Review the movie you just viewed (all the way to) 11

[powerhour24]

You can write a review without spoilers; Most movie reviews don't want to give away key plot points and endings, but why not just include tags if you really want to include spoilers? It's not like this is a Black Swan thread. I like to read other reviews, but there have been a couple one sentence posts in here that aren't reviews that have ruined the end of the film for me. It's kinda hard to avoid them

Sorry JT, that last spoiler was just a joke, I'll try and use the tags for recent movies from now on, or ones that have big twists that shouldn't be ruined. I just naturally didn't censor myself because I never read reviews on films until I've seen them, if then even. The exception being when I'm on the fence about watching something.

 

[deep]

In the past I'd say yes, but in recent years we've seen some exceptions to that rule: The Departed, No Country For Old Men, and The Hurt Locker were not heartwarming films. I think that as the generations change the overall open-mindedness of the Academy is changing as well.

Slumdog Millionaire certainly fit the old pattern, but it's still fairly impressive that voters picked a film consisting of all Indian characters, not to mention something with a title consisting of the word "slumdog". I don't think this would have won ten years earlier.

Million Dollar Baby was a pretty dark movie, but it had a heart.

Movies like The Social Network, Black Swan have no one to care about.
No one heroic or very sympathetic. TSN is sexist for no good reason. Zuckerberg had a girlfriend before he started FB and still has the same one now.

The Departed, No Country For Old Men, and The Hurt Locker may not be heartwarming, but they have a heart, heroic characters that are sympathetic.
I can say the same for The Wrestler and Slumdog.

 

[deep]

10 nominees for Best Picture could skew the results > weighted votes

In August 2009 the Academy changed the voting process for the Best Picture category. After increasing the number of nominees in the Best Picture category from 5 to 10, the Academy opted for a preferential voting system to determine the winner of the Best Picture Oscar. Instead of merely making a check mark next to their favorite film, Academy voters will number the 10 nominees from 1 to 10 with 1 being their first choice, etc.

I am hoping everyone will rate Grit a 1, 2 or 3. (1 being their first choice) I think very few voters will dislike and vote it near the bottom, 9s or 10s.
so it can average in the 2, + or - range.

And then we will have many giving TSN, 1s.
but with some folks* not liking it, they could give it high numbers - perhaps some 8s or 9s. and then it will average out in the 4+ range.

 

[Saracene]

Zuckerberg might have had a girlfriend in real life, but a girlfriend wouldn't have worked for the kind of character they wanted to portray in the movie. So I wouldn't say that it was done for no good reason.

I thought it was an interesting perspective on a geek; usually in the movies geeks are portrayed as nice shy guys who simply need girls to give them a chance, y'know.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Movies like The Social Network, Black Swan have no one to care about.
No one heroic or very sympathetic.

I'll just have to strongly disagree with you on that. Andrew Garfield was very sympathetic, in my view. I cared about his character quite a bit. And I certainly cared about Natalie in Black Swan. I guess it depends on your definition of heroic, but I thought Nina was heroic as shit.

And, like you said, Steinfeld getting a Supporting nomination is not the end of the world, but it is a huge smelly pile of horseshit. She's in practically every scene. It's her story. That is ageist and sexist bullshit right there.

 

[deep]

I'll just have to strongly disagree with you on that. Andrew Garfield was very sympathetic, in my view. I cared about his character quite a bit. And I certainly cared about Natalie in Black Swan. I guess it depends on your definition of heroic, but I thought Nina was heroic as shit.

And, like you said, Steinfeld getting a Supporting nomination is not the end of the world, but it is a huge smelly pile of horseshit. She's in practically every scene.

Why do you care about Portman? Because she is hot?
One may have some compassion for a sick person.
She can't be heroic, there is no way out for her.

Eduardo is the character that one can have some sympathy for, without him the film would be an abyss of just complete selfish, soulless assholes. But, all he does is worry about himself. I am sure his settlement put him way ahead of 99% of his graduating class. In the end he is not heroic, where is the character arc, in these films?

