comment #1

WorldofKJ says ...

I finally watched Gone Baby Gone. If I didn't know better, I would have sworn I was watching a different film than what's being heralded.

CSI: Boston indeed.

comment #2

Daviddb says ...

Well Thank God at least one critics group mentioned In the Shadow of the Moon and King of Kong as two of the best docs of the year.

comment #3

alynch says ...

Looks like Jeff has picked out his annual "takedown" target. The question is, what kind of slam pieces will he be able to write about a basically unknown character actress? This will be quite the challenge.

comment #4

gruver1 says ...

Wells to alynch: Nobody's looking to take anyone down. Amy Ryan is a good actress. I liked her in "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead" this year also. I'm just saying it's easy to portray a coarse, thoughtless, addicted creep of a human being. And I'm also momentarily reacting to all the critics groups saying Amy Ryan Amy Ryan Amy Ryan Amy Ryan Amy Ryan Amy Ryan Amy Ryan Amy Ryan Amy Ryan Amy Ryan Amy Ryan Amy Ryan, etc.

comment #5

actionman says ...

"CSI: Boston indeed."

Hardly. The questions of morality, responsibility, and family that are raised during Gone Baby Gone elevate it way above a television show.

comment #6

PerfectTommy says ...

Alright, Actionman, I guess this is my hobby horse for the day, but about the phrase "elevate it way above a televison show"- Maybe it is elevated above the television show, CSI:Miami, but is it above every episode of "The Sopranos", "Homecide: Life in the Streets" or "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"? Even accounting for the writer's stike turning US TV to dredge, there still are fine turned out by the BBC.
Okay, this is my last TV vs. movie post for the day.

comment #7

lazarus says ...

Affleck was able to get very good performances out of some relative newcomers (Affleck, Monaghan, Ryan) and from the veterans (Harris, Freeman) as well, so it's deserving praise at least on that front.

I haven't heard it praised to the high heavens since it came out, but I think we're all surprised it came out as well as it did. The bottom line is that expectations were low, to say the least, for "A Film by Ben Affleck". And while he still has a lot to learn on the cinematic front, I thought the moral dilemma presented put the piece far beyond the overrated wannabe-Shakespearean histrionics of Mystic River, which was made by a better technical filmmaker with worse dramatic tendencies (at least with Mystic and Million Dollar Baby). If you don't walk out of GBG reevaluating what you think is right and wrong, I don't know what to tell you.

comment #8

Craig Kennedy says ...

At least as far as the critics go, isn't Ryan being recognized in most instances for both of her performances and not just Gone Baby, Gone?

comment #9

gr81lives says ...

Jeff,

Who cares what critics cassation votes for what.

Honestly all that really matters are what the Oscars gives out.

Find something else to complain about.

comment #10

BurmaShave says ...

Why does it have to be Blanchett? I'd love to see some attention given to Marisa Tomei and her sweet, sweet... performance. Also who is there smoke coming out of an unlit cigarette in the I'M NOT THERE banner? That somehow says everything about the movie.

comment #11

Gaydos says ...

May I just say YIPPPEEE!!!! "Into the Wild" is a brilliant film, a meticulous and moving examination of a kid's rite of passage that would look respectable alongside Agnes Varda's "Vagabond" and Truffaut's "400 Blows." Glad it got some crit respect, hope it helps keep it in the awards season frame, where it very much deserves to be, especially Penn's script and Holbrook's performance, but also Gauthier's d.p. work, Penn's direction, Emile Hirsch, Catherine Keener, Eddie Vedder.

comment #12

jeffmcm says ...

Re: Gone Baby Gone, I could see that the movie wanted me to reevalulate right and wrong, but I can't say that it actually succeeded at making me do that. I already knew the answers to its questions.

comment #13

lazarus says ...

Must be nice on that cloud you live on, mcm.

comment #14

Jay T. says ...

