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| Earl |
 Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 1:25 pm |
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Joined: 09 Jun 2004
Posts: 2621
Location: Houston
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ehle64 wrote: How in the cuss could anyone not be a fan of The Fantastic Mr. Fox? 
Cussin' A!
With the possible exception of SASSY meetings, this movie kind of gets forgotten when people talk about what a great year Meryl Streep had in 2009. But she's just one of the many delightful things about it. |
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"I have a suspicion that you are all mad," said Dr. Renard, smiling sociably; "but God forbid that madness should in any way interrupt friendship." |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 3:48 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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and then there's the triple play by Clooney -- tFMF, tMWS@G, & UITA.
I was feeling a bit bad for Tucci last night, brilliant year for a brilliant (primarily) supporting actor in a year where he can't even get his peers, let alone the whole community award him for it.
So many double nominees -- Damon, Streep, Bullock. . . Speaking of Bullock, I saw The Blind Side and liked both her and the film. I'm still not sure of it's "award-worthiness" but she's definitely a movie star that can get butts in seats. On the heels of the highly-esteemed and quite funny Betty White's Lifetime Achievement Award, I rented The Proposal last night. Typical rom-com but enjoyable nonetheless after this slew of heavy (in all senses of the word) contenders for 2009 accolades. |
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| Melody |
| Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 5:41 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 2242
Location: TX
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This week I saw, in this order:
Up in the Air
Crazy Heart
The Hurt Locker
I'm currently in queue for antidepressants.
Up in the Air was disappointing. I was expecting more of a comedy (I don't read reviews) from the promos. Also, I really needed a comedy that night, so that's part of the problem. It was solid, though, as Reitman films are.
I liked Crazy Heart a lot more. Depressing, a bit cliche, but any movie with phenomenal performances by Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell and the magnificent vistas of New Mexico is A-OK in my book. Gawd, how I miss New Mexico and how I wish I could pee in a milk jug while road-tripping.
The Hurt Locker blew me away. If I'd seen it in the theater I'd have watched through my fingers. I couldn't have handled the suspense on the big screen. Kinda wimpy that way. What should have left me depressed instead left me energized and excited about the Best Picture & Best Director race this year. Also have a huge crush on Mr. Jeremy Renner. First The Unusuals, now this. What a great year!
Next up: AhBaDah. |
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My heart told my head: This time, no. |
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| Melody |
| Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 5:51 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: TX
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Gromit, I completely agree that The Men Who Stare at Goats is wonderful. It's definitely in my top 3 for 2009, a year of surprisingly good flicks. Clooney took a rumor-filled, unsubstantiated "investigative" book and turned it into what it should have been all along: An uplifting, quick-witted, spiritually satisfying comedy. I still get a huge shit-eating grin on my face every time I think about it.
I think Wade liked it, too, right? I'm in SUCH good company on this one, happily!
I nominate George Clooney for Slyest Guy in Hollywood. And I mean that in a good way.
(Unless you contact Our Man in Shanghai or can get your hands on a screener, TMWSaG won't be out on DVD until March 23.) |
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My heart told my head: This time, no. |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 6:57 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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Melody wrote: Also have a huge crush on Mr. Jeremy Renner.
Best not watch him in Dahmer, then. *eeks* |
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| Earl |
| Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 11:37 pm |
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Joined: 09 Jun 2004
Posts: 2621
Location: Houston
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Marc wrote: Saw Pedro Almodovar's Broken Embraces. It's definitely his homage to Hitchcock, Sirk and Ray, but not a particularly good film. I was disappointed. The highlight of the film is Penelope Cruz's naked breasts.
I saw it this afternoon and liked it a bit better than you. I'd call it good, but not great. Definitely not among Almodovar's best, but he has a high standard to meet.
By the way, the breasts of the actress in the opening scene would make my highlight reel.
For any who've seen the movie: Any thoughts on the significance of the title? I don't remember either word being spoken by any of the actors. (Then again, sometimes the subtitles don't cover everything.) Use spoilers if you must, but I can't figure how the title relates to the story. I had the same problem with last year's State of Play starring Russell Crowe. |
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"I have a suspicion that you are all mad," said Dr. Renard, smiling sociably; "but God forbid that madness should in any way interrupt friendship." |
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| Earl |
| Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 11:52 pm |
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Joined: 09 Jun 2004
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Location: Houston
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My only problem with Up in the Air was that Clooney's firm in the movie takes the idea presented by the young new executive (the idea of firing people over the internet using a webcam on both ends) and runs with it. In an early scene, Clooney bluntly and convincingly demonstrates to both the executive and the firm's boss why it's a terrible idea. The proposal should have been dead right there, but Clooney's objections are dismissed.
