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Post by coolclearwaters on Feb 17, 2017 22:00:06 GMT
LaLaLand suffers from multiple whammies for me:
1. I don't like most modern musicals. 2. The story sounds hackneyed and boring. 3. I'm trying to keep an open mind about Ryan Gosling, but, so far, I have been immune to his charms. 4. I think there should be a 500 year moratorium on movies about Hollywood. 5. Most importantly, LaLaLand looks dreadful! ...all the trailers, all the clips. I find myself staring at the screen in horrified confusion.
I think I'll be skipping Oscar night ...or at least fast-forwarding to the parts where Viola Davis and, hopefully, Denzel Washington win.
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Post by mllemass on Feb 17, 2017 23:40:13 GMT
I've just seen LaLaLand and oh my! It was the WORST film I've seen for some time (sorry if somebody here liked it). It has virtually no story, no characters, no pace, no dialogue (I will love you for ever - I will love you for ever too) I haven't seen it, but that's the impression I got from watching the trailer. I haven't heard too much about the story, but I think there's something about Emma Stone's character trying to make it in show business. But that made me think "Who cares? Am I supposed to empathize with a beautiful young girl hoping for her big break?" If they had made this movie with actors 10-20 years older, I would have been interested in seeing it.
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Post by miriel68 on Feb 18, 2017 10:24:09 GMT
Well Emma Stone's character is working in a bar and wants to be an actress. Very original. She goes to various audition but nada. Then, towards the end of the film someone sees her in a theatre piece and gives her a part, so in the end she has her break and becomes a famous actress. Very original. In the meantime (the whole film) they are eating, walking, sleeping, laughing and dancing with Ryan Gosling. (yes, he has a dream too, and it will come true in the end of the film). I don't mind films' plots not being original, but I need to have characters I care about, some plot development and some character development. Or at least some humour or gorgeous costumes or good choreography. You won't get it in Lalaland.
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Post by roverpup on Feb 18, 2017 15:22:12 GMT
Well, we saw one more Oscar movie last night - Silence. I had given up seeing it because we were having trouble with the download but last night the internet smiled and gave it to us.
I can see why Rodrigo Prieto got the nom for cinematography- the film's visuals are absolutely gobsmackingly beautiful and intense and almost overwhelming. I hope he wins - hands down!
This is a very different Martin S. film and yet it is very much a Martin S. film. Contradictory yes, but very true. It reminded me a lot, plot wise, of Apocalypse Now. Or closer to an actual MS movie it certainly explores themes of guilt and authority like Raging Bull, The Departed and Goodfellas does.
I am, and always will be an atheist, but I am very open to those who want to express their faith and explore what it means to them. This film does just that, and it works for me - even as a person who has rejected the tenets of that faith.
Scorsese carefully crafts a story of a journey of 2 priests in search of a fellow cleric who has been rumoured to be still alive in Japan after a purge by the Japanese authorities to rid the country of Christians in the 17th century.
This movie is everything Hacksaw Ridge isn't (which is strange because both films star the same actor in the lead role). It is philosophical in its approach. It is patiently drawn and demands a lot of the viewer. It is a quiet movie (even with some of the intensely pictured scenes of violence). It is complex and no simple answers are given. This isn't a "feel good" pat answers type of a film at all. The heroes are deeply flawed and not easy to like. But I was enthralled from start to finish. Scorsese sucked me into his vortex and kept me there right up to the ending shot.
Too bad it was such a flop in the BO but I can see why. Long, way too long for a lot of audiences' attention spans. Involved and philosophical in its approach. Religious theme but not a "Yay for our side!" type of polemic.
I am very glad I got to see it finally. Too bad it didn't garner a few more noms - it deserved them.
And I loved seeing the beauty of Japan again, having visited that country not long ago. The power of the pictures presented in this movie were such that I could feel the essence of the Japanese landscape all over again. Just so visceral it was almost enough to make me tremble.
:-))
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Post by mllemass on Feb 18, 2017 21:22:01 GMT
I might be going to see La La Land tonight. A friend of mine wants to see it, but I'm hoping we won't make it on time after going out for dinner. Just in case, I watched a video review of it from several weeks ago - before the all the awards stuff came out out. The reviewer liked it and recommended it, but certainly wasn't crazy about it. The comments below it, however, were insane! People were enraged that he didn't recommend it more highly. Two commenters got into an argument because one said that was the best movie ever made, but the other person disagreed and said it was only the best movie of the year - not ever.
So if I end up seeing it, it will be solely for research purposes to see what these people are going on about.
