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| Marc |
 Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 2:12 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
Posts: 8424
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| Every actor in The Fighter is excellent. It is truly an ensemble piece. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 5:18 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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| Deleted due to too-soon status and holiday doldrums. |
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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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| Befade |
| Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 6:02 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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MERRY CHRISTMAS to ALL and removal of doldrums to Inla.
Yes, The Fighter is a good movie to rave about. I never thought of Amy Adams as sexy before........she was the hotest actress on screen this year. The seven sisters: over-the-top.......what a force to contend with. Mark (steady, dependable, not showy) balanced all the other wildness. I guess Christian Bale was just so physical, so energized that he gave a palpable life to the film. His past roles have been quite different. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 9:22 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Befadetsy, that's so sweet. Doldrums was the wrong word --
exhaustion, that's the ticket. I do love the holidays, but they take their toll.
Now, as for The Fighter -- it's in like Flynn, having instantly entered The Awards Derby Buzzwerks as THE Credible Spoiler to Social Network and King's Speech, both of which keep switching places as Front-Runner Designate.
As Supphose Actor goes, Mr. Bale is poised exactly where King Colin is for Master Thespian -- His To Lose, over Mr. Rush's elocutionist, not one but two Social contenders, Mr. Ruffalo's Kids spermatazoa contributor, Mr. Damon's Glen Campbell redux, and heaven knows who else -- a very crowded arena, Supphose. Should Mr. Wahlberg manage a Best Actor slot alongside Bridges, Franco and Eisenberg over Di Caprio or Duvall! that race is still for all intents and purposes already done -- Firth's the Presumptive Awardee, in a stammering, make-up-for-last-year walk.
The Fighter wommyn are trickier to predict, because with the level of reviews and reax both are getting, it's conceivable they'll each get nods to cancel each other out, leaving Supphose Actress open to Dianne Weist, Helena Bonham-Carter, Mila Kunis, that Steal-The-Notices child from True Grit, and others; again, a very crowded arena. Just sayin'. Otherwise, all continues as before, Bening and Portman neck-and-neck for Prima Donna, Fincher the One to Beat for Director, etc., at least until the year is done next Friday, the campaigns reboot in earnest, the GGs and the Guilds are heard from, and, of course, um, the Aclademy noms are announced on Dawn of the Dead, i.e., that pre-sunrise assignment inlareviewer looks forward to each year with the enthusiasm usually reserved for a root canal. Ah, Whollyweird. |
Last edited by inlareviewer on Mon Dec 27, 2010 3:17 am; edited 4 times in total
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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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| Befade |
| Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 9:34 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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Quote: exhaustion, that's the ticket. I do love the holidays, but they take their toll.
understood..........I'm still in my pjs.......and I haven't even seen one movie. but a day in pjs is my idea of a great holiday!
Still feeling good that I saw The Fighter. For some reason no impulse to see The King's Speech.......and Colin Firth was my absolute favorite last year for A Single Man. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 11:00 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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Except for the last 15 minutes, True Grit must be the least entertaining film the Coens have made. The character of the 14 year old girl is no more believable than the Ellen Page character in Juno. If the Coens wanted to remake a Western, they should have picked Cat Ballou.
By the way, A Serious Man is my third favorite Coen movie, after Fargo and Burn After Reading. |
Last edited by Ghulam on Sun Dec 26, 2010 2:02 am; edited 1 time in total |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 11:17 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Ghulam wrote: Except for the last 15 minutes, True Grit must be the least entertaining film the Coens have made. The character of the 14 year girl is no more believable than the Ellen Page character in Juno. If the Coens wanted to remake a Western, they should have picked Cat Ballou.
By the way, A Serious Man is my third favorite Coen movie, after Fargo and Burn After Reading.
Nobody is loving True Grit the way the critics do. It's not destined to be a huge hit.
A Serious Man is my second-favorite Coen, after Fargo. Don't know exactly where Burn After Reading fits in, but I like it a lot more than the critics did.
Critics are weird. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 11:35 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12893
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| My top five Coens are Fargo, Blood Simple, No Country for Old Men, Miller's Crossing and Barton Fink. True Grit would be #6, followed by Burn After Reading. That's not counting their delightful segment of Paris, Je T'Aime, which would otherwise be #6. |
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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 |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 11:38 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4246
Location: Montreal
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I assume the names Dustin Hoffman and Paul Giamatti ring a bell? Good, 'cause the rest of this film won't.