I do like the movie, I did sit through it twice, I think Justin Timberlake is the best part of the film. I just don't think it is Fincher's best film or 2010s for that matter. I do think Jesse Eisenberg did good work, he should get a nom.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Where's the character arc? What? She begins the film as a broken down and frightened girl and it ends with her putting on the performance of her life and captivating the crowd and truly embodying, if only for a brief moment, the character she dreamed of being.

Eduardo's "heroic" moment (not a good word, but this is semantics) and his character arc culminate with his last moment on screen as he fucking completely punks out Timberlake's character, getting him to flinch like a little girl after the fake punch and then saying "I like standing next to you, Sean. It makes me feel so tough."

 

[deep]

I am sure this film resonates fairly well with many young people (guys) in school that would love to be the next geek-get-lucky-billionaire. That's fair.

I think most people would flinch if someone made out like they were going to punch them.

And, being one of 4 brothers, I can think back and relate, too.

 

[lazarus]

Why do you care about Portman? Because she is hot?
One may have some compassion for a sick person.
She can't be heroic, there is no way out for her.

Will you shut up about this already? You're a broken record. Just because you don't find her performance great, character heroic, or whatever doesn't mean you have to blanket everyone's positive reaction under "we think she's hot".

Because you're the one sounding like a fucking sexist.

 

[deep]

Since you asked so nicely.
OK.

 

[powerhour24]

Personally, even as a huge fan of Black Swan, I would not call Nina heroic at all, she was trying so hard to be something her mother could not be instead of just living her life on her own terms, the one adjective to describe her would either be "abused" or "deranged" and one was the result of the other.

Also, Andrew Garfield is the likable center of The Social Network, which is why most people predicted he'd be the sole cast member nominated at the Oscars this year until all the critics groups started awarding Eisenberg. Come on, look at how it's sweeping EVERYTHING, likability won't be a factor in who is going to win, it'll come down to if the Oscars choose the more modern film, or the traditional opponent, which in my opinion is The King's Speech, not True Grit. Some of you seem to think it will only resonant with nerds, or Facebook junkies or something which is simply untrue. All that aside it is a compelling character drama with a flawless cast that pulls off the film's greatest stunts: the dialog. One poorly delivered character, or hell one poorly delivered line and the film would have unraveled a bit, but Fincher's direction and his cast deliver. Though I went in thinking the lighting pallete was going to make the movie come off as kind of redundant visually for Fincher, the camerawork and editing make up for it, all of this from a film that easily could have been staged in the least complicated way and still have been acclaimed. Again, if the filmmakers hadn't hit a homerun with each of their roles (along with the very idea of making this into a movie) it wouldn't be sweeping every award in its path. Contrast that with The King's Speech, which is a great film, but it does everything in a safe, traditional way. They have split the top prizes in the past, and picked safer material as well, which is why it's possible Fincher wins and TSN loses, but I think even the Academy don't want to be seen as out of touch nowadays.

Man, why am I wasting my time analyzing something I hate? The Oscars and their prestige with close-minded moviegoers fucking suck... yet every year I get pulled into arguing about them.

 

[Lancemc]

Great film certainly don't need heroic, sympathetic or even likeable characters... Or character arcs for that matter.

 

[powerhour24]

I never said they did, just refuting GAF calling her heroic.

 

[Lancemc]

I'm more esponding to deep's ramblings. I'm with you.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I never said they did, just refuting GAF calling her heroic.

Like I said to deep, it's semantics. We're discussing the word "heroic," something that can have many different meanings to many different people. All I can say is, for me personally, when Nina finally comes out on the stage as the black swan, does her thing, and absolutely owns the moment, my heart was beating out of my chest, I was thrilled for the character, and it was pretty god damned heroic.

 

[Jive Turkey]

Sorry JT, that last spoiler was just a joke, I'll try and use the tags for recent movies from now on, or ones that have big twists that shouldn't be ruined. I just naturally didn't censor myself because I never read reviews on films until I've seen them, if then even. The exception being when I'm on the fence about watching something.

