Louis: Could you get around to Juliet Of The Spirits, Happiness, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors The 10th Victim, Dr. Who And The Daleks and Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors during Supporting.
Louis: I could see Dominick giving The Killer Inside Me the deft hand the movie needed, especially since he already got a 5 from Casey Affleck previously.
Louis: your thoughs on these following scenes from I, Tonya: - the diner scene with Lavona and Tonya - Tonya's breakdown before the Olympics - Tonya in the courthouse What did you think of the editing? And what about the soundtrack choices?
LOVED the soundtrack to I, Tonya. It was very "crowd-pleasing" but with just the right cohesiveness. Also since I've had time to think about it, I'd actually name Craig Gillespie as my Directing win for the year.
I, Tonya and Lady Bird aren't coming round to UK cinemas till February - least Oscar season is a bit later this year so I might have time to cover them all too.
Also do you have any plans between this lineup and the oscar reviews. If you have two weeks left till then, could you do the vocal performances lineup that you thought about doing.
Brejchova - (Her performance is intentionally pretty straight forward which, while focusing on the idiosyncrasies of people, is mostly a showcase for Foreman. Brejchova though still gives a quietly charming portrayal at times and effectively conveys the rather small scale drama of the central "romance". It purposefully isn't that weighty of a performance and works along with the film's tone which is as just a trifle.)
Deneuve - (Her performance is mainly attuned to realizing something very specific to Polanski's intention which is to create this rather stunted character in a way who reacts with the strictest and most intense emotions. This leaves her performance fairly constrictive however still effective in terms of bringing the needed intensity to the role in conveying the inwardly drawn madness fitting to the character.)
Tushingham - (Like Crawford her performance is fairly one note however she is entertaining in playing around with that one note for the most part. She switches it up slightly towards the end but it is never anything too notable. It's a good performance though in capturing the certain comedic naivety that defines the character.)
Wood - (Her performance unfortunately becomes slowly less interesting as the film proceeds. She's actually quite good in her early scenes of portraying Daisy's playful ambition then still is effective in creating the right sense of curiosity in finding her place within the Hollywood scene. This begins to fall apart though as she falls into a singular note of just being distraught that becomes sadly tiresome rather moving very quickly.)
Christie - (Her lesser of her two performances if you ask me. Now in part one could argue who vapid performance fits the vapid nature of the character, however I don't think she can quite get away from it. In part this because she's needlessly off-putting in every scene by just how overtly she portrays Darling's narcissism. This is also though because late in the film, where she's suppose to be facing her shortcomings Christie in no way delivers even a hint of nuance towards something more staying on that same surface level that is ill-fitting to her later breakdowns.)
Pinal - 5(A brilliant depiction of Satan. Pinal is exceptionally alluring here though she handles it is such a fantastic fashion with just how much fun she has it. She captures the right demonic draw within her work but takes it a step further. This is a performance that is simply entertaining to watch to be sure, but she manages to make it even more than that. I quite like in just as she so effectively presents the different ways she tries to trick or temp Simon, she also brings this sense of frustration in her failures portraying it as though it is this one long project for her.)
Douglas - 3(Douglas is fine in just being his usually commanding self in many scene. The problem is the role demands a much darker character, that Douglas seemed game for earlier on his career like in Champion, yet he doesn't quite go far enough with this role. He seems strangely timid in moments and doesn't deliver the danger needed for the part.)
Harris - 3.5(Harris's role is fairly limited in this case however that doesn't really matter because he's Richard Harris, who if he found the right path of his performance was just the right kind of ball of energy. That is the case here, even as he downplays it a bit just to be fitting to the somberness of some the story, and ends up carrying the film away from Douglas by the end of it.)
The Film Socialism review is one I'll go back to for its sheer entertainment value, especially for Kermode's impression of Godard.
Bryan L.:
Inception 1970's directed by Stanley Kubrick:
Dom: Steve McQueen Arthur: David Warner Ariadne: Candice Bergen Eames: Edward Fox Mr. Saito: Toshiro Mifune Yusuf: Saeed Jaffrey Robert Fischer: Malcolm McDowell Maurice Fischer: Ray Milland Professor Miles: Raymond Massey Mal: Jeanne Moreau
Downsizing is awful. Alexander Payne seemed like he kept starting a new film in the first draft but never bothered to re-write. The film is so scattered as it quickly jumps from one subject to the next in such a haphazard fashion to the point it fails to develop itself at any point. It's a film that frankly feels as though it never even begins.
