Five Things for Boxing Day 2012

[scarlettina]

1) Had a really great holiday weekend. Attended varina8's Post-Apocalyptic Solstice Gathering. Had delicious dim sum on the day before Christmas with a group of friends at Jade Garden in the International District and then saw Life of Pi with oldmangrumpus. And then had dinner on Christmas Day with grubbstreet, his lovely bride, and a cast of delightful irregular regulars. I

Comments

[randy_byers]

I'm also trying to find a way to make myself find Silver Linings Playbook more appealing since it's getting all sorts of Oscar buzz, but I haven't been successful so far.

So funny, because this is exactly how I feel too! Because of the Oscar buzz I thought I'd check it out on Sunday, and then Sunday came around and I thought, "Eh."

[scarlettina]

It really is an "eh" sort of feeling, isn't it? Maybe it's because of how the film has been marketed? Perhaps as a result, my impression of the movie isn't what it ought to be, but I just can't seem to find the interest. Perhaps the subject matter is just too mundane for my taste. Or perhaps, because of all the serious trauma that's happened over the last couple of years, a movie about dealing with same just doesn't appeal to me.

[ironymaiden]

i saw it at a SIFF members event, so i went in with no advertising and no expectations (other than admiration for Jennifer Lawrence). i can't think of a way to blurb it that would cause me to want to see it.

i thought it was good, especially so for the way it plays with movie cliches. (a bonus for me was how well they had captured the culture and sense of place in Pennsylvania.) if i was going to blurb it, i'd say that it reminded me of Some Kind of Wonderful while having no plot in common with it. there's tough stuff there, but also humor and romance. and it's the best work DeNiro's done in years.

[scarlettina]

Well, that does make a difference. I'm still not sure that I'll see it, but I trust your judgment and I agree about Jennifer Lawrence. We'll see.

[allanh]

I thoroughly enjoyed Skyfall more than I thought I would, both because of Daniel Craig's performance (he is SO damn pretty!) and because the movie rebooted the Bond franchise into a somewhat less gimmicky, retro mindset.

[scarlettina]

I'm going to miss having a strong female presence as a regular in the series who is there because she's smart, canny, and experienced rather than because she's beautiful and deadly/beautiful and helpless/beautiful and sexually available. I thought Dench was brilliant as M and I loved having her as a foil for Bond.

I, too, think that Craig is beautiful. I have a friend who thinks he's downright ugly and for that reason alone can't identify with the character of Bond anymore. I don't understand her position in the slightest.

One point I'll have to wait and see about, which is whether or not the series is moving into a less gimicky mindset. The first major action sequence had moments of over-the-top action that strained my credulity pretty thoroughly. Retro, absolutely, but this new Q doesn't seem interested in gadgets for their own sake--something I quite appreciate. I am willing to be patient, because a good Bond film is worth the wait. We shall see.

[e_bourne]

IMO, you could safely skip Anna Karenina. Even Tom Stoppard could not make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. And it's not Tolstoy's fault either. Time has moved on, and it is way too difficult to (at least for me) accept the characters motivations, besides which, I found Anna utterly unsympathetic. If you want a period drama, go see A Royal Affair instead which was quite good.

All those movies are on my list, some of which I feel more strongly about than others. I really, really want to see the hobbit so I shall take myself probably Friday.

Les Miz was excellent and Django, well. It was Tarrantino.