Anthony
Refugee
Yes, well... with the hype of the OSCARS over, a lot of publicity over certain flms was inevitable. However, what about the quieter films that proved to either be sleeper-hits or art-house wonders, what did you think of them? I'm thinking of films such as Todd Field's IN THE BEDROOM and Eyre's IRIS, Altman's fantastic GOSFORD PARK... not to mention MONSTER'S BALL, which ofcourse has proven to be big now that the 'doors have been knocked down by Halle Berry' and all that.
Personally, I hated A BEAUTIFUL MIND, it was manipulative shit with a damn-good performance from Russel Crowe, but nothing more. Jennifer Connolly played an annoying character annoyingly, I hoped that at one point in the movie Nash would have just slapped her or something, or possibly mistake her for Ed Harris' character and consequently shoot her. I dunno, something to stop her from delivering stupid shitty dialogue such as 'I need to believe something wonderful is going to happen... sniff sniff'; I am OH SO moved.
Altman's GOSFORD PARK was, I think, incredible. Wonderful for anglophile Americans, or for those of you who like some European humour in your films, not to mention amazing character-development and performances from a gorgeously fantastic British cast, it made me proud to be British. I STILL think Helen Mirren should have received the award, a) because her performance was so moving it made me want to cry, and b) because the academy overlooked her, again.
However, IN THE BEDROOM, which garnered our Tom Wilkinson an oscar, was purely an art-house phenomenom without reason. It wasn't a bad movie, but it lacked passion, precision and purpose; the performances by Spacek and Wilkinson were brilliant, but I felt that a very simple plot was stretched for too long a time without purpose. The film was meant to show, I think, how a family is internally destoyed by grief; it didn't convey that succesfully, in the end.
MONSTER'S BALL hasn't even been released here in the UK, but I intend to see it when it comes out. IRIS was a good movie, but sad.
What do you guys think?
Ant.
Personally, I hated A BEAUTIFUL MIND, it was manipulative shit with a damn-good performance from Russel Crowe, but nothing more. Jennifer Connolly played an annoying character annoyingly, I hoped that at one point in the movie Nash would have just slapped her or something, or possibly mistake her for Ed Harris' character and consequently shoot her. I dunno, something to stop her from delivering stupid shitty dialogue such as 'I need to believe something wonderful is going to happen... sniff sniff'; I am OH SO moved.
Altman's GOSFORD PARK was, I think, incredible. Wonderful for anglophile Americans, or for those of you who like some European humour in your films, not to mention amazing character-development and performances from a gorgeously fantastic British cast, it made me proud to be British. I STILL think Helen Mirren should have received the award, a) because her performance was so moving it made me want to cry, and b) because the academy overlooked her, again.
However, IN THE BEDROOM, which garnered our Tom Wilkinson an oscar, was purely an art-house phenomenom without reason. It wasn't a bad movie, but it lacked passion, precision and purpose; the performances by Spacek and Wilkinson were brilliant, but I felt that a very simple plot was stretched for too long a time without purpose. The film was meant to show, I think, how a family is internally destoyed by grief; it didn't convey that succesfully, in the end.
MONSTER'S BALL hasn't even been released here in the UK, but I intend to see it when it comes out. IRIS was a good movie, but sad.
What do you guys think?
Ant.