The Official Review Thread of 2009

Reza
Laureate Emeritus
Posts: 10031
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 11:14 am
Location: Islamabad, Pakistan

Post by Reza »

Big Magilla wrote:The real Chanel worked her way up the food chain through a series of stints as rich men’s mistresses, but the several films made about her life portray those liaisons as love affairs. By ending this one with the death of her British lover, Boy Capel, this one at least doesn’t have to skirt the issue of whether or not Chanel was a Nazi collaborator during World War II.

That might have made an interesting film.

4/10 for me.
Maybe a sequel will soon be in the works.
dylanfan23
Temp
Posts: 475
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 1:46 pm
Location: Belleville, NJ

Post by dylanfan23 »

I'm going to write a few lines about all the films that start with the letter A that i've seen from this year and i'll do it for the other letters when i think i've seen everything that i'm going to see of that letter, maybe not in alphabetical order though. So here goes.

Adam - Not a story we haven't seen before. But its done in a nice way that kept me interested in the two leads. It didn't go in all the places i thought it would and i stayed with it until it got there. Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne are coleads and both very good. Peter Gallagher and Frankie Faison give nice supporting performances. Both leads are maybe top 10-15 in the lead catorgories and thats the closest to any nomination worthy stuff from this film. Nothing great here but i liked the film a lot. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Adoration - I respect egoyan so i seek out his films when he makes them. I don't think many people saw this and although i liked it overall it was also a frustrating film. I hate to say that egoyan's heavyhandedness and use of music really brought this film down from being really great. It has a very interesting story and a very interesting mystery to go along with it. And that writing saved this and made it worth watching. There were 3 great performances, one of the young devon bostick which was one of the top 25 or 30 male leads of the year and even better was scott speedman in a great supporting role, which was one of the best 20 supporting male performances of the year and arsinee khanjian was great in one of the best 20 supporting females of the year. Worth seeing for a very good story with very good performances, but mishandled overall. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Adventureland - A lot of fun in a dazed and confused type of way with not as many laughs and probably not as memorable for years to come. About the same as my admiration of adam. I can see where a lot of people really were taken with this film. I was at times and overall i enjoyed it very much. I always seem to like what jesse eisenberg brings to a film and this is not an exception, he was good in the lead. Some have called kristen stewart a lead but i call her supporting and she gives a great performance, one of the best 15 or 20 of the year for supporting females. Also worth mentioning is the supporting male performance from Martin Starr who is probably in the top 30. Very good film for what it is. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Amelia - I actually was really looking forward to this before i saw it. I think swank is a very good actress and i usually like biopics more than most. Also i don't know as much about amelia as i probably should. So because of all that i probably liked it more than i should. And i didn't like it very much. This film failed in every way to get me to care more about how much longer it was than i did about amelia. I didn't feel anything for her and this is another film that could have been so much better. Swank probably will be at the very bottom of my top 30 or out of it as leads go. She just wasn't outstanding in any way. Same goes for gere and mcgregor. A generious 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.

American Violet - Nicole Beharie gives one of the best 20 to 25 lead female performances of the year and is the best part of this film. A film that could have been better if it was a little more darker. People have called this a very liberal movie, its more of flat out injustice but it doestn' get a liberal like myselfs blood flowing espesially in the backdrop of the injustice of gore losing in 00 like it should. Solid film with solid performances all around and a great lead performance...but it didn't get under my skin like a film like this should. 3 out 5 stars.

Amreeka - Another film that probably should have moved me more than it did. A lot of people loved this movie and loved Nisreen Faours lead performance. I found the film and her performance to be fine and good but nothing very memorable. I've seen 20 leads better than faours already. But if you get behind her performance like i've read in some reviews, i can see a person loving this film. For me it was a low 3 out of 5 stars.

Angels and Demons - I'm a sucker for ron howard, i have to admit i've enjoyed many of his films more than most. But i did not care for this or davinci. This one actually kept my interest for a lot longer than davinci. I thought it was better in a lot of ways but it was still way too long and i've never cared for hanks less than in this role. 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Antichrist - Lars...i loved breaking the waves, and since then i've read on movie boards about how great dogville was and how great dancer in the dark was. Well i didn't like either of those and i didn't like this one either. The only thing i liked was the two performances to a certain extent espesially charlotte gainsbourg. But i can't get behind a performance from poor material. But it does help me like the film a little more than i would have. So there are about 10 perfomances i would prefer to gainsbourgs, but both the stars i give the film is for the two actors. I just wish i understood why so many love everything this director does. I don't get it. 2 out of 5 stars.

