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| carrobin |
 Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 10:51 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| One reason I like to see movies on Monday night, when I can, is that there are seldom crowds. But last night there were maybe six people in the theater where I saw "Mr. Fox." (And no kids, as far as I could tell.) I think the reason it isn't doing well is that it hasn't gotten much publicity--a bit here and there when it first came out, then nothing. I saw Bill Murray on the Letterman show, but the clip they showed wasn't very compelling--of course there weren't a lot of Murray/Badger scenes to choose from, but it just looked odd out of context. It seems to be one of those movies that should become a classic, but has a rough start. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 11:54 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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billyweeds wrote: My feelings about Fantastic Mr. Fox may give a window into why it's bombing. The glimpses I've seen of that stop-action animation make me a little sick to my stomach. And I'm not a Wes Anderson fan.
Because of the praise it's getting I may have to see it. But getting there, I must admit, is like pulling teeth.
It's the only Wes Anderson film I've liked. Maybe he should stop directing live actors. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 12:46 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
Posts: 8424
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| My avatar is of my dog Freddy. I got him here in Austin 6 months ago. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 12:47 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| He's really cute. |
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-Topher |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 1:11 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| But can he kill a chicken with one bite? Betcha he can't. |
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| daffy |
| Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 1:38 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 1939
Location: Wall Street
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I saw Invictus last night. For the most part I liked it and recommend it, but I'm having trouble judging it on its merits. Partly it's because I'm such a huge rugby fan I can't be very objective about the match scenes, but mostly it's because I read the book and know so much of the vital stuff that didn't make it into the movie. Will someone who isn't familiar with that have a lesser experience? I would think so, but I'll need to hear from more viewers to find out for sure.
In the meantime, I hope the film raises the sport's profile here in the USA. Oh, and Mandela is an even more amazing man than I'd thought, and that's saying a lot.
I hope I have more time to write about it later. |
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http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/index.html |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 2:49 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
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Location: Lawrence, KS
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The Gilded Globules noms are in, with both anticipated and contradictory patterns starting to form in the red carpet. Up in the Air leads the pack, with Nine, Avatar and Inglourious following the leader; SASSY's Icon, Matt Damon and Sandra Bullock take double acting nods among the movie folk (Meryl competing against herself in the com/mus category); Glee scores the most in teevee land, 4 nods, with a a slew of shows snagging a handful each, not too far behind. Some peculiar designations, a few very happy (and deserving) surprises, also some eyebrow-raising inclusions/omissions, near-snubs and outright snubs -- still, for this legendarily suspect organization, it's actually rather representative, a spread-the-wealth slate that portends a fairly wide-open contest. Apt, that, given that this, as so often predicted but too seldom realized, is Anything Can Happen Year in Awardsville. Plus, Ricky Gervais is hosting the show, so that's all right.
LAT: 'Up in the Air' leads Golden Globes with six noms
A rant on the snubs here
LAT: Gold Derby: Biggest snubs at the Golden Globe nominations: Hey, where's 'Invictus,' 'A Serious Man' and poor Bryan Cranston? |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 3:53 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| I'm really surprised to see "The Proposal" get any nominations at all. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| Earl |
| Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 11:59 pm |
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Joined: 09 Jun 2004
Posts: 2621
Location: Houston
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Everybody's Fine
The trailers for this movie indicated a light comedy, December holiday offering. Another "commercial" Robert De Niro project to lump in with the Analyze the Fockers cash machines so he can finance grittier stuff with his production company.
But the trailers were misleading. First, while Everybody's Fine does have a couple of mildly funny lines, it is not a comedy and was not intended to be. Second, while it does take place in December and concerns the De Niro character's attempt to gather his children in one place for the Christmas celebration, it is not a "holiday" movie in the traditional sense.
Everybody's Fine is a sad and sometimes edgy movie. It contains the best De Niro performance I've seen in a long time, maybe since Wag the Dog. He performs a tricky balancing act in order to bring this guy to the screen. His character is the kind of father who maybe pushed his kids a little too hard, but not a lot, when they were small. He didn't torment them or anything like that; he wasn't a monster. But De Niro also shows us that Frank doesn't think of himself as the kind of guy who pushed his kids too hard. He thinks he pushed them just the right amount.
He plays a man who has been widowed eight months prior and he wants his four kids around the family table at Christmas. But at the last minute they all drop out with flimsy excuses, so he decides to go and visit them, unannounced, at their homes in New York City, Chicago, Denver and Las Vegas to find out what's going on.
Hard to say more without spoilers. But as he begins to notice details about his kids' lives at each visit (and the movie wants the viewers to pick up these clues also-we rarely have more information than De Niro's character) the true thrust of the story begins to emerge. It builds to a powerful scene, which approached hokiness but was actually handled perfectly, in which he angrily demands from all four of his kids an explanation for why they lied to him. (I promise that was not a spoiler, but you'd have to see it to understand why it wasn't.)
Anyway, I liked Everybody's Fine very much. I just wish the ads didn't disguise it as mainstream fare. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 5:56 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| Everybody's Fine sounds much better than the buzz would have had you think, but it may have to wait for a rental. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 6:58 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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STOP THE PRESSES!
All former assurances that George Clooney had the Best Actor Oscar sewed up must be revised. Crazy Heart, the Jeff Bridges vehicle that has been opening slowly and sort of under the radar, has now opened in NYC and gotten the kind of reviews that permit a Slumdog Millionaire-style takeover of the seemingly locked-in Clooney win. Bridges has been an "underappreciated" actor for decades (even though he's widely admired), and this may be his year. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 7:09 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| Hope he gets it. I'm a Bridges fan, and can't wait to see the movie. |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 7:31 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Joe Vitus wrote: Hope he gets it. I'm a Bridges fan, and can't wait to see the movie.
I am a Bridges fan, too--but more a Beauregard that a Jeffite. However, I love them both, and they are reputedly one of the most devoted pair of bros in the world, so I'm sure Beau will revel in a win by Jeff. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:28 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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billyweeds wrote: STOP THE PRESSES!
All former assurances that George Clooney had the Best Actor Oscar sewed up must be revised. Crazy Heart, the Jeff Bridges vehicle that has been opening slowly and sort of under the radar, has now opened in NYC and gotten the kind of reviews that permit a Slumdog Millionaire-style takeover of the seemingly locked-in Clooney win. Bridges has been an "underappreciated" actor for decades (even though he's widely admired), and this may be his year.
HELLO.
inlareviewer wrote: billyweeds wrote: However, Clooney, Mo'Nique (supporting actress) and Chrisoph Waltz (supporting actor) are gonna be impossible to beat for the Oscar. Likely eventual winners all, but don't count your Oscars yet. Both Bridges and Firth have extremely strong word of mouth as Best Actor at this moment in time, in some quarters outdoing Clooney, the Chanel of Heartthrobs (who obviously has the advantage of multiple well-received films and the NY Crix prize). And meanwhile Crazy Heart is gathering the kind of underdog steam that Fox Searchlight so fruitfully exploited with Slumdog last year. |
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"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:33 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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inla--Chalk up my belated Bridges belief to my being a NYC chauvinist at heart. Even though, as I said before, I think the LA critics get it right more often than the Apple people.
In any case, I am off to see Crazy Heart tonight. |
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