Wednesday
Nov022016
Open Thread
Wednesday, November 2, 2016 at 4:48PM What's on your cinematic mind? You've been so quiet and we can't read minds!
Wednesday, November 2, 2016 at 4:48PM 
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Reader Comments (55)
What do you think of the shitstorm now underway with the Broadcast Film Critics? As far as I'm concerned, each year they just get worse and should consider dissolving themselves and starting from the ground up. They're perilously close to being worthless as it is. But as a member, I'm sure you have a different take.
Whether to go to a late showing of The Light Between Oceans tomorrow and risk oversleeping Friday or whether to hope my shift finishes early on Saturday and I can slip in a matinee before Guy Fawkes night celebrations makes traffic unbearable.
I'm most alarmed at the news about Maggie Smith finding 'retirement hard to adjust to' which came out of her Q&A session at the Purbeck Film Festival - I'm hoping that's just about the theatre because I'm not ready for her to retire - she had so much fire and spunk in Lady in the Van that I would hate for her to retire now - especially while Judi is still going strong! I can't find anything else to corroborate the story - has anyone else heard anything? Is it time for a career retrospective?
For the first time, I randomly watched 'An Unmarried Woman' the other day, for the first time. It seems inconceivable that it was one of the 5 best picture nominees. Would that happen today? It is such a small character study - with a woman at the center no less.
"Did you happen to see that film, 'An Unmarried Woman'? Well I didn't get it. I would have been Mrs. Alan Bates so fast."
Saw "Moonlight" last night and am kind of mixed on it. It gets more interesting as it goes on, but I think the "sum is greater than the parts" cuts both ways on this one. It definitely deals in cliches early on; and I was disappointed to see such clear "good mother/bad mother" archetypes even when well-acted. And without spoiling anything, the third act is lovely but involves some character leaps I don't know I fully buy - it didn't feel credible that such a shy character would suddenly take such a big leap, especially considering other backstory we're given. It's still a fascinating movie, but I feel a little unsatisfied for reasons I'm still processing.
Saw Glenda Jackson is back to acting. She's starting off slow by tackling Lear, har de har har. I've never seen this two-time Oscar winner in action -- where should I start?
Thinking about Sarah Paulson winning an Oscar for playing Hillary Clinton. It's just a matter of time, right?
Take away Kate Winslet's Oscar for The Reader and give it to her in any other of her nominated performances. Which one would you choose and why?
I'm seeing La La Land tonight at a local film festival and Emma Stone is going to be there in person. She is really campaigning hard for that Oscar if she shows up at such a small event.
Is Viola's Oscar a foregone conclusion and will it be a make up prize,does it kill future Best Actress chances,will she need to be better than her other 2 nominated performances,will it feel like a Viola's Greatest Hits.
I'm slightly nervous about the impending Wonder Woman trailer. I really want the film to be good & successful. I love the character and if we must have an oversaturation of superhero films can some of them be female driven? I fear if Wonder Woman flops it will be blamed partly on gender and therefore put a spanner in the works for Captain Marvel and beyond for big screen female superhero spectacle.
Can you do another Q&A post soon?
I don't want Viola to win an Oscar via category fraud.
Also, I love this interview with Bill Mechanic: https://youtu.be/L1LQSpWXTO8
Train To Buslan!
Dear god koreans know how to make a good z-movie!
Let's seeeee:
Sad, cause American Honey leaves my theatre on Thursday and I can't see it before.
Excited, cause I get to see Hacksaw Ridge, Doctor Strange AND FINALLY MOONLIGHT this weekend.
Finally, overwhelmed, cause I saw The Handmaiden yesterday and it was everything. LITERALLY. EVERYTHING.
Still blown away by the mindtrip of "Doctor Strange". 3D, please
What happens after the end of Some Like it Hot. The story keeps going after the "Surprise!" ending and I wonder what could be of the two pairs Sugar-Joe and Osgood-Jerry/Daphne.
Osgood knew since the beginning? What about Jerry/Daphne sexuality? After 57 years still a daring, funny and visually incredible movie.
Would you like to see a sequal to Heavenly Creatures with the characters 20 years after the event.
Lately, just for the fun of it, I've created my own dream cast for a female-driven comedy ensemble: Parker Posey, Kathryn Hahn, Kate McKinnon, Aubrey Plaza, Rose Byrne, Retta, and Jane Lynch.
