Well heil Hitler, bitch.
― Eric H., Tuesday, 29 November 2011 18:20 (twelve years ago) link
Harvey Weinstein's cache of NYFCC members' horsefucking photos have carried the day again!
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 29 November 2011 18:33 (twelve years ago) link
Actually, the movie looks kinda cute for real.
― Eric H., Tuesday, 29 November 2011 18:40 (twelve years ago) link
If it was between that and Moneyball, I'm guessing they chose correctly.
It's no more special than the OSS movies, really.
― Simon H., Tuesday, 29 November 2011 18:49 (twelve years ago) link
And who paid attention to them?
Indie Spirits (glad to see In the Family up for First Film... but UGH Bellflower, maybe the year's most repulsive):
Best Feature
50/50BeginnersDrive Take ShelterThe Artist The Descendants
Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, The ArtistMike Mills, BeginnersJeff Nichols, Take ShelterAlexander Payne, The DescendantsNicolas Winding Refn, Drive
Best Screenplay
Joseph Cedar, FootnoteMichel Hazanavicius, The ArtistTom McCarthy, Win WinMike Mills, BeginnersAlexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, The Descendants
Best First Feature
Another Earth In the FamilyMargin CallMartha Marcy May MarleneNatural Selection Director
Best First Screenplay
Mike Cahill, Brit Marling, Another EarthJ.C. Chandor, Margin CallPatrick deWitt, TerriPhil Johnston, Cedar RapidsWill Reiser, 50/50
John Cassavetes Award – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000
BellflowerCircumstanceHello LonesomePariah The Dynamiter
Best Female Lead
Lauren Ambrose, Think of MeRachael Harris, Natural SelectionAdepero Oduye, PariahElizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May MarleneMichelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Best Male Lead
Demián Bichir, A Better LifeJean Dujardin, The ArtistRyan Gosling, DriveWoody Harrelson, RampartMichael Shannon, Take Shelter
Best Supporting Female
Jessica Chastain, Take ShelterAnjelica Huston, 50/50Janet McTeer, Albert NobbsHarmony Santana, Gun Hill RoadShailene Woodley, The Descendants
Best Supporting Male
Albert Brooks, DriveJohn Hawkes, Martha Marcy May MarleneChristopher Plummer, BeginnersJohn C. Reilly, Cedar RapidsCorey Stoll, Midnight in Paris
Best Cinematography
Joel Hodge, BellflowerBenjamin Kasulke, The Off HoursDarius Khondji, Midnight in ParisGuillaume Schiffman, The ArtistJeffrey Waldron, The Dynamiter
Best Documentary
An African ElectionBill Cunningham New YorkThe InterruptersThe Redemption of General Butt NakedWe Were Here
Best International Film
A SeparationMelancholiaShameThe Kid With a BikeTyrannosaur
Robert Altman Award (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
Margin Call
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 29 November 2011 18:51 (twelve years ago) link
UGH Bellflower, maybe the year's most repulsive
So you really do hate anything that excites 20- and 30-something straight male movie fans, huh.
― Eric H., Tuesday, 29 November 2011 18:54 (twelve years ago) link
or, as Glenn Kenny called the star-director, misogynist closet cases.
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 29 November 2011 18:57 (twelve years ago) link
Better just skip Drive imo.
― Eric H., Tuesday, 29 November 2011 18:57 (twelve years ago) link
If we still lived in a Roger Corman world, Bellflower would play drive-ins under the title Fuckin' Bitches, Man.
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 29 November 2011 18:58 (twelve years ago) link
I'll never understand how people watch Bellflower and take the woman-hating at face value.
― Simon H., Wednesday, 30 November 2011 00:51 (twelve years ago) link
This was Armond's five for the S&S poll apparently:
IncendiesRise of the Planet of the ApesAttack The BlockPaulFilm socialisme
Attack The Block tied for twelfth in the overall list
― Number None, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 11:57 (twelve years ago) link
planning to see Incendies and Paul in the next 10 days...
It's arguably the kind of face value that's a secret to the filmmaker, like Tarantino's racism.
― Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 15:02 (twelve years ago) link
Had no idea Armond was so big on Incendies.