Damon - 2.5(Payne usually at least delivers a potentially interesting lead but that is not the case here. He's average guy and that's about it. He's a victim to the film's ever changing moods making it so his performance never really gets off the ground either. He's okay but he can't get over the writing to the point that it feels like you never even know who he's suppose to be exactly.)
Wiig - 3(She deserves a great deal of credit for breathing a bit of life into an awful plot point of a role, a plot point that easily could've been removed. Wiig brings such a genuine quality though in portraying the hesitations going beyond the call of duty to bringing some honesty to a role built of straw.)
Waltz & Kier - 2.5(They are mildly entertaining at best, but again just their "party guys" have nothing to them except for a couple of one liners. One liners that they deliver well enough but still can't overcome the lacking qualities of their film.)
Chau - 4.5(She deserves all the plaudits she's been getting so far because this is a terribly written role at the level conception. The fact that she brings what she brings out of it is something rather remarkable. In every scene she manages to bring much needed energy and life in every moment making the most out of every poorly conceived line. I will say this is a performance that should be recognized since it shows how one can make something decent out of something terrible. She is the best part of the film, and in the wrong hands the role could have been its nadir, it frankly should have been.)
I, Tonya is fantastic. I loved it, and is easily one of my favorites of the year. Craig Gillespie definitely takes many tips from the Scorsese playbook, but this is a great example of doing so. He still makes his own film, and I love the take on this story. The take being more of pseudo-Rashomon examination of the events of the lives of the Harding and her family. Although the film is definitely entertaining, and has fun at the expense of its subject, I thought it was particularly remarkable in the way it actually does elicit degree of sympathy for its subject. It manages to balance in a way where I never felt it cheated by showing Harding both a victim but also one of the artists of her own demise.
Robbie - 5(One of the best leading turns by an actress this year, and that means a great deal in this year. She'd be my choice for the Globe at the very least. Anyway what I had mentioned before is so effectively realized in Robbie's performance. In that she is entertaining in her work in granting the courser aspects to the character, and bringing the brazen quality that is purposefully extreme. She doesn't overdo it managing to realize those pathetic and desperate elements of the character while also earning a genuine sympathy. She never falls into pure caricature portraying effectively technically the more traditional passionate drive needed for a sports biopic lead. She subverts that beautifully through the exact atypical course manner of Harding. She though still finds a real earnestness in there as well and is absolutely heartbreaking actually when depicting Harding at her lowest moments. Robbie delivers an outstanding performance that manages to be the right type of terrible mess, but a singular whole in terms of her work. I loved this performance.)
Diner Scene - (Just a terrific scene for both of Janney's and Robbie's performance but also in terms of capturing the specific tone for the material that works so well. In that it never devolves into melodrama nor do the comedic flourishes diminish the inherent drama there. Here is it is technically painful scene to watch in some ways with Tonya seeking the love of her loveless mother so horribly, yet brilliantly film wise, realizing there terrible relationship.)
Breakdown - (An amazing scene in terms of Robbie's performance and I loved here how the film did something unexpected, to me anyways. In that it took what is probably known to be her biggest gaffe in the public eye, and is made in the film to be one of her most sympathetic scenes. It shows the stakes of the moment and Robbie is heartbreaking in realizing the devastation of the seemingly slight dilemma by establishing what it means for her.)
Courthouse - (Incredibly moving scene for Robbie's work again by so simply showing her devastation at the rejection from skating itself.)
The editing is great and I would love to see it nominated. I'd certainly put it my personal top five. It is an example of successfully capturing the Schoonmaker style of invigorating the film's pace, grating this kinetic quality to the proceedings. This is in part due to its rather effortless combination of the framing narrations to the past narrative creating such proper cohesive flow, that even delivers some of the film's punchlines through the editing.
Loved the soundtrack choices as well, which extends to the way the editing uses them. Again definitely a clear Scorsese influence, but they took the right lessons here. They choose songs that work for the scenes, rather than another Margot Robbie film where they chose songs to try to make the scenes work somehow.
I, Tonya is currently filing it out for my best picture win along with Three Billboards and The Shape of Water. It just balances tones so deftly in a way that several films in the last few years have tried and failed to do.
Louis..I just read your thoughts on "I, Tonya" and I got to say, I'm flabbergasted. I never would have suspected the movie or Robbie's performance would fit your tastes but I was clearly wrong. And maybe it has to do with how I've thought of Robbie up until now.. My thing with her is that, while competent and possessing a great deal of charm, I've simply never found her to be especially noteworthy or capable of leading a movie. So I have to ask.. what did you make of Robbie before and where may she wind up as far as the best actress ranking?
Louis: Your thoughts on the acting in the scene in On the Waterfront where Terry shatters a picture of Johnny Friendly and Mr Upstairs, and the moments leading up to this action.
Also, your thoughts on the scene where Terry is shuned by his kid friend.
Oh, and what films are you ready to see in the next few days or weeks?
Who will Louis put in the first bets on the first day of 2018? Well here are my bets:
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Willem Dafoe by The Florida Project - Armie Hammer by Call me by Your Name - Richard Jenkins by The Shape of Water - Ben Mendelsohn by Darkest Hour - Sam Rockwell by Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
- And maybe Christopher Plummer by All the Money in the World
BEST ACTOR - Timothee Chalamet by Call me by Your Name - James Franco by The Disaster Artist - Daniel Day Lewis by Phantom Thread - Tom Hanks by The Post - Gary Oldman by Darkest Hour
- And maybe Jake Gyllenhaal by Stronger or Denzel Washington by Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Furneaux - 3.5(I thought she was effective enough in a purposefully straight forward role when compared to her co-star. I will say she does well not to go over the top in creating this caricature, but rather works in just being, well, normal compared to what Deneuve is doing. She's also properly delivers in her one scene outside of this really at the end in creating a reasonably horrified reaction to discovering what her sister has done.)
Anonymous:
Haven't decided yet.
Mitchell:
Have you seen the film? I mean in terms of the film itself I actually tend to like sort of the anti-inspirational biopics, or the ones that subvert the biopic formula in some way like this film, Ed Wood, The Disaster Artist, Foxcatcher or Goodfellas.
In terms of Robbie I've only seen three, well sorta four, of her performances. I liked her in the Wolf of Wall Street, though I guess less than some did. I thought she was at least better than her abysmal film in Suicide Squad. The only time I really didn't care for her performance was in The Big Short, as I hated that cameo, but I hated it on a conception level anyways. As I remarked on a previous post I'd be able to judge if she was good choice for Elizabeth in Mary Queen of Scots based on I, Tonya, because I was uncertain how'd she perform with a more substantial role. Well now that I've seen that film I can say it appears she has the talent to take on more challenging work. That doesn't mean she'll be great in Mary, however I've become more optimistic at the prospect.
In terms of her ranking for I, Tonya, she's on the upper tier is what I'll say for the moment.
Anonymous:
That is great scene for both Brando and Malden. Brando's great in delivering a far more emotional distressed work creating more of vulnerability in Terry in that moment showing him at his lowest point essentially. Meanwhile Malden is great in offering this believable force for good in the priest by showing by this sense of understanding but also within an intensity to force Terry out of his misery. That moment where he throws the gun is a particularly cathartic one as both actors make it such a natural realization through the characters.
The birds scene is just an incredibly heartbreaking moment in general in how illustrates an immediate punch in the face to Terry just after he thought he did the right thing. Again Brando is great in the scene in just his pretty modest reaction to seeing all the dead pigeons.
Every year at this time I marvel at how differently awards season pans out to expectations. Who'd have expected biopics on Tonya Harding and Tommy Wiseau to be big players at the awards whild Battle of the Sexes has been almost entirely shut out? Or Get Out being the big 'race issues' picture in contention and not Mudbound or Detroit? I kind of love it when that happens (well except when it comes to Silence).
Speaking of which, Louis, how'd you think Silence would have fared this year if it had been a 2017 release? I think Garfield would definitely be in contention for a nomination, as would Neeson (who would probably take Dafoe's place as the veteran award recipient), and Scorsese plus a slew of technical award noms.
Silence is an interesting one as I think it is a film that needed time no matter what. I'm not sure it would have been a major player but if it had been released this year, through a slower festival circuit, I think at the very least it could have been more of a technical player as well as Scorsese potentially garnering a director nomination as he managed to do for Last Temptation.
Louis: Would you consider The End of The Road and Love & Mercy amongst those subversive biopics you mentioned? The latter has a place secure on my Top 10 of 2015.