I literally just was thinking about Denzel and Viola in Fences and how much Oscar history could be made in a few months if the film lives up to its hype and pedigree. I'm starting to think that it could sneak in a supporting actor nod if it's well executed and critically lauded enough.
I was wondering why the Director's Branch isn't quite as idiosyncratic with its picks as it used to be. Woman in the Dunes? Alice's Restaurant? Fellini-Satyricon? La Cage aux folles?
Anxious for the next season of Atlanta to be underway. Glover has the new Han Solo movie, a new baby, and a new album ready to drop. Hopefully the Atlanta writer's room is ready with ammunition to make the second season a greater revelation than the first.
Nathaniel have you watched HBO's Insecure?
For the last two nights I've been watching Women In Love, and here both Alan Bates and Glenda Jackson have been name checked. What are the odds?
So far, I'm just not understanding Glenda's Best Actress Oscar, but since she won every other award that year as well, she must really give it her all in the later reels. Thus far Eleanor Brom has a bigger role!
And I'm a little surprised at all the full frontal happening with Alan Bates. I've heard about the wrestling scene (which I haven't seen yet), but Alan has doffed his clothes twice already I think.
And all of this raises another point, I work such long hours that it often takes me two or three days to watch a movie. Is that "against the rules?" Is it acceptable if you can't watch a movie all at once the way god (or at least filmmakers) intended?
Reading the Twin Peaks novel that's supposed to connect the two series. Have to say I'm disappointed -- a lot of prequel to the original, and not nearly enough of what's happened between the original and now. I think there are a lot of Peaks people here, so I wonder what anyone else thought.
Just watched The Little Foxes. Good but I just felt that I wanted a better version of that story. I'd like it to be remade.
James from Ames - Glenda is wonderful. I'd start with Sunday Bloody Sunday. It's a remarkable film.
I'm going to New York just after the election and in time for Elle's release. I'm checking the Angelika's website daily for advance tickets, but nothing!!
For Halloween weekend, I saw both Eraserhead and Rosemary's Baby on 35mm. I dressed as Matilda!
Saw
* Hunt for the Wilderpeople - hilarious, I'm convinced Thor: Ragnarok will be a fun journey!
* American Honey - made feel happy, sad, and horny, especially horny. It shows us America, while Carol the Film and Lolita the Film chose not to do so. Not bitching, just pointing it out. Carol is a masterpiece the way it is.
* Personal Shopper - entered the theater knowing NOTHING about the film and saw Sils Maria signatures all over it pretty quickly and my mind went racing: What was the name of the director? So Stewart did not strip down for their first collaboration but she's showing us the titties quite openly in this one? The film's a pretty nifty experience. I liked it.
*Birth of a Nation - I guess what sets it apart from other segregation movies is that in this one the slave realizes he has to use the Wrath of God, which is such a cool concept. Apart from that, the film isn't at all memorable. It's been 5 days since I saw it and I no longer care about it.
* Carol - 3rd time watching it. Took a friend with me at the very last minute and he knew nothing about the movie and absolutely adored it.
The Broadcast Film Critics Awards are a bunch of bullshit. They have the worst bands playing and their ceremonies are just fucking dull.
James from Ames-As far as where to start with Glenda Jackson.
I'd second Sunday, Bloody Sunday but if you have the time I'd suggest her absolutely mesmerizing work as Queen Elizabeth the first in the BBC miniseries Elizabeth R where she plays her from girlhood to death.
One of her best most atypical performances is in Return of the Soldier where she costars with Alan Bates, Julie Christie and Ann-Margret. It's a bit stately but well worth the time.
Also if you can find it Marat/Sade is intense and weird but compelling. There's also The Maids with Susannah York and Stevie about poet Stevie Smith.
The problem is that a great deal of her work is hard to locate. Her second Oscar for A Touch of Class isn't her top work but she's enjoyable in it and it will probably be the easiest to track down.
Loving the FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS ad, Nat!
Dave in Hollywood: That's usually how I have to watch films too! There's nothing wrong with it if it gets films watched and if you enjoy them that way.
@ Dave in Hollywood, I feel guilty whenever I watch a film that way. I feel like I'm not giving the production the attention it deserves.
