xXx

[Tyjenks]

Vin Diesel is ever so dreamy. I am more than ready for a new, semi-original, action-movie, bad-ass character. Vin may just fit the bill.

[Mark Asher]

That movie looks pretty crazy from the trailers.

We need a remake of the Magnificent Seven in an contemporary urban setting with all the action heroes. You could even have Clint Eastwood in there as the old guy leader type. No Jean Claude Van Damme, though.

[Toddy]

Just remember that it would have to be PG13, though. XXX is supposed to be some kind of dynamic, aggressive new secret agent type, yet the only things dyanmic and aggressive about him seem to be his tattoos. Pretty soon R-rated films are going to be as common as NC-17 ones.

[DavidCPA]

I believe you can fit plenty of action, violence and other mayhem in a PG13 film. What specifically do you think an R rating would add beyond nudity and sexual situations*.

-DavidCPA

*Please note that some nudity and sexual situations can be a good thing in the right film :D

[mtkafka]

BTW, Vin Diesel is a Dungeons anD Dragons Dork! Tripple DDD more like it!

from IGN.com http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/366/366020p1.html

"Being that Diesel is into D&D, the first part of the interview takes place at the Wizards
of the Coast hobby shop at the Beverly Center mall in Los Angeles. Author John
Brodie writes, "the movie star strolled into a Wizards of the Coast hobby shop [and]
started reading a spell-casting manual." Brodie also notes that Diesel started
playing D&D when he was twelve, when a friend's mother started Sunday-night
games and he was invited to attend.

"So, how's your campaign going?" Diesel asks a 23-year-old gamer in the store.
They discuss the guy's campaign, and the guy then invites Diesel to participate in an
upcoming round, saying, "My buddies will never believe Vin Diesel is into D&D."
Diesel declines the invitation, but he autographs the guy's new D&D manual and
says, "Bring that to your campaign." And leaving the mall, Diesel and his childhood
friend and Dungeon Master, Marcus Abularach, discuss the issues relating to the
guy's hybrid character; a half man, half orc.

Now, here's the part that's even more interesting: While Diesel was in the store he
purchased around $800 worth of D&D paraphernalia. His reason for doing this,
Diesel tells Brodie: research. Research for something he calls, "One of my secret
projects." It's this project that Abularach has come to L.A. to write."

etc

[Jaysun]

This movie looks like one big commercial for Mountain Dew.

[Brad Grenz]

Tell me about it. It's secret agents... TO THE EXTREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEME!!!!!!

[Supertanker]

Vin Diesel is . . . La Femme Nikita!

[mtkafka]

He's supposedly trying to get the rights to a fantasy series for a movie... supposedly of a known Dark Elf from the Forgotten Realms... thats the rumor I heard from a friend who plays DnD with him.

Heehaw, I'm lying~! :D

etc

[Ron Dulin]

For some reason, I'm excited about xxx. I liked The Fast and the Furious. I'm kinda hoping it's just a series of scenes in which Vin Diesel extreme sports himself over an exploding chalet or an exploding Ramada Inn or an exploding pyramid at Giza. And then Samuel Jackson walks by and makes some snappy comment like "23 ski-DON'T!" That would be a great movie. If there's a love story or a regular story, I'm just gonna plug my ears and wait for the aforementioned extreme sporting over explosions.

[Murph]

Vin Diesel just irritates me. Can't put my finger on it, but I just don't like that guy.

[wumpus]

I'm kinda hoping it's just a series of scenes in which Vin Diesel extreme sports himself over an exploding chalet or an exploding Ramada Inn or an exploding pyramid at Giza. And then Samuel Jackson walks by and makes some snappy comment like "23 ski-DON'T!" That would be a great movie. If there's a love story or a regular story, I'm just gonna plug my ears and wait for the aforementioned extreme sporting over explosions
Dude. I'm having flashbacks to the Ninja movie scripts. Real.. ultimate.. POWER!