Perhaps GONE BABY GONE wasn't the most subtle at times, but that closing scene was spectacular... it seems like there are far worse movies getting praise that should make people upset.

comment #15

actionman says ...

http://actionman-nickspix.blogspot.com/2007/11/review-gone-baby-gone.html

comment #16

AJW says ...

"Hardly. The questions of morality, responsibility, and family that are raised during Gone Baby Gone elevate it way above a television show."

Except that Amy Ryan's television show is better than just about anything you've seen in theaters this year.

comment #17

HollywoodHillsCookie says ...

Is this a Christian based website or something? Why are you so upset that Miss Ryan is being lauded for played "a reprehensible low-life" and "a foul and offensive character"?

I think Ryan's acting was superb...especially when you contrast it with her much more demure real life persona, visible on her Tonight Show appearance. And her performance was not "broad": my family is from Brookline, Mass., and there are characters with that sound and appearance all over Boston.

I agree with the critic from The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2007/10/29/071029crci_cinema_denby

comment #18

Chuck Latovich says ...

"...it's easy to portray a coarse, thoughtless, addicted creep of a human being."

Excuse me? As opposed to imitating a living human being?

Ryan was extremely brave in playing the character. It was balls out...

BTW...no skin off Blanchett. I like her. But she already has an Oscar for impersonating a celebrity. Let somebody else play.

CL

CL

comment #19

TheJeff says ...

Yeah, who cares if the BFCA are by far the best predictors of the Oscars? If they'll include those punks Tapley and Poland in their membership, and not Welles, they must be worthless.

comment #20

Redmond says ...

Long-time reader since the Poop Shoot days, first time post. Couldn't let this one go: Is no one going to call out PerfectTommy for including "Buffy" in the same league as "The Sopranos?" I had no idea fanboy stretches like that were legal here.

As for GBG, I voluntarily watched Reindeer Games the other day and, afterwards, could not for the life of me figure out how Ben Affleck "made it" in Hollywood.

comment #21

PerfectTommy says ...

I remember the Poop Shoot days and will still speak out for Buffy, come what may, Redmond. (At least the first three seasons.)

What I found strange on the BFCA list is Michael Cera's nomination for young actor for Juno, but Ellen Page is left out of the actress list.

comment #22

Crow T Robot says ...

Again I say... Amy Ryan is a low key actress in a low key role in a fairly low key movie.

It's exact opposite of the Eddie Murphy situation last year. She's being judged on her own merit. There's no hype involved here. Don't make it a hype thing. Nobody's following any line on this except their own good taste.

If you don't get it, fine. But to campaign against her is to essentially campaign for more politics and less objectivity in awards.

comment #23

bmcintire says ...

PerfectTommy - Ellen Page was nominated by the BFCA for best actress, and the cast was nominated for best ensemble.
HollywoodHills - not getting the Christian-based declaration at all. Wells seems to be most perturbed at the "conspiracy" among all these critics' associations to nominate Ms. Ryan in lock-step - as if any of them were paying the slightest attention to one another. Having not seen GBG, I can only hope her performance in that is better than the cartoon-level charicature she delivered in BTDKYD (as some are claiming her nomination to be evenly split between the two).

comment #24

JaySmire says ...

While I've commented a couple of times on why I don't have a problem with Amy Ryan getting recognized I guess I have to ask the real question here--what's so great about Cate's performance in "I'm not there"? First of all--I think that film is highly over-rated. I put that film in the category of "noble failure". I liked the concept, but the execution left me flat. And while I had no issue with Cate's performance, I don't even think she was the best Dylan in the film. Carl Franklin Jr. was the best character. Cate's take on Dylan was weird and everything, but it didn't blow me away. The argument that anyone can play a scum bag low life from the inner city should also apply to anyone can throw on a wig and put on a Dylan mumble. We obviously know there's more to it. Not just anyone can do it. That's why I think you've got two very good performances and it just so happens a lot of groups prefer Amy's performance to Cate's. I'm surprised Jeff hasn't devoted more rants to the fact that his singular love for Zodiac being the greatest film of the last 30 years was not embraced by any of the critics groups. Sure Jeff has me intrigued enough to watch Zodiac a second time when the director's cut is available (because according to Jeff --some films can only be understood on a second viewing), but I'm not holding out much hope that the film will be elevated beyond a solid 3 stars out of 4 for me. And believe me, I wanted to love that movie--I did.
Side note: I wonder if this changes Harvey's position to run Cate as Best Supporting Actress? Maybe there is something to having her run as Best Actress. Hmmm.....

comment #25

le corbeau says ...

