JohnS Posted February 21, 2015 Posted February 21, 2015 I'm watching this tonight in time for Monday's Academy Awards. This is nominated for six Oscars with a high critical rating (100% on Rotten Tomatoes). I've viewed Birdman in January so I'd like to compare as I think one of these two films will win best picture this year.
JohnS Posted February 21, 2015 Author Posted February 21, 2015 After viewing, I appreciate how difficult it is to compare two vastly different movies. I greatly enjoyed watching the cast age and change over twelve years...it was a unique experience.
Puros Y Vino Posted February 22, 2015 Posted February 22, 2015 Saw it last night. The GF wanted to see it badly. So, we bought our tickets and sat through 2:40 of pointless filmaking. If this even wins "best catering" it'd be a travesty. This was a novelty flick by a self indulgent director thinking he discovered fire by filming over the years to catch his cast growing up. No plot, no real drama even though there were some good opportunities to open it up. Just a banal drag following some morose kid through his "Boyhood". The Hollywood elite banded together to push this tripe in order for the investors who tossed good money to recoup their cash. Even the GF thought it was a complete waste of time and she is open to these types of films. You want to see cinematic art? Watch the Grand Budapest Hotel. 1
Carts Posted February 22, 2015 Posted February 22, 2015 Saw it last night. The GF wanted to see it badly. So, we bought our tickets and sat through 2:40 of pointless filmaking. If this even wins "best catering" it'd be a travesty. This was a novelty flick by a self indulgent director thinking he discovered fire by filming over the years to catch his cast growing up. No plot, no real drama even though there were some good opportunities to open it up. Just a banal drag following some morose kid through his "Boyhood". The Hollywood elite banded together to push this tripe in order for the investors who tossed good money to recoup their cash. Even the GF thought it was a complete waste of time and she is open to these types of films. You want to see cinematic art? Watch the Grand Budapest Hotel. glad my rogers box crapped out 25 mins in then..
JohnS Posted February 22, 2015 Author Posted February 22, 2015 Grand Budapest Hotel is the culmination of Wes Anderson's continued ode to family, nostalgia and Bill Murray (he is in every Wes Anderson film except Bottle Rocket....James Caan here plays the Bill Murray role). My family loved Grand Budapest Hotel as we love every Wes Anderson film, let's face it they are idiosyncratically quirky. Boyhood is similarly a definitive Richard Linklater film which focuses on the passage of time and temporality. It's also an ode to Francois Truffaut's Antoine Doinel character which he developed over five films, firstly as a boy in The 400 Blows and culminated in Love on the Run in 1979. Linklater explores time in Waking Life (2001) but most specifically in his highly successful trilogy films starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in Before Sunrise/Before Sunset/Before Midnight. We see in Boyhood a series of events and changes in the main characters over time. There are many interesting developments across the years that play out, but you have to follow the movie carefully, there are no major plot turns. In summary, I can understand how many people can find this movie boring but it doesn't have a traditional screenplay, but if you can follow the links it can be interesting too. 1
Fosgate Posted February 24, 2015 Posted February 24, 2015 Do people still care about the Oscars? If they would invite Ricky Gervias as a host I would watch it. Loved watching him insult anyone and everyone at the Golden Globes. 2
Fosgate Posted February 25, 2015 Posted February 25, 2015 Just watched Birdman. I was more intrigued with the lack of cut scenes and how they meshed all the scenes together. I actually enjoyed it. The only thing that really got on my nerves were the drums.
JohnS Posted February 25, 2015 Author Posted February 25, 2015 Well...I feel Boyhood should have won more than one Oscar, I mean, what a committed effort over twelve years! The cinematographer for Birdman also won last year for Gravity. Both Oscars are richly deserved. How did they make Birdman seem like one long scene? If you notice some scenes have a wall or door or something similar where the camera pans through from one room to another. The edits were cleverly done during these transitions. Watch the movie again and you'll notice these changes.
Fosgate Posted February 25, 2015 Posted February 25, 2015 The camera in Birdman had to be tedious and painstaking. I found myself constantly looking for flaws in reflective objects to see if I could find a shadow of a film crew or camera and just did not see it. The dressing room scene when the camera was passing back in forth between the mirror had me thinking "well done" in my mind.
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