Films of 2019

[Ray de Galles]

Saw 'Uncut Gems' tonight and that's my blood pressure fucked for the next 24 hrs at least.

There was actually more (very black) comedy and small periods of calm in it than I was led to expect but when it does go off (which is most of the film) it is a manic anxiety trip.

Sandler is very good and a supporting cast of Idina Menzel, Judd Hirsch and especially Eric Bogosian are excellent. Some of the first time actors are really impressive too, Kevin Garnett and Julia Fox particularly.

I've not seen any Saftie brothers films before, will try and seek them out after this,

[Felicity, I guess so]

The previous one, with Robert Pattinson, was good:

Good Time, 2017

[Tony C]

Saw 'Uncut Gems' tonight and that's my blood pressure fucked for the next 24 hrs at least.

There was actually more (very black) comedy and small periods of calm in it than I was led to expect but when it does go off (which is most of the film) it is a manic anxiety trip.

Sandler is very good and a supporting cast of Idina Menzel, Judd Hirsch and especially Eric Bogosian are excellent. Some of the first time actors are really impressive too, Kevin Garnett and Julia Fox particularly.

I've not seen any Saftie brothers films before, will try and seek them out after this,

Agree with this completely. Thoroughly engrossing.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Agree with this completely. Thoroughly engrossing.

Just finished watching it (started it too late last night to do it all in one go). It wasn't quite as manic throughout as I expected from the reviews I'd heard, but it certainly cranked up as the film progressed and it was a relief when the end came. The Adam Sandler character being fundamentally a dick made it hard to root for him, if he'd been an everyman thrown into a spiraling situation then it would have been easier to have empathy for him and be invested in the outcome. But obviously an everyman wouldn't have been in the situation to begin with. But overall it was a gripping watch. Always good to see Judd Hirsch too.

[Ginger Yellow]

Why do you have to root for him?

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Why do you have to root for him?

Nobody has to but I find it helps in a story like that, caring about the outcome for the protagonist.

[WOM]

We finally caught this as it's on Netflix now. Wow. I mean, kudos to Sandler and all that, but just well-made overall. Good plotting...good character development...defeat continuously being snapped from the jaws of victory, etc.

Mrs WOM couldn't stand it, but that's largely because of her loathing of Sandler due to his treatment of women (she's read Rose McGowan's book). But she found it too shouty and loud, which yeah I can see that. Sandler just got on her nerves.

Is anybody not loathsome in it? Everyone's just a little oleaginous in some way, but maybe that's the whole jewel / gem / bling world, I dunno. It's certainly drawn that way.

But man...powerful. I'm all tight in the shoulders today.

[danielmak]

I have only seen one of the best picture nominees: Once upon a time. It was good but there's no way it should be a best picture.

I like Adam Driver but the only time I have seen any range from him is when he's on Saturday Night Live and he's pushed to be wacky at times. But as an actor in films, he's Adam Driver doing a role (whatever the role is for that film). He's range is the same when he's Kylo Ren and when he plays a poet in a Jim Jarmusch film. Same dude.

[Hot Pepsi]

A lot of lead actors are like that. Jack Nicholson is always doing Jack Nicholson, for example. He’s good as Kyle Ren and he’s good in Marriage Story. But you are right that SNL shows his range better. SNL does well with actors who usually play intense dramatic roles.

I’ve seen all the nominees except JoJo Rabbit and 1917. I just can’t bring myself to pay theater prices to watch a film about WWI. I get it. It was grim. Then again, I liked Dunkirk, so maybe I will like seeing that in the theater. But with Dunkirk, I knew it would have a slightly upbeat ending.

JoJo Rabbit hasn’t come to any theaters here. It is playing in Altoona, but I don’t need to see it that badly.

I’ll try to see both when they are streamable. I also want to see The Lighthouse and The Farewell.