Streep is celebrating 40 years on film in 2017- hopefully a 20th nomination this year ( that would be an incredible batting average) and a 4th win later down the road- but Oscar and awards aside- do you have a top ten list of Streep performances not nominated for an academy award?
Joel6 - Speaking of Glenda Jackson performances that are hard to track down, her Oscar-nominated performance in Hedda seems to be tied up in limbo. I saw it a long long time ago and thought it brilliant, but I've never seen it in any form since.
Also, I adore the movie The Boyfriend and her small role/cameo is absolutely brilliant!
Sarah Miles should have won the Oscar in 1970 for Ryan's Daughter and Glenda Jackson should have won for her trenchant performance in 1971 - I like her even better than Jane Fonda in Klute, which is saying a lot. As for A Touch of Class, I think it was a "none of the above" victory in a weak year.
choog: I'm not nervous. Even if Wonder Woman fails (which, after three films with increasingly negative reviews, sounds likely), there's two notes to consider: 1. The MCU has NO risk pivots from now to Captain Marvel's launch and 2. Kevin Feige will probably just laugh at their failure and take it as a massive badge of honour for Marvel. "All that success AND the first GOOD superheroine film ISN'T Wonder Woman? We're awesome."
Ez - It's not necessarly category fraud. In the original production she was considering supporting. It MIGHT be, depending on how they handle the character in the movie, but it's not a given yet.
Dave S. - I totally understand your issue with the third act character development. I also kind of questioned it, but I think it makes sense when you think about a) who the only positive male role model in his life was and b) the economic limitations for a boy who barely got through school, had a drug addicted mother and was moved away from his only other supportive person (Janelle Monae) while he was still in high school.
I saw Gaslight for the first time and loved it - Bergman is mostly pretty great throughout (although I would've given the Oscar to Stanwyck that year) but then really has some fun, over-the-top moments (I'm sure they weren't meant that way but read that way now) and Angela Lansbury is serving non-stop side-eye. Loved her 'tude but how did that get her an Oscar nomination?
Streep is receiving the Cecil B. DeMille award at the Golden Globes this year...
I saw Gaslight too for the first time and thought it was great -- mostly because people keep saying Trump is gaslighting the nation. And yes I was surprised Lansbury got a nom for that (or even needed to be in the movie). But Ingrid Bergman and Joseph Cotten were great as always. Is Cotten the greatest classic-era American actor never to get an Oscar nod?
Marsha Mason: I'd say Mitchum, actually, with Cotten as a kind of distant second. Yeah, that's kind of a surprise to realize, ain't it? Especially eye-brow raising, from an Oscar perspective, is Mitchum somehow missing for both Crossfire AND The Sundowners, both of which look like stupidly easy "gimme" nominations.
Volvagia: Mitchum did get one Oscar nomination - for Best Supporting Actor in The Story of G.I. Joe in 1945.
DJDeeJay and Marsha Mason: I haven't seen Gaslight in a few years, but I remember Lansbury being excellent, her character - and performance - serving to destabilise further the environment in which Bergman's charcater finds herself. Lansbury adds to the paranoia - and also was very believable as a certain type of maid, jealous of the mistress of the house.
Edward: Shoot. Still, One is INSANE.
Edward L - oh, I absolutely understand her character's contribution to the story and she is a lot of fun in it, especially when your earliest reference of her is Murder, She Wrote.
I can't stop watching the new trailer for La La Land.
It is going to destroy me when it comes out.
DJDeeJay: I wonder if it was perhaps a coat-tails nomination at the time? The film was clearly very popular with Academy voters. But, from the perspective of today, it's a nomination that I think is justified - a vivid supporting performance.
Edward L - sure, that makes sense. And I don't really know enough about that year as a whole to know what the competition was like. It just surprised me, is all. But maybe that's just me mistaking seemingly effortlessness for easiness or simplicity?
DJDeeJay: That's a good point. I do think she makes it look effortless. What a performer!
Marsha Mason & Volvagia-Joseph Cotton would be up there in actors that were never nominated but I'd have to say the greatest classic era actor to never receive a nomination would have to be Edward G. Robinson. It just seems incredible with all his great work, Little Caesar, Brother Orchid, The Sea Wolf, Double Indemnity, Scarlet Street and Key Largo just to start he wasn't acknowledged just once!
I'd also add in Dana Andrews, John Barrymore, Edward Arnold, Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray.
Why is no one talking about Luke Cage and 13th?