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Post by joekiddlouischama on Dec 21, 2019 9:38:45 GMT
Personally I don't think it should matter how the movie was released at all, a movie is a movie. I even think the whole 7 days in theaters rule is unnecessary. I always considered the oscars to be about the greatest accomplishments in film of the year. And I don't think it should matter if it was released in theaters, on streaming, straight to dvd or whatever, as long as it's released as a feature length film I think it counts as a movie and therefore should be eligible for Best Picture. I get that the main reasoning against Netflix competing is that people want to keep the 'going to the cinema' experience alive, but I think the 2 can co-exist just fine. I don't feel like people are less enthusiastic about going to the cinema because of some movies being released on streaming. And streaming gives certain risky projects, that wouldn't be made before streaming, a platform and a source for funding (Annihilation comes to mind). I do agree that Netflix and the theater chains should work out something that allows Netflix movies to play in more cinemas if people want to see it on the big screen, but as more and more acclaimed Netflix movies are released I'm confident they'll figure something out. I do not know anything about the funding for Annihilation, but it played in theaters for weeks if not months; I viewed it in the theater in April 2018 despite a February 23 release date. My belief is that to be eligible for the Golden Globes and Oscars, Netflix movies should not be streamed until two months after they have opened in theaters. Otherwise, Netflix is using artificially abbreviated theatrical runs as a mere marketing gimmick and undermining the viability of theaters at the same time, especially if other companies also start adopting this model.
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Post by joekiddlouischama on Dec 21, 2019 10:18:37 GMT
I just viewed Marriage Story and deemed it merely "decent." The movie is a mixed bag, and the main problem is that the two main actors, the ubiquitous Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, do not really fit the style of the film. Marriage Story is essentially a comedy, one that is at times even reminiscent of marital or romantic comedies from Hollywood's Golden Age. (Indeed, on several occasions, the movie uses editing techniques—slow dissolve, fade-to-black, cut-to-black—that proved commonplace sixty or seventy years ago yet are rarely seen in contemporary film.) But although he stars in them often enough, Driver is ill-suited to comedy or at least romantic comedy. Johansson can do comedy—Jojo Rabbit is a current example—but her presence in this film is too "heavy." Neither actor offers the lightness of touch and irony needed for this movie. Their performances are not bad and might have worked if Marriage Story had constituted a straight drama, but they are ill-fitting given the context of this movie. As a result, I could not achieve real immersion in the film, feeling like I was "looking at" something rather than "being with" it. When the leads of a film are miscast, it just throws everything off a bit. The rest of the actors, conversely, are fully in sync with the movie's essentially comic nature, with Laura Dern, Alan Alda, and Ray Liotta all a treat to watch. But Driver and Johansson feel as if they wandered onto the wrong set. Imagine, for instance, if Alfred Hitchcock had cast Cary Grant instead of Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window (1954) or Vertigo (1958), or Stewart instead of Grant in To Catch a Thief (1955) or North by Northwest (1959). Even if everything else had been exactly the same, the movie would not have functioned optimally, and that is the way that I feel about Marriage Story. The casting should have featured better comedic leads who would be in sync with the film's comedic nature.
Mind you, I never actually found Marriage Story worthy of a laugh or even a chuckle. However, the potential for a good comedy existed, if only the filmmakers had used different lead actors and had fully embraced the film's comedic heart. For on occasion, writer-director Noah Baumbach seems to strain for dramatic heft. The result is some needless pretentiousness, a mildly erratic rhythm or tone, and pacing that is sometimes too slow for the movie's comedic nature. Baumbach almost seemed to feel as if Marriage Story needed to be reminiscent of Kramer vs. Kramer (Robert Benton, 1979), as opposed to a full-fledged comedy, in order to attract awards attention, but the result is a somewhat jumbled approach. The greater flaw, though, is the fundamental miscasting of the two leads, which only adds to Marriage Story's awkwardness as a sort of half-cocked comedy.
Obviously, the film worked well for some posters here, and the person that I saw it with liked it, even as she agreed with me about most of the flaws that I pointed out afterwards and have now mentioned here. But for me, Marriage Story profiles as one of the year's most overrated movies. I might give it a second try, but watching a miscast movie is a chore, even if the film is not bad.
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Post by joekiddlouischama on Dec 21, 2019 10:40:26 GMT
I have not seen it yet but I saw the argument scene on YouTube and thought it was the most unintentionally hilarious thing ever. I don’t care that i saw it out of context, the acting from both parties were cringe worthy, as was the dialogue. It’s so hard to take a angry Adam Driver seriously, especially when he’s hitting the wall with the force of a little girl. Having viewed Marriage Story, I actually believe that that scene is supposed to be somewhat funny, but as I noted in my previous post, Driver and Johansson are miscast as the leads and thus cannot fully convey the humor in the dialogue. They try to do so in that scene, but their attempts are strained and they mistake volume for irony.