Anvil: The Story of Anvil - I am a big fan of music but i am not a fan of 80's metal at all. So getting through this film listening to it was not easy. I tried not to let that affect my enjoyment and i think i succeeded. This was a very good documentary and a very interesting story about a bands mysterious lack of success. Its probably out of my top five though for docs, not that i see them all. But i think i've seen five better. Good interesting story but didn't stay with me. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Avatar - I wasn't surprised when i didn't love this film. I normally don't like cameron's movies more than just a little. If this wins i'll be the most dissappointed i've been since return of the king won. And i liked the two films about equally. There was a lot to like here, a nice little story, although nothing to cry about or even care about. Nice action scenes and some things that deserve the awards they will get. But it was so damn long and did not make me care one bit about any of the characters. Not one performance worth mentioning. A low 3 out of 5 stars.

Away We Go - I thought this was a great movie. A great little story that had a great beat to it. Mendes kept it going and kept me with it the whole way. But it wouldn't have been great without two well written leads that were acted extremely well by john krasinski and maya rudolph. From the opening scene i loved these two characters. They are easily relatable and very much fit the bill for the generation they are a part of. I think i would nominate maya rudolph right now, if not she is one of the best 5 or 6 leads of the year for me. And john krasinski is in my top 10 - 15 right now. And the film itself is in my top 15. All the short supporting performances we come across as these two go on their journey seem to hit the right notes but none are really big enough to be recognized for anything. I wish more agreed with my take, but just wasn't the case. Another film i loved by sam mendes. Becoming one of my favorite directors. 4 out 5 stars.
Damien
Laureate
Posts: 6331
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 8:43 pm
Location: New York, New York
Contact:

Post by Damien »

The Men Who Stare At Goats -- Grant Heslov

Or how to make an absurdist comedy without (for the most part) being arch, coy, condescending and heavy-handed -- Coen Brothers please take note.

Inherently silly, but quite charming and smart little send up of secret military programs and the men who love them. Wonderfully acted by Ewen McGregor, George Clooney, Jeff Bridges and Stephen Lang, although Kevin Spacey's presence here reminded me how delightful his absence from the cinema has been. A sweet natured satire, and anyone who thinks George Clooney is always playing himself should compare his loosey-goosey raggedy-ness here with the tightly-wound would-be insouciance he brings to Up In The Air.

6/10

=============
Zombieland -- Ruben Fleischer

The first act is glibly funny, as Jesse Eisenberg's voice-over instructs the audience how to deal with zombies. The middle section consists of mostly strained, poorly-paced comic elements, and the finale is standard action movie stuff with a wink. Too bad Fleischer couldn't maintain the tone of the film's first 40 minutes.

5/10
"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
anonymous1980
Laureate
Posts: 6377
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 10:03 pm
Location: Manila
Contact:

Post by anonymous1980 »

IN THE LOOP
Cast: Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, James Gandolfini, Gina McKee, Chris Addison, Anna Chlumsky, Mimi Kennedy, David Rasche, Enzo Cilenti, Paul Higgins, Olivia Poulet.
Dir: Armando Ianucci

This is a bloody brilliant satire. A thinly veiled sharply written critique on politics and government is a triumph in both writing and acting. A fantastic ensemble (especially Peter Capaldi) all delivering unforgettable lines (I've lost count on the many, many great and hilarious quotes, lines and comebacks this film has) from a deservedly Academy Award-nominated script.

Grade: A
anonymous1980
Laureate
Posts: 6377
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 10:03 pm
Location: Manila
Contact:

Post by anonymous1980 »

INVICTUS
Cast: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge, Julian Lewis Jones, Adjoa Andoh, Patrick Mofokeng, Matt Stern, Leleti Khumalo.
Dir: Clint Eastwood

This is far from Clint Eastwood's best work. But it's still a pretty solid one, thanks to Morgan Freeman's performance as Nelson Mandela (Yes, I know that he can do this role in his sleep but it's still a very good performance). The film is largely purely formula but unlike a certain sports-and-race related Best Picture nominee, this FEELS like a movie. I don't begrudge Freeman's Best Actor nom, but I find Matt Damon's Best Supporting Actor nomination puzzling. Good as he was, it wasn't a huge acting triumph.