[Anonymous]

"Vin Diesel just irritates me. Can't put my finger on it, but I just don't like that guy."

maybe it's his fake, ultra-macho screen name. the guy's real name is mark vincent.

...and that's the end of that chapter.

[Murph]

Well, that might just be a good start to that chapter. :)

I think it's way more than that. He seems to be anti-charismatic, and comes across in interviews and such as just...well, dumb as a post.

And my wife thinks he's ugly. :)

Confession: I've never seen a movie with him in it. Really don't have much desire to, based on what I've seen of him outside the movies.

[Bub, Andrew]

C'mon Murph, you've seen Saving Private Ryan haven't you? He's the Ranger that gets killed by the evil sniper in the ruined French town.

[Tyjenks]

Huh?!? I think he is kinda personable in reviews and more of a regular guy. He makes movies that are fun to watch.

He only made scale in Saving Private Ryan and until 2 or 3 years ago he was still sleeping on a friends couch to save money. He is 35 I think and has been working at acting for 20 years. That is a long ass time to be a "working actor" and not give up.

I thought "Pitch Black" was decent, but without Vin it would have been horrible. He was O.K. in Boiler Room, but that damn Ben Affleck ruined that whole movie for me. He is awful. Though he is a big computer gaming buff.

Diesel talked about his upcoming stuff with John Stewart. Something called "The Chronicles of Riddick" that is going to be a trilogy and something else I cannot remember for the life of me.

To you who do not like him, I give a hearty Booooooo!!! Hissss!!

[mtkafka]

He's the Iron Giant! He's cool. That was a good movie!

etc

[Dave Long]

Chronicles of Riddick is a planned trilogy based on the character Riddick from Pitch Black. Given how cool that character is, I'm really hoping it doesn't end up on the backburner given Diesel's newfound fame. I very much enjoyed Pitch Black. I've always been a fan of David Twohy's (director, writer) films.

--Dave

[Bub, Andrew]

He's also going to play Hannibal in an upcoming movie about the Carthagian wars. Pretty cool, until you hear that the Gladiator script-writer is handling the writing....

Anyway, I like Vin too. He is personable and not dumb at all. He's pretty savvy for this business and he seems much more grounded than Arnold and the rest.

Newsweek suggested that his appeal was because his Italian/Black ancestry makes him just enough of a mix that almost every ethnicity can claim him as their own. Interesting theory, which gains some water when you hear that he financed and wrote his own little short film where he played an actor auditioning for all kinds of ethnic roles. From Jewish to Hispanic, Italian, Black, etc., and not getting the part because he didn't fit each one perfectly, even though he auditioned for each one well. Canny move, it's a nice way to show range and make a statement at the same time.

I heard that his little film was shown at Cannes and led to him getting the part in Saving Private Ryan (Spielberg was impressed) and also in Pitch Black. Don't quote me on that exactly, but I think the story goes something like that.

[Tyjenks]

I had totally forgotten that was his character's name. He even eluded to that on The Daily Show and I blanked on it here. I believe the movie he is about to start is a fantasy based flick and he said that name as well. Maybe I should refrain from referencing interviews from which I remember practically none of the facts.

Thanks for the back up Dave. :)

[DavidCPA]

Mr. Diesel's info on imdb.com is here:

http://us.imdb.com/Name?Diesel,+Vin

I liked his major movies - Pitch Black, Fast & The Furious, small part in Saving Private Ryan, hell he was decent in Boiler Room.

From what I understand of his story, he sounds like a guy who really wanted to be an actor and worked long and hard to get where he is. His look (shaved head, muscles, voice) probably prevented him from getting some parts.

More power to him.

-DavidCPA

[Murph]

Umm...Well, uh...I've, sorta, never seen Saving Private Ryan. So, no -- I've never seen a movie with him in it.

I've only seen a couple of interviews with him, and I haven't been impressed. Maybe I've just seen the wrong ones, though.

[Lando]

You've never seen SPR?

