Friendly Reminder: Good Weekend to See a Movie!
Saturday, October 11, 2014 at 9:00AM 
But, no, I'm not talking about Dracula Untold or The Judge...
For Everyone:
Paddy Considine humbly requests that you see Pride this weekend! It's no longer an exclusive joy for New Yorkers and California residents. It's moved into several more cities in 19 more states so check your listings and see it. If you still need convincing, read our review and interview with the director (who is bringing the stage hit Matilda the Musical to the screen next).
For the Oscar Watchers:
You'll definitely want to check out Whiplash which can safely expect one nomination for J.K. Simmons in Supporting Actor (even though he's really a lead... same as it ever was) but it's the type of movie that might snowball given the enthusiasm and end up in the big race. (Here's Michael's review)
For the Actress Enthusiasts:
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby has finally arrived in its intended Her (Jessica Chastain) and Him (James McAvoy) format. I did not see it as the shorter Them which wasn't well received at the box office. I can't speak to that but in the Her and Him format it intrigued and gained from the repetitions and slight skewing of perspective.
Even then, last fall, I worried about splitting OR fusing them (as they eventually did). As I wrote in my original review...
As I happened to see it at its premiere with Him preceding Her, this 3 hour movie felt like perfect conjoined fraternal twins, each of 90 minutes in length. I say fraternal since The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him (the one starring James McAvoy with Chastain in a supporting role) and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her (the one starring Jessica Chastain with McAvoy in a supporting role) have very different temperaments, casts, and only share a few scenes... but not, crucially, the same takes of those scenes. We understand the drama wholly only through seeing both sides of it.
I can't imagine that its safe to surgically sever Him and Her and release them into the wilds of arthouse theaters. And keeping them together but lopping off their limbs (say 20 minutes from both which seems likely) seems like high-risk business for something this delicately wrought and inventively conceived.
Any big movie plans this weekend? I'm off to Birdman at the New York Film Festival.
Reader Comments (11)
Saw Haider (The gorgeous Hindi adaptation of Hamlet set in Kashmir with a mind-blowing execution of the play-within a play) and Bang Bang (my oh my that first dance number!) Movies during the week, working on the weekend!
I kinda liked The Judge (::hides::). Sure, it was hardly great. But somewhere, under all the cliches and offensive use of mental retardation and love interest thrown in purely for effect, there was an interesting story about complicated values, about how our feelings toward a given person affect our feelings toward another, and about accepting one's past.
BRB going to go see Pride in a few hours as it's near me now.
Unfortunately I have zero interest in seeing Whiplash. Nothing about the story or actors strikes me as interesting. :/
Kinda bummed I missed the one-week-and-you-miss-them showings of Eleanor Rigby. I'll catch it on Netflix, surely, but still.
Dying for Birdman, ugh.
I saw Pride yesterday afternoon, and it joins Whiplash among my favorites so far this fall. I was blubbering like a baby for the last five minutes of the movie, starting from the second Pride parade. And Bill Nighy is an international treasure.
Supposed to see The Judge this evening, but if I'm having too much fun at the housewarming party I'm attending, I'll miss it.
And Snowpiercer is waiting...
I just got home from Madame Bovary at the London Film Festival - it was so beautiful, really great film.
I'm watching 6 films in the festival next week so gotta keep myself at home this weekend.
I just got back from Pride, and holy cow but that is the DEFINITION of a "feel-good movie" and easily my favorite of the year so far. It nails all the big moments with ease but is also, surprisingly, quietly effective at all the little things around the edges (the single shot of what happens after one of the characters is forced out of the closet is almost unbearably perfect). I loved every second and am heartily recommending it to everyone I know. It's also amazingly relevant, something that begs to be made NOW, as opposed to the late 90s when it easily would have gotten tons of Oscar nominations. Here's hoping those noms happen, because it's SO worthy.
Echo all the Pride love. Saw it a second time earlier this week and loved it even more the second time.
Can't wait to see "Pride", sadly it isn't out here yet.
I went see "Beloved Sisters" last night and, I think, I can shed some light on the running time issue. From what I gather, there are three different versions of the film:
1. the 170 minutes festival cut
2. the 139 minutes cinema cut
3. a 190 minutes cut to be shown on German TV in two parts
I saw the 139 minutes version and liked it quite a bit (it's so very pretty), but I really wonder what was cut. I also wonder which cut will be used for the US release.
Nat, Pride opened here in Montréal at the same time as in NYC and LA; it's in its third week here. My pull-quote is THE FEEL-GOOD MOVIE OF THE YEAR. I'm going to see it a second time wiht my best friend, probably this weekend.
The Festival du Nouveau Cinéma is on, and it's also a good place to catch some of the Foreign-language Oscar candidates. Yesterday I saw Liar's Dice from India...a very festival-sort of film, sort of like The Lunchbox in that respect. I don't see it getting a nomination. Tomorrow I'm seeing Charlie's Country (Australia); next Saturday I'll be seeing Force Majeure (Sweden).
I also caught Men, Women & Children yesterday, and didn't think it was quite as bad as many critics are saying, though it has problems. Reitman has us following too many characters; one or two story lines could have been cut. Judy Greer was really good; I liked Rosemary DeWitt; Adam Sandler almost seemed human. We could have used with more Emma Thompson, though, and fewer shots of the Voyager spacecraft.
Anna - thanks for clarification. I hate it when movies do that but i understand it. I still don't know which cut of The New World I saw. And all the tinkering on Blade Runner makes me crazy. I think films should be definitive. They aren't meant to be plays which by their very nature can shift a little every night.
Denny & Eurocheese - happy people are loving it and I hope I've sent at least a few hundred people to it :)
Nat: What am I, chopped liver? ;-)