"baby, you are going to miss that link"
Monday, November 21, 2011 at 7:45PM Please tell me how to feel about the proposed Before Sunset (2004) sequel. I don't mean to shirk my duties as an "opinion maker" *snort* but sometimes I just don't have one. A definitive opinion, I mean. See, when the magical Sunset was first announced it sounded like an iffy idea at best and a terrible idea at worst chasing such a fleeting wisp of enchantment like Before Sunrise (1995), one that purposely left the future up to our collective or, rather, individual imagination.
But then Before Sunset arrived and it turned out that a second encounter with Jesse and Celine was not just a good idea, but a great one. It was as if the stars and the Richard Linklater, the writer/director, had not just matured nine years in the interim but that they're maturity combined had tripled that depth of their real time spell-casting. What an incredible film. But if a third film were to triple the depth and power of the second, we would have to count it among the greatest films of all time and what are the chances of that happening?
Do you want to know what happened to Jesse & Celine or are you more than content to imagine for yourself what came after the fade out?
Links!
fourfour "the diva chain" love it.
The Playlist awww, damnit. No The Fly sequel for David Cronenberg after all.
AV Club on the new muppet "Walter".
Rope of Silicon talks to Michel Hazanavicius on Tati, Chaplin and The Artist. Can you believe he's never seen The Thin Man?!
The Wrap Weird News Of Day Alert: Rocky is being musicalized. I've always thought there was great crossover between boxing fetishists and musical theater lovers... uhhhh
The Awl Mary & Natasha are all "!!!!!" on all things The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 1 "I CANNOT EVEN" myself but maybe not in the same way.
Finally... Hollywood Elsewhere reveals a big "No" on Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close screenings for NBR and NYFCC awards voters. Stephen Daldry's latest just won't be ready by their crazy-early deadlines (November 28th and 29th respectively) It is a bit ridiculous that people are trying to vote on "best of the year" in November. But, then again, it's kind of ridiculous that so many movies don't want to show themselves until December. Lots of magazines have deadlines for "best of year" pieces that have always required long lead looks. November expectations for December offerings are nothing new behind the scenes.
Before Sunset, Michel Hazanvicius, NBR, Oscars (11), Rocky, The Artist, The Fly, The Thin Man, Twilight, critics awards, musicals, sequels
Reader Comments (22)
I'm conflicted about the Before Sunset sequel. On the one hand, part of what makes Before Sunset so great is the absolutely perfect ending, which is going to be undermined by another film telling us exactly what happened. Then again, I'm a huge fan of both Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, and can't imagine not wanting to spend another two hours with these people. So I'm a tentative yes, I suppose? Assuming they do as well as they've done before.
I'm totally okay with a sequel to Before Sunset if they come up with a great story and, more importantly, Deply and Hawke still have that magnificent chemistry. That's what really sold the first two movies, and if they can capture that magic a third time, I'll be there.
I'm pretty torn. I would love to see another little movie with these guys again but I think Before Sunset wrapped things up pretty neatly. (in my head, Jesse missed that plane, they decided to never be apart and Celine moved to the U.S.) Before Sunset was gratuitous to begin with, so another sequel (Before what?) might be unnecessary. But it it does happen, i'll be sure to be in that theater watching. I would hope that the sequel is somewhere further in the future because one of the things i loved most about Before Sunset is how it takes place in 'real-time' so many years after their love affair and how both actors aged.
A big yes. I want this story to continue on once a decade for at least three more films.
I wouldn't have minded leaving Sunrise to stand alone, but since they've done one sequel, I've been waiting for them to continue the thread again; we could keep following these characters for a good while.
Don't care. I need this sequel in my life yesterday. #thismustbewhatnormalpeoplefeellikewhentheyannouncetheumpteenthsequeltonamelessblockbuster
The idea of Before Sunset in the first place didn't appeal to me; I'm predisposed to hate sequels. But it was better than the first. I'm inclined to trust them.
of course it's a yes! i've been praying to the movie gods since 2004 for this.
What Mark said. I want every-nine-years sequels as long as all three of them are still alive and working.