Jeff, it's easy to play a lowlife and win an Oscar. It's also easy to play a recognizable celebrity like Katharine Hepburn and win an Oscar. Cate Blanchett winning for that and losing for I'm Not There is Oscar karma in action.

comment #26

le corbeau says ...

By the way, at some point around the Golden Globes Variety will run a special section about them-- and I will be quoted in it being catty about them.

D.Z. will be in the next issue, proving me wrong line by line.

comment #27

Walter Sobchak says ...

When will these stupid critics groups get their shit together and mirror Jeffrey's picks category for category?

Zodiac NOT the Best Picture?
Cate Blanchett NOT Best Sup. Actress?

Fuck them! They're ALL retarded!..... or there's a conspiracy....or a plot....

comment #28

christian says ...

And the other story is...Ben Affleck kicked some ass!

comment #29

candidate says ...

Hey hey, first time, long time. Just wanted to note that it's indeed true -- equating The Sopranos with Buffy is ridiculous. Buffy is the superior work of art by an insane margin.

And not for nothing, but any random ep of The Wire beats all -- all! -- of the overrated Best Pics currently being discussed.

comment #30

BurmaShave says ...

"Buffy is the superior work of art by an insane margin."

I think I just had a stroke.

comment #31

le corbeau says ...

And Dawson's Creek just kicked Shakespeare in the nuts!

comment #32

rocco says ...

This was the same reason I thought Wahlberg didn't deserve an award last year...playing a brooding, pissed off character with an exaggerated accent shouldn't be a stretch for any actor...

...and for the twentieth time...enough with these impersonation awards.

comment #33

Caustic712 says ...

Hamlet vs. Dawson. Yeah, I'd see that.

As far as Ryan vs. Blanchett (and isn't this why you took up acting, ladies?)... they're both terrific, and I'm not upset to see either of them get awards.

But as good as Blanchett was, it was largely (not totally) a feat of impersonation. When a performer nails the impersonation and then inhabits the character so well you forget about the impersonation (CAPOTE, RAY, MALCOLM X, others), it's award-worthy (if history is any judge).

If Blanchett had played Jude Quinn in a feature-length production, I think she'd be getting more awards attention. However, Todd Haynes is (appropriately for Dylan) trying to do something different, which is what makes I'M NOT THERE invigorating... but it also makes Blanchett's performance seem more like a stunt. An awfully damn good one... but not a complete character (again by Haynes' design).

Ryan, on the other hand, creates a unique, convincing character (in the midst of some not-so-convincing stuff). I didn't like the character -- and wasn't supposed to -- but I didn't catch Ryan acting. It probably helps her case that she's the scene-stealer in a movie featuring Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris (who had more plot contrivance to struggle with than she did) -- that's a good recipe for making a solid performance look more impressive than it might otherwise.

And lost cause that it might be, I'll continue to stand by Wells in waving the flag for Zodiac. I still haven't seen all of the big contenders, but something tells me that one nerd's struggle for truth and justice in the face of time and apathy will resonate with me more (now and evermore) than the singing barber, the plucky debate team, the cantankerous cancer patients, etc. I don't demand that all kneel before it, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that some critics' group might feel the same way.

comment #34

PerfectTommy says ...

