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| lshap |
 Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 3:50 pm |
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Joined: 12 May 2004
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Location: Montreal
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Bart - I think we agree on Black Swan. The whole point of Natalie's performance was that it was more than one-note, developing as a split-personality in parallel to the Swan Lake story. Portman has my vote for Best Actress, notwithstanding Kidman's performance in Rabbit Hole, which I haven't seen.
And a Merry Nicemas to you and yours. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 3:51 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
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Location: Lawrence, KS
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Speaking for myself, the Carrie note is more a passing allusion than a full-on reference (the outright nods are The Red Shoes and certainly Repulsion; all it needed was a childhood picture of Li'l Nina looking ambiguously disturbed). Again, to me, it flirted with one-note, which indeed could be just how the character was written/directed. It still distracted, or at any rate, caught my notice, especially during the first half. After the night out with Ms. Kunis, Ms. Portman starts peeling back layers and piling on the oomph, perhaps her finest non-dance/hallucination-related moment coming after the Odile/Black Swan act, palpably loose at last, literally purring her way to Vincent Cassel backstage. Whatever; found it a very impressive performance, not least in its embrace of the physical demands, and she may well win the Bald Gold Man With A Sword (unless Mrs. Warren Beatty and Focus Features campaign with Weinstein-like ruthlessness to work her Sentimental Favorite/Long Overdue/Hollywood Royalty status, which they surely will).
A propos of zip, my actress bar-setter remains Ms. Rapace of the Millennium Trilogy (am not sure which film to cite yet, don't dare do all three). Bereaved Nicole, the Kids wommyn and, yes, Natalie Pointeman sit in close consideration thereafter. Am afraid Her Keeneritude has gone down a notch; upon reflection (and another viewing), for all her excellence, it's not exactly outside her comfort levels/accustomed standards, and that's sort of my yardstick for Prima Donna this year. Have yet to catch Ms. Lawrence's raptly received Winter's Bone turn -- Buzzwerks assures me that she's this year's Indy Dark Horse competitor -- plus, there's Ms. Williams in Blue Valentine, Ms. Manville in the new Leigh film (opening here Wednesday) and Dame Helen's distaff Prospero to be seen before shuffling the deck anew.
On the distaff side of things, am seeing King's Speech next week, and I keep forgetting about Biutiful, which colleagues are doing handsprings over. On the Docu front, screeners of Inside Job and Tillman Story just arrived, and then I'll really be in the soup. Oh, it's always like this.
We edit because we still can |
Last edited by inlareviewer on Mon Dec 27, 2010 5:05 am; edited 2 times in total
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| Marc |
| Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 8:52 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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Billy said about True Grit:Quote: It's not destined to be a huge hit.
For a Coen Brothers film, True Grit is already a hit. $37 million at the boxoffice in its first 5 days. I predict it will be the CB's biggest grossing film. |
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| Kate |
| Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 1:18 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 1397
Location: Pacific Northwest
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Marc wrote: The Fighter is stunningly good. Not a false note in the whole damn thing. Give the best supporting actress Oscar to Melissa Leo right now.
The Fighter was a fantastically solid film. I loved it. I am tipping my hand for the blanches, but I so agree that Melissa Leo was simply amazing. I also think Christian Bale nailed it. When you watch the few minutes of the real folks at the end - he got that guy. But Marc is right, this is a true ensemble film, every actor did an extraordinary job. A treat. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 6:35 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Marc wrote: Billy said about True Grit: Quote: It's not destined to be a huge hit.
For a Coen Brothers film, True Grit is already a hit. $37 million at the boxoffice in its first 5 days. I predict it will be the CB's biggest grossing film.
Could be, but that's not saying too much since their movies hardly ever make any money to speak of. I far preferred their currently-top-grosser Burn After Reading.
Anyway, let's not argue. Instead let's celebrate the good news: Little Fockers is considered a failure even though it opened at #1. The grosses were significantly below the first two Fockers films. (For the record, I tolerated the first one but totally abhorred the second and will not see the third under any circumstances.) Seldom has a movie's misfortune made me so happy. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 6:44 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Kate wrote: Marc wrote: The Fighter is stunningly good. Not a false note in the whole damn thing. Give the best supporting actress Oscar to Melissa Leo right now. was a fantastically solid film. I loved it. I am tipping my hand for the blanches, but I so agree that Melissa Leo was simply amazing. I also think Christian Bale nailed it. When you watch the few minutes of the real folks at the end - he got that guy. But Marc is right, this is a true ensemble film, every actor did an extraordinary job. A treat.
