by Ilich Mejía
Before you ask, five times. Five times I've tried to get past the first half of this book. Five times I've had to put it down to rewatch that one extra-good episode Bojack Horseman drops every season and then forgotten to pick it back up. To seem cultured, I will lie and say I was in the middle of a sixth try when the trailer for the movie dropped. Naturally, I've neglected to pick it back up since because I've been busy picking the trailer apart to decide how I feel about it. Join me in deciding, fellow philistines!
YES
- If we were to ask Stanley Kubrick or Jonathan Glazer, we'd be told Nicole Kidman's powers are at an all-time high when she's playing a rich Manhattanite and she's at it again. As soon as you see that lamp flick on in the trailer, you know she's about to drop a powerhouse monologue that might steal the whole movie.
- Cinematography by Roger Deakins is what I believe the kids refer to as a "sext" nowadays. We look forward to seeing how he depicts the city across the time jump. This is a piece about big emotion and Deakins looks to be setting up some beautiful shots to depict the journey of loss of Theodore (Ansel Elgort).
NO
- Maybe it's not a vote of confidence that if you took away the painting I'd think the moodboard was something like "Extremely Loud and Incredible Close, but make it fash—nah nah, make it exactly the same!" I remember only enough about that movie to make this comparison so... I don't know if that bodes TOO well. John Crowley directed Brooklyn with such earned intimacy and serenity that I wonder if he's up for handling material as different as Donna Tart's minor (it's only 780 pages!) epic.
- Speaking of epic, an early cut of the movie was reportedly around 2 hours and 20 minutes. Unless Sarah Paulson are kiking about cocktail recipes for 2 hours and 12 of those minutes, I'm gonna struggle.
- Uh, these graphics are very... PowerPoint chic, huh? Graphic design is definitely someone's passion.
MAYBE SO
- He's got a sensitive face so I'm gonna try to say this gently: Anself Elgort, sweetie, this voiceover was ROUGH. This sort of dry, period-Kardashian performance works with a character like Betty Draper, but I'm not so sure how Ansel's ordinarly-wooden approach will help hold up this big a film. I'm sure he'll be at the premieres in great suits. Beautiful suits...
- Jeffrey Wright! Sarah Paulson! Luke Wilson with long hair! Please don't misuse these gifts...
- Oh look, another coming-of-age film where the lead jumps into a proverbial pool! What Victoria Grayson throwaway line is shadier, "how extraordinarily crafty of you!" or "aren't you inventive?" I joke! I joke! But yeah this looks boring.
For now, I'm a maybe so if that translates to "will sit through this for the Nicole scenes." I will try to make it through the novel before it drops and see how that changes my stand.
What do you guys things? Excited about the Brooklyn follow-up we've all been waiting for?!