Children of Men

[Big Magilla]

I finally saw this at the 11:30 A.M. showing today.

Cuaron should get the fifth directing nod that will likely go to Gonzalez Inarritu or Greengrass. Cinematography, Art Direction, Editing, Sound and Sound Effects Editing should all be nominated.

The chase in the forest, the shootout at the ruined building, the cease fire and the birth of the baby are among the best scenes in any 2006 movie. It comes in at number 7 on my ten best list, the weak ending being the only thing that keeps it out of my top five.

I can't say enough about the look of the film. Too often films that that place in the future show us worlds that are so removed from the one we live in that we have to suspend disbelief in order to appreciate it. Here, there are only subtle changes to the future of twenty years hence, making it toally believable. I loved the little touches, like Clive Owen's shoe problem. What does Cuaron have to do to get an Oscar nod?

[Franz Ferdinand]

Completely agree, Jack. There are three separate single-edit sequences in this movie that absolutely awe-inspiring - the coffee-shop intro, the entire car sequence and the final building sequence, which was utterly transcendent. I really could not take my eyes off the screen the entire time, this was truly an amazing movie. The technical department of the Oscars should be lining up to reward this movie. With a better release date, this movie would have Director, Cinematography, Editing and Sound in the bag at least. I hope everyone on this board will eventually get around to seeing it (I have no doubt you all will), it is quite a treat.

[danfrank]

While I didn't find the story all that compelling--it's pretty typical dystopian fare--, this movie is cinematically brilliant. I hope Lubezki gets his Oscar this year. The camerawork is just astounding.

[dws1982]

I saw it today, but I really feel like I've got to give it another viewing (or two) before saying much. Definitely in the thumbs up category.

I will dissent on Cuaron's Harry Potter film, which was better than the first two, but still not very good; Like Sonic, I thought the fourth (which I only caught up with recently) was the best of the series. And I didn't care much for Y Tu Mama Tambien, although seeing it after months and months of (over)hype probably didn't help.

[jack]

This is quite simply one of the finest films I ever seen. The closing twenty or so mins equal that of the opening twenty mins of Saving Private Ryan.

A fantastic film. Such a shame that it may go un-noticed at the Academy Awards.

[Sabin]

I guess Universal thought that putting all their eggs in the 'Good Sheperd' basket was the best idea.

Their summer saw shallow successes like 'You, Me, and Dupree' and 'The Break-Up' (dirty yays!) coupled with 'Idlewild', 'Miami Vice', 'Accepted', and 'The Fast and the Furious 3'.

Their spring saw the very successful 'Inside Man' recouping for 'Slither', 'American Dreamz', 'Curious George', and 'United 93'.

Their fall? 'The Black Dahlia', 'The Holiday', 'Man of the Year', 'Let's Go to Prison', 'The Good Sheperd', and now 'Children of Men' which needs to be left in theaters for months now to recoup, not to mention the unreleased 'Southland Tales'.

Studios have had worse years (like Warner Bros., the year's most delightfully half-risk-taking studio), but either way we're looking at a studio that didn't entirely know what they were doing.

[Eric]

Sometimes consensus feels so damned good. I'll have to blog about this one, I think.

[Anon]

I just saw Children of Men, which definitely ranks high on my list of films for 2006. The ending was truly transcendental, and the action/suspense was riveting throughout. I wonder how it would've been received, had it come out in the summer, rather than at Christmas time...

[Big Magilla]

As I say, I'll write more later. Meantime, check out Gleiberman's review in EW today. His first paragraph essentially confesses that the Christmas crush caused him to miss how great this movie is. It underlines everything I've felt about how the system is crushing the art of movies.

It's not idiot Glieberman, it's Lisa Schwartzbaum. I hope to see it this weekend.

I couldn't agree more about the year-end glut. Since it's unlikely that we'll go back to critics awards in January and Oscars in March, allowing for a slower roll out of year-end releases, and since we're unlikely to see a spread of the wealth of high quality releases all year long, we can at least hope that the studios for thier own financial stability wise up and release their award quality films more consistently throughout the fall, between September 21st and December 21st. There's no reason Notes on a Scndal and The Painted Veil couldn't have been released in October, Venus in early November and Children of Men and Pan's Labyrinth the day before Thanksgiving.

[rolotomasi99]

i wish cuaron was directing the film version of LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA, rather than the boring mike newell.

i loved CHILDREN OF MEN (third favorite film of the year). such a beautiful and powerful film.

********SPOILERS*************
the chase scene with the car and the bike was exhilirating, and the birth scene made me cry at its emotions and then gasp at its realism. can we officially call cuaron a genius?

[Akash]

One thing I will ask: is there anything Alfonso Cuarón CAN'T do? A Little Princess is one of the best children's films I've ever seen. Y Tu Mamá También is on my personal shortlist for favorite films of the decade. The Prisoner of Azkaban is so clearly the best Harry Potter film he should be hired to do 'em all. And then comes Children of Men, a big-budget thriller with the vision and technical prowess of an art film.

I bet Cuarón could direct a goddamn cartoon even Damien would like!

I had some minor quibbles about Y Tu Mama Tambien's um, "obviousness" I guess in some scenes, but for the most part I thought it was a terrific film.

And you are so so right about Harry Potter! The rest of those installments are absolutely dreadful but Azkaban is the only one that has subtext, a director's vision, wonderful visuals and plays like an honest to god real FILM. It's so hard getting this point across with Potter fanatics I've met in life (who seem to rank this film the lowest on their list) who only want the movie franchise to stay slavishly faithful to those already dull novels.

Children of Men is one of the films I plan to see in the next few weeks. I'm excited about its prospects given some of the reactions on this board.

[anonymous1980]

I bet Cuarón could direct a goddamn cartoon even Damien would like!

I don't think so. Damien didn't like Y Tu Mama Tambien.

But, yes, Alfonso Cuaron is one of the best contemporary world filmmakers out there.

[The Original BJ]

Agree with Sabin & Mister Tee. I actually want to see the film again before I write anything substantial, but Children of Men is the best film of the year.

One thing I will ask: is there anything Alfonso Cuarón CAN'T do? A Little Princess is one of the best children's films I've ever seen. Y Tu Mamá También is on my personal shortlist for favorite films of the decade. The Prisoner of Azkaban is so clearly the best Harry Potter film he should be hired to do 'em all. And then comes Children of Men, a big-budget thriller with the vision and technical prowess of an art film.

I bet Cuarón could direct a goddamn cartoon even Damien would like!

[Okri]

Yeah, I'm right there with you. I've already seen it twice and intend to take it in a third or fourth time before it leaves theaters. It's just a devastatingly good movie.

[Mister Tee]

There was a thread, Sabin; it was just buried back at the date of its Venice reviews.

I don't have the time to write about the film extensively right this moment, though I'm sure I will over the next couple of days. I just wanted to say that, if anything, I'm more enthusiastic than you. I think it's a strong contender for film of the decade: an incredibly lean script -- which manages to be incredibly moving even while staying inside genre guidelines -- fully integrated with visionary visuals, all dealing fully with issues both primal and absolutely contemporary. If we -- if critics -- can't identify and promote an achievement like this, we have no business sneering at the people who kept Melville and van Gogh impoverished in their lifetimes.

As I say, I'll write more later. Meantime, check out Gleiberman's review in EW today. His first paragraph essentially confesses that the Christmas crush caused him to miss how great this movie is. It underlines everything I've felt about how the system is crushing the art of movies.