I quite liked Boonmee but I've accepted that I risk foolishness explaining what makes this man's films worth watching.
― Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 17 December 2011 23:14 (twelve years ago) link
ha, i think that's part of it, that they're somewhere slightly off radar or out of reach. (i remember coming out of syndromes, having seen it with a few others, & each having as broad & entirely disparate a set of opinions about it as you really could about a single text (i don't think i'd even grasped it was about his family))
― Never translate German (schlump), Saturday, 17 December 2011 23:35 (twelve years ago) link
also why the fuck did everyone like melancholia so much. did anyone here like it?
I thought it was pretty great, but I'm no LvT fan.
― gukbe, Sunday, 18 December 2011 00:39 (twelve years ago) link
ha, that's a weird disclaimer. i like a bunch of von trier, i thought it was so confused though - maybe some of that is relative to how strongly he manages to embody a theme & stay on-point in dogville or whatever else. i was so surprised at how loose the first half was, & then how drably procedural & perfunctory the second half proceeded.
― Never translate German (schlump), Sunday, 18 December 2011 00:44 (twelve years ago) link
I really liked the end-of-the-world stuff, beginning and end; the wedding set-up (conceding they're bound together) seemed ordinary to me.
― clemenza, Sunday, 18 December 2011 00:44 (twelve years ago) link
I much preferred Antichrist.
― Simon H., Sunday, 18 December 2011 00:45 (twelve years ago) link
I actually thought it was pretty straightforward. Messy, perhaps, but overall it had an emotional honesty I've never found in his work before.
Also it was really beautiful.
xpost
― gukbe, Sunday, 18 December 2011 00:49 (twelve years ago) link
I've only seen LvT's Breaking the Waves-and-after stuff, and I've only liked this, Antichrist, and The Five Obstructions.
Caught Young Adult this morning - admirably grim and, for Cody specifically, self-effacing. (Key scene near the end fails to deliver the goods, though.)
― Simon H., Sunday, 18 December 2011 02:07 (twelve years ago) link
Want to see it but ugh Reitman
― gukbe, Sunday, 18 December 2011 02:41 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, i'm weirdly anticipating it despite hating all of Reitman and Cody's previous work
― Number None, Sunday, 18 December 2011 03:01 (twelve years ago) link
fwiw it doesn't resemble the other Reitman flicks much at all. it's pretty close to a no-frills character study.
― Simon H., Sunday, 18 December 2011 04:00 (twelve years ago) link
and appropriately it will probably earn fewer accolades than all his other flicks.
― Simon H., Sunday, 18 December 2011 04:02 (twelve years ago) link
I liked the 'prelude' and the wow finish of Melancholia, but not a lot else. (so yeah it's way better than Dogville)
finally saw The Help tonight, which should definitely be a ride at Disneyland.
― Dr Morbius, Sunday, 18 December 2011 05:15 (twelve years ago) link
The least they can do is offer a Terrible Awful at the concession stand
― gukbe, Sunday, 18 December 2011 05:27 (twelve years ago) link
Liked Antichrist a good bit despite its legitimately questionable premise. Melancholia was mostly shit. The high-speed cam prologue was probably the worst part of the film. It was used effectively in Antichrist but it was pretty corny LOL Art Film in Melancholia.
And I'm glad The Tree of Life is on there even if I was one of 2 holdouts.
why exactly?
― berg non, Sunday, 18 December 2011 09:49 (twelve years ago) link
you know, Ambition, Pitt, Lubezki
(unless you mean why did I not think it was one of the 20 best?)
― Dr Morbius, Sunday, 18 December 2011 14:19 (twelve years ago) link
wow, was My Week With Marilyn vaporous -- an irrelevant movie.
― Lord Sotosyn, Sunday, 18 December 2011 23:13 (twelve years ago) link
was it redeemed at all by MW?
― Never translate German (schlump), Sunday, 18 December 2011 23:14 (twelve years ago) link
The freckled lede is cute, and Williams had her moments, but Branagh wasn't the least bit convincing.
― Lord Sotosyn, Sunday, 18 December 2011 23:14 (twelve years ago) link
*lead
Eddie Redmayne playing an unconvincing str8 again?
