Watch, Watched, Watching: Mr and Mrs Smith and Other Famous Hits

[briantw]

3 minutes ago, DMC said:

The role he was born to play.

He was also the bomb in Phantoms, yo.

[dog-days]

 Saving Private Ryan - just watched it once at school when I was a teenager still very angry about Iraq. My impression at the time was that it was a US propaganda film with lots of money and not much brains behind it. I should maybe give it another chance, but there are so many films I've never seen or given a first chance to that I probably won't. 

[Veltigar]

I loved SPR as a kid, but it's too schmaltzy by far to count as one of the great war movies. The earlier description of it as comfort food is entirely apt and that makes the film a little bit dangerous in my opinion.

Truffaud once said that it was impossible to make an anti-war film, as the depiction of war on the screen is intrinsically exiting, but I do think other films like Cross of Iron or Come and See do a much better job at it than SPR. The sterling production values and the moral simplicity off it all paint war as something far too noble in my opinion.

[Ran]

I want ahead and rewatched Shakespeare in Love, and it holds up. I also don't understand what the hell you people are going on about regarding Gwyneth Paltrow -- she was luminous on the screen.

I know that she has developed a particular reputation of out-of-touch Hollywood and all that, but she did fine work for about a decade at least -- Flesh and Bone, Se7en, Sliding Doors, Emma, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Royal Tenenbaums, and of course Shakespeare in Love. And she took home the SAG, Golden Globe, and the Oscar for her performance that year, as well, it wasn't just some weird one-off thing that happened. One can blame Weinstein all they want, but that movie was a huge hit and popularity does matter to the voters, often times.

[Jaxom 1974]

41 minutes ago, Ran said:

I want ahead and rewatched Shakespeare in Love, and it holds up. I also don't understand what the hell you people are going on about regarding Gwyneth Paltrow -- she was luminous on the screen.

I know that she has developed a particular reputation of out-of-touch Hollywood and all that, but she did fine work for about a decade at least -- Flesh and Bone, Se7en, Sliding Doors, Emma, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Royal Tenenbaums, and of course Shakespeare in Love. And she took home the SAG, Golden Globe, and the Oscar for her performance that year, as well, it wasn't just some weird one-off thing that happened. One can blame Weinstein all they want, but that movie was a huge hit and popularity does matter to the voters, often times.

She certainly wasn't a slouch...but there was something there that felt off with her character.  She does do good work. That isn't my argument.  Against Fiennes, Rush, Dench, Firth...she just seemed outclassed and overshadowed in a way that I wasn't always sure why her Viola is the one Shakespeare is falling for.  

(Otherwise, yes, the film absolutely holds up.)

[DMC]

3 hours ago, Ran said:

I know that she has developed a particular reputation of out-of-touch Hollywood and all that, but she did fine work for about a decade at least -- Flesh and Bone, Se7en, Sliding Doors, Emma, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Royal Tenenbaums,

Yeah I thought she was good in Tenenbaums, Ripley, and Seven (a pretty small role but her scene with Freeman in the restaurant stands out).  And she was perfectly fine as Pepper Potts too, which is the only thing I've seen her in over the last 15 years.  She's no Meryl Streep, but I've never had a problem with Paltrow on screen.

[Zorral]

She's awful in period shows.  Her Emma is awful (she produced too.)  Utterly unconvincing as an English Elizabethan age woman as an Austen era heroine. She  is her era's Material Girl, which she can't conceal in either Renaissance doublet and hose and facial hair or Georgian Empire Waist gowns.

[Ran]

Well, we all know what they say of opinions.

 

[Zorral]

Such a subtle way of saying like something else we all have, we all have opinions.  

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

I think he's talking about your ass. I dunno.

Gwyneth is fine. I've never felt strongly about her one way or the other.

Not to take anything away from Rosamund Pike, but I think Gwyneth might have been interesting as Amy Dunne in Gone Girl. Affleck is great in that too BTW.

