The Official Review Thread of 2009

Damien
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Post by Damien »

What in the world does the possibility that Bill Condon might be directing Twilight movies have to do with my reaction to a film with which he had nothing to do? ??? As I stated, I really liked the film because of its unabashed romanticism, and larger than life emotionalism. It's to the vampire genre what Duel In The Sun is to the western.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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Post by Big Magilla »

Funny, but I had the same thought as Eric the minute I saw this on Movie Web:

We reported last month that Summit Entertainment was reaching out to several top-flight directors and it seems that one has emerged as the favorite. Deadline New York is reporting that Bill Condon is the top candidate to direct The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.

It was said that a deal hasn't been officially signed, but both Condon and the studio have been in multiple meetings and negotiations. It was said that Condon would direct both parts of the two-part film and the site heard rumblings that both films would be shot back-to-back. Stephen Daldry, Sofia Coppola and Gus Van Sant were among the other directors Summit was interested in.

The site is also reporting that this two-part film will likely be the next project Condon directs, which means that projects like Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said?, which was reported to start shooting this fall and would star Marlon Wayans, would be put on hold.

We'll be sure to keep you posted once we have more information on this story.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn comes to theaters in 2013 and stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Anna Kendrick, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Peter Facinelli.
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Eric
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Post by Eric »

Sabin wrote:
New Moon (Chris Weitz)

I love how this film is so unabashedly over-the-top romantic, a movie which certainly risks the ridiculous by aiming for the sublime -- and more often than not, it hits the latter. It's gloriously operatic in its treatment of love and passion -- recalling such great films as Dieterle's Love Letters and Portrait of Jennie. I wish that Weitz had a more full-throttle visual style -- tracking shots, pans, overhead shots, De Palma would be ideal for this material -- but he still manages to make it all appropriately extravagant and wonderfully romantic, despite the basic absurdity of it all.

8/10
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Sabin
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Post by Sabin »

New Moon (Chris Weitz)

I love how this film is so unabashedly over-the-top romantic, a movie which certainly risks the ridiculous by aiming for the sublime -- and more often than not, it hits the latter. It's gloriously operatic in its treatment of love and passion -- recalling such great films as Dieterle's Love Letters and Portrait of Jennie. I wish that Weitz had a more full-throttle visual style -- tracking shots, pans, overhead shots, De Palma would be ideal for this material -- but he still manages to make it all appropriately extravagant and wonderfully romantic, despite the basic absurdity of it all.

8/10

Cartoons are for children.
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Post by Okri »

Damien, you are certainly unpredictable.
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Post by anonymous1980 »

Damien wrote:New Moon (Chris Weitz)

I love how this film is so unabashedly over-the-top romantic, a movie which certainly risks the ridiculous by aiming for the sublime -- and more often than not, it hits the latter. It's gloriously operatic in its treatment of love and passion -- recalling such great films as Dieterle's Love Letters and Portrait of Jennie. I wish that Weitz had a more full-throttle visual style -- tracking shots, pans, overhead shots, De Palma would be ideal for this material -- but he still manages to make it all appropriately extravagant and wonderfully romantic, despite the basic absurdity of it all.

8/10
:O
Damien
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Post by Damien »

New Moon (Chris Weitz)

I love how this film is so unabashedly over-the-top romantic, a movie which certainly risks the ridiculous by aiming for the sublime -- and more often than not, it hits the latter. It's gloriously operatic in its treatment of love and passion -- recalling such great films as Dieterle's Love Letters and Portrait of Jennie. I wish that Weitz had a more full-throttle visual style -- tracking shots, pans, overhead shots, De Palma would be ideal for this material -- but he still manages to make it all appropriately extravagant and wonderfully romantic, despite the basic absurdity of it all.

8/10
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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Post by anonymous1980 »

UP IN THE AIR
Cast: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, Amy Morton, Melanie Lynskey, Danny McBride, J.K. Simmons, Zach Galfianakis.
Dir: Jason Reitman

I never expected to really like this movie as much as I do. Yes, George Clooney plays an older playboy - what a stretch - but he really gives a funny humane performance of a loner who fires people for a living. Vera Farmiga provides great support as his female counterpart and Anna Kendrick is a real find as an actress. Writer-director Jason Reitman truly is one of the more talented young directors. It's one of my favorite movies of the year. Loved it.

Grade: A
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Post by anonymous1980 »

CRAZY HEART
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall, Colin Farrell, Tom Bower, Rick Dial, Jack Nation.
Dir: Scott Cooper.

I like Jeff Bridges better in The Big Lebowski but I would be thrilled if he won his Oscar for this (which is likely to happen). Maggie Gyllenhaal actually earned her Oscar nomination for this and matches Bridges in acting. The soundtrack is AMAZING and this is coming from someone who generally doesn't like country music. But beyond that, the film is really just good not great.

