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Author Topic: The Prestige Stu Jamieson Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 524 From: Buccan, Qld, Australia Registered: Jan 2008 posted 02-27-2016 04:29 AM                     Yes, this movie is a cracker! I haven't watched this in a few years. Must be time for a rewatch. I loved how the film itself was structured like a magic trick with the "the prestige" reveal at the end. It must be about time for another Nolan mind twister.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-27-2016 09:40 AM                     The movie was good, theatrically speaking but I am sorry. The magic falls flat. Magic is not about knowing some secret. It's not about trap doors and secret gizmos. Magic is about the charisma, personality and stage presence of the performer. The "prestige" does not come after the effect is complete and the audience applauds. The real prestige comes before the audience even walks into the theater. Copperfield. Burton. Penn and Teller. Blackstone. Slydini. Mullica. Siegfried and Roy. These magicians all have totally different styles but they all have something in common. Every one of these people could stand on an empty stage wearing a t-shirt and blue jeans and they could still impress me. I am a magician and I have performed in public. I know how many if not most magician's tricks are done. I don't know them all but I don't want to know them all. I don't want to know because I like watching Penn and Teller, Copperfield or the others. I enjoy their performances well enough that the method is unimportant. This is the problem with the movie, "The Prestige." It centers on the method, the gizmos and the secrets but not the charisma of the performers. The actors performed their parts well but the writing of the characters was poor. They were uninteresting people whose reputations are based on some mechanical birdcage or some mystical transportation machine. Frankly I don't care if a birdcage disappears or if a man can transport through space. I care whether the person performing the illusion is interesting to watch. None of the characters was interesting. They only need to hire the right "ingénieur” to invent the right contraptions. I was disappointed to find out that the magician had paid somebody to build him a duplication machine. It fell flat. The philosophical, ethical question about whether a person would kill for fame and fortune is an interesting one but it doesn't stand up against the contrived, simplified, superficial and mechanical plot of the rest of the movie. Overall, I give "The Prestige" a C+.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 02-27-2016 03:02 PM                        Interesting. I've pretty much found all magicians to be repulsive people. Except Penn and Teller.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-27-2016 03:18 PM                        I wonder why that is? I know a bunch of magicians due to being on the fair board here (we always book a magic act) and they're all great guys.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 02-27-2016 05:07 PM                        I'm talking about stage presence. David Copperfield? I wanna punch him in the face with extreme momentum. David Blaine? His face needs to be hit even harder. Perhaps even with a baseball bat. Right to the jaw. That makes me smile. I hate magicians. Except Penn and Teller.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-27-2016 07:15 PM                     If the state of modern magic is the likes of David Blaine and Chris Angel, I'm with you. I hate magicians. Using camera cuts and stooges in place of skill isn't magic. Penn and Teller are great. I saw them in Vegas. Their act is real. What you see them do on TV is virtually the same you would see them do on stage in Vegas. They are both excellent magicians. They are excellent performers. You need to watch some of the classic magicians of the early to mid 1900's like Melbourne Christopher or Dai Vernon. There are the guys like Harry Anderson and you can't forget Henning. A guy named Tom Mullica just died, earlier this month. He's the guy who used to eat an entire pack of lit cigarettes. Mullica worked in the 70's and 80's. His jokes are really dated but his act is (was ) good. If you like card hustlers, Ricky Jay is a must-see! He's one of the top card men alive in the world, if not THE top. He's easily in the top five card hustlers there ever was. Personal preference being what it is... It was still a free country, last time I checked... I'm not saying that people have to like magic but I don't think it's fair to say that you don't like magicians based on the performances of a few fair-to-middling guys like Angel or Blaine.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-27-2016 08:31 PM                        I agree about those real famous guys - they're not so much magicians as they are just standing there while the props do all the work. If you ever hear of a guy named Jeff Martin "the blond curly haired magician" performing near you (most likely at a fair or some such event), try to see him. That guy is the best at close-up magic I've ever seen. I would like to see Penn & Teller, I think they are great. They did a thing on Letterman one time where they started with a little can of rice, covered it up, and then uncovered it to reveal the rice had turned to live maggots. Then they covered it again, and this time the maggots all turned into live flies which flew out of the can and went everywhere. Letterman was swatting at flies through the whole rest of the show. Funniest shit ever.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-27-2016 08:48 PM                     There are some stage illusions that are cool if they rely on audience psychology or the skill and timing of the performers. Penn and Teller's version of "Blast Off" is an example. http://youtu.be/UYTmEVFL_NA The girl in the box is often doing twice the work that the tuxedoed magician on the stage is doing! Personally, I prefer magic done with a stack of silver dollars to "big box" stage illusions, any day.  |  IP: Logged

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