Let's Talk Movies! #21...Oscar Bait, Christmas Movies, "Bad" Movies You Loved......)

[Vash01]

I loved Searching for Sugarman. Go see that if it doesn't conflict with anything else.

I want to see it, but I don't believe it's been the theaters here.

[Sofia Alexandra]

I want to see Sugar Man, but I'm quite certain that it'll get shown on the telly here sooner or later, or even in regular theatres, so I'm thinking it might be better to see something I might not get the chance to see again.

[rjblue]

Well, I'll be a vote against the majority here.

My daughter was looking forward very much to seeing Silver Linings Playbook, and we were disappointed that it only played for 3 days in early December. I was very happy when it returned for a longer stay last week, and we went to see it last Friday.

We sat through the movie while one section of people laughed uproriously, and another squirmed in discomfort at the idea of laughing at a difficult illness. We left the movie and were both a bit hesitant to admit how much we hated it. It was nothing like we were expecting.

Bradley and Jennifer were very good at portraying their characters. But I just can't see anything funny about a severely bipolar man falling in love with a girl who probably has borderline personality disorder. If I were his mom, I would not be smiling sweetly at these two people getting together. We both hated the ending, and felt the movie really minimized the difficulty of their lives. Neither of them were anywhere near well enough to be a good choice for a romance.

We were definitely watching the movie with biased eyes, because my daughter has to cope with major depressive disorder, and I have a close friend at work who has lived with bipolar for 12 years, and I just could not find much to laugh about with this. People were laughing at their crazyness and disordered thinking, and it just made me angry.

eta- I just read the wiki for the book that the movie is based on- what a much better ending. If they'd made that the second half of the movie, instead of turning it into Dirty Dancing, it would probably have lived up to my expectations.

[escaflowne9282]

Hopefully, I'll enjoy Lincoln. I sort of loathe Spielberg's films. Especially ones where he tries to be profound or artistic like in Munich because it just shows off his lack of real depth for me.

I realize I'm painfully late to posting this, but IMHO Munich was a total mess. I could not sit through that film again without hitting FF. It was long and pointless. Lincoln was a decent historical study of a person, but the film itself didn't really grab me. It actually seemed to be a pretty generic , although enjoyable, movie. I just don't see it as the Oscar frontrunner.

[ioana]

Other major movies coming out in the next three months:

December 7 - Hyde Park on Hudson (Biographical Drama with Bill Murray, Laura Linney and Olivia Williams)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQaScjiWDyY

Went to see this over the weekend and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Not the fastest-paced movie, but the visit from the King and Queen was interesting to watch -even more so since I think they had actual footage of the real people at the end credits. Sam West (Bertie) and Bill Murray were both great. Not that impressed with Olivia Williams as Eleanor Roosevelt, but all in all it's worth seeing -at the very least on dvd.

[peibeck]

rjblue, I'm sorry you didn't enjoy "Silver Linings Playbook." The director was actually drawn to the material because one of his family members is bipolar.

I also didn't realize that Jennifer Lawrence replaced Anne Hathaway, who bowed out because of scheduling conflight with making "The Dark Knight Rises."

[PeterG]

Only two smaller movies being released this week:

January 18 The Baytown Outlaws (Action comedy with Eva Longoria, Billy Bob Thorton, Travis Fimmel, Paul Wesley [Vampire Diaries] and Andre Braugher)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj-YDK-XJcg

January 18 LUV (Drama with Common, Charles S. Dutton and Danny Glover)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyvfVyV1eq0

[rjblue]

rjblue, I'm sorry you didn't enjoy "Silver Linings Playbook." The director was actually drawn to the material because one of his family members is bipolar. "

I looked at reactions on the internet from the mental health community and they are quite mixed. The first part of the movie does a good job of portraying a manic state, but I find that difficult to laugh at. It didn't show any of the debilitating depressive state though.And people like the idea that there is a "happy ever after" out there for everyone, and certainly people with bipolar can live fulfilling lives. My friend has actually found the woman of his dreams. She has a good understanding of the needs of his condition, and is capable of being a partner to a man with bipolar.

If the movie had gone with the original story of the novel, where he actually reaches a crisis after the dance contest, and it is only much later that he and Tiffany start to sort out their feelings, I probably would have enjoyed it more.

I think Jennifer Lawrence was perfect to play Tiffany though, and probably deserved her GG. I haven't seen the other movies, so I don't know what her competition was.

[all_empty]

Okay, I have a slew of screenings coming up, most of which I've heard are pretty dreadful and rightfully buried in January.

I already saw "Mama" which was totally derivative of "Paranormal Activity 3," "The Grudge" and "The Possession." There was one scene that had me jump out of my seat but the creature reveal received more laughs than screams. I'm not sure why Guillermo del Toro put his name on this; it totally lacks any of his stylish creativity.

Next up are that Nicholas Sparks film and that Melissa McCarthy comedy; both titles elude me at the moment.

[Vash01]

I finally saw 'Zero Dark Thirty' today. It was at the top of my 'to see' list. It was very well made, but because of its late release and the hype surrounding it, I saw slightly disappointed. It's always better when you have no expectations when you go to see a movie. IMO Kathryn Bigelow should have received an Oscar nom as Director. The score by Alexander Desplat is very good. I don't remember if he got Oscar nom for it. Jessica Chastain is very good, but it's never clear what drives her to do the kind of work she does. If the movie has a flaw, that's the one I would mention. She is clearly a fictional character, to make the movie more interesting, so they could have shown some kind of background story. The only thing that comes to my mind is that she saw her friends get killed doing this job, but it still doesn't explain why she chose to do this in the first place. Other than that, the movie- although rather slow initially- picks up pace and becomes more interesting as time goes on. For me the most exciting part was when the Navy Seals got in the helicopter, their night vision glasses, and the whole atmosphere at the time. Chastain's reaction to OBL's killing was similar to Hillary Clinton's- intentional or just good acting?

[Vash01]

I saw the trailer of a movie '42' that's coming up. It's about baseball's Jackie Robinson. Looks interesting.

[Buzz]

jOBS - The latest biopic about the late co-founder of Apple Inc opens at the Sundance film festival but I am stil to see a trailer. I wonder if they are worried about the movie being compared to "Pirates of Silicon Valley" and falling short. I would love to see a trailer!

[michiruwater]

Jennifer Lawrence should be on David Letterman every night

She talks about the Meryl Streep thing at the Golden Globes during this. Apparently Lindsey Lohan turned it into a big drama, but I don't follow Twitter so I had no idea.

[jenny12]

Jennifer Lawrence should be on David Letterman every night

She talks about the Meryl Streep thing at the Golden Globes during this. Apparently Lindsey Lohan turned it into a big drama, but I don't follow Twitter so I had no idea.

Very funny! Lindsay Lohan ! It was an obvious joke!

[Sofia Alexandra]

Watched Searching for Sugar Man in class today. It's an extraordinarily unlikely tale, beautifully filmed and edited, containing a hefty dose of great music and amazingly interesting people. The positive buzz is well deserved, I'd say.

[Cachoo]

I was looking at the watchable movies list and one title I see a lot (and admittedly love) is "Love Actually." Do you think this is or will become a classic? I wonder about "modern classics:" Specifically what is the time frame and more importantly, what modern films are already considered classics?

[VIETgrlTerifa]

I despise Love, Actually myself.

[michiruwater]

I don't think that just because a movie is very watchable it will necessarily become a classic.

[Rex]

I finally got to see Albert Nobbs. So heartbreaking. But a superb performance by Glenn Close. She also helped write the screenplay.

[PeterG]

Smaller movies coming out this week:

January 25 John Dies at the End (Comedy/Fantasy/Horror with new cast and Paul Giamatti)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my9Pr-W92SM

January 25 Yossi (Romance from Israel, continuation of Yossi and Jagger)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUOBN_uahrI

January 23 The Pirogue (Drama, unknown cast. From imdb.com: “A group of African men leave Senegal in a pirogue captained by a local fisherman to undertake the treacherous crossing of the Atlantic to Spain where they believe better lives and prospects are waiting for them.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYPBGPFYR18

January 25 Knife Fight (Drama with Rob Lowe, Julie Bowen, Carrie-Anne Moss, Eric McCormack and Jennifer Morrison)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rc9Uq4I5AA

January 25 Supporting Characters (Comedy with new cast and Lena Dunhma)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzDYHJerN1s

January 25 Noobz Comedy with new cast and Casper Van Dien and Jason Mewes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOAr2vi-f-I

"John Dies At The End" looks so strange that I have to add that to my To See list. Yossi looks very sweet, so that's another one for me to see. The Pirogue looks good, but I'll wait until one of you sees it and gives the rest of us a review before I decided to add it to my list. The other three look low budget (to uber-low budget by the time you get to the last one).