Grade: B

THE ROAD
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce, Molly Parker, Michael Kenneth Williams, Garret Dillahunt.
Dir: John Hillcoat

I'm a HUGE fan of the book. The book was depressing as hell for sure but practically unputdownable and also beautiful and moving. The film version captures much of that (which is both a handicap and an advantage in terms of its success). It's not completely successful but it's an excellent film nonetheless and one of my favorites of the year. Gorgeous cinematography and excellent art direction (both Oscar-nomination-worthy at least) is accompanied by great performances from Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee (who I hope will be a bigger star someday).

Grade: A-
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Post by Big Magilla »

Reza wrote:
Damien wrote:The Last Station (Michael Hoffman)

Helen Mirren lays out the ham, but she’s amusing to watch
Can't wait to watch Mirren in this......to check out the ''ham''.
I think I used the word "flamboyant" in my review rather than "hammy". It's a rich characterization and easily my favorite among the nominees though she has no chance of winning.
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Post by barrybrooks8 »

My (short) take on the shorts:

Live-Action:

Kavi: Unnecessary. The attempt to make it "moving" failed by all means. C-

The New Tenants: Interesting story and I enjoyed most of it. The violence was actually kinda enjoyable, something I'm not used to in the shorts. B

Miracle Fish: It started off very predictable and moved in another direction for me, and it worked for me. B+

The Door: A little boring. I would have liked either more backstory, or more of the after shocks. C

Instead of Abracadabra: Again, started dull and old hat, but moved along with some nice touches. B+


Animated:

French Roast: A trifle. I would imagine there had to have been better choices. I did like the style of animation, though. C

The Lady and the Reaper: Reminded me of the octopus one from last year, except much better. The last few seconds were the best. B+

A Matter of Loaf and Death: Easily the best of the bunch. The recognizable characters obviously made it feel like a safe choice, but Park didn't fail. Gromit emotes more in his eyes and brow then some of the acting nominees this year. Great story to boot. A

Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty: Another nice surprise. Very short but packs in a lot of laughs. A-

Logorama: Fun and clever. What it lacked in story it made up in the design and visual candy. A-
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Post by Reza »

Damien wrote:The Last Station (Michael Hoffman)

Helen Mirren lays out the ham, but she’s amusing to watch
Can't wait to watch Mirren in this......to check out the ''ham''.
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Post by The Original BJ »

Caught The Secret of Kells this weekend, the last of the from-nowhere nominees I wanted to check off before the Oscars. And I'm sort of on the fence with this one. I was prepared for something really strange and special, like past foreign animated nominees Triplets of Belleville or Persepolis. Visually, Secret of Kells is a marvel -- spectacular animation, with flat, modernist shapes for the main characters, and expressionistic flights of fancy throughout. It's certainly an exciting feast for the eyes.

But I didn't find the story remotely as special. The opening goose chase recalled the beginnings of a lot of generic American animated pictures, and as the film proceeds, the details of the narrative aren't fleshed out enough for the film to be truly engaging. (There's a lot of talk about how The Book of Kells will improve the world, or something like that, but within the context of this film, too much is kept vague about what the book is, and why it's important.) And the ending is really abrupt -- we jump a decade or so into the future, and then all of a sudden the film sort of stops. Throughout I felt like this film really could have used a more original story to match its compelling visuals -- instead it's mostly content to rely on relatively standard, underdeveloped medieval fable elements.

I don't really have a problem with its Oscar nomination -- the visuals at least make it notable -- but it definitely doesn't match the high bar of achievement set this year by Up, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Coraline.
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Post by Damien »

The Last Station (Michael Hoffman)

The film is very imbalanced in tone, uneven in its characterizations, unfocused in narrative. There are some quite wonderful moments – James McEvoy’s character first meeting Tolstoi; McEvoy being seduced – but much of the footage is not interesting at all (Michael Hoffman’s not even remotely a stylist) and there is too much coyness, the most noisome being that McEvoy sneezes whenever he gets embarrassed and he gets embarrassed a lot. Themes are laid out but not followed through. The best aspect is a lovely performance by Christopher Plummer (McEvoy is charming, too.) Helen Mirren lays out the ham, but she’s amusing to watch, which is a lot more than one can say about Paul Giamatti. He’s even worse than usual – twitching constantly and twirling his moustache, he comes off as a villain in a silent movie melodrama. The movie is too often tedious and it’s not nearly as moving as it means to be.

5/10
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Post by Reza »

Mister Tee wrote:The two minute fashion show at the end isn't nearly enough.
In fact those were the only minutes of the film that were remotely interesting. What a slow crawl to get to those two minutes.
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