My sole annoyance with the reaction to this film is that Christian Bale and Melissa Leo, skilled showboaters, are tending to steal the thunder from the more nuanced performances of Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams. All four are sensational, but Bale and Leo have the more fiery roles. Since Wahlberg was the producer, I assume he's a fan of the other three actors, as well he should be. Of all current stars, I think I'd most like to hang with Wahlberg. He sounds like my kind of guy.
Agree totally that Bale captured the real Dicky. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 9:02 am |
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billyweeds wrote: Marc wrote: Billy said about True Grit: Quote: It's not destined to be a huge hit.
For a Coen Brothers film, True Grit is already a hit. $37 million at the boxoffice in its first 5 days. I predict it will be the CB's biggest grossing film.
Could be, but that's not saying too much since their movies hardly ever make any money to speak of. I far preferred their currently-top-grosser Burn After Reading.
Anyway, let's not argue. Instead let's celebrate the good news: Little Fockers is considered a failure even though it opened at #1. The grosses were significantly below the first two Fockers films. (For the record, I tolerated the first one but totally abhorred the second and will not see the third under any circumstances.) Seldom has a movie's misfortune made me so happy.
I didn't tolerate the first one, I really disliked it and never had the least interest nin seeing the second.
My son and daughter-in-law saw The Fighter. My son liked it and my daughter-in-law loved it. That being said, I saw The Wrestler with my son last year (?) and he liked it and I loved it. Of course he saw (no pun intended), all the episodes of Saw so I think my taste is more in line with my daughter-in-law's than his. |
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| knox |
| Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 1:13 pm |
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Joined: 18 Mar 2010
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Location: St. Louis
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| Noomi is fascinating to look at, but I'm not sure her Salander stands out beyond the exotic Scandinaviosity. For me, it's a bit like seeing Bjork in that indie film with DeNeuve a few years ago -- something different and of another world, plus sexual heat. Portman on tiptoes, however, does stand out for me, partly the athletic accomplishment, partly the swan split personas and somehow she makes it all look easy. I haven't seen Kidman yet, but the immobility of her forehead in other roles I've seen her in has taken its toll -- which might mean I'll be blown away by this one, as it apparently involves the unleashing of forehead muscles. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 3:15 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Ms. Rapace is my Blanche bar-setter (i.e., the performance by which I try and separate the wheat from the chaff) due to: her investment in the physical demands of the fight sequences and rape scene; her mercurial responses, here sullen, there childlike, now a virago, then a sphinx, never predictable, in service of a deeply damaged and complex character; the lack of self-consciousness in both male and female couplings; her inscrutable keeping of Lisbeth Salander's inner workings close to the vest while building on them through three films; the adherence to the character from the novels without seeming page-bound; and, ultimately, my difficulty in now seeing anybody else in that part (Rooney Mara has her work cut out for her).
Nicole no doubt touched me more, particularly when least indicated by the script (which, considering how many times the play entered my purview, is its own accomplishment); Annette and Julianne elicited numerous belly-laughs/cringes-of-recognition/lumps-in-the-throat, reminding me of more than one family-skewed lebizian pair I've known; Natalie repeatedly made my jaw drop, convinced me with her dancer's chops, and brought back memories of several anorexically driven trinas in the days before my knees went; Ms. Keener wholly inhabited her self-deludingly liberal character's contradictions, from the inside out; and the For Colored Girls wommyn were remarkably old-school incisive and vivid, raw and lyrical at once -- yet am unable to quite shake off Noomi these many months later. Whatchagonnado? It's all so subjective.
And, right on cue, my LAFCC colleague loaned me Winter's Bone instead of Tillman Story, so there's yet another actress to potentially stir up the mix. Hoo boy, woohoo, hopla -- it's Blanche time again. |
Last edited by inlareviewer on Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:14 pm; edited 3 times in total
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 11:23 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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lshap wrote: Billy,
It's a Canadian production by a Montreal writer shot mostly in Montreal. I assumed (wrongly, apparently) that it wouldn't ring a bell 'cause most Americans wouldn't have heard of it. And now is your chance to tell me you're NOT most Americans.
Giamatti is great. Let me know what you think.
