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Sludge 
"Charlie Don't Serf!"
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 Posted - 03/08/2013 : 19:53:11
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quote:
Originally posted by Wheelz
Hi Joe!
Glad you're carrying on the tradition. I didn't make it to the Showcase this year due to being in the middle of a cross-country move. Hopefully next year I'll be back here comparing notes with you!
I did get a chance to see Argo, Silver Linings Playbook, and Lincoln. I really enjoyed all three.
Argo was definitely the best film I saw in the past year, and I was happy to see it win.
I was prepared to be bored during Lincoln, but I wasn't at all; it kept me completely engaged throughout. Daniel Day Lewis was transcendent. I would have also been happy if this film had taken the prize.
Silver Linings is a terrific rom-com, but despite its dark side... it's a rom-com. I liked it a lot, but was a bit surprised it was nominated at all. As for comparisons to The Fighter, the difference is that I hated just about every character in that film. In SLP, Russell and the cast make the characters flawed yet still likeable.
Though I'm sure I would have enjoyed seeing all nine films, the only one left that I really want to see is Django Unchained. Tarantino seldom disappoints me. The others, meh. I freely admit that this attitude is why I "force" myself to watch all of the nominees most years. I'm often pleasantly surprised, and there have been very few films over the years I've actively disliked (cough*Precious*cough).
See you next February!
Off topic, but... Wheelz! Holy Moley. Best wishes for your move. |
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randall 
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 03/10/2013 : 00:57:22
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Silver Linings Playbook - I had completely forgotten that this was a David O. Russell film, but all through it I kept having flashbacks to The Fighter. The two films are cut from the same cloth: compelling, region-specific, slice-of-life family drama but with a very conventional narrative structure. If there's a flaw to Silver Linings, it's that it caves in too much to Hollywood convention in its third act. Most movies would have been content to climax with "the big game," "the big dance contest," or "the big I-Love-You," but this movie hedges its bets and includes all three. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are both quite fine here, but to me, they're too pretty for people with these problems. It's also nice to see Bobby DeNiro in something respectable for a change, but has anyone noticed that his character here is not that far from his role in the Fockers franchise? GRADE: B
I think, and thought from the first night I saw it shortly before its release, that this is nothing more than a wobbly romcom, the modicum of interest coming from the psychologically hampered couple. Yes, that aspect does provide some tabasco that you don't normally see in the genre. Yes, I like Jacki Weaver and Bobby De Niro. But IMO this is far and away the most overrated film of the year. |
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2013 Best Picture Showcase: a report
