Director Dissection with Seanc and Rauldc

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I'd like to see Mark answer this since he has the best knowledge of 30s-60s films here. Any opinion of a film you feel Payne could improve upon on a remake, Mark?



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But you have to remember I am that guy that likes to keep something for a director unseen so I have it in my back pocket. And I'm well aware that this is sounds very silly to do, but nonetheless it's what I do.



But you have to remember I am that guy that likes to keep something for a director unseen so I have it in my back pocket. And I'm well aware that this is sounds very silly to do, but nonetheless it's what I do.
Nah, that's pretty smart i think i subconciously do that myself to be honest. I really respect the way Sean and some others here power through a directors filmography, but i usually have to alternate most likely for the same reason you do.



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I will also intentionally not watch all of the supposed greats before I watch all the other films. For example, when I first got into Hitchcock, it was a while before I got to Vertigo and Psycho.



I try my hardest not to go by critical reputations, and usually stick to recs i see here, whether it's in the lists section or someone has personally recommended it to me. Hitchcock i've been watching since i was a kid though, since it was my Mums favourite director.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
I'd like to see Mark answer this since he has the best knowledge of 30s-60s films here. Any opinion of a film you feel Payne could improve upon on a remake, Mark?
You mean what old movie he could remake which seems similar to his own? He might be compatible with It's a Gift and Your Three Minutes Are Up. If he wanted to go crazy on two cherished films, there are always Sullivan's Travels and North by Northwest.
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Election was a film that I had just literally watched for the first time about 2 or 3 weeks ago. It was a film that i should have watched a long long time ago. The leads that were picked for this movie, Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon, were absolute perfect choices for this film. Broderick has always been an actor that has appealed to me for whatever reason. I would put his performance here upon there with Ferris Buellers Day Off and Glory. He was well equipped for the teacher and election supervisor role that he played. Reese Witherspoon was the bratty snob to a T. It is roles like this that she does really well at excelling at. Really makes me wish she had other roles similar to this. The dialogue and the storyline are quite interesting, as that has always been Payne's forte. The election itself was one that wasn't necessarily intriguing but I feel the scenes and the acting kind of made me forget about that. The best thing about this film perhaps will be the repeatability of watching this film in the future, because it may be classified as a "fun" movie to me. A film like this capitalizes on showing the range that Alexander Payne has as a director. He is able to take simple stories, make them interesting and film them masterfully. How I had not gotten around to this I'll never know. I had a feeling I would enjoy it so sadly that may have played a part. Like I've said before, I like to keep some gems unseen for whatever reason. It is a film that would probably have made my 90s list for our countdowns had I seen it in time too. It's a good one and I'm sure it had many people looking forward to About Schmidt and Sideways.

Oh, I forgot the rating.
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I really love Election. I give it a
. The characters are just fantastic, and so wonderfully dark and comedic. The two leads are no doubt great but I think the character I think about the most and the glue of the film is the brother. So naive but has more integrity than anyone. Once again I love the dialogue. The characters play off each other perfectly. Election is fantastic.



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Alexander Payne doesn't have to bank on stellar performances for people to get a lot out of his movies. His screenplays are so well written that when you think about it, the acting wouldn't even have to be that great for the movie to work. Which isn't to say there aren't good performances. I think it means that Payne is able to successfully create roles which minimize the risk of an actor or an actress not performing very well. He gives them all a chance to succeed with the way the story and the screenplay are written. Like for example, Matthew Broderick does a really good job in Election but there were a lot of other people that could have had a good performance as well because the character and the dialogue were written so well. There are a few instances where I think the actor and actress truly made the performance what it was worth, but I think this is another trademark of Payne: Putting his actors in a position to succeed.






I think this is the most under rated of all Payne's movies. Maybe even by me. After all I love it but have only seen it twice and it has been years. I started to remedy that today by ordering it because talking about Payne has really made me want to re-watch it. Besides Cuckoo's Nest this may be my favorite Nicholson performance. Part of that is I think the character is written perfectly. He is a curmudgeon, which fits Nicholson perfectly of course, but Payne makes him extremely sympathetic as well. Part of that is the characters that surround him. Especially great is his son-in-law played by Dermot Mulroney, who is playing very against type here. Kathy Bates as Mulroney's mother. These two people come into Schmidt's life at a very difficult time and make him miserable. Watching him interact with these two is very entertaining, but also has warm moments mixed in.

