Passenger Sid Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 First, “Boyhood” will, and SHOULD be one of the 10 films nominated for Best Picture of 2014. The fact that the characters literally age 12 years through the film adds a LOT to being able to maintain interest through the 3 hours. The uniqueness of the film helps hide the fact that there’s no real plot and not much going on. There were brilliant scenes. The scene in the darkroom, the corrections officer dad lecturing Mason, the scene of Hawke stopping the car to tell his kids to talk real to him. Hawke's character, while hard to totally like because of his early deadbeat-ish ways, wins us over mostly by the end of the film.The acting was mostly great overall, especially Arquette. There's a lot to like about the movie. There were really bad scenes. The first step-dad scenes were hard to watch because of subject matter AND because they were over-dramatic. The scene of the group of teenage boys drinking and talking didn't sound real in any way. Mason Jr’s dialogue towards the end, when discussing life, seemed kinda hippie-dippie and nonsensical. Arquette’s character seemed smart, yet her run of husbands didn’t match that. It was her decisions that helped cause much anguish for her kids. I didn't feel like she ever owned up to that. I liked that a character gave Mason Jr. a bible. I thought, “well good, maybe that person could help give Mason some direction in his life”. But then a minute later Hawke and his daughter basically dismiss God, making it seem clear that Mason Jr. probably wouldn't take the bible gift seriously at all (As a side note, Linklater decided that the bible-thumper's husband would be a gun toter. Well, of course). 3 out of 5 stars. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 i've only seen one this year I love you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sweet Papa Crimbo Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 Saw the LONGEST WEEK on demand Sunday.My lord what a piece of dreck. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
froggie Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 I love you. "that's nice" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Clayton Kershaw Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 My favorite movies films this year (as of right now)1. Boyhood/The Grand Budapest Hotel2. Locke3. Grand Piano4. Obvious Child5. Fading Gigolo6. The Signal7. Adult World8. The Rover9. Under The Skin10. Alan Partridge I'll give writeups on those soon and I'll list my favorite movies later. Oh, man! I forgot all about Snowpiercer. I apologize. Maybe a Top Twelve will be proper. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NoJ Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 What, no Godzilla?! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Clayton Kershaw Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 No, sir NoJ. It will be on my Top Movies of the year though which I'm working on. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beltmann Posted September 20, 2014 Author Share Posted September 20, 2014 Making a distinction between "film" and "movie" on the grounds that one connotes art and the other popular culture is, in my view, a meaningless endeavor. Those connotations are illusory, and have the effect of vastly oversimplifying the world of cinema--the binary is both reductive and artificial--which is, ironically, quite the reverse of the intended effect. After all, cinema contains multitudes: Makers of moving pictures work in fiction, documentary, experiments, animation, shorts, Hollywood, independents, the underground, advertising, and on and on, and all of them ultimately share a common medium. To draw arbitrary divisions within that medium ultimately injures the medium, and cheapens conversations about it. There are astonishing movies, and less astonishing movies. That's it. To switch gears a little: The most astonishing movie I saw this week was Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Like Father, Like Son," which I viewed as streaming video on an HDTV, which means it's hard to call it a "film" in the traditional sense. Unless we've seen all of our favorites projected from celluloid prints, none of them are actually films. The conversation about how "film" differs from "video" is at least a productive one, since there is a genuine difference in what those formats can achieve, and in how our eyes and minds respond to them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lost highway Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Skeleton Twins was really good. A visceral combo of funny and sad. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Atticus Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 I would add Gone Girl and Birdman to my list now. Excited for: -Foxcatcher-The Theory of Everything-Imitation Game Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Passenger Sid Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 There are SO many movies I have not seen. Birdman is the one out right now I most want to see. Of the films I have seen, which isn't many: 1. Boyhood 2. Blue Ruin 3. St. Vincnet (Edg Of Tomorrow was very entertaining....good movie. Big Hero 6 is well worth the money, despite its couple rip-offs of Iron Giant. Dumb & Dumber To is very entertaining and funny for anybody who liked the original.) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beltmann Posted November 18, 2014 Author Share Posted November 18, 2014 I saw Charlie's Country in early October, and it's really stuck with me. Here's what I wrote elsewhere: Ethnography plays an appealing role in the Australian Charlie’s Country, since director Rolf de Heer lingers on the details of how to carve hunting spears, cook fish, and dance in the bush. The movie stars David Gulpilil as an aging Aboriginal man unable to adjust to the laws and regulations of colonization. To these Midwestern eyes, the movie—which starts funny but carefully charts how Charlie’s mounting sense of persecution in his own land eventually goads him into lashing out—confirms de Heer as the leading filmmaker currently working Down Under. Like de Heer’s earlier Ten Canoes, this new work is often utterly transporting. For example, a sequence depicting Charlie’s retreat into the bush becomes an impressionistic, sensory experience about birds, insects, flames, dark caves, and the soil underfoot. Pouring rain slaps the foliage, and the noise is thunderous. When Charlie is later caged and forced to shave his head in front of an empty, black background, the contrast is telling; this Aboriginal man has been shorn of more than just his curvy gray locks. Equal parts adventure, comedy, and protest, Charlie’s Country finally serves as a requiem. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
anthony Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Just saw Interstellar. Loved it. My top movie of 2014 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lost highway Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Just saw Interstellar. Loved it. My top movie of 2014 I thought it was really cool too. I hear what the naysayers like to critique Nolan with, and it's all got some truth to it. But it doesn't take away from the craftsmanship and contagious sense of awe that his work creates. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Albert Tatlock Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Great stuff - What We Do In The Shadows Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Atticus Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 After seeing Wild tonight, it's a tie for me between Birdman and Wild for best movie of 2014. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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