― Dr Morbius, Monday, 19 December 2011 03:05 (twelve years ago) link
Kept wishing Branagh would "dear boy" him into bed.
Guess I'll have to finally watch Savage Grace.
― Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 19 December 2011 03:08 (twelve years ago) link
that kid was soooo creepy as Matt Damon's son in The Good Shepherd
― Dr Morbius, Monday, 19 December 2011 03:24 (twelve years ago) link
like, I never want to see him again creepy.
― Dr Morbius, Monday, 19 December 2011 03:25 (twelve years ago) link
Chicago Film Critics Association (voters include Ebert and my Film Critic Friend):
Picture: The Tree of LifeDirector: Terrence Malick — The Tree of LifeActor: Michael Shannon — Take ShelterActress: Michelle Williams — My Week with MarilynSupporting Actor: Albert Brooks — DriveSupporting Actress: Jessica Chastain — The Tree of LifeBest Original Screenplay: Michel Hazanavicius — The ArtistBest Adapted Screenplay: Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin — MoneyballBest Cinematography: The Tree of Life — Emmanuel LubezkiBest Original Score: Drive — Cliff MartinezBest Foreign Language Film: A SeparationBest Animated Film: RangoBest Documentary: The InterruptersMost Promising Performer: Elizabeth Olsen — Martha Marcy May MarleneMost Promising Filmmaker: Sean Durkin — Martha Marcy May Marlene
― jaymc, Monday, 19 December 2011 13:46 (twelve years ago) link
dullsville ^ also steve saillian and sorkin is b.s.
― remy bean in exile, Monday, 19 December 2011 13:52 (twelve years ago) link
Williams is cleaning up.
― Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 19 December 2011 14:06 (twelve years ago) link
playing a dead celebrity = award bait
― remy bean in exile, Monday, 19 December 2011 14:09 (twelve years ago) link
meryl streep - julia childMarion Cotillard - edith PiafCate Blanchett - Queen Elizabeth Ireese witherspoon - june cartersalma hayak - frida
― remy bean in exile, Monday, 19 December 2011 14:13 (twelve years ago) link
and my confreres of the Florida Film Critics:
Alexander Payne’s The Descendants, the comic drama starring George Clooney as a man whose life is upended after his wife is seriously injured in a boating accident, won three awards at the Florida Film Critics Circle’s year-end honors, include Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (for Shailene Woodley) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash.)
Michael Fassbender was named Best Actor for his portrayal of a sex addict in the NC-17 drama Shame. Michelle Williams won Best Actress for her performance as Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn. Albert Brooks collected yet another Best Supporting Actor honor for his turn as a murderous gangster in Drive.
― Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 19 December 2011 14:42 (twelve years ago) link
Best Original Screenplay: Michel Hazanavicius — The Artist
"original"
― Dr Morbius, Monday, 19 December 2011 14:48 (twelve years ago) link
The only one of the repeat winners I'm cool with is Brooks.
― Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 19 December 2011 14:49 (twelve years ago) link
I really only loved Brooks in one scene in particular (that last one with Walter White).
― Detrius of Life (Eric H.), Monday, 19 December 2011 16:04 (twelve years ago) link
The performance clicked once I imagined him as his nest egg whiner in Lost in America suddenly going homicidal.
― Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 19 December 2011 16:06 (twelve years ago) link
drive winning the michael mann award this year for, you know, cool shots of action that are Art. michael fassbender winning the gary oldman award for showing his Bidness grittily descendents winning the peter greenaway award for movie that people with uppercrust aspirations talk about over tapas parties.
all goes to my theory that all most awards are bestowed on the most conspicuous, egregious display of capital T talent in the niche area of filmmaking (cinematography, editing, gender dynamic) that the organization/bestowing critic values the most highly, with not a helluvalot of concern about the actual movies
― remy bean in exile, Monday, 19 December 2011 16:50 (twelve years ago) link
I dunno, remy: cinema would be vastly improved with more scenes at tapas parties.
― Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 19 December 2011 17:06 (twelve years ago) link
I've yet to see any Greenaway films, good or bad, that seemed like The Descendants.
but yeah I prefer The Muppets to nearly all the award winners.
