10. Peter Dinklage in Cyrano - Dinklage delivers a properly impassioned and witty Cyrano, with the right nuance in his vulnerabilities though there are limitations within the film's presentation of the material.
Best Scene: Confrontation with Christian.
9. Nicolas Cage in Pig - Although I wish the film let him dive deeper, Cage gives a consistently captivating and quietly emotional portrayal of a recluse who is more than meets the eye.
Best Scene: Restaurant.
8. Joaquin Phoenix in C'Mon C'Mon - Phoenix gives wonderful show of his range in his quietly human and warm portrayal of an average guy's connection with his nephew.
Best Scene: It's okay.
7. Amir Jadidi in A Hero - Jadidi gives a powerfully layered performance of a man who is endearing yet his smile hides a troubled soul.
Best Scene: Asking for the video to be deleted.
6. Caleb Landry Jones in Nitram - Jones gives a powerfully disturbing performance as a man who just does not relate to humanity the way most do.
Best Scene: "Hear to Heart" with his mom.
5. Dev Patel in The Green Knight - Patel gives a grounding performance for this fantasy, but also delivers so much more in his emotional and spiritual journey as Gawain.
Best Scene: The vision.
4. Jason Isaacs in Mass - Isaacs gives a deeply powerful portrayal of a man's anger and sadness when coming to terms with his grief
Best Scene: Describing the shooting.
3. Simon Rex in Red Rocket - Rex gives an uncompromising yet wholly charismatic portrayal of a man who is intent on getting out of his hole by digging himself deeper into it.
Best Scene: Hiding during the arrest.
2. Hidetoshi Nishijima in Drive My Car - Nishijima gives a deeply powerful and nuanced portrayal of man slowly coming to terms with his complex grief.
Best Scene: The shattered house.
1. Bradley Cooper in Nightmare Alley - Good prediction Luke. Cooper gives an absolutely brilliant performance as the great Stanton, finding such variety in his grifts, such nuance in his self-loathing, and such power in his journey of a descent into a personal hell. I had to give Cooper the win here, he just had the biggest impact on me of any performance emotionally, while also being just so technically accomplished. If I didn't it would only be because I already gave him the win in supporting for the funniest performance of the year in Licorice Pizza. He left the biggest impact on me in both a leading and supporting turn, though in very different ways, but I can't deny that impact in either example. The funny thing is, frankly I probably was less positive on Cooper as an actor than many, though I certainly thought he was good actor. He definitely wasn't someone I looked upon as being "overdue" for me, so this purely based on the performances. And in this year, with these two performances, he has forced a new perspective upon me, as he's achieved greatness both dramatically and comedically.
Best Scene: "I was born for it".
Overall Ranking:
- Bradley Cooper in Nightmare Alley
- Benedict Cumberbatch in The Power of the Dog
- Hidetoshi Nishijima in Drive My Car
- Denzel Washington in The Tragedy of Macbeth
- Simon Rex in Red Rocket
- Jason Isaacs in Mass
- Dev Patel in The Green Knight
- Caleb Landry Jones in Nitram
- LaKeith Stanfield in Judas and the Black Messiah
- Cooper Hoffman in Licorice Pizza
- Reed Birney in Mass
- Daniel Kaluuya in Judas and the Black Messiah
- Amir Jadidi in A Hero
- Bo Burnham in Inside
- Joaquin Phoenix in C'Mon C'Mon - 5
- Nicolas Cage in Pig
- Adarsh Gourav in The White Tiger
- Andrew Garfield in Tick Tick...Boom
- Peter Dinkalge in Cyrano
- Tim Blake Nelson in Old Henry
- James Norton in Nowhere Special
- Tahar Rahim in The Mauritanian
- Stephen Graham in Boiling Point
- Mahershala Ali in Swan Song
- Frankie Faison in The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
- Udo Kier in Swan Song
- Tom Holland in Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Michael Greyeyes in Wild Indian
- Timothee Chalamet in Dune
- Woody Norman in C'Mon C'Mon
- Riz Ahmed in The Encounter
- Benedict Cumberbatch in The Electrical Life of Louis Wain - 4.5
- Vincent Lindon in Titane
- Dan Stevens in I'm Your Man
- Cillian Murphy in A Quiet Place Part 2
- Yuriy Borisov in Compartment No. 6
- Luke Kirby in No Man of God
- Alex Wolff in Pig
- Stanley Tucci in Supernova
- Colin Firth in Supernova
- Jim Broadbent in The Duke
- Benedict Cumberbatch in The Courier
- George MacKay in Wolf
- Frank Grillo in Boss Level
- Adam Driver in The Last Duel
- Daniel Craig in No Time to Die
- Adam Driver in Annette
- Matt Damon in The Last Duel
- Clint Eastwood in Cry Macho
- Tom Holland in Cherry
- Adam Driver in House of Gucci
- Ralph Fiennes in The Dig
- Idris Elba in The Suicide Squad
- Will Smith in King Richard
- Anthony Ramos in In the Heights