Grade: B-
Big Magilla
Site Admin
Posts: 19318
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 3:22 pm
Location: Jersey Shore

Post by Big Magilla »

Or as I said in my review, some day they may make a good movie about Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, but Anne Fontaine’s Coco Before Chanel isn’t that movie.

The real Chanel worked her way up the food chain through a series of stints as rich men’s mistresses, but the several films made about her life portray those liaisons as love affairs. By ending this one with the death of her British lover, Boy Capel, this one at least doesn’t have to skirt the issue of whether or not Chanel was a Nazi collaborator during World War II.

That might have made an interesting film.

4/10 for me.
Damien
Laureate
Posts: 6331
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 8:43 pm
Location: New York, New York
Contact:

Post by Damien »

Sabin wrote:
Coco Before Chanel (Anne Fontaine)

Very much a "Tradition of Quality" work and as such it is well-mounted with a fine sense of time and place but is generally dull and uninvolving. The movie is pretty basic in its delineation of the psychology and motivations and the men in her life don't come off very interestingly either. I've never cared for Audrey Tatou (just the thought of the cloying Amelie makes me borderline nauseous) and this film does nothing to endear her to me any further.

5/10
So, if this is halfway up the scale...what DOES work about it?
5/10 is for the score that defines mediocrity, which is what Coco Before Chanel is. It's not aggressively bad, it's nice to look at and, I forgot to mention below, has a lovely Alexandre Desplat score. But Tee pretty much sums up why she's not a particularly compelling screen character -- though if the film started at the 3/4 point and went from there it might have been something (or then again it might have been La Vie en Rose -- Nothing).
"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
Mister Tee
Tenured Laureate
Posts: 8637
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 2:57 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

Post by Mister Tee »

I felt as if Coco Before Chanel told me everything I didn't especially care to know about the great lady. The plight of unlanded ladies in previous centuries isn't one that engages me all that much, and I found Coco's situation paticularly hard to sympathize with, since, for the first hour or so of the film, she just seemed to want all the benefits of wealth without wanting to do much for it. She eventually comes around to the notion that she'd like to work/support herself, but it's a pretty late arrival...prior to that she's content to mooch off her aristocrat (and resent when he expects anything in return).

The story of her great love also isn't terribly interesting, and the final moments of it are telegraphed in a way that seem lifted from every woman's picture of the 40s.

I wasn't terribly wowed by the costumes, either -- probably for the reason Damien mentions in the costuming thread: if you're trying to show how superior Chanel's designs were to what preceded her, you can't really make the gowns so great looking. The two minute fashion show at the end isn't nearly enough.
Sabin
Laureate Emeritus
Posts: 10747
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 12:52 am
Contact:

Post by Sabin »

Coco Before Chanel (Anne Fontaine)

Very much a "Tradition of Quality" work and as such it is well-mounted with a fine sense of time and place but is generally dull and uninvolving. The movie is pretty basic in its delineation of the psychology and motivations and the men in her life don't come off very interestingly either. I've never cared for Audrey Tatou (just the thought of the cloying Amelie makes me borderline nauseous) and this film does nothing to endear her to me any further.

5/10

So, if this is halfway up the scale...what DOES work about it?
"How's the despair?"
Damien
Laureate
Posts: 6331
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 8:43 pm
Location: New York, New York
Contact:

Post by Damien »

The Young Victoria -- Jean-Marc Vallee

A lovely film. Surprisingly modest in scope for a movie that has the trappings of an historical epic, it impresses with its controlled romanticism and extreme intelligence. Valle made the wonderful Canadian family sga C.R.A.Z.Y., and here, while conveying British politics and royalty in the mid-19th century, he once again dissects family dynamics with wisdom and humor (although not as rambunctiously as in the earlier picture). The script by Gosford Park's Jullian Fellowes finds a thrill in political dealings and trusts that the audience is smart enough to be carried away by these conflicts, refusing to sensationalize events or resort to melodrama.