I wish I had more to say about About Schmidt. Like I said it has been a while. It is a great example of what Payne does so well. It is about a white middle class working man. From the outside looking in his life seems ideal. A good job, wife, and daughter. However he is mostly unhappy and doesn't realize what he has until it is gone. It is full of humanity, humor, and great performances. Highly recommended for those who may have missed it.



Great write ups of Election and the follow up on Paynes use of Actors Raul . Sean i see what you mean about not having much more to say about About Schmidt, but you gave another excellent writeup there . About Schmidt means alot to me and is quite possibly my favourite Payne film even though i don't think it's his best, i'd like to rewatch it before making a half-assed attempt at rewieving it.



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Sideways

I've only seen Sideways twice (I just rewatched it), but it is probably Alexander Payne's best written film. It features two characters, Miles and Jack who both have severe flaws with their lives. They head to wine country for a trip away as Jacks last fling before an impending marriage. Miles is a depressed divorced dude with his last hope in life hinging on his writing skills. Jack is an unhonest man who just loves to have a good time. In a way their journey is a symbol of more danger to their life.

When they get up to Wine Country they meet Mia, who according to Jack wanted to party with them but Miles told her they were just going to crash at the hotel. The encounter between Miles and Jack on their walk back to the hotel is one of my best scene nominations as well. Jack makes it clear that he wants a crazy week to ensue, although that is not exactly what Miles wants. Through their wine touring they also meet Stephanie, whom Jack thinks will be able to fulfill his goals for the week. They all plan to meet for dinner.

You clearly see Miles struggling with his depression at the dinner scene, even so much as to leave the table and call his ex-wife after he has had a few too many drinks. I think Payne shows his characters struggles tremendously and that seen was a great example of that. Everyone as a witness knows that Miles should take a chance at getting to know Mia but he is just stuck on Victoria. And while Jack doesn't think he has a problem, he really does and Payne is able to execute Jacks character as well. Jack finds himself digging a bigger ditch for himself as he continues to fall for Stephanie.

When they all go to Stephanie's house, it forces Miles to open up with Mia and you see his character as a completely different person in a way. He is able to use his love of wine in an effort to open up about his life and to become more comfortable with Mia. He ends up kissing Mia and gives Mia his novel to read, another telling sign that he is ready to move on with his life and open up about things.

As Miles grows up, it seems to me that Jack becomes more and more of a child. Jack goes so far as to abandon Miles from the plans that they had, showing just how little respect Jack is starting to have for the most important people in his life. The transformation of Paul Giamatti's character is one that I think could have deserved an Oscar nomination, while Thomas Haden Church did receive a nomination for his "dirtball character" as well as Virginia Madsen for Mia.

The deception of Jack is tied to Miles as Mia hears about Jack nearing marriage, so much to the point that it affects Miles and Mia's relationship. He then hears that his book has been rejected by the publishers and just when he thought things were taking a turn for the good, he has done another 180. In turn by Mia knowing about Jacks deception, it kills the behind the back relationship that Jack had with Stephanie. Not surprisingly, it comes full circle and Jack and Miles blame each other for their own mishaps. Miles tries to save Jack from his wrongdoings and it affects his life negatively in the end. Just when it seems the friendship might be at a dead end, Miles has to go and get Jacks wallet from the house of his newest fling. Jack realizes everything he has done is wrong and realizes how important Christina is to his life (or so he says). They crash a car so they have an explanation to Jack's nose injury.Can we believe that Jack is sorry for what he has done? This is a question that could go either way. Personally I didn't believe so, but one of Payne's traits is leaving it up to interpretation.

In the end, Jack and Christina get married, and Miles is left to go back to the drawing board. The end scene seems to leave hope for Miles that Mia is a part of that.

The film is filled with so many great lines, but my favorite has to be "I'm not drinking any ****ing Merlot!" Payne has a way of having his actors say the right things at the right time, especially in this film. And the golf scene is one that gives me a great chuckle. I mean who didn't love seeing Jack run after angry men's golf carts?

The funny thing about the film is as a non-wine drinker it actually still makes it appealing to you. The sense of atmosphere that Payne creates in the film gives it a very adventurous touch.

Overall, this is my second favorite movie from Payne but it is not far behind my favorite of his either. I'm glad my REWATCH only strengthened how I feel about the film.