― Simon H., Wednesday, 30 November 2011 15:36 (twelve years ago) link
well he doesn't like Georges Melies!
http://cityarts.info/2011/11/25/how-unique-got-ordinary-hugo-is-scorsese%e2%80%99s-fantasy-autobiography/
― Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 15:44 (twelve years ago) link
There's a little truth in:
Scorsese seems to be imitating the pixilated world of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, a vision of Paris’s cultural heart that was authentically marvelous in Amelie, City of Forgotten Children and last year’s wondrous, underappreciated Micmacs.
Aside from the implication that Amelie is anything other than excrement souffle.
― Eric H., Wednesday, 30 November 2011 16:04 (twelve years ago) link
or that Micmacs was any good at all
― gukbe, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 16:05 (twelve years ago) link
authentically marvelous
more confirmation that I loathe adverbs.
― Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 16:07 (twelve years ago) link
Or that "pixilated" is a word choice.
― Eric H., Wednesday, 30 November 2011 16:07 (twelve years ago) link
not a fan of Mr Deeds Goes to Town?
― Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 16:15 (twelve years ago) link
To the extent it matters, Melancholia and Hugo were runners up at the NYFCC.
http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/movies/oscar_watch_nyfcc_artist_streep_cgtEJaBqTH0iqr9hhEmzpN
― Eric H., Wednesday, 30 November 2011 17:21 (twelve years ago) link
Not The Tree of Life.
― Eric H., Wednesday, 30 November 2011 17:22 (twelve years ago) link
Authentically marvelous?
― Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 17:26 (twelve years ago) link
has anyone warmed up to these Russian art movies Silent Souls, My Joy, etc? They're morbid as hell and yet I still can't get into em.
― Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 17:47 (twelve years ago) link
Huh...watched Attack the Block last night and I thought it was ok, but not great or anything.
― William (C), Wednesday, 30 November 2011 18:09 (twelve years ago) link
I agree. I much preferred "Submarine" in terms of film debuts from British comedians
― Number None, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 18:13 (twelve years ago) link
what is the guy who did Submarine known for? I have been putting that one off since the US reviews were "minor league Rushmore."
― Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 19:21 (twelve years ago) link
He's a very mannered comedic actor who's appeared in a couple of fairly well known UK sitcoms (The IT Crowd being the most prominent). It is very Wes Anderson but it's a little bit nastier than he normally is. The shots of a perpetually gloomy Swansea are quite lovely
― Number None, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 19:47 (twelve years ago) link
I think The IT Crowd has run on US cable, but I've never seen it.
Probably blowing off J Edgar screening (they sent a disc) so I can see A Dangerous Method tonight.
― Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 20:03 (twelve years ago) link
It is very Wes Anderson but it's a little bit nastier than he normally is. The shots of a perpetually gloomy Swansea are quite lovely
Submarine reminded me of what the Youth In Revolt movie should have been. I wish they'd been able to have a genuine 80s soundtrack instead of all the Alex Turner stuff. Noah Taylor & Sally Hawkins both superb as well-drawn parents.
Also features a Pink Floyd reference on a custom van, so it rules.
― Sandbox Grisso-McCain, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 20:12 (twelve years ago) link
They actually made a pilot for a US version of The IT Crowd with Ayoade playing the same character. It pretty much sank without trace though
― Number None, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 20:16 (twelve years ago) link
I liked the Alex Turner songs too. I think having a load of period pop songs would have been an Andersonism too far
― Number None, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 20:18 (twelve years ago) link
Perhaps. I imagine that--along with budget restrictions--was part of the reasoning. Though it still bugs me that the dad gives the kid his mix tapes from his own youth to listen to and we hear Alex Turner pretending to be Nick Drake/Cat Stevens/James Taylor etc. instead of the real deal.
― Sandbox Grisso-McCain, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 20:35 (twelve years ago) link
submarine was the most generic indie movie possible
― n/a, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 20:38 (twelve years ago) link
for something with absolutely no trace of originality in story, concept, or style, it wasn't that bad - the teen actors were good
― n/a, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 20:39 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.change.org/petitions/fox-searchlight-make-margaret-available-to-us-critics-and-other-pertinent-voting-bodies
― Simon H., Wednesday, 30 November 2011 20:42 (twelve years ago) link
that'd be nice, but a lost battle
― Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 20:46 (twelve years ago) link
The best kind.
Hmm. I think Mike D'Angelo (who I don't often agree with) has the take that most closely aligns with my own:
Glodell clearly knows these guys are pathetic, in my opinion; that a certain amount of genuine adolescent wish-fulfillment creeps in only lends the film a fascinating tension. Journey from dorky sweetness to epic misogynistic self-pity is abrupt and bracing, beautifully aided by the sulfurous color scheme, ultra-shallow focus and grime-caked lens. Woodrow will now turn into Death Proof's Stuntman Mike.
