What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend?

[bubba]

Rocky won best picture, swept the box office and made a star out of Sly!  (one of my favourite movies ever) the sequels were okay, but not of the calibre of the first one.


I thought Cinderella Man was a gem.   Strange thing is I am not a fan of boxing, but these movies are usually about so much more.


It is like saying Brokeback is just a movie about two gay cowboys..


Or Shawshank is a prison film...  all these films are about the human spirit!


Still going to disagree on The Deer Hunter!


 



It can also be said that the film contains greatly moving performances, and that it is the most impressive blending of "box office" and "art" in American movies since "Bonnie and Clyde," "The Godfather" and "Nashville." All of those kinds of observations will become irrelevant as you experience the film. It gathers you up, it takes you along, it doesn't let up.



http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19790309/REVIEWS/903090301/1023

[Lyle (Mooska)]

Still going to disagree on The Deer Hunter!
 
It can also be said that the film contains greatly moving performances, and that it is the most impressive blending of "box office" and "art" in American movies since "Bonnie and Clyde," "The Godfather" and "Nashville." All of those kinds of observations will become irrelevant as you experience the film. It gathers you up, it takes you along, it doesn't let up.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19790309/REVIEWS/903090301/1023

Well, you asked for it--Other opinions:

"Andrew Sarris wrote that the film was "massively vague, tediously elliptical, and mysteriously hysterical ... It is perhaps significant that the actors remain more interesting than the characters they play."  When the critically lambasted Heaven's Gate appeared Sarris wrote,"I'm a little surprised that many of the same critics who lionized Cimino for The Deer Hunter have now thrown him to the wolves with equal enthusiasm." Sarris added, "I was never taken in ... Hence, the stupidity and incoherence in Heaven's Gate came as no surprise since very much the same stupidity and incoherence had been amply evident in The Deer Hunter."

John Simon of New York wrote: "For all its pretensions to something newer and better, this film is only an extension of the old Hollywood war-movie lie. The enemy is still bestial and stupid, and no match for our purity and heroism; only we no longer wipe up the floor with him -- rather, we litter it with his guts."

In his book Final Cut: Dreams and Disaster in the Making of Heaven's Gate, Steven Bach wrote, "critics seemed to feel obliged to go on the record about The Deer Hunter, to demonstrate that their critical credentials were un-besmirched by having been, as Sarris put it, 'taken in.'"

More recently, BBC film critic Mark Kermode challenged the film's status among generally praised film classics: "There is an unwritten rule in film criticism that certain films are beyond rebuke...Citizen Kane, Some Like It Hot, 2001, The Godfather Part II... all these are considered to be classics of such universally accepted stature ... At the risk of being thrown out of the 'respectable film critics' circle, may I take this opportunity to declare officially that in my opinion The Deer Hunter is one of the worst films ever made, a rambling self indulgent, self aggrandising barf-fest steeped in manipulatively racist emotion, and notable primarily for its farcically melodramatic tone which is pitched somewhere between shrieking hysteria and somnambulist somberness."

If that's your cup of tea...

[bubba]

 ... At the risk of being thrown out of the 'respectable film critics' circle.........................I say THROW HIM OUT!


It scored 91% at Rotten Tomatoes, so I am going with the majority of the critics....and Lord Ebert, the only one who counts in my book.


Brokeback scored 87 % with critics, so you never have to look far to find someone who doesn't like a film, regardless of how good it is.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

I also explained in a recent post why I don't trust those compilation rating sites.

....and Lord Ebert, the only one who counts in my book.

Then you agree that Crash was the Best Film of 2005?

so you never have to look far to find someone who doesn't like a film, regardless of how good it is.

And I say, "You never have to look far to find someone who likes a film, regardless of how bad it is.

[oilgun]

I also explained in a recent post why I don't trust those compilation rating sites.

Then you agree that Crash was the Best Film of 2005?

And I say, "You never have to look far to find someone who likes a film, regardless of how bad it is.

Hey, I resent that, lol!

[bubba]

And I say, "You never have to look far to find someone who likes a film, regardless of how bad it is.

So we agree, you don't have to look far to find someone who likes a film regardless of how bad it is and you don't have to look far to find someone who hates a film regardless of how good it is.  However when my opinion goes with the majority, I feel I have the edge.


I liked Howard the Duck, doesn't make it a great movie!



- a monotonous and often inadvertently campy romance that rivals The Hours as the most overrated movie of the decade -


A review from a critic about Brokeback!

[bubba]

Oh as for Lord Ebert:

Roger Ebert: Okay, here's my position. First of all, I believe Crash was the best picture of the year. And I believe that Brokeback is a great picture. And so was Munich. All three were in my top five. Did some people vote against Brokeback Mountain because of homophobia? Yes. Was the Academy homophobic and that was why they didn't make it best Picture? I don't think so. I don't think that was the deciding factor. I think that it was probably third among the motives.


http://www.afterelton.com/archive/elton/movies/2006/3/ebert.html

[Lyle (Mooska)]

However when my opinion goes with the majority, I feel I have the edge.

I suppose, if you think you are winning or losing something.
A majority of people used to think the earth was flat, too.

[bubba]

majority rules!


Yea good analogy  I suppose people did think the world was flat and they were proved wrong.   Maybe 100's or 1,000's of years from now the majority of people will discover The Deer Hunter was a really bad movie.   

