The Revenant (Alejandro González Iñárritu)

[number8]

Cuaron assembles his long takes out of well composed and emotionally appropriate visuals, rather than a series of nostrils.

I guess they both like their equally hacky symbolisms, though.

[baby doll]

Like, I'm reading about the film now and the difficult shoot and all the stuff Leo did, and I can't see why it matters. For example, Inarritu said he and Lubezki decided to only shoot in natural light, for "maximum realism" and all that, but then he fills a bunch of those images with bad visual effects and CGI animals. That bear attack was like... gosh. I really didn't know what I was watching sometimes.

One gets the sense with Iñárritu that he thinks doing something because it's hard is a justification unto itself. I can't imagine there's anybody on the planet who can tell, or cares, if this film was shot with natural or artificial light; the only thing that matters is what winds up on the screen. It doesn't speak well for any movie if the only thing people are talking about is how hard it was to get a particular shot, rather the shot itself.

[number8]

I don't know if shooting only natural light is super impressive when your movie is 99% outdoors and mostly daytime.

Adriano Goldman shot Jane Eyre with only candles. That I was impressed by.

[baby doll]

I don't know if shooting only natural light is super impressive when your movie is 99% outdoors and mostly daytime.

Adriano Goldman shot Jane Eyre with only candles. That I was impressed by.

It's a risk, in any case, as the filmmakers can't control the light. But whether it's hard to do or not simply doesn't matter. The only thing that counts is the result.

[number8]

That's kind of what I meant. Most outdoor daytime shoots are already using natural light, that's why the result isn't dramatically apparent here, whereas the experiment in difficulty in Jane Eyre actually did result in a distinct look.

[number8]

Just in case it has not been made clear, I think this movie looks flat and drab and bland to look at. Especially after The Hateful Eight.

[Spinal]

Inarritu is winning accolades using his amigo Cuaron's schtick, since the whole gritty intersecting stories thing didn't pan out.

Babel was nominated for 6 Oscars.

[number8]

Babel was nominated for 6 Oscars.

This is my Fitzgerald.

[Spinal]

This is my Fitzgerald.

Ha!

[Skitch]

It really didnt help that my first watch of The Skin I Live In was just before The Revenant. Gorgeous lighting, eye-popping colors...

[D_Davis]

I don't know anything about this movie, but in reading the reactions I am imagining a cross between Valhalla Rising and Apocalypto. Is that off base?

[Dead & Messed Up]

I haven't seen Valhalla Rising, but I did think of Apocalypto during this film, and how Apocalypto handled a similar premise with greater concision, focus, energy, and wit.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Oh and the breathing fogging up the camera! WHY? Yeah, the more I think about it, the more negative I become on the whole film.

Some folks on RT brought up the idea of pronounced breathing as a motif, with DiCaprio's wheezing, breath fogging the lens, and DiCaprio urging his son to "just keep breathing" at one point. Thin soup thematically speaking, but I can buy it as something beyond a single indulgence.

[number8]

I was thinking of Fitzcarraldo, and (no joke) Ace Ventura 2.

[D_Davis]

I was thinking of Fitzcarraldo, and (no joke) Ace Ventura 2.

Haha. Alrighty then....

[D_Davis]

I haven't seen Valhalla Rising, but I did think of Apocalypto during this film, and how Apocalypto handled a similar premise with greater concision, focus, energy, and wit.

I've been wanting to watch Apocalypto again.

[Skitch]

Some folks on RT brought up the idea of pronounced breathing as a motif, with DiCaprio's wheezing, breath fogging the lens, and DiCaprio urging his son to "just keep breathing" at one point. Thin soup thematically speaking, but I can buy it as something beyond a single indulgence.

It instantly reminded me that there was a camera in Leo's face and I was watching a movie.

[baby doll]

There's a shot in Aguirre: The Wrath of God where some drops of water get on the lens, but Herzog left it in because he didn't have the money to go back and reshoot it. Iñárittu having DiCapprio deliberately fog the lens for the sake of "realism" is just stupid.

[Spinal]

Hey, remember that time we argued about the blood splatter on the lens in Children of Men for days and days? I'm still on the same side. As much as I admire Lubezki, I'm not a fan of this tendency.

[Melville]

Hey, remember that time we argued about the blood splatter on the lens in Children of Men for days and days?

The glory days of match cut. That and the viking thing.

[D_Davis]

I'm a viking at remembering old topics of discussion.

[Sven]

This movie made me wanna watch the similar and infinitely greater film Ravenous.

[D_Davis]

Ravenous is better than like 90% of all other movies.

[Skitch]

Ravenous is better than like 90% of all other movies.

"You must spread some love around before polishing D_Davis' knob again."

[D_Davis]

LOLLOLLOLO!