BetterMost, Wyoming & Brokeback Mountain Forum
The World Beyond BetterMost => The Culture Tent => Topic started by: Kd5000 on February 05, 2009, 11:53:30 am
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year. Unfortunately, I have not seen MILK or SLUMDOG so I don't know if Ebert is trying to make up for BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN losing. What do others think? Is MILK that good?
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090125/OSCARS/901259993
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year. Unfortunately, I have not seen MILK or SLUMDOG so I don't know if Ebert is trying to make up for BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN losing. What do others think? Is MILK that good?
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090125/OSCARS/901259993
Milk is in my top two or three of the year, so I don't think Ebert is out of line. I probably liked it better than Slumdog, actually, though that one was certainly up there, too. Other favorites of mine were Frost/Nixon and Gran Torino. I'm going to see The Wrestler this afternoon, so I'll get back to you about that one.
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I stopped listening to Roger Ebert after his antics in 2006 that helped "Crash" end up in the top spot. I figure anyone who can't see that Brokeback is miles above that movie doesn't know peanuts.
It would be ironic if Heath wins an Oscar over Phillip Seymour Hoffman in the same year that a gay-themed movie wins Best Picture. Not likely, but it's weird how things can turn out.
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I stopped listening to Roger Ebert after his antics in 2006 that helped end up with "Crash" in the top spot. I figure anyone who can't see that Brokeback is miles above that movie doesn't know peanuts.
It would be ironic if Heath wins an Oscar over Phillip Seymour Hoffman in the same year that a gay-themed movie wins Best Picture. Not likely, but it's weird how things can turn out.
Me Too. I think he had a lot to do with those idiots choosing that rag piece of crap...
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Milk is in my top two or three of the year, so I don't think Ebert is out of line. I probably liked it better than Slumdog, actually, though that one was certainly up there, too. Other favorites of mine were Frost/Nixon and Gran Torino. I'm going to see The Wrestler this afternoon, so I'll get back to you about that one.
Well I like Doubt, Frost/Nixon, Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons and had mixed feelings about Revolutionary Road.
R.R. was probably the most depressing movie I've seen in along time. I going to read the book to see if The Wheelers (RR) are more sympathetic in literature as they seemed rather selfish and so above it all in the film. Gran Torino was a lesser Clint Eastwood film. Just my opinion. MILK, I know how it ends. Though I'm told it's not a depressing film.
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Well I like Doubt, Frost/Nixon, Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons and had mixed feelings about Revolutionary Road.
R.R. was probably the most depressing movie I've seen in along time. I going to read the book to see if The Wheelers (RR) are more sympathetic in literature as they seemed rather selfish and so above it all in the film. Gran Torino was a lesser Clint Eastwood film. Just my opinion. MILK, I know how it ends. Though I'm told it's not a depressing film.
Nope, I didn't find Milk particularly depressing.
CCoBB was visually arresting, though for me not particularly dramatically satisfying. A bit too Forrest Gumpy (long, picaresque tale of unusual hero who meets assorted semi-eccentric characters and maintains tragic lifelong romantic/friendship relationship, narrrated by Southern-accented hero). But whoever did the makeup should get an Oscar for sure. And I'm not sure it would have worked with many other actors; much of the drama, for me, comes from waiting for Brad to develop his full Pittiful beauty. What if, say, John C. Reilly had played the role?
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I stopped listening to Roger Ebert after his antics in 2006 that helped "Crash" end up in the top spot. I figure anyone who can't see that Brokeback is miles above that movie doesn't know peanuts.
It would be ironic if Heath wins an Oscar over Phillip Seymour Hoffman in the same year that a gay-themed movie wins Best Picture. Not likely, but it's weird how things can turn out.
What did he say about BBM? I just read his review of the movie and it's very positive. ???
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What did he say about BBM? I just read his review of the movie and it's very positive. ???
It's not that he didn't like BBM, but both he and his partner Roeper got on a "Crash" high not long before the voting ended and started saying how they thought it should be the one to get the Oscar. I've never forgiven them for that. Maybe they succumbed to the politics of it all, I don't know. I still hold that any critic worth his salt had to be nuts to look at both of those pictures and decide that BBM wasn't the superior film.
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It's not that he didn't like BBM, but both he and his partner Roeper got on a "Crash" high not long before the voting ended and started saying how they thought it should be the one to get the Oscar. I've never forgiven them for that. Maybe they succumbed to the politics of it all, I don't know. I still hold that any critic worth his salt had to be nuts to look at both of those pictures and decide that BBM wasn't the superior film.
I generally respect Roger Ebert and don't think he seems the type to be swayed by politics (though some say that his wife being black may have had something to do with it). I just think that in this particular case, he went a little crazy.
