Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Open Thread

I'm working on four different things simultaneously and then off to a date with A Little Night Music, and so on. New Oscar predictions should be up tomorrow (Thursday morning). Some words on Inception tomorrow as well.

What's on your cinematic mind today?
*

35 comments:

Volvagia said...

Les Vampires, which I'm watching on Youtube. I'm at the seventh episode. So far I think it's 1. Certainly better than The Birth of a Nation and 2. One of the five best crime films ever made.

Other 4:

Miller's Crossing, Once Upon a Time in America, Casino and The Godfather.

Anonymous said...

The kids are all right had so much potential. Good acting, good script, good direction. good, good, good. BUT where is the ambivalence, atmosphere & attention to detail that "High Art" evoked so effortlessly?
I know I'm griping but the film just has NOT lingered as strongly as I would have hoped. & some of the humor was kind of well, dumb.
Mia Whateverhernameis probably stayed with me the most.

- Sean C.

Henry said...

Inception. I've looked at my Tweets and Inception's been on my mind since the 7th of July. I really hope it's good.

Book of Eli is sitting on the table in front of the TV. Hope that's good, too.

At the end of the year, do we look back and call this the summer of Toy Story or the summer of Inception? The summer of Salt?

Toy Story 3, Oscar contender? I think it's probably set that it'll be in the running for Best Picture. Does it win?

Robert said...

I'm thinking about Inception too. I think this time around I'm going to avoid reading anything about initial hype, backlash against the hype and backlash against the backlash. I'm just going to see it, like it however much I do, and move on.

And now to continue feeling "above all that" I'm off to watch some Chantal Akerman!

Volvagia said...

I define crime film as, "Any film that explores, in depth, multiple classes of crime and the nature of crime and has the main criminal remain at the same post", as opposed to "Gangster film", which deal with powerful people who are criminals, as opposed to giving a reason for criminals existence and "Hood film", which is pretty much just Mean Streets at the moment, so I think you can figure out what the last definition would be.

Jason H. said...

I really don't like the idea of Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk. He'd be great in the part, sure, but could the role ruin him? I don't know.

Speaking of the Avengers, given Whedon's bad luck with delays, will the movie actually be made, or just sit in development hell until Whedon leaves the project, ala Wonder Woman.

I'm also dying to see Inception, Winter's Bone, and The Kids are Alright.

badmofo said...

Hope Inception is good. Other than that, I guess I'll catch Salt - looks interesting enough.

And maybe it's all this talk about Burton and Aronofsky, but I wish Jolie would work with more auteurs. Something just tells me there's unleashed potential beneath that mainstream persona.

James T said...

I'm thinking that when I finally see Inception and write something about it, no one will care because they will have moved on. I'm also afraid I might not get it and feel totally stupid.

But really, I'm just thinking how HOT my room is! Grrrr

Ryan T. said...

Just thinking about the weekend. It'll be seeing a bunch of things I've been looking forward to seeing for the longest time. Not only am I seeing both Inception and The Kids Are All Right, but I'll also be ::hopefully:: seeing Next to Normal on Broadway.

Andrew R. said...

I'm starting to think 4 summer films will get Best Picture slots-TS3, Winter's Bone, Inception, Kids Are All Right.

But I just rewatched Unforgiven. Still love it. Who should've won Best Picture: Unforgiven or Crying Game?

Michael said...

Ryan T- NEXT TO NORMAL was amazing. It actually made my mom cry (and trust me, if you knew her, this would be pretty incredible).

Right now I have "Bull Durham" and "A Single Man" from Netflix, so that's on my mind, cinematically speaking.

Kamila said...

The fact that I haven't seen a movie for the whole week!!!! I need to see a movie!!!!

Anonymous said...

Film-music synesthesia. I tweeted about this already, but I think about Julianne Moore whenever Lady Gaga's "Dance in the Dark" comes on. Or There Will be Blood whenever Vitalic's "You Prefer Cocaine" is playing.

Or I need some sleep.

The Pretentious Know it All said...

Just watched Howards End. That film is proof that while I'm annoyed to death with stuffy, period pieces whose sole purpose seems to be awards contention, all of those issues can be sidestepped when the film is this spectacular. Goddamn, Howards End is an amazing film.

Stacy said...

Personally, I think the Hulk is dead. It's too campy. It just doesn't seem compatible with the suave, sophisticated and realistic superheroes of today.

That said, Mark Ruffalo doesn't get my vote (no one, really,) but I can't stop thinking about his vegetable-hauling intro in TKAAR. So. hot. Btw, I had to go to two separate theaters to see it, because the first one was all sold out! That should please you, Nathaniel.

Also, I've made up my mind that at the rate Nolan is going, he'll never reach the status as an "All Time Great". He's brilliant and all that, but his movies always falls short of real resonance. They're awe-inspiring, bigger-than-life, complex.....and he's definitely the best blockbuster-director working today. But until he figures out the missing ingredient, he'll remain "just awesome" as one critic put it.

Nate said...

I just read what you said about Inception over at Awardsdaily. I have to say that I agree with you.

