Miles2Go2 said: "pushdabutton said: "Has anyone seen The Goldfinch? I found it painfully slow moving and felt the 3 hours running time to be way too long."
That’s disappointing to hear. I’ve started the book and I’m loving it so far. Unfortunately, I rarely finish books I’m reading anymore as I get distracted."
We actually ended up walking out of The Goldfinch. I didn’t read the book but the movie was one of the most dull pieces of drivel I’ve seen in ages. The performances were really bad too, especially the children.
I may end up finishing it sometime, just because I hate not finishing something but I’m in no hurry.
I didn't care for Ford V Ferrari. I just didn't get the appeal. It's just kind of about... idk... cars? I guess if you're passionate about cars you might like this.
Waves was phenomenal. I'm not a fan of Sterling K Brown in This is Us (in fact, I'm not a fan of This is Us period), but he was Oscar worthy here. As was Kelvin Harrison Jr, Taylor Russel, and our very own Renee Elise Goldsbury. A truly great portrait of a modern family and the pressures put on Gen Zs. One of the best acted films of the year and I actually liked it's odd structuring that critics have pointed out as a flaw. It's certainly divisive but I loved it.
Believe me you don’t need to finish watching The Goldfinch, it was dull, boring and ultimately pointless film.
Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist.
Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino.
This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more.
Tazber's: Reply to
Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian
My favorites this year have been Under the Silver Lake and The Last Black Man in San Francisco. I caught both of them on Amazon and regret not seeing them in theaters because they're both amazing films. I keep telling my friends to see UTSL and their response is always, "Never heard of it. What is it? Okay, I'll check it out," and then they never do.
The most memorable movies I've seen this year have been Official Secrets, RocketMan, The Art of Self Defense, and Hustlers. Honorable mention goes to John Wick3:Chap 3 despite Keanu & Halle both appearing a bit long in the tooth throughout.
I may be in the minority on this one, but I found Marriage Story very disappointing. It often felt too much like an overwrought play, including in the one big fight scene between the divorcing couple, played by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johannsen. That scene compares very unfavorably to the lacerating argument between Ethan Hawke and Jullie Delpy's characters in Before Midnight. This one was just a yelling fest.
And it felt very obvious early on the outcome that happened is the outcome that should have happened. For a movie that tries to be somewhat sophisticated about family law, it takes many artistic licenses to drive the plot. No, she couldn't just move to California and file for divorce in a few weeks on the logic that they were married and had their son there. No, hotshot divorce lawyers don't criticize their clients in front of a judge.
I could have forgiven that if the characters and their relationship were more interesting, but they started boring me after about an hour. The child is portrayed as having a learning disability, given his age, but no one ever mentions it as a factor in the custody dispute. The climactic scene, a callback to the first scene, is lazy writing. The film wasn't a disaster, but the praise it's received feels puzzling to me.
Laura Dern is a lot of fun to watch, even though she - like many of the characters - tends to give speeches. (If she wins an Academy Award for this, I'm not going to complain. At least it's an actual supporting role, not category fraud. and she steals every scene.) Driver is a very talented actor and has some good moments, but he and Johannsen didn't have much chemistry.. I didn't care about these rich, successful people and their problems - which are actually resolved pretty easily and might boost the Driver character's career.
I saw "Knives Out" this weekend and even though I figured out the culprit towards the very beginning (it was VERY obvious even though some the "how" caught me off guard), I don't think you should go for the mystery aspect of the movie but for the ensemble of great actors and the pure fun of the movie.
"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2
I just saw Knives Out last night, & it was very fun. A very old-fashioned movie. But, I didn't love Daniel Craig's accent, & wonder if he was listening to Liza's version of "Losing My Mind" from her late 80's album Results?
Tonight I went & saw Marriage Story as it was playing one night in a local indy theatre. I like Adam Driver a lot, & also director Baumbach. Had its moments but overall a pretty lousy film. Interesting comments above about the legal holes in the plot. Seeing it on a big screen, a lot of flaws show up in the physical production that you may not notice watching it streaming. The titles were atrocious, worse than on one of those 70's shows on videotape. Also, when it comes to storytelling, I wonder if there is a lack of discipline since this is made for streaming, & most people who end up watching probably won't watch it in one go, but will watch a bit then pause & come back to it. I've heard so many bad things about The Irishman as well in the same regard, that it just drones on tediously going no where.
Speaking about Adam Driver, my little brother is a die hard Star Wars nut, & has filled me in on all the spoilers re the new film, as well as all the drama from the disasterous test screenings & reshoots to desperately try to salvage something. It seems so strange that Disney couldn't get someone to come up with some kind of over arching plot for 3 movies, similar to how they plotted out all the Marvel things before filming. Instead with Star Wars they seem to just fly by the seat of their pants with no clue.
Before I went out, TCM was playing a couple versions of Little Women tonight, & while making dinner (on West Coast) I watched some of the Katherine Hepburn version - which I've never seen before. It doesn't seem to matter which version I watch, I always end up balling my eyes out. And not just over the big things. I was crying when Katherine Hepburn had to tell Laurie at the ball that her dress had a patch in it & he danced with her in the other room. But honestly there is zero reason to make another version of this. I would rather Gerwig had done another original script.
Just realized after googling this morning that Marriage Story is based on Baumbach's divorce ftom Jennifer Jason Leigh. I wondered if he had split from Gerwig, since Johansson's look in the film seems to be based upon Gerwig so much.
I saw Jojo Rabbit last night. I thought it was horrendous on every level, just absolute trash. Painfully unfunny, puerile comedy (there's exactly one funny joke, and it's the only one that dares to be a little dark and edgy) mixed uncomfortably with manipulative pathos, like Life Is Beautiful gone horribly, horribly wrong. Imaginary Hitler says "Correctimundo." You can go straight to hell, Taika Waititi.
I still have to see "Uncut Gems" and "Little Women" before I am able to make my top 10 movie list. I was really hoping to catch "1917" since it is showing up on a few people's #1 spot but it's no where near me until January.
"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2
Little Women is lovely. I adored it. Stellar performances across the board and Gerwig's direction is flawless. Ronan and Chalamet never fail to blow me away in anything that either of them do.
I don't think that Uncut Gems is a bad movie by any means, but I personally did not care for it. Sandler does well and it's certainly a compelling film, but it left me feeling unsatisfied and unpleasantly overwhelmed. I was in a bit of a funk mentally for a few hours afterward. It's just... a lot.
I was pretty meh on Little Women. I thought Emma Watson and Florence Pugh were bad but the rest were fine. Didn't think Gerwig brought anything new to this tired old story other than some pointless and jarring time jumps.
I really enjoyed “Little Women” and I think Gerwig is a phenomenal talent, however after thinking about it for a couple days it really doesn’t hold a candle to the 1994 film which I will always believe is one of (if not) the best film adaptation of a novel ever made. That one is, in every single aspect, a perfect film.
I don't go out to the movies now these days, something has to completely peak my interest to invest the time and money to go see a film in an actual movie theater, so I've seen very few films. My favorites this year - - - in no particular order: