as usual, daniel day lewis was brilliant, but i thought this movie was so boring. i felt like there were some very very very good scenes, but i had to wait 40 minutes for the next one to come around.
as for the twins...i was super confused. but maybe that was because i kept dozing off. i think i slept through most of the first 45 minutes.
i think the soundtrack created a very jarring and dramatic backdrop but i wasn't really feeling it.
but then again...i fell asleep during citizen kane too.[/sacrilege]
i don't actually feel that strongly about the flick, but in the interest of being contrary, i just thought it was really overrated.
i don't actually feel that strongly about the flick, but in the interest of being contrary, i just thought it was really overrated.
i feel that way about most of the pt anderson flicks i've seen.
The thing is - the only movie of his I really consider overrated would be "Magnolia" but then again, everything about that film screams "OVER" - overbaked, overdone, etc.
A lot of folks never caught "Hard Eight," and I think "Boogie Nights" deserves whatever accolades it gets. To me, "Punch-Drunk Love" flew under a lot of folks radar as some quirky Adam Sandler film but it's really a lovely little film that has none of the pretenses of the previous two flicks.
I actually started to roll my eyes during the bowling alley scene. But after the bowling pin and him sitting there "We're finshed." It came together nicely.
Were there parts of the story that revealed Plainview's pathology to you? I never saw anything expilicit. I really like that WTF part of character development.
I actually started to roll my eyes during the bowling alley scene. But after the bowling pin and him sitting there "We're finshed." It came together nicely.
Were there perts of the story that revealed Plainview's pathology to you? I never saw anything expilicit. I really like that WTF part of character development.
Not sure if this was brought up, but according to IMDB, the original ending in the bowling alley was supposed to be more brutal.
Were there parts of the story that revealed Plainview's pathology to you? I never saw anything expilicit.
The stuff he said to his "brother" about how he was so competitive he had no feelings for other people & couldn't stand to see anyone else succeed. Not necessarily explicit, but clear enough that things weren't gonna end well for somebody.
This doesn't open in Bmore until next Friday, but I'm excited for it. I know people are very divided on Punch-Drunk Love, but I loved it. I saw that film as Anderson finally finding his own voice after a series of promising but flawed films in which he imitated other directors, primarily Scorsese and Altman.
While this looks like a return to the "big" filmmaking of his earlier films, I'm hoping it'll still have more of a personal vision than Magnolia, for instance (which felt to me like a perfect example of a film inspired by a lifetime of watching films rather than a film inspired by a lifetime of living).
p.s. I know Radiohead fans have been flipping out about Johnny Greenwood (is that right?) soundtrack. I'm curious how non-fans feel about the music -- does it fit the movie? Although I like Radiohead okay, to me Radiohead + Upton Sinclair does not feel like a perfect fit, so I'm hoping the soundtrack stakes out its own territory and doesn't sound like his work with Radiohead.
I really enjoyed the movie, but the score was terrible IMO. I didn't know who was responsible for it until read your post, so I didn't go into it with any prejudice either. I like Radiohead fine, and I'm sure the music is ok on it's own, but I thought it didn't fit here at all and was always competing with the visuals.
Juno and No Country for Old Men are at 94 and 95, respectively.
see and this is why I can't understand people giving a fuck AT ALL about what these critics/crtics websites say about movies. I mean Juno and NCFOM are neck and neck? I mean really really though? I cram to understand.
paul dano - the kid from girl next door/sopranos/little miss sunshine - holds his own too. which is saying a lot taking DDL's techniques into account. much respect.
I saw this kid at Amoeba LA browing through the misc. rock section.
Juno and No Country for Old Men are at 94 and 95, respectively.
see and this is why I can't understand people giving a fuck AT ALL about what these critics/crtics websites say about movies. I mean Juno and NCFOM are neck and neck? I mean really really though? I cram to understand.
Juno and No Country for Old Men are at 94 and 95, respectively.
see and this is why I can't understand people giving a fuck AT ALL about what these critics/crtics websites say about movies. I mean Juno and NCFOM are neck and neck? I mean really really though? I cram to understand.
Ain't no mystery, god!
You're talking about sites that basically "add up" the number of positive reviews to arrive at a sum. But that doesn't tell you much besides an easy-to-remember number. All it tells you is that a lot of critics liked Juno and a lot of critics like NCFOM or TWBB but none of that tells you 1) what they liked about each film and 2) whether, head-to-head, they'd put one film over another.
Imagine the same thing for restaurants...it's totally conceivable that some dive taqueria and Chez Panisse would have an equal number of positive reviews but that doesn't mean the meals would be equivalent. The use of "the number" though is that it gives the reader a general idea if other people liked it or not. It's up to the intelligent reader to dig deeper and figure out exactly WHY people liked it.
but about 10 reviews i read all say the movie lacks as a story and that Daniel Day Lewis is better than the movie itself
fair statement, but its still one of the better movies i've seen over the past few years, i don't know, maybe Lewis is just that good.
I still don't get the "movie lacked as a story" critique.
because i don't know if the movie would have been any better or worse if the events with the son and the preacher were erased from the end of the movie.
because i don't know if the movie would have been any better or worse if the events with the son and the preacher were erased from the end of the movie.
I don't think it needed the end bit with his son. That felt a bit predictable. But the scene with the preacher, I felt, was there to offer one last - blunt trauma - allegorical message. Not sure it had to take place in the future however but the tie in with the Great Depression made it easier I suppose.
My girl leaned over said "Oh Eligh has a duel-personality" and I thought the same especially in the bowling alley when dude grabbed 3 drinks: one for "eligh", one for "paul", and one for daniel.