― Dr Morbius, Monday, 19 December 2011 17:24 (twelve years ago) link
I prefer Muppets Take Manhattan.
― Detrius of Life (Eric H.), Monday, 19 December 2011 17:36 (twelve years ago) link
more Serkis awards, pls.
― Simon H., Monday, 19 December 2011 17:38 (twelve years ago) link
pref Capt Haddock to Caesar
― Dr Morbius, Monday, 19 December 2011 17:49 (twelve years ago) link
Nothing by Greenaway is anything like the Descendents – just discussed in similar wine-affecting circles
― remy bean in exile, Monday, 19 December 2011 18:27 (twelve years ago) link
affectationing? ehh, screwit
― remy bean in exile, Monday, 19 December 2011 18:28 (twelve years ago) link
― Simon H., Sunday, December 18, 2011 2:07 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Permalinkfwiw it doesn't resemble the other Reitman flicks much at all. it's pretty close to a no-frills character study.
― Simon H., Sunday, December 18, 2011 4:00 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Permalink
― Simon H., Sunday, December 18, 2011 4:02 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Permalink
this is all otm and i will push and shove to the front of the line of previously despising reitman
― j crunchwrap supreme, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 03:05 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/39591/oscarmetrics-the-case-for-brad-pitt-plus-six-questions-that-could-reshape-the-race
6. Does the fact that this wasn’t a great year for movies affect the race? I know the premise of this question is a fight-starter, but look at the films. To choose two recent points of comparison: 2011 is not 2009, which featured in its Best Picture contest a blockbuster that was also a groundbreaker (Avatar), an instant classic about war (The Hurt Locker), a high-water mark for Pixar (Up), a Sundance breakout that dwarfed any this year (Precious), a rare studio movie that tapped into the economic zeitgeist (Up In the Air) and a major Tarantino comeback (Inglorious Basterds). 2011 is also not 2007, a year in which There Will Be Blood, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, Into The Wild, and The Diving Bell and The Butterfly seemed to herald a renaissance of American directing.
This year was, relatively speaking, a tentative and uncertain one for American movies. What this Oscar contest offers is a series of choices between the good-but-not-great and the great-but-flawed. The reason that matters is that masterpieces raise our standards and sharpen our thinking. A year in which three or four all-out great movies are at the center of the race raises the bar in every category because they remind us that there’s a difference between the merely good and the truly outstanding.
2011 is a year with a different complexion—one in which voters will have to decide what matters to them most. Those who go for the just-good-enough (“I liked it,” “it made me smile,” “I thought it was sweet,” “It was nice to escape for a couple of hours,” and so on) have plenty from which to choose. But there are other voters who prefer to champion filmmakers who take bold leaps even if the results are imperfect. Those voters constitute enough of a coalition to defy, usually once a year, the predictions of those who say that a movie is too dark, arty or alienating to be recognized by the Academy. That’s one reason I think The Tree of Life is still in the hunt for a Best Picture nomination. But it’ll be interesting to see if that odd, loose voting bloc — which can include, at various times, New Yorkers, Brits, Europeans, writers and directors, younger members and recent inductees — is powerful enough to unite around any other film or performance. What will they champion? Drive? A Separation? Shame? Take Shelter? Or will 2011 go down in Oscar history as a year in which “good enough” was as good as it got?
― Detrius of Life (Eric H.), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 18:23 (twelve years ago) link
guy is daft about '09
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 18:26 (twelve years ago) link
and 2007...
Otherwise Harris' essays have been as much a pleasure as Oscarbuzz crap can be.
― Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 18:36 (twelve years ago) link
Thought that would get a few scoffs. I will say all the movies in my top 4 right now would've been easy #1's for the last two or three years running.
― Detrius of Life (Eric H.), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 18:49 (twelve years ago) link
tis true for me, but I don't think any of mine except Of Gods and Men, maybe, are eligible for the Best Picture Oscar.
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 18:52 (twelve years ago) link
Then they don't exist.
― Detrius of Life (Eric H.), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 18:54 (twelve years ago) link