Box Office Films

#77      
Ian, what did you think of the winners overall?

As I mentioned I was surprised at the picks for Best Actress and Best Picture.

Can't speak to Best Actress, but I loved the reaction from a host on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour that said something along the lines of every few years, a picture like Crash is named Best Picture. This year, it was Green Book.
 
#78      

Ransom Stoddard

Ordained Dudeist Priest
Bloomington, IL
We've seen Green Book before, whether it's Driving Miss Daisy or The Defiant Ones or The Help or any other "white savior" movie. It was a well acted representation of a tried-and-true story, but what bugs me the most was that it wasn't a remotely visually interesting movie. I'd never try to lump one of the Farrelly brothers into auteur category, but this thing was so unnecessarily bland it made my eyes hurt.

IMO it should've been Roma by a landslide, but the industries fears of Netflix shut that down. Shoot, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs didn't even get a nomination.
 
#79      
Catching up on about a year's worth of films that I've desperately wanted to see.

Presently, Jordan Peele's "Us" is messing me up inside. This film is terrifying.
 
#80      
Catching up on about a year's worth of films that I've desperately wanted to see.

Presently, Jordan Peele's "Us" is messing me up inside. This film is terrifying.

It definitely made me say whoa.

Marvel still owns the movies for this year though.
 
#81      
It definitely made me say whoa.

Marvel still owns the movies for this year though.

I can't disagree with you there. "End Game" was a wonderful conclusion to the first installment of the MCU.

Admittedly, I enjoyed "Spider-Man: Far From Home," but I really could have used an extended break after "End Game."
 
#82      
Admittedly, I enjoyed "Spider-Man: Far From Home," but I really could have used an extended break after "End Game."

Well you'll get it. The next MCU/DCEU film won't be out until February 2020 when Birds of Prey comes out. Disney only has two dates for Marvel films to be released in 2020, one of which will likely be Black Widow which it looks like will come out in May 2020.
 
#83      
Finally got around to seeing It: Chapter 2, and it was a far cry from the first installment in 2017.
 
#84      
Caught Joker this weekend. I did enjoy the film overall, especially Phoenix's performance. I felt conflicted as I watched, finding myself feeling a sense of cognitive dissonance being energized as he engaged in antisocial behavior, while feeling empathic to his origin story.

Hoping to see Zombieland: Double Tap next weekend.
 
#85      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Saw Knives Out. VVG film. Had pretty high expectations. It exceeded them. Closing track of the Stones Sweet Virginia was the perfect capper for me.
 
#86      
Saw Knives Out. VVG film. Had pretty high expectations. It exceeded them. Closing track of the Stones Sweet Virginia was the perfect capper for me.

I was going to see it this morning for the early show, but the projector wasn't connecting to the server. I plan to see it soon!
 
#87      
Thoughts on The Lighthouse? I saw it recently. A very tough film for the general public to swallow..... I really did enjoy it myself though. The acting was superb. When Pattinson was announced as the next Batman I was a bit disturbed. But I've recently seen him in High Life and Lighthouse and am starting to think it might work. The Tenet previews look very good also.
 
#90      
It's on my list. I will watch it sometime this next week. I did see a story about Driver walking out of an interview where they were discussing the movie. He's one of those who refuse to watch or listen to any of his work....
 
#93      
Went to see 1917 yesterday. Definitely one of the best war movies I've ever seen. The performances by the two main actors in the film is great and I'd be shocked if it didn't get nominated if not win for best cinematography at the Oscars based on how they shot the film.
 
#95      
Incidentally, Ian with the Oscar nominations coming out tomorrow, I'd be interested to get your take on the nominations once they are released.

Haha, thank you for your interest in my take! I'll make a general prediction that there will be no single film that cleans house with multiple award wins (i.e., 3+ of the major categories).

And while I haven't seen it yet, given my relationship with war-themed films, there is a strong chance I will appreciate the quality of 1917, but not enjoy it. I had a similar feeling before seeing Dunkirk which proved to be true.
 
#97      
Can someone help me understand the critical praise The Irishman has received? I feel like I'm missing something significant, because I was whelmed at best.
 
#98      
Can someone help me understand the critical praise The Irishman has received? I feel like I'm missing something significant, because I was whelmed at best.
It felt like work watching it. Overall, it was a good story (and the acting was great too), but they could've cut a good hour out and lost nothing other than a little character development.
 
#99      
It felt like work watching it. Overall, it was a good story (and the acting was great too), but they could've cut a good hour out and lost nothing other than a little character development.

I know someone who went to see it in the theaters and said they had to watch the entire film without any intermission. For a movie that's nearly 3 1/2 hours long, that's surprising. Granted, I'm also someone who sat through Avengers: Endgame, which ran right at 3 hours, and there wasn't an intermission for that one either.
 
#100      
It felt like work watching it. Overall, it was a good story (and the acting was great too), but they could've cut a good hour out and lost nothing other than a little character development.

It was a film I've seen a dozen times before, three of which were already directed by Scorsese (Mean Streets, Casino, Goodfellas). On top of that, Scorsese's heavy use of digital age-reversing for most of its characters seemed quite hypocritical of him given his recent critical commentary on modern cinema. His last film, Silence, was nearly a three hour run time, but had much better pacing and felt like it was a story worth telling.