yovargas wrote:Last night I saw the Best Picture Oscar nominee Three Billboards. It was quite bad on numerous levels and I am baffled by its critical acclaim.
Based on your "top 250 films" thread, you often are.
Well, sometimes I will see a movie and think "I did not enjoy that but I can see why others are into it" (for example, most Tarantino movies). But other times I will see a movie and think "why are people telling me this bad movie is good when it is bad? "
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
So far my favourite films of this year in descending order;
Blade Runner 2049
Get Out
Three Billboards
Logan
War for the Planet of the Apes
Dunkirk
The Last Jedi
Thor; Ragnarok
The Lego Batman Movie
Coco
I have yet to see The Shape of Water (it's del Toro!), Ladybird, Darkest Hour and The Phantom Thread.
I saw The disaster artist a while back. While I enjoyed it, I didn't think it was a very good film. (I've seen the Room a couple of times and I do enjoy that one more ) It felt more like the movie was made to laugh or cringe at Tommy Wiseau rather than to understand him.
I can understand finding Billboards entertaining as it's definitely not boring (though not what I'd call funny - it's a darn heavy story!) but that script has lots and lots and lots of issues, gaps, and weird flaws. Like Frelga was arguing about for Civil War, it's a movie that falls apart at the slightest bit of examination.
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
yovargas wrote:I can understand finding Billboards entertaining as it's definitely not boring (though not what I'd call funny - it's a darn heavy story!) but that script has lots and lots and lots of issues, gaps, and weird flaws. Like Frelga was arguing about for Civil War, it's a movie that falls apart at the slightest bit of examination.
It is indeed a heavy story, but the movie is permeated with dark humour, and I can honestly say I laughed out loud many times. Some scenes - some moments - were almost slapstick, a kind of Tarantino-grade magical realism that wasn't intended to be taken seriously.
At other times, I felt the weight of the moment.
Sent from a tiny phone keyboard via Tapatalk - typos inevitable.
Mornings wouldn't suck so badly if they came later in the day.
Huh, that's really interesting. The tonal mish mash was one of my major problems with the movie. The juxtaposition of very serious, very heavy drama with the occasional moments of straight up goofy humor was baffling to me. It was like little bits from a different movie, perhaps a Seth Rogan comedy, kept slipping into the otherwise serious and grounded affairs. I found that extremely confusing as it felt like the movie didn't know what it wanted to be but if for you that created an intriguing, interesting atmosphere, I suppose I can see that, odd as that seems to me.
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
While there was dark humour, I didn't find most of it tonally jarring.
It was funny in a way Breaking Bad or a Coen-brothers films usually are. In fact it almost felt like a Coen-brothers film.
The only problematic character was Mildred's ex-husband's new girlfriend who came off way too cartoonist. But she was barely in the film, so yeah.
I thought Dixon came off very cartoony in the first half of the movie before the movie makes the extremely (and imo very hard to swallow) sharp pivot to try and make him a sympathetic character.
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
Three Billboards' script just feels like it's trying way too hard. The character pivot yovargas mentioned is one good example. The entire
Hidden text.
police department firebombing scene
is just absurd in how it's shot and staged, and then there are almost no consequences in the aftermath besides Dixon's contrived change.
Three Billboards was certainly trying to channel the Coen Brothers, but generally their movies feel more organically written and believable (even with some outlandish moments) and balance cynicism and comedy better. Also obviously inspired by Flannery O'Connor, but perhaps without really understanding her work. The cast was great and I laughed at times, but on the whole it was pretty unsatisfying.
The Great Race. Good clean fun, but I think it would have been a better movie if Maggie and Lily teamed up in Boracho and got their own car. Related - I can't believe there is really a town named Boracho in Texas.
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Unsurprisingly, it’s a difficult a complex film to break down (or untangle, to use an analogy more appropriate to the title). I had wavered a bit on whether to see it. I do like a good long-skirt drama (to use vison’s term) and being about a dressmaker in 1950s London it is about as much of a long-skirt drama as you could possibly get. But I don’t often see films in the cinema, and it’s a bit of a departure from the blockbusters and historical set pieces I usually go for.
I was glad I did see it, because I enjoyed it. But it is, like Dunkirk, very much a film made for people who are passionate about film. The main character being an obsessive fashion designer committed to his artistic vision is hardly inappropriate, because it is an extremely subtle movie brilliantly executed – the cinematography, the writing, the sound, the visual design, and the acting are all absolutely superb. There’s not much I could say about Daniel Day Lewis’ performance that hasn’t already been said, but I’m left in awe of his ability to change himself completely from one character to another. I found myself looking in vain for any hint of his other characters. Indeed, he’s so perfect for the role – “a perfectionist playing a perfectionist” as one critic put it – it seemed like it was written for him. But the two female leads are just as compelling.
