Monday, July 23, 2007

20:07 (The Baby Brother)

screenshots from the 20th minute and 7th second of a movie
I can't guarantee the same results at home (different players/timing) I use a VLC


Conrad Jarrett: If you’re a friend of Doctor Crawford you’re probably all right but I’ll be straight with you: I don’t like this already.

Dr. Berger: As long as you're straight.

Conrad: What do you know about me --have you talked to Crawford?

Dr. Berger: Yes, he called me on the phone. He told me your name and he told me to look for you. He said you had a brother who died…
Retrospective film history has turned people against Ordinary People due to the defeat of Raging Bull at the Oscars. Unfortunately the shadow side of revisionist Oscar history is this: good movies get penalized through no fault of their own. The sadness in Timothy Hutton's eyes here...it just rips the heart up.

13 comments:

Benji said...

Yes, I agree completely!
I watched the film years ago knowing that it was bashed by people because it beat Raging Bull at the Oscars, and was surprised how good it was!
Many accuse it of TV melodram quality. But hey, this is much better, with great performances, especially from Timothy Hutton.
You don't find these movies on TV...

Unknown said...

I agree with Benji, and would add that MTM was excellent. She was trying so hard to keep everything together. Every scene with her was heartbreaking.

Yaseen Ali said...

Can't believe Donald Sutherland is still nomination-less.

par3182 said...

i much prefer the quiet desperation of ordinary people to the macho histrionics of the overrated raging bull

the other great film from 1980 was melvin and howard

Y Kant Goran Rite said...

Though I do slightly prefer (the still relatively overrated) Raging Bull to Ordinary People, it's only by a slim margin. If not quite as imaginative as Scorsese's film, it's still absolutely absorbing and though I'm ordinarily ambivalent to the three lead actors, their performances here I found very moving.

Carl Joseph Papa said...

i loved both films but raging bull is one of my all time faves

adam k. said...

The OTHER great film of 1980 was Empire Strikes Back. That's what really should've won.
I also didn't particularly love Raging Bull when I saw it a long time ago, though I respect it plenty. Really what should've happened is they all should've been nominated, Raging Bull should've taken director, Empire should've taken picture, and People should've taken screenplay and acting trophies.

I haven't seen it, but have been meaning to, and it doesn't seem fair that people resent it now cause of the oscar.

Anonymous said...

Ordinary People was somewhat boring. However, I thought the performances were extraordinary. Hutton was astounding as the troubled son. Moore gave a fantastic stretch. And Sutherland was once again ignored for a fantastic performance.

Beau said...

fantastic film. saved my ass.

Anonymous said...

Great movie...and I agree with ali, Donald Sutherland being nominationless blows my mind

Glenn Dunks said...

Yes, this film is very solid. THe performances by Hutton and Moore are amazing - I've never been a fan of Donald Sutherland though, I'm afraid. He doesn't so anything for me.

I'd say Raging Bull is the better film, but I don't think it's even in the top 5 of Scorsese's best films. And it's not exactly the most rewatchable movie in existence.

I assume though the way many people feel about Ordinary People is the way I feel about Kramer vs Kramer, which beat All That Jazz for the Oscar. grrr

Anonymous said...

This is one of the best films of all time. From the psychologycal point of view is unique. Every character is shown so human, so real and in a very profound way. Also the film portraits psychotherapy with adolescents as they should be. Of course the performances are great and y love Pachelbells canon.

Anonymous said...

Someone commented that this movie--"Ordinary People"--was a lot like a movie recently shot ourselves. So, having never seen it before, we rented it.

To say the least, it was very moving. And yes, it had some parallels to the indie film we are in the process of editing -- called "Liars and Lunatics"...

Except our Timothy Hutton character is still in the hospital and he's not a teenager... and well, a few other plot points... (Actually, the only real similarity is that they're both about people who have to deal with the death of a loved one.)

You're right about the eyes. Timothy Hutton's performance was astounding...