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bartist

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 10:19 am

Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6961 Location: Black Hills

People writing long thoughtful movie reviews...what's this place coming to? BILLYWEED, thanks for clarifying what was meant by movie star -- "persona, charisma, presence" -- got it, even if I'm seeing those qualities in different actors than you do. Think of The Departed -- Wahlberg, DiCaprio, Damon, Nicholson -- and only Wahlberg meets your definition? I dunno, man.

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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days.

inlareviewer

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 12:51 pm

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

billyweeds wrote:

Well, I guess I have to see For Colored Girls, which I had been prepared to skip.

You and me both, chum, but an actor intimate who was in the S.F. production of the late partner's final play insisted. Am glad he did, because, though it's still a Tyler Perry film, he largely honors (I might even say, bows down to) Queen Ntozake's enduring brilliance, and oh, man, but those wommyn devour their roles. Again, imperfect and formidable at once.

billyweeds wrote:

Have to say I agree that Get Low was constantly interesting moment to moment, and I realize my tone was condescending to it. I was just expecting more profundity or something. I was in fact relieved that Duvall wasn't playing the "crazy old coot" I saw in the trailer. His character was much more than that, though still less than I would have preferred. I'm just picky, I guess.

I didn't get condescension, it seemed an honest reaction. Duvall! (who, at least until I see King's Speech and Fighter, remains my Blanche bar-setter for Master Thespian, albeit with Mr. Eckhart and, yes, Mr. Eisenberg nipping at his heels at present) can indeed only go as far as the limitations of the material allow him, and I agree, there is a touch of shaggy-dog to the finale. As for you being picky, well, hell, better that than being picayune, or picaresque, or pickled.

Now, Picasso..... Wink

As ever, what is inlareviewer's mantra? It's all so subjective. Must rush now, to Mr. Aronofsky's dance-thrillah, and regardless of whom around here I find closer to the mark on its merits/debits, I simply cannot wait. Not to repeat myself -- too late -- there are never enough psychotic ballerina fillums for my taste, not least becase back in my younger, more limber dancing days, I managed to meet (though never lift) quite a few psychotic ballerinas. I blame it all on the cutthroat competition, the anorexic life-style, the horrible pain of pointe work. Because otherwise, I'd have to blame it on Moira Shearer for making it look so easy in my all-time favorite ballet film. Except, really cannot possibly blame ballerina-girl-psychosis on marvelous Moira.
However, I might blame it on Ludmilla Tcherina.
To say nothing of Harriet Hoctor.....(shudder-giggle)

Last edited by inlareviewer on Mon Dec 20, 2010 2:31 pm; edited 2 times in total
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jeremy

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 2:14 pm

Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 6794 Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)

Reading the tea-leaves, as opposed to seeing the film and making my own judgement, the Best Actor Oscar is a done deal fo Colin Fiirth. He's served his dues and, from my perspective, can't miss with a performance that ticks ALL the right boxes.

The Blanches on the other hand are a much more ornery beast.

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My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it.

inlareviewer

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 2:35 pm

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

jeremy wrote:

Bingo. He's already won it for all intents and purposes, and not just because he might easily have won it LAST year, had Mr. Bridges not given his career-encompassing drunk-country-western-singer-tour de force turn. The Buzz around Mr. Firth at present is mighty, like a tsunami, identical in fact to that which surrounded Dame Helen the year of The Queen , or Daniel Day-Lewisohn the year of There Will Be Blood, and we haven't even yet had the Gilded Globules or the SAGGY vote weighing in. At the very least, King Colin is absolutely The One To Beat.

jeremy wrote:

The Blanches on the other hand are a much more ornery beast.

Yes, and thank HEAVEN for THAT. Blanche rules.

Now, really, must go see Black Swan. Leaping out, trying not to hit the wall en route. Happy cinematizin', allez.