- Alessandro Nivola in The Many Saints of Newark
- Justin Chon in Blue Bayou
- Bob Odenkirk in Nobody
- Kanji Tsuda in Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle
- Filippo Scotti in The Hand of God - 4
- Jonathan Majors in The Harder They Fall
- Frank Grillo in Copshop
- Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in Candyman
- Gerard Butler in Copshop
- Tom Hardy in Venom: Let There Be Carnage
- Hugh Jackman in Reminiscence
- Tim Roth in Bergman Island
- Dave Bautista in Army of the Dead - 3.5
- Jason Statham in Wrath of Man
- Benicio Del Toro in No Sudden Move
- Don Cheadle in No Sudden Move
- Jude Hill in Belfast
- Hilmir Snær Guðnason in Lamb
- Oscar Isaac in The Card Counter
- Leonardo DiCaprio in Don't Look Up
- Will Brill in Test Pattern
- Matt Damon in Stillwater
- Jack Dylan Grazer in Luca
- Jacob Tremblay in Luca
- Simu Liu in Shang-chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings
- Denzel Washington in The Little Things
- Trevante Rhodes in The United States Vs. Billie Holiday
- Lucas Hedges in French Exit
- Ansel Elgort in West Side Story
- Elijah Wood in No Man Of God - 3
- Dwayne Johnson in Jungle Cruise
- Eddie Murphy in Coming 2 America
- Jake Gyllenhaal in The Guilty
- Ed Helms in Together Together
- Aidan Gillen in Those Who Wish Me Dead - 2.5
- Javier Bardem in Being the Ricardos
- John David Washington in Malcolm & Marie
- Jermaine Fowler in Coming 2 America
- Keanu Reeves in The Matrix Resurrections
- Ryan Reynolds in Free Guy - 2
- Rami Malek in The Little Things
- LeBron James in Space Jam: A New Legacy
- Lewis Tan in Mortal Kombat - 1.5
- Daniel Ranieri in The Tender Bar
- Tye Sheridan in The Tender Bar - 1
- Ben Platt in Dear Evan Hansen - Wiseaus
Next: 1997 Lead (though I won't be starting until after the Oscars.)
291 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 291 of 291Okay, I'm gonna do the thing you are not even supposed to think about *deep breath* a modern Cast for The Godfather
Michael: Oscar Isaac
Kay: Saoirse Ronan
Sonny: Jon Bernthal
Tom: Jesse Plemons
Clemenza: Mark Addy
Tessio: Elias Koteas
Fredo: Lewis Pullman
Connie: Margaret Qualley
Jack Woltz: Brad Dourif
Don Vito: Stacy Keach
What do you all think? (quietly: pease don't kill me)
Watched La Famille Bélier to torture myself and see the "brilliance" of CODA's adaptation....and are you kidding me, that will be the worst adapted screenplay win in some time, particularly when you consider what it is up against.
The two scenes that people talk about loving CODA so much, are almost directly lifted from this version, with oddly almost the same staging and directorial choices. I'll say what was taken out is probably the only praise I can give, as I really didn't need the family obsessed with the daughter's period. But...what is added in is worse in most cases. I have to say I was surprised that the family was less horny in the French version, with the change of the brother's age to do the important thing? Make him horny? The best friend's horny qualities actually are less prominent here. The changes though are switching from one set of bad jokes or extremely obvious scenes, to another set. Or in the case of the music teacher making him more ridiculous and over the top. I'll admit the major change of farming to fishing added less than nothing, as it added that absurd scene of the coast guard, that I thought was from the original and lost in legal translation, but no that was written for the remake. Now the structure though is lifted almost exactly, the main scenes are more or less the same, there is no reason to award this, and honestly even if you were moved by CODA manipulation, best written of the year? Come on!
I will give CODA minor credit in that the acting, other than Derbez, is better.
Tim:
I don't know...I think De Niro might be able to play old Vito for some unknown reason.
I still think one of the worst Adapted Screenplay wins ever was Gods and Monsters.
Louis: well, yeah, De Niro is almost too obvious for that. and that's what probably would happen if they actually did it. But i had Keach in mind for that part for a while now and just wanted to put that idea out there
Louis: seen any other recent releases? And I agree, I like CODA much more than pretty much everyone on here but adaptation of the screenplay isn’t something that’s worth awarding at all.
Finally saw my first Peter Bogdanovich movie, The Last Picture Show. It was very impressive and I'm ashamed it took me this long to see one of his movies.
I'll give my thoughts and ratings on the cast later, but Cloris Leachman is an easy 5.
Louis: Your thoughts on the kissing scene in The Last Duel (from the three different points of view, of course).
Also, since you covered the same for House of Gucci, your thoughts on the direction.
Rewatched The Batman at the cinema yesterday. All my small nit-picks with this film really just vanished this time around. Officially a perfect movie.
10/10
Letterboxd reviews here:
https://letterboxd.com/htt/film/the-batman/reviews/
New updated cast ratings:
Robert Pattinson: 5/5 - Was a 4.5. Incredibly subtle in the best possible way, making for arguably greatest cinematic Batman we have had up to this point.
Zoe Kravitz: 4/5 - Some aspects of this performance are a bit thin, but still, this is everything one could want from a Catwoman performance.
Paul Dano: 5/5 - Was a 4.5. I take that "overacting"-thing back. Dano is undeniably entertaining, incredibly terrifying and menacing, and surprisingly funny too in his own morbid way.
Jeffrey Wright: 4/5 - Was a 3.5. No, it isn't a mindblowing performance, but he's a natural fit for the role. Also think his comedic moments are just superb.
John Turtorro: 4.5/5 - Was a 3.5. Yeah, I really missed the brilliance of Turtorro's performance the first time around. He is so strangely menacing every second he is on screen. Wonderful performance.
Peter Sarsgaard: 3/5 - Was a 3.5. Sarsgaard isn't good by any means at all, but I do think he is belivable.
Andy Serkis: 4/5 - I'll say it again: I never ever could have thought Serkis could have made for a good Alfred, but he turns in a surprisingly moving performance.
Colin Farrell: 4/5 - Was a 3.5. Farrell is hammy and overacts, but he is undeniably entertaining and funny in the role, while also being slightly menacing.
Cast MVP: Paul Dano
Just thought I'd hop in and say I finally got a Twitter account. You can go follow me here:
https://twitter.com/HTTSpotlight
Louis: Thoughts on Bamboozled and the cast?
Just watched Your Name. Yeah, probably a masterpiece. Might honestly be a 10/10 on rewatch. Surprisingly deep in it's emotion and philosophy.
9.8/10
Letterboxd review here:
https://letterboxd.com/htt/film/your-name/
Calvin:
Not yet, randomly I decided to catch up the non critically panned Spike Lee films from years I've already covered.
Bryan:
A great subtle bit there in creating the perspectives. As the first you can take your own meaning to the kiss as it isn't really one thing or another, the second just one hair off being fully romantic and the third a peck that might as well just be the traditional French greeting.
Scott's direction is within his Kingdom of Heaven and Gladiator styling of late, and again impressive that he could make such a technically impressive film in terms of costumes, cinematography, production design in such short order right next to Gucci. Scott's work here though is just impressive in terms of carrying a sense of a sense of his medieval place that is particularly tangible. That along with just some technical mastery in key moments, particularly the final duel which is gripping and intense that shows Scott to be a master of the cinematic form in just creating visceral and intense cinema. Where I think Scott does some of his best work though is crafting the perspectives. This as he does so in some bigger ways in terms of genre, making it grander in the first sequence, more lurid in the second and very personal in the third, he also just excels in crafting the perspectives in subtle moments of difference. Scott's work here manages both the big picture and small scale intimacy, something I think he sometimes fumbles with in terms of the latter more recently. Here though he is in peak form.
Matt:
Bamboozled has much to say, and while some of it may be salient, others a bit too obvious (yes executives are scummy and business with creativity often leads to the lowest common denominator, that isn't saying anything deep or original), it fails because the execution isn't there in multiple ways. The satire doesn't work because the minstrel show it is hard to believe would be appealing to anyone, whereas you can see how people would be attracted to Howard Beale's ramblings from Network which Lee directly references. Satire is tough indeed, and Lee doesn't strike the right tone for it. What hurts it more though is there really isn't any grounding with almost all the characters being thin caricatures themselves just of a slightly different ilk. There was an idea in there somewhere that could've made something but it just isn't realized in the execution of it.
Wayans - 1(Maybe this is why his career petered out so suddenly because he is atrocious and you could argue he is fundamental in the film's failure. He is a cartoon the whole time even though the film seems to want him to be a person, I think. Either way Wayans is over the top usually so it isn't a surprise to believe that he's just giving a bad performance which he is. His whole turn is nails on the chalkboard with his over the top accent, and the complete lack of depth to character. There could've at least been something in the idea of the character going kind of mad in his discontent, but no it all plays into nothing because Wayans is so bad in the role.)
Glover & Davidson - 2.5(They're getting closer to remotely okay, but the characters are far too underwritten to make something out of them.)
Pinkett-Smith - 3(The best part of the film, as even though she is in a terribly underwritten part she at least does create some sense of an actual person within the role. Her performance suggests there might've been more so something there if the material and tone had been better balanced.)
Rapaport - 1(He's atrocious in everything he's in really, I don't know why he was briefly a thing with that same loudmouth routine every time.)
Louis what would be your best picture double features this year?
Louis : Thoughts on School Daze, Get On The Bus and Red Hook Summer and the casts with ratings.
And are there any other filmmakers you're thinking of catching up on.
Anonymous:
Belfast - Cinema Paradiso
Coda - Running on Empty
Don't Look Up - Plan 9 From Outer Space
Dune - LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring
Drive My Car - Three Colours: Red
King Richard - Breaking Away
Licorice Pizza - American Graffiti
Nightmare Alley - A Face in the Crowd
The Power of the Dog - Billy Budd
West Side Story - Romeo and Juliet (1968)
Luke:
School Daze I thought was pretty good and particularly impressive as a sophomore effort. It is definitely Lee trying his hands at a lot of things in just doing a musical, doing a sex farce, doing a more genuine drama, doing a social commentary among other things. Most of it I felt more or less worked, with a lot of energy and honesty to it all.
Esposito - 4(Delivers on just bringing an exact charisma in this sort of manipulative intensity. He manages to portray well this sense of really control but with the right sense of the needed lurid qualities in the way he works others. This mixed in with the moments that seem to show the man behind the bravado that are particularly effectively realized.)
Fishburne - 3.5(He's good as really the contrast to Esposito as this seeming hard rock of intended integrity. He has a nice naturalistic quality in his performance and ease in his manner to seeming be the man who is outside of some of the insanity of the campus life...seemingly.)
Lee - 3(One of his better performances I felt as his sort of muted delivery worked well in the character who is constantly, very constantly, in over his head. Uses himself in just the right limited capacity here.)
Get On the Bus is low key but quite good in its low key examinations of a whole lot of issues. I thought Lee treads them pretty well though by keeping them always as these gradual and earnest conversations. He probably covers one too many, but hits enough well that it doesn't really matter.
Braugher - 4(Fantastic at being intolerable. He brings just the right hypocritical pompousness to the part and tears through every scene with such considerable ease. Being the right one man show that no one particularly wants. Such a shame that Braugher still doesn't have a bigger film career since he's always good.)
Davis - 4(Large part he's similar to his Do the Right Thing Role as the wise old mentor seemingly and brings that paternal energy quite effectively once again. He knocks out though his pivotal scene though of exploring his desperate straits that truly define the man in his very painful way.)
Dutton - 3.5(His character purposeful is of this certain consistency but he's good in portraying the variations within that in the dogged determination to try to hold his ground no matter what happens.)
Pierce - 3(Does pretty well in playing one note pompousness with the right pompousness but also certain comedic energy.)
Smith - 3(Has some good moments but also has some oddly stiff moments in there.)
Casseus - 3(Mostly very low key but is actually rather moving in his brief portrayal of the greater emotion that reveals the character's modesty.)
Lennix - (Not terrible but felt he overplayed the general mannerisms of the characters a bit.)
Belzer - (The weakest part of the film as written as basically a straw man to deal with an issue, and Belzer just seems a little lost honestly in his quick entrance then exit.)
Red Hook Summer is one of Lee's weakest films in terms of technique as it just seems of a lesser filmmaker. Additionally though his script here is a whole lot of "huh" particularly the major revelation where you go "that's what this was about?". Just a pretty sloppy film though there are some decent moments thanks to Clarke Peters.
Peters - 3.5(Gives an effective tangible performance that always brings the humanity to the character first in a moving way, but even manages to deliver on his end with the twist, while a little questionable overall in execution his performance is good.)
Lysaith - (Pretty dull young performer style performance, leaves Peters to make up too much ground honestly.)
‘Don't Look Up - Plan 9 From Outer Space’
Lol. Ed Wood doesn’t deserve this Louis!
Calvin:
True, because at the very least I imagine if you told Ed Wood that you didn't like Plan 9, his response would not have been "Oh I guess you're not concerned about Nuclear war then".
Louis - Jojo Rabbit's Screenplay win doesn't mean much to me given films not in the top 5 have won in the writing categories before (Almost Famous, Talk to Her, Sling Blade), but your reasoning's fair enough. I'll concede 2018 in general was a tricky year to narrow down to 5 as there were more films than usual seriously contending for the win. However, The Favourite makes it into the top 5 for me as it was likely the Best Film runner-up at the BAFTAs and Colman's win showed there was strong support for the film across the branches.
Also, if you're accepting requests at the moment, could you review Vincent Gallo in Buffalo '66?
Tim - Interesting list. Isaac as Michael is a given, of course, and I like the mix of crusty veterans with actors of younger generations.
If I had to quibble, though, I'd say Ronan as Kay doesn't make sense given she's 15 years younger than Isaac, and the role calls for someone who is closer in age to Michael. And is it me or does Jesse Plemons just not have the gravitas for a role like Tom Hagen? I can see him more easily as Fredo (even though he and Isaac in no way look like they could be brothers).
Tony: I don’t feel that Plemons has the gravitas to play a lawyer like Tom. Needs someone more “stately”.
I also think Lewis Pullman is too young to play Fredo, since he’s supposed to be closer to Michael and Sonnys’ age.
