Thursday
Jun232011
What's on your cinematic mind?
Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 6:25PM I've been terribly swamped today: What's on your cinematic mind at the moment? Maybe it'll inspire a future post. Do share.
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Reader Comments (45)
I hated Vanilla Sky the first time I saw it years and years ago when it came out, and I'm re-watching it right now to see if I feel any different.
That's all I got.
I want to see Melancholia. Been prayin' every night for KiKi and her Oscar chances.
I also want to see Martha Marcy May Marlene, and am hoping Olsen gets a nod.
I watched La Bamba recently, really enjoyed it, really sad film.
I watched Far From Heaven recently, and while I did really liked it, I didn't get why everyone was so ga-ga for Julianne's performance. It was solid, but it didn't hit me in any kind of way or anything. I also watched The Hours recently, Nicole was superb. They all were, as usual. I really enjoyed Toni Collette's little performance!
Hm...I've watched a lot of movies lately, but that's all I can think of right now.
Not exactly cinematic, but I just watched the episode of Law & Order where Cynthia Nixon plays "Julie Taymor," under investigation after an actor has just died during her controversial production. Really interesting to see her take.
I don't know if this counts as a cinematic thought, but I've finally got round to seeing the entire 'Freaks and Geeks" this week, and it's got me thinking about how some careers get started. I mean, watching that show – which I thought was brilliant by the way – would anybody have suspected James Franco and Seth Rogen to become the stars they are today? I'm not sure. Franco showed signs of greatness, but he was after all just a supporting actor.
Kerry Washington in talks to star in Django Unchained!!!! Woohoo! bring on the Ray reunion!
I saw The Tree of Life a few days ago. I've been thinking about that and a lot of these end of the world movies... Melancholia, Another Earth, all the zombie business. Except Tree of Life isn't really an end of life movie... necessarily.
I'm always thinking about Nicole Kidman in To Die For.
Praying to god that Les Miserables is a musical come-back, I have my casting pics all in order.
Just saw The American. George Clooney is a great actor. But that's the old problem. It seems easy. It seems effortless. It's not.
OH, and Joanna Lumley. More famous for TV and Stage, but loving her nonetheless. Always on my mind.
I was browsng on impawards.com and I realized that Larry Crowne’s poster has so much similarity to Kids Are All Righ’s poster.
Did you see the new character posters for Crazy Stupid Love for Julianne Moore and Marisa Tomei? My golly, aging up has been so good to them. I wanna hang those posters.
Does Pixar knows Cars 2 is so weak? I know there are people who like it, but the movie is so bland and has such an annoying, one-note character at the center, that I find it hard to believe. The mighty have fallen.
saw Mulholland Dr. last night for the second time since I first watched it like four years ago. I did not like it the first time but I loved it this time...weird!! Still scratching my head trying to understand why Naomi Watts doesn't have an Oscar for that performance...But right now I'm thinking about A Dangerous Method and I did not particularly like the trailer (especially Keira) and I'm very worried. Just hope that the movie and the performances end up surprising in a good way.
I went to see Midnight in Paris the other night. Not only did my screening sell out, but it received a standing ovation, which I wasn't expecting.
The real highlight, though, was the older man sitting behind me dispensing his thoughts to his wife after the movie: "It was good, but that Owen Wilson needs a haircut."
Seeing Midnight in Paris tomorrow. It's my first Woody experience
theatrically. I know you didn't care for it but it's Bates!
All the adult and talented actors of Hollywood's past going to television is
depressing me. I know they need the money and exposure but the Emmy
is such an unsexy statuette -- in fact anything that's not an Oscar sucks
from a design stand point.
The new Tarantino movie has me nervous for all involved -- this will be the
most controversial studio release since The Passion.
^ I agree haha. But Grammys are pretty.
Just saw Thelma and Louise for the first time. I was watching it on my computer while flying home from business so you can imagine the Indian man next to me when it comes to the rape scene and then Brad Pitt sex scene.
As for the movie itself- I'm in love with Geena Davis and thought the movie was great until the oil tanker scene-- sooo over-the-top. Then there's the rand-o rastafarian biker and the terrible music with Harvey Keitel running after them at the canyon. Eww.
Great acting and wonderful movie, but it lost its way a bit at the end. A-
All my cinematic mind can think about is Leonardo DiCaprio's future Oscar. When will he win one? Will it be for this supposed Roosevelt movie? Will it happen ever? Will he be like...Peter O'Toole?!
Kathleen Byron! (because I just saw Black Narcissus, and she is awesome in it)
annette bening. "i have dreamed." sorkin's great dialogue....
the american president. write it up, nathaniel.
