Random Movie Talk XV: You Asked For It, Cobbler

[deep]

Manchester is forgettable and overrated.
Margaret is very very good.

 

[namkcuR]

Speak for yourself. I'll not be forgetting it for a long time.

 

[Lancemc]

Margaret is boring. Will never watch another film by him.

 

[namkcuR]

Margaret is boring. Will never watch another film by him.

Don't really understand completely dismissing a director(or actor or whatever) because one didn't like one piece of work.

 

[Lancemc]

I don't meant it. Probably. But then life is short.

 

[LemonMelon]

Gaaahhhh Arrival was so good. As a language nerd with years of linguistics study under his belt, I could not have asked for a better sci-fi conceit.

Nice to see Amy Adams get some decent material for the first time in ages. Very empathetic performance. Enough with the Lois Lane sleepwalking.

 

[bono_212]

Loved that movie so very much. So refreshing for the genre.

 

[lazarus]

I saw Fences today, and while not familiar with the original play, I found this to be very powerful. Moreso than Manchester By The Sea. Both are fairly stripped down and in service of their words, this one just resonated for me a little more.

Washington and Affleck's characters and performances couldn't be further apart, and while I can appreciate minimalist acting and inner turmoil, Washington just towers over everyone else this year IMO. He has a lot of opportunity to do some thespian grandstanding, but he still portrays a full, layered character. There are big, loud moments but also smaller, quiet ones and he's brilliant at both.

He obviously had the benefit of playing the same role on the stage, for which he won a Tony, but taken on its own as a performance for the camera, I still find it to be about as good as acting gets.

Viola Davis and the rest of the cast aren't far behind.

 

[gump]

Gaaahhhh Arrival was so good. As a language nerd with years of linguistics study under his belt, I could not have asked for a better sci-fi conceit.

Nice to see Amy Adams get some decent material for the first time in ages. Very empathetic performance. Enough with the Lois Lane sleepwalking.

Totally agree. I liked everything about it - the mood, the story, the visuals. Amy Adams was great, and she was also fantastic in Nocturnal Animals (another very good movie, by the way, much better than Ford's earlier work).


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[Oregoropa]

I will bang out every Oscar nominated best picture as a matter of principle.

NFL-Weddings-Christmas Eve robbing my movie time. Usually I hit 3 Oscar contenders at a time on a lazy Saturday with one ticket.

We should do a pool when Academy awards time come around. Maybe through public polls.

In the sphere of potential nominees I have seen Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge.

Sully is well done...some noms possible. Snowden underrated, expecting nothing. Best Oliver Stone movie since Any Given Sunday.


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[deep]

You will see some mediocre fare this year for sure.

 

[gump]

Hey LM, you might enjoy this article:

http://theplaylist.net/amy-adams-director-denis-villeneuve-talk-arrival-humanity-sci-fi-20161209/


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[corianderstem]

I loved Arrival. Loved it.

La La Land left me a little cold. Yes, it's charming, and I like a retro "hey, let's do an old-school (insert genre here)" throwback, but I do not understand the huge hype it's getting. I was expecting to be wowed, and I found myself checking the time a few times during the second half.

I felt the same way about The Artist. I think Hollywood just loves movies about itself.

 

[lazarus]

I think what's refreshing for a lot of people is that most recent musicals of this millennium have relied on quicker editing to mask the lack of our current actors' dancing abilities, as well as sustaining the interest of the "MTV generation" (Moulin Rouge being the most obvious example, but a similar approach was used in Chicago). While Gosling and Stone aren't Astaire and Rogers, it was nice that the director just kept the shots wider so you could see their whole bodies, and letting the musical numbers breathe a little.

There was just a more creative use of the wide frame in general, as well as some lap dissolves, something that used to be more popular during the Golden Age. So while the performances/songs weren't necessarily anything groundbreaking (the score itself was fantastic, though), I think this is why it's getting such a response. Crowd I saw it with cheered after the opening number and applauded loudly at the end.

Don't be surprised when it wins Best Picture.

 

[gump]

Agree with everything Laz said. I'll also add that La La Land differs from other recent musicals where each song/set piece is specifically designed to move the story forward through its lyrics. La La Land uses its music more creatively, in particular instrumental pieces that tells the story through emotions and not words.

