Fifty Shades of Grey

[Ninja Bunny]

And they had to get a butt double that didn't have tattoos.

So Dakota Johnson has at least one tattoo on her butt. Did I really need to know that?

[GoldenFleece]

Mar 4, 2015 3:33:43 GMT -4 Ninja Bunny said:

And they had to get a butt double that didn't have tattoos.

So Dakota Johnson has at least one tattoo on her butt. Did I really need to know that?

It wasn't because of Dakota having tattoos, or not (that could just be erased in post-production). There was a scene where Christian spanks Anastasia repeatedly and Dakota said she didn't want to be hit with a belt, so they were fine with using a double.

[Freelance Exorcist]

Mar 4, 2015 3:33:43 GMT -4 Ninja Bunny said:

And they had to get a butt double that didn't have tattoos.

So Dakota Johnson has at least one tattoo on her butt. Did I really need to know that?

I guess they blew the CGI budget on the merkin. Maybe the sequels will have more money for makeup.

[scarlet]

Feb 22, 2015 12:02:46 GMT -4 Hamatron said:

ETA: They don't think it will make more than the first Twilight.

Yeah, it won't in the U.S. Twilight made about $192M and FSoG is currently at $152M and it's been fading fast. It'll probably finish around $165M-$170M. Worldwide, though, it's over $500M--which I think is one of the seven signs of the apocalypse.

[Foo]

OK, I just saw this with a London audience (sophisticated!) and some thoughts:

Not as bad as I thought it would be, though the airplane rides were boring and repetitive. Audience laughed with the film and at it. They laughed at the parts where the film was trying to be funny (good sign) and laughed at it when it was awkward and stupid (the virginity conversation was just embarrassing for everyone involved).

I think Sam T-J is a good director. She did her level best. She had some interesting shots and got a good performance out of DJ. The screenplay needed about two more rewrites (missed opportunity not having Ana scream out of her safe word in the last scene). I also think that the screenplay, like the book, was too much tell and not enough show. Especially in all scenes with Christian telling Ana he doesn't do dates and the mr. sensitive guy stuff and that and that he's hardcore into S&M. We don't really see him acting that way on screen with her, so we don't really know and it rings false and sort of sociopathic (I KNOW, but that's not the intention of the film), as they do go on dates and stuff. Added scenes/montages about Christian in the past would have given the film and character some texture. Also, Ana was super bland in the book but sort of funny in the film. So Christian being humorless and robotic made it seem like SHE was the catch, not he, and you wondered why she would be into him at all, since he's no fun at all. Why does she fall in love with him? It's mystifying. In the book, it's because she's really stupid. But in the movie? Hmmm. They should have injected his character with some humor (and, no, "laters baby" doesn't fucking count). That being said, the screenplay is leaps and bounds better and more interesting than the godawful source material.

Jamie Dornan was not good in this. It's partly the writing and partly him. Miscast.

I was thinking throughout the movie (because it was sorta boring) that DJ was probably feeling ok doing all of these risqué scenes; not just because she's obviously a professional actress, but (putting myself in her shoes) being around a female director and someone who seems like such a stand-up and sensitive guy in real life, as JD appears to be, would have put me immediately at ease. Whereas JD (probably) felt miserable, and it came out in his performance, because it looks as if he couldn't quite get a handle on such a horrible character. As I said, it's partly the fault of the writer, but all of the scenes where he was supposed to inject a little humanity into the character just didn't really... go, and I think this has something to do with JD's fundamental discomfort with the role/material.

Unlike many, I don't think JD and DJ had no or negative chemistry; there was some. It's just when you watch JD and Gillian Anderson in The Fall, it's just really no comparison.

Bravo to STJ for making the source material somewhat palatable. I'd give it a C+. If the movie ended with her just leaving him (no sequels), grade would be higher.

[Freelance Exorcist]

So basically, the talented individuals involved managed the difficult task of taking source material that was abysmal and elevating it to mediocre. I'm not snarking, I really think STJ, Kelly Marcel and Dakota Johnson did their best. Given how bad the books were and how much EL James meddled in the production, mediocrity was probably the very best anyone could expect.

This gets a sequel, but Pacific Rim doesn't. My "can't even" level is at zero right now.

[Deleted]

Mar 14, 2015 18:26:03 GMT -4 Foo said:

OK, I just saw this with a London audience (sophisticated!) and some thoughts:

Not as bad as I thought it would be, though the airplane rides were boring and repetitive. Audience laughed with the film and at it. They laughed at the parts where the film was trying to be funny (good sign) and laughed at it when it was awkward and stupid (the virginity conversation was just embarrassing for everyone involved).

I think Sam T-J is a good director. She did her level best. She had some interesting shots and got a good performance out of DJ. The screenplay needed about two more rewrites (missed opportunity not having Ana scream out of her safe word in the last scene). I also think that the screenplay, like the book, was too much tell and not enough show. Especially in all scenes with Christian telling Ana he doesn't do dates and the mr. sensitive guy stuff and that and that he's hardcore into S&M. We don't really see him acting that way on screen with her, so we don't really know and it rings false and sort of sociopathic (I KNOW, but that's not the intention of the film), as they do go on dates and stuff. Added scenes/montages about Christian in the past would have given the film and character some texture. Also, Ana was super bland in the book but sort of funny in the film. So Christian being humorless and robotic made it seem like SHE was the catch, not he, and you wondered why she would be into him at all, since he's no fun at all. Why does she fall in love with him? It's mystifying. In the book, it's because she's really stupid. But in the movie? Hmmm. They should have injected his character with some humor (and, no, "laters baby" doesn't fucking count). That being said, the screenplay is leaps and bounds better and more interesting than the godawful source material.

Jamie Dornan was not good in this. It's partly the writing and partly him. Miscast.

I was thinking throughout the movie (because it was sorta boring) that DJ was probably feeling ok doing all of these risqué scenes; not just because she's obviously a professional actress, but (putting myself in her shoes) being around a female director and someone who seems like such a stand-up and sensitive guy in real life, as JD appears to be, would have put me immediately at ease. Whereas JD (probably) felt miserable, and it came out in his performance, because it looks as if he couldn't quite get a handle on such a horrible character. As I said, it's partly the fault of the writer, but all of the scenes where he was supposed to inject a little humanity into the character just didn't really... go, and I think this has something to do with JD's fundamental discomfort with the role/material.

Unlike many, I don't think JD and DJ had no or negative chemistry; there was some. It's just when you watch JD and Gillian Anderson in The Fall, it's just really no comparison.

Bravo to STJ for making the source material somewhat palatable. I'd give it a C+. If the movie ended with her just leaving him (no sequels), grade would be higher.

I agree 100%. And I also think that Dornan was such a fail in the role because there was no humanity to latch onto. He was playing a fantasy, specifically EL James' fantasy man. How do you turn that into a three-dimensional character? I don't think that it is possible.

[Augustus]

Considering EL James pretty much nixed most of the rewrites, this outcome was inevitable. And she seriously wants to have the sole right to write the screenplay for the sequel?! Good grief, that will be one helluva train wreck.

[Witchie]

Sam Taylor-Johnson has left the franchise.

EW

[Ninja Bunny]

The first rat to leave the sinking ship.