Thursday
Oct112012
Thoughts I had looking at The Guilt Trip poster
Thursday, October 11, 2012 at 11:33PM presented without self censorship or editing as they come to me...
- Initially I kept comparing this to Something's Gotta Give (2003) as to its awards chances -- Oscar Best Actress Nominee -- and now I'm embarrassed about that and wish I had compared it to Mother (1996) -- Golden Globe Best Actress Nominee.
- Babs still gets top billing. As it should be but she hasn't made a movie in how many years?
- those Focker movies don't count.
- How much would your typical Barbra Streisand fan(atic) pay to have their cheek pinched by her? I'm guessing thousands because the prices they'll pay to see her in concert. Yeesh!
- People who do not think Barbra is a brilliant actor have not seen Funny Girl or The Way We Were. They have maybe seen Prince of Tides or Meet the Fuckers.
- Who else is in this movie? Wouldn't it be so weird if it was all Sleuth like two-hander?
- My whole life I've loved the tradition of seeing a movie on Christmas day with family & friends. But now every movie opens on Christmas and it's so annoying! I'm buried in prezzies and I'd prefer them metered out a bit.
- Do you think Abbas Kiarostami is totally dying to see this? Road trip!
Reader Comments (25)
Nathaniel, I've gotta ask - was that typo on purpose?
LOL on Kairostami.
Love the Kiarostami joke. For a second I totally forgot why you mention him of all directors and them I was like hah!
You are hilarious. Hi-lar-i-ous!
Kiarostami! Hah! Gold.
I've seen The Way We Were as well as What's Up Doc and a few other things. I still just find Streisand way too forced both as a comedienne and as a dramatic actress.
I certainly don't dislike her but she wouldn't necessarily draw me to a movie that otherwise looks awful.
I'm yet to see Funny Girl though, so maybe that'll change my mind.
The Kiarostami joke was perfection.
I can't wait for this movie. SETH! BARBRA! OMG!
I have seen Funny Girl and The Way We Were I don't think he is a brilliant actress. Not at all. She is really good, sometimes, but never, I mean, never, brilliant, IMO.
(I think she would be very good in a Woody Allen movie with fast-paced lines and a dark character, for a change. I'd like to see some Evil Barbra, not in a funny way)
No comment on Barbra wanting to show-case her nose again? I love her for it and for a million other things.
I too would love her in a gr8 drama part in a woody film like page in interiors,this will be a hit and babs will be at the oscars again giving out a top prize.yentl is also a good example of how gr8 she can be.
love her. but this looks pretty awful.
mark -- NO. comedy is where she needs to be. She can get awfully self-important in dramas. But, yes, i love her in Yentl too. But for me she lost it after Yentl. :(
james -- that occurred to me, the profile on the poster, after publishing this. It is a great thing about her. She's always embraced it rather than pretended it wasn't so. Which is almost always the best strategy with anything that sets you apart from the crowd.
I don't have a clear mind today and hate to ask, but I don't get the Kiarostami joke, anyone?
Since we're talking about Kiarostami, he's also probably waiting to see/work on the new series on Louie that's on hiatus until 2014.
But she is already self-important in comedies, too histrionic to film, like underlining every ingenue look and smile, every laughter, not being able to look natural, I mean, never? When I see her doing comedy I see a very committed and even tense actress fighting hard for my sympathy. She is not effortless funny and charming, at all. She can be funny and charming, but she is not a natural.
So thank God that Katie Morosky and Fanny Brice are such pushy, restless strivers that benefit from Streisand's often-strenuous approach, and that The Way We Were is even about the pros and cons of such strenuousness. Though I do think she's great at relaxed moments and great toss-offs when she needs to be.
As for Barbra in dramas, one need only give "Nuts" a watch and then realize how ridiculously wrong that sentiment was.
I am not sure they benefit, at least Fanny Brice doesn't seem to benefit, in my point of view. I wish we had some... freshness in the performance. I don't know, maybe charisma is the word I want. Barbra Streisand would never win a starring role only by being watched by the camera, like Audrey Hepburn, for example. Apples to oranges, ok, but that comparision makes sense when you have a part that demands that reckless approach, a natural IT. Like a star is born, not a star is built, which is Barbra's case. Barbra is always so focused that it gets annoying.
But she was never my cup of tea, anyway.
Oh Lordy people, can we get a link to Pauline Kael's review of Barbra in Funny Girl? I can still remember it after all these years. She essentially said that Barbra had so much IT that everything else paled in comparison. (at least I think I'm right, we're talking about a memory that's over 40 years old).
I waited years to watch The Way We Were since I was certain it was utterly overrated. Yes, the movie sort of was, but the two starring performances were terrific. And Barbra was the more important character, the one with all the conflict and self-doubt.
I imagine Guilt Trip is borderline awful, but I expect Barbra's charisma and funny line readings to still be intact. But yes, I'd love it if Barbra could play an Ordinary People type role in a movie directed by someone else. There has to be a hell of a lot of icy resolve in a person as successful in Hollywood as Barbra.
Barbra can be quite a good actress, but I think the main problem is that we can never forget she is BARBRA. She simply cannot lose herself in a part. But I think she comes closest in The Way We Were. And though her acting can be sometimes questioned, her constant ability to entertain and seduce us cannot. She has ethereal powers of persuasion that lie beyond the realm of giving a film performance. This new movie is an event, simply because any film starring Streisand is a rare gift. But why oh why is she saddled with this nothing costar. Rogan has to be one of the worst actors of his generation. I don't know if even the legendary Streisand star power can cancel out his irritating presence. And I thought pairing Jack with youknowwho in Anger Management was barf-worthy.
Pssh. I still think her best work, hands down, is in What's Up Doc. Deceptively easy, smart, charming, funny, breezy performance in a film that thoroughly supports her.
Seth Rogan makes my nether regions tingle (what can I say? I like them big, loud, and hirsute), and Barbra is, well, BARBRA, so I'll see it in between all the Oscar movies. My other thought process if that if this is a hit, Streisand will work more in film, and outside the Focker Franchise.
I am a big fan of Babs. I believe the film will be very entertaining. I agree that she sometimes is a biti forced as an actress (especially in a drama). But I still love he and I wish she had been in many more films. Her comic timing is great. You need only see "What's Up, Doc?"
When she took Hollywood by storm with "Funny Girl" and was Oscar nominated, William Wyler and other Academy members requested that she be invited as a member effective immediately, which was not the customary thing. As a consequence, she was able to vote for the Awards... She was tied for the Oscar with Katharine Hepburn, which means they got the EXACT number of votes. No doubt she must have voted for herself, so she was responsible for her own win!
I think the movie will work, if not on an Oscar level.
Comedy has always been Babs' forte. She was great in Funny Girl. I haven't seen The Way We Were, which is embarrassing for me. Anyway, she is the best thing in the FOCKERS series. Little Fockers was almost dreadful, and she gave the biggest laughs there.
@Cal Roth: I see your point.
Respectful disagreement! It's like we've discovered a new planet!
Well I think Miss Streisand is more talented than these comments would have us believe, but my first thoughts on the poster are that it has a straight-to-video look about it, also the lady looks at most as if she is Rogen's older sister!
Incredible that there are people posting here who can't concede that Streisand can be a brilliant actress (see Funny Girl, Way We Were, What's Up Doc?, Owl and the Pussycat to name a few), and having read the script for The Guilt Trip, I can tell you that this is much more than a broad comedy. Streisand's part is complex, poignant, and surprising. I have no doubt she will fantastic in the movie, and if only Oscars recognized comedic performances more often, she'd be a shoo-in for a nomination.