The Women Directors Hall of Fame

Sorry CR I just didn't find this movie to be that interesting. I remember when it came out; I was 23 and thought it was the last movie I'd ever be interested in seeing. Of course my taste has changed, and I was hoping for a bit of a How Green is My Valley sort of vibe. I think I got that in a way at least, and it really piqued my interest when I saw it was set in Concord, one of my favorite cities in Massachusetts. I really wish this movie was filmed in black and white, and that makes me wonder if I'd enjoy one of the older versions more. Not that it didn't look good, because it did, but I just didn't get the greatest feel with the color. The costumes and details were all very nice, and it's an easy watch and pleasant movie overall. I just wanted more drama, like with the illness. I never cared much about the romantic relationships. I also found it distracting that they used a different actress for the youngest sister while everyone else looked the same. I understand why they did it though. I'm not a fan of Winona Ryder but I thought she shined here. All of the other performances I thought were just ok. I didn't dislike it least and it's well made. Just not quite for me as it turned out.

I kinda though you might like it more than that, I guess we really do have different taste. But thanks being honest!...and hey at least you didn't hate Winona Ryder That's a good thing

My wife even said she was so good what happened to her, and I said she grew into an old bitch. She said "is that what happened", before realizing I was being an ass and telling me to F off. She also said "there's the guy from The Elephant Man" when Eric Stoltz showed up. Of course she was thinking of Rocky Dennis lol.

I haven't seen Wionna Ryder in anything recent, all the films I've seen of hers date from the 1990s and late 80s.

I know Eric Stoltz from a few things, mainly Fast Times at Ridgemount High comes to mind...which was directed by a woman too.

It's interesting that you said that you wished Little Women had been filmed in black and white because I thought that it felt like a modern version of the black and white movie I Remember Mama.

I haven't seen Eric Stoltz in much, but I loved him in the TV show "Mad About You" as Jamie's (Helen Hunt's) ex-boyfriend.

seen several of Stoltz's movies: Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Mask, Killing Zoe (which was a bank robbery set in Paris and was by Taratino's old partner Roger Avery - pretty intense) Two Days in the Valley, Anaconda, Haunted Summer (where he plays Percy Shelley the poet), Pulp Fiction (of course, the famous overdose scene), Rob Roy and The Prophecy.
So, quite a few actually lol

I can't resist making my own Eric Stoltz movie list I've also seen him in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Mask, Pulp Fiction....also The Fly II, Jerry Maguire and a movie that I predict Ed would love, the ruckus and somewhat naughty Childstar (2004), I never hear anybody talking about that one. I thought it was pretty good.

Oh I see what you meant! Yes, that was the death he seemed mostly affected by (certainly compared to a family death earlier in the movie) but I think the reason for that is that after everything that had happened to him so far, this was the first person that had accepted him for who he was, who he wasn't playing a role with. And with his death he was back to square one and that was what made him want to stop acting and return to his family (...even if that didn't work out!)

Actually there's a lot about acting and performance and identity in this film, with the irony that the only person he can be himself with is the actor.

that DOES sound pretty crazy. I'll have to look that one up for me and my room mate. THANKS

Yeah, i think that was a good idea. I did have a problem with Daniel hammering home the fact he's an actor and discussing acting with Solomon, Solomon asks him is it hard to act and Daniel responds "No, it's much easier than being yourself" or something like that i've definitely botched that coz i can't remember. Anyway, i thought that was kind of on the nose and as if the writers were trying really hard to make you realize what they were going for rather than allow for the possibility that you'll miss it. That's a general problem i have with a lot of movies/shows because to me it feels like the writers think what they are doing is especially clever or poignant or whatever, and they don't want you to miss it because they'll miss out on the praise for it. I don't think everything should be extremely subtle or complicated because that's obviously not how life is but i do think telling us he was an actor was enough to get the point without them having a discussion about it. Particularly when you realize the connection between the two then it confirms that for you three or four times in their remaining scenes, basically i think the old no faith in your audience thing applies here except in a film like this there's no advantage to having faith in your audience or spelling it out for them anyway. It's funny and entertaining people who are only looking for that aren't going to care much about things that are spelled out for them so why even do it?

I dunno, i think this film has alot of good stuff to say but i'm not totally on board with how it was said and i think i mostly enjoyed it for how entertaining and funny it was.

I just read Ed's review of his nom Orlando and I thought it was kinda neat that we hit on similar themes.
Ed, really liked reading your review, you always express yourself and the way you feel about a movie so well.

Yeah definitely, i always look forward to ed's thoughts. He kind of hated my 13th HoF nom, but it was so elegantly and intelligently composed that i couldn't even dispute it haha.

Ha! so true, he's quite skilled with the quill.

That is most kind and it was kinda cool we perceived it the same way. Curious to see how others do.
It's the old "Drown them in sugar" ruse - works (nearly) every time lol
In response, I'm a big fan of your mixture of technical, background trivia and personal experience as well as some pretty wonderful perceptions on little things and how they effect you. Always enjoy them and, sadly, a lot of times it's ages before I catch up to the movie(s) you watch so that I CAN remark lol
To quote Andrew "Dice" Clay "William Shakespeare?. . . I f@cked him."

We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

I thought this looked pretty promising with the artsy overhead shot of the tomato festival in Spain. It's a cool looking shot too with all those masses of people covered in bright red tomato juice.

But as the movie went on, I started to realize the director was mainly relying on fancy tricks done in the editing room. By taking scene shots out of time context, it creates an illusion of tension. Then with the more abstract shots like the microorganisms, it creates a sense of importance and grandeur, that isn't warranted.

If I think only of the basic story, it's not all that powerful. Tilda Swinton was really good in this but the teen age Kevin (Ezra Miller), had a one note performance...a continual sneer, into the camera. I wanted him to be more multi dimensional, I wanted the story to be more multi dimensional. I kinda feel like I watched a one hour average movie that was jazzed up with clever editing tricks, that then masquerades as something more than what it really is.

thats a problem I had with morvern. It seems lynne ramsay thinks shes a really good director but I just dont see it

I tried watching We Need to Talk About Kevin last night, but I turned it off about an hour into the movie. It just seemed to be all over the place, and it felt like it was making me dizzy trying to keep up with it.

Dizzy, yup...But in the last hour it gets more settled down and follows the story more closely and you do find out what happened.

thats a good looking actor though