My girl leaned over said "Oh Eligh has a duel-personality" and I thought the same especially in the bowling alley when dude grabbed 3 drinks: one for "eligh", one for "paul", and one for daniel.
I still don't know what happened with that situation. When they first met Eligh on the ranch I felt like they were all looking at each other like they'd all met before. But then when Eligh attacks his pops and talks about his "stupid brother Paul" I just assumed that there were actually two brothers. Then at the end when Eligh brings three drinks..... Pretty confusing for my little mind on a Sunday afternoon.
dollar_binI heartily endorse this product and/or event 2,326 Posts
I thought this was a very entertaining movie, but I'd be hard pressed to tell you what it was really about. It seems to me to be one of those Rorschach tests, you could either celebrate or cringe at Plainview's ultimate achievement, depending on your point of view. It was highly engrossing and very well made, it felt far shorter than it's two and three quarters hour running time. I think as a work of cinema, No Country was more successful in that I want to see that movie again and I could probably wait many years before re-watching TWBB.
For the two brother controversy... doesn't the fact that there were two actors originally cast for the two rolls indicate that, at least in initially putting together the movie, there were definitely two brothers (and not one w/ a split personality)?
I revelled in what I thought was an intentional ambiguity while watching the film (i.e. are there two people, or one person with a split personality that, for some reason, everyone around him is afraid to mention) and was disappointed to learn that there were originally two actors cast and even that scenes were shot w/ an another actor playing Eli. This leads me to believe that the "ambiguity" was really a failure on Dano's part to make the two twins distinct in meaningful ways.
Comments
LOVED IT
"I'm finished!"
Cold as F---!
as for the twins...i was super confused. but maybe that was because i kept dozing off. i think i slept through most of the first 45 minutes.
i think the soundtrack created a very jarring and dramatic backdrop but i wasn't really feeling it.
but then again...i fell asleep during citizen kane too.[/sacrilege]
i don't actually feel that strongly about the flick, but in the interest of being contrary, i just thought it was really overrated.
i feel that way about most of the pt anderson flicks i've seen.
The thing is - the only movie of his I really consider overrated would be "Magnolia" but then again, everything about that film screams "OVER" - overbaked, overdone, etc.
A lot of folks never caught "Hard Eight," and I think "Boogie Nights" deserves whatever accolades it gets. To me, "Punch-Drunk Love" flew under a lot of folks radar as some quirky Adam Sandler film but it's really a lovely little film that has none of the pretenses of the previous two flicks.
Loved the score too.
SPOILER WARNING:
I actually started to roll my eyes during the bowling alley scene. But after the bowling pin and him sitting there "We're finshed." It came together nicely.
Were there parts of the story that revealed Plainview's pathology to you? I never saw anything expilicit. I really like that WTF part of character development.
Not sure if this was brought up, but according to IMDB, the original ending in the bowling alley was supposed to be more brutal.
Seen here: (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469494/trivia)
The stuff he said to his "brother" about how he was so competitive he had no feelings for other people & couldn't stand to see anyone else succeed. Not necessarily explicit, but clear enough that things weren't gonna end well for somebody.
I really enjoyed the movie, but the score was terrible IMO. I didn't know who was responsible for it until read your post, so I didn't go into it with any prejudice either. I like Radiohead fine, and I'm sure the music is ok on it's own, but I thought it didn't fit here at all and was always competing with the visuals.
see and this is why I can't understand people giving a fuck AT ALL about what these critics/crtics websites say about movies. I mean Juno and NCFOM are neck and neck? I mean really really though? I cram to understand.
I saw this kid at Amoeba LA browing through the misc. rock section.
Seriously.
- spidey
Ain't no mystery, god!
You're talking about sites that basically "add up" the number of positive reviews to arrive at a sum. But that doesn't tell you much besides an easy-to-remember number. All it tells you is that a lot of critics liked Juno and a lot of critics like NCFOM or TWBB but none of that tells you 1) what they liked about each film and 2) whether, head-to-head, they'd put one film over another.
Imagine the same thing for restaurants...it's totally conceivable that some dive taqueria and Chez Panisse would have an equal number of positive reviews but that doesn't mean the meals would be equivalent. The use of "the number" though is that it gives the reader a general idea if other people liked it or not. It's up to the intelligent reader to dig deeper and figure out exactly WHY people liked it.
fair statement, but its still one of the better movies i've seen over the past few years, i don't know, maybe Lewis is just that good.
I still don't get the "movie lacked as a story" critique.
because i don't know if the movie would have been any better or worse if the events with the son and the preacher were erased from the end of the movie.
I don't think it needed the end bit with his son. That felt a bit predictable. But the scene with the preacher, I felt, was there to offer one last - blunt trauma - allegorical message. Not sure it had to take place in the future however but the tie in with the Great Depression made it easier I suppose.
I still don't know what happened with that situation. When they first met Eligh on the ranch I felt like they were all looking at each other like they'd all met before. But then when Eligh attacks his pops and talks about his "stupid brother Paul" I just assumed that there were actually two brothers. Then at the end when Eligh brings three drinks..... Pretty confusing for my little mind on a Sunday afternoon.
I revelled in what I thought was an intentional ambiguity while watching the film (i.e. are there two people, or one person with a split personality that, for some reason, everyone around him is afraid to mention) and was disappointed to learn that there were originally two actors cast and even that scenes were shot w/ an another actor playing Eli. This leads me to believe that the "ambiguity" was really a failure on Dano's part to make the two twins distinct in meaningful ways.
That said, I loved the film.
I DRINK IT UP!!!