What are we watching now?

[State of Epicicity]

We saw Maestro last night. I now have a ton of respect for Bradley Cooper; I feel like he's a worker. Many years ago I saw the Leonard Bernstein Omnibus programs, and they were very cool. I remember him having this odd an interesting cadence to his speech, just an interesting way about him, and I feel like Cooper worked his ass off to get that feel just right. I though Carey Mulligan was equally incredible. I had seen her in Inside Llewyn Davis and Wall Street 2, and I did not like her at all, but then I saw She Said, and I fucking loved her. But pretty much every woman in that film was incredible. But she really was incredible in Maestro too, and completely different. I now have her on my radar as in interesting and compelling actor who might just surprise you.

Overall I think the film had a kind of haphazard feel to it, that it was almost a series of vignettes that were meant to gloss through moments in Bernstein's life, and it felt a little hollow to me because it felt like it was not cohesive. I still think Cooper is truly a great director; I just felt like the writing could've come from a stronger vantage point. I don't have the best words for what I'm thinking, but I feel like the film excelled in acting and directing, but fell short in writing.

Huge caveat: I think the dialogue mixing was bad. I think the film had too much dynamic range. The dialogue was mixed so low that you really had to turn it up to get what they were saying, especially with Cooper's and Mulligan's interesting speech rhythms and cadences, but then music would come in and blast your head off, so we ended up watching it with subtitles.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I've always wanted to see this. I'm eagerly awaiting it's arrival to one of my subscriptions!

Watch....at your own risk. It's a testament to 80s humor and could be considered inappropriate by some.

I love it

 

[Aelred]

I haven't seen that one in ages. Animal House inspired a lot of copies.

 

[Los-D]

Watch....at your own risk. It's a testament to 80s humor and could be considered inappropriate by some.

I love it

We’ve been binging with the kids on 80-90s movies that may be considered inappropriate. They had a blast with the The Ringer (even if a 2000s) lol

 

[Los-D]

We saw Maestro last night. I now have a ton of respect for Bradley Cooper; I feel like he's a worker. Many years ago I saw the Leonard Bernstein Omnibus programs, and they were very cool. I remember him having this odd an interesting cadence to his speech, just an interesting way about him, and I feel like Cooper worked his ass off to get that feel just right. I though Carey Mulligan was equally incredible. I had seen her in Inside Llewyn Davis and Wall Street 2, and I did not like her at all, but then I saw She Said, and I fucking loved her. But pretty much every woman in that film was incredible. But she really was incredible in Maestro too, and completely different. I now have her on my radar as in interesting and compelling actor who might just surprise you.

Overall I think the film had a kind of haphazard feel to it, that it was almost a series of vignettes that were meant to gloss through moments in Bernstein's life, and it felt a little hollow to me because it felt like it was not cohesive. I still think Cooper is truly a great director; I just felt like the writing could've come from a stronger vantage point. I don't have the best words for what I'm thinking, but I feel like the film excelled in acting and directing, but fell short in writing.

Huge caveat: I think the dialogue mixing was bad. I think the film had too much dynamic range. The dialogue was mixed so low that you really had to turn it up to get what they were saying, especially with Cooper's and Mulligan's interesting speech rhythms and cadences, but then music would come in and blast your head off, so we ended up watching it with subtitles.

100%. I thought the movie was so so but the acting was just phenomenal.

 

[State of Epicicity]

100%. I thought the movie was so so but the acting was just phenomenal.

Yeah, a great performance can totally carry a film. This is my favorite style of acting, where the performer just completely transforms into someone else, where you couldn't tell at all that it's a particular actor playing that role. I think a great example is Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York (or really, just about everything he did starting with My Left Foot!), or Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice. Performances like those are just thrilling to me, to see an artist work so hard to attain something. It's inspiring.

Watching Maestro I was just thinking, Man, I hope they had fake cigarettes! I felt like I was getting lung cancer just watching that film!

 

[mbenigni]

Huge caveat: I think the dialogue mixing was bad. I think the film had too much dynamic range. The dialogue was mixed so low that you really had to turn it up to get what they were saying, especially with Cooper's and Mulligan's interesting speech rhythms and cadences, but then music would come in and blast your head off, so we ended up watching it with subtitles.

Every. Single. F***ing thing committed to film/ video in the last 10-ish years. Especially fun if you're trying to watch TV with a baby sleeping anywhere else in the house.



Dear audio technician(s): your recording of thunder/ rolling tanks/ gunfire/ crinkling paper/ WTFever is simply lovely. But I might also like to be able to follow along with the plot here and there.

 

[State of Epicicity]

I showed my wife She Said last night, inspired by Carrey Mulligan's performance in Maestro. That film just shook the hell out of me when I first saw it, and I still loved it. Samantha Morton is one of my favorite actors, mainly because of her ability to express complexity and nuance underpinned by incredible fire and scary intensity. I wish she were in every scene!

Zoe Kazan was completely warm and present in the way that I wish more modern actors would be capable of, and Jennifer Ehle was shockingly masterful, like a secret sledgehammer. Zach Grenier was extremely effective and powerful, and I was surprised really to like Andre Braugher, who usually leaves me cold.

