The Critics' Lists and Awards for 2013 Movies Thread - PRESENTED BY WILL FORTE

[ledfloyd]

I really wish there was a way to convert his posts out of caps lock, so I could read them without getting a headache.

[Henry Gale]

DGA Nominees:

ALFONSO CUARÓN
Gravity
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
This is Mr. Cuarón’s first DGA Award nomination.

PAUL GREENGRASS
Captain Phillips
(Columbia Pictures)
This is Mr. Greengrass’s first DGA Award nomination.

STEVE McQUEEN
12 Years A Slave
(Fox Searchlight Pictures)
This is Mr. McQueen’s first DGA Award nomination.

DAVID O. RUSSELL
American Hustle
(Columbia Pictures)
This is Mr. Russell’s second DGA Award nomination. He was previously nominated in this category for The Fighter in 2010.

MARTIN SCORSESE
The Wolf of Wall Street
(Paramount Pictures)

[Spinal]

STEVE McQUEEN
12 Years A Slave
(Fox Searchlight Pictures)
This is Mr. McQueen’s first DGA Award nomination.

BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[Mysterious Dude]

BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Armond White, is that you?

[Henry Gale]

Nothing too surprising from DGA. I would've loved to have seen Jonze or the Coens squeeze in there, but in terms of whose place they would've taken, I think Scorsese and Greengrass had career highlight showings out of the bunch and Cuaron and McQueen certainly deserved to be there too. So despite my general indifference towards Russell's American Hustle, it's a frontrunner at this point, so I don't think there was a version of this list that he wouldn't have made.

But as we've seen the last couple of years, there isn't necessarily huge crossover between DGA and the Academy's eventual five. So we'll see.

[Spinal]

Armond White, is that you?

Yeah, I haven't seen it. Looking forward to it though.

[baby doll]

As much as I think White is a terrible reviewer, I find something intensely grating about news reports on his alleged heckling that point to the film's high Tomato-meter rating and general acclaim as definitive proof of its greatness (as if that meant anything) and White's lousiness as a critic without even touching on his incomprehensible prose, zombie ideas (e.g., the death of cinephilia), moralistic scolding, right-wing paranoia, egomania, and martyr complex. He can't even convince me that gay French auteurs are wonderful (especially Demy and Téchiné) and that Obama is terrible, and those are positions I already agree with.

[Dead & Messed Up]

As much as I think White is a terrible reviewer, I find something intensely grating about news reports on his alleged heckling that point to the film's high Tomato-meter rating and general acclaim as definitive proof of its greatness (as if that meant anything) and White's lousiness as a critic without even touching on his incomprehensible prose, zombie ideas (e.g., the death of cinephilia), moralistic scolding, right-wing paranoia, egomania, and martyr complex. He can't even convince me that gay French auteurs are wonderful (especially Demy and Téchiné) and that Obama is terrible, and those are positions I already agree with.

Yep.

The news stories generally focus on the absolute easiest element to criticize. It's similar to people complaining about a review's star rating without bothering to read the damn words. There are better reasons to hate the guy.

[Lazlo]

Yep.

The news stories generally focus on the absolute easiest element to criticize. It's similar to people complaining about a review's star rating without bothering to read the damn words. There are better reasons to hate the guy.

I don't know that it's necessarily saying that the critical acclaim means the movie is of unquestionable high quality. I think it's more pointing towards how out of step White is with his colleagues on the subject. The dude is clearly an asshole for lots of reasons, but I think the coverage points more towards his contrarianism rather than the movie's quality. Most critics did like the movie, White didn't and is being vocal about it in an incredibly unprofessional manner. Talking about the movie's critical acclaim provides context for people who might not know much about the movie, which is an important part of a news story.

[Watashi]

I think yelling out "Boo!" and "Kiss my ass" to a director onstage whether it be Steve McQueen or Dennis Dugan is completely unprofessional. It doesn't matter how acclaimed the film is.

For someone who thinks no film critic should be under 30 years old, White acts like he's 12.

[Ezee E]

GOLDEN GLOBE PREDICTIONS:
Best Drama: 12 Years a Slave
Best Comedy: American Hustle
Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)
Best Actor (Drama): Chiwetel Ejiofor
Best Actress (Drama): Cate Blanchett
Best Actor (Comedy): Leonardo DiCaprio
Best Actress (Comedy): Amy Adams
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence
Best Screenplay: American Hustle
Best Score: Gravity
Best Foreign Film: The Great Beauty
Best Animated Feature: Frozen
Best Song: The U2 one

[Ivan Drago]

Has anyone else here seen The Great Beauty? Despite an almost hokey moment near the end, its visuals and soundtrack are fantastic, and the more I think about it, the more I like it. That being said, was anyone else surprised it won last night? I ask because I liked Blue Is The Warmest Color a lot more, and that was my pick to win.

[Raiders]

I think yelling out "Boo!" and "Kiss my ass" to a director onstage whether it be Steve McQueen or Dennis Dugan is completely unprofessional. It doesn't matter how acclaimed the film is.

For someone who thinks no film critic should be under 30 years old, White acts like he's 12.

Speaking of all this though, David Chen at /filmcast interviewed White (who is a frequent contributor) back a few days ago after it happened and White denied it in an entirely unconvincing manner, playing the semantics game and acting the martyr yet again.

http://slashfilm.com/filmcast/?p=894

It's a fascinating interview though. Listening to a clearly smart, educated man talk in circles and vague "truths" is captivating to me. The extent to which he is truly, 100% serious is always something that remains a mystery to me.

[Dukefrukem]

Ugh. Nothing bugs me more when the host or contributors don't mute their freakin mic when other people are talking....

But yeh, White is a fucking troll.

[baby doll]

Has anyone else here seen The Great Beauty? Despite an almost hokey moment near the end, its visuals and soundtrack are fantastic, and the more I think about it, the more I like it. That being said, was anyone else surprised it won last night? I ask because I liked Blue Is The Warmest Color a lot more, and that was my pick to win.

Which hokey moment are you talking about: The lame digs at female performance artists and female writers, both satiric straw women the movie erects merely so that Jep can demolish them? Or his fan telling him that he must've really been in love when he wrote his only novel? Or crying at the funeral to demonstrate his spiritual rebirth? Or indeed the whole "hooker with a heart of gold" subplot which feels like something out of '90s Woody Allen more than '60s Fellini (much less Nights of Cabiria)? Or the scene where the girlfriend's widower and his frumpty Eastern European lady friend in the apartment full of tacky furniture are posited as the model of marital bliss? Or the aged saint telling him she only eats roots because "Roots are important"? Or did you just mean "the great beauty" of the title (which supposedly inspired him to write this great novel) turning out to be his girlfriend flashing her tits at him in the late '60s?

[Ivan Drago]

Or the aged saint telling him she only eats roots because "Roots are important"?

The saint, definitely. But despite that, I still liked the film.

From the looks of your post, I can tell you didn't.

[baby doll]

The saint, definitely. But despite that, I still liked the film.

From the looks of your post, I can tell you didn't.

Nope. The whole thing struck me as facile, phony, and pandering. But I'm glad you liked it.

[dreamdead]

Oscar nominees. Pleased for Sally Hawkins and the Grandmasters cinematography nominations most of all.

Sad that the Coens and Linklater films are largely absent.

[Ezee E]

Have any critics said, "Philomena is philonemanal!" Because I want to see that on an ad.

[Henry Gale]

Oh sorry dreamdead, didn't see you already starting discussion here. Started a new thread for it, which I guess can make a smoother transition from nominations stuff to commentary about the actual show in the coming month or so.