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Post by miriel68 on Feb 18, 2017 23:00:48 GMT
Well, I hope you will get to see it because I am curious what will be your opinion. Have fun!
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Post by mllemass on Feb 19, 2017 5:06:38 GMT
We didn't make it on time to see it after dinner, as I figured would happen. So it remains a mystery! Maybe my friend will want to try going again another time.
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Post by igs on Feb 22, 2017 19:38:39 GMT
Well, we saw one more Oscar movie last night - Silence. I had given up seeing it because we were having trouble with the download but last night the internet smiled and gave it to us. I was looking forward to this film for years, it seems. But Andrew Garfield in the trailer ruined my excitement. Very rarely will I say that an acclaimed performer flat out sucks, cause I normally know there's something there that others are seeing that I am not...but with Garfield I just don't understand it at all. His line delivery in the trailer was godawful. Was he better in the film proper? I haven't yet seen it, too many films at the cinemas currently! Saw Moonlight today. Good film, all the performances were great and I was totally sold that all the three different versions of the main character were the same person. That is hard to accomplish, and Moonlight did very well. Stylistically I loved it, in the beginning I felt like it was a bit too "slice of life" but then I got swept away by it. I see Mahersala Ali is the favorite to win all awards, but Naomie Harris was my MVP for the film. Glad to see Janelle Monáe's film career taking off! I had never heard of her when about 2,5 years ago I stumbled across her performing on a festival. Absolutely LOVED the gig, and I've had a soft spot for her ever since.
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Post by roverpup on Feb 23, 2017 14:36:15 GMT
What can I say igs? It sounds like you really don't like this actor (going by the fact you said that just seeing him in the trailer ruined your excitement for a movie you had been looking forward to for years).
I am not really familiar with AG as an actor, so I didn't have any set preconceived ideas about him. I have only seen him once before, in Hacksaw Ridge and wasn't impressed with his performance in that (but I didn't like the entire movie either, so I didn't blame my dislike on his performance).
But I didn't even know (until the credits) that it was him playing the lead in Silence.
I thought he did a credible job as the young priest but he wasn't the reason I loved this movie as much as I did. To me the character he is playing isn't a character that is "likeable" and I certainly wasn't "rooting" for him throughout the film. But I have to say that I was interested in how his story was unfolding throughout the movie.
But my main focus in watching wasn't AG, it was the incredible cinematography and the intricate story that was so expertly crafted to show all sides of a very complex issue. I loved the whole atmosphere of the film - the lighting, the camera work, the costumes, the sets, the musical score, the writing - everything. And I love that this film wasn't afraid to show the silence between the lines of dialogue.
In fact, true to its title, it embraces the silence and really makes it part of the theme and presentation. It is a intense movie (sometimes very brutal to watch) but it is also an exceptionally beautiful movie as well. One of Scorsese's best I think (and I really like a lot of his films).
Whether you can see past your dislike of AG and enjoy the film is really a conundrum I would think. If I really despised an actor I wouldn't even consider going to a film where he was the principle actor in it. One actor I feel similar about is Nicholas Cage - I just won't go to any film he is in (I have seen a handful of his films earlier on and that is what aided me in forming this stance). No film he would appear in is worth having to sit through the wasted time watching him supposedly act. :-)) Luckily, most of his films are ones that I am not interested in seeing in the first place - so for me this is an easy decision.
On the other hand, if you have been looking forward to this story being told by MS for years... then maybe it could something which would override your distaste of AG.
That's a hard one to solve, for sure. All I can say is, I loved the movie and to me AG did a credible job in his role.
:-))
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Post by igs on Feb 23, 2017 15:05:04 GMT
I can like Andrew Garfield, I thought he was pretty good in The Social Network (he played Eduardo Saverin) but lately everything he does seems to irk me for one reason or another lol (as Spiderman, in Doctor Who, in this trailer.) It's just one of those things. I feel similarly about Nicholas Cage as you do, by the way, but I managed to like Lord of War.
I have been looking forward to Silence for a long while, since I tend to enjoy seeing Scorsese leave his "Italian-Americans in New York/macho gangsters" comfort zone. I'm not religious at all but I am still intrigued by the story of Silence, especially the setting. I also love about every single other actor in the movie, Adam Driver is a newfound (since about 1,5 years now) fascination of mine and also Liam Neeson and Ciaran Hinds who looks weirdly like Alfred Molina in the trailer. I wish they had cast some Portuguese or even Brazilian actors instead of Brits and Driver, but what's done is done.
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