Open Thread... Comment-a-Palooza
Friday, April 13, 2012 at 12:00PM I know a few of you had had problems with commenting but the problem should be resolved now. So please sound off. What's on your cinematic mind? Do I dare see Cabin in the Woods this weekend? You know how squeamish I am about horror.
P.S. If you've ever seen one of Travis Mathews short films (worth seeking out) you'll want to read Craig's interview -- how do you feel about explicit scenes in real films? sound off on that post. And if you've ever seen Snow White (duh, you have!) we've totally been talking about her so join in. Let's make her ears as red as her lips. If you don't comment on animated films how will I know you want more posts about them?
Have you ever made this face?
P.P.S. April Showers is returning soon after this week's hiccup.
P.P.P.S. Titanic Centennial and finalized Oscar Predictions this weekend (who am I forgetting in Best Actress?). Stick around.
getting to know you
Reader Comments (33)
I hear tell that Cabin in the Woods isn't scary so much as subversive and deeply knowledgeable about horror cliches. Like, fewer scares than the original Scream and more self-referential than Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. It's Whedon messing with your brain for 90ish minutes and supposedly falls right in line with everything he did on Buffy.
Getting anxious to see your Best Actress predictions.
Thanks for all you hard work and insights....
LOL at the snow white picture.
I guess Elizabeth Olsen is a possibility for supporting...she got some good buzz for Liberal Arts at Sundance.
I definitely think Jennifer Lawrence, if she pulls off Silver Linings, is going to be the talk of awards season with Hunger Games as well.
Penelope Cruz - Twice Born
the Wallis girl - Beasts of a Southern Wild
Mary Elizabeth Winstead - Smashed
Andrea Riseborough - Shadow Dancer
I'm trying to catch up with the Best Actress contenders of 2011...still gotta see Glenn, Olivia, Tilda, Adepero and Kirsten...I guess it's too early to say this since I have so much left to see....but I'm starting to feel Kristen Wiig really did deserve a spot in the final five.
Im going to see both BULLY and CABIN IN THE WOODS this weekend, what a combo
haha
I love following Ron Howard on Twitter. I'm not even all that interested in the film itself, but I still find his tweets on "Rush" really insightful. Also, it helps that I have a thing for Daniel Brühl. ;)
http://twitter.com/#!/RealRonHoward/status/190511430708101121/photo/1
Oh my God me and CABIN IN THE WOODS might not have meant to be together. There have been like five screenings here in Toronto and I still haven't been able to see it. And brokeness isn't helping neither.
I might finally see THE HUNGER GAMES on cheap Tuesdays if my sister remembers our movie date. But before that I'll also be watching a movie about another strong woman who has to deal with a new environment - Anna Fairs in THE HOUSE BUNNY.
I think it's safe to say that Cabin in the Woods will float your boat if you enjoy Buffy, which I know you do :). Clever without being smarmy, gory without losing its sense of humour or sight of the characters at its centre.
Another possibility for April Showers - "The Upside of Anger." I just saw it and while it's not great, it has two shower scenes that sort of bookend the film. Plus it does have a great performance from Joan Allen so it will still hit all the actressexual notes.
I finally saw The Descendants this week. George Clooney was terrible in this movie, and I'm big a Clooney fan (although I much prefer him in movies that aren't meant to be taken seriously), I'm confused about the awards love he got for it.
Sex scenes get out of the movie most of times. Normally because the director doesn't care much about how to film them, so they're incredibly tacky. Quite often I find myself thinking how many takes it took them to keep the sheets above the waist level without making it clearly noticeable. And I don't want to be thinking about that.
I don't have clear memories of the Shortbus sex scenes (!) but every time I see Chloe Sevigny I can't help but think about the infamous scene in The Brown Bunny. So I suppose I don't like neither of the extremes: nor too prudish, nor too edgy because both seem forced and get me out of the story. I wouldn't count off a movie because of real sex scenes, but it's not a draw to take me to the theatre either. Not in the internet era.
I don't know, it just feels more natural to show characters naked when they change their clothes, than fucking.
Also, the post about the cast of the Hitchcock movie below got me thinking that I've missed an episode in Scarlett Johanson's career. The one when it became cool to say how terrible she is. No, I'm not referring to any comment in that post, just in general, you can find negative comments about her anywhere. Was the separation from Reynolds and the relation with Penn what provoked it? Is she a new Meg Ryan? Other than that, I think she's as good or bad actress as she was a year or two ago. She wasn't the second coming after Lost in Translation, and she isn't Megan Fox now. So maybe it's just that her choices aren't that good.
Best Actress---- Nicole Kidman in Stoker! She is going to have a lot of buzz this season; she has Hemingway and Gellhorn in May and then two movies out later Paperboy and Stoker. Plus she is going to be playing Grace Kelly which is already getting buzz but thats 2014. And there's a rumor of broadway in October. Emmy, Tony and Oscar buzzzzz..busy busy...
Nathaniel, don't worry about Cabin, it's not particularly gory. Bloody in bits for sure, but more in the Sam Raimi mold than Eli Roth.
On my mind...I'm tired of being told The Avengers/Dark Knight Rises are my only options for movies on my must-see list. I will see both, probably like both, but give me some Soderbergh, Cuaron, Kiarostami, Wright, Cronenberg and so on. When I want great comic related stuff, I read comics. When I want great movies, I seek out great directors doing personal projects.
I'm looking forward to seeing both "The Deep Blue Sea" and "Keyhole" (the latest Guy Maddin), which open here this weekend.
And...I'd recommend to anybody who lives where it's opening today to go see "Monsieur Lazhar." A little gem of a film!
