2019 Films and Oscars - Movies & TV - Forums : Best Ever Albums

CA Dreamin

Gender: Male
Location: LA

I thought someone would have replied to the Martin Scorsese post from a couple days ago, but alas.

Anyway, I saw a couple international films this week too. Finally saw Pain and Glory Monday and saw Parasite yesterday. They were both pretty good. I might expand on that and post more detailed thoughts later after they've sunk in a little more (and maybe after some of you have seen them too, cause I would spoil them). I'm looking forward to The Farewell whenever I get to it. I'll bet Jman would love Synonyms, right?
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on such a winter's day

Hayden

Location: CDMX

CA Dreamin wrote:

I thought someone would have replied to the Martin Scorsese post from a couple days ago, but alas.

Eh, I kinda think he's right. But I've just never been into Marvel, so I might be biased. I just don't think I've ever given one of there films above a 5-6/10... I've watched The Avengers, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Guardians of The Galaxy, and Infinity War (yes, I skipped an Avengers segment), and thought all were kinda flat flashy soulless nonsense. I think Black Panther getting a Best Picture nom was a major mistake (winning best score even moreso Rolling Eyes

)

Speaking of which, some if-I-lived-in-Vegas guesses:

Best Picture: The Irishman
Director: Bong Joon Ho
Actor: Adam Driver
Actress: Scarlett Johