the very best films of the year.

Between this, Brick, Looper, and The Last Jedi, I think it's safe to say Rian Johnson is one of the greatest writer/directors of our time, alongside Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, Christopher Nolan, Edgar Wright, and Darren Aronofsky.
 
Z-Beat

Z-Beat

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Oct 25, 2017
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digitalrelic said:
cast against their typical roles.
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digitalrelic said:
Chris Evans as a cocky, sarcastic asshole.
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digitalrelic said:
Daniel Craig as a plodding detective
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Heynongman!

Heynongman!

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Oct 25, 2017
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I'm excited to see this. I love a good whodunnit, and enjoyed Last Jedi a lot, especially his direction.
 
Speevy

Speevy

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Oct 26, 2017
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I mean it was good but I think he needs some more credits before you make this claim.
 
Jadax

Jadax

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Oct 26, 2017
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How is he one of the best lol?

Looper was good, Last Jedi was bad, Knives out looks good. Not going to mention Brick, it was good and not good kind of movie for me (watched it a long time ago and not since, and I remember thinking it was ok).
 
Tophat Jones

Tophat Jones

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Oct 26, 2017
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It was excellent.

I wish RJ would keep doing stuff like this. Much rather he pump out three original movies like KO than a trilogy of Star Wars movies
 
Zebesian-X

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Dec 3, 2018
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Those are some massive names you're putting him up there with. I think he could definitely get there if he keeps this quality up, but it's still too early to say for sure!
 
jml

jml

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Mar 9, 2018
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It cements him as a guy who makes pretty good blockbusters. He shouldn't be in the same sentence as guys like Paul Thomas Anderson yet.
 
GamerJM

GamerJM

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Nov 8, 2017
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His best work is still an episode of Breaking Bad IMO. The rest of his stuff I usually enjoy in spite of his directing styles.
 

Glenn

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Oct 27, 2017
2,307
He's good. Knives Out is in my top 5 of the year.. but he's nowhere near the other guys you listed
 
FTF

FTF

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Oct 28, 2017
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New York
digitalrelic said:
...I think it's safe to say Rian Johnson is one of the greatest writer/directors of our time, alongside Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, Christopher Nolan, Edgar Wright, and Darren Aronofsky.
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I like Looper, TLJ and Knives Out was really good...but this might be the most goddamn ridiculous thing I have ever read on ERA lol.
 
Z-Beat

Z-Beat

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GamerJM said:
His best work is still an episode of Breaking Bad IMO. The rest of his stuff I usually enjoy in spite of his directing styles.
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I didn't know what episode he directed but I took a flying leap and guessed "Fly" just because if he was gonna direct any episode about drug dealing tearing apart a family it's gonna be the weirdest one.


I loved that episode and Knives Out. I'm okay on Looper. No amount of these threads is gonna convince me to like TLJ. I just don't.
 
thefit

thefit

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Oct 25, 2017
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It's getting a bit much. People really got butthurt about his TLJ disaster and seem to be on constant defense mode for this dude.
 

SlumberingGiant

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Jul 2, 2019
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he's alright. people go crazy over this guy either way. Maybe if you only watch American films he's that good.
 
GamerJM

GamerJM

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Nov 8, 2017
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Z-Beat said:
I didn't know what episode he directed but I took a flying leap and guessed "Fly" just because if he was gonna direct any episode about drug dealing tearing apart a family it's gonna be the weirdest one.
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He did direct Fly, though the episode I'm referring to is Ozymandias.
 
Speevy

Speevy

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Oct 26, 2017
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Remember when he kickstarted Robert DeNiro's career and invented the crane shot.
 
Lausebub

Lausebub

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Nov 4, 2017
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I think he makes good, solid movies but I think all the people you listed and others like Denise Villeneuve are still above him.
 
Mivey

Mivey

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Oct 25, 2017
17,916
thefit said:
It's getting a bit much. People really got butthurt about his TLJ disaster and seem to be on constant defense mode for this dude.
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woah, thank you. Was wondering whether I dropped into some sort of parallel universe where weird nerds didn't feel the need to constantly bitch about how terrible TLJ is.
 
MrNewVegas

MrNewVegas

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Oct 27, 2017
10,754
Rian Johnson is a perfect melody of Scorsesse, Fincher and Hitchcock. He's truly the best of all time and he's done it and such few movies too. Truly incredible to be witnessing this.
 
Moppeh

Moppeh

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Oct 28, 2017
3,541
I don't think I agree.

I love Knives Out but that's the only film of his I've seen that resonated with me.
 
Z-Beat

Z-Beat

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Mivey said:
woah, thank you. Was wondering whether I dropped into some sort of parallel universe where weird nerds didn't feel the need to constantly bitch about how terrible TLJ is.
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We both know that's why this thread was made. It's always why. Every film that he makes from now until he retires will be why.
 
Robin

Robin

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Oct 25, 2017
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Knives Out, Looper, and TLJ were all fantastic. Knives Out really made my day, it was really well done. but more importantly it was cathartic in a way that I really needed.
 
PshycoNinja

PshycoNinja

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Oct 25, 2017
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People are really hyperbolic about this dude. His early films are fine. Looper is good. TLJ is well directed but poorly written and edited. Knives Out is just okay.
 
Edgar

Edgar

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Oct 29, 2017
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He's nowhere near Tarantino, Nolan, PTA, Aronofsky and others. Maybe wait a bit before claiming stuff like this. I remember Coogler was put on same pedestal after black panther
 
ScatheZombie

ScatheZombie

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Oct 26, 2017
399
TIL if you make a handful of slightly above average films, you can be called a legend.

He's closer to like... Gore Verbinski than the list you've cobbled together.

digitalrelic said:
cast against their typical roles...

Chris Evans as a cocky, sarcastic asshole.
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I mean, do you seriously not remember anything before 2011? Chris Evans was THE sarcastic asshole for most of the 2000s.
 
Speevy

Speevy

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Oct 26, 2017
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Seriously speaking, you don't need 100 films to be considered a legend, but Knives Out isn't an American classic or anything. It's a fun mystery with some snappy interplay between the very talented cast. I wasn't awestruck by any one particular scene or line. It was just extremely entertaining which is what a movie should be.

How you know you're watching a great director is that you can identify traits of their work so even when you don't know it's them, you think it's them or you realize it's someone using their techniques.
 
Dahbomb

Dahbomb

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Oct 25, 2017
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I have really liked all of his movies especially Knives Out but this is a bit hyperbolic and premature.
 
CloudWolf

CloudWolf

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Oct 26, 2017
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Lol no.

I loved Knives Out, OP, one of my faves of the year, but he's nowhere near any of those directors you mention.
 
Nappuccino

Nappuccino

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Oct 25, 2017
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I think he's great, but more of an A-tier to all of those S-tier directors.

I do think he's similar to Edgar Wright, at least when Wright isn't writing with Simon Pegg.
 
sir_crocodile

sir_crocodile

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Oct 25, 2017
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I certainly wouldn't say that. Haven't seen Brick, but Looper was decent but nothing special, and Last Jedi was pretty bad. Knives Out was certainly his best film I've seen by far, and I enjoyed it a lot, but putting him at the top next to some of those other names seems hyperbolic.
 
Rickelodeon

Rickelodeon

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Oct 25, 2017
453
his breaking bad episodes alone already cemented that for sure, the movies are just bonus

To me he's definitely on par with Edgar Wright at least, like Edgar i loved all of Rian's works so far
 
Waffles

Waffles

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Oct 27, 2017
1,792
I think Rian Johnson is brilliant and he's one of my favorite directors. But let's slow down a bit.
 
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