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Post by joekiddlouischama on Dec 21, 2019 10:46:10 GMT
Most movies about a divorce show a couple who have grown to hate each other. If, at the end of the movie, they're at peace, it's usually because they've decided to put aside their differences and do what's best for their child(ren); not because they've really tried to solve their issues. MARRIAGE STORY puts an original twist on that. At first, CHARLIE & NICOLE BARBER do their best to be civilized. Certain circumstances create a tension between them that evolves into hatred. It's very realistic and relatable. This is somehow more terryfing than most horror movies I've seen recently. It makes the viewer think "I used to believe that I'd be the bigger person, but now I see that anyone can be changed in a situation like this." It looks like the plot will follow the same structure as always. However, when they eventually yell at each other, it's not really the sign of an end, but rather a beginning. It's not about throwing crap at each other for the sake of it; it's about getting everything out of their chest. After that, they don't get back together, but they do go back to that peaceful place. Noah Baumbach is known for comedies that have some drama in them. This is a drama with some comedy in it. I wished it had been mainly a drama, because: A) It's a compelling (and well-acted) one; and B) Noah is one of many indie directors who forcefully tries to bring humor out of something that really isn't funny in order to seem offbeat. He just doesn't do it as often as others, because a lot of moments in this movie are genuinely funny. There are a few times where the editing makes a scene feel intense or a wide shot hightlights the drama or comedy of a scene, but they're exceptions. Overall, the visual presentation is very standard. Wait. Is this going to turn into a debate about cinemas vs staying at home? Look, I already knew the kind of movie this was and I still chose not to wait for the Netflix release. I can't tell you what to do, but I encourage you to buy movie tickets any chance you get. Randy Newman's music score feels out of place. I can't tell if it's done on purpose or not, considering the quirky feel of the movie, but it's not an excuse. 7/10 ------------------------------------- You can read comments of other movies in my blog.Vits, as I noted earlier, I actually feel that Marriage Story is a comedy that strains for dramatic clout. To phrase the matter another way, though, Driver and Johansson act in more of a dramatic mode, whereas virtually all the other actors are completely in sync with a comedy. And I concur about Newman's score, but it probably reflects the film's mixed tones and ambitions. Newman's score tends to serve the purpose of operatic, paradoxically sentimental, "Oscar-bait" drama, but the movie is essentially a comedy.
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Dec 23, 2019 7:49:45 GMT
This was great, and very funny at times. I think Joaquin is still my favorite performance this year, but Adam Driver comes in real close.
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Post by Nora on Dec 23, 2019 16:10:21 GMT
This was great, and very funny at times. I think Joaquin is still my favorite performance this year, but Adam Driver comes in real close. what were some of the funny parts to you?
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Dec 23, 2019 22:55:06 GMT
This was great, and very funny at times. I think Joaquin is still my favorite performance this year, but Adam Driver comes in real close. what were some of the funny parts to you? Ray Liotta mixing up the kid's names made me lol. Another was when Alan Alda was rattling on until Driver goes "I'm sorry, am I paying for this joke?!" There were a lot of witty lines throughout. Are you saying you didn't find any of it amusing?
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Post by Nora on Dec 23, 2019 23:35:55 GMT
what were some of the funny parts to you? Ray Liotta mixing up the kid's names made me lol. Another was when Alan Alda was rattling on until Driver goes "I'm sorry, am I paying for this joke?!" There were a lot of witty lines throughout. Are you saying you didn't find any of it amusing? I honestly cannot remember any funny parts from the movie except “if you start from reasonable and she starts from crazy...” I may have smiled here and there but certainly didnt laugh our loud.
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Dec 23, 2019 23:39:58 GMT
Ray Liotta mixing up the kid's names made me lol. Another was when Alan Alda was rattling on until Driver goes "I'm sorry, am I paying for this joke?!" There were a lot of witty lines throughout. Are you saying you didn't find any of it amusing? I honestly cannot remember any funny parts from the movie except “if you start from reasonable and she starts from crazy...” I may have smiled here and there but certainly didnt laugh our loud. Making me feel like a weirdo, haha. It's listed as Comedy as well as Drama on IMDb and Google, so it's not just me who sees it that way.
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Post by Nicko's Nose on Dec 24, 2019 0:06:33 GMT
I honestly cannot remember any funny parts from the movie except “if you start from reasonable and she starts from crazy...” I may have smiled here and there but certainly didnt laugh our loud. Making me feel like a weirdo, haha. It's listed as Comedy as well as Drama on IMDb and Google, so it's not just me who sees it that way. I thought some moments were funny too. I assumed everyone laughed at the retractable blade scene.
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Dec 24, 2019 1:19:45 GMT
Making me feel like a weirdo, haha. It's listed as Comedy as well as Drama on IMDb and Google, so it's not just me who sees it that way. I thought some moments were funny too. I assumed everyone laughed at the retractable blade scene. I had too much second hand embarrassment to laugh there, but it was definitely some pitch black comedy.