I've enjoyed the bonus rounds more, mainly due to years greatly improving like 2010 for example, the upgrades thus far have been great and like you said, watching films that have had little recognition or left in obscurity. Also it's very satisfying when a request that Louis hasn't seen does well.
Let me hold onto that until I see Phantom Thread, and then I'll add my 2017 top ten to the overall top ten lists.
Anonymous:
1. The Book of Henry 2. The Circle 3. Mother! 4. Death Note 5. The Discovery 6. Mark Felt: And the magical sunshine band 7. Downsizing 8. Justice League 9. War Machine 10. Roman J. Israel, Esquire
1. Ellar Coltrane - The Circle 2. Elton John - Kingsman: The Golden Circle 3. Nat Wolff - Death Note 4. Thomas Mann - Kong Skull Island 5. James Jordan - Wind River 6. Emma Watson - The Circle 7. Naomi Watts - The Book of Henry 8. Ruby Rose - John Wick II 9. Abbie Cornish - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri 10. Emma Watson - Beauty and the Beast
Louis: Kingsman 2 come close to making your bottom 10 Louis? More I think about it the more I hate it, especially with how they wasted characters like Roxy and Agent Tequila, and the general misanthropist air.
Janney - 5(I can already see some writing this off as too one note, however I think that is an unfair assessment, as not every character needs some secret good. Janney is fantastic as being one of the all time horrible mothers. She's very entertaining in a very darkly comic fashion, however she never allows that to overwhelm her work completely. She shows within this the nuance the thing is Janney takes the approach that the more you look into the woman the more horrible she is. Janney does reveal though the right vulnerability that alludes to loveless woman who takes her anger out on everyone around her, and only occasionally even slightly attempts to warmth. Those moments are terrific as Janney realizes this struggle to get out any sense of tenderness that always ends in failure.)
Nicholson - 3.5(I rather liked her performance though limited in that she portrays one person who is bipolar in her affection but rather portrays well this sort of specific support. Nicholson does well to hold back showing suggestions of enough of a warmth in her coach, but with the reservations of knowing that who she's working with is big trouble.)
Hauser - 4(I thought he was hilarious. Now he's not doing any balancing of tones, but he does not need to. He's just a colossal fool in every scene and is extremely funny being so in every scene. It is consistently entertaining work in bringing such a lowly wannabe tough with that method of delivering every line as though he is this "worldy" tough guy, even though he is so obviously not.)
65 comments:
1. Harris
2. Shaw
3. Heston
4. Pleasance
5. Rains
1. Harris
2. Shaw
3. Heston
4. Pleasence
5. Rains
thoughts on the female performances and Kirk Douglas in In Harm's Way.
1. Harris
2. Shaw
3. Heston
4. Pleasence
5. Rains
Louis: Any recent viewing.
Louis: Thoughts on I, Tonya and Downsizing and the casts.
And your ratings for Pinal, Winters and Bloom.
Louis: Could you get around to Juliet Of The Spirits, Happiness, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors The 10th Victim, Dr. Who And The Daleks and Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors during Supporting.
Louis: Thoughts on Harris in The Heroes Of Telemark.
Have you ever watched Kermode's review of Film Socialisme.
Finally, is Andrews a 4 or 4.5 for The Sound Of Music.
Louis: I could see Dominick giving The Killer Inside Me the deft hand the movie needed, especially since he already got a 5 from Casey Affleck previously.
Your 70s director and cast for Inception?
Louis: Is Watanabe a 4 or a 3.5 for Inception.
Louis: your thoughs on these following scenes from I, Tonya:
- the diner scene with Lavona and Tonya
- Tonya's breakdown before the Olympics
- Tonya in the courthouse
What did you think of the editing?
And what about the soundtrack choices?
1. Harris
2. Shaw
3. Heston
4. Pleasence
5. Rains
LOVED the soundtrack to I, Tonya. It was very "crowd-pleasing" but with just the right cohesiveness. Also since I've had time to think about it, I'd actually name Craig Gillespie as my Directing win for the year.
I, Tonya and Lady Bird aren't coming round to UK cinemas till February - least Oscar season is a bit later this year so I might have time to cover them all too.
Luke: Kermode on Film Socialisime is peak Kermode.
1. Harris
2. Shaw
3. Pleasance
4. Heston
5. Rains
1. Harris
2. Shaw
3. Pleasance
4. Heston
5. Rains
Calvin: you can find both Lady Bird and I, Tonya online.
