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Joe Vitus

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 12:04 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 14498 Location: Houston

I guess I see your point, but buzz is inevitable, and I don't get why any given movie has to suffer in your estimation (sight unseen) on the basis of annoying people annoyingly pushing it.

And a movie like Crazy Heart was likely to recieve just the treatment it has gotten in terms of release in any case because, like a number of good movies (for some reason the wonderful early 80's movie Breaking Away comes to mind), it isn't a high concept picture with a Tom Cruise-sized star.

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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.

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inlareviewer

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 3:11 pm

Joined: 05 Jul 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: Lawrence, KS

Am deeply resentful of the inference that "LaLa Land" is somehow responsible for the Weinstein Organization and the various production/publicity entities behind Nine building up the cachet of hype, or The Oprah and other media mavens proclaiming its worth based on the starry cast, etc., or the international blogosphere/worldwide web of theatre queens making up their mind before the fact. This theatre queen had high hopes for it, but not because I was told thus by any faction or factor, or because they bought so much advertising space from my employer. Los Angeles is the bloodshot eye of the world, and only likely to become more so, not less so, as the century pushes forward into Digitalis Connectivus. Accordingly, Buzz is impossible to avoid in the Town That Makes Movies, what with so many Industry players/people who make fillums and make the calls on fillums being located here, and talking to each other, and trading notes, while the entertainment media/Bloggovia has its ears and eyes trained on what's being discussed between those proles and execs and stars and assistants and trainers, ad nauseum, at the Four Seasons and Musso & Franks and the Ivy and the craft services tables and the water coolers and on Blackberries and in boardrooms and bedrooms and green rooms and living rooms and Guild/union/Academy/UCLA/Cinematheque/ad infinitum events through the year.

Meanwhile, The SAGGY noms are out. Renner made the lead actor cut, Mirren again in lead actress, Plummer for supphose, Diane Kruger, Ms. Cruz and both Up in the Air ladies supphose. Precious and Hurt Locker and Inglourious and Education and Nine made the ensemble cut. Most of the other expecteds -- Bridges, Streep, Clooney, Bullock, Firth, Sidibe, Waltz, Mo'Nique, Mulligan, Tucci, Harrelson, etc. -- are in, and awards patterns are becoming more distinct, though the final call is up to AMPAS now.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/awards/2009/12/nominees-for-16th-annual-screen-actors-guild-awards.html

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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

billyweeds

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 5:19 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City

Thanks for the background on buzz. Great post.

Disconsolate that all those Serious Man people were cut out. If ever a cast deserved an ensemble prize it's that one. And Stuhlbarg being shut out is a disgrace. Actors are sometimes the worst judges of acting.

Syd

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 5:38 pm

Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12921 Location: Norman, Oklahoma

Alas, some critic actually liked Did You Hear About the Morgans?, and spoiled it's perfect record. Apparently, Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, yes; Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, yes; Hugh Grant and Andie McDowell, yes. Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker, no way.

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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

billyweeds

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 6:09 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City

Syd wrote:

It couldn't be worse IMO than Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock (Two Weeks Notice). That movie was torture to sit through.

Syd

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 6:32 pm

Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12921 Location: Norman, Oklahoma

billyweeds wrote:

Syd wrote:

It couldn't be worse IMO than Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock (Two Weeks Notice). That movie was torture to sit through.

Apparently, it is.

_________________
I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament

carrobin

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 6:46 pm

Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 7795 Location: NYC

Just read about "Nowhere Boy" in a British magazine--a film about John Lennon's teen years, with Kristin Scott Thomas as Aunt Mimi. The review says Aaron Johnson "gives a breathtaking performance" as John. It opens on Christmas day in England, but I haven't heard a word about it here.

inlareviewer

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 6:55 pm

Joined: 05 Jul 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: Lawrence, KS

Cousin Betsy the Sharkey thoroughly and incisively lowers the axe on Nine, calling it a fiasco, something that looked good in theory and on paper, not so much on screen, leading off with a thumbs-down to Guido Day-Lewis (I can only imagine Xavier Bardem's relief at this point), only real props going to SeraFerghiena's "Be Italian,"to a lesser extent Kate Stephanudson's "Cinema Italiano," Mama Sophia and La Belle Marionuisa, closing the pan with a deathless zinger. Ah, well, what a shame, will certainly wait for rental. Must light candles for the future of Huge Ackman's proposed Carousel remake, being an ambivalent quixotic and an unapologetic musicoholic, after all.

L.A. Times: Movie Review: 'Nine' isn't the sum of its glittery parts

Am also unabashedly editocentric

Last edited by inlareviewer on Thu Dec 17, 2009 7:18 pm; edited 2 times in total
_________________
"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim

billyweeds

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 7:02 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City

The NYTimes, courtesy of A.O. Scott, joins the Nein-to-Nine chorus.

"Straining to capture artistic frenzy, it descends into vulgar chaos, less a homage to Federico Fellini’s 8 ½ (its putative inspiration) than a travesty....The best that can be said about Nine is that its affections are sincere, though you could say the same about its hero, who has the misfortune of being in a movie that’s an even worse mess than he is."

billyweeds

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 7:21 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City

inlareviewer wrote:

(I can only imagine Xavier Bardem's relief...

Was he the second choice?

marantzo

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 7:23 pm

Guest

Fergie, that's the name I was trying to remember when I wrote about the Nine cast on TV. She was the only one who seemed to have a personality and a delightful personality at that. She was funny and completely non-artiste serious. I think some like Judi Dench were just uncomfortable because they thought the movie stunk but had to give a half assed effort to promote it. Kidman was as vacuous as ever.

So Nine has got so many nominations? I wonder how much the producers had to pay for that. With the critical reviews going the way they are, it can't possibly win in any serious catagories.

inlareviewer

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 7:32 pm

Joined: 05 Jul 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: Lawrence, KS

billyweeds wrote:

inlareviewer wrote:

(I can only imagine Xavier Bardem's relief...

Was he the second choice?

No. He was the originally announced star. Dropped out at the last minute due to scheduling conflicts/post-No Country/awards-circuit exhaustion, DD-L was the second choice. Apparently he ought to have been the last choice. Heck, Antonio Banderas already managed the role with a measure of skill on stage, and his vocal deficiencies would be somewhat easier to counter in a recording studio. Why does nobody in Hollywood get how much voice and charisma Kevin Kline still retains? Or Clive Owen, a tad young and probably no better a singer than DD-L, but possessed of cinematically hormonal oomph to burn? Or, here's a novel idea: why not some Italian movie fixture who could have been turned into a superstar the way La Belle Marion was by La Vie en Rose? Moot now, but it just seems such a missed opportunity, and it makes me sad.

_________________
"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim

Marc

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 7:51 pm

Joined: 19 May 2004 Posts: 8424

Austin Film Critics Association picks The Hurt Locker as best film of 2009 and Kathryn Bigelow as best director.

http://www.austinfilmcritics.org/2009.html

inlareviewer

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 7:55 pm

Joined: 05 Jul 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: Lawrence, KS

Marc wrote:

Austin Film Critics Association picks The Hurt Locker as best film of 2009 and Kathryn Bigelow as best director.

http://www.austinfilmcritics.org/2009.html

Well, that cheered me up immeasurably. Hoo, boy, waytago, Austin crix. Also, Colin Firth, and the unexpected jolt of Mélanie Laurent as lead actress, and Up getting back some animated love, and Sin Nombre some foreign language notice, etc. Very kewl pix picks.

_________________
"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim

billyweeds

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 8:00 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City

inlareviewer wrote:

Marc wrote:

Austin Film Critics Association picks The Hurt Locker as best film of 2009 and Kathryn Bigelow as best director.

http://www.austinfilmcritics.org/2009.html

Speaking of Melanie, I was very surprised that Diane Kruger was the nominee for SAG. She was great, too, so it's good to spread the wealth, but I was surprised because Laurent got so much more criticial love.

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