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Post by Nora on Dec 24, 2019 1:27:55 GMT
I honestly cannot remember any funny parts from the movie except “if you start from reasonable and she starts from crazy...” I may have smiled here and there but certainly didnt laugh our loud. Making me feel like a weirdo, haha. It's listed as Comedy as well as Drama on IMDb and Google, so it's not just me who sees it that way. no for sure, its legit both and you are not the ony one who found it funny I just couldnt remember any of the funny scenes myself. But it was certainly entertainig.
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Post by hi224 on Dec 25, 2019 21:50:15 GMT
I am not sure how you couldn't see Marriage Story as partially a dark comedy at all.
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Post by joekiddlouischama on Dec 28, 2019 9:54:35 GMT
I viewed Marriage Story a second time before it departed after its one-theater, less-than-five-full-days run in my city (again, see the concern about the Netflix commercial model). I liked it slightly better on the second viewing ("decent/pretty good," meaning slightly above-average), but my essential critique remains the same. There is a lot of good, juicy stuff in Marriage Story, but the filmmakers are essentially of two minds. There are two good movies here, one a comedy (and I laughed and chuckled more this time) and, to a lesser extent, a more serious and sobering sentimental drama reminiscent of Kramer vs. Kramer (Robert Benton, 1979). But rather than choose between the two, writer-director Noah Baumbach tried to make them both within the same film. The result is that Marriage Story either oscillates between comedy and drama or clumsily attempts to blend the two in certain scenes, the clumsiness occurring because Johansson and (especially) Driver struggle to reflect the comedic qualities.
In a sense, Marriage Story's ambition is to find the humor and comedy in the otherwise deflating narrative of a child-bearing marriage's travails and dissolution. The goal, then, is to make ostensibly dramatic material comedic, and the supporting actors all understand how to do that. But Johansson and Driver struggle and strain; in their big argument scene, they come across as actors in a studio workshop trying to turn drama into comedy and not quite making it.
Marriage Story's best attempt to blend comedy and drama probably comes in the late-night trick-or-treating sequence in downtown Los Angeles. But for the most part, the film wobbles between the two tones and genres, and Driver and Johansson seem like fish out of water given the comedic ease of their supporting cast. In these regards, the movie reminds me of American Hustle from six years ago. That dubiously celebrated film shuttled between wistful yearning and glib satire, with a too-young Jennifer Lawrence miscast as a stifled and beleaguered New Jersey mom. Although its material is sharper and its nature is more highbrow, Marriage Story's flaws strike me as similar and similarly obvious.
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Post by joekiddlouischama on Dec 28, 2019 10:22:14 GMT
Most movies about a divorce show a couple who have grown to hate each other. If, at the end of the movie, they're at peace, it's usually because they've decided to put aside their differences and do what's best for their child(ren); not because they've really tried to solve their issues. MARRIAGE STORY puts an original twist on that. At first, CHARLIE & NICOLE BARBER do their best to be civilized. Certain circumstances create a tension between them that evolves into hatred. It's very realistic and relatable. This is somehow more terryfing than most horror movies I've seen recently. It makes the viewer think "I used to believe that I'd be the bigger person, but now I see that anyone can be changed in a situation like this." It looks like the plot will follow the same structure as always. However, when they eventually yell at each other, it's not really the sign of an end, but rather a beginning. It's not about throwing crap at each other for the sake of it; it's about getting everything out of their chest. After that, they don't get back together, but they do go back to that peaceful place. Noah Baumbach is known for comedies that have some drama in them. This is a drama with some comedy in it. I wished it had been mainly a drama, because: A) It's a compelling (and well-acted) one; and B) Noah is one of many indie directors who forcefully tries to bring humor out of something that really isn't funny in order to seem offbeat. He just doesn't do it as often as others, because a lot of moments in this movie are genuinely funny. There are a few times where the editing makes a scene feel intense or a wide shot hightlights the drama or comedy of a scene, but they're exceptions. Overall, the visual presentation is very standard. Wait. Is this going to turn into a debate about cinemas vs staying at home? Look, I already knew the kind of movie this was and I still chose not to wait for the Netflix release. I can't tell you what to do, but I encourage you to buy movie tickets any chance you get. Randy Newman's music score feels out of place. I can't tell if it's done on purpose or not, considering the quirky feel of the movie, but it's not an excuse. 7/10 ------------------------------------- You can read comments of other movies in my blog. Marriage Story is not a remarkable film visually, but that is true of most romantic comedies or relationship dramas. I actually feel that Baumbach uses interior space quite ironically in a number of scenes, sometimes keeping the camera at a distance from the actors in a room in a way that one does not often see these days. The result is to highlight the film's comedic thread about the "space" in L.A. and also to suggest the isolation suffered by the protagonists. Overall, Marriage Story is less TV-movie-like in its look than, say, Bombshell, although to me that film is better overall.
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