comment #1

clancy says ...

Both of these films are doing the oscar one-week run. What that really means is these films will get a wide release if they happen to get some awards traction.

By the way, they are both great films and I also like the posters. Whatever attention has been paid to the films center on Beckinsale (easily best performance by a smoking hot chick this year) and Ruffalo. But both have stellar acting from the supporting players too. Farmiga is a fucking genius and Ethan Hawke has never- and I mean NEVER - been better.

The real problem is that the posters have come out, what, a week before they open. Pretty insane. Nobpdy, not even fellow critics know about these movies. The screeners come and they immediately get buried by "Gran Torino" or "Doubt".

By the way, we all know Lurie's odd path to becoming a film maker. The trek that WDKY's Brian Goodman is beyond bizarre. This movie is about his life.

comment #2

swordandpen says ...

What hurts movies like these is the pile-up of movies during the last four months (particularly December) of every year. And most of these movies, although they may be good, never see a single nomination and receive a crappy 1 or 2 week release in February.

I really do wish for the day when quality movies are given serious releases through all 12 months of the year.

comment #3

lazarus says ...

You could probably throw Pride & Glory in there too, though that has an even lesser chance at getting recognized. I'm glad Wells was stumping for it because I might not have checked it out otherwise. Nothing groundbreaking, but a very solid, well-acted film, especially by (dare I speak his name?) Jon Voight.

comment #4

The InSneider says ...

Pride and Glory was by-the-numbers bullshit. Some above-average performances are all that kept it from flat-out sucking. The studio was right to dump it.

comment #5

BurmaShave says ...

Hated PRIDE & GLORY. And while I think anyone on here would agree I have no morals, that baby iron thing was gratuitous bullshit.

comment #6

MilkMan says ...

So "Tweeners" is what they're now calling instantly forgettable mediocre dramas directed by hacks? Is this new nomenclature signifying that these movies are stuck between sucking a lot and sucking just a little?

comment #7

The InSneider says ...

What Doesn't Kill You is a solid crime drama and a very good first film. You're wrong MilkMan. I don't even know how one could call Goodman a hack... the guy's filming his own life story.

comment #8

clancy says ...

Milkman- You obviously have not seen either one of these films.

comment #9

MilkMan says ...

I don't understand how filming your own life story disqualifies you from making something mediocre. Does that mean every single memoir is a work of art?And his life story sound inert and dramatically derivative of about 50 other films; tough-guy-South-Side-Boston-organized-crime-bad-accents-tabs-at-profundity-Mystic-River-Gone-Baby-Gone-Southies-Grind-Departed-and-on-and-on. The guy was a scumbag criminal alky drug addict and he was shot and spent time in prison? Yawn. I'd rather read the Don Gately passages from Infinite Jest while sitting in the back of a speeding pickup on the PCH than watch Ethan Hawke and Mark Ruffalo squint and mumble in medium close-up for two hours. And let me ask you another question: since when does authenticity and hewing to the facts of your own existence have anything to do with making a good movie?

comment #10

MilkMan says ...

Clancy: Someone has to see a film in order to know that they don't want to see it?

comment #11

clancy says ...

Milkman: No, but somebody has to see a film before they call it "mediocre." Why can't you just admit that you jumped the gun - especially on Goodman who has never made a film and therefore can not be called a "hack" sight unseen. As for Lurie, Well, he may be sentimental now and then, but not with this film. Many people are comparing it to "All The President's men", including Ebert. That may be a stretch, but its damn good. And his films have probably gotten more Oscar nominations and his shows Emmys and Golden Globes than many.

comment #12

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

I do miss Lurie's radio show. Other than Elvis Mitchell's "The Treatment" no other radio show about film has come close to the intelligence and fun of that one.

comment #13

MilkMan says ...

Clancy, please ignore me. I know it's hard, but I'm going to do the same to you, since anyone who says a Rod Lurie movie is as good as All the President's Men clearly is out of their mind, and/or works for Rod Lurie or has some other type of emotional/business/professional/libidinal investment in the film.

comment #14

clancy says ...

Milkman- once you have seen these films you may have the credibility to actually comment on them.

And it was Ebert who made the President'e Men comparison in his Toronto blog.

It sems like you have some sort of personal issue with Lurie and Goodman or maybe the Yari Group.

comment #15

MilkMan says ...

Clancy: I have no credibility. Neither do you. We're both a couple of anonymous, faceless strings of text. I would've thought this was apparent to you. Now that we have established that, let the comments continue.

comment #16

clancy says ...

Fair enough. At lessy see Nothing but the Truth. It is a top ten film, believe me, and Beckinsale and Farmiga are both unbelievably hot.

comment #17

Rothchild says ...

I thought the universal consensus was the ending of Lurie's film proved he was a retarded person. If you mention that film to anyone the response always seems to be, "What the fuck was up with that ending?" The other response is, "What the fuck is wrong with Rod Lurie?"

comment #18

Scott Mendelson says ...

Re: Nothing But The Truth -

A good, solid well made adult drama, the kind of thing that should be commonplace but tragically isn't. It's no masterpiece, but it's simply a damn good movie.

You could certainly argue that Lurie is cheating by making the reporter someone who exposes the corruption of a president, rather than a reporter who's refusal to talk enables the cover up of a corrupt president, but the film gets away with it because both Beckinsale and Farmiga are completely sympathetic.

As for qualms about the ending (spoilers by implication)...
Hated the climax, partially because it made a major character into a mustache-twirling villain right at the end. That I liked about the movie overall was that no one was painted as particularly evil - maybe wrong, but not evil. On the other hand, I loved the very last scene. It more than made sense and I was caught up in the film enough to have forgotten about that plot point, so it was quite effective.

comment #19

Griff says ...

Farmiga is a terrific actress who is criminally underused.

Check out a film called "Dummy" with Adrian Brody. It's a terrible film, can't decide what it wants to be, but Vera Farmiga is completely realistic and believable in every scene.