[Lyle (Mooska)]

Oh as for Lord Ebert:

Roger Ebert: Okay, here's my position. First of all, I believe Crash was the best picture of the year. And I believe that Brokeback is a great picture. And so was Munich. All three were in my top five. Did some people vote against Brokeback Mountain because of homophobia? Yes. Was the Academy homophobic and that was why they didn't make it best Picture? I don't think so. I don't think that was the deciding factor. I think that it was probably third among the motives.


http://www.afterelton.com/archive/elton/movies/2006/3/ebert.html

You are skirting my question.  You said "Lord Ebert is the only one who counts in my book."

Ebert says that Crash was the Best Film of 2005.

So do you agree with Ebert?

[bubba]

I am not skirting any issue.   That is why I posted that link (to show you again)  Rodger Ebert didn't chose Crash because he disliked Brokeback, he said  - Crash Brokeback and Munich were in his top three.


I totally agree.  I have said that on here before.  I bought Crash on DVD when it came out..  If I had to rate them it would be Brokeback, Crash and then Munich.


I believe he gave them all four stars, as would I...

[Lyle (Mooska)]

Roger Ebert: Okay, here's my position. First of all, I believe Crash was the best picture of the year. And I believe that Brokeback is a great picture. And so was Munich. All three were in my top five. Did some people vote against Brokeback Mountain because of homophobia? Yes. Was the Academy homophobic and that was why they didn't make it best Picture? I don't think so. I don't think that was the deciding factor. I think that it was probably third among the motives.

http://www.afterelton.com/archive/elton/movies/2006/3/ebert.html

Ebert says:
I think a lot of people voted for [Crash] because they thought it was the best picture.

No way to quantify that though some probably did.  A lot?

Some people voted for it because [unlike Brokeback Mountain] it was a Los Angeles production, and in the business, that actually does control votes.

I don't know how he assumes this to be true, that if it's not a Los Angeles production, people
will vote against it. There are plenty of exceptions to that rule:

L.A. Confidential was about Los Angeles and had a huge cast and was filmed entirely here.
Titanic wasn't.

Gladiator wasn't filmed anywhere near L.A., but both Traffic and Erin Brokovich were
Los Angeles productions. 

Seabiscuit -- Total L.A. production.  Lord of the Rings?  New Zealand.

The Departed -- Boston.  Little Miss Sunshine -- Los Angeles. 
Dreamgirls was totally filmed and produced in Los Angeles.  Not even nominated for Picture.

Milk total Los Angeles and California production. Slumdog Millionaire -- India. 

The Social Network and The Kids Are All Right -- Los Angeles
The King's Speech -- Great Britain

A lot of years there are films that had nothing to do with being shot or taking place in Los Angeles
that are nominated.  In 2009 all TEN best picture nominees fit that criteria.  And with AMPAS members
all over Great Britain, New York (east coast) and Australia, it's a ludicrous idea.

By the way, this excuse idea has never come up as a reason a film didn't win best film before
Brokeback Mountain lost Best Picture to crash. Of those mentioned above, L.A. Confidential, Traffic, Erin
Brokovich, Seabiscuit, Little Miss Sunshine, Dreamgirls, Milk, The Social Network and The Kids
Are All Right -- none of those were expected to win.  You might have an argument if one did over
the favorite but--didn't happen.

And there were probably some people who voted against it because they don't like gay people.

If homophobia was a reason AT ALL that people voted against BBM, first, second (?) or third...it was
THE reason; the deciding factor.  The "primary reason" it lost.  Ebert is too blinded by his love of crash,
the fact his wife is African-American...he can't even be bothered to notice that only another 2-3 groups
agreed with his assessment of Crash that year.

And if you want to continue this discussion, move it over to the Awards Aftermath thread.

[bubba]

* Crash employed hundreds of Los Angeles actors and crew members who all urged Academy members to vote for the movie as a reward for keeping production in the city rather than fleeing to another American state, Canada or even Australia. They wanted to make a political statement about holding onto runaway Hollywood movies.


He wasn't the only person to come up with that theory!


And remember Colour Purple?  We could go on and on and on....



Direct me to the other thread! 

[Lyle (Mooska)]

That is why I posted that link (to show you again)  Rodger Ebert didn't chose Crash because he disliked Brokeback, he said  - Crash Brokeback and Munich were in his top three.

I have never once stated or implied anything different since I've been a member of this forum.
(He said "top five.")

Then you agree [with Ebert] that Crash was the Best Film of 2005?

Finally an answer: you disagree.
(That wasn't so hard, was it?  )

If I had to rate them it would be Brokeback, Crash and then Munich.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

* Crash employed hundreds of Los Angeles actors and crew members who all urged Academy members to vote for the movie as a reward for keeping production in the city rather than fleeing to another American state, Canada or even Australia. They wanted to make a political statement about holding onto runaway Hollywood movies.


He wasn't the only person to come up with that theory!

Why wasn't that done with all those other films I mentioned?  It only proves the point
I was making in the first place. The official Oscar book by Robert Osborne even discounts
all of these things.

And remember Colour Purple?  We could go on and on and on....

Except, again, no one thought it was going to win Best Picture that year.
So that's another false argument.

Direct me to the other thread!  

I'm not going to encourage you! (So maybe I should stop answering your posts!)
You've been saying the same things since way back when you were Lola.