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Great write up of Sideways Raul. I think what I love about Jack and Miles as characters is they are both equally self destructive but they are coming at things from different perspectives. Jack views himself as a fun loving guy but he constantly sets himself up for failure by being dishonest and disloyal. Miles views himself as pragmatic but sabotages his relationships by being so negative and self involved. They both have goid qualities but are unable to get out of their own way. Awesome movie, not only my favorite Payne but one of my favorites ever.

Which makes my answer to your two questions surprising. I think my favorite performance is Nicholson as Schmidt with Giamatti as Miles a very close second. My favorite setting is Hawaii in The Descendants with the vineyards of California in Sideways being a close second. In fact in both these cases I think you could say it is 1A and 1B.

How about you?



Excellent write up Raul and great followup Sean. The thing i really like about this one is that Jack is clearly the weaker one even though he's the more atrractive/charasmatic/confident one, he's going up against Miles who imo shows traits of a manic-depressive personality. Still at the end Jack has married Victoria when his storyline hasn't been properly concluded for either the viewers or Jack; it's not clear if Jack actually loves Victoria or vice-versa with Stephanie, but he's followed through with the marriage since it's the easier thing to do.

Miles comes across as a seriously depressed and self loathing individual imo, his interactions with the clearly into him Mia are evidence of this, still in the end he steps out of his self-hating shell to give it a shot.

My answers to your two questions are the same as Seans, i'm going to Re-watch About Schmidt tomorrow before giving my opinion on that and Nicholsons performance, but Hawaii will remain my favourite Location it's just such a beautiful place that i'd love to visit in the future.



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My Favorite Payne Performances

It's a really tough call for me, but I believe I would be opted to go with George Clooney in The Descendants. I can't tell you how awful I felt when Dujardin took the Oscar for Best Actor that night. I mean, I knew that Dujardin was the odds on favorite but I still had a little bit of hope inside me that was crushed upon the announcement. What I loved about Clooneys performance is that he was a believable Hawaiian dude, and didn't make himself out to be a non-realistic character. The range of emotion that he had to portray was done in a very stellar way. I thought his emotions were not only believable, but very genuine. Like his reactions of when he found out about his wife cheating on him, as well as his reactions in the hospital with his wife. He knew he was never the best father, but he wanted to make sure that he would do the best he could going forward once he finally found out how life crises can hit a family very hard. This was the best performance of Clooney that I have seen. I would certainly consider it for a top 50 performances of all time list if I had ever made one.


Paul Giamatti comes in second. I really like the transformation of his character, and I thought he made his character very complex and believable. He was indeed the right man for the role. And of course I love the fact that the end of the film gives him a positive outlook on his position in life. I think he also in a way reminds me of people that I know. Not that people I know are in the exact same situation, but just that some people I know have dilemmas that could be similar to the feelings that Giamatti has (minus the insane depression.

Shailene Woodley was talked about earlier but she put in a very dominant performance that hopefully can help her get serious roles in the future. It was an amazing performance that I feel was slighted by the Oscars. Look no further than the pool scene that I've talked about earlier.

Reese Witherspoon was perfectly casted in Election too. It was more of a comedic performance, but I think it got people to look at her as a very serious candidate for future leading roles. She completely became her character.

Those are the four that I can truly attest to loving, but Matthew Broderick, Bruce Dern, and June Squibb (very small role, but thought it was great) also were awesome. Payne reminds me of Russell in that he sets them all up for success. I just think that Payne writes his characters a tad bit better, while Russell seems to use their talents and get the best out of them, if that makes sense.



Another excellent post Raul! One of the biggest criticisms of the emotions shown from Hollywood Actors is that they are manafactured which is no doubt true in alot of cases, mostly because they come across either over or understated it's without a doubt something difficult for Actors to guage which side it will fall under.

Clooney here falls perfectly for me at least, as i've said it;s my second favourite Payne performance. Sometimes actors think (and act accordingly) more towards how they'd react in their head rather than how they'd react to that situation, i personally think Clooney responded the way most would with complete bewilderment followed by discust.

The only performance i'm not a big fan of there is Reese in Election, i think it shows how little i care about the likeabilty of characters that i think Election is an excellent film while despising every character in it. Still i think Broderick is the star of Election, i'm not a fan of his in general but, without his changing life and ever growing annoyance with Reese i doubt her performance would be that memorable.