NATHANIEL R said...

volvagia -- les vampire is cool. i haven't made it all the way through.

sean -- sorry to hear that. it lingered a lot for me. That and I am Love are like my two keepers.

robert -- good plan. both the "masterpiece" and the "disaster" peopel are fucking annoying. I fear that thumbs up/thumbs down mentality truly sank into our DNA and has dumbed everybody way down.

the man -- i don't want ruffalo as hulk either because a) avengers will probably never get made and b) it'll probably suck if it does. too many agendas. too much corporate pressure. etcetera.

stacy -- indiewire says it's doing the best specialty business of the year. so YAY.

thepretentious -- THAT MOVIE IS NEARLY PERFECT. ugh. what a great movie. i haven't seen it in years. must rewatch soon.

Michael Shetina said...

Enough about movies! How were Bernadette and Elaine? I heard from an acquanitance who was there last night that Elaine is having lyric problems but that the characterization is solid, especially during the "Wooden Ring" speech.

No Bad Movies said...

Obviously Inception has been lurking in my brain since pre-production ( like many of you ) so that's an obvious.

Here's one... I was thinking the heavy favorite in the cinematography category to win the Oscar will be Wally Pfister for Inception. But...another great lenser has a movie coming out too this year who has been nominated a bunch and has never won, and that's Roger Deakins for True Grit. Do you not think it just makes sense they would award Deakins and Oscar before Pfister ?

FrenchGirl said...

"predators" with Brody! why does it look alike a badass "LOst"?

NATHANIEL R said...

Michael -- i didn't hear her having any lyric problems. There was some long phrasing that may have been her trying to remember but interesting phrasing is part of her gift so nothing about it bugged me. Thought she was great.

Bernadette's Send in the Clowns was... well, it just killed me. She's so so so terrific in the role. Why didn't they let these two originate it. They're total stage legends (and they're on TV too so it's not like they're unknown to the world... I sat by a woman who flew in specificially for Bernadette. She had first seen her in Sunday in the Park with George and had tried to see everything since.)

No Bad -- if you're asking me who is most overdue that 100% Roger Deakins. Pfister is great but the filmography is short. Deakins has been doing excellent Oscar worthy work for decades and still hasn't won.

Caroline said...

Deakins was totally robbed for Assassination of Jesse James. They gave it to the guy who did There Will Be Blood (can't remember his name), probably as a token Oscar since TWBB was the Best PIcture runner-up that year, but won only one other Oscar for DDL. I've noticed that Oscar audiences tend to do that.

And why is everyone so amped up for Salt? Jolie is a second-rate performer. Same shtick going for wayyy too long.

NATHANIEL R said...

Caroline -- but the cinematography in BLOOD is amaze! That's Robert Elswit (who also has a pretty smashing filmography)

Kurtis O said...

I'm reviewing The Kids Are All Right and Inception this week, and I'm savoring the flavor. Next week, back to junk food.

Anonymous said...

"close encounters" is on my mind. Caught is on cable last night. haven't seen it as an adult. EXCELLENT! Steven classic! There were a few shots that Terri Garr looked like Jennifer Aniston. MinDC

Unknown said...

Inception - I am going to a preview screening here in Johannesburg on sunday evening. so excited.

A serious man - finally caught it at the cinema yesterday. A-

lylee said...

"Inception" and "The Kids Are All Right." Aching and panting to see both. They're both opening this weekend in my city, and I. can't. wait!

vg21 said...

Last night I watched My Summer of Love and just after I got up, The Girl on the Train. It was a busy night:). MSOL is creepy, but I really liked the performances. Emily Blunt is amazing, so subtle and different in every role, I hope she will make great career choices. And finally, La Fille du RER! It's been ages since I saw Catherine Deneuve in a not-so-minor role. I certainly liked it more than the critics, Techiné's technique and visuals always fascinate me.

Also, The Ghost Writer is opening here today, so I'm going to see it, so I might end up with a 3-movie day (well, 24 hours :P).

Bill_the_Bear said...

I'm really happy that there are several interesting films opening here in Montréal this weekend...the past few weeks, we've only had one or two new ones.

Besides Inception, we're getting I Am Love, The Kids Are All Right, Mr. Nobody (which is getting lousy reviews, but I want to see it anyway), Carlos Saura's documentary Fados (love the musical genre, especially Amalia Rodrigues!), and even an Argentinian rom-com entitled Music on Hold (Musica en Espera).

I should easily catch four or five of them, since I've got Friday off.

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Craig Bloomfield said...

@Robert @Nathaniel: "good plan. both the "masterpiece" and the "disaster" peopel are fucking annoying. I fear that thumbs up/thumbs down mentality truly sank into our DNA and has dumbed everybody way down."

You said it.

Volvagia said...

On Episode 8 now, hurtling towards the end.

Volvagia said...

Just passed myself. Part way through episode 9. I'll finish tomorrow. (It's way too long for casual film goers, but if you love film, you'll go wild at seeing every single thriller cliche being established. And if you need proof that a still shot action movie could work, this movie is that proof.) Have you gotten that far, Nat?

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