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| billyweeds |
 Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 4:59 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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I too liked Young Adult, and particularly Theron's performance. 2011 was a year (IMO) of many, many very good pictures, almost none of which found their way into the awards season, where mediocrity reigned supreme.
Seeing Friends with Kids tonight, a rom-com that got mixed reviews but some raves, and which uses four Bridesmaids cast members--Kristen Wiig, Jon Hamm, Maya Rudolph, and Chris O'Dowd. It's written and directed by Hamm's real-life g.f. Jennifer Westfeldt, whom I also love. Looking forward to it, and will report. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 8:37 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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Quote: How dare you say something bad about a film I just picked up
When you buy films @ 10 for $1.00 what do you expect? |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 12:40 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Friends with Kids is not perfect, but it's witty and sharp and rather sad, an unusual quality for a sitcom. Adam Scott, Jon Hamm, and Chris O'Dowd are marvelous and everybody else is just fine. The premise--two platonic friends have a baby--goes where you expect it to go, but in some quite unpredictable ways. One dinner scene in particular is searing and memorable. Jennifer Westfeldt wrote and directed with insight and intelligence and humor. She's impressive. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 12:45 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6958
Location: Black Hills
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Quote: [Gromit, re Young Adult]... liked the warped motivation for the action. The woman discovers that her high school boyfriend and his wife just had a baby, and decides the time is right for them to get back together -- even though they haven't seen each other in years. Uh, you go girl.
Me, too, and Theron was perfect for the part. Sad/funny and, as with real life, you wonder if she's learned anything - no clear "arc" of character.
Will try FwK, though I approach anything with "have a baby" with utmost caution. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 2:33 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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We Need to Talk About Kevin is basically an intentionally ugly looking film. Slightly shaky handheld, tight closeups, dark at times, lots of close ups of various red liquids. The eerie style early on reminded me of Rosemary's Baby. Maybe intentionally. The film kind of stays in a limited groove, without really much to say.
Swinton does a fairly god job of creating a shell-shocked character, but it gets dull after a while. Reilly not given enough to do. And did I mention the ugliness?
Spoliers:
I didn't really believe that the whole community would react with such anger and ostracism to Swinton, because of what her son did.
And the attack itself seemed pretty oddball. Seems hard to do so much damage with a bow and arrow. And a few details seemed off. Why did it appear to be nighttime at the scene? It took that long to end the spree? And we see police removing a lock from the outside of the school, but Kevin is inside. Guess he could lock one door form outside and then go in another exit and lock it from inside... Also hard to believe nobody challenged him and he walked out in a clean white shirt.
Also if he shot down his other family members in the yard, apparently before school, wouldn't anyone hear anything? You'd think there'd be some loud screams of pain, as an arrow is unlikely to be immediately deadly. I was left wondering why he killed those two but not Mom. Kevin seemed to have a good relationship with Dad but a tense awkward one with Mom. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 2:43 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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bartist wrote:
Me, too, and Theron was perfect for the part. Sad/funny and, as with real life, you wonder if she's learned anything - no clear "arc" of character.
I think the film has a sly sense of humor on that.
She realizes she drinks too much, accepts Matt on his own terms, gives up the Buddy idea, and realizes she needs to change. The film portrays her on the cusp of an epiphany. But then the talk with sister nips it in the bud, and she reverts right back to high school prom queen mode. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 2:51 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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OTHER SPOILERS FOR KEVIN:
Nobody in the world seems to see that Kevin is a dangersously disturbed person except Mom. He's clearly a psycho of some sort, almost from the womb, and yet she's the only one who sees red flags. Everyone else thinks he's just dandy. Makes absolutely no sense. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 6:36 pm |
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We Need To Talk About Kevin, well maybe he needs to be talked about but I don't need to see this crap.
Thanks for the reviews and spoilers (they didn't spoil anything for me). |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:10 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| No need at all Gary...........there were enough good movies in 2011 ......no need to fit Kevin in........at all. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:24 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6958
Location: Black Hills
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| A friend who saw Jeff Who Lives at Home (in Toronto, at the FF) really liked it, and it has my idea of a nearly ideal comedic ensemble - Judy Greer, Jason Segel, Ed Helms, and Susan Sarandon. Opens Friday in the U.S. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:30 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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bartist wrote: A friend who saw Jeff Who Lives at Home (in Toronto, at the FF) really liked it, and it has my idea of a nearly ideal comedic ensemble - Judy Greer, Jason Segel, Ed Helms, and Susan Sarandon. Opens Friday in the U.S.
Seeing it in a couple of weeks. It's by the same talents who devised The Puffy Chair, a funny and very touching dramedy and the best "mumblecore" movie I've seen. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:31 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Today it's John Carter, tomorrow Footnote. |
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| grace |
| Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:51 pm |
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Joined: 11 Nov 2005
Posts: 3214
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billyweeds wrote: Today it's John Carter, tomorrow Footnote.
For half a second, I though this was a comment on John Carter's box office performance. I look forward to Footnote (but unfortunately, not in the next couple of days.) |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 3:39 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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Nader and Simin, A Separation is a good solid engaging drama. Good casting and acting. I liked the mother, father and the unemployed hotheaded guy, along with the little girl. Reminded me somewhat of Uc Magyum aka Three Monkeys, another taut family drama with an outside accident exposing/exacerbating fissures.
I wasn't thrilled with the ending of A Separation. I guess they wanted to connect to the beginning and make us wait to hear how the events of the film have impacted things. At first I was confused and thought they were going to the judge/court to tell the truth, so that threw me a little. The daughter's decision just seemed anti-climactic after all that happened, but maybe that's the point, their lives have to continue but have been altered. I really liked the opening scene and went back and re-watched that.
I'll have to think about this a little more. Good film. Worth seeing. One Dvd extra has LeilaHatami discussing the film in elegant and cute French. Too bad she didn't still have the red hair ...
Now at least I like 9 films on my 2011 Top 10 lsit. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| chillywilly |
| Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:34 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 8251
Location: Salt Lake City
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gromit wrote: Saw Hugo.
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Most of it seemed like a children's film.
In just about every interview, Marty mentioned that the main reason he made this film was for kids, specifically his kid wondering when he would make a movie she could see.
Personally, I liked Hugo as it is. The Sasha B Cohen scenes were a bit distracting, but the last 20 mins of the movie was a nice trip through film's past. |
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Chilly
"If you should die before me / Ask if you could bring a friend" |
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