Other than that quibble, though, the movie is high quality end-to-end. And Vera Farmiga has instantly rocketed to the top of my Celebrity Freebie List. Few women on screen these days combine intelligence and carnality the way she does. |
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"I have a suspicion that you are all mad," said Dr. Renard, smiling sociably; "but God forbid that madness should in any way interrupt friendship." |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 12:43 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Earl wrote: Clooney bluntly and convincingly demonstrates to both the executive and the firm's boss why it's a terrible idea. The proposal should have been dead right there, but Clooney's objections are dismissed.
The operative word is "should." I think what happens in the movie is accurate and believable and exactly what corporate America would do 99 percent of the time. Money not only talks, it motivates.
Earl wrote: Vera Farmiga has instantly rocketed to the top of my Celebrity Freebie List. Few women on screen these days combine intelligence and carnality the way she does.
Change "few" to "no" and I'm with you. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 12:50 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: AZ
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Quote: For any who've seen the movie: Any thoughts on the significance of the title?
I can't remember at the moment......but I think I picked up on it in the film. I liked it more than you and Marc.........liked it enough to see it again.....probably because there were alot of elements that made it complex and not an easy plot. I really like remembering it..........
WOW! Netflix send me The Hurt Locker already and for someone who doesn't like or watch war movies (me) I was glued. Talk about tension. Maybe one of the reasons it's not like most war movies is that there was alot of silence.....and most of the action involved the 3 main characters. I couldn't even relax and eat like I usually do during at home films. A high wire act. Kathryn Bigelow is cemented as Best Director for me. Every camera movement was important. There was NO daydreaming during this film.
And Jeremy Renner! Has anyone nominated him for Best Actor? He was not familiar to me (guess I'll have to watch Dahmer) but he was real. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 8:05 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| The Hurt Locker is by far the best war movie I've ever seen. Thing is, it's not really a war movie. It's a suspense thriller set in Iraq. And Kathryn Bigelow displays the surest hand with nail-biting suspense since the master Alfred Hitchcock. The only thing that has kept critics from proclaiming it "Hitchcockian" is the fact that...it's perceived as a "war movie." |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:28 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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Befade wrote: Quote: For any who've seen the movie: Any thoughts on the significance of the title?
I can't remember at the moment......but I think I picked up on it in the film. I liked it more than you and Marc.........liked it enough to see it again.....probably because there were alot of elements that made it complex and not an easy plot. I really like remembering it..........
WOW! Netflix send me The Hurt Locker already and for someone who doesn't like or watch war movies (me) I was glued. Talk about tension. Maybe one of the reasons it's not like most war movies is that there was alot of silence.....and most of the action involved the 3 main characters. I couldn't even relax and eat like I usually do during at home films. A high wire act. Kathryn Bigelow is cemented as Best Director for me. Every camera movement was important. There was NO daydreaming during this film.
And Jeremy Renner! Has anyone nominated him for Best Actor? He was not familiar to me (guess I'll have to watch Dahmer) but he was real. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:32 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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whiskeypriest wrote: I am fairly certain he will be getting Blanche love as well.
Speaking of which...again...when are the Blanches??? |
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| Melody |
| Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 1:04 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 2242
Location: TX
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| The Blanche forum is up NOW! |
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My heart told my head: This time, no. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 5:50 am |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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From November:
inlareviewer wrote:
Quite enjoyed The Men Who Stare At Goats,, especially the film-stealing Jeff Bridges and those delightfully straight-faced goats. Don't think it's anything for the ages, and the Ewan McGregor character didn't exactly convince -- yet it's a tad unsettling how much of it might be fact-based. It made me laugh a lot and think a lot afterwards. Can't say I see a major directorial career in Mr. Heslov's future, though. However, it's always nice to see Clooney, the Chanel of Heartthrobs, having himself a wacky old time.
Speaking of wacky old Clooney times, finally saw Fantastic Mr. Fox. It didn't supplant Up for me, nor should it have done --emphatically its own dryly winking, surface cynical, joke-a-millisecond animal. Could have used more from Mrs. Gummer's Mrs. Felicity Fox -- big surprise there -- ditto Bill Murray's enervated Badger, and the richest satiric possibilities in giving the animals American voices, the humans British, were not exploited for what they might have yielded. Nor, for all the agreeable looseness of Mr. Anderson's shoot-from-the-tail style and the low-key dash of Jason Schwartzman and Eric Anderson's rival vulpine kids, was it quite as droll or clever as Roald Dahl's novel, or as ultra-hip as it continually behaved -- nevertheless, deftly done, unapologetically idiosyncratic fun. The Clooney was entirely in his element, loved Kiley Sven Opossum, hooted at Petey's doggerel song, appreciated the cultural allegory -- on its own cracked terms. thought the thing pretty darned entertaining. Oughta play double-bills with Chicken Run. |
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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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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 9:11 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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Bravura performance from Colin Firth in A Single Man. Julianne Moore too is excellent in a smaller role. Christopher Isherwood's tender tale of grieving does not have a speck of mawkishness in it.
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