Not that it matters, I never meant to say "Buffy" was in the same class, let alone superior to "The Sopranos". But I would say that the best of "Buffy" is superior to most of what is in the movie theaters (say "Beowulf", even with the F/X descrepancy.) I would argue the best years of "Homicide" are equal, perhaps superior, to the best years of "The Sopranos".

And I'm still curious why Page is in the adult catagory and Cera is in the youth catagory. Is there an age rule (Page is a year older) or is it arbitrary?

comment #35

scooterzz says ...

pt-- many people voted page in the 'youth' category but more voted her in the adult category....it was just numbers...nothing to do with age (21 was the cut-off for 'youth' category).......

comment #36

Pinko Punko says ...

Homicide was a different show than the Sopranos, and it had a lot stricter conventions to deal with (language and violence caps). Up until Luther gets it, Homicide was great. Especially the random episodes, like the one with the spy, and the noirish one at the motel. The guys behind Homicide brought us Oz on HBO, which I didn't love, but you really can consider it the predecessor of the Sopranos in terms of language, violence and sociopathology.

comment #37

MarkVH says ...

"And Dawson's Creek just kicked Shakespeare in the nuts!"

That line smacks of ignorance, and was clearly said by someone who's never seen either Buffy or The Sopranos. Buffy was easily as good at what it did as the Sopranos was, and both shows were landmarks in heralding the "golden age" of dramatic TV.

"Hardly. The questions of morality, responsibility, and family that are raised during Gone Baby Gone elevate it way above a television show."

Oh PLEASE. The difficult moral decision was pure film noir, nothing more - essentially on par with Sam Spade's decision to send Brigid O'Shaughnessy up the river in The Maltese Falcon. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, but let's not make it more than it is.

One thing that's been bothering me about Gone Baby Gone since I saw it is the overt misogynism that no one's really addressed. I'm not a feminist by any means, and in general think political correctness is a blight on society. But this stuck out as especially egregious to me regardless.

In addition to the cartoon characterization from Amy Ryan (oy), there's Michelle Monaghan's role, in the end, as nothing more than a device to make Affleck's moral decision seem more courageous than it really was.

::SPOILERS:: Of course the girlfriend is going to want the kid to end up in a more loving home, whether it's the "right" or "wrong" thing. She's a girl and thinks emotionally. We're clearly made to think that Affleck's opinion is the right one - he's the classic noir hero, lives by his code, and does the right thing even when it alienates him from the people he loves. But I can't help but think what a better and more interesting movie this might have been had the roles been reversed, and had Affleck been the one push for the emotional solution. Yeah, I know, it's "in the book," but as written it feels like a slight to Monaghan's character, and has been bothering me for a while. ::END SPOILERS::

comment #38

le corbeau says ...

That line smacks of ignorance, and was clearly said by someone who's never seen either Buffy or The Sopranos.

I loved the all-singing episode of The Sopranos. It beat Tolstoy like a redheaded stepchild.

comment #39

AJW says ...

When people reference the greatness of "The Sopranos" do they just mean seasons 1-3?

comment #40

le corbeau says ...

When people reference the greatness of "The Sopranos" do they just mean seasons 1-3?

Personally, I just mean Season 1. There are great moments and characters after that, and it's largely watchable throughout, but only Season 1 holds together and builds dramatically to a climax that pays off all the characters' arcs (to use the local nomenclature).

comment #41

TheJeff says ...

"I loved the all-singing episode of The Sopranos. It beat Tolstoy like a redheaded stepchild."
So you've seen Romance and Cigarettes?

comment #42

Sean says ...

"I'm just saying it's easy to portray a coarse, thoughtless, addicted creep of a human being."

Jeff:

It's funny because, to me, that's why Cate Blanchett wasn't that impressive. That movie is so reductive towards Dylan that she is playing a coarse, thoughtless, addicted creep. You're just giving her points because the creep is a man.

comment #43

le corbeau says ...

"I loved the all-singing episode of The Sopranos. It beat Tolstoy like a redheaded stepchild."
So you've seen Romance and Cigarettes?

You have a very good point.