Oscar-talk
Feb. 20th, 2017 11:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kricketsSo on Friday I decided last minute to buy the Regal Cinemas best picture film festival pass. You pay $35 dollars and get admission to all of the best picture nominees plus a really good deal on a drink and popcorn. ($5.00 for a medium soda+popcorn which is normally like 12 bucks, which is crazy!)
I'm not really in it for the popcorn, I'm in it for the movies. I'd already previously seen Hidden Figures and La La Land. So far with the pass I've seen Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, and Lion.
Here are my non-spoilery thoughts on all of them:
Arrival: I get the impression I'm supposed to have really strong emotions about this movie, but the thing is that I kind of didn't? I thought it was really gorgeous and wasn't by any means bored with it, but I really didn't feel anything. Maybe I need to re-watch it? I don't know! Definitely my least favorite of the 5 I've seen.
Hacksaw Ridge: I remember initially seeing the preview for this and thinking that it was going to be good, but I wasn't quite prepared for how good it would actually be. Definitely exceeded my expectations on this one. By a lot! The one thing I didn't like was how (in my opinion) over the top some of the early battle sequences were. I GET what they were doing, but I honestly felt like if I was an innocent person who wandered into the wrong theater right at that moment, I would not have been able to initially tell if I'd walked into a war movie or a ZOMBIE movie. So those small moments were a little much, but taken as a whole this was a great picture. The actor who played his father was truly amazing in this. I'm surprised he wasn't nominated for supporting actor. I also found it funny that all of the military jokes about Andrew Garfield's physique totally mirrored my own thoughts about him. Sorry Andrew!
Lion: Wow. I went into this knowing nothing about the film and only watching the preview shortly before going into the theater. I did love La La Land which I know is favored to win, but in my opinion this movie is the TRUE best picture. So wonderful. Expect waterworks. Plus, I really love Dev Patel (thank you, Newsroom) and he was really wonderful here. (Plus he looked pretty good without a shirt.) Not sure why he's not nominated for Leading Actor as he's clearly the lead character. I guess he SUBMITTED for supporting? Is that just a sneaky way to potentially secure a win, or is that a humility thing? I don't know!
La La Land: I really liked this a lot. Very fun to watch and I actually loved the ending. I keep hearing people who just dislike this movie based on the ending but I don't really understand that. I won't say anymore, even though this is not a movie about the ending or spoilers.
Hidden Figures: So inspiring. I love this story and I LOVE Octavia Spencer. I really liked the turn for Kirsten Dunst's character, which was nice and subtle. All of that said this is just not a best picture contender for me. Still a great movie that I would highly recommend, and is probably a good one for re-watching too. Oh and this is the first time I've seen Kevin Costner in anything in a long time. It was great to see him in this.
I'm seeing Fences tonight, Moonlight tomorrow, Manchester by the Sea on Thursday and I'm gonna try to squeeze in Hell or High Water at some point. (I actually have that DVD at home through the Netflix DVD service.) This will probably be the first year ever that I've seen all of the nominees. I say PROBABLY because I'm uncertain if I'll really be able to squeeze in a showing of Moonlight.
I'm not really in it for the popcorn, I'm in it for the movies. I'd already previously seen Hidden Figures and La La Land. So far with the pass I've seen Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, and Lion.
Here are my non-spoilery thoughts on all of them:
Arrival: I get the impression I'm supposed to have really strong emotions about this movie, but the thing is that I kind of didn't? I thought it was really gorgeous and wasn't by any means bored with it, but I really didn't feel anything. Maybe I need to re-watch it? I don't know! Definitely my least favorite of the 5 I've seen.
Hacksaw Ridge: I remember initially seeing the preview for this and thinking that it was going to be good, but I wasn't quite prepared for how good it would actually be. Definitely exceeded my expectations on this one. By a lot! The one thing I didn't like was how (in my opinion) over the top some of the early battle sequences were. I GET what they were doing, but I honestly felt like if I was an innocent person who wandered into the wrong theater right at that moment, I would not have been able to initially tell if I'd walked into a war movie or a ZOMBIE movie. So those small moments were a little much, but taken as a whole this was a great picture. The actor who played his father was truly amazing in this. I'm surprised he wasn't nominated for supporting actor. I also found it funny that all of the military jokes about Andrew Garfield's physique totally mirrored my own thoughts about him. Sorry Andrew!
Lion: Wow. I went into this knowing nothing about the film and only watching the preview shortly before going into the theater. I did love La La Land which I know is favored to win, but in my opinion this movie is the TRUE best picture. So wonderful. Expect waterworks. Plus, I really love Dev Patel (thank you, Newsroom) and he was really wonderful here. (Plus he looked pretty good without a shirt.) Not sure why he's not nominated for Leading Actor as he's clearly the lead character. I guess he SUBMITTED for supporting? Is that just a sneaky way to potentially secure a win, or is that a humility thing? I don't know!
La La Land: I really liked this a lot. Very fun to watch and I actually loved the ending. I keep hearing people who just dislike this movie based on the ending but I don't really understand that. I won't say anymore, even though this is not a movie about the ending or spoilers.
Hidden Figures: So inspiring. I love this story and I LOVE Octavia Spencer. I really liked the turn for Kirsten Dunst's character, which was nice and subtle. All of that said this is just not a best picture contender for me. Still a great movie that I would highly recommend, and is probably a good one for re-watching too. Oh and this is the first time I've seen Kevin Costner in anything in a long time. It was great to see him in this.
I'm seeing Fences tonight, Moonlight tomorrow, Manchester by the Sea on Thursday and I'm gonna try to squeeze in Hell or High Water at some point. (I actually have that DVD at home through the Netflix DVD service.) This will probably be the first year ever that I've seen all of the nominees. I say PROBABLY because I'm uncertain if I'll really be able to squeeze in a showing of Moonlight.
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no subject
Date: 2017-02-21 02:38 pm (UTC)I don't think there's any doom in Moonlight. I haven't seen it yet, but I have a feeling.
Regarding Fences... just saw it. Very powerful stuff. I'll make a quick post to review it in a minute.
What's the Great Headache?
Right now my favorite of the nominees is Lion. Do I think Lion will win? Probably not. But it should. (I am still 3 movies short of seeing all the nominees though!)
no subject
Date: 2017-02-23 02:10 am (UTC)I had a bad, bad headache last week so I was watching really gentle, easy things on my mind that didn't require much thought. Like 20 minutes of the Lego Batman movie. And vet shows on TV. :-)
What is Lion about?
no subject
Date: 2017-02-23 10:51 pm (UTC)Lion is a true story about a man from Tasmania (adopted by a white Tasmanian couple) who begins to remember his childhood in India before adoption, and realizes that he was actually mistakenly separated and lost from his family and then he becomes consumed with trying to find them, specifically trying to remember and locate where he lived using google earth and his vague memories as a guide. As a very young child he was mispronouncing the name of his village, so the words he uses to name it are not on any map. Authorities could not find where he was from so could not conduct a meaningful search for his missing family. (India is a big place, with even more people!) That's how he ended up in an orphanage and placed with his adoptive parents. Heart wrenching, bitter sweet, somewhat joyful in parts. The child who plays Saroo as a young boy is probably the most adorable thing I've ever seen. He's played by Dev Patel as an adult. Rooney Mara plays his girlfriend. Nicole Kidman as his adoptive mom.
no subject
Date: 2017-02-24 11:24 am (UTC)Passengers. Yep. But now maybe I should see Arrival. I chose Passengers and Rogue One over it at the time but maybe I was wrong.
You certainly made the most of your movie ticket!