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Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.- Page 2

Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.

ray-andallthatjazz86 Profile Photo
ray-andallthatjazz86
#25Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/14/14 at 1:07am

David O. Russell would have been the most ideal director. He knows how to shoot an ensemble. Altman would have been glorious of course.


"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"

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HorseTears
#26Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/14/14 at 1:14am

Seeing it this weekend. Is this pretty representative of the whole film? Hopefully not. It felt like all three of them were in different movies.

Jordan Catalano Profile Photo
Jordan Catalano
#27Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/14/14 at 1:16am

^ What does that mean?

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Wynbish
#28Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/14/14 at 1:18am

EatthefishEatthefishEatthefish

I'm determined to reenact this scene in a Red Lobster Updated On: 1/14/14 at 01:18 AM

Mildred Plotka Profile Photo
Mildred Plotka
#29Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/14/14 at 5:29am

I rarely post on this board anymore as the practically scripted knee jerk reactions have become pointless, to me. But I second the eye rolls and think Julia Roberts' performances in this film is one of her best. I was skeptical, as I find her acting hit or miss, but was pleasantly bowled over by her slow burn of a performance. I thought she completely understood the character and this scene in particular was a stand-out for her.

I'm all for varying opinions but the predictable bashing without much of a reference point has kept me (and many other posters) far away from this board. Sad.


"Broadway...I'll lick you yet!"

Mildred Plotka Profile Photo
Mildred Plotka
#30Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/14/14 at 5:33am

And I second the David O. Russell suggestion, Jazz. I found the direction the major flaw int his film, not the performances. The table scene, while superbly acted by all, would have especially benefited from Russel's camera work. It should have been done in 1 take. I'm sure all the actors had it in them.


"Broadway...I'll lick you yet!"

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Tink2
#31Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/14/14 at 6:08am

I thought the acting in the film was superb. I hope that Chris Cooper is nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

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CarlosAlberto
#32Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/14/14 at 7:58am

I really didn't care for this movie. It can't hold a candle to the wonderful play that it was based on. That scene was laughable and not in the "ha ha, that was so great it's funny" way.

Kad Profile Photo
Kad
#33Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/14/14 at 8:25am

I didn't have a problem, really, with the performances. And I certainly wasn't ever bored, and was usually entertained.

But it's just not material suited for the screen. Like I said in another post, it became quite campy for me.


"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

jemjeb2
#34Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/14/14 at 8:31am

I did not know the play at all and saw the movie with no expectations. For awhile I thought this is kind of unpleasant. By the end I loved it. I thought the whole cast was effective - Meryl was briliant and stole the movie. The usual suspects here do the usual snotty bashing. No surprise. Oh, and Les Miserables was wonderful.

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CarlosAlberto
#35Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/14/14 at 9:54am

Since when is expressing an opinion considered "snotty bashing"? You do realize that people are entitled to have an opinion that is completely opposite of your own, right?
There is no need to take it personally and label those who didn't care for the film "snots". Chill out.

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BwayGeek2
#36Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/14/14 at 5:24pm

I thought the film was well done, but that's coming from someone who never saw the stage production. Based on people's reactions, do we think it's just more suited for the stage? Were there a lot of changes from stage to screen??

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ClydeBarrow
#37Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/14/14 at 5:33pm

I really liked the movie and thought it moved at a good clip. Obviously it's not as good as the stage production. I think what it loses on the transfer to screen is the claustrophobia (and therefore some energy) with everyone being in the house together.


"Pardon my prior Mcfee slip. I know how to spell her name. I just don't know how to type it." -Talulah

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henrikegerman
#38Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/14/14 at 6:08pm

I love Julia Roberts. This was neither her nor Meryl's finest hour. Far from it.

wonkit
#39Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/14/14 at 10:25pm

Spoilers below if you have not seen the movie:




As I mentioned earlier, I saw this play twice on Broadway and loved it both times. I thought it was searingly powerful and beautifully acted.

I found the movie unexpectedly flat. My companion who had not seen the play concluded that there was no character that he could care about and it made the movie seem very long for him. Here are my comments in no particular order:

Background music. The amazing thing about life theater is the silences, especially when they follow a particularly devastating moment. My two chief examples in the theater: Violet's story about her mother's Christmas trick which felt unrelentingly cruel and created a momentary sympathy for Violet; and when Mattie Fae discloses that Ivy and Little Charles were siblings, not cousins. In both instances the audience silence registered a kind of shock and disbelief. In a movie, the introduction of music at any point is soothing and artificial, and I really noticed it in this movie.

Casting: Meryl Streep is simply not old and frail enough for the part of Violet. I spent the whole time watching her act old and frail without for a moment believing that she was either. In the theater, it seemed like Violet could die at any moment, was wracked with pain and emotionally disturbed. Streep seemed manipulative and self-involved, but never rose to a level any greater than any other character. Julia Roberts did not seem right for her role either. She still projects a kind of feminine fragility when it doesn't seem like Barbara would have a shred left. The only time I felt any particular reaction to characters were the smaller characters played by Chris Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sam Shepard and Julienne Nicholson.

