Village Voice/LA Weekly Poll Strikes Oil
The Village Voice/LA Weekly poll of 102 critics has named There Will Be Blood the Best Film of 2007 and Daniel Day-Lewis the Best Actor. Here are the top 15.
1. There Will Be Blood
2. No Country for Old Men
3. Zodiac
4. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
5. I’m Not There
6. Syndromes and a Century
7. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
8. Killer of Sheep
9. Ratatouille
10. Colossal Youth
11. Black Book
12. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
13. Eastern Promises
14. Once
15. Michael Clayton
More results after the jump…
Best Actor:
1. Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
2. Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
3. Frank Langella, Starting Out in the Evening
4. Mathieu Amalric, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
5. George Clooney, Michael Clayton
6. Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
7. Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
8. Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Savages
9. Christian Bale, Rescue Dawn
10. Gordon Pinsent, Away from Her and Chris Cooper, Breach
Best Actress:
1. Anamaria Marinca, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (above)
2. Julie Christie, Away from Her
3. Carice van Houten, Black Book
4. Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
5. Ellen Page, Juno
6. Nicole Kidman, Margot at the Wedding
7. Laura Linney, The Savages
8. Kate Dickie, Red Road
9. Marina Hands, Lady Chatterley
10. Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There
Best Supporting Actor:
1. Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
2. Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
3. Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
4. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson’s War
5. Paul Dano, There Will Be Blood
6. Vlad Ivanov, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
7. Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton
8. Max von Sydow, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
9. Steve Zahn, Rescue Dawn
10. Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Superbad
Best Supporting Actress:
1. Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There (right)
2. Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
3. Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
4. Leslie Mann, Knocked Up
5. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Margot at the Wedding
6. Zoe Bell, Grindhouse
7. Kelly Macdonald, No Country for Old Men
8. Marisa Tomei, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
9. Samantha Morton, Control
10. Catherine Keener, Into the Wild
More from J. Hoberman of the Village Voice.
View the updated Living in Cinema 2007 Awards Tally here.
Filed under: Awards
Related Posts: - San Francisco Critics Pick ‘Jesse James’
- AFI Awards 2007
- Indiewire 2007 Critics Poll: There Will Be Blood
- 2007 Awards Tally
- National Society of Film Critics Honors ‘Blood’
Ooh, I do love all that love for Diving Bell. AMPAS, take notice! Mathieu Amalric at #4 on the Best Actor list. The film should be in the top 5, but top 10 is acceptable. :-)
And Max von Sydow should also be higher in Supporting Actor, but alright, I’ll go easy on them. It’s a competitive category. ;-)
The best actor list in particular is great. I would be happy with any combination of these guys getting Oscar nominations.
Overall, great choices, with some refreshing variations from the slew of other Best Of lists. Acknowledgement for Laura Linney in The Savages makes me happy. And Anamaria Marinca at #1 - good for them for breaking the mold and voting her at #1. And this is one of the few groups that has acknowledged Gordon Pinset and Christian Bale.
Zoe Bell at 6 on the supporting actress list?! As a fellow Kiwi I wish her well, but placing her performance ahead of those beneath her is laughable.
Dude, chica RODE ON TOP OF A FRIGGIN CAR with no assist from CGI!! What more do you need?
I would marry a woman for less than that.
I thought you might like that Diving Bell love Alison! A very similar list of movies to the Indiewire poll, I wonder how many overlapping critics there were.
Glancing down that best picture list I must say it’s very… doh! Michael Clayton :-(
O the inhumanity.
Well, it’s at #15, sartre. At least it’s not in the top 10. :-)
I arbitrarily chopped off the list at 15 but you can see the whole thing plus scores at this under construction Village Voice page: http://www.villagevoice.com/filmpoll/winners.php?category=1
Thanks for that link. Here’s a link to Sunset Gun’s Top 10, in no particular order, which includes Zodiac, No Country For Old Men and TWBB. :-)
http://sunsetgun.typepad.com/sunsetgun/2007/12/sunset-guns-ten.html
I found a fellow enthusiast of Black Snake Moan too. :-)
She went for Bug too, that’s kinda cool. Not many people liked that one. I’m on the fence about it myself, but admired a lot of it.
And she dug Darjeeling.
Alison, what are you making of Sweeney’s and Johnny Depp’s less than stellar ranking across critics?
Have you seen the film yet?