Please consider Rian Johnson's Looper as a big contender. I'm surprised you're not predicting Looper's potential this early, especially since I'm VERY sceptical that Gravity can get in if both Gravity and Looper are critical and commercial hits. The sense I get wafting off Gravity's plot synopsis and early reports is that it's likely to be a very...SIMPLE...film, while Looper sounds much more complicated and, if the public isn't turned off by the insanely DARK subject matter (As I've mentioned a few times before, it's a $60 million movie about suicide through time travel), will likely be awarded by at least...five nominations. (Actor (JGL), Supporting Actor (Bruce Willis) (No, I don't care that I'm pretty much saying I think they'd give two acting nominations to people playing the same character in the same film), Original Screenplay, Editing and Picture at least (if it really hits it off), if not also director and a few other techs.) Plus, we have NO IDEA how the Academy will actually react to Rian Johnson (Brick was way too small for them to react to automatically (stuff on the budget level of Brick is why I think a smaller "this is what we think five or ten years on" summer ceremony would be a great thing for the Academy to start doing) and The Brothers Bloom wound up SO featherweight it would have needed to be a December release to hope to get even a SINGLE nomination (Kikuchi)), while the Academy has already reacted to Cuaron. Children of Men wound up with three nominations, yes, but the six year wait and the simpler premise of Gravity (compared to both Children of Men and Looper) might turn the Academy away if they can choose Looper instead and not lose any face over it.
K: I just saw it and The Descendants is a rusty director having to make do with a poorly chosen lead in a fairly unaware of itself final script. By the end of it, I wanted to punch EVERYONE but Judy Greer's character, who, by the way, was much more deserving of a supporting actress nomination than freaking Shailene Woodley. But I guess someone who gets thirty minutes of screentime is automatically better in the eyes of the Academy than someone who gets six or seven minutes. By the end of the film, I wanted to punch George's character, I wanted to punch his cheating wife, I wanted to punch George's character's daughters, I wanted to punch his older daughter's boyfriend, I wanted to punch Matthew Lillard's smug cheating husband and I wanted to punch Robert Forster's granddad and I'm pretty sure you're MAYBE only supposed to want to punch TWO of those seven characters by the end of the film. And, also, it was BORING.
Count me as one of those who just couldn't get into "The Descendants." I was talking to a work colleague, who had also seen it and disliked it, who asked me if we'd seen the same film that everyone else was praising. I don't think we did!
@Nathaniel, Jessica Chastain has spent 3 days on the set of that film and does not even expect to see herself in the final version.
You can bravely remove her from any leading lists for her role in that particular project :)
*The Malick film that is
sorry for spamming but who messed up Jessica Chastain's IMDb page? She used to be born in 1981, now it's 1977...
Wow Yavor, I was JUST looking at Chastain's page and was really confused! I kept counting back and was like "I really thought she wasn't more than 31 years old". Must be a spam right?
Off to see "Titanic 3D." God help me. I should find something better to do with my time, but alas. Hope this is worth it, Mr. Cameron. IMAX too perhaps?
i just saw BATTLESHIP(dumb and efficient),MIRROR MIRROR (very meh) and Herzog 's documentary on Chauvet's cave( i like it)
I'm pretty sure I read something about Chastain trying to shave four years off her age. It's hard to do that in this digital era. The '77 birth year is probably correct.
Not sure if I'll be catching a film this weekend. Finally got around to seeing "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" (which I loved) this past Monday. Next on my list is "The Fields" (starring Cloris Leachman) next Friday in LA (2 hour trip for me!). That or one of those indie films that's also available on Demand (like Adrien Brody's "Detachment," Halle Berry's "Dark Tide" or Kate Hudson's "A Little Bit of Heaven").
May I suggest for your Best Actress Predictions Nathaniel.... Julie Christie in "The Company You Keep", directed by Robert Redford. It's her first staring role since "Away from Her", and having read the novel, a very compelling character. She's a former revolutionary from the 1960's on the run from the law, and a love interest for Mr. Redford. The cast is full of supporting potential. Filming was completed in November.
By the way, today is Julie's birthday, a radiant 71 year old movie icon.
btw, this is my Lead Actress long list
Keira Knightley, Anna Karenina
Maggie Smith, Quartet
Diane Keaton, Darling Companion/ The Wedding
Carey Mulligan, The Great Gatsby/ Inside Llewyn Davis
Vanessa Redgrave, Song For Marion – leading?
Meryl Streep, Great Hope Springs
Helen Mirren, The Door
Kristen Wiig, Imogene
Emma Stone, The Gangster Squad
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy (supporting?) / Stoker (supporting/leading?)
Marion Cotillard, Lowlife
Julianne Moore, What Maisie Knew/ The English Teacher
Laura Linney, Hyde Park On Hudson
Abbie Cornish, The Girl
Amanda Seyfried, Lovelace
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Rachel Weisz has had a run of good performances in overlooked films. Perhaps A Deep Blue Sea will be remembered and put her in contention this year .
Abbie Cornish - The Girl!
I just dragged my man and his mother out for a matinee of Titanic 3D, and when it was done, we all pretty much said the same thing: "I forgot how good that movie is!" None of us had seen it in its entirety since its original release. The 3D was fine, mostly unobtrusive, but completely unnecessary. Wouldn't it just have been easier to re-release the thing on its own, and just make pure profit? If Best Picture winners were always re-released, say, on their silver anniversary, I'd go see them, especially the must-be-seen-on-a-big-screen films like Titanic. Who's with me?
Trust me, see Cabin in the Woods. You won't regret it. Just go in knowing nothing.