What's wrong with you man?!?!? Begone from the Movies forum until you
have!!

[Met_K]

Umm...Well, uh...I've, sorta, never seen Saving Private Ryan. So, no -- I've never seen a movie with him in it.

I've only seen a couple of interviews with him, and I haven't been impressed. Maybe I've just seen the wrong ones, though.

Shut up, Murph, just shut up.

And you wonder why people slam you on here? Christ, you open your mouth on things you know nothing about more than wumpus and I put together.

[Met_K]

Newsweek suggested that his appeal was because his Italian/Black ancestry makes him just enough of a mix that almost every ethnicity can claim him as their own. Interesting theory, which gains some water when you hear that he financed and wrote his own little short film where he played an actor auditioning for all kinds of ethnic roles. From Jewish to Hispanic, Italian, Black, etc., and not getting the part because he didn't fit each one perfectly, even though he auditioned for each one well. Canny move, it's a nice way to show range and make a statement at the same time.

I heard that his little film was shown at Cannes and led to him getting the part in Saving Private Ryan (Spielberg was impressed) and also in Pitch Black. Don't quote me on that exactly, but I think the story goes something like that.

The movie is called Multi-Facial. It's widely regarded as one of those independent movies that never quite made it to Cannes because of the very reasons he set forth in the movie, and was never really thought being shown at Sundance (over-rated, over-blown, over-hyped film festival, imho) because it didn't have some kind of radical new take on the way the world works or wasn't some extreme look at the ethno-sensi-stellar-biblio-righteousness of who gives a rats ass.

It's an excellent film, and really shows just what Vin can do as an actor, director, and writer. (random yelling follows---) Hating him for his moniker is just about as stupid as hating him for one or two interviews you've seen. If you're going to hate him, at least be intelligent about it. See SPR. See this film. See Pitch Black. Be intelligent, don't be ignorant.

[Dave Long]

Wow...I hadn't checked the IMDB listing for Diesel lately. Riddick has Twohy as director again. Even better, check the writing credit...Akiva Goldsman, who wrote Lost in Space, which is a wonderful love letter to the TV show and David Hayter, the voice of Solid Snake working with Twohy.

I really loved Pitch Black, both for Vin's character and the incredible look of the film. He's a true anti-hero in that one. It's a great character to build a unique franchise around. It's also something Diesel loved doing so that hopefully means he'll make sure it gets done.

Thanks for posting the link DavidCPA!

--Dave

[Tyjenks]

And here I thought I would get a couple of replies and this thread would die. We have an entire Vin bio, his future projects, many board regulars chiming in, and yet another attack on Murph. I guess that is why they paid Vin like 10 or 20 million dollars for xXx.

[Dave Long]

I've been a fan of his since The Iron Giant. Pitch Black was one of only a handful of movies I saw in theatres that year (babies and all that...), and I was even more impressed after that. I really enjoyed The Fast and the Furious. It's one of the few "racing" movies that actually gets it mostly right. I'm hoping to see Triple X sometime in the next week.

--Dave

[Derek Smart [3000AD]]

I've only seen a couple of interviews with him, and I haven't been impressed. Maybe I've just seen the wrong ones, though.

Yeah, you must have been watching Disney channel.

I've seen a LOT of interviews with him in it and have been impressed with every one. In fact, I just saw him on Today Show a few days ago.

XxX is just what it was billed to be. A senseless action movie. For that, it excels in spades. It was quite a joyous romp. Heck, I enjoyed it more than I did Episode II in fact.

Can't wait for the sequel to Pitch Black!!

[Murph]

I've only seen a couple of interviews with him, and I haven't been impressed. Maybe I've just seen the wrong ones, though.

Yeah, you must have been watching Disney channel.