Tim:
Regarding Rabbit, there's literally 2 films that won adapted screenplay and didn't get nominated for best picture in the time of 5 nominees. Each time only beating a single actual nominee. Gods and Monsters which only beat best picture nominee The Thin Red Line, which I imagine could've been hurt by word of Malick's methods. The other being Sling Blade where the momentum was all about recognizing Thornton, and the screenplay was the easiest way to do so, along with the fact that the English Patient was already winning so many other categories it was clearly a way to spread the love. I'm therefore very comfortable predicting Rabbit was in the five, since The Irishman, unlike the English Patient, wasn't the best picture front runner, and didn't have a screenplay that was in some ways "thrown out" in the editing room like The Thin Red Line.
I don't accept generalized requests without a win from getting a correct prediction, though I'll certainly consider him.
Tony & Bryan:
i guess we will disagree about Plemons, but let me explain the other two.
Pullman being younger i wouldn't see as a problem. The only part that really matters about their dynamic in that regard is that Fredo is younger than Michael and always in his brothers' shadow.
I imagined him being younger would also make Michael in the beginning seem more like an outcast in the business. When literally every Corleone man is part of the family, no matter how old, Michael will seem a bigger opposite of them all.
Did you know the story that Coppola originally didn't want Talia Shire to play Connie because she was too pretty, as Connie was supposed to be very unattractive and only get a husband because her father is powerful? I think something like that should have been in the film so i thought: "What about the name Corleone being so powerful that even the youngest son would instantly get a job for an important gangster in Vegas?" Just food for thought
And Ronan as Kay: the short version is, i just didn't much care about the age when i made this, especially since most actors look younger than they are anyway. If i saw Isaac and Ronan next to each other, i know i would estimate him down.
But then again, think about the film's second half. After coming back from Sicilly, Michael seeming wiser and more world-worn and Kay being a bit naive with actually believing him to be out of the business is kind of the point.
Look at the scene in the original film where they meet up again, i swear to god, Pacino looks older to an inproportionate degree.
I say it would work.
Tim:
"I'm your older brother Michael and I was stepped over!"
Fredo being older than Michael is an essential facet of his character.
Fuck, i misremembered that you're right ...
okay, strike that, I've got no Fredo. Ideas?
Tim: maybe Jimmi Simpson?
The first reviews for The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent are out and I couldn't have been more satisfied.
Ytrewq: *sees premise*
Well, I can't wait for Cage's review next year.
Louis, what would you vote for to win Adapted Screenplay this year if you were an Oscar voter?
Anonymous:
Drive My Car. But I'd take any one of the screenplay nominees over CODA.
Louis: thoughts on this alternate ending for Belfast? https://youtu.be/Je7i5XCEx9I
Calvin:
Kind of interesting just in isolation though the execution isn't *quite* there, though pacing wise would've been a terrible choice to include in the film at the very end. I will say though I think it could've been reworked into a better opening for the film actually with instead of it as an epilogue instead using it as an prologue of setting it up as Branagh's reminiscence of his childhood.
Louis: What were some of the big "Wait, where did THAT come from" performances of last year? Could mean coming from an actor you didn't think much of, could be someone who just wasn't mentioned in the reviews, could just be someone you never had seen before.
Robert:
Cumberbatch the cowboy specifically.
Caleb Landry Jones
Simon Rex
Mike Faist
Jodie Comer (haven't seen Killing Eve)
Alex Hassell
I rewatched West Side Story a few weeks ago with the whole family, and it's amazing that even after four viewings, I keep finding some little moment I missed with Faist. And really by extension the bigger ensemble. Spielberg was pretty careful when it came to how much he let the actors do in the background. For example, during the rape scene, I missed that Mouthpiece (the one with the hat) didn't take part in it and looked on in horror, and that's why he was the one crying when Valentina shames them.
Louis: Your thoughts on the direction of Perfect Blue
Louis: I don't know if you consider him lead or supporting, but Jon Voight in Anaconda would make for a good bonus review when you get to revisit 1997.
I support a wiseau review for Voight.
On 1997, I can't wait to get your thoughts on Princess Mononoke.
Louis: Your ten favourite portrayals of psychopaths in film?
Louis: say your TOP 10 of the best performances in little screen time.
BRAZINTERMA: Do you think you could phrase your comments as less of a demand?
Louis: Say your TOP 10 of the best performances in short screen time (from 2 to 15 minutes)
Luke, what else are you most looking forward to about 1997
Robert Forster's re-review for Jackie Brown.
Louis: What are your thoughts on some people saying that westerns, epics, hell, even Hitchcock movies were the MCU of their day? I think I've started seeing some of these comments after Scorsese said that MCU films were not cinema, and thus, those types of films wouldn't fall under Scorsese's criteria of what is cinema.