We celebrated Christmas Eve last night in the true Jewish tradition: Chinese food and a movie. Sizzling chicken with vegetables, followed by Barney's Version. It's the movie adaptation of Mordecai Richler's final novel, the sometimes-touching, sometimes-frustrating love story of a horny, self-involved jerk who meets the love of his life at his own wedding, while marrying another woman. And this is wedding #2 for him in the film, by the way.
Giamatti plays Barney Panofsky, a successful Montreal TV producer whose most successful relationships have been with a bottle of scotch, Cuban cigars and his low-life, womanizing best friend, 'Boogie'. A bit of a wrinkle there, because Boogie disappears after jumping into a lake and Barney is suspected of his murder.
And it's at that point - while becoming a murder suspect of best friend #1 and ex-husband to wife #2 - that the story finds its groove. Barney the cocky prick evolves into Barney the hopeless romantic, in hot pursuit of potential wife #3.
Paul Giamatti isn't known for such an intense range in one character, but this is his film and he nails it - a blend of snarling rage, puppydog longing and deep despair. It's easy to hate his cruelty just as it's easy to love his kindness that squeaks through the cracks. Giamatti manages to move through the decades from a younger loud-mouth to a more textured middle age and finally to a very sad older man. His performance should be nominated for every award, even if it seems to be the year of Colin the King.
Along for most of the ride is Barney's straight-talkin' libidinous ex-cop of a Dad, played with crusty charm by Dustin Hoffman. Also notable is Minnie Driver as the hapless Jewish princess wife #2 and Rosamund Pike (An Education) as the eternally-loved wife #3. |
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"Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?" |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 11:40 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Your first paragraph is confusing, Lorne. You seem to be saying the movie isn't any good, and then you go on with a rave. I have a screener of the film I've been waiting to see, so I'm going to see it soon. But what is with your opening "it won't ring a bell" salvo? |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 12:16 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4246
Location: Montreal
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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. |
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"Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?" |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 12:23 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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lshap wrote: I assume the names Dustin Hoffman and Paul Giamatti ring a bell? Good, 'cause the rest of this film won't.
We celebrated Christmas Eve last night in the true Jewish tradition: Chinese food and a movie. Sizzling chicken with vegetables, followed by Barney's Version. It's the movie adaptation of Mordecai Richler's final novel, the sometimes-touching, sometimes-frustrating love story of a horny, self-involved jerk who meets the love of his life at his own wedding, while marrying another woman. And this is wedding #2 for him in the film, by the way.
Giamatti plays Barney Panofsky, a successful Montreal TV producer whose most successful relationships have been with a bottle of scotch, Cuban cigars and his low-life, womanizing best friend, 'Boogie'. A bit of a wrinkle there, because Boogie disappears after jumping into a lake and Barney is suspected of his murder.
And it's at that point - while becoming a murder suspect of best friend #1 and ex-husband to wife #2 - that the story finds its groove. Barney the cocky prick evolves into Barney the hopeless romantic, in hot pursuit of potential wife #3.
Paul Giamatti isn't known for such an intense range in one character, but this is his film and he nails it - a blend of snarling rage, puppydog longing and deep despair. It's easy to hate his cruelty just as it's easy to love his kindness that squeaks through the cracks. Giamatti manages to move through the decades from a younger loud-mouth to a more textured middle age and finally to a very sad older man. His performance should be nominated for every award, even if it seems to be the year of Colin the King.
Along for most of the ride is Barney's straight-talkin' libidinous ex-cop of a Dad, played with crusty charm by Dustin Hoffman. Also notable is Minnie Driver as the hapless Jewish princess wife #2 and Rosamund Pike (An Education) as the eternally-loved wife #3. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 1:05 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12893
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| Hey, if he doesn't want Minnie Driver, I'll take her. |
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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 |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 1:32 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Four Lions just didn't work for me.
Basically the inane humor of The Office applied to a wannabe jihadi terror cell.
Most of these Pakistanis are about as smart and sophisticated in planning as Homer Simpson.
The whole film felt like an over-extended skit to me.
I wasn't actually offended by the utter stupidity of the Pakistani-Brits, or making light of terrorism, but I also didn't find it funny.
A bit of an odd film, maybe more targeted to a younger audience. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 2:43 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6948
Location: Black Hills
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Black Swan chat petered out. I can see a slight parallel to Piper Laurie, I guess, in Hershey's controlling mama. But, on the whole, don't see much relation to "Carrie." Maybe the "one-note" pan of Portman has some merit, but I guess I thought it was a very good note and just the right one for something gaudy and gothic.
I'd see any film pairing Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman, but it's probably going to be a while before it turns up here.
Namaste, merry solstice, and happy xmas if you're into the whole monotheism thing. It's only 2 years now until Quetzelcoatl comes back and shows you the error of your ways. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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