I finally watched The Grand Budapest Hotel off the DVR and kind of wish I had those two hours back. I am okay with a little quirky, but it was WAY too quirky for me. The only other Wes Anderson film I’ve watched is The Royal Tennenbaums and I felt the same way. S thinks it is one of his 10 all-time favorites. I guess it takes all kinds…
I agree; that is exactly how I felt about Boyhood.
I read Wild before I saw it, and the movie didn’t measure up to the book, although Reese Witherspoon was great but not the character I imagined from reading the book.
You did better than I did. I couldn’t watch it for more than 20 minutes.
And Bay, I agree - I read WIld before I saw the movie, and I never really “bought” Reese Witherspoon as the character I loved in the book.
I’ve been over Wes Anderson for a while, and even though I liked Budapest Hotel more than his other efforts, it still left me cold.
With some restraint, Birdman could have been a brilliant film, but in its present form seems cliche (art vs. commerce; theater vs. film, acting vs. celebrity) self-indulgent and downright silly, and I don’t mean just the flying.
I liked Boyhood and its quietness - but feel it could have been a good 20 minutes shorter.
DH and I saw American Sniper last night.
I felt that it glorified Chris Kyle’s “achievements” only in that by being such a talented sniper, he was saving lives. They did not portray him as taking any joy in killing anyone per se, but each time he shot someone, it was while they were attempting to kill American soldiers. He clearly struggled with killing anyone young who was being used to carry out attacks. In the movie, he seemed uncomfortable with his celebrity. To him, it seemed a sort of dubious honor.
At least that was my take on it. I’ve heard that creative license was taken with some of the facts, so certainly Selma is not alone in this regard.
How ironic that there was a price on CK’s head overseas, but it was “one of his own” who ended up taking his life. Must be a very bitter pill for his family to swallow.
Yeah, right. Which is why he wrote a book about himself. That’s what made him a celebrity. If I want to read something about a sniper, I’ll stick to Bob the Nailer. Doesn’t pretend to be anything but excellent fiction. B-)
I loved Grand Budapest Hotel. I’m a confirmed Wes Anderson fan.
I just saw Selma last weekend. I thought it was powerful, but mostly because of the supporting cast and the subject matter. (I love Wendell Pierce! I’m going to have to rewatch The Wire.) It also distorted the actual events surrounding some of the black characters in the usual way of Hollywood movies, undoubtedly for dramatic effect. (James Farmer of SNCC was the same age as MLK, the purse whopping did not occur under those circumstances, etc.) I thought the White House scenes were very weak, and I hadn’t even read anything about the distortion of LBJ’s actions and convictions. I found David O okay, but he really fell short when attempting to portray the magic of King’s oratory. Maybe that was an impossible task for any actor.
Hoping to see more of the movies that are out right now soon!
Yeah, in the movie, they don’t even mention that he wrote a book. It wasn’t anything “subtle” or my subjective interpretation that he seemed uncomfortable with it, it was clear. He even states something to that effect in the film when someone calls him “the Legend.”
I really don’t know much about the real person as I never read his book or anything about him, for that matter. The first I ever heard of him was during all the hoopla which surrounded his funeral in Texas.
I’ve seen several interviews with his wife who says the movie is very accurate and I think his brother is starting to do interviews, as well. My prediction is Birdman for best picture but I don’t expect to love it. I never love the best picture, though. But am pretty good at picking the winner so we’ll see.
I do not want to be put in the position of defending Chris Kyle here. But from what I have read the two co-authors aggressively pursued him when they had heard his story and he agreed to participate if the proceeds from book sales went to veterans.
The movie did not glorify him or the war. I have a lot of respect for those willing to serve. I do remember seeing him interviewed and he seemed very humble.
I sort of disagree. I think it glorified the assertion that every time he shot someone, it was someone who was in the act of attempting to kill Americans. So he was presented as a hero in that sense. No doubt he really did save many American soldiers’ lives. It did not present him as someone who enjoyed killing or who took gratuitous shots in order to be a big shot.
All that said, I actually don’t know much about the real person so I neither deify him nor criticize him.
As to Bradley Cooper, his performance was very strong. I have not seen The Theory of Everything, but the general sense I get is that Redmayne is the front runner for the Oscar.
^^ I also think Redmayne is the front-runner, and he IS amazing as Stephen Hawking. That being said, his performance is sort of Daniel-Day-Lewis-My Left-Foot amazing in that he appears to become almost totally disabled, right before your eyes. It’s a very physical performance, if that makes sense.
On the other hand, I saw Foxcatcher right before I saw The Theory of Everything, and I’m still thinking about Steve Carrell. His performance was also amazing but in a more quiet, unassuming way.
Eddie Redmayne is my personal pick, but my prediction is Michael Keaton.
Last night DH and I decided to blow off cooking dinner at home and went out to eat and to see The Imitation Game.
Very entertaining and I thought Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance was incredible. Kiera Knightly did a fine job, though I agree with others that I don’t know that it warranted an Oscar nom.
I read a little bit about the movie and some of the principle characters and found that many people have objected to inaccuracies with regard to events and the actual people portrayed in the film.
Early into the movie I turned to DH and said of Alan Turing, “He seems like he has Asberger’s syndrome.” Well, it turns out that Turing’s family have stated that they are upset that he is portrayed as being an Aspie as he did not possess or display symptoms of that disorder. Family members of other people depicted in the film were also angry at the way they were “misrepresented.”
Creative license, I know. But I could see being upset if my grandfather was parodied as a villain if that was not the case (Denniston’s grandchildren insist that he had no vendetta against Turing and was in fact supportive of the entire team).
Wikipedia actually has some very interesting details about the film with regard to factual inaccuracies, controversy over same, etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Imitation_Game
Anyway, glad I saw it!
I find it very annoying when people and places and events are portrayed inaccurately. I don’t understand the need for artistic license when it would be so much better to be accurate and educate the world about how things really were. I also think that when place locations are intrinsic to the story, they darned well ought to film in those locations so I am seeing that city!
But then, I am also offended when they change little book details in the movie, like the Reacher books describing repeatedly the huge size of the protagonist and they cast Tom Cruise or Tome Traveler’s Wife where the book talks about red hair and they make her blonde in the movie.
Yeah, I know what you mean. In the Outlander TV series, some people were upset that the main actress did not have the golden eyes which were a MAJOR feature of the female protagonist and was mentioned countless times throughout the series. I think the fans would have rioted if the male protagonist had not had the red hair that was such a huge plot point in the books!
I went to another matinee today and saw Whiplash.
Holy crapy, that was intense. J.K. Simmons was amazing as expected, but so was the young actor (Miles Teller) who played the lead!
It didn’t end the way I expected. I like it when I’m surprised.
Saw Boyhood yesterday. I liked it but it was a tad too long, IMO.
Don’t you just hate it when you don’t spot your typos until hours later? SMH.
In the past week or so, saw both Whiplash and Foxcatcher. Loved Whiplash - very original with superb acting, although an intense movie. Not impressed with Foxcatcher which was very slow and disconnected, although Tatum and Ruffalo had good performances. I did not care for Carell’s performance. Despite the praise he’s received, I thought Carell’s acting was an caricature rather than a accurate portrayal of John E. Du Pont.
^^^ I’ve read interviews with people who knew John du Pont personally who have said Carell nailed the performance.