There's no denying the difficult task awaiting them, especially with such high expectations on their shoulders. But wouldn't it be awesome if we could have a glimpse into a day in Jesse's and Celine's lives once a decade until they reach old age?!!
I'd like to say I'm cautiously optimistic. Before Sunset is that rare animal-the sequel that outclassed the original.
I've written a longer response to this news here:
http://theoncominghope.blogspot.com/2011/11/richard-linklater-and-ethan-hawke.html
I think they should wait til they're older. It could be called Twilight.
I want a movie, thanks.
For me: Before Sunset is going to be an almost impossible act to follow. Before Sunrise was already a very good movie and Sunset, for comparison's sake, is one of my top 20 best movies. Not that it won't be some kind of excellent, but, excusing an Evil Dead comparison, my bet is It'll turn out to be the "Army of Darkness" (Army of Darkness is an A-) of the set, being not as good as the second (the boundlessly inventive Evil Dead 2 is in my top 50 best films) but a fair sight better than the first (The Evil Dead is a B+ and Before Sunrise is an A-).
I think a sequel to Before Sunset would be great :) I agree with BVR, it would be cool to have a series of movies every nine years with those characters.
I remember not wanting a sequel to the first film because that was kept open ended too but I loved Before Sunset even more. I am happy to see these characters back on film every 9 years or so so really looking forward to it
I agree with Volvagia: Before Sunset, for me, is going to be virtually impossible to top. I didn't like Before Sunrise at all, so I waited until DVD to catch Before Sunset. I heard so many great things about it. After I watched it the first time, I went straight to my computer, ordered the DVD from deepdiscountdvd, went back and watched the movie immediately again, and then a week later when the DVD arrived I watched it a third time. It remains the only movie I've seen three times in the span of a week. To me. it's just absolutely magical in so many ways, and no matter how you can continue that story, for me, it won't hit me the way that Before Sunset did at the point in my life. (never say never, but the odds are not in a sequel's favor). And I'm still mad it didn't win screenplay at the Oscars that year.
Another one bites the dust :(
Another TV series, another actor lost for cinema. This makes me really, really sad and it's just not a way of talking, I'm truly sad right now.
http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Ewan-McGregor-Joins-Noah-Baumbach-Corrections-HBO-37209.html
I'm glad for what American Tv is living these years, talent in spades. But , what the hell is going on with Hollywood that can't keep the stars?
Iggy -- what's going on with Hollywood is that the only dependable movie hits are basically TV series with huge budgets (Twilight. Harry Potter, The Avengers. etcetera). it's all kinda the same now.
iggy: I read the book and The Corrections isn't really something I could see becoming an ongoing. It's really depressing and, although over 500 pages long, has a fairly large type face. Based on it being HBO, I'd see it as, most likely, a four-five hour long miniseries, maybe seven hours at MOST. The cinema has NOT lost Ewan McGregor...or Dianne Wiest...or Chris Cooper.
I remember watching Before Sunrise and not being impressed; don't get me wrong, it was a good movie, but i didn't understand the acclaim of it being hailed as a romantic classic. Before Sunset, on the other hand was an absolute masterpiece; i loved how even after moving on with their lives and being generally miserable, they still longed for the magic of that night.
Like many of said, it's easy to conclude that they do wind up together at the end of the film. A sequel would be really unnecessary; what aspect could you possibly show? I think it'd be disappointing to see them together but hating one another, and it wouldn't make sense for them to be "falling" for each other one more time based on Before Sunsets ending; here's hoping it doesn't happen.
Yes, it sounds more like Winslet'sMildred Pierce or Weaver's Prayers for Bobby. And still it's something to worry about, he was in The Ghost Writer and Beginners the last two years and even in that case and with Dianne Weist in the cast and Scott Rudin producing, they cannot manage to make it into a regular movie and have to go the HBO route.
I guess I'm old school and still got the idea that when an actor/actress goes to TV, it's because the end of their career is close.
I don't think the serialization of movies is a sure thing for box office, though. Didn't Captain America or Thor undeperform (for the expensive blockbusters they are, that is)? And even if they work, I really doubt they will in the long run. You just can't have several sagas at the same time working for 10 years or more.