Spoiler

I thought that the last sequence when Gosling's character plays the piano motif at Seb's, which immediately takes us back to that first scene where they meet at the restaurant, was brilliant in this respect.

Moonlight should win best picture though. Not sure it will happen, but after last year's diversity fiasco and the current political moment, I'm still hopeful.

 

[gump]

Barry Jenkins is curating a week of films that influenced him in Moonlight here. Caught a print of Happy Together tonight, and it was great to see it on a big screen. The contrast between some of the wide shots like the Iguaçu falls and the claustrophobic intimate spaces worked even better. I love how Wong manages to make the central relationship very real on the screen with the small fragments of the story. And my favorite aspect of the film is how it perfectly captures the loneliness of living abroad. The only complaint I had was the quality of the print. I don't know how a 20-year old film could look and sound so bad, but somehow it did.

I might go see Hou's Three Times tomorrow.

 

[Lancemc]

Oh please go see Three Times.

 

[lazarus]

At least see it once.

 

[LemonMelon]

I really liked Manchester by the Sea. Depressing dramas about alcoholism, death and misery appeal to me in general, but I was particularly impressed by its three-dimensional characters, realistic storytelling and balance of drama and humor. I didn't expect to laugh as much as I did, that's for sure, but there was an improvisational flow to the dialogue that allowed for some very natural repartee.

Only complaints: Michelle Williams was mostly great but wildly overacts in her big, dramatic Oscar-reaching scene and the score was rather overbearing in spots. No other major flaws came to mind. Rock solid film, will likely crack my top 5.

 

[LemonMelon]

I'll also throw out some love for The Fits. Extremely compelling dance/boxing/slice of life film with a gripping score, skillful shot composition, some ambitious set pieces and all made for under $200,000. Directorial debut too. Give it a go, it's 72 minutes long and on Amazon Video for free if you've got Prime. I just put it on because I felt like watching another new movie tonight and was very impressed.

 

[cobl04]

Forgot to mention the bunch of films I watched on the flight to Europe last month.

13 Hours - brilliant German film telling the story of Georg Elser's failure to assassinate Hitler. Gripping from start to finish, and the casting - particularly that of Elser and his lover - is absolutely spot on. Keep thinking about it.
Lady in the Van - really quirky movie that's very much in the vein of those staid British period pieces/movies/TV shows, but is far better than all those because it's not boring as shit. That's thanks to the casting of Maggie Smith and Alex Jennings and the strength of the scriptwriting.
Ride Along - fine, but not quite as fun as I hoped it'd be.
Nine Lives - an English-language French comedy that stars Christopher Walken as a cat whisperer and Kevin Spacey as a terrible father who must find redemption when he is turned into a cat. I fucking loved it. Was absolutely paned by every critic on the face of the planet, but I loved it. Great fodder for when you're exhausted but can't sleep on the plane.

 

[gump]

Mahershala Ali was fucking robbed. And by a guy who was not even the best supporting actor in his own movie. What a ridiculous award.

Oh please go see Three Times.

I did, and it was glorious. What an amazing accomplishment. Shu Qi is absolutely brilliant in it.

 

[bono_212]

I just want to second the bit about Michelle Williams over acting. I honest to God put my hands over my mouth and quietly went, "noooooo" while they scene played out. Terrible. And she'll get nominated for it, and that's just awful. Otherwise, Manchester is probably my 3rd favorite film if the year.


I'm trying to continue to pretend that Nine Lives doesn't exist

 

[namkcuR]

I didn't think she was overacting. At all. That's the scene everyone is praising.

She's one of the actresses of her generation, imo.

 

[lazarus]

Saw Almodóvar's latest today, Julieta.

Without a doubt one of the year's best, could wind up my #1. I nearly broke down in tears about 10 minutes in, and was on the verge for the rest of the film.

Pedro's attention to detail, from the design to the camerawork, is nearly unparalleled.

I wouldn't put it quite on the level of Volver or All About My Mother, but it's certainly up there with the best of his work.

As a film about grief, guilt, and quiet suffering, this tops Manchester By The Sea for me.

 

[LemonMelon]

I didn't think she was overacting. At all. That's the scene everyone is praising.



She's one of the actresses of her generation, imo.

