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| bartist |
 Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2013 1:12 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6967
Location: Black Hills
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whiskeypriest wrote: SNY was a fascintating failure. And while I like billy would never want to watch it again, hardly cinematic Hell. That'd be a David Lynch film festival.
Mulholland Dr. is about a hundred times more watchable than Synechdoche NY. But I guess you mean the totality of Lynch oeuvre would somehow plunge a viewer into cinema hell. Maybe.
Gary - I'm not saying anyone should avoid Don Jon - it could be fun. Just that Dargis took something lightweight and somehow made it sound like some profound cinematic statement about gender roles, feminist philosophy, the modern condition of romantic love, etc. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2013 1:43 pm |
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Bart, I wasn't referring to you or Billy. I just want everyone to know that I will be seeing it.  |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:15 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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bartist wrote: whiskeypriest wrote: SNY was a fascintating failure. And while I like billy would never want to watch it again, hardly cinematic Hell. That'd be a David Lynch film festival.
Mulholland Dr. is about a hundred times more watchable than Synechdoche NY. But I guess you mean the totality of Lynch oeuvre would somehow plunge a viewer into cinema hell. Maybe.
Gary - I'm not saying anyone should avoid Don Jon - it could be fun. Just that Dargis took something lightweight and somehow made it sound like some profound cinematic statement about gender roles, feminist philosophy, the modern condition of romantic love, etc. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2013 6:38 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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| I saw Don Jon last year at the Austin Film Festival. I loved it and so will all of you. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2013 8:49 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: NYC
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The movie reviewer on "CBS Sunday Morning" gave "Gravity" a rave, saying it really has to be seen in 3D. He said it's corny and spectacular, in all the best ways. And that it's Bullock's movie.
By the way, Chris Matthews this morning had one of the best remarks I've heard about the Republicans vs. Obamacare battle: "Most hostage-takers take the baby and demand the money. The Republicans take the money and demand the baby." |
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| mitty |
| Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2013 10:15 pm |
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Joined: 02 Aug 2004
Posts: 1359
Location: Way Down Yonder.......
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marantzo wrote: carrobin, the end was perfect. (whiteout), she'd gone over the hill into complete delusional disorder insanity, that she was teetering on and crashed when she was cut off by the guy who was going to marry her and her son wanting nothing to do with her.
That last scene was up there with the best of closing scenes. Blanchett was stunningly authentic.
We saw it the other night. Perfection.
Shades of Blanche DuBois. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:23 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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All the quibbles about What Maisie Knew that you can read above are IMO so minor as to be meaningless. The movie is virtually flawless. THe little girl at the center, Onata Aprile, is heart-wrenchingly real, and Julianne Moore, Alexander Skarsgard, Steve Coogan, and the previously unseen Joanna Vanderham are all equally amazing as the adults in her life.
Moore skewers her usual "good person" persona with a vivid and remarkably identifiable portrait of a neurotically monstrous mother. Coogan proves he can mold his comic chops into a realistically dramatic context. Vanderham is a lovely young woman with soul to spare, and Skarsgard almost steals the film as a charmer beyond description.
The story, adapted from a 19th-Century novel of the same title by Henry James, deals with the fallout from a custody battle between narcissistic parents Moore and Coogan, who marry (for purely strategic reasons) Skarsgard and Vanderham respectively. But the story, as the title more than implies, is told from the point of view of little six-year-old Maisie. The astonishing young Onata Aprile makes Maisie's every moment count and resonate.
I found myself rooting for Maisie more than I ever did for Rocky. She's a true heroine. And the movie is magnificent. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 6:39 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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My Maisie issues were that I just didn't really believe in any of the characters or the relationships that evolve and devolve. But the scenes and the acting and basically what's on film is quite good.
I agree Onata Aprile is a first grade lead. I think the filmmakers (there were co-directors for this) do a clever job of not asking her to do too much. Often she's watching and waiting in a mostly understated natural manner, and it works quite well. She's at the center of the film, which is largely from her perspective, and the adults rotate in and out of her day/world.
I think the strongest part of the film is the various adults interacting with Maisie each in their own way, trying to build a relationship with her.
Joanna Vanderham looked like a young more full-figured Cameron Diaz.
