The Official Review Thread of 2014

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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2014

Post by OscarGuy »

Personally, I love both Cotillard's work in La Vie en Rose and Christie's in Away from Her. I don't think the Academy did the wrong thing, Cotillard was a triumph. I only wish they could have been nominated in separate years.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2014

Post by FilmFan720 »

Big Magilla wrote:
ITALIANO wrote:
flipp525 wrote: I'm honestly just thankful she's nominated at all.

Me too. And Original BJ is right - the Academy at least has given her an Oscar already (a decision which back then was mostly greeted on this board with insults...).
Insults? I don't think so. Most of the criticism had to do with her in-your-face campaigning vs. the non-campaigning of Julie Christie which is what probably cost Christie the award. Since then Cotillard has not campaigned for any of her films which is probably what cost her a nomination for Rust and Bone. What is so satisfying about her nomination this year is that it was honesty earned while at the same time her peers rejected Jennifer Aniston's in-your-face campaigning which had she been nominated instead would have completely turned me off the Academy.

The only reason she won't win this year is because she has won before and Julianne Moore, nominated for the fifth time, hasn't. It's ironic that Cotillard won an Oscar she shouldn't have over an actress playing a woman suffering from Alzheimer's only to lose a win that should easily be hers by another actress playing a woman suffering from the same disease.
So in 20 years when Marion Cotillard plays an alzheimer's patient, what is going to happen?
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2014

Post by Big Magilla »

ITALIANO wrote:
flipp525 wrote: I'm honestly just thankful she's nominated at all.

Me too. And Original BJ is right - the Academy at least has given her an Oscar already (a decision which back then was mostly greeted on this board with insults...).
Insults? I don't think so. Most of the criticism had to do with her in-your-face campaigning vs. the non-campaigning of Julie Christie which is what probably cost Christie the award. Since then Cotillard has not campaigned for any of her films which is probably what cost her a nomination for Rust and Bone. What is so satisfying about her nomination this year is that it was honesty earned while at the same time her peers rejected Jennifer Aniston's in-your-face campaigning which had she been nominated instead would have completely turned me off the Academy.

The only reason she won't win this year is because she has won before and Julianne Moore, nominated for the fifth time, hasn't. It's ironic that Cotillard won an Oscar she shouldn't have over an actress playing a woman suffering from Alzheimer's only to lose a win that should easily be hers by another actress playing a woman suffering from the same disease.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2014

Post by ITALIANO »

flipp525 wrote: I'm honestly just thankful she's nominated at all.

Me too. And Original BJ is right - the Academy at least has given her an Oscar already (a decision which back then was mostly greeted on this board with insults...).
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2014

Post by flipp525 »

ITALIANO wrote:This year, I would have probably nominated her for The Immigrant instead, and I think her performance in 2012's Rust and Bone (which the Dardenne brothers sort-of co-produced) is still her best. But let's face it - this is one of the best actresses working in movies today, and if she were American and hadn't won before, a win for THIS movie wouldn't be impossible.
Italiano, I agree with you on nominating Cotillard for The Immigrant instead for this year. Her "silent-film" performance was really effective. And the whole film, while nothing deep, was rather well-executed. That final shot is just breathtaking.

I'm honestly just thankful she's nominated at all.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2014

Post by ITALIANO »

Big Magilla wrote:At least two. Katharine Hepburn's third and fourth Oscars were for UK/US co-productions. Meryl Streep's second was for a UK/US co-production and her third was for a UK/French co-production.

Please, Big Magilla...
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2014

Post by dws1982 »

Of course no one legitimately considers something like On Golden Pond to be a British movie, even if there was some British financing.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2014

Post by Big Magilla »

At least two. Katharine Hepburn's third and fourth Oscars were for UK/US co-productions. Meryl Streep's second was for a UK/US co-production and her third was for a UK/French co-production.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2014

Post by ITALIANO »

Big Magilla wrote:
ITALIANO wrote:But let's face it - this is one of the best actresses working in movies today, and if she were American and hadn't won before, a win for THIS movie wouldn't be impossible.
Her not being American makes no sense at all inasmuch as she previously won for a French film. .
It makes alot of sense. How many actresses have won TWO Oscars for non-American movies?
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2014

Post by The Original BJ »

I rooted pretty strongly for Julie Christie as Best Actress in '07...but I wonder if even those of us disappointed by Marion Cotillard's win then will be glad that it happened in retrospect. She's turned in a string of consistently strong performances since La Vie en Rose -- anyone who thought she might be a one-off couldn't possibly make that argument today, and there's no reason to suspect she won't continue to stretch herself to impressive results. And, she's shown no signs of abandoning work in her native tongue, suggesting that the kinds of movies in which she's giving her strongest performances aren't the kinds that will likely provide that many opportunities to actually win Oscars. And so, it may turn out that the bio-centric nature of La Vie en Rose provided her the best shot to win a trophy, and it will make the Academy look very good to have taken the opportunity to make her an Oscar-winning actress when they did.