Here’s David Poland completely missing the boat on one of the greats of 2007. He begrudgingly gives the first act Runner Up status:
“First Act Of There Will Be Blood – An act of sheer genius. There has been no filmmaking feat as profound this year… which is what makes the third act meltdown the most painful twist of the year. Sorry, but I just can’t forgive the descent into madness… and I mean PT Anderson’s. And really, one act is just about as long as Daniel Day-Lewis’ Huston imitation feels like a real person. This should have been one of the great films of the decade. Instead, it is a somewhat gimpy runaway that will be great to watch in pieces on cable, but will also have the most mocked scene since 300… if enough people see it to mock it.”
Here’s his whole list http://www.thehotbutton.com/today/hot.button/index.html
I loathe David Poland. Enough said.
Sasha offers some thoughts in response to DP’s comments, including how she reacted to her second viewing of the film.
Craig, Poland actually gave TWBB a tomato on Rotten Tomatoes. I don’t take what he says about the film or DDL too literally. He’s been predicting Depp as having an 85% chance of winning the Oscar this year since the day after last year’s awards ended. DDL is Depp’s main competition, so many of the Depp champions are finding ways to bash DDL.
Armound White of the NY Press bashed TWBB too, but he pretty much bashes everything. Except for Diving Bell. His praise of Diving Bell keeps me *this much* from thinking he’s less than a bug. ;-)
sartre, I still have not seen Sweeney Todd and probably won’t be able to until next week. I’m not sure what to make of the lack of Sweeney/Depp. There are so many strong films and performances this year, it’s possible that many enjoyed Sweeney and Depp’s performance, but preferred others. I’ll definitely report my opinions once I’ve seen the film.
I’m actually glad to see that Sasha could appreciate the film, and Day-Lewis’ performance, more the second time.
The DP top 10 list she has is different than the one in the Hot Button link though. On the Hot Button, The Savages was #10. On Sasha’s post, Juno is at #10. ?
Poland understands the industry better than I’d ever care to, but his opinions on movies mean bubkes to me.
I’m glad she’s backed off hating it and it doesn’t bother me that she isn’t swooning for it. It really isn’t a movie that is going to push everyone’s buttons.
Very true. It’s good to know that the screener plays well. I was afraid the film would lose something when not watched on the big screen.
In some ways it might be a little less intense and more approachable. I was kind of stunned my first viewing. I can understand why some people aren’t quite sure what to make of it.
I learned something from Sasha’s comments.
I can now better appreciate how ranking TWbB and Jesse James my two favorite films of the year was due to their pleasing failure to make me think or feel anything :-)
Well, I understand that it’s hard for her to completely come around to this movie. ;-)
The way I interpreted what she said, however, is not that these films fail to make the viewer think or feel anything (that certainly wasn’t the case for me), but that they don’t *try to* or *manipulate* the viewer into thinking/feeling any particular thing.
Maybe I just look for the positive and refuse to see the backhanded slaps.
I think it was big of her to come down a few notches and to admit it. And she wasn’t just sucking up either.
You two are more generous when it comes to thinking the best than me. It’s a fine quality.
Hmph. No Atonement?
If there’s no Atonement, then this ain’t no list…
Not a quality list at any rate…
Poor Serena. It’s okay, Atonement can survive this snubbery.
My problem with Sasha’s criticism of There Will Be Blood is her calling it a hateful film. It depicts some hatefulness, yes, but it’s a similar trap to calling Kubrick’s films remote because they are essaying remote characters.
In the cases of Zodiac and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, the whole point is that in each case the protagonist (Graysmith, Ford) is consumed by an obsession or desire that is elusive, elliptical and finally nonexistent. Calling the films hollow, or saying that ultimately there is little there, is, in a roundabout way, the point of the films.
I think this list is rather excellent. Though, I just have to say, as much as I enjoyed Black Book, it wasn’t one of my favorites of the year or anything. Though you’re almost doubtless right, Craig, when you say in your Top Ten piece that it was the most effective antiwar film of the year.
(ring, ring…ring, ring)
“Hello?”
“Yeah, is Zodiac there?”
“Speaking.”
“Hey, listen, we’re the film critics of America. Uhm, this is kinda difficult but we’d like to…well, uh…OK, sorry, this is kind of embarrassing but we’d like you to know that even though we kind of gave you a hard time last Winter when you came out that now we think you’re great. It just took a while to come around. I know some of us were on your side but most of us criticized you. We were cranky and expecting another Seven from Fincher. We were kind of being dickish. Sorry.”
