View Poll Results: Darkest Hour?

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Thread: Darkest Hour (Joe Wright)

  1. #1
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    Darkest Hour (Joe Wright)

    Coming to America (Landis, 1988) **
    The Beach Bum (Korine, 2019) *1/2
    Us (Peele, 2019) ***1/2
    Fugue (Smoczynska, 2018) ***1/2
    Prisoners (Villeneuve, 2013) ***1/2
    Shadow (Zhang, 2018) ***
    Oslo, August 31st (J. Trier, 2011) ****
    Climax (Noé, 2018) **1/2
    Fighting With My Family (Merchant, 2019) **
    Upstream Color (Carruth, 2013) ***

  2. #2
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    Blunt and bombastic, and yet, for me, ultimately more stirring than Dunkirk. But really, the film it resembles most is Lincoln, with a captivating central performance, solid supporting cast, and a conventional narrative structure leading up to a critical political moment. How you felt about Lincoln is probably how you'll feel about this movie.
    Coming to America (Landis, 1988) **
    The Beach Bum (Korine, 2019) *1/2
    Us (Peele, 2019) ***1/2
    Fugue (Smoczynska, 2018) ***1/2
    Prisoners (Villeneuve, 2013) ***1/2
    Shadow (Zhang, 2018) ***
    Oslo, August 31st (J. Trier, 2011) ****
    Climax (Noé, 2018) **1/2
    Fighting With My Family (Merchant, 2019) **
    Upstream Color (Carruth, 2013) ***

  3. #3
    Replacing Luck Since 1984 Dukefrukem's Avatar
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    I heard great things about this. This is a must watch for me. I'd imagine this is way different in tone compared to Lincoln.

    Lincoln was a chore to get through.
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  4. #4
    Moderator TGM's Avatar
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    This one honestly didn't interest me all too much, but I did enjoy Lincoln quite a bit. One of my favorites from the year it came out. Perhaps I should give this one a shot?

  5. #5
    Cinematographer Mal's Avatar
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    Lincoln was better than this. Oldman is fine. most of this is fine. but its never as impactful as it wants to be and thus... meh...

  6. #6
    Agreed that Lincoln is better. Oldman is very impressive but everyone else gets the shaft.

  7. #7
    Moderator TGM's Avatar
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    Yeah, the Lincoln comparison is definitely apt. I'm not sure I'd say I liked this as much, but I still found it quite enjoyable all the same.

  8. #8
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    I didn't mean to turn this into a Lincoln thread. It was just a thought that popped into my head.
    Coming to America (Landis, 1988) **
    The Beach Bum (Korine, 2019) *1/2
    Us (Peele, 2019) ***1/2
    Fugue (Smoczynska, 2018) ***1/2
    Prisoners (Villeneuve, 2013) ***1/2
    Shadow (Zhang, 2018) ***
    Oslo, August 31st (J. Trier, 2011) ****
    Climax (Noé, 2018) **1/2
    Fighting With My Family (Merchant, 2019) **
    Upstream Color (Carruth, 2013) ***

  9. #9
    Moderator TGM's Avatar
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    Well it was a thought that actually made me interested in checking out the movie, so I'm okay with it.

  10. #10
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    Barbarian - ***
    Bones and All - ***
    Tar - **


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  11. #11
    Since 1929 Morris Schæffer's Avatar
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    I liked it a lot. But this is sort of my subject matter too and love how it ties into Dunkirk. Oldman is very good, exceptional even, although there's always a part of me that thinks the make-up is even better.

    With a movie like this there is always the question of how much of it actually happened. The typist being taken to a room she's not supposed to go, the trip on the underground. Oh lord that subway ride, already derided above by our very own Ezee E. At least I think it's derision. What director would dare put that in their movie if it hadn't actually happened? Still, this was perhaps the only time when my bullshit alarm, that trusty old companion which has accompanied me on many journeys in the past decade, was ready to blare at full tilt.

    I was delighted to recognize Pip Torrens as the BBC producer since I'm fresh of seeing The Crown in which he played, rather memorably, Tommy Lascelles. Sans mustache this time.

    Good movie, I hope Oldman wins because he's good, but also because he's Gary fucking Oldman.
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  12. #12
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    Energetically directed as usual per Joe Wright, which helps a lot of standard biopic exposition to go down smoothly, but it seems like he spent all his signature sumptous visual style on his "Nosedive" episode of Black Mirror two years ago and we're left with something so, so drab. The film is mostly engrossing in the nitty-gritty way that Lincoln is, until it suddently grows too sentimental of itself and takes a couple of truly distracting detours in the second half, notably that mind-bogglingly lame underground sequence that couldn't feel more out-of-place in its retroactively woke, history-rewriting politics. Oldman is good, but someone let Wright come back to Keira Knightley or Saoirse Ronan please. 6.5/10
    Midnight Run (1988) - 9
    The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
    The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
    Sisters (1973) - 6.5
    Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5

