<-- The Where the Wild Things Are poster has been wet pasted and squeegeed onto every surface on the net. So fuzzy! JA made me cackle with his take Love. I want to go to the store, buy a copy of it, bring it home, lay it across my living-room floor, and hump it until there is nothing but tatters (of it and me both) left. Love.I don't quite want to hump it BUT it does present a problem for me expectation-wise. How can I live in a world where this movie is anything less than a masterpiece? Uh-oh. Expectations too high too high too high. May the trailer be terrible so that I can find myself in a more reasonable pre-screening headspace.
LiNKs
FilmMaker a conversation with Todd Haynes and Richard Linklater. There's even a Madonna anecdote.
Cinevistaramascope a smart review of Milk, now on DVD.
Rope of Silicon first look at Jeunet's Micmacs a tire-larigot. (That's quite a mouthful).
Suburban Idealist a beautifully written piece on Greyhound, the economy and Forrest Gump on loop.
ModFab casting couch: who should play Thor?
Coming Soon cast coming together for Leap Year, Amy Adams first leading trek into regular RomCom land (Enchanted is too much of a hybrid to count) where all popular actresses eventually go to test their mettle and get sized up for that box office queen crown. Will it fit? That crown is more coveted better than any glass slipper. Who need princes when you can dozens of castles with your own paychecks?
Burbanked is wary of Sam Mendes but likes this Away We Go trailer...
I personally love how low-key it feels and I'm hoping that's reflected in the film because my biggest gripe about Sam Mendes work is how heavy with portent and planning it always feels.
Posts
6 comments:
Since these link entries are always a smorgasbord of topics I'm going to go back in time with you all again.
I just saw WATCHMEN. I have never read any of the comics and knew very little about them before seeing the movie. I deliberately did NOT read any reviews or articles (it's been tough).
I liked it. I liked it a lot. I found it fascinating and interesting and fairly engrossing. BUT, I think you're wrong Nate, this IS a movie about ACTORS - and I think it came pretty close in its casting.
I very much disagree with you about Jackie Earle Haley - I thought he was perfect for this movie. He's an actor who looks "real", he was wonderfully grizzled and full of subtext and range.
And even though Jeffrey Dean Morgan doesn't have quite the power of Haley, I liked him in this movie for very similar reasons. He seemed "realistically bigger than life" and actually managed to convey some real charisma in all his horrible behavior.
I also loved watching Billy Crudup's face - I found myself trying to drink in every nuance of his expressions and listening to his voice extra carefully.
And I got a real kick out of Patrick Wilson's dork act. I thought he was having a little fun with it and found him a viable leading man despite his dorkiness.
And yes, you've been positive about Mr. Goode elsewhere on this blog and I thought he turned in a nicely foppish, dangerous Ozymandias.
I think the movie was REALLY, REALLY DAMAGED by the casting of Malin Akerman as Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre II. As you point out in your review, she is the emotional center of the film - we've got to believe Dr. Manhattan loves her, we've got to believe Nite Owl II loves her, we've got to feel her pain and believe her struggle to save mankind! I mean why would people spend $150 million dollars on a movie and cast someone like this as the female lead? Just cause she looked like the comic book character? I mean, she isn't that unique looking!
They really needed to cast someone for us to care about. This actress was just too vacant to achieve that. You needed someone really emotionally resonate, someone smart, tough, and courageous but who instantly motivated empathy and curiosity. You really needed a woman with gravitas! Hell, Evangeline Lilly from LOST would have been much better than this woman. She stuck out in this cast like a sore thumb. It just makes me think guys who make movies like this just don't know a damn thing about women!!! They needed to consult a true actressexual - we could have told them who to cast!
I really think if you go back and watch the movie again many of you will see what I mean. This movie would have been so much more exciting and meaningful with a really dynamic actress as the lead.
OK, maybe it is a little long but it was really fascinating and it almost got me to really care about Dr. Manhattan's realization on Mars and what Ozymandias has done for the world.
Also, I didn't mind the slo-mo as much as you did Nathaniel. During the opening credits I thought it was a great way to make the scenes look like they were from a comic book so I guess I sort of expected it as a comic book visual theme. It didn't get in the way for me at all.
And several of the fight scenes worked for me too. I loved the first scene where the Comedian gets killed and I liked the scene in the prison where Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II defeat the inmates. I thought that had drive. Actually, even this soon after seeing the movie (about an hour) I don't remember that many fight scenes. I just remember all the missed emotional moments with Akerman on the screen. Jesus, what a waste.
I didn't say Jackie Earle Haley was bad. The only thing i disliked about him was the Batman voice and that's probably not totally his fault (that's probably what they wanted)... and that's really an extrinsic gripe. I'm just afraid I'm going to be hearing silly variations on the Batman Gravel™ for the rest of my life and there's got to be other voices that ACTORS can come up with. I mean some of them are really gifted vocally.
anyway I just said the focus was not on the acting... but for what they had they did OK ('cept Akerman) but none of them dug deep ... i do agree that Crudup is a fascinating actor. I was GAGA for him in The Pillow Man. Jesus he was great in that.
Jesus' Son was a terrific film with a terrific performance from Crudup.
I think the poster is just okay, but I'm not familiar with the book.
Um... so is Away We Go a sequel to Juno? Everything from the faux-indieness to the twee indie soundtrack to the quirky animation even down to the way the dialogue is delivered.
Question: Is every movie about a life-crisis experienced by someone under the age of 35 going to try and feel exactly like "Garden State" from now on?
Ooh Garden State! That's the other one.
I am getting tired of these twee faux-indie movies with "hip" soundtracks and unnaturalistic dialogue/delivery. Maya Rudolph looks as if she's in a completely different movie (a good one).
I hold out hope because of the people involved, but... eh. I'm not holding my breath.
Post a Comment