Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Merry Christmahanakwanzukkah. It's an Open Thread.

We've hit some roadblocks and posting may be light for the next few days. Or heavy. You never know. It's the holidays. So let this be an open thread. What's on your mind? To you readers who are starting your festive travels today, be safe. If any of you are offline this week have a great time.



thanks for visiting and making this place so festive in the comments, just like it's the holiday season every week of the year. xoxo.
.........-Nathaniel 

p.s. Check out these auteur-themed cards starring Martin Scorsese & Mike Leigh. So funny.

p.p.s. In case you didn't see it, AMPAS posted a reminder list of eligible films at their official site.
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21 comments:

Bill_the_Bear said...

First of all, I want to thank Nathaniel for making this all possible. What would we do without you?

OK...why is there so little talk about Barbara Hershey for a Supporting Actress nomination? I would say that the's more deserving than Mila Kunis. Hershey's smother-mother was the most scary woman I've seen on screen since Dame Judi Dench in "Notes on a Scandal."

Bensunce said...

I agree that Barbara Hershey is more deserving, but I have to say that after second viewing, I liked Mila Kunis' performance even more than I did the first time. She was suspicious but also fun and sexy. Is she worth "best" kudos, I would say not really, but it's definitely a great performance and it could be a breakthrough for her.

Bensunce said...

On a different note, I just launched my blog and I would love if you could just glance at it once in a while, Nat. (And everyone reading)

http://moviesaresubjective.blogspot.com/

It's brand new, so it looks a bit stale at the moment, but I'll definitely pimp it out in the near future.

Kevin said...

Bill_the_Bear: My opinion is that Barbara Hershey is no more or less deserving than Mila Kunis. They both have very two-note performances and they perform them both with equal aplomb.

NATHANIEL R said...

bill -- i can only assume it's that mila kunis is young and sexy. I'm not trying to be an ass about it as I totally enjoyed watching her. But now that she's winning critics awards over meaty performances that are NOT young & sexy... ayiyiyiyiyi.

who was it in the last comment thread that said this "IT'S NOT MOST LIKELY TO GIVE YOU A BONER AWARD" it's "best acting"? that was a great comment. who was that?

anyway. I'm happy that Mila's work is well received because she's good in it and has been good in other things but i think an oscar nomination is just really overstating the case.

cal roth said...

BEST XMAS MOVIE!

Mine is Meet me in St Louis

Anonymous said...

Beating a dead horse here but...where's the big Nicole Kidman blog post I know you have in you. She's so good in Rabbit Hole. And the movie needs a little push.

Anonymous said...

@Nathaniel -- Thanks! 'Twas I who made that comment. And now I kinda feel like Peter Travers (only, y'know, with dignity).

I, too, thought Kunis did a great job but wasn't particularly noteworthy. Hershey's performance, on the other hand, was the stuff nightmares are made of. Sweet girl...

NATHANIEL R said...

a classy blurb whore then!

Michael said...

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year's! How's the revamping going?

NATHANIEL R said...

it's all set. it's just data entry now and some problems with importing this blog in. grrrrr. shoudl be ready soon.

Alex said...

I know it's been busy work over at The Film Experience lately, but is there any chance of a Nathaniel/Nick/Katy/Joe podcast anytime soon?

Janice said...

I'm with Anonymous (whoever the heck you are); I'd love to read your review of Rabbit Hole, Nat - and frankly, I'm already tired of hearing about Black Swan, Natalie, Mila, or even (god forbid) The Bening. I'm actually as interested to read your reaction to Aaron Eckhardt's performance as anything else.

Speaking of The Bening, I actually started watching TKAA last night - not sure how I feel about it yet, except that A) light comedy is NOT Julianne's forte, and B) I've loved Mark Ruffalo in every movie I've seen him in thus far, and this one is no exception. I guess he's one of those actors who just makes it all look to easy, like he's not even "breaking a sweat", and we all know AMPAS loves actors who chew up the scenery (think mouthful of splinters).

Volvagia said...

That wood's usually sprinkled with anguished tears. They're like Cartman in the Scott Tenorman episode. And as for Christmas movie's: My personal favourite as a Christmas movie would be a tie between either original Frosty or National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. (The greatest Vacation, bar none.) (And to anyone who makes a tradition of It's a Wonderful Life: All the more power to you, because it is a great movie (my personal fifth best ever), but I have to wonder this: Who thinks crying gets you in the Christmas spirit.)

OtherRobert said...

I'll chime in on the chorus. Mila Kunis makes my Supporting Actress list because I just haven't seen many great supporting performances this year (yet). Barbara Hershey also makes the list, but so do Ellen Wong in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Patricia Clarkson in Shutter Island, and Marion Cotillard in Inception. I know I love me a good genre film, but even I wouldn't nominate five of them if I had the choice for this category. Once I see, say, Rabbit Hole, The Fighter, Another Year, Made in Dagenham, Animal Kingdom, and The King's Speech, I'm sure this list will change. I might still force in Patricia Clarkson, but I'm not holding my breath over that one.

adri said...

One of our most-enjoyed traditions is to curl up, eat pizza, and watch DVD TV series.

This year we've chosen "Being Human" and "The Misfits". Both are English. "Being Human" is 3 characters in their 20s sharing a house in Bristol. One is a werewolf, one a vampire, one a ghost. "The Misfits" is a group doing court-ordered work as their sentence who are hit by (an explosion?) and gain different superpowers.

Although every year there's one we don't all like and we end up watching something else. (MI5 --> Dexter again, Slings and Arrows --> Grosse Pointe, the Darren Starr series).

Have a relaxing and fun Christmas!

Volvagia said...

My silver that year would be A Matter of Life and Death. Bronze goes to Notorious.

Archers Record:

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp: Gold (And that would stand whether or not it was up against Casablanca. For me, it's not. (Casablanca is up against The Palm Beach Story for a confirmation.))
A Canterbury Tale: Gold. Indemnity is still very good, but stacked against A Canterbury Tale's surprisingly modern feel? Not a chance of winning best of the year.
A Matter of Life and Death: Silver
Black Narcissus: Gold
The Red Shoes: Silver. (C'mon. Madre may be hyper-masculine, but the crispness of the visuals are amazing. (Madre is still not personally my best John Huston. That's The Man Who Would Be King. It has everything Madre has and a healthy sense of humour to balance out the sometimes overly steely cinematography.)

NATHANIEL R said...

Cal -- MEET ME is my favorite, too.

NATHANIEL R said...

alex -- i can't ever promise things that involve other people ;)

Janice -- thanks for the reminder. I can't believe i haven't written about that yet. ARGH. this time of year always defeats me. Why do they save everything until the same two months.

Ryan T. said...

Just finally excited to see BLUE VALENTINE sometime next week. I feel as if I've been waiting for that film my whole life.

adri - Being Human and Misfits are damn good. You should also check out the three-episode miniseries Sherlock from BBC.

Happy Holidays, Nat!

RYAN M said...

Nathaniel, I just wanted to take the time to throw in my vote for a potential nominee for your Film BiTCH awards this year!

Best Villain: The Boulder from 127 Hours

I'm feeling good about this one.