[redshifter]

it won best picture? i didn't follow the oscars this year.

giamatti was very good in this picture, one of the reasons i liked it. well, i didn't realize how much i liked it until a few days later, when i found myself still thinking about it. that's rare for a film to stay with me. the drunk scenes were painful to watch, especially for someone's who's been there. i don't know if giamatti was really drunk in the scene where he "drinks and dails", but he captured perfectly what it is like to try to drown your sorrows.

i plan on buying the dvd soon.

 

[timo_nyc]

FWIW I thought the picture was terrible. I didn't care at all about the characters or the problems of their own making. Apart from some very funny scenes the whole thing was a desert of self-indulgence.

Just my opinion, of course -- among my friends I'm in a distinct minority with this view.

 

[redshifter]

why should dislike of characters preclude a film's quality? if i knew the two main characters in real life i probably wouldn't like them either. it didn't make the movie less intersting, well written and acted though.

i can think of a number of classic films with repulsive main characters:
clockwork orange
blade runner
resevoir dogs
psycho
glenngary glennross
kill bill
etc...

didn't make them bad films, either.

 

[Patrickhat2001]

Good film, yes, but I just couldn't buy the relationship between Miles and Jack--there really wasn't any chemistry there. Needed more rapport, less arguing. Also they didn't seem to have anything in common--personalities and interests seemed almost totally opposite.

 

[Jeff E]

Quote:

Originally Posted by redshifter why should dislike of characters preclude a film's quality? if i knew the two main characters in real life i probably wouldn't like them either. it didn't make the movie less intersting, well written and acted though. i can think of a number of classic films with repulsive main characters: clockwork orange blade runner resevoir dogs psycho glenngary glennross kill bill etc... didn't make them bad films, either.

Point well taken.

To be perfectly honest, I believe I initially didn't enjoy the movie and afterwards I tried to puzzle out why. So the lack of sympathetic characters was a post hoc justification of my reaction, rather than my overall reaction resulting from my reasoning about the film. In other words, I did not like it first and I then decided why. (I suspect many of us operate this way much of the time.)

Just because others like a movie doesn't mean I should. In fact, I kind of assumed that's what taste means. That is, in matters of taste one need not be concerned about consensual validity or justification. It seems no more reasonable to me to argue about taste in film than it is to argue about taste in headphones. You like Senns and I don't. Does one of us have to be wrong?

 

[TenaciousO]

I loved this movie. More deserving than "Million Dollar Baby" imo. I think it's out on dvd today so I might have to pick it up.

 

[Edwood]

Nope, haven't seen it.

-Ed

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff E Point well taken. To be perfectly honest, I believe I initially didn't enjoy the movie and afterwards I tried to puzzle out why. So the lack of sympathetic characters was a post hoc justification of my reaction, rather than my overall reaction resulting from my reasoning about the film. In other words, I did not like it first and I then decided why. (I suspect many of us operate this way much of the time.) Just because others like a movie doesn't mean I should. In fact, I kind of assumed that's what taste means. That is, in matters of taste one need not be concerned about consensual validity or justification. It seems no more reasonable to me to argue about taste in film than it is to argue about taste in headphones. You like Senns and I don't. Does one of us have to be wrong?

oh no, nobody is saying you have to LIKE a film. i was responding in fact to timo nyc's assertion that unlikeable characters=bad film. liking a film is different than declaring it good or bad. i can like bad films just as much as i can dislike good ones.

 

[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by redshifter it won best picture? i didn't follow the oscars this year.

I didn't say it won, I said it deserved to win.

 

[Todd R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by redshifter giamatti was very good in this picture, one of the reasons i liked it. well, i didn't realize how much i liked it until a few days later, when i found myself still thinking about it. that's rare for a film to stay with me. the drunk scenes were painful to watch, especially for someone's who's been there. i don't know if giamatti was really drunk in the scene where he "drinks and dails", but he captured perfectly what it is like to try to drown your sorrows.

Giamatti was very good in it, I was impressed.
In the scene where he's talking to his Ex and she tells him she's pregnant, you could really see in his face he was trying hard not to loose it in front of her.
Not many can pull off that quality of non-verbal acting.

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears I didn't say it won, I said it deserved to win.

i didn't follow your posts either...

 

[Jeff E]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd R Miles, the intelligent, novel writer, wine expert, but very troubled, an alcoholic and still hurting from his divorce. He has almost nothing, crappy car crappy apartment, can't maintain a relationship, steals from his Mother (that was pretty low), can't find success even after writing a good novel.

Oh no! The red Saab convertible was one thing in the movie that I really liked. I kept thinking, "At least he has a cool car." It broke my heart when they intentionally wrecked it. You mean to tell me that it was supposed to be crappy? Damn! I really didn't get the movie.

 

[sleepkyng]

the saab was this old convertible beater that he probably bought ten years before and has held onto because it's basically the last tie he has to his youth (besides Jack, which IS why they are still friends)

Jack and Miles remind me of many best friend pairs i've met.

Come on, you always have the dorky tag-along friend who bails your drunk ass out at the last minute

excellent subtlety in this movie, really was a joy to watch, especially being an Oregonian and finally having a movie that really captures what Oregonian's can't stand about bay area californians (FLAME SUIT ON

).

just playing, it is true that oregonians aren't all about californians, but the characters were genuinely endearing and interesting.

Bunnyears,
i'm with you on the Austen similairity, though i think she's a bit crueller to her characters, don't you think?

When he steals money from his mom, AWESOME scene.

 

[TenaciousO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd R Giamatti was very good in it, I was impressed. In the scene where he's talking to his Ex and she tells him she's pregnant, you could really see in his face he was trying hard not to loose it in front of her. Not many can pull off that quality of non-verbal acting.

I'm glad that I wasn't the only one who was impressed by this scene! One the best acting moments I've seen.

 

[Todd R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff E Oh no! The red Saab convertible was one thing in the movie that I really liked. I kept thinking, "At least he has a cool car." It broke my heart when they intentionally wrecked it. You mean to tell me that it was supposed to be crappy? Damn! I really didn't get the movie.

You're not being sarcastic are you?