Most if not all of the film critics I like go crazy from time to time. In a couple of cases, this even involved Brokeback Mountain. Stephanie Zacharek of Salon -- a good critic and normally fairly reliable -- actually gave it a mediocre review.
I guess I'm not that surprised if I liked Gran Torino and some critic didn't. In the case of BBM, it seems particularly shocking -- how could they fail to appreciate the best movie in the history of cinema? But oh well. If I like the critic otherwise, I just try to forget about it.
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I generally respect Roger Ebert and don't think he seems the type to be swayed by politics (though some say that his wife being black may have had something to do with it). I just think that in this particular case, he went a little crazy.
Most if not all of the film critics I like go crazy from time to time. In a couple of cases, this even involved Brokeback Mountain. Stephanie Zacharek of Salon -- a good critic and normally fairly reliable -- actually gave it a mediocre review.
I guess I'm not that surprised if I liked Gran Torino and some critic didn't. In the case of BBM, it seems particularly shocking -- how could they fail to appreciate the best movie in the history of cinema? But oh well. If I like the critic otherwise, I just try to forget about it.
Stephanie Zacharek literally gives me hives. And her Brokeback review caused me to not renew my Salon subscription.
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The latest issue of The New Yorker also favors Milk.
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I saw Milk this afternoon. I thought was a really good movie, and even though I never really liked Sean Penn, I thought he gave a riveting performance as Harvey Milk. I like the way they showed actual pictures of the real people, and pictures of the actors portraying them, at the end of the movie.
I liked Gran Torino. I thought Benjamin Button was sort of boring, although I was impressed with the way they made Brad & Cate age. I haven't had a desire to see Slumdog, until recently, when everyone is raving about it, and it's up for so many awards. It has peaked my curiosity, so I think that's the next movie I want to go see. I saw a preview for the Wrestler today while waiting for Milk to begin. Not sure if I want to see that or not. Serious crayons - waiting on your thoughts on The Wrestler after you see it today!
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I loved The Wrestler. Mickey Rourke's performance was really amazing -- funny, sad, repelling, likable. Marisa Tomei was good, too. It was an interesting insiders glimpse of pro wrestling, plus a poignant tale of a man in decline. I highly recommend it.
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I hope 'Milk' and Sean Penn win so I'm glad Ebert is behind 'Milk'. For good (Milk) or ill (Crash) he is influential in the industry. I read his reviews, some are very perceptive (IMO) some are only so so. His review of BBM was positive, but it was apparent he really didn't get what a masterpiece it is.
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Milk is a very good film, especially the performances. The camerawork was poor in spots, shaky when it should not be shaky, and grainy and vague. I didn't think the plot did justice to Harvey Milk, and Mayor Moscone was just an edifice. The soundtrack didn't really make an impression on me. The weakest part of the movie, in my opinion was the big demonstration scenes, which looked fake and staged, actually choreographed. Sean Penn and Josh Broslin were excellent, as were all the performers.
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It would be ironic if Heath wins an Oscar over Phillip Seymour Hoffman in the same year that a gay-themed movie wins Best Picture.
I feel strongly that Oscars are often cumulative. (For example, if Denzel Washington had been a complete unknown beforeTraining Day, there's no way he would have won for it.) I think PSH's win for Capote was also because of the multitude of character-actor roles he'd done leading up to that.
One interesting thing about the reaction to Milk is that I haven't heard/read anywhere about any mainstream shock at the guy-guy affection (that leading actors such as Penn and Franco are unafraid of it)... nor the guy-guy affection that's being shown elsewhere in soaps, cable TV series, etc.
My point is, Brokeback Mountain has been a HUGE watershed in that regard — I think it truly blew out the circuits. 8)
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The way Ebert raved and raved and raved about Synecdoche, NY, I'm surprised he didn't say that was the best pic of the year.
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Milk is a very good film, especially the performances. The camerawork was poor in spots, shaky when it should not be shaky, and grainy and vague.
I think the graininess (plus the way the color seemed to favor cyan and yellow) was deliberate, for a 70s-era look.
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I think the graininess (plus the way the color seemed to favor cyan and yellow) was deliberate, for a 70s-era look.
Agreed.
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Finally got around to watch Milk. I liked it a lot. Very high production values and very good casting - especially Emily Hirsch and Sean Penn. It was very interesting to get to know more about the Castro area and what part it played back then. The movie is an important reminder of the fact that rights just don´t come your way, you have to stand up and fight for them.
And the murders...I knew what was coming of course, still I sat there and whispered "no, no, no"
Terrific movie.