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| billyweeds |
 Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2011 1:15 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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jeremy wrote: A lovely review of Another Year by Roger Ebert. It is not an unrestrained rave, but rather, like the film, it is simple, organic, gentle, human and, more than satisying; nourishing.
Agreed. A beautiful piece of writing--worthy of the film, which is a truly great one. Like inla, I will want to own it and watch it again and again.
Not incidentally, Ebert expresses my own opinion of the film almost to a syllable. I have read--and heard from some very close friends--some criticism of Tom (Jim Broadbent) and Gerri (Ruth Sheen) which claims they are surrounding themselves with losers in order to make themselves feel more virtuous and upstanding. I call bullshit, and so, obviously, does Ebert. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2011 11:05 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| I'm going to see it tomorrow along with Somewhere. I'll wait to read the review. Reading one can mess with my anticipations/expectations when I'm watching the movie. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 3:25 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 7:27 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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Best Picture (Musical or Comedy)
'Alice in Wonderland'
'Burlesque'
'The Kids Are All Right'
'Red'
'The Tourist'
I am still incredulous at the list of nominees for this category. The only film amongst them that is any good doesn't belong there. |
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I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 8:09 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12940
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| The Animation category is really strong this year. It almost makes up for that. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:07 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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jeremy wrote: Best Picture (Musical or Comedy)
'Alice in Wonderland'
'Burlesque'
'The Kids Are All Right'
'Red'
'The Tourist'
I am still incredulous at the list of nominees for this category. The only film amongst them that is any good doesn't belong there.
Jeremy - Which film is that? |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:11 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Although I haven't seen any of them, I'd guess "The Kids Are All Right" is the one Jeremy likes--judging from the comments in this forum. (And it won, of course!) |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:24 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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I want to read Ebert's review of Another Year. But I want to get my thoughts out before I do.
Well: I'm not sure I'm bowled over. It has a lingering effect. It acts alot of disturbing questions:
Are ugly women better at marriage and life?
Is drinking good or bad?
Are chances for happiness and love over by a certain age?
Why would a content couple befriend unhappy people?
Should an older woman buy a car?
Should an older woman attempt a romance with her friend's son?
Is it possible to be happy without a partner?
What is this movie about? |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:28 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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| Betsy - You're questions alone make me interested in seeing this. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:40 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| Well.........Marj........the married guys may not ask these questions......but as an older woman alone it can have a disturbing slant. The character of Mary was very much dominant and very much living a sad and lonely life. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:04 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Manhattan
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I'd be curious to see the older guys responses. Of course, it's hard, either way, not having seen the film.
Btw, what age is "older?" |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:10 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| I haven't yet seen the film, but my answer to pretty much all those questions would be "depends on the situation." |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:17 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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| I haven't either, but I'd probably say the same thing. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:19 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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| I don't think Mike Leigh does answers. |
_________________
I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 10:20 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Winter's Bone is fine enough, reminding me somewhat of Wendy & Lucy, Frozen River and even Brick, plus that Memphis hard-for-a-pimp film. But I never connected with W'sB. The lead actress just seemed too good looking and too much like an actress playing a neo-hillbilly chick, never becoming believable to me.
Instead of using the neo-hillbilly, meth folks as the setting, the film seemed to present them and their culture as an anthropological study. It's hard to describe exactly, but I just got a weird distanced vibe from the characters, culture and setting. Most of the time they were going for an air of menace, but the presentation just seemed so amped up* so that it didn't seem organic at all. Maybe that's it -- the camera seemed too detached and recording behavior so that the (/this) viewer feels like a observer being shown this milieu, instead of engaging with it as it naturally unfolds.
* Every male is an edgy bearded badass, albeit with hillbilly musical talent, and the dichotomy between male/female seemed way overemphasized.
In the last 1/3, the dialogue seemed to be too mannered in its slang, so that I could sense the script. Of course, this goes back to not engaging with the main character, and feeling distanced from the rest.
And then there were a number of scenes which seemed to play cinematically but not logically.
***SPOILERFIC***
Something small such as the bail bondsman coming to the house and turning over the cash -- a plot point I liked -- in presumably the original brown paper bag with not one piece of paperwork. Dramatic, looked good -- not how life occurs.
Or, why would she trust the key evidence to the corrupt cop? I wouldn't. But it allowed for a brief dramatic moment and saved them from adding in an extra character.
And the most obvious is the climactic scene.
Why take her there and let her know the secret place? Why not get their hands on the evidence and deliver them to her as her lie said they arrived?
Why would she even trust and go along with them (with her head in a burlap sack)?
As you can see by all of the Q's that rolled through my mind while watching, my belief didn't get suspended very high. Winter's Bone left me cold and without enough to gnaw on. |
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