Other than Star Wars and The Avengers - which are really a whole different medium - my favorites this year have been Little Women and Parasite. By far. Then Uncut Gems, the Mister Rogers one, Ad Astra and then a big gap to the rest. The Joker was ok, but I didn’t love it. I liked some parts of Once Upon A Time and hated some of it. The Irishman is a great film, but felt like a remake of past Scorsese films so not that exciting. Ford vs Ferrari was fun but hardly life-altering.

I enjoy the Big Picture podcast. They are confident 1917 will win and generally don’t expect many surprises. They base their predictions on all the guild awards, past voting patterns, etc. The Academy skews old and white. It likes to award technical skill, (seemingly) accurate impersonations of historical figures, trite platitudes about race, and giving awards to people that deserved it more for their past work than what is being nominated that year.

[Ray de Galles]

I have only seen one of the best picture nominees: Once upon a time. It was good but there's no way it should be a best picture.

I like Adam Driver but the only time I have seen any range from him is when he's on Saturday Night Live and he's pushed to be wacky at times. But as an actor in films, he's Adam Driver doing a role (whatever the role is for that film). He's range is the same when he's Kylo Ren and when he plays a poet in a Jim Jarmusch film. Same dude.

A friend of mine said exactly that to me about Driver's supposed lack of range three weeks ago but has since said 'Wedding Story' changed her mind.

I thought he was excellent and it was a very moving performance at times.

[danielmak]

A friend of mine said exactly that to me about Driver's supposed lack of range three weeks ago but said 'Wedding Story' changed her mind.

I thought he was excellent and it was a very moving performance at times.

I haven't see that film yet. Normally it's something I would watch with the missus but she watched it while I was traveling for work. Then other things took up my viewing time. I did see the trailer and he seemed to be doing the same character but trailers admittedly lack the nuances of the film itself.

[Hot Pepsi]

This is interesting.

Best Picture used to be more predictable.

https://www.theringer.com/movies/202...-1917-parasite

[Stumpy Pepys]

I saw Little Women last night and also enjoyed it. I'll try and watch Uncut Gems on Sunday.

[Bored Of Education]

Stupidly, chose this to watch for a cosy Saturday afternoon out of Storm Dennis. Kermode went on about its anxiety-ratcheting qualities and that was what hit me straight from the start. It was like the last act of Goodfellas where Henry is coked out of his head, running errands and seeing black helicopters everywhere but for the whole film. I agree that there is no way (nor, indeed, any intention) that you can root for his character and the genius of the film is that you stay with him for the whole two hours plus. I don't mind Adam Sandler as much as many, possibly as I haven't seen him in that many films but even I am surprised how good he is in this. I am not sure that it was ever an Oscar-worthy film - unless people are just so amazed that Adam Sandler had this performance in him and/or the Saftie brothers got this out of him - but I wouldn't have been surprised if it got nominations. I was surprised to see Ray's post that it was Fox and Garnett's first role. Indeed, I am a little embarrassed to say that, not being a basketball fan, I had to double check Garnnet wasn't an actor playing a character. The main thing though is the constant feeling of anxiety throughout the film. Indeed, I found the soundtrack annoyingly invasive particularly at the start of the film but I did wonder whether it was like that purposefully so as to ratchet up the discomfort.

[ad hoc]

Watched "Uncut Gems" last night. Hated it. Found myself wishing that someone would off Sandler after about half an hour so that he and we could be put out of our misery. I watched through to the end, for reasons I'm not certain of, and the ending was the best bit about it, at least vaguely interesting (so I'm partly glad I did, at least i didn't feel like my evening was entirely wasted). I mean I can appreciate that there were good acting performances in it, but I could have used a bit of lightness in it at some point, or even a single character who was not an awful cunt.

[Ray de Galles]

I saw '21 Bridges' tonight and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was, Quite a seventies feel to the whole thing with a more layered plot than I expected while Chadwick Boseman is impressive in the lead role.

Not a classic but more than worth the four or five pound it cost to rent on Amazon.