TotallyOz Posted February 17, 2009 Posted February 17, 2009 However, you failed to mention the hot young actor in the film, David Kross. What a pleasant addition to the cast. I hope we see a lot more of him. Coop He was cute and did a great job. He learned English for this role. A smart lad as well. He is currently working on a German film called Same Same but Different in Cambodia. If anyone has been to Thailand, you will know this saying as that is one shirts all over Thailand. The Thai's say Same Same all the time. Can't wait to see what that movie is about. Did anyone see his first German movie? What did you guys think of the Wrestler? Quote
Guest Cooper Posted February 17, 2009 Posted February 17, 2009 I did see the Brad Pitt film (BENJAMIN BUTTON) and while I enjoyed it for what it was, it is not in the same league with any of the other films you mentioned. IMHO. I had some free time today so I went to the movies and saw the "Curious Case of Benjamin Button". I had heard the mixed reviews and that the movie ran a bit too long, however, I enjoyed it and got caught up in the story. As JH had mentioned the movie is not in the same league as the other nominated films. I also didn't see anything special about Brad Pitt's performance, leaving me puzzled as to why he's up for a Best Actor nomination. Imo, Leonardo Dicaprio's role in Revolutionary Road was much more demanding and worthy of some recognition. Now that I've seen all 5 movies nominated for Best Picture, I'd have to agree with the others that "Slumdog Millionaire" would be my pick for the Oscar. Coop BRAD PITT as Benjamin Button Quote
TotallyOz Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 I was finally able to see Slumdog Millionaire. It was excellent and I really loved this movie. I could see why the members would vote for it. However, IMHO The Reader was better in many aspects and I'll be pulling for it. Quote
Guest mineallmine Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 Yes it seems slumdog has a rising tide of fans and supporters. I do agree with Oz though and will be pulling for The Reader. I'm also really looking forward to the Oscar Pick `em contest. I usually play them with a group of friends. I do pretty well I dont always win but hey its the fun you have with friends playing! Quote
Guest Cooper Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 Also saw The Wrestler and agree that Mickey did an outstanding job. For me, the movie was hard to watch at times and I found myself wanting to shed a tear more than once. He did a great job with the movie and so did Marisa. For the blood squeamish, scenes from the movie "The Wrestler" might be hard to watch. Perhaps a disclaimer about the use of staple guns, razor blades, barbwire, frying pans, glass, etc might have helped... Mickey Rourke, missing from acting for several years, makes an excellent come back performance in portraying an aging pro-wrestler who just can't call it quits... Marisa Tomei, still looking good, is a worthy contender for best supporting actress. She plays the part of a night club stripper and goes topless in many of her scenes.... Bruce Springsteen's song in the movie was written for Rourke as an inspiration for him to return to acting. MICKEY ROURKE in The Wrestler Quote
Guest Cooper Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 Two days to go before Oscar Night... Not easy choices, especially for Best Picture... The nominees are: For Best Picture.... CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON FROST/NIXON MILK THE READER SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Don't forget to vote in MER's Oscar contest. Quote
AdamSmith Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 Leo was not in The Reader- he was with Kate in Revolutionary Road. Not part of the OP here, but just btw: Saw Revolutionary Road last night, and almost walked out. And I will sit through anything. Supporting parts were written, cast & played beautifully. But the storyline & writing for Leo & Kate seldom rose above a confused turbid mess, far as I could see. Puerile content, no dramatic movement forward, no sense of the era in the dialog (unlike, say, Far from Heaven or what Mad Men manages every week), screaming overacting by Leo, cheap deux ex machina resolution in Kate's final action... Ansen, Denby, Ebert & that crowd seemed to love it. Whatever they were smoking, I would like some. Quote
AdamSmith Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 Aha! Somebody else who was not taken by Revolutionary Road. Interesting meditation on novel vs. film. Great Book, Bad Movie How Hollywood ruins novels By Willing Davidson ...Revolutionary Road is both the worst movie I saw this year and one of the best novels I've read. What makes the book so good and the movie so bad? And why is this divergence so unsurprising? The answer is simple, but it has complex implications: Novels are long, but movies are short. It's impossible to encapsulate the tonal shifts of a book like Revolutionary Road in a feature-length film, no matter how long those two hours feel. Richard Yates was not an emotionally subtle writer, and yet he was able to implicate his readers in whatever judgment he passed on his characters. Revolutionary Road works through the inculcation of false hope, again and again. We're repeatedly told that things are going to get better for the Wheelers; we're promised, or we think we've been promised, emotional and artistic breakthroughs. And in these hopes—these feverish wee-hour plans and pledges—we see our own hopes, our own insistent belief in personal progress, squelched. The movie replaces character with plot, and the result lands with a wet flop. It tells the story of Revolutionary Road and makes us see how thin the plot is: Self-identified creative souls must escape suburbia; maybe Paris would be nice; pregnancy is an unwelcome surprise. With the constant emphasis on what happens next, the audience is reduced to being spectators of fights and sex, dreams and dissolution. Interesting stuff, maybe, but it's their stuff, not ours. We'll never know these people; they're not us. This is what the movies do to literature, typically: There's so much plot to get in that there's no time to tell the story... http://www.slate.com/id/2211410/?GT1=38001 Quote
Members Lucky Posted February 20, 2009 Members Posted February 20, 2009 One fun thing about movie-going is that my friends can walk away from a movie with a completely different reaction than I can. I disagree with Adam about RR. As for Slate, well, I often disagree with them. For my money, Kate and Leo were great in RR. And I was smoking nothing! Quote