Though her accent seemed to wobble a bit -- was she Irish or Scottish or one of those two but had lived in London for a while?
Alexander Skarsgard is quite a charmer and the film first presents him as sort of a loser at best, most likely a stoner/groupie, who then shows what he's made of as the film develops.
I would have liked a little more of the Coogan character, and think they needed to flesh his character (and job) out slightly more.
I also would have liked just a touch more of NYC -- beyond the yellow cabs, the High Line and some fancy apartments. But I always want to see/feel places and locations more than most films provide.
It's a good film, and everyone will be happy to catch it on cable next year. Or Netflix it. Or however you people score your film fix.
Billy, around the 18 minute mark a woman and her son, Maisie's classmate, walk her home. That woman is Onata Aprile's real mother, who is also an actress. And on the Dvd there were 4 or 5 deleted scenes, and I liked the one with the locksmith at the beach house (though was left wondering a bit how he was going to get paid). |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 7:15 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| gromit--I will have to find that DVD some day. I saw the film On Demand and there were (duh) no extras. Good catch on the Vanderham/Diaz similarity. As to her accent, there was a scene where that's confronted. Skarsgard notes how her accent gets more Scottish with certain words than others. THe co-directors (Scott McGehee and David Siegel) also made The Deep End more than a decade ago. It was the first movie I saw Tilda Swinton in, and though I didn't particularly like it, it was extremely well made and interesting. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 8:02 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Just looked her up (and down), and Joanna Vanderham is Scottish, so what do I know. She did study drama in Wales and maybe that's why her accent seemed a bit of a mixture. Also, her father was Dutch -- hence her surname -- and interestingly her parents broke up when she was young, so maybe she had a special empathy for the Maisie character.
Probably my ears just aren't attuned enough to track her accent.
Looking at Google images, she doesn't look that much like Cameron Diaz except in the Maisie film, where I thought the match was quite strong.
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 2:50 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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Just watched Mud.
Enjoyed it.
Kind of like Stand By Me meets Winter's Bone.
Lots of southern atmosphere without overdoing it, as has been the recent trend. I like how Dad kind of looks and acts like a badass but then is exposed as not really in control and kind of sensitive to boot, under the gruff exterior.
McConaughey is quite good as the fugitive. I've met squirrely characters like him, and once you're on their good side they're super-loyal, and you don't want to be on their bad side.
The kids are good. It's nice to see Sam Shepard and Joe Don Baker in small supporting roles. Sally Paulson was interesting as the mother and I wouldn't have minded more of her in the film. Reese Witherspoon seemed an odd choice, but more or less works in a smallish role.
I wasn't thrilled with the final act/climax much at all, but I do like how the adventure and excitement gets blown apart by harsh reality. And I enjoyed the ride getting there.
It's odd just the other day i was thinking that Onata Aprile reminded me of Ana Torrent from Spirit of the Beehive, with her sensitive watchfulness. And then Mud has a similar premise as Beehive with kids finding a hiding fugitive. Of course the boys adventure on a river combined with aiding a fugitive and even the river harken back to Huck Finn. But smething seems to be telling me to re-watch Spirit of the Beehive.
Anyway, Mud is definitely one of the better film of '13 I've seen. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 6:04 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| Sarah Paulson may go by "Sally" but I've never heard that. Maybe gromit and she are closer than we knew. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 6:22 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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Heh! Gromit, thanks for reminding me to see Mud and conjuring a "hybrid" title description. (SbM meets W's B) And thanks to BW for recommending Disconnect, which I will connect with in a couple hours.
Whiskey - am sorry I cannot convey to you the wonders that lurk within Mulholland Dr. Based on previous chats, I'd guess it comes down to a sense of style - of what style of storytelling works in surrealism. It may defy explanation....perhaps all one has is "silencio." |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 6:59 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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I am well aware that Mr. Lynch qnd I are not cinematically simpatico. I am resigned to that fact, as I assume he is.
"Silencio" is when I realized I was going to loathe the movie, which I had enjoyed until then. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 7:04 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| I really dislike most of David Lynch--yes, even the revered Blue Velvet--but about Mulholland Dr. and The Straight Story I am officially over the moon. Oh, and the first season (only the first) of Twin Peaks. |
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