Ruffian Movie is on

[Danzig]

i was in the minority about seabiscuit. i thought they took a very good book, and turned it into typical hollywood garbage. the filming was good, the race scenes, but the actual writing, and the whole good vs evil crap...and then turning war admiral into some huge black monster of a horse, that was laughable.

[GenuineRisk]

You and I can be in the minority together about "Seabiscuit," Danzig. I loved the book and disliked the movie (and I really tried to like it). It's not the inaccuracies for me (I'm still watching the sucky "The Tudors," somehow) so much as the g*dd*mned narration. I hate narration in movies (with a few exceptions so don't y'all start sending me examples of excellent movies using narration because yes, I know there are some). In my opinion, film is a visual medium and if you can't tell the story purely through the pictures and the action then you're not telling it well.

As for "Ruffian"- I thought it was all right for what it was, but the story was weak. It's a story that doesn't have an inherent dramatic arc (whatever else one thinks about Ruffian, a story about a perfect filly who breaks down in her last race and is destroyed doesn't really have a dramatic arc from a storytelling point of view, while Seabiscuit's, for comparison, had more ups and downs than a rollercoaster, which is good for drama) All of the characters were essentially at the same place at the end of the film as they were in the beginning (the only way we knew it had permanently affected Nack's love affair with the track was through... yes, the g*dd*mn narration) and no one else was any different at the end. So, someone unfamiliar with Ruffian is left saying, "So what? Why bother to tell the story?"

I think I would tell my non-racing friends that the first two-thirds are pretty slow and the last third is incredibly sad.

[Stall Mucker]

I thought the movie was OK. More, I thought Bill Nack played to big a part and I don't remember him crossing the track before the race was over.
That aside, I was at Saratoga to see her and all I can report is that I never saw such a STUNNING Filly. Glad to be there. I dream for the day to see another.

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

You and I can be in the minority together about "Seabiscuit," Danzig. I loved the book and disliked the movie (and I really tried to like it). It's not the inaccuracies for me (I'm still watching the sucky "The Tudors," somehow) so much as the g*dd*mned narration. I hate narration in movies (with a few exceptions so don't y'all start sending me examples of excellent movies using narration because yes, I know there are some). In my opinion, film is a visual medium and if you can't tell the story purely through the pictures and the action then you're not telling it well.

As for "Ruffian"- I thought it was all right for what it was, but the story was weak. It's a story that doesn't have an inherent dramatic arc (whatever else one thinks about Ruffian, a story about a perfect filly who breaks down in her last race and is destroyed doesn't really have a dramatic arc from a storytelling point of view, while Seabiscuit's, for comparison, had more ups and downs than a rollercoaster, which is good for drama) All of the characters were essentially at the same place at the end of the film as they were in the beginning (the only way we knew it had permanently affected Nack's love affair with the track was through... yes, the g*dd*mn narration) and no one else was any different at the end. So, someone unfamiliar with Ruffian is left saying, "So what? Why bother to tell the story?"

I think I would tell my non-racing friends that the first two-thirds are pretty slow and the last third is incredibly sad.

wanna be my friend? cause your smart

[quote=Danzig]i was in the minority about seabiscuit. i thought they took a very good book, and turned it into typical hollywood garbage. the filming was good, the race scenes, but the actual writing, and the whole good vs evil crap...and then turning war admiral into some huge black monster of a horse, that was laughable.[/QUOT bet on vaca city flyer next out at hollywood