Michael: the soundtrack of I, Tonya is terrific, i particularly loved how they used Goodbye Stranger.
Thoughts on Julie Christie in Darling, Catherine Deneuve in Repulsion and Ruth Gordon in Inside Daisy Clover (with rating for Gordon)?
Is Signoret still a 4.5 for Ship of Fools?
Louis: your top 20 daniel craig acting moments
1. Harris
2. Shaw
3. Pleasance
4. Rains
5. Heston
Louis: your rating and thoughts on Yvonne Furneaux in Repulsion?
1.Harris
2.Shaw
3.Pleasence
4.Rains
5.Heston
Louis: I see that Kermode's review of Film Socialisme is one of your favourites. What did you think of it.
Also do you have any plans between this lineup and the oscar reviews. If you have two weeks left till then, could you do the vocal performances lineup that you thought about doing.
Harris - 5
Shaw - 5
Heston - 4.5
Pleasence - 4.5
Rains - 4.5
Anonymous: We must wait to see if his performance in Logan Lucky gets reviewed before Louis posts his top Daniel Craig moments.
I look forward to Shaw's review. I've read that Battle Of The Bulge is one of the most inaccurate War films ever made.
Luke:
Brejchova - (Her performance is intentionally pretty straight forward which, while focusing on the idiosyncrasies of people, is mostly a showcase for Foreman. Brejchova though still gives a quietly charming portrayal at times and effectively conveys the rather small scale drama of the central "romance". It purposefully isn't that weighty of a performance and works along with the film's tone which is as just a trifle.)
Deneuve - (Her performance is mainly attuned to realizing something very specific to Polanski's intention which is to create this rather stunted character in a way who reacts with the strictest and most intense emotions. This leaves her performance fairly constrictive however still effective in terms of bringing the needed intensity to the role in conveying the inwardly drawn madness fitting to the character.)
Tushingham - (Like Crawford her performance is fairly one note however she is entertaining in playing around with that one note for the most part. She switches it up slightly towards the end but it is never anything too notable. It's a good performance though in capturing the certain comedic naivety that defines the character.)
Wood - (Her performance unfortunately becomes slowly less interesting as the film proceeds. She's actually quite good in her early scenes of portraying Daisy's playful ambition then still is effective in creating the right sense of curiosity in finding her place within the Hollywood scene. This begins to fall apart though as she falls into a singular note of just being distraught that becomes sadly tiresome rather moving very quickly.)
Christie - (Her lesser of her two performances if you ask me. Now in part one could argue who vapid performance fits the vapid nature of the character, however I don't think she can quite get away from it. In part this because she's needlessly off-putting in every scene by just how overtly she portrays Darling's narcissism. This is also though because late in the film, where she's suppose to be facing her shortcomings Christie in no way delivers even a hint of nuance towards something more staying on that same surface level that is ill-fitting to her later breakdowns.)
Pinal - 5(A brilliant depiction of Satan. Pinal is exceptionally alluring here though she handles it is such a fantastic fashion with just how much fun she has it. She captures the right demonic draw within her work but takes it a step further. This is a performance that is simply entertaining to watch to be sure, but she manages to make it even more than that. I quite like in just as she so effectively presents the different ways she tries to trick or temp Simon, she also brings this sense of frustration in her failures portraying it as though it is this one long project for her.)
Douglas - 3(Douglas is fine in just being his usually commanding self in many scene. The problem is the role demands a much darker character, that Douglas seemed game for earlier on his career like in Champion, yet he doesn't quite go far enough with this role. He seems strangely timid in moments and doesn't deliver the danger needed for the part.)
Winters - 4.5
Bloom - 4
Andrews - 4.5
Watanabe - 3.5
Harris - 3.5(Harris's role is fairly limited in this case however that doesn't really matter because he's Richard Harris, who if he found the right path of his performance was just the right kind of ball of energy. That is the case here, even as he downplays it a bit just to be fitting to the somberness of some the story, and ends up carrying the film away from Douglas by the end of it.)
The Film Socialism review is one I'll go back to for its sheer entertainment value, especially for Kermode's impression of Godard.
