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| Befade |
 Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2017 1:03 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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The Florida Project should not be overlooked. I'm going to see the Billboards today. Frances McDormand was also outstanding in Olive Kitteridge as a New England curmudgeon.
Gromit.....I recently read It Can't Happen Here by Lewis. Very timely account of how an American president rules with a fascist flair. Dark and disturbing humor. Don't think it's made it to the screen. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2017 1:12 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6963
Location: Black Hills
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| Definitely won't miss 3 Billboards. Just it being helmed by the director of "In Bruges" is sufficient impetus. I have recently nurtured a hope that In Bruges will be made into a Broadway musical. I already have songs rattling around in my head, "You Eat the Canadian," "Shithole/Fairyland," "You Picked a Very Pretty Prostitute," "Midgets Kill Themselves," "A Normal Gun for a Normal Person," and so on. I see McDonagh teaming up with the creative team that brought us "The Book of Mormon," and huge hit potential. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2017 8:19 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| I would propose Sam Rockwell for all the supporting actor awards. I found the movie similar to a roller coaster ride......uncomfortable. Not a bit subtle in its focus on out of control emotional reactions. Woody Harrelson tried to slip in as the voice of reason. I didn't feel the balance he tried to bring. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2017 10:36 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12929
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| I have to agree with Billy about Lady Bird. Not a terrible film by any means, but I felt it was pretty insubstantial, and I'd seen it done better. It also has the problem that it will be immediately compared with "The Edge of Seventeen," which is a better film dealing with coming-of-age issues. I like Saoirse Ronan a lot, but I'd like to see her do films that where we don't have to say, "It's been painted a hundred times before, but this time I really like the paint strokes." |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 4:38 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Befade wrote: Gromit.....I recently read It Can't Happen Here by Lewis. Very timely account of how an American president rules with a fascist flair. Dark and disturbing humor. Don't think it's made it to the screen.
That's my next read after I finish Kingsblood Royal.
If you have a chance, drop some thoughts/comments on Can't Happen Here in the Books thread and I'll join in once I read it.
Also, how do you respond to Lewis' writing style. I find myself editing, re-writing and condensing lots of his clunky sentences. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 12:23 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| I'll go to books when I get a clearer idea in my head about It Can't Happen. I read Babbit a few years ago and took to it easily. Then I bought ICH and didn't get around to it till now. I found it difficult to get through. It's a serious book with a message.....not so much a character study. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 5:12 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6963
Location: Black Hills
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I recall ICHH, read it for some english class, and at some point the "populist" President starts blaming Mexico. Rather prescient. I didn't like Lewis's style much, either. I tended to skip over some paragraphs, using the old skimmer's trick of just reading the first line. Didn't they make it into a stage play?
In current lit, I find Margaret Atwood one of the most convincing prognosticators. Her parents were both scientists, IIRC, and a lot of insight into how science works, esp. genetics and ecology, rubbed off. "Year of the Flood" is disturbingly plausible - she really does her biology research. The first in that series "Oryx & Crake" is also quite good. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 10:51 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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Thanks Syd! I meant Lady Bird.
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2017 3:46 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Has anyone seen Wonderstruck (Todd Haynes)?
From the same writer as Hugo.
Getting some good buzz, but not a big rollout. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2017 10:15 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6963
Location: Black Hills
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Very limited release, so it won't make it to this red state. And, as of last night, I'll probably be paying too much taxes (to help our needy oligarchs) to afford to attend movies.
Looks like Collins, Flake, and Murkowski turned into cheap whores who spread their legs for a few crumbs tossed their states' way. Trickle down economics, discredited somewhere around 1929, seems to figure in the mass psychosis. John Maynard Keynes is rotating in his grave. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2017 10:22 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6963
Location: Black Hills
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Sorry, offtopic. I sound a little pissed there, don't I?
The Disaster Artist is showing here next week, and has received critical acclaim. Looks like something film buffs would like, given its subject....
[url]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Disaster_Artist_(film)[/url] |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2017 2:05 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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I really, really liked Lady Bird. When I saw the preview I thought it was all about a mother and daughter fighting a lot. One of my best friends and her daughter went to it and weren't impressed. I didn't expect much.
Forget the mother/daughter conflict. This is a vivid portrait of a life loving girl ready to jump into womanhood. The focus and the energy of the film belong to Saoirse Ronan. I don't think she's beautiful to look at....her face is pale, pimply, and freckley. But she takes on life so confidently that it's a joy to see someone who really wants to be herself.
I like the pace and the aspects of the film. We jump in and get to know this girl intimately. But we're never told why she's wearing a cast on her arm. We're never told why her brother is so Hispanic looking and she's so Irish. Her mother may be really anxious about losing control of her, but her father is so sweetly accepting of her uniqueness.
We know she's naive about a lot of things. She and her girlfriend imagine what sex might be like. She wants to know what boys are all about so she makes the first move. When things don't turn out the way she'd hoped she moves on without losing her zest for life.
I think it's time for an upbeat film like this. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2017 4:27 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| "The Disaster Artist" is James Franco's very funny, sometimes touching take on the making of the all-time cult-favorite bad movie "The Room." As delusional filmmaker-star Tommy Wiseau, Franco makes it okay to laugh at mental illness, because he deepens Wiseau's character and makes him understandable and ultimately sympathetic. As the actual protagonist, co-star and Wiseau "protege" Greg Sestero, Dave Franco (James's brother) is stalwart, likable, and just charismatic enough to assure that this is not a one-man James show. It helps if you've seen "The Room" (which I have, multiple times), but it's not necessary. This unique movie stands on its own, and may well develop its own cult. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2017 1:51 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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Critics' Choice nominations
Best Picture
The Big Sick
Call Me by Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
The Florida Project
Get Out
Lady Bird
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2017 3:59 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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