Now, about that Cannes prize...
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2014

Post by Big Magilla »

ITALIANO wrote:But let's face it - this is one of the best actresses working in movies today, and if she were American and hadn't won before, a win for THIS movie wouldn't be impossible.
Her not being American makes no sense at all inasmuch as she previously won for a French film. Rather, if Julianne Moore had won before as she might have for Far from Heaven and had Julie Christie won for her Alzheimer role in Away from Her instead of Cotillard, then Cotillard would more than likely be the front-runner this year.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2014

Post by ITALIANO »

flipp525 wrote:Two Days, One Night follows a working-class wife and mother over one weekend as she attempts to navigate a work re-vote in her favor, one that has the potential to leave her unemployed. The film follows Sandra as she tries to woo her co-workers back to her side after she took a leave of absence because of depression. After awhile, the repetitiveness of the scenes in which she visits her co-workers becomes a testament in itself to Sandra's inner strength, even when she thinks she has nowhere left to turn. She always seems on the verge of collapsing back into the depression that cost her her job, but is occasionally emboldened by small acts of kindness. I don't think there was a more humanistic scene in all of this year's nominated films than the one where her co-worker breaks down and tells her that she has his vote because of something she did for him once on the job.

Marion Cotillard's now Oscar-nominated performance in the cinéma vérité style film sneaks up on you with such quiet power, such deeply felt emotional ferocity, it's enough to knock the wind out of you by the film's end. Simply unforgettable. I know she probably doesn't have a chance in hell of winning the Oscar, but I think her work in the Dardennes film definitely tops her Best Actress performance in La Vie en Rose.

Kudos to the Academy for going out of their way to recognize this very non-traditional-for-the-Academy performance.
It's a nice, little movie, less tough than others by the Dardennes, but still, obviously, committed, sincere. The style is direct, typically essential (one can only balk at the idea of an American remake - with Sandra Bullock in the leading role..?), and the message is urgent, if maybe a bit too obvious. I liked it - it's not a masterpiece, there are moments that I found unnecessary, but it's a good movie, and with a strong sense of a place, of a community. Cotillard is very good, as always, and the camera clearly loves her, but she's maybe too healthy to be really convincing as a woman suffering from depression - she's always a star, believable as a factory worker, but a star. This year, I would have probably nominated her for The Immigrant instead, and I think her performance in 2012's Rust and Bone (which the Dardenne brothers sort-of co-produced) is still her best. But let's face it - this is one of the best actresses working in movies today, and if she were American and hadn't won before, a win for THIS movie wouldn't be impossible.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2014

Post by flipp525 »

Two Days, One Night follows a working-class wife and mother over one weekend as she attempts to navigate a work re-vote in her favor, one that has the potential to leave her unemployed. The film follows Sandra as she tries to woo her co-workers back to her side after she took a leave of absence because of depression. After awhile, the repetitiveness of the scenes in which she visits her co-workers becomes a testament in itself to Sandra's inner strength, even when she thinks she has nowhere left to turn. She always seems on the verge of collapsing back into the depression that cost her her job, but is occasionally emboldened by small acts of kindness. I don't think there was a more humanistic scene in all of this year's nominated films than the one where her co-worker breaks down and tells her that she has his vote because of something she did for him once on the job.

Marion Cotillard's now Oscar-nominated performance in the cinéma vérité style film sneaks up on you with such quiet power, such deeply felt emotional ferocity, it's enough to knock the wind out of you by the film's end. Simply unforgettable. I know she probably doesn't have a chance in hell of winning the Oscar, but I think her work in the Dardennes film definitely tops her Best Actress performance in La Vie en Rose.

Kudos to the Academy for going out of their way to recognize this very non-traditional-for-the-Academy performance.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2014

Post by anonymous1980 »

SELMA
Cast: David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Tim Roth, Carmen Ejogo, Andre Young, Martin Sheen, Cuba Gooding Jr., Oprah Winfrey, Common, Dylan Baker, Giovanni Ribisi, Alessandro Nivola, Wendell Pierce, Nigel Thatch, Tessa Thompson, Colman Domingo.
Dir: Ava DuVernay.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s push to pass the Voting Rights Act so black people can vote in Alabama is brought to life on film by Ava DuVernay who really should have been nominated for Best Director. She crafted potent, cinematic drama that will sure rouse both anger and inspiration. It is of course, sadly, still relevant in present day American society since a lot of its lessons are still unlearned. The cast is strong. David Oyelowo made me forget that I'm watching an actor, not the real Martin Luther King. Some history biopics feel like moving dioramas but the film has actual real well-rounded characters that come to life on the screen. For all its criticisms on historical accuracy (oh, please, this isn't a documentary), its heart is big and its message important. But it never lectures. It never forgets that it's supposed to be a movie, not a history lesson. Ava DuVernay is a fantastic filmmaker. I can't wait to see what she does next!

Grade: A.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2014

Post by mlrg »

Uri wrote:
ksrymy wrote:Robert Duvall joins Melissa McCarthy as the only people to be nominated for a performance in which they shit all over themselves on camera.
Another proof Europeans are far more subtle than Americans – All Emmanuelle Riva did in Amour was soiling herself with urine for her nomination.
Best post of the year so far :D
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