Bryan L.:
Inception 1970's directed by Stanley Kubrick:
Dom: Steve McQueen
Arthur: David Warner
Ariadne: Candice Bergen
Eames: Edward Fox
Mr. Saito: Toshiro Mifune
Yusuf: Saeed Jaffrey
Robert Fischer: Malcolm McDowell
Maurice Fischer: Ray Milland
Professor Miles: Raymond Massey
Mal: Jeanne Moreau
Louis: Is Signoret a five then for Ship Of Fools.
Downsizing is awful. Alexander Payne seemed like he kept starting a new film in the first draft but never bothered to re-write. The film is so scattered as it quickly jumps from one subject to the next in such a haphazard fashion to the point it fails to develop itself at any point. It's a film that frankly feels as though it never even begins.
Damon - 2.5(Payne usually at least delivers a potentially interesting lead but that is not the case here. He's average guy and that's about it. He's a victim to the film's ever changing moods making it so his performance never really gets off the ground either. He's okay but he can't get over the writing to the point that it feels like you never even know who he's suppose to be exactly.)
Wiig - 3(She deserves a great deal of credit for breathing a bit of life into an awful plot point of a role, a plot point that easily could've been removed. Wiig brings such a genuine quality though in portraying the hesitations going beyond the call of duty to bringing some honesty to a role built of straw.)
Waltz & Kier - 2.5(They are mildly entertaining at best, but again just their "party guys" have nothing to them except for a couple of one liners. One liners that they deliver well enough but still can't overcome the lacking qualities of their film.)
Chau - 4.5(She deserves all the plaudits she's been getting so far because this is a terribly written role at the level conception. The fact that she brings what she brings out of it is something rather remarkable. In every scene she manages to bring much needed energy and life in every moment making the most out of every poorly conceived line. I will say this is a performance that should be recognized since it shows how one can make something decent out of something terrible. She is the best part of the film, and in the wrong hands the role could have been its nadir, it frankly should have been.)
Louis: Kubrick would be the only choice to direct Inception in the 70s indeed.
I, Tonya is fantastic. I loved it, and is easily one of my favorites of the year. Craig Gillespie definitely takes many tips from the Scorsese playbook, but this is a great example of doing so. He still makes his own film, and I love the take on this story. The take being more of pseudo-Rashomon examination of the events of the lives of the Harding and her family. Although the film is definitely entertaining, and has fun at the expense of its subject, I thought it was particularly remarkable in the way it actually does elicit degree of sympathy for its subject. It manages to balance in a way where I never felt it cheated by showing Harding both a victim but also one of the artists of her own demise.
Robbie - 5(One of the best leading turns by an actress this year, and that means a great deal in this year. She'd be my choice for the Globe at the very least. Anyway what I had mentioned before is so effectively realized in Robbie's performance. In that she is entertaining in her work in granting the courser aspects to the character, and bringing the brazen quality that is purposefully extreme. She doesn't overdo it managing to realize those pathetic and desperate elements of the character while also earning a genuine sympathy. She never falls into pure caricature portraying effectively technically the more traditional passionate drive needed for a sports biopic lead. She subverts that beautifully through the exact atypical course manner of Harding. She though still finds a real earnestness in there as well and is absolutely heartbreaking actually when depicting Harding at her lowest moments. Robbie delivers an outstanding performance that manages to be the right type of terrible mess, but a singular whole in terms of her work. I loved this performance.)
Louis: Thoughts on the Supporting cast of I, Tonya and have you settled on Michelle William's rating or will you wait for Plummer's review.
Omar:
Diner Scene - (Just a terrific scene for both of Janney's and Robbie's performance but also in terms of capturing the specific tone for the material that works so well. In that it never devolves into melodrama nor do the comedic flourishes diminish the inherent drama there. Here is it is technically painful scene to watch in some ways with Tonya seeking the love of her loveless mother so horribly, yet brilliantly film wise, realizing there terrible relationship.)
Breakdown - (An amazing scene in terms of Robbie's performance and I loved here how the film did something unexpected, to me anyways. In that it took what is probably known to be her biggest gaffe in the public eye, and is made in the film to be one of her most sympathetic scenes. It shows the stakes of the moment and Robbie is heartbreaking in realizing the devastation of the seemingly slight dilemma by establishing what it means for her.)
Courthouse - (Incredibly moving scene for Robbie's work again by so simply showing her devastation at the rejection from skating itself.)
The editing is great and I would love to see it nominated. I'd certainly put it my personal top five. It is an example of successfully capturing the Schoonmaker style of invigorating the film's pace, grating this kinetic quality to the proceedings. This is in part due to its rather effortless combination of the framing narrations to the past narrative creating such proper cohesive flow, that even delivers some of the film's punchlines through the editing.