Funny! Nah, my wife's an MTv junkie, and my...two, I think, exposures to him have been there. One was when he was accepting an award at the last MTv Movie Awards, where he managed to utter not a single comprehensible sentence. (Maybe he was just drunk, I don't know...But he certainly didn't come across as intelligent or charismatic there.) The other was just a very short interview -- more of a blurb, really -- that they did with him recently, and I'll confess that it wasn't enough of a glimpse into his phyche to be fair to judge him by. So, I was just going by quick impressions...Maybe that wasn't fair. I apologize -- I had no idea so many of you would be so offended by the fact that I didn't like him!


And you wonder why people slam you on here? Christ, you open your mouth on things you know nothing about more than wumpus and I put together.

Oh, that's harsh! :-) Mostly, it's just Wumpus, though. And I've never "wondered" why -- that's just how he is. And I know that I've probably deserved it a few times. I didn't realize that I wasn't allowed to chime in with quick impressions of actors unless I've seen at least 45 minutes of footage of them.


You've never seen SPR?

What's wrong with you man?!?!? Begone from the Movies forum until you
have!!

Ya know, I just haven't gotten around to it. I intend to, I think, but I'm not really big on war movies, and my wife isn't big on gore, so...We'll see.

Should I put that in my "sig"? "Murph -- who hasn't seen Saving Private Ryan."

[Jason Becker]

It was just plain boring. Yes a massive action movie with tons of stunts that was still boring. Could they do just one more motorcycle jumping stunt...please. How about him drinking a martini while kissing some , I'm sure that would be cool... The avalanche was descent then they had to drag it out too long. Or how about the end where he just sits on the sub/hydrofoil as if he doesn't know what to do. They had like 2 minutes from several angles of him just riding it...and riding it...


If your a 16 year old Mountain Drew/Jolt chugging extreme sports freak this movie is for you.

[Lunch of Kong]

The tagline for this movie should have been:

"Bitches, come!"

[DrCrypt]

XXX just came out in Dublin. I loved it. This is the best thing about it, though:

Vin Diesel's passionate "pro-Xtreme-Sports, anti-alcohol-and-smoking" philosophy. The entire film is basically one gigantic cinematic excuse for Vin Diesel to death-defyingly jump his motorcycle over stuff, whether that is a Columbian cocaine factory, a castle wall or a four-thousand foot suspended bridge. Yet the man who doesn't even seem to consider for a second that there might be an easier and less dangerous way to eliminate a wooden shack than snowboarding an avalanche down onto it spends a good portion of the film preaching against the evils of drinking and smoking.

How serious is Vin Diesel about not smoking? At one point in the film, he shoots a guy in the face with a bazooka because he is smoking a cigarette.

Runner-up in "the best part of XXX" awards: The end credit sequence = what happens when you give a 14 year old a million dollars and a copy of Photoshop. Actually, the entire film is like an ode to the wet-dream of a 14 year old. One dialogue sequence that had the twelve year old next to me pumping his fist and enthusiastically whispering "BURNED!" to himself:

Vin Diesel: <says something ending with the word "complication">
Asia: Oooo, a word with four syllables. Maybe you need some ice for the headache.
Vin: Yeah, I can chisel it off your black heart. If I could find it.

[Jack]

I haven't seen this film, but DrCrypt, you just single-handledly made me sure never to see it. That is truly awful dialogue. Not even Schwartzenegger could get away with something like that.

[Brad Grenz]

The bad part isn't even him saying it, but that someone wrote that!

[Murph]

And got paid to do so.

[Brad Grenz]

Crap, they didn't stop the check? Fire that secretary.

[Anders Hallin]

The thing that actually upset me the most (I can manage to ignore story or look at it with some humour, meaning that I didn't get stark raving mad from the "bitches, come", girl in bedroom and the other stuff) were the two instances where they broke the fundamental rule of movie dialogue. The first I could almost overlook, because then you can comment on the fact that he only said it to have a "snappy" one-liner when he killed the smoker but the second.. Can anyone please explain to me why that Czech woman says "I know how to fly the plane"? I mean, there was no sense behind that line, at all. I've not studied film much, but like the first thing they told us when we were writing scripts was "always have conflict".