I believe that Scorsese wrote an article about how MCU films lacked a directorial vision, and you know how much he loved Hitchcock. I mean, with Hitchcock films, you can tell that there's a vision, even if they were considered in their time to be entertainment. With directors like Lean, Mann and Ford, you can also see that there's a vision in those Westerns and epics they made.
Again, what I'm getting at is that Scorsese does like entertainment, but entertainment with a directorial vision behind it.
Watched the Outfit which I quite liked as a solidly good crime thriller. Aided greatly by Rylance thankfully, and expectedly, returning to form after that unfortunate McKay detour.
Rylance - 4.5
Deutch - 3
O'Brien - 3.5
Flynn - 4
Beale - 3
Amuka-Bird - 3
Oliver Menard:
Kon pretty much shows the ability one can use with animation, here as he makes a story that could be told within a live action setting theoretically, but it is with the power of animation that really grants the film its unsettling qualities, particularly in terms of playing reality. The contrast for example between the seeming pleasant world of the pop star with just the glowing fun against the darkness of the psychological thriller, where reality bends and there is that particular invasive quality explored within the animation. The horror elements being especially potent though because of the animation, being stalked by almost a ballerina floating could be silly but through animation it becomes absolutely terrifying through the tone that Kon crafts. Again potent work though in his ability though to not let one element overwhelm in crafting a balance through commentary, reality bending and through just the more personal story as threaded through the thriller.
Anonymous:
A little too wide of a category as you can include so many characters both the more overt and the more subtle.
Brazinterma:
Would rather wait a bit on evaluating that since two new contenders for this just entered into the idea.
8000's:
MCU is corporate product, the corporate product of old wasn't the premiere westerns it most certainly was NOT Hitchcock even if these were studio films. The true corporate product were indeed those without directorial vision, which is limited or obfuscated within the MCU process, each film being a different level of it. Corporate product by the way can be enjoyable, but it is still that. Where the correlation in the past would be through more some of the standard dramas, even romcoms of the period, or some like the "Andy Hardy" films that were turned out in a more machine fashion back in the day, and weren't defined by directorial vision for the most part. If you watched the films of 42, where half the films were spy thrillers, they all followed a similar process and were very MCU in a lot of ways. Even then though you got Casablanca where Curtiz's influence is very direct and it inspired higher than probably the studio greenlight. The standard MCU is closer to all those other thrillers. Now the MCU isn't exactly those either, it is something new I'll certainly give it that, but it is films by committee with really a formula, that might not be obvious to some but it is there. I particularly noticed this with some reactions to The Batman which said it didn't have comedy, where there is comedy it just isn't quippy comedy that has become this essential piece of the MCU formula.
So in short westerns and Hitchcock films weren't the MCU of their day.
Louis: Thoughts on the cast.
Luke:
Hard to talk about the cast without getting into "things" so to speak, so best wait on that.
Louis: Have I got a winning request?? I can't remember if I got one in the last couple of months.
Louis: have you seen After Yang? It’s on Showtime I think if you’ve that.
Louis: Could you listen to this song, and tell me what Satyajit Ray film it would be a good fit for? I think it'd be brilliant if used in say, a 2020s Charulata (from Mukherjee's character's perspective)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfY1LjR8NlI
Are we all predicting The Power of the Dog to win PGA tonight? Or do we think something else (namely CODA) will take it instead?
Louis: Rating and thoughts on Teyonah Parris in Chi-Raq.
I can see CODA, but I'm still predicting Power of the Dog. I wouldn't even count out Belfast, to be honest.
Louis: As you have seen Sherlock, did it give you any more insight on Cumberbatch's performance in The Imitation Game, and the criticism it faced for being a variation of that earlier performance.
Louis: How much was Johnny Flynn channeling Widmark? Because that's who he looked like in the trailers.
Louis: Ratings and thoughts on the Chi-Raq cast.
Watched Deep Water, which I have to admit I enjoyed it much more than I should've even though it really is terrible. It's a case though the worse it is, the better it is.
RatedRStar:
Not recently.
Calvin:
Yes, I liked it more than Columbus but I'm still not wild about certain directorial choices of Kogonada, particularly how he handles dialogue driven scenes in such a muted way or the sometime murky cinematography. Having said that, I liked when he went out of that, like the bits of comedy on the concept and particularly in the recollection scenes, which I thought there were moments of true inspiration that were rather powerful in terms of the use of the Sci-Fi ideas connected to genuine emotion.
Luke:
Parris - 4.5(It's a very good performance in terms of realizing the tricky tone that Lee is attempting that is grandiose, comedic yet also still dramatic. I thought she managed to hit these qualities in this performance that is of this sort of aggressive sensuality where the power of her performance is basically weaponized sex. She delivers this with the right sort of striking quality of this particular sort of intensity that is both comic yet delivers the intention of the idea rather effectively. The film itself by the way is one where I really admired the ambition, and intention, though the execution gets very unwieldy though parts of it definitely work.)