  13. #13
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Morris Schæffer (view post)
    With a movie like this there is always the question of how much of it actually happened. The typist being taken to a room she's not supposed to go, the trip on the underground. Oh lord that subway ride, already derided above by our very own Ezee E. At least I think it's derision. What director would dare put that in their movie if it hadn't actually happened? Still, this was perhaps the only time when my bullshit alarm, that trusty old companion which has accompanied me on many journeys in the past decade, was ready to blare at full tilt.
    There's another way to look at this. I don't think it's always the job of a film like this to recreate moments that 'actually happened'. The job of the filmmaker trying to put a complicated life and situation on-screen is to find a way to distill critical elements down to a streamlined dramatic moment that reveals a larger truth. The question is not 'did Churchill actually make up his mind by talking to a few passengers aboard a commuter train?' The question should be 'does this imagined scene accurately convey Churchill's character and the way he went about making tough decisions?'

    I accept this convention of storytelling just as I would accept the convention of sung dialogue in a musical.

    I suppose if you thought the scene too preposterous to be believed, then you would have grounds to criticize. It didn't come across that way to me, but that's just a matter of opinion. My main point is that I don't know that 'did it really happen?' is always a useful question when approaching a 2-hour film that it trying to economically communicate a complicated political situation for general movie goers.
    Coming to America (Landis, 1988) **
    The Beach Bum (Korine, 2019) *1/2
    Us (Peele, 2019) ***1/2
    Fugue (Smoczynska, 2018) ***1/2
    Prisoners (Villeneuve, 2013) ***1/2
    Shadow (Zhang, 2018) ***
    Oslo, August 31st (J. Trier, 2011) ****
    Climax (Noé, 2018) **1/2
    Fighting With My Family (Merchant, 2019) **
    Upstream Color (Carruth, 2013) ***

  14. #14
    Since 1929 Morris Schæffer's Avatar
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    Good point though there is probably more than one way to convey character through a fictional sequence, I felt the one chosen was a little in poor judgment.
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    • Dark (S2) ✦✦✦✦
    • Moon Knight (S1) ✦✦½ [-]
    • Get Carter (Hodges, 1971) ✦✦✦½ [+]
    • Prey (Trachtenberg, 2022) ✦✦✦ [-]
    • Black Bird (S1) ✦✦✦✦
    • Better Call Saul (S6) ✦✦✦½ [+]
    • Halo (S1) ✦✦✦ [-]
    • Slow Horses (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
    • H4Z4RD (Govaerts, 2022/BE) ✦✦½ [-]
    • Gangs of London (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
    • We Own This City (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
    • Thor: Love and Thunder (Waititi, 2022) ✦✦ [+]


  15. #15
    Here till the end MadMan's Avatar
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    Although I liked this, it is an Oscar bait style film. Also I chuckled at the negative poll option.
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  16. #16
    Not exactly a revelation, but this was better than I was expecting. It follows roughly the same beats as other pics based on larger-than-life figures, but Wright brings a certain verve that reminds you why he was such a compelling director in his early feature career. Not that I should be too surprised -- his recent work on "Black Mirror" felt like that of a still-vital filmmaker.

    To me, in the world historical dramas, this had a lot more life than Spielberg's The Post and had a sentimentality that felt more authentically obtained. Oldman's performance is well-calibrated; it's showy, sure, but in appropriate and effective ways. Lily James (whose character becomes a bit of an afterthought later on) provides an accessible entry point to this stodgy world through sheer charisma and a captivating presence. The film doesn't earn many points for originality or nuance, but it's engagingly performed and exceedingly well-crafted. I can live with demographic demand creating films like this every year when they go down this smoothly for the rest of us.
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  17. #17
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    Yeah, this was more interesting than The Post for sure.

    Although I rated them the same.

    Barbarian - ***
    Bones and All - ***
    Tar - **


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  18. #18
    Quote Quoting DavidSeven (view post)
    To me, in the world historical dramas, this had a lot more life than Spielberg's The Post
    Disagree entirely. The scenes of the journalists sitting in the room barking at each other over the papers are infinitely more lively than absolutely anything in The Darkest Hour.
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  19. #19
    Replacing Luck Since 1984 Dukefrukem's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting transmogrifier (view post)
    Disagree entirely. The scenes of the journalists sitting in the room barking at each other over the papers are infinitely more lively than absolutely anything in The Darkest Hour.
    Problem is that's just one scene, towards the end of a very long over-dramatic event, in a sea of many. There is much more purpose in Darkest Hour, therefor there is much more meaningful drama.
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  20. #20
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    Well then.

  21. #21
    Replacing Luck Since 1984 Dukefrukem's Avatar
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    This is better than Lincoln and the Post btw.
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    Quote Quoting D_Davis (view post)
    Uwe Boll movies > all Marvel U movies
    Quote Quoting TGM (view post)
    I work in grocery. I have not gotten sick. My fellow employees have not gotten sick. If the virus were even remotely as contagious as its being presented as, why haven’t entire store staffs who come into contact with hundreds of people per day, thousands per week, all falling ill in mass nationwide?

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