“Yeah, well, I knew that.”
“Yeah. Well, um…OK. Thanks then. Good luck to you.”
“Yeah, you too.”
“OK, well, I’m sorry to have to be so brief but we have to go now. Good luck with that new DVD special edition next week. We have some more calls to make.”
“Hey thanks. You should really call up The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. I know it would appreciate the kind words.”
“”Uh yeah, funny you should mention it. It’s our next call. Bye now.”
“Bye.”
Don’t worry Serena, Atonement rings in at #28 so there are more than a few critics out there who are behind your cause.
There is plenty of ‘there’ there in TWBB and Zodiac, but for some people it’s just not a place they want to be. That’s cool.
heh heh Joel. Jesse James isn’t answering the phone. He’s locked in his room with The Smiths cranked up on his iPod crying because no one loves him.
Hilarious and smart Joel. You’re right, it seems that both films have grown in critical regard with more reflection. On MCN average top ten rankings across 213 critics Zodiac is placed 4th and Jesse 15th. But in fairness to the much maligned critics there is less disparity when it comes to the former - RT rating 89% (at TWbB levels) and a metacritic score of 78 (rated generally favorable).
True sartre, but that wasn’t the case when it came out. Zodiac was originally at 67% on rottentomatoes in its opening week and Jesse James jumped back and forth between 58-61% in it’s opening month. After word got out on both a more reviews posted, their individual scores have both climbed up.
We’ve talked Jesse James’ critical drubbing to death here already, but Zodiac had a lot of “the acting is good but the storytelling is sloppy” or “I liked it but it was too long”. Those kind of comments tend to lead a reader to have a unfavorable opinion when they show up in the capsule review on the RT or MC main pages.
Absolutely Joel. That’s why the Rotten Tomatoes score can be misleading. Take Poland’s review of TWbB as an example. He rated the film favorably but the review contains plenty of denigrating comments. I find the average critic rating at Rotten Tomatoes the better site guide.
I wasn’t aware that the early reviews for Zodiac were more often lukewarm.
Have you guys read Andrew Sarris’s top ten list? I’m not one to shit on another’s opinion but its embarrassing, a cliched old man list that favors comfortable and pretty over anything that might cause the guy to get up out of bed to take a leak.
http://www.nyobserver.com/2008/juno-juno-juno-movie-delivered
This is Crowther Bonnie and Clyde level.
I think the cream of the crop was generally favorable on Zodiac although many of them came with reservations, but the non-cream were pretty mixed. Not surprising, but it paints a clearer picture of why the movie didn’t fare so well in theaters.
Thanks for the link Chuck. Completely concur with you. Never much rated his criticism and taste.
Yep, you summed it up very well, Chuck.
Though, in his favor, he did like Once and The Diving Bell, and he included Amalric on his list of favorite lead actor performances.
Chuck, hah…funny. He’s still playing that whole game with No Country. I read his review after I saw it (I always try to read at least one unfavorable review of any movie I like just to see a different opinion) and he spent the whole thing trying to get why he should like it.
You’re right, this is a really uninspired list. He’s got some great movies on there, but the whole tells you more than the individual choices.
Exactly, joel. And some of his omissions are glaring.
I’d agree with Joel, it’s not so much his individual choices (many of which are lovely movies), but the collective blandness of the whole thing.
Then again, he could easily say the same thing about my own list. I’m alarmed myself by a distressing ’sameness’ to other such lists. One likes to be different, but not just for the sake of being different.
It’s a little disturbing how many people use the Tomato Rating as the deciding factor in their movie choices. I use it to get an idea of the general consensus and also to quickly point me to the critics who agree or disagree with me, but it’s not really a guideline. Metacritic is much better about this, but they only seem to track the pros. Sometimes I like to know what the rabble are talking about as well.
“Then again, he could easily say the same thing about my own list. I’m alarmed myself by a distressing ’sameness’ to other such lists. One likes to be different, but not just for the sake of being different.”
I have a similar problem with my list. But the movies in question were THAT good, and I couldn’t not include them. Sarris has, if anything, one of the more original lists in that he pointedly leaves out many of the great movies of the year, but he, and I had this opinion anyway, just seems like a humorless fuddy duddy.