Loved the soundtrack choices as well, which extends to the way the editing uses them. Again definitely a clear Scorsese influence, but they took the right lessons here. They choose songs that work for the scenes, rather than another Margot Robbie film where they chose songs to try to make the scenes work somehow.
I, Tonya is currently filing it out for my best picture win along with Three Billboards and The Shape of Water. It just balances tones so deftly in a way that several films in the last few years have tried and failed to do.
Gonna be a strong line-up.
1. Harris
2. Shaw
3. Heston
4. Pleasance
5. Rains
Louis: Metcalf still your winner or has Janney become the winner now?
Louis..I just read your thoughts on "I, Tonya" and I got to say, I'm flabbergasted. I never would have suspected the movie or Robbie's performance would fit your tastes but I was clearly wrong. And maybe it has to do with how I've thought of Robbie up until now.. My thing with her is that, while competent and possessing a great deal of charm, I've simply never found her to be especially noteworthy or capable of leading a movie. So I have to ask.. what did you make of Robbie before and where may she wind up as far as the best actress ranking?
Anonymous: Metcalf's still his winner I think, we only have Lesley Manville left as a possible 5.
We currently have 4 fives in Supporting Actress and 7/8 in Leading Actress (Yet to decide on Michelle William's rating).
Louis: Your thoughts on the acting in the scene in On the Waterfront where Terry shatters a picture of Johnny Friendly and Mr Upstairs, and the moments leading up to this action.
Also, your thoughts on the scene where Terry is shuned by his kid friend.
Oh, and what films are you ready to see in the next few days or weeks?
Who will Louis put in the first bets on the first day of 2018?
Well here are my bets:
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Willem Dafoe by The Florida Project
- Armie Hammer by Call me by Your Name
- Richard Jenkins by The Shape of Water
- Ben Mendelsohn by Darkest Hour
- Sam Rockwell by Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
- And maybe Christopher Plummer by All the Money in the World
BEST ACTOR
- Timothee Chalamet by Call me by Your Name
- James Franco by The Disaster Artist
- Daniel Day Lewis by Phantom Thread
- Tom Hanks by The Post
- Gary Oldman by Darkest Hour
- And maybe Jake Gyllenhaal by Stronger or Denzel Washington by Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Omar:
Furneaux - 3.5(I thought she was effective enough in a purposefully straight forward role when compared to her co-star. I will say she does well not to go over the top in creating this caricature, but rather works in just being, well, normal compared to what Deneuve is doing. She's also properly delivers in her one scene outside of this really at the end in creating a reasonably horrified reaction to discovering what her sister has done.)
Anonymous:
Haven't decided yet.
Mitchell:
Have you seen the film? I mean in terms of the film itself I actually tend to like sort of the anti-inspirational biopics, or the ones that subvert the biopic formula in some way like this film, Ed Wood, The Disaster Artist, Foxcatcher or Goodfellas.
In terms of Robbie I've only seen three, well sorta four, of her performances. I liked her in the Wolf of Wall Street, though I guess less than some did. I thought she was at least better than her abysmal film in Suicide Squad. The only time I really didn't care for her performance was in The Big Short, as I hated that cameo, but I hated it on a conception level anyways. As I remarked on a previous post I'd be able to judge if she was good choice for Elizabeth in Mary Queen of Scots based on I, Tonya, because I was uncertain how'd she perform with a more substantial role. Well now that I've seen that film I can say it appears she has the talent to take on more challenging work. That doesn't mean she'll be great in Mary, however I've become more optimistic at the prospect.
In terms of her ranking for I, Tonya, she's on the upper tier is what I'll say for the moment.
Anonymous:
That is great scene for both Brando and Malden. Brando's great in delivering a far more emotional distressed work creating more of vulnerability in Terry in that moment showing him at his lowest point essentially. Meanwhile Malden is great in offering this believable force for good in the priest by showing by this sense of understanding but also within an intensity to force Terry out of his misery. That moment where he throws the gun is a particularly cathartic one as both actors make it such a natural realization through the characters.
The birds scene is just an incredibly heartbreaking moment in general in how illustrates an immediate punch in the face to Terry just after he thought he did the right thing. Again Brando is great in the scene in just his pretty modest reaction to seeing all the dead pigeons.