I think what makes the scene feel so jarring is the contrast between Williams' sobbing earnestness and Affleck's completely checked out disaffectedness. He looks like he doesn't want to be there (a good thing, that's an awkward conversation to have) and makes her come across like a crazy person instead of a woman expressing guilt and loss. I don't know how to take the scene. It took me out of the movie.

You know what scene I loved? The one with Patrick, his mom and whatever Matthew Broderick's character's name was. So delightfully stilted. Everything she did for him felt like a pose, like it was taken out of a self-help book, which it probably was. Totally out of place in the movie and necessarily so, that wasn't the kind of environment Patrick wanted to live in.

 

[namkcuR]

I think what makes the scene feel so jarring is the contrast between Williams' sobbing earnestness and Affleck's completely checked out disaffectedness. He looks like he doesn't want to be there (a good thing, that's an awkward conversation to have) and makes her come across like a crazy person instead of a woman expressing guilt and loss. I don't know how to take the scene. It took me out of the movie.

You know what scene I loved? The one with Patrick, his mom and whatever Matthew Broderick's character's name was. So delightfully stilted. Everything she did for him felt like a pose, like it was taken out of a self-help book, which it probably was. Totally out of place in the movie and necessarily so, that wasn't the kind of environment Patrick wanted to live in.

It's interesting you would single out that scene as one you liked, because a lot of people were saying that Broderick's cameo was the one bad thing about the film, that it was awkward(in the bad way) and unnecessary. I was kind of neutral to it myself. I just thought the mother character was really underdeveloped and needed some more depth.

As for the other scene...I think the dynamic you describe is the dynamic that was intended. She's breaking down and pouring her heart out and he has had a cage around his heart for so long that he won't allow himself to show any emotion, or let anyone else's emotion in, especially about this subject matter. He's supposed to be detached and disaffected. It was uncomfortable, and it was supposed to be. I think they got exactly what they were going for.

 

[Oregoropa]

I still have plenty of films to get through.

Just watched 'Hell or High Water' on my fire stick. 10/10

Plausible modern western with a Breaking Bad sense of moral justification. Great performances, and dialogue all around. Certainly oscarworthy in several categories. Jeff Bridges gets a supporting actor nod for what seems like such an effortless/perfect performance.


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[gump]

Saw Almodóvar's latest today, Julieta.

Without a doubt one of the year's best, could wind up my #1. I nearly broke down in tears about 10 minutes in, and was on the verge for the rest of the film.

Pedro's attention to detail, from the design to the camerawork, is nearly unparalleled.

I wouldn't put it quite on the level of Volver or All About My Mother, but it's certainly up there with the best of his work.

As a film about grief, guilt, and quiet suffering, this tops Manchester By The Sea for me.

I loved it too. I don't think it's near his best work, but even average or above average Almodovar is fantastic. The thing I often love about Almodovar is how much love and detail he gives to each of his characters, and it is certainly not different here. His work in Julieta looks almost effortlessly, but virtually every scene is carefully crafted. Emma Suárez's performance is incredible, too.

 

[cobl04]

More movies I watched on the flights home

Finding Dory - lovely.

Rosalie Blum - a French drama telling the same story split into thirds, about a lonely man who stalks a woman for no apparent reason (until you find out why at the very end), she, who finds it more interesting than creepy, and her niece, who she enlists to follow the dude around. Eventually they all end up meeting each other and he starts dating the niece. The woman has quite a dark back story. I haaaated the first third, because it's told from the view of the man, and it is just insanely creepy, he follows her literally everywhere, goes through her rubbish... as it goes on the film wins you over, it is really well done, but I can't help but feel that this dude gets off pretty lightly, he was legit stalking her. Maybe French romcoms are like this...?

Adopte Un Veuf, another French flick. I didn't quite get to finish it so I will have to chase it down, but I adored it - about an old bloke whose wife has died, he lives alone, until he ends up getting twenty and thirtysomething roomates, it was really, really sweet, funny.

Absolutely Anything - considering the talent of the people involved - Simon Pegg, Robin Williams, Monty Python, Kate Beckinsdale, directed by Terry Jones - absolute fucking garbage. A story that's been done a million times before - Jim Carrey's done it like three times himself - a million times better. Awful film.