You'd think Tom Hanks would have stopped trying to save people after Private Ryan.
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That's interesting. I didn't think the Polito role was great for Renner, so that's not surprising that it was added later. I thought Cooper could have done the Polito role much better than he did the role he wound up playing. I actually thought he was pretty good the first half of the movie, but when the character evolved to be a little more eccentric in the second half, it was too much for his talents. At least that's how I saw it. I've not been all that enamored with Bale's performances over the past several years so I went in with low expectations. I thought he was really good in this movie.
I have watched several movies over the past coule weeks:
Last night watched "Saving Mr. Banks". This movie made "Lincoln" look like "Fast & the Furious". Unspeakably boring and Emma Thompson was so unlikeable that it sort of ruined the movie for me. I found the motivations for her character to be unbelievable.
Got to see a screening of "August: Osage County" the other day. I really enjoyed that one. It is very heavy, but is so well acted it makes up for some of short comings.
"Dallas Buyers Club" was excellent I thought. I'm not a big MM fan but I thought he nailed the role. Jared Leto was amazing and should absolutely win the supporting actor Oscar. It fizzled a bit at the end, but was still a great movie.
Saw Walter Mitty today and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It was actually pretty good.
Anchorman 2 was completely ridiculous and I loved it.
I saw Nebraska Thursday, and it was an interesting family story, if a little too much of a downer. I did get one of my biggest laughs of the year at one point, though. Will Forte was shockingly competent, and Bruce Dern was incredible.
I'm on the fence about Alexander Payne. I thought Sideways was way overrated, and adored The Descendents.
I agree with everything you have typed except that I didn't find Nebraska to be "too much of a downer" but to be too slowly paced. Maybe they're the same thing, but I don't think so.
I agree on Sideways and The Descendants, and I also find Election to be strangely overratedly underrated, if that makes sense. I'm afraid to watch About Schmidt because I've heard Kathy Baker has a nude scene... :eek:
edit: but I do respect that he tries to bring every-day lives in the Midwest to life on the big screen
American Hustle was good, but is being overrated, IMO. It just felt like the sort of movie I've seen several times before...
I think my Best Picture nod (of what I've seen) would go to Dallas Buyers Club. Really great film, MM and Leto are both excellent.
12 Years a Slave also deserves an Oscar nod as well as Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for Ejiofor and Fassbender. I would be okay with either of the two films/casts winning any combination of those awards.
I'm typically fine with slowly paced movies. To me it was profoundly sad to see how isolated Bruce Dern's character was from his immediate family, to the point where they would talk about him like he wasn't even there. It was obvious that, although there was surely some dementia there, he still understood what they thought about him.
Clarification: I really enjoyed the movie. But I don't see myself returning to it like I did The Descendents (several times).
This is my annual end-of-year movie list I always post over on my Facebook:
OUT OF THIS WORLD!
Gravity (10/10)
YOU JUST COULDN"T QUITE GET THERE COULD YOU?
Prisoners (9/10)
D'AWWW, THESE LITTLE INDIES WERE CUTE...
Frances Ha (8/10)
The Way Way Back (8/10)
Dallas Buyers Club (8/10)
Mud (8/10)
HEY! A COMPETENT ADULT-ORIENTED FILM MADE BY A MAJOR STUDIO!
Side Effects (8/10)
HEY! A COMPETENT MAN-CHILD-ORIENTED FILM MADE BY A MAJOR STUDIO!
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (8/10)
I GOT THESE TWO TITLES CONFUSED AT LEAST 50 TIMES:
This Is the End (7/10)
The World's End (7/10)
THESE ANTI-HEROES ARE TUFF!
The Place Beyond the Pines (7/10)
The Iceman (7/10)
THESE HEROES ARE HOT!
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (7/10)
American Hustle (7/10)
THESE PROSTITUTES ARE HOT!
The Wolf of Wall Street (7/10)
THESE HEROES ARE NOT HOT! (LOL *TOM HANKS*)
Captain Phillips (7/10)
Saving Mr. Banks (7/10)
GOOD DOCUMENTARIES:
A Band Called Death (7/10)
Blackfish (7/10)
THE CHARACTERS JUST TALK ABOUT THEIR FEELINGS A LOT AND THAT'S OKAY!
Before Midnight (7/10)
Nebraska (7/10)
NOTHING SPECIAL IN THEIR RESPECTIVE GENRES BUT ABOVE-AVERAGE FLICKS:
Don Jon (6/10)
Star Trek: Into Darkness (6/10)
Monsters University (6/10)
The To Do List (6/10)
Promised Land (6/10)
WHOA, LIKE, PASS THE DRUGS, MAN!
Spring Breakers (5/10)
Upstream Color (5/10)
Pacific Rim (5/10)
NOTHING SPECIAL IN THEIR RESPECTIVE GENRES BUT BELOW-AVERAGE FLICKS:
Out of the Furnace (5/10)
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (5/10)
SOMEWHAT UNIQUE FLICKS THAT JUST AREN'T *THAT* GOOD:
The Kings of Summer (5/10)
Drinking Buddies (5/10)
Warm Bodies (5/10)
*CRINGES*
The Great Gatsby (4/10)
Gangster Squad (4/10)
Ain't Them Bodies Saints (4/10)
SO THESE WERE THE WORST BUT I WOULD JUST LIKE TO COMMENT HERE THAT I THOUGHT 2013 WAS A PRETTY SOLID YEAR FOR MOVIES AND I WOULD LIKE TO PAT MYSELF ON THE BACK FOR HAVING AWESOME TASTE
Only God Forgives (3/10)
Prince Avalanche (3/10)
Elysium (3/10)
Trance (3/10)
The Hangover Part III (3/10)
I WILL MAKE A STRONG EFFORT TO SEE THESE ON DVD:
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Act of Killing
12 Years a Slave
In a World...
The Spectacular Now
Fruitvale Station
Blue Caprice
Short Term 12
The Counselor
Blue Jasmine
About Time
Rush
MAYBE SOMEDAY I'LL WATCH ON TBS "NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL FUNNY"...
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Now You See Me
:runaway:
Those facebook friends of yours sure are some lucky people.
:eek:
That is beautiful, BC.
I only saw nine of those on your list. What am I doing with myself? I hereby resolve to do much better next year.
Saw American Hustle last night. I thought all the performances were fantastic. I thought the movie overall was very good.