I was always more of Kael kinda guy anyway.
Andrew Sarris lost his critical fast ball years back. I still look at his reviews. His problems with No Country for Old Men, while sounding intriguing because he’s expounded on them for so long, are actually quite base and simplistically nonsensical, though. Nihilistically evil-worshipping? Sarris, you’ve become lost.
The great thing about Kael was that I never minded disagreeing with her opinions, because the quality of her writing as an essayist was amazing and her descriptions of different aspects of films helped me to generally better understand them.
Yeah sartre. I think Dargis is carrying the Kael standard these days. She’s no Kael, sure, but she’s one of the best writers on contemporary films in the business, period. At least I think so.
I considered creating a list with movies I really liked that no one else seemed to be pushing but it felt like I was being clever for the sake of spouting off. Plus, too many people would just look at it and think I was nuts. I don’t need to spend that much effort defending my cleverness. But I do plan to list the movies that I liked and Craig can just rank my top ten and leave it at that.
I can accept a pluraty of riches any year, both great and small.
I too think Dargis is carrying the torch, and for me she’s being assisted by A.O Scott.
Look forward to seeing your list Joel - including the ones no one else seem to be pushing.
Well I doubt it will be that earth-shattering but I’m just trying to pay attention to the stuff that came out before August. There were some good genre moments in 2007 as well as the drama and whatnot.
Honestly though, my list of movies I haven’t been able to see or missed is almost as long as the list of stuff I was really impressed by. Kind of frustrating but it means I have DVDs to look forward to down the road.
Let’s not talk about the stuff we missed yet. It’s a little embarassing. I was more on top of new releases than ever, but still some stuff slipped through.
Exhibit A) Rescue Dawn. I know, crazy right?
for the blood fans…
http://www.filmbrain.com/filmbrain/2007/12/there-will-be-b.html
joel please ‘push’ the list. i really want to get away from ‘no country/atonement/there will be blood/juno land.
so please push away…and from from seeing you as ‘nuts’..i’ll see you as a visionary. :)
and dude, i’d even rather see cleverness for cleverness sake than bandwagonism for coolness sake. dig in joel… )
Glim please push your own list too.
Thanks for the link too Glim, not so sure about the Bush references but I thought the Kubrick ones were well presented.
I believe Gilmmer has rung in, though not officially:
1. Lars and the Real Girl
2. Lars and the Real Girl
3. Lars and the Real Girl
4. Lars and the Real Girl
5. Lars and the Real Girl
6. Lars and the Real Girl
7. Lars and the Real Girl
8. Lars and the Real Girl
9. Lars and the Real Girl
10. Lars and the Real Girl
You must have misheard. Glim has been championing a film called ‘Finishing the Game’ too.
I’ve heard, but I’m not convinced that one quite cracked his top 10. I could be wrong. I’m sure he will enlighten us.
Oh, you guys. Poor Mr. Sarris…LOL
I don’t think it makes you a doddering old coot one step away from Alzheimer’s just cuz you don’t have NCFOM on your Top 10 list. It’s not on mine either.
If he’s marginally offended by the Coens’ latest or TWBB (which still has yet to open in my city) that’s his prerogative. As a writer & as a human being. One person’s nihilism is another person’s treasure.
I love this guy. He’s not still married to Molly Haskell, is he? You can dig up a fair amount of their stuff if you know where to look. She was quite the brilliant, talented chick & had a real feminist bent.
(But, yeah, I do miss Pauline EVERY GOD DAMN DAY. I have a bunch of her books around & I read them for inspiration. She was the best film writer EVER IMO. Even when she skewered a film or a personality you loved, her gift for language was so remarkable that you couldn’t stop reading. She always had a distinct voice & a savage POV. You always understood where she was coming from. So you never felt offended or upset when you weren’t on the same page.
That Alan Parker thing was the living bloody end. “Alan Parker has talent to burn - & that’s just what he should do with it.” ROTFLMAO )
But getting back to Mr. Sarris….
The only thing that really bugs me is that he has Lady Chatterley on his foreign film list.
I see far more interesting positive things than negatives.
He has Atonement at #2, Once at #4, Interview at #6 & You Kill Me in a three way tie for #10. Interview is an exceptionally cool choice. It’s also the film that finally proved Sienna Miller has actual talent.