Saw Rabbit Hole again over the weekend. I loved it in the theater, but it seemed to play even better at home. I found myself being kinda wowed by Mitchell's lovely, understated direction. Really a great picture all around, but at the core its all about Kidman. That scene where Becca finally breaks down really just ripped at me. So happy she was able to hang around all the way to a nomination (of what should have been more for the picture), but really surprised that she didn't actually win anything all season.
I just finished watching win win and I have to say I cant find a reason why Melanie Lynskey is not headlining her own movies she is a great actress, I keep thinking of Heavenly Creatures and how both Winslet and Lynskey were amazing and how their careers went after that...I think they are both masterful.
On another point I just saw Trash Humpers yesterday I thought it was bizarely beautiful and left me very thoughtful...kinda freaky in an interesting way I enjoyed the weirdness, Korine takes the crown in creepy... wanted to know those who saw it what did you think?
I'm currently about to watch Rebel Without A Cause, which I always find so haunting due to the tragic deaths of the three leads. Also, I ordered the Criterion edition of Charade so I'm waiting on that to arrive (should be here tomorrow). It'll only be my second Audrey Hepburn DVD after Wait Until Dark. Hmmm...maybe I'll watch that one instead. Decisions, decisions.
I love the experience of going to the movies with friends in the summer- the cool theatre, relaxed tempo & clothes, no winter parking, the long evenings of sunshine. BUT- why can't they exhibit more movies that I actually want to see?
Career trajectories for actresses, and patterns and rules that emerge, especially to do with Oscars. An te exceptions to the rules (Meryl Streep).
I just watched Network for the first time. Absolutely blown away, particularly by Paddy Chayefsky's script, but I was struck by how much the film reminded me of The Social Network. Mark Zuckerburg would appear to be exactly the kind of "humanoid" that Network is so concerned with, not to mention the same focus on bitterly sharp dialogue. Hell, even the title of The Social Network has echoes of the 1976 film. It might have been my first time watching it, but something tells me Aaron Sorkin has watched it a few more times than that. And the same goes for Tony Gilroy, who basically lifted Howard Beale wholesale for Tom Wilkinson's character in Michael Clayton.
TB, I saw Network for the first time earlier this year and felt everything you just mentioned, even the similarities to both films.
Recently viewed Mike Leigh's Another Year and am haunted by Lesley Manville's devastating characterization of an unhappy and annoying woman that is all too human. Another example of a performance snubbed by Oscar that exceeded the winner's.
Hmmm, I do think Manville is overrated? I don't know... That performance is just... too much. I usually love all Leigh's performances, but this thime, on a second thought... There is somethiing else, overcooked, that tries to hard. I don't know.
Catching up on 2010 fodder - saw Get Low (an interesting story, another decent performance from Duvall but the whole was incredibly un-cinematic) and Love & Other Drugs (weird tone, although quite entertaining in parts - did Hathaway just decide to use all her nudity vouchers in one go - I feel like I know her breasts more than I know her face now)
I've been thinking about how I've seen every feature-length Pixar movie in theaters, and am weighing my need to be a completist with my thorough disinterest in seeing the movie.
I watched Cría Cuervos last night (had been meaning to since it was written about here a few months ago) and it really was great.
On the opposite end of the child acting spectrum - I saw The Yearling on TV and.. well, the least said about that performance, the better (also, he uncannily resembled Saoirse Ronan in Atonement). But focusing on the positives: the deer was reliably cute, Wyman was best in show, and Peck really could play the perfect-father characters like nobody's business.
On my cinematic mind today: I hate remakes. Day by day we are tricked to watch movies that are actually remakes, and we aren't even warned. Where is the respect for the original version? Nowhere. When i saw The Departed i loved it, but i was disappointed to find out that it was in fact a remake after an Asian movie. To this point I haven't seen a remake better than the original. I believe there is so much creativity out there, so many ideas, why make a remake (i only understood Haneke with his Funny Games )..
I've been thinking about Woody Allen's muses and their relation with some of his best works, like Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, Bullets Over Broadway, Manhattan, Deconstructing Harry, Alice, Match Point and Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Camero Crowe has been on my mind since the day I became an official fan of his work as a filmmaker (Say Anything, Singles, Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous) and I'm curious and with some expectations about We Bought a Zoo.
All I can think about is how much I don't like the idea of Cars 2. For some reason, Cars has always rubbed me the wrong way. I think it might be because every other Pixar movie exists in the real world where Cars and Cars 2 live seperately in some cars-only universe. And I somehow feel vindicated that Bad Teacher is getting better reviews than Cars 2. At least that's how it's showing on RottenTomatoes.
On my cinematic mind: Just finished La Maman et La Putain. Excellent movie, but certainly not anything I'd think of as "top 100" material. Position: 216.
I miss Ed Norton.
Titolia -- that's so funny. I was JUST watching him in an old clip right before i read these comments. I miss him too. Well I miss the Norton circa 1996-2002 at least. where did it all go wrong?
he's a douche.
I went with my girlfriend to Midnight in Paris (we're 20) and literally everyone else in the theater was over 60. It was so cute to see all these old couples whose lives were defined by Woody Allen in the 70s and 80s revisiting his work. Of course the whole theater loved it, but I think this one woman had a time lapse with her hearing aid because literally everytime a joke was made, she laughed at least five seconds after the punch line. Poor dear.
What's on my mind after browsing the internet is: we're all going to pretend like Cars didn't break Pixar's 'perfect' streak already? huh? Cars 2 is the first failure? Just checking.
I was just watching some of the "Magnolia" diary on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nvxmQrr9f0), really amazing to see Paul Thomas Anderson director those great actors and to be taken from the very beginning to the very end of the production with him.
I am looking forward to "The Master" - great to know PTA and Philip Seymour Hoffman are reuniting (and great to know that Joaquin Phoenix is collaborating). Watching this Magnolia documentary, I just kept wishing he could be reteaming with Julianne Moore as well -- wouldn't it have been great if she had been cast instead of Amy Adams as Hoffman's wife? Adams is nice but-- for Anderson -- erm a bit...bland?
Speaking of Moore, I love what Todd Haynes said in last week's Guardian (and was surprised to hear that he had offered her a role in Mildred Pierce):
'Did Haynes think of casting Moore in the lead? "Of course," he says. "I think of Julianne first – every day – but the youth of Mildred was a component that was really important. The closeness in age to her daughter accelerated the rivalries and conflicts. I offered Julie the role of [potential employer] Mrs Forrester – that Hope Davis ended up playing – and she wanted to do it, but she got another movie and was like, 'I can't do it, I'm so sorry,' and I was like, 'It's cool, I get it.' But I do miss her from it, I do." '
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/jun/20/todd-haynes-mildred-pierce?INTCMP=SRCH
I saw Midnight in Paris. I won't give a full review because I actually fell asleep during it. No it wasn't boring there's a whole story behind it I'm not in the mood to get into. Very quickly Nathan you and Guy Lodge are wrong -- Allen deserves the Screenplay nomination, his editor deserves a nomination and Owen Wilson deserves his first nomination in the Best Actor category -- now for the big disappointment of the film -- Kathy Bates -- damn homie, in high school you was the man homie, what the fuck happened to you? -- to quote 50 Cent
The highlight of her performance is her speaking perfect French -- she needs to work entirely in a foreign langue if people are to take her seriously again in Hollywood -- I'm talking about film and not some shitty TV show -- she's actually quite good in her previous Allen outing Shadows and Fog -- Allen should've cast Dianne Wiest in the part -- Wiest is on the heavy side these days and I believe that was the only thing Allen had in his mind when he was thinking about this historical figure.
Goodness. I have no idea why there's such a huge discrepancy between my opinion and other moviegoers (usually I'm pretty easy to please), but I simply hated Midnight in Paris. Hated it. I love Marion Cotillard and Rachel McAdams, I love all of these historical figures, I love Paris - wby all rights I should love this movie, but everything went wrong for this. You could see the jokes coming from a mile away (more pseudo intellectual jokes, Woody? really?) and they fell even more flatly in the delivery process. All the 20's scenes felt torn straight from the pages of the respective luminaries' wikipedia pages (it was just exposition the entire time), all the actors who played the historical figures came off as daft, and there was not a single interesting or original thing to detract from the utter predictability of it all. I guess it isn't an AWFUL movie, but all of this praise is confusing me so much. I feel that everyone seeing the movie is falling head over heels for it and praising it with such conviction. I'm simply baffled.
Javier was effortless in Biutiful...but why no awards traction for Maricel Alvarez?
And I loved the homoerotic tension in The Eagle. Channing Tatum and Jaime Bell...oohlala.
I heard yesterday that Jamie Foxx is going to be in Django Unchained. I'm a bit nervous/excited about the movie, but I'm sure Jamie Foxx will be great in it. I finished reading the book One Day by David Nicholls, and now I'm really excited about the movie version coming out in August. I don't know if it will be as great as the book, but Anne Hathaway is a really good actress, so I'm really looking forward to it. I hope it plays at my theatre :)
Loved reading that Haynes article on Julianne Moore. I love how much he's in love with her as we are.
SoSueMe - Maricel Alvarez was amazing in Biutiful, she stole every scene. At least she got a part in Woody Allen's new Rome set film out of it. Not too bad.
On my cinematic mind lately has been nothing but when I will finally see Tree of Life and hope for Pixar's future after Cars 2. They've gotta learn from their mistakes, right? I mean, surely, they read reviews. I hope so. Brave is gonna be put under a big microscope now and it needs to deliver.