Tahmeed:
I would agree with your choice.
Anonymous:
Um, well it is indeed a variation of his arrogant brilliant eccentric, however I do think it definitely is different from Sherlock, in that the performance is a more insular less confident variation of that. In that Turing is confident in his ability at his process but not in himself in human interaction, where Sherlock doesn't care. I definitely don't think Cumberbatch was being at all lazy and the approached worked for the Turing as written. Criticism would be justified if the approach was ill-fitting or exactly the same, but neither of those is the case.
Robert:
He's 100% channeling Widmark.
Louis: Where would you rank Parris for 2015 leading actress.
And ratings/thoughts on the casts of Deep Water and After Yang.
Louis: Your ranking of the films that you’ve seen that take place during The Troubles.
I enjoyed Deep Water too.
CODA just won PGA.
Of course it did. Man, I am so tapped out of this season that all I can do is move on after 5 seconds of mild distaste.
All I can say is once again, where was this love for Minari.
So, here's an update on some films I have been watching.
Watched Scream for the first time some days ago. Probably going to become one of my favorite horror movies on rewatch. That third act is just perfection.
9.7/10
Cast ratings:
David Arquette: 3.5/5
Neve Campbell: 4/5
Courteney Cox: 3/5
Matthew Lillard: 2.5/5
Skeet Ulrich: 4/5
Drew Barrymore: 3.5/5
Cast MVP: Skeet Ulrich
Also watched Keaton's One Week some days ago. Deserving of being called Keaton's best short. The set piece of the house is an all-time favorite of mine already.
8.4/10
Cast ratings:
Buster Keaton: 4/5
Sybil Seely: 3/5
Cast MVP: Buster Keaton
Also watched Mishima for the third time some days ago. I felt really down on that day, but Mishima managed to fix that. Still my favorite movie of all time.
10/10
Cast ratings:
Ken Ogata: 4.5/5
Cast MVP: Ken Ogata
Also watched After Yang yesterday. Have to agree with Calvin and Matt here. This is by all means a masterpiece.
10/10
Cast ratings:
Colin Farrell: 5/5
Jodie Turner-Smith: 4/5
Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja: 4/5
Justin H. Min: 5/5
Cast MVP: Colin Farrell
And finally, I rewatched Phantom Thread. This may be my favorite romantic movie ever put onto the screen. Literally perfection.
10/10
Cast ratings:
Daniel Day-Lewis: 5/5
Vicky Krieps: 5/5
Lesley Manville: 5/5
Cast MVP: Daniel Day-Lewis
Regarding CODA's PGA win, which guess I can enjoy that I was right and not overacting to the BAFTA adapted screenplay win, but I'll concur with Robert with just being checked out, to the point I can barely find the passion to care about the quality of its win. But again with the back to back of Parasite/Nomadland, we were due for some populist claptrap.
Luke:
Just below Kumiko.
Guess I'll save Farrell because of the level of praise I'm seeing from others just in case I see more on re-watch/reflection, though if that if is the case I definitely should be saving Rylance, as the more I think about Rylance's performance the more there is.
Min - 3.5(I think his character has a greater impact than his performance does and I think the essential element is more so the direction involved. Min though does give a good performance in managing to play on this note of the uncanny valley, while doing so in a way that manages to be warm rather than off-putting, which is in itself enough of an achievement.)
Turner-Smith - 3(Not really given that much to do though I did like more or less what she brought in creating a sense of her concern to the situation but also less of the intense attachment we see with Farrell's character.)
Richardson - 3(Just fine though in creating the sense of kind of pulled in loss if simple in a way in that sense.)
Choudhury - 3(Fine portrayal of essentially delivering exposition with enough of an emotional emphasis in there.)
For Deep Water I'm not even going to attempt to broach ratings at the moment and just talk about my feelings towards the performances.
Affleck - (Okay a big reason I enjoyed the film was his performance where he delivered this particularly comical mixture of exasperation and low key menace. This is to the point I thought he almost played it like guy bricklayer who keeps finding new leaks in his wall and just has to take a deep breath before getting back to it. This is to the point I wish the ending of the film had been that his wife had a "new friend" and he made a "here we go again" expression, as really much of his performance had that kind of ridiculous energy to it. I have no idea the intention here, and judging by a few things I think this was supposed to be a serious film, however I was thoroughly entertained by Affleck's performance that seemed to be actively mocking the more serious overtures of the story.)
de Armas - (If one wants to enjoy de Armas being sultry, sexy and frequently nude, there is much of that there, and I'd be lying if I were to say that did not have a great deal of appeal. Now if one wants to find any kind of depth here, you best look elsewhere, though again that is part of why I enjoyed the film in that her oversexed qualities seemed like she didn't have an afterthought about it and was almost this instinctual action on her part.)
Letts - (He too seemed to think the film was terrible, and his whole performance plays into it like he's in a terrible melodrama, and again I was entertained by it. Hard not to be entertained by a chase scene between a car at full speed, apparently with terrible alignment, and bicycle, and the bicycle somehow maintains pace.)
Bryan:
1. In the Name of the Father
2. The Crying Game
3. Good Vibrations
4. Hunger
5. The Boxer
6. Bloody Sunday
7. Belfast
8. Cal
9. '71
10. Shadow Dancer
11. A Prayer for the Dying
12. Blown Away
Louis: What would you consider the more undeserving winner? CODA or Green Book.
Luke:
The funny thing is they are kind of the opposite for me in terms of what "works", in that I think Green Book is terrible when sincere better when light, CODA is terrible when light better when sincere. I almost want to say CODA just because I feel like Mugatu talking about Blue Steel, when talking about the film with the amount of unadulterated praise CODA gets in-comparison, where Green Book was plenty maligned already. But it is Green Book, if only just barely, though both are unearned "self patting on the back" movies for the Academy. Honestly though Best Picture is probably one of the most uneven categories anyways, the screenplay wins are honestly what bother me more, as there's nothing about CODA's adaptation that deserves recognition.
Louis: Letts and Affleck in the snail den and then of course the finale, cinema is alive. I still don’t know what to think of it overall but I do think Affleck’s performance is genuinely a series of very inspired choices.
Louis, would CODA be in your bottom 10-15 Best Picture winners of all time?
Just watched Sweet Smell Of Success. Wonderful movie. Basically flawless. Most likely becoming a 10 on rewatch.
9.9/10
Cast ratings:
Tony Curtis: 5/5
Burt Lancaster: 5/5
Cast MVP: Burt Lancaster
Also, just saw the PGA winners ... What the actual ..? CODA? This changes everything! I pray that CODA doesn't win. I mean, it's a OK movie (7.9/10 for me), but if it wins over The Power Of The Dog, Drive My Car and other much superior movies, I'm gonna fall into a deep depression.
Calvin:
The boldface absurdity of both of those scenes were something to behold.
Anonymous:
No, more bottom 25 or so.
Bryan: Not a movie, but if you haven't seen Derry Girls, you must.
Michael: Terrific show. Tiernan and McElhinney are easy MVPs for me.
CODA winning Best Picture would just about ruin the rest of my year. Wtf were the PPGA thinking?
Louis: your thoughts on Bruce Beresford as a director?
I'm so over this awards season. Don't think I'm even gonna watch the Oscars, I'll just see what won afterwards.
But hey, at least the frontrunner's not Don't Look Up, eh?
OH NO DON'T LOOK UP
This is my supervillain origin story.
Calvin:
Beresford's a bit of a tough one to talk about because really I haven't seen the majority of his films in fact I've only seen Breaker Morant, Tender Mercies and Driving Miss Daisy. All three films are considered his best films, well except the third these days though if it hadn't won best picture it probably would be less maligned than it is. Anyways though of those three it is his weakest effort in terms of his own effort as his use of Zimmer's score is aggressively emphasized and really kind of grants at times a overly light tone that's trying to bring lightness. All three of these films are very much screenplay and acting driven though I think while there's a truth to this, there is also a tendency to overstate this quality, as a bad director can screw up a great script. Mercies and Morant have amazing scripts, and Beresford definitely doesn't screw them up. Now how he does that is really emphasize performance of the material, not cutting away from actors, letting them deliver on what is so well realized on the page. There is more to it than that, as he manages to change up staging and setups of scenes without becoming gimmicky or stale, and that is notable. There aren't really big visuals films in either instance, but sometimes an interesting visual is knowing how to place your actor which Beresford does know how to do in these cases. He also knows how to do that in Daisy when it is just Freeman and Tandy, and to Beresford's credit he's got a great sense of humor both towards the film's changed reception and his "snub". Where he himself said the film was more built on script and actors then direction. Still he's undercutting himself a bit, as the film's don't get repetitive or stagy feeling despite being dialogue driven. He mixes it effectively in Mercies and Morant. Of course, I haven't seen his severely maligned films, so maybe his techniques aren't as effective when working with lesser materials, but again my perspective of Beresford is fairly limited given he's someone who actually hasn't stopped working, I just haven't watched his recent films.
The guilds wanted to piss us off this weekend, didn't they?
Just when I thought CODA would be the worst screenplay winner, they had to up the ante didn't they?
Guess I really shouldn't have said the whole "at least I'll get to see PTA win his Oscar" thing, this Oscars knew it could suck more.
Even without the cut categories from the telecast I would be very pissed off but that just makes this year an all-timer worst.
The last thing Adam McKay's ego needs is more awards.
Just when I thought “Eh, at least Don’t Look Up fell by the wayside and won’t take home anything…”
Such a shame the Oscars aren't taking place this year. Well, who's looking forward to the next awards season?
This awards season feels even longer than last year's one for some reason. Fuck the guilds.
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