― Simon H., Wednesday, 30 November 2011 21:17 (twelve years ago) link
I did not find the visuals anything beyond "cool" in rather familiar ways.
― Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 30 November 2011 21:18 (twelve years ago) link
Liked the Croney! No classic, but worked almost all the way for me. Mortensen a surprisingly menacing daddy Freud. Fassbender's best of the 3 big turns this year.
Don't quite understand all the critical potshots at the twitches/ grimaces of Knightley (who has the toughest role). Maybe disturbed masochists don't squeal and bug out precisely that way, but baseball GMs don't fly to other cities to talk trade, either, and that drew no objections in Moneyball.
― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 1 December 2011 15:32 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah I thought she was really strong, and every single person I saw it with in Colorado thinks I'm nuts.
― Simon H., Thursday, 1 December 2011 15:49 (twelve years ago) link
More Mark Harris spec:
http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/37585/oscarmetrics-do-george-clooney-leonardo-dicaprio-and-brad-pitt-need-an-oscar
― Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 1 December 2011 15:59 (twelve years ago) link
pretty much "nobody" likes J. Edgar, am I wrong?
― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 1 December 2011 16:08 (twelve years ago) link
just dropping into say fuck submarine, carry on. it was fine & funny & not even really insulted by 'minor-league rushmore', & the perfs were good. but yeah the soundtrack was awful & an awful idea, & its stylisms are good ambassadors for what's wrong with so much of that kind of gimmicky contemporary storytelling style, cf beginners, also; it all blunted the emotional affect of seeing any of the people in the film actually interact.
― Never translate German (schlump), Thursday, 1 December 2011 16:20 (twelve years ago) link
amy taubin <3d j edgar, fwiw - was almost enticed to go see on her rec
see I even thought most of the screwball-comedy aspects of Beginners played reasonably well, including the dog subtitles. It's not going to make my Top 20, but it probably would have in any of the last three lousy years.
― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 1 December 2011 16:22 (twelve years ago) link
what I meant re the Harris thing was DiCaprio ain't winning awards, is he? xp
― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 1 December 2011 16:23 (twelve years ago) link
Beginners is the equivalent of a drone rocket aimed at an American citizen.
― Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 1 December 2011 16:27 (twelve years ago) link
^^ have no idea what this mean but agree 100% emotionally
I just can't even go there, the thing that sorta embodied what was wrong with it to me was the 'dramatic montage' scene of them arguing, either breaking up or reconciling, in the bedroom of a house, cut together w/shots of furrowed brows, angular stances, handed-hips, all set to piano music instead of actual dialogue, an emotional cinema born of sam mendes rather than john cassavetes. like that's what the film was meant to be about, & yet how they would function or communicate or miscommunicate in a relationship was so much less important than just the various compositions of them as pairing, propped in different modes and costumes, meaningful glances that i guess we're expected to just tether to our own and extrapolate outwards from.
there was a lot else about it that was awful: the didactic, bold & exclamatory 'THIS MAN IS THE PRESIDENT' kinda thing - like maybe I just misunderstand it & it wasn't meant to be an emotional film, but these just seemed like attractive, contemporarily appealing irrelevancies to me - as well as just the awful laziness of its dressing; the guy is a graphic designer, who doesn't even manage to be a graphic designer but who we're meant to feel for as he rejects the path of terrible conformity in fulfilling a commission as required.
i don't know i was on a plane recently and someone an aisle away was watching this, & seeing it peripherally & silently kinda renewed my bile for it. the parts w/the father were affecting. but even that kinda just felt like autopilot. i rewatched annie hall not so long ago & i feel like they're probably interesting touchstones for each other - there's such a deep dynamic analysis of the couple in AH, in addition to it being a funny, v varied film. beginners just seemed so slack and unambitious, an attractive-people-sad-romance film.
& in the interests of full disclosure i thought the future kind of a small masterpiece, so there's that
― Never translate German (schlump), Thursday, 1 December 2011 16:40 (twelve years ago) link
re: Beginners, the Plummer/MacGregor stuff is great, the MacGregor/Laurent stuff is spotty.
― Simon H., Thursday, 1 December 2011 16:45 (twelve years ago) link