For Best Actress, he hasn’t really missed out on anybody. The usual suspects are there: Marion, Julie & Ellen. Plus Jodie (!!!!!). For Best Actor, he’s singled out Russell (in a double shot) & George.
I dunno. Works for me.
*raises eyebrow*
And if you asked any of my exes (or anyone close to me
for that matter), they would tell you definitively that I am NOT a person who’s easily pleased….
It was cool of Sarris to include Interview, which is a great movie with two terrific performances by the leads. And I don’t knock Sarris for not having NCFOM, and everyone has their opinion, but I’m sorry, there is no planet in which Knocked Up is a better film, or one more worth seeking out, than There Will Be Blood.
And I’ll go ahead and say this too while I’m in crank mode: I thought Once was a wee precious for its own good, not bad, and even charming, but it’s been elevated to an absurd degree by the critics. I just didn’t buy the whole “we’re nameless lost souls with not a bitter bone in our body who find love among music” bit.
Chuck, you’re totally entitled. I kinda hate tippy toeing around anyone for any reason. Since I was a little girl, I’d much rather have a definitive answer (either way) for someone. Often to my own detriment. LOL
That’s what I’ve had to do with TWBB. Dying to see it. Can’t talk about it & obviously have no actual opinion until I’ve viewed it. But it opens where I live next weekend & I’ll be able to weigh in at that time with my own views.
FINALLY.
I am anticipating it a whole hell of a lot. After all, it’s PT & DDL. It should be right up my alley.
But I’ve been wrong before…
I have nothing to say re Knocked Up either. I didn’t see it. I’m far from your classic chick in that regard.Though I do like kids, I find all that baby stuff an enormous pain.
Juno was a sweet little movie that surpassed all of my expectations. But it’s not the kind of flick that I would ever seek out in the light of day. The awards buzz was the only thing that got me in the door. Ellen Page sells that picture for all it’s worth. She is the one most responsible for its BO & reviews, along with Dialblo & Jason Reitman.
Though I did love Once, I can actually comprehend completely why someone else would find it empty of poetry & rather lightweight. If you don’t buy it I imagine it’s rather grating.
Not a big deal, Chuck. The world would be damned dull if we all had the same thoughts & identical opinions…
Interested to see what you think of Blood Serena, I anxiously await a second viewing myself. I haven’t seen Juno yet, there’s always been something else, but I’m checking it out either tonight or tomorrow, depending on how other things work out.
I actually liked Knocked Up, though I think its time Apatow mix it up a little, his reverse gender gloss on the chick flick is beginning to get obvious.
Heh heh, Chuck, the reasons you dislike Once are probably the exact same reasons I liked it so much. It’s got all kinds of little imperfections and sure, it’s perfectly convoluted but it sucks me in and keeps me involved for its entire running time. I think the reason it works for me is that it’s so damn simple. And so I can see why you might hate it too.
It’s one of those movies that divides film fans, kinda like Juno or most every movie from Soderbergh, Tarantino, and Wes Anderson.
I think Once works a bit better for us cynics when we sort of stumble upon it. It’s not the kind of movie that goes over well when it’s loaded with expectations and is crammed down your throat.
It’s such a very simple movie and it was an amazing breath of fresh air in the oncoming heat of summer bloat.
Too many Awards lists? Nah.
Houston rang in. Tim Burton got another Best Director win for Sweeney Todd.
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=40641
Never too many. I can’t update my list until tonight though.
The love for NCfOM is just getting absurd now. I mean it’s great, but it’s like everyone was hypnotized all the sudden.
Hey, they did give the Director win to Tim Burton instead of the Coens.
That’s true. And kind of a surprising choice. Not that it isn’t deserved, but ol’ Sweeney seems to be slipping off the buzz radar.
Deakins gets the cinematography nod for Assassination of Jesse James and Hoffman gets a special nod for his acting work in the three good movies this year.
Some Texans lurking on this blog or what?
Call me crazy, but I think Tim Burton’s Director Oscar nomination is the one Big-8 certainty for the film (in addition to the art/tech nods it’s sure to get). Though I still think Depp is also in, despite the fact that he seems to be getting ignored almost everywhere. But Burton looks like even more of a lock than Depp to me.
As I was going down the list making my picks last night, I had this horrible realization that I don’t have an f’ing clue about what Oscar is going to do. I’ve just been talking around in circles.