Members BigK Posted February 20, 2009 Members Posted February 20, 2009 Just saw The Duchess today, and another fine performance by Kate Winslet. I recall someone complained about Ralph Fiennes performance, but I don't see he had much choice on how the play the part of the dour self centered Duke. Quote
Guest Cooper Posted February 21, 2009 Posted February 21, 2009 With all the excellent choices of movies and actors it's a tough choice to predict who's going to win the Oscar. Here's a look at the nominees for Best Actor: Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon Sean Penn for Milk Richard Jenkins for The Visitor Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler Quote
caeron Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 Just saw The Duchess today, and another fine performance by Kate Winslet. I recall someone complained about Ralph Fiennes performance, but I don't see he had much choice on how the play the part of the dour self centered Duke. I think it was me that complained, but I wasn't complaining about Ralph Fiennes performance, but the character itself. I didn't really understand his motivations. Quote
Members Lucky Posted February 23, 2009 Members Posted February 23, 2009 BigK. in your post about the Duchess, it seems as if you are saying that Kate WInslet is in that as well. Pardon me if I read it wrong. I was happy to see Winslet win best actor in a female role because a) I thought she deserved it and I thought Meryl Streep in Doubt did not. Sean Penn was great in his acceptance speech, and it was nice to see all of the Jamils and Salims on stage. Funny that Penn talked about gay rights and other gay mentions were made about Milk but my mother (watching with me) seemed not to notice and did not ask me about the film or about Harvey Milk. She prefers to keep things like that from her brain. She asks about everything else though. Quote
Members BigK Posted February 23, 2009 Members Posted February 23, 2009 BigK. in your post about the Duchess, it seems as if you are saying that Kate WInslet is in that as well. Pardon me if I read it wrong.I was happy to see Winslet win best actor in a female role because a) I thought she deserved it and I thought Meryl Streep in Doubt did not. Sean Penn was great in his acceptance speech, and it was nice to see all of the Jamils and Salims on stage. Funny that Penn talked about gay rights and other gay mentions were made about Milk but my mother (watching with me) seemed not to notice and did not ask me about the film or about Harvey Milk. She prefers to keep things like that from her brain. She asks about everything else though. I guess I had Kate Winslet on the mind. It was Keira Knightly in the Duchess. I'm also glad Kate won best Actress. Not surprising, since she also did a great job in Revolutionary Road. Quote
Guest Cooper Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 I was really looking forward to seeing this year's Oscars and I wasn't disappointed. I enjoyed Hugh Jackman's opening number and the clever way he introduced each nominated movie... Anne Hathaway was a good sport and has a great voice... The highlight for me was when Steven Spielberg announced Best Picture and the cast of Slumdog went on stage. What excitement, what an experience for those young cast members. Their youthful and innocent enthusiasm was refreshing. Jerry Lewis was a perfect choice for the Humanitarian Award. He's had an incredible career and gives so much back in his "Jerry's Kids" charitable work. An inspiration to many of the younger actors. I liked the idea of having 5 past winners introduce the nominees for leading/supporting actor/actress. It made it more personal and respectful to their achievement. The one part that didn't go over big for me was Ben Stiller's routine. Those in attendance seemed to enjoy it but, imo, it didn't go over well on the TV. Bravo and thank you to Sean Penn for not only winning the Oscar but for using his acceptance speech to speak up for gay marriage and equality. For me, it was one of the better awards ceremonies in recent times. Coop Quote
Members TampaYankee Posted February 23, 2009 Members Posted February 23, 2009 For me, it was one of the better awards ceremonies in recent times. Coop Ditto. Loved Jackman and the new presentation formats. Overall great job. Only one big negative for me... Best Original Song. Zero for three. Quote
Guest Cooper Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 The one part that didn't go over big for me was Ben Stiller's routine. Those in attendance seemed to enjoy it but, imo, it didn't go over well on the TV. Not having seen Joaquin Phoenix on the Letterman show, Stiller's routine on the Oscars went right over my head. lol... now I get it. Very funny! Quote
Guest Cooper Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 Always surrounding the Oscars is the talk about who wore what... Designers: Valentino, Prada, Balmain, Marchesa, Rodarte, Dereon, etc were all well represented, however, what about those men's fashions? Two that come to mind were: Philip Seymour Hoffman (what was the deal with the skull cap) and Mickey Rourke, just being Mickey with a picture of his recently departed dog around his neck. Quote
Guest zachary Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 Just saw The Duchess today, and another fine performance by Kate Winslet. I recall someone complained about Ralph Fiennes performance, but I don't see he had much choice on how the play the part of the dour self centered Duke. ah, the novel, georgiana, was great, was basis for the film; the dutchess (diana's ancestor for those who care, but i'm not about to start on that, i don't care losing some $3 million equivalent today in one night gambling, and at other times, almost as massive amounts of money. her affair, her husband's affair with her friend when he banished his wife for becoming pregnant; and then living with all 3 of them when she came home, and raising the kids. and of course offspring from both marriages married within the family, just a good read if u like history, and it proves nothing is new. Quote
Members BigK Posted February 26, 2009 Members Posted February 26, 2009 ah, the novel, georgiana, was great, was basis for the film; the dutchess (diana's ancestor for those who care, but i'm not about to start on that, i don't care losing some $3 million equivalent today in one night gambling, and at other times, almost as massive amounts of money. her affair, her husband's affair with her friend when he banished his wife for becoming pregnant; and then living with all 3 of them when she came home, and raising the kids. and of course offspring from both marriages married within the family, just a good read if u like history, and it proves nothing is new. The novel sounds great. Is the title Georgiana, or The Duchess (same as the movie). I'm going to check it out. Quote