And the relationship between Emily Blunt's Victoria and Rupert Friend's Albert is quite wonderful - between their performances (and undeniable screen charisma), Fellowes's dialogue and Valee's measured handling of their scenes together, the audience can feel the deep love between them, even in later scenes when they are in conflict with each other. Knowing that Albert will die young adds a touch of wistfulness to the movie, but one revels in witnessing two strong, attractive people who are very much in love.

7/10
"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
Damien
Laureate
Posts: 6331
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 8:43 pm
Location: New York, New York
Contact:

Post by Damien »

Coco Before Chanel (Anne Fontaine)

Very much a "Tradition of Quality" work and as such it is well-mounted with a fine sense of time and place but is generally dull and uninvolving. The movie is pretty basic in its delineation of the psychology and motivations and the men in her life don't come off very interestingly either. I've never cared for Audrey Tatou (just the thought of the cloying Amelie makes me borderline nauseous) and this film does nothing to endear her to me any further.

5/10




Edited By Damien on 1266550690
"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
Damien
Laureate
Posts: 6331
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 8:43 pm
Location: New York, New York
Contact:

Post by Damien »

Coraline -- Henry Selick

The score is very nice, and I love the cat, and there are the occasional cool visuals, but this cartoon is unfocused, illogical, annoyingly frenetic and peopled with a thoroughly unlikable lead and uninteresting supporting characters (except for that cat) -- rarely has a movie's comic relief supporting eccentrics been so unamusing.

4/10
"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
Damien
Laureate
Posts: 6331
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 8:43 pm
Location: New York, New York
Contact:

Post by Damien »

The Beaches Of Agnes -- Agnes Varda.

Okay, to appreciate this contemplative movie you need familiarity with and affection for Agnes Varda, whom I consider a great filmmaker. It is entirely self-absorbed, but in a positive way, as a fascinating woman who has lived a fascinating life reflects back upon, and recreates many moments of that life. It does admittedly once in a while border on the precious (which has been Varda's one real flaw as a director over the years) but offsetting that reservation is that overall it is so rich, so original, so sweet and so generous of spirit. Another (surprising) flaw is that Varda shies away from going into too much detail about her relationship with her husband, Jacques Demy. She insinuates that he left her for a while but doesn't go into details. I had never heard that Demy died of AIDS, but Varda doesn't indicate how he contracted the disease -- blood transfusion, drug use, gay sex? Still, this remains a movie to cherish.

9/10
"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
dws1982
Emeritus
Posts: 3790
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 9:28 pm
Location: AL
Contact:

Post by dws1982 »

I can see why people hated 2009 as a year in general. Most of the best movies I've seen were 2008 (or 2007) holdovers. And it seems like I'll see a great movie, and then see several terrible ones in a row.

Saturday, I watched the beautiful Still Walking, a film that's so knowing and so insightful about the resentments and disappointments that family members hold onto for years, and even decades, and the way they usually resurface when the family is together again. It's a great film.

So I follow that up with Sally Potter's pointless exercise, Rage. Then I watched Boaz Yakin's godawful, embarrassing Death in Love, and finally, if you thought that Invictus was a lot of dull rhetoric, then I'll raise you an Endgame, which is nothing but lifeless rhetoric spouted by actors who appear to be heavily sedated.

I also saw Bronson, which...I don't know where to begin. It's not terrible. But it is as batshit crazy and as over-the-top as the title character. It helps that Tom Hardy is game, and throws himself into the role without a second thought, and he's far, far away from anything else he's ever done.




Edited By dws1982 on 1266341241
Big Magilla
Site Admin
Posts: 19318
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 3:22 pm
Location: Jersey Shore

Post by Big Magilla »

The Last Station (Michael Hoffman) 6.5/10

Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer) and his wife (Helen Mirren) as seen through the eyes of his new secretary (James McAvoy).

The acting is the thing in this historical drama about the last days of the great man. Despite the smarmy comments of a few critics, Mirren and Plummer do not overact.

Mirren has the juicier role of the overwrought wife who throws temper tantrums one minute, is quietly reflective the next and quick-witted and wry when the occasion warrants. Plummer, no shrinking violet he, matches her every chance he gets in a somewhat underwritten role.

Had Mirren not won everything in sight three years ago she might be more of a contender in this year's Oscar race instead of the least likely of the five nominees. Though doubtful, Plummer could pull a surprise win in support if a Christoph Waltz backlash emerges.
Post Reply

Return to “2009”