I wanted to emphasise just how subtle a movie it is. There are lengthy scenes, for example, where the characters stare at each other wordlessly. I’ve come to appreciate film as a medium more over the years and I think my tastes have shifted to the point I would like a movie like Phantom Thread, but I still feel like I missed quite a lot. I’m not quite sure, even now, if it is meant to be a drama or a black comedy. I’m not sure who’d I recommend it to, because I can see a lot of people being bored by it. I liked it, but I don’t think I quite have enough of a film critic’s taste to really love it. But it’s a magnificent piece of cinema.
I saw Phantom Thread too and my review would be very similar to yours. An exquisite, beautifully made film that I can't exactly say I enjoyed even if I admired many of its qualities. A big part of it for me was that, as well made and well acted as it was, the movie never gave me a reason to care about its characters and their relationships. The movie is mostly something of a twisted love story in which I don't really care if the principles are in love.
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
yovargas wrote:I saw Phantom Thread too and my review would be very similar to yours. An exquisite, beautifully made film that I can't exactly say I enjoyed even if I admired many of its qualities. A big part of it for me was that, as well made and well acted as it was, the movie never gave me a reason to care about its characters and their relationships. The movie is mostly something of a twisted love story in which I don't really care if the principles are in love.
This is what led me to speculate that it might actually be a black comedy. The relationship between the main characters is so dysfunctional it almost seems farcical. That, and the little moments of humour which keep popping up.
I wouldn't call it a comedy but I do think q a good bit of it is intended to be funny in a bleak sort of way
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So, after his super cool appearance in Civil War, I was very excited for a Black Panther movie. Then the trailers came out and I got worried as I didn't much like how it was feeling. But then came the rave reviews - the best reviewed Marvel movie by a good margin - and I got excited again. And now I have seen it during it's massive opening weekend and my thoughts were..... it was.... pretty okay I guess.
I couldn't quite put my finger on it but something about it just felt a bit off to me. The story is intriguing, there are a bunch of really good performances, a lot of fun art design, but somehow there was just something missing, some umph to really make it come to life. I'm chalking it up to weak directing, as some of it had an almost amateurish feel to it, like a novice director given a big budget and a great cast who's not sure how to make the best of it. A disappointment for me, especially since everyone else seems to be loving it.
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
I wouldn't call it a comedy but I do think a good bit of it is intended to be funny in a bleak sort of way.
************
So, after his super cool appearance in Civil War, I was very excited for a Black Panther movie. Then the trailers came out and I got worried as I didn't much like how it was feeling. But then came the rave reviews - the best reviewed Marvel movie by a good margin - and I got excited again. And now I have seen it during it's massive opening weekend and my thoughts were..... it was.... pretty okay I guess.
I couldn't quite put my finger on it but something about it just felt a bit off to me. The story is intriguing, there are a bunch of really good performances, a lot of fun art design, but somehow there was just something missing, some umph to really make it come to life. I'm chalking it up to weak directing, as some of it had an almost amateurish feel to it, like a novice director given a big budget and a great cast who's not sure how to make the best of it. A disappointment for me, especially since everyone else seems to be loving it.
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
I haven't seen Black Panther yet. But I'm excited about the film mostly because of the director as I loved his previous film, Creed. And that did not feel like an amateurish attempt by any margin. But we'll see.
I've hardly liked any of the Marvel or DC flicks so far (Civil War, Guardians, Ragnarok and Ant-Man are exceptions), so I am hoping this one would change my perception of the superhero-craze.
Also, as far as this years' Oscar nominations are concerned I've found most of the films ranging from ok to quite good. But nothing really stands out, unlike last year. Have yet to see Phantom Thread and Ladybird.
The Shape of Water was very good, my favourite of the nominations so far. But something was off that does not really make me want to watch it again. And Pan's Labyrinth is still del Toro's best work by far.
Smaug's voice wrote:
Also, as far as this years' Oscar nominations are concerned I've found most of the films ranging from ok to quite good. But nothing really stands out, unlike last year.
Funny you say that as I feel just the opposite - nothing stood out for me last year but a lot did this year. I'm curious what grabbed you last year?
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
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