_________________
"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: Mon Dec 20, 2010 8:14 pm

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

Lesley Manville has won, I think, the National Board of Review award as Best Actress for Another Year, directed by Mike Leigh. Whether she belongs in that category or in Supporting Actress may be a moot point since she probably won't be in contention anyway for the Oscar, but she is amazing, as is the entire cast of this career peak for Leigh. A year in the life of some "ordinary people" doesn't sound like an automatically compelling enterprise, but this movie is possibly the best of the year. Not only Manville but Jim Broadbent and the whole largely unknown cast are superior in ways that defy description. You feel life happening. It's funny, depressing, sad, dynamic, horrifying, sensational, humdrum, and all the stops in between. Wowowowowow!!!!!!!

lshap

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 10:43 pm

Site Admin Joined: 12 May 2004 Posts: 4248 Location: Montreal

I saw the preview for Another Year before seeing The King's Speech and thought, "Oh god... another earnest Mike Leigh film". The earnest string instruments in the background, the earnest dullness of everyday life, the earnest angst of old relationships and the earnest beige tones of its earnest title. Earnestly too fucking earnest.

Yes, I have no doubt that Lesley Manville is terrific. In all earnestness, Leigh has a talent for leaving large, earnest spaces in which actors can shine, as Imelda Staunton did quite earnestly in her well-earned turn in the earnest Vera Drake. But I just don't feel the burn to adjourn for a term to learn more of Leigh's earnestly churned concerns.

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billyweeds

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 11:47 pm

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

lshap wrote:

I understand everything you say, and agree with 75 or 80 percent of it. However, all of it falls by the wayside in the path of Another Year, which far outstrips for me anything Mike Leigh has ever done heretofore. This is a must for Mike Leigh fans--and certainly for non-fans like me.

jeremy

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 11:57 pm

Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 6794 Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)

Lorne,

I think you know that you're being a little unfair. I'd go for serious and worthy, rather than earnest. Mike Leigh's films are not totally devoid of humour or self-knowledge. I might not look out for them with a great degree of anticipation, but I am pleased that he gets to make films.

Occasionally, his work may get a nod of recognition from the Academy, but, let's face it, he's never going to pick up the gong for best film or director. I guess Topsy-Turvy was his most award friendly film, that, and perhaps, Secrets and Lies . Not being Hollywood royalty, I don't think he's shows on the radar, but I'd love to see him pick up n honorary award; if only for making us all feel better about the art and business of film making.

billyweeds

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 12:26 am

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

I repeat: Another Year is Leigh's best, even better than my former fave Secrets and Lies.

Marc

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 5:48 am

Joined: 19 May 2004 Posts: 8424

Mike Leigh is the best director of actors on the planet.

gromit

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:19 am

Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9016 Location: Shanghai

Has anybody seen Assayas' Carlos?

The dvd just turned up. But now I have to check which version.
I hadn't realized that there is both a 2hr 45min and a 5'32" cut out there.
Sure seems like nearly 3 hours should be enough ... but if it's good, I'd go another couple hours, I guess.

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billyweeds

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:28 am

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

Marc wrote:

Mike Leigh is the best director of actors on the planet.

I have no argument with this. He is some kind of genius. He also casts roles amazingly well.

marantzo

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:04 am

Guest

Mike Leigh made Naked, didn't he? A close friend of mine who I usually agree with about movies, thought Naked was great. I've never seen it. I remember it being praised by a lot of critics.

billyweeds

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:18 am

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

marantzo wrote:

Mike Leigh made Naked, didn't he? A close friend of mine who I usually agree with about movies, thought Naked was great. I've never seen it. I remember it being praised by a lot of critics.

He did direct Naked, which had a great performance by David Thewlis and which was extremely compelling. He also directed Secrets and Lies (a wonderfully human drama), Vera Drake, the "abortion lady" movie starring Imelda Staunton, which I found boring and well below the usual Leigh level, and Happy-Go-Lucky, which inexplicably IMO got great reviews (I thought it was virtually unwatchable and stopped viewing after a half-hour). He's not always my cup of tea.

BUT...

Another Year is sublime, a true masterpiece.

bartist

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 11:46 am

Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6961 Location: Black Hills

The squirm-inducing first 30 minutes of HGL are sort of a setup to a darker and more interesting remainder of the film. It's worth it to stick with the thing, IMO.

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