No need to be sorry I figured it was a joke spoiler, that's why I clicked it. It wasn't so much a fist shaking demand as a gentle request.
This thread usually includes spoiler tags (I think), so I was just surprised at how much of Black Swan's ending was being discussed. I didn't think it had quite surpassed the 'well you still havent seen it. this shit it general knowledge' threshold yet

 

[powerhour24]

Like I said to deep, it's semantics. We're discussing the word "heroic," something that can have many different meanings to many different people. All I can say is, for me personally, when Nina finally comes out on the stage as the black swan, does her thing, and absolutely owns the moment, my heart was beating out of my chest, I was thrilled for the character, and it was pretty god damned heroic.

True, to each their own, but for me, while I would call that moment triumphant, I still wouldn't call her heroic .

 

[purpleoscar]

Scott Pilgrim 7.5/10 - I knew I probably would like this one but I still like Hot Fuzz more. I love the quick machine gun references that Edgar Wright employs. The beginning was a little flat but there were some fun sequences. My favorite scene and by far the most masterfully played out was the Vegan sequence. It couldn't have been filmed better

 

[purpleoscar]

127 Hours 8.5/10 - This is a good example of a well made short movie. If you think that certain scenes will be excrutiating to watch you will be right yet there's more to it than that. James Franco won't win the oscar but deserves a nomination at least.

 

[powerhour24]

True, but he should win.

 

[purpleoscar]

True, but he should win.

He appears to be a smart guy too with his university work and projects:

Dark Horizons | News | Franco Directs "Blood Meridian," "Lay Dying" - January 4th 2011

 

[deep]

127 Hours 8.5/10 .

boring movie, but Franco is very good actor, even when I watch those stupid stoner movies, I find myself liking his work.

 

[powerhour24]

OK, it's one thing to critique a movie, but I don't see how it is humanly possible to call 127 Hours boring.

 

[LemonMelon]

I would ordinarily do a full review, but shit, it's almost 6 AM. The Third Man is a great movie, very well written and genuinely suspenseful in parts with terrific cinematography and direction throughout, but it may have the worst soundtrack of all time (Un Chien Andalou is a close second). Spongebob and film noir do not mix. Still worth about an 8 or so, higher if it weren't for that one mood killer.

 

[LMP]

That's one way of looking at it.

 

[lazarus]

Keep in mind that most western audiences had never heard a zither before, so it was considered pretty revolutionary at the time to use it.

I think it keeps the movie off-kilter and works well with all the canted angles. Also, while it is suspenseful, a good deal of it is odd and humorous and so I don't feel the music is inappropriate.

And it's certainly beautiful at the ending, one of the greatest ever.

Spoiler

 

[Lancemc]

First Eyes Wide Shut and now this. LM is the killer is interesting film scores.

 

[powerhour24]

Keep in mind that most western audiences had never heard a zither before, so it was considered pretty revolutionary at the time to use it.

I think it keeps the movie off-kilter and works well with all the canted angles. Also, while it is suspenseful, a good deal of it is odd and humorous and so I don't feel the music is inappropriate.

And it's certainly beautiful at the ending, one of the greatest ever.

Spoiler

Thank you.

Not to mention the masterful story comes from my favorite author of all time, Graham Greene.

 

[lazarus]

I'm a big Greene fan as well. Apparently Scorsese was trying to get an adaptation of The Heart of the Matter off the ground but it never materialized.

There have been many good films made from Greene's work, actually.

 

[powerhour24]

I agree that there have been a number of good films based on his work, but I don't think any of them are strong adaptations. But then Greene's prose is so in the minds of his protagonists that normal film just isn't the right medium for his work, despite the very cinematic way in which he described the action of his novels. He was however, quite adept at writing directly for the screen. That said, I am rather interested in that updated take on Brighton Rock coming out later this year.