Rosamund Pike needs to be in more stuff.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

9 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Rosamund Pike needs to be in more stuff.

Who would have thought that dreadful Bond Girl could have come so far? 

[Zorral]

1 hour ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

he's talking about your ass.

A good idea from a moderator?  Because an opinion different from his is expressed, about a MOVIE and an actress in that movie's role?

[Corvinus85]

I like Shakespeare in Love and don't begrudge its Best Picture win, even though I would have preferred Saving Private Ryan. But Judy Dench winning for best supporting actress for her 30 second role, sitting stiffly in a chair, was a bit much. While Cate Blanchett, who played Queen Elizabeth I for an entire movie, lost out to Paltrow. smh

[RumHam]

2 hours ago, Zorral said:

A good idea from a moderator?  Because an opinion different from his is expressed, about a MOVIE and an actress in that movie's role?

Is "we all have assholes" a controversial statement? Or is there some other saying I'm unaware of? 

[BigFatCoward]

1 hour ago, RumHam said:

Is "we all have assholes" a controversial statement? Or is there some other saying I'm unaware of? 

I'm pretty sure that's it. Nothing offensive about it.

As someone whose job means they 'get held to a higher standard' I'm happy for mods to let loose once in a while. 

[Ran]

1 hour ago, RumHam said:

Is "we all have assholes" a controversial statement? Or is there some other saying I'm unaware of? 

That was the saying I was referring to -- i.e., everyone has an opinion! Whether stated gently or stridently, still an opinion!

2 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

but Judy Dench winning for best supporting actress for her 30 second role, sitting stiffly in a chair, was a bit much.

It was a bit longer than that and entailed more than just sitting a chair, but yes, I doubt the other best supporting actress nominees were too pleased by it. That said I think it's safe to say that the Academy was acknowledging her career + the fact that she had been Best Lead Actress nominee in just the year prior so in a sense it was kind of a "make up" award after having long been ignored by the Academy.

Of the other nominees, who really remembers Hilary and Jackie or Little Voice? Kathy Bates in Primary Colors would probably have been my pick.

 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

5 hours ago, Zorral said:

A good idea from a moderator?  Because an opinion different from his is expressed, about a MOVIE and an actress in that movie's role?

We should all strive to be a bit more understanding. I happen to have a pretty good relationship with my ass. We're very attached to each other. 

[dbunting]

5 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

We should all strive to be a bit more understanding. I happen to have a pretty good relationship with my ass. We're very attached to each other. 

Must be nice. Mine talks too much and has bad breath

[Veltigar]

Went to see the latest Fantastic Beasts installment. That's 2.5 h of my life I will never get back. When I'm old, I'll probably wake screaming, "J.K. Rowling, give me back my time!" in my best Octavian impression.

It started fairly okay I'd say. Mads Mikkelsen is always a delight to see and he was the best thing about this film. You can also not deny the quality of the VFX, but everything else is absolute crap. Lord knows this world never made much sense, but it only gets worse.

The plotting also doesn't make any sense. Characters zip in and out. They have 2.5 hours to work with and still nothing seems to have happened. It's really frustrating to see what appears to be a rough first draft serve as the foundation of a major blockbuster.

I can't believe anyone would want to make two more of these, but apparently they are going up to five. I don't know what J.K. has against dead horses, but I admire how she's able to keep flogging them time and time again. That's dedication.

22 hours ago, Ran said:

I want ahead and rewatched Shakespeare in Love, and it holds up. I also don't understand what the hell you people are going on about regarding Gwyneth Paltrow -- she was luminous on the screen.

It has been years since I saw Shakespeare in Love, but it is known that Paltrow is usually the worst thing in the projects she's in. Imagine that part with Rosamund Pike or another better actress in it, that would have been so much better.

12 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Who would have thought that dreadful Bond Girl could have come so far? 

The movie is dreadful, but I think she's perfectly fine as a Bond girl  

[Ran]

22 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

but it is known that Paltrow is usually the worst thing in the projects she's in.

Ignorant Dothraki nonsense!