View Poll Results: The Power of the Dog

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Thread: The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)

  1. #1

    The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)

    Last Seen:
    Pantheon, S2 (C. Silverstein, 2023) ☆
    Pantheon, S1 (C. Silverstein, 2022)
    Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garc?a (S. Peckinpah, 1974)
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden, Dragon (A. Lee, 2000)
    Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (J. McNaughton, 1986) ☆
    Blowup (M. Antonioni, 1966) ☆
    Io capitano (M. Garrone, 2023) ☆
    Raging Bull (M. Scorsese, 1980)
    Network (S. Lumet, 1976) ☆
    Sideways (A. Payne, 2004) ☆

    First time ☆

  2. #2
    Cumberbatch is excellent.

  3. #3
    Since 1929 Morris Schæffer's Avatar
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    It's a pretty strong movie but I'm not convinced it ends in the most satisfying manner although it's a good ending.
    [+] closer to next rating / [-] closer to previous rating

    • Dark (S3) ✦✦✦½ [-]
    • Fall (Mann, 2022) ✦✦✦½ [-]
    • Ms. Marvel (S1) ✦½ [+]
    • 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) ✦✦ [+]


  4. #4
    This did not blow my mind like I had hoped. It's automatically one of the better movies of the year due to the exceptional craft, but I wish the story was more satisfying. Maybe a rewatch will help.

  5. #5
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    A film providing yet another very strong argument in favor of medium's strength lying much more in how than what it's about. In retrospect, the plot's overall shape is rather simple, with constant verbal and visual "clues" signifying its trajectory, and an ending scene snapping all of them into one final revelatory focus that seems to provide definitive closure. But with Campion's foreboding, sinewy direction as our guide (aided by Greenwood's magnificently ominous score), the actual experience feels like the film wrapping itself around you and then tightening its grip slowly but perceptibly during its two-hour runtime, until you're still all tense and bruised past the film's end. The film thrums with dark, unpredictable energy on a scene-by-scene basis about how the volatile relationships of psychological warfare between these characters might turn on a dime. So instead of the final scene coming off as a "twist" to snap the film shut and done snugly, it retains a lingering, shivery power, hard to shake off and still unsettling long afterwards. 9/10
    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

  6. #6
    Guttenbergian Pop Trash's Avatar
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    This is good. Likely very good. But I don't think I'm over the moon about it like everyone else. Part of me is just being a contrarian, but I think my issue is that it feels more like a PTA film than a Jane Campion film. The score has a lot to do with that, but I also think the formalism, time period, and odd protagonist reminded me of There Will Be Blood. The structure also made me think of Phantom Thread in that there is a third act pivot or twist that changes the perspective of everything that came before.

    As usual, there's always one film everyone rallies around, while I wonder why The Last Duel, The Card Counter, Titane, and The French Dispatch seem to be dissipating from 2021 top ten lists.
    Ratings on a 1-10 scale for your pleasure:

    Top Gun: Maverick - 8
    Top Gun - 7
    McCabe & Mrs. Miller - 8
    Crimes of the Future - 8
    Videodrome - 9
    Valley Girl - 8
    Summer of '42 - 7
    In the Line of Fire - 8
    Passenger 57 - 7
    Everything Everywhere All at Once - 6



  7. #7
    Quote Quoting Pop Trash (view post)
    The structure also made me think of Phantom Thread in that there is a third act pivot or twist that changes the perspective of everything that came before.
    I can totally see this. That's why I plan on watching it a second time. So we'll see. But whereas Phantom Thread filled me with a million juicy questions that have been rewarded with many, many viewings, the ending of Power of the Dog feels much more straightforward.

  8. #8
    Since 1929 Morris Schæffer's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Idioteque Stalker (view post)
    I can totally see this. That's why I plan on watching it a second time. So we'll see. But whereas Phantom Thread filled me with a million juicy questions that have been rewarded with many, many viewings, the ending of Power of the Dog feels much more straightforward.
    About PT, give me an example please. Just curious. I liked PT a lot.
    [+] closer to next rating / [-] closer to previous rating

    • Dark (S3) ✦✦✦½ [-]
    • Fall (Mann, 2022) ✦✦✦½ [-]
    • Ms. Marvel (S1) ✦½ [+]
    • 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) ✦✦ [+]


  9. #9
    Quote Quoting Morris Schæffer (view post)
    About PT, give me an example please. Just curious. I liked PT a lot.
    Phantom Thread Half Spoilers
    [
    ]

    Power of the Dog Full Spoilers
    [
    ]

    Phantom Thread is an incredibly complex love story, and I often pick up something new when rewatching. Power of the Dog feels more like an open-and-shut case.

  10. #10
    I just watched (and greatly enjoyed) this, and one thing I really liked about it is how it was structured by shifting perspectives to Phil and his relationships to the people around him one-by-one, whether it be him and George at first, him and Rose in the middle, or him and Peter towards the end, taking good time to focus on and explore the effects his persona has on them individually (and the effects they have on him) as each act of the film proceeds, rather than choosing to rush that all along like an inferior director may have done; good, good stuff.

  11. #11
    Super Moderator dreamdead's Avatar
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    There's some good analysis throughout this thread. For myself, I found the first hour and 10 minutes or so the most captivating, as the slow circle of characters and interactions kept revealing new surprises. For the final 45 minutes or so, the film's narrative tightens and begins to feel less "free" but more tightly bound to the overarching plot. Before we get there, though, the film is so carefully adept at small images and moments--conveying the sense that Plemons's character seeks an escape from his brother's manic fixation. And while I don't find Cumberbatch a naturally intuitive performer, his affected style works here. It gives the character more of a performative aspect that's in keeping with the overall character arc.

    Slightly unclear how much Dunst's character's decision to sell the cowhide is the only way for the film to reach its turn--was there any other way for the plot device to be introduced?

    Count me as another who dug the absolute right moment for the film to end.
    The Boat People - 9
    The Power of the Dog - 7.5
    The King of Pigs - 7

  12. #12
    Quote Quoting dreamdead (view post)
    Slightly unclear how much Dunst's character's decision to sell the cowhide is the only way for the film to reach its turn--was there any other way for the plot device to be introduced?
    As far as I figured it, the hide was there to be used whenever the opportunity arose. The hides were sold and Phil was still a bastard to Rose as a result, and so the decision was made there. I took it for granted that there were many ways for the "exchange" to happen, and this one just proved to be easy and justified. In fact, I was kind of surprised that some viewers thought it was all some carefully sketched out plan that required dominos to fall just right; it really didn't.
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  13. #13
    I thought Phil could've been a lot meaner. Like what does he really do to Rose here that makes her fall to pieces and start drinking herself to an early grave? He's condescending and he torments her with whistling. That's about it.

    I dunno. I was underwhelmed by this.

  14. #14
    Sunrise, Sunset Wryan's Avatar
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    I took the hide stuff to be Phil hating not having control over everything, plus he was likely saving the hides to make the kid a rope the way his mentor did for him (I presume).
    "How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home wine-making course and forgot how to drive?"

    --Homer

  15. #15
    I imagined he was going to burn them in a Bronco Henry ritual.

  16. #16
    I'm the problem it's me DFA1979's Avatar
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    I liked this but I'll probably forget I watched it by next year.
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    And it's happened once again
    I'll turn to a friend
    Someone that understands
    And sees through the master plan
    But everybody's gone
    And I've been here for too long
    To face this on my own
    Well, I guess this is growing up

  17. #17
    Quote Quoting amberlita (view post)
    I thought Phil could've been a lot meaner. Like what does he really do to Rose here that makes her fall to pieces and start drinking herself to an early grave? He's condescending and he torments her with whistling. That's about it.
    And that's more than enough. I mean, there's someone at my job who always makes me miserable by being difficult for no good reason, and I only have to work with her; I can't imagine having to live ​with someone like that, holy shit...

  18. #18
    Guttenbergian Pop Trash's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting amberlita (view post)
    I thought Phil could've been a lot meaner. Like what does he really do to Rose here that makes her fall to pieces and start drinking herself to an early grave? He's condescending and he torments her with whistling. That's about it.

    See, I like that he's just weirdly passive aggressive (and sometimes aggressive aggressive) rather than full on physically abusing her or whatever. Sometimes that can be worse, since these types never cross the line into explicit abuse, like physical abuse. I had a coworker that was kind of an asshole but if you called him out on it, he would turn it around like he was the victim, and you were the asshole for responding to his bullshit. It was all very Trumpian and drove me nuts.

    The film is (in part) about a bad roommate situation. Like The Lighthouse.
    Last edited by Pop Trash; 01-14-2022 at 04:18 PM.
    Ratings on a 1-10 scale for your pleasure:

    Top Gun: Maverick - 8
    Top Gun - 7
    McCabe & Mrs. Miller - 8
    Crimes of the Future - 8
    Videodrome - 9
    Valley Girl - 8
    Summer of '42 - 7
    In the Line of Fire - 8
    Passenger 57 - 7
    Everything Everywhere All at Once - 6



  19. #19
    The banjo flex into the "You didn't play? But you practiced so much!" is downright diabolical.

  20. #20

  21. #21
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
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    Sam Elliott's little tantrum over this movie is some of the cringiest shit I've read in a while.
    "All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"

    "Rick...it's a flamethrower."

  22. #22

  23. #23
    I'm the problem it's me DFA1979's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Pop Trash (view post)
    See, I like that he's just weirdly passive aggressive (and sometimes aggressive aggressive) rather than full on physically abusing her or whatever. Sometimes that can be worse, since these types never cross the line into explicit abuse, like physical abuse. I had a coworker that was kind of an asshole but if you called him out on it, he would turn it around like he was the victim, and you were the asshole for responding to his bullshit. It was all very Trumpian and drove me nuts.

    The film is (in part) about a bad roommate situation. Like The Lighthouse.
    Exactly. Also it made Phil even more cruel imo. Maybe I'll watch the movie again before the Oscars come out and see if I get more out of it.

    And yeah Elliot's comments are just him showing his ass.
    Blog!

    And it's happened once again
    I'll turn to a friend
    Someone that understands
    And sees through the master plan
    But everybody's gone
    And I've been here for too long
    To face this on my own
    Well, I guess this is growing up

  24. #24
    A Platypus Grouchy's Avatar
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    Also, he humiliated her son the first time they met. That goes a long way.

    I loved this. Scorsese is right that Campion has been getting better and better at making the same masterful drama for years, and I'm a fan of Westerns that somehow bring a completely new vibe to the genre. Plemons and Dunst are a joy to watch together and the dog shot is amazing.

  25. #25
    Quote Quoting Grouchy (view post)
    the dog shot is amazing.
    Wait.... what dog shot?

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