Saw Barney's Version and was thoroughly impressed by most of what I saw. Giamatti was indeed superb, as were Rosamund Pike, Dustin Hoffman, and most of the cast. The Canadian settings were perfect. My only objections, and they existed, centered around the rather too epic scale of the production. It seemed to be about 300 years in the life of one man and 3000 years in the life of the Twentieth Century, and even though 90 percent of the acting and period was right on the money, the movie's reach seemed to exceed its grasp just a tiny bit. That said, the movie is well worth anyone's time. It's really good. You really get your money's worth. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 1:45 am |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Oh, fiddle. If both Lshap and willybeeds are on board, then Barney's Version must be added to the queue, at present more than a little like Xanadu without the puzzle pieces, sled and/or Dorothy Comingore, more's the pity, if only to have something else to discuss over Canasta...
Siriusly, how tetally kewl, sounds an outside-the-radar Real Find flick. Am inordinately fond of Mr. Giamatti anyhoo, and those other players, too, so there it is. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 10:42 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6958
Location: Black Hills
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| Rabbit Hole has yet to emerge from "limited release," so I'm not sure how to rank actress perfs, not having seen Nicole's forehead in motion. I have to agree with Inla that something about Noomi's Salander has a way of imprinting on the heart. As much as I liked Natalie (who is now working on an abdominal bulge for her red carpet dress: http://gawker.com/5719003/natalie-portman-got-pregnant-and-engaged-to-crush-your-dreams), I'm not sure it showed me anything new....Lisbeth Salander is an original. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 11:08 am |
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Joined: 12 May 2004
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"Oh, fiddle" - Gotta' use that sometime.
The other thing about Barney's Version is the bunch of personal & local in-jokes. I know a lot of the extras and small-part actors who were in the wedding scene. Plus, the wedding band is a well-known group I've seen perform at more than one wedding. Wife #1, Rachelle Lefevre, (the gorgeous, disturbed redhead) is a local actress who my wife auditioned a dozen years ago.
And, as a bonus, you can play "Spot the Director", with cameos by David Cronenberg and a decent small role by Denys Arcand. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 12:40 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: AZ
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I love Canadian directors and Canadian films!
Quote: Ms. Rapace is my Blanche bar-setter (i.e., the performance by which I try and separate the wheat from the chaff) due to: her investment in the physical demands of the fight sequences and rape scene; her mercurial responses, here sullen, there childlike, now a virago, then a sphinx, never predictable, in service of a deeply damaged and complex character; the lack of self-consciousness in both male and female couplings; her inscrutable keeping of Lizbeth Salander's inner workings close to the vest while building on them through three films; the adherence to the character from the novels without seeming page-bound; and, ultimately, my difficulty in now seeing anybody else in that part (Rooney Mara has her work cut out for her).
Inla...........That's one of your finest paragraphs. Now the problem is which film? I loved her in the last one: Stuck in a hospital bed. Dressed for court. Outsmarting her brother. Greeting Micheal at her door wet from a shower. Realizing she'd lost her enemies. Not quite ready to acknowledge her friends. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:08 pm |
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True Grit as a bit better than Billy describes it, slightly more than good and less than great.
What works: the film beautifully captures the decrepitude of the old West in all its vintage, rusty charm. The vastness is invigorating, so is the basic story: Young girl, old Marshall and Texas Ranger follow the trail of a murderer, encounter villains and adventures along the way. Simple and exciting. The plot and the characters never stop moving.
What doesn't work: the character development. The three principles, Rooster Cogburn, Mattie Ross and LaBoeuf, are interesting sketches that never grew into real people. Mattie, the young protagonist of this whole thing, is especially underwritten. Sure, I get that she's smart, but what makes me care about her or her quest to find her father's killer? Nothing really, beyond her statement to that effect.
Jeff Bridges is fun to watch as Rooster, but even he's nothing more than a series of bullet points (pun intended). Damon is as good as his bland role permits. But here's the weirdest part: villain Josh Brolin - the Big Payoff of the story - is a virtual nonentity. And that's a big problem, 'cause you've got the two pivotal parts - aggrieved girl and murdering villain - as the two weakest characters in the film. So tell me again why Rooster got off his ass in the first place? And what's so important about what he's chasing? It's like the Coens built a beautiful car and forgot to put in an engine to make it go. The scenes work individually, but there's no motivation at the center of this story pushing anybody onward.
Granted, the Coen brothers aren't known for heavy backstories. Their characters are just there, exploding off the screen like weird-coloured fireworks, and we remember them because of how eccentric, funny or scary they are. Not so with True Grit. Strange to say, but I think the film needed to be longer, with an extra 30 minutes to be properly introduced to everyone. |
Last edited by lshap on Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
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