The false ending particularly bothered me. I felt that the story was over with Violet and Johnna huddled on the stairs, and I missed the final T. S. Eliot lines that seem so appropriate.

I honestly believe that, had I not seen the play, I would not have been involved enough in the movie to stay to the end. The audience was quite full for a Tuesday afternoon, but there was no laughter and a noticeable degree of restlessness. Can't blame them.

jemjeb2
#40Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/15/14 at 12:54am

" freshman acting class" is absurd and snotty and I can have my opinion too.

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dramamama611
#41Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/15/14 at 5:58am

Of course you can, but it should be about the comments/the film: not the other posters. No one has bashed you for being overly accepting or unknowledgeable about what makes a good film because you like it. (AS AN EXAMPLE.)


If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it? These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.

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Sutton Ross
#42Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/15/14 at 6:31am

"Oh, and Les Miserables was wonderful."

The......film?

jemjeb2
#43Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/15/14 at 8:22am

I've certainly seen my share of criticism of others' opinions here. And I don't think you always practice what you preach. But then i guess i've also given my share of "snotty" reactions (Wicked for example)
And yes, I thought the film of Les Mis was great. ( speaking of reaction to a reaction... )

Patash Profile Photo
Patash
#44Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/15/14 at 11:37am

I'm never good at describing these things, but the biggest difference in moments between the stage production and the film came for me when Barbara decides to find and destroy all the pills. Amy Morton amazed me in that scene on stage -- it was as if the very act itself sickened her and I thought she was trembling and almost about to throw up. It was a huge act for her. In the film, I found that Julia Roberts treated it like everything else in the film -- another angry gesture.

Don't get me wrong. I still loved Julia Roberts performance as well as Meryl Streep's (and I totally don't get the Ms. Streep isn't old enough -- I found it better that she is the way she is due to the addictions and not simply getting old. But I don't think any moments in the film grabbed me quite the way those same moments did on stage.

Interestingly, I saw it on Broadway at a Saturday matinee. On late Sunday afternoon I found myself standing next to Amy Morton at the bar at Joe Allen's. While I rarely speak to others, I couldn't resist. I told her "I saw the play yesterday and I am still emotionally exhausted. But standing here I suddenly realized since I saw it, you've done the entire play two more times! I honestly don't know how you do it", to which she replied, "oh my, now that you put it that way, I really AM exhausted"

ray-andallthatjazz86 Profile Photo
ray-andallthatjazz86
#45Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/15/14 at 11:50am

Patash, that's a great Amy Morton story. When I stagedoored the cast's last performance before they went to London, I told her I'd come from FL to see her in (what I thought would be) her last performance as Barbara on Broadway, and she just gave me a big hug and was extremely nice.
Back to the topic, I agree the big moments didn't land the way they did on stage. I never felt it was the actors' fault though, it always felt like the director was simply unable to find the buttons that make the piece so explosive. I think the problem with the dinner scene is that on stage, it comes at around the 2 hour mark, so by that point we have seen Barbara go through so much and we've never seen her out of the house (I wish the entire film had been set in the house, make it really claustrophobic). When we get to the scene where she screams "I'M RUNNING THINGS NOW," it makes so much sense. Morton played this terrifically since Morton's Barbara was angry and bitter from the getgo, so her anger was just simmering until it explodes. All of that is lost in the film, so the raid and the line just feel like another plot point rather than the huge, defining moment it is in the play (notice how Wells cut Mattie Fae's line "you said you were running things" during her big revelation, suggesting to me, that he didn't even think the "I'm running things now" line wasn't that important in his film).
And still, I thought Streep and Roberts were terrific within the context of the film in which they appeared. No, they weren't Estelle Parsons (my Violet, others will say Deanna Dungan or Phylicia Rashad) and Amy Morton, and no, I don't think they were the best picks for those two roles, but I thought they found the truth of those characters within the film Wells made.


"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"

JamesTheBroadwayGeek
#46Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/15/14 at 11:52am

It was like freshmen in their first semester acting class? If that's actually what you think then there is something seeeerrriously wrong with you!

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trentsketch
#47Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/15/14 at 12:10pm

I think William Friedkin would have knocked it out of the park as director. He gets Letts. Bug and Killer Joe have this quiet intensity that just grows and grows. August Osage County might not be a straight up horror film or a thriller, but it's plenty dark and that's where Friedkin shines.

LMcC95
#48Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/16/14 at 9:13am

Good job Meryl and Juila for the oscar nomiations.

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GottaHaveAGimmick
#49Eat It, You Fvcker. Eat That Catfish.
Posted: 1/16/14 at 9:20am

Surprised there was no writing nomination for Tracy Letts.