Every year at this time I marvel at how differently awards season pans out to expectations. Who'd have expected biopics on Tonya Harding and Tommy Wiseau to be big players at the awards whild Battle of the Sexes has been almost entirely shut out? Or Get Out being the big 'race issues' picture in contention and not Mudbound or Detroit? I kind of love it when that happens (well except when it comes to Silence).
Speaking of which, Louis, how'd you think Silence would have fared this year if it had been a 2017 release? I think Garfield would definitely be in contention for a nomination, as would Neeson (who would probably take Dafoe's place as the veteran award recipient), and Scorsese plus a slew of technical award noms.
Calvin:
Silence is an interesting one as I think it is a film that needed time no matter what. I'm not sure it would have been a major player but if it had been released this year, through a slower festival circuit, I think at the very least it could have been more of a technical player as well as Scorsese potentially garnering a director nomination as he managed to do for Last Temptation.
Louis: Would you consider The End of The Road and Love & Mercy amongst those subversive biopics you mentioned? The latter has a place secure on my Top 10 of 2015.
Bryan:
I wouldn't consider Love & Mercy as subversive but I would consider it innovative within the biopic form.
Louis: Your updated top ten films of the year.
Louis: Your top ten worst films of the year.
Though we're not even a third of the way through with the bonus rounds, has everyone enjoyed them more than the alternates.
Happy New Year! :)
Luke: Well, I like the bonus rounds because it lets us look at at some much more obscure performances and films, which to me is always a good thing.
I've enjoyed the bonus rounds more, mainly due to years greatly improving like 2010 for example, the upgrades thus far have been great and like you said, watching films that have had little recognition or left in obscurity. Also it's very satisfying when a request that Louis hasn't seen does well.
Another good thing is that it has enhanced the reputations of some actors that Louis didn't exactly care for like Tyrone Power or Sam Worthington.
It also enhanced underrated actors of this world that never got their due, especially deceased actors.
Tahmeed:
Let me hold onto that until I see Phantom Thread, and then I'll add my 2017 top ten to the overall top ten lists.
Anonymous:
1. The Book of Henry
2. The Circle
3. Mother!
4. Death Note
5. The Discovery
6. Mark Felt: And the magical sunshine band
7. Downsizing
8. Justice League
9. War Machine
10. Roman J. Israel, Esquire
What are your bottom 10 performances of the year?
Robert:
1. Ellar Coltrane - The Circle
2. Elton John - Kingsman: The Golden Circle
3. Nat Wolff - Death Note
4. Thomas Mann - Kong Skull Island
5. James Jordan - Wind River
6. Emma Watson - The Circle
7. Naomi Watts - The Book of Henry
8. Ruby Rose - John Wick II
9. Abbie Cornish - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri
10. Emma Watson - Beauty and the Beast
Louis: Kingsman 2 come close to making your bottom 10 Louis? More I think about it the more I hate it, especially with how they wasted characters like Roxy and Agent Tequila, and the general misanthropist air.
Calvin:
Forgot to list it, it would be my number 7 then.
1. Harris
2. Shaw
3. Heston
4. Pleasance
5. Rains
Janney - 5(I can already see some writing this off as too one note, however I think that is an unfair assessment, as not every character needs some secret good. Janney is fantastic as being one of the all time horrible mothers. She's very entertaining in a very darkly comic fashion, however she never allows that to overwhelm her work completely. She shows within this the nuance the thing is Janney takes the approach that the more you look into the woman the more horrible she is. Janney does reveal though the right vulnerability that alludes to loveless woman who takes her anger out on everyone around her, and only occasionally even slightly attempts to warmth. Those moments are terrific as Janney realizes this struggle to get out any sense of tenderness that always ends in failure.)
Nicholson - 3.5(I rather liked her performance though limited in that she portrays one person who is bipolar in her affection but rather portrays well this sort of specific support. Nicholson does well to hold back showing suggestions of enough of a warmth in her coach, but with the reservations of knowing that who she's working with is big trouble.)
Hauser - 4(I thought he was hilarious. Now he's not doing any balancing of tones, but he does not need to. He's just a colossal fool in every scene and is extremely funny being so in every scene. It is consistently entertaining work in bringing such a lowly wannabe tough with that method of delivering every line as though he is this "worldy" tough guy, even though he is so obviously not.)
Cananvale - 3(Good bit of sleaze from him.)
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