I like the directing by Maria Schrader, and I want to see more of her work to see if she consistently gets performances this good out of her actors.

It is an understatement that I am partial to films about journalism, but the subject matter was made palpable to me in a way that only good directing and acting can do. In contrast to Truth, which was a powerful story told by a cold director, She Said proves that focusing on the subtlety of the acting performances is everything.

 

[mbenigni]

Overall I think the film had a kind of haphazard feel to it, that it was almost a series of vignettes that were meant to gloss through moments in Bernstein's life, and it felt a little hollow to me because it felt like it was not cohesive. I still think Cooper is truly a great director; I just felt like the writing could've come from a stronger vantage point. I don't have the best words for what I'm thinking, but I feel like the film excelled in acting and directing, but fell short in writing.

I've been looking forward to this one, but now you've got me worried it's a black and white "Elvis (2022)".

 

[JiveTurkey]

I really don't dig Cooper. He started out on comedies and I liked that. But he is waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy to dedicated to being A Serious ActorTM
and I just am not feeling it.

 

[State of Epicicity]

I've been looking forward to this one, but now you've got me worried it's a black and white "Elvis (2022)".

Maestro is black and white for his career in the 40s and 50s, then switches to color in (I believe) the 60s. It also starts in the old 4:3 aspect ratio with bars on the side then goes to full widescreen by the end of the movie.

I saw Elvis, and I don't equate these at all. I Maestro is much much much better. It's deeper and far more interesting. It felt like a film in a more European style, where there was no flash to it at all, which I liked. My big critique is just that it didn't show the depth of the characters as well as it could because of the way it was put together. No comparison to Elvis, which was like a cartoon.

 

[State of Epicicity]

I really don't dig Cooper. He started out on comedies and I liked that. But he is waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy to dedicated to being A Serious ActorTM
and I just am not feeling it.

I never saw his comedies haha. I think that may have saved my opinion of him! The film that really caught my attention was Nightmare Alley, which is just brutal, and Bradley Cooper is unbelievable in that one, despite a middling job by the director.

 

[mbenigni]

It's deeper and far more interesting.

I was half serious. Probably less than that. Everything is deeper and far more interesting than Elvis. Plus you said Maestro had good acting.

 

[Los-D]

That’s him on the floor

(Likely a stunt double lol)

 

[State of Epicicity]

That’s him on the floor

(Likely a stunt double lol)

It's funny you posted this clip in particular. We tried to watch Behind Enemy Lines, and I couldn't even deal with how much I hated Owen Wilson. And I can't stand Vince Vaughn either.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Every. Single. F***ing thing committed to film/ video in the last 10-ish years.

TEN??

I hate those sound blasts so much that I turn everything down, but then not being able to hear the softer parts causes me to just put subtitles on everything. Fuck it. I'm old.

It's funny you posted this clip in particular. We tried to watch Behind Enemy Lines, and I couldn't even deal with how much I hated Owen Wilson. And I can't stand Vince Vaughn either.

Me too. Especially VV!

 

[TSJMajesty]

I showed my wife She Said last night,

I'm trying it! (But I'm thinking I might have to put down the guitar and really pay attention, in case you ask me anything afterwards. J/K, I like your picks!)

 

[State of Epicicity]

I'm trying it! (But I'm thinking I might have to put down the guitar and really pay attention, in case you ask me anything afterwards. J/K, I like your picks!)

Thanks very much! I was truly surprised at how powerful it was to me.

 

[State of Epicicity]

We watched Lucy (2014) last night. I can't believe how bad Scarlett Johansson was; I didn't know she was that bad of an actor. Her prodigiously terrible performance was rivaled only by Luc Besson's piece of shit eleven year old boy directing and writing, as well as Julien Rey's editing, all of which seemed to aspire to emulate commercials targeting business class world travelers.

I cannot stop puking.

It was made worse by its own sense of profundity. It took a decade to write this? I don't like to rag on the intelligence of others, but how incurious is this guy?

I remember liking elements of Leon The Professional, but maybe some directors don't need all the budget in the world, and they just get obsessed with the superficial stuff, so they let go the most important thing they can do: take three seconds to direct your fucking actors.

I'm so filled with vitriol when I see piles of money in the art world thrown into utterly stupid and lazy bullshit like this. If it didn't piss me off so much I could do the best Mystery Science Theater 3000 commentary.

I have this weakness for stories about human intelligence, which is what attracted me here, same with that other piece of shit movie Limitless from 2011, another squandered attempt to imagine something interesting but ending up a shallow and wasted movie. At least the acting in Limitless wasn't atrocious like this.

Pure hatred.

 

[laxu]

Every. Single. F***ing thing committed to film/ video in the last 10-ish years. Especially fun if you're trying to watch TV with a baby sleeping anywhere else in the house.



Dear audio technician(s): your recording of thunder/ rolling tanks/ gunfire/ crinkling paper/ WTFever is simply lovely. But I might also like to be able to follow along with the plot here and there.

Compressor functions in AV receivers can be a godsend for this.

Christopher Nolan films are particularly bad where the dialogue is almost mumbled followed by A HUGE EXPLOSION!!! sound or music swell just as you have turned the volume up to hear the dialogue. There's dynamic range, and then there's excessive dynamic range.