I’m ready for the nominations now so I have something to work with. This speculation is wearing me down.
Deakins. I’m still worried he’ll get nominated for both No Country and Jesse James and someone else will win. As much as I liked the work of several others, I’m totally rooting for Deakins.
Yeah, let’s the get the nominations out there, the Golden Globes behind us, and move on to the office pools. Oddly enough last night as I thought over sartre’s numbers post and my own twisted Oscar logic, I came to the conclusion I’m talking out my ass to some extent because this year has thrown me for a bit of a loop.
I’m going to try and hold off on further speculation until I see the nominated list.
When does that come out?
The Golden Globes are Jan 13 and the Oscar Noms are announced Jan 22.
5:30 am on January 22nd. Tuesday bloody Tuesday.
BFCA awards are happening on Monday evening. That might give people a little more insight into the race, but then again it might not.
Oh, and the DGA nominations will be announced next Thursday. That might clarify things…or not.
Well at least the Globes will be over soon. I’ve grown to really dislike them. A tiny, oddball group of people making selections from a typically uninspired list of nominees upon which so much weight and emphasis is placed.
The irony is that typically it’s a much more entertaining awards show to watch. Everyone is drunk.
See, not only does Alison have impecable movie taste, she’s Jane on the Spot with the awards info.
Globes. They’re entertaining. It’s a big party apparently. But they mean nothing to me. It’ll be interesting to see how the show goes with this strike business though. Not sure if you’ve been keeping up on that, but Dick Clark Productions is a struck company so the WGA plans to picket and many stars have said they won’t cross a picket line. No stars = No show.
:-)
Thank you, Craig. Oh, and by the way, I think next Thursday is DGA announcements for Documentaries. The feature films are earlier - this coming Tuesday.
The GG show is going to be kind of ridiculous. If there is a show. I mean the whole point of the HFPA nominating certain people is to have stars show up at their little shindig. Why bother if the people they love to hobnob with, like Depp and Hanks and Julia Roberts, aren’t going to cross the picket line?
I’m 100% behind the writers. The producers are greedy and are as bad as any other corporate moguls. It really is an ugly situation and I’m hoping that they’ll resolve things soon.
Huh, could be a weird Globes night. I’m not sure if I should watch the train wreck or skip it.
Yeah, the whole point of the GGs is the show. Without the show, it might as well be the Living in Cinema Awards.
The Oscars I could live for one year without a show. Just have the announcements and the speeches. I do love the cheesy clip packages, but I could do without the variety show routine at least this once.
I support the writers too, but the studios seem content to play hard ball. They’ve let the TV season die, how much further are they prepared to take it?
I don’t know. A lot of the “Gurus o’ Gold” have chimed in with votes on how long the strike will go on. The majority think that it will go on for another 1-4 months.
Here’s the link to the MCN poll (yes, I paid a visit to the site):
http://www.moviecitynews.com/awards/2008/gurus_080104.html
I appreciate that the Globes mean nothing to you Craig, but seeing the Coens receive best drama, director, and adapted screenplay might just put a big appreciative smile on your face.
Alison, you are my hero. I thought you made a perfectly reasonable, perceptive, and valuable point in the comment on the other site. And your response to its criticism was equally astute and fair.
Thanks, sartre. I do try to be balanced. :-)
When I posted the first comment I had originally added “Maybe he would have liked the movie better if Ellen Page had been in it”. But I decided that being that snarky would be in very poor taste and deleted it.
Ooooh, yikes. I’m staying the hell out of that one. My stance on the Ebert review will probably only piss off both sides.
Ok, not so much with the ’staying the hell out’
It’s always advisable to hold back on snark.
I’ll interested in your stance on the Ebert review, Craig. When have you ever pissed us off?
I give the strike another couple months. The producers hate the writer’s guild apparently, with a passion, but they seem to have more respect (or fear) of the directors and actors.
That said, this thing goes on through the winter and there’s going to be a dismal year of crappy half-written movies coming our way in about 18 months.
My comments are in the MZS - PTA thread.
Basically, I don’t have an issue with the fact he was lukewarm on the movie (though he gave it 3.5 stars), but I disgree with several of his arguments.
Apparently, even this is not allowed.
I don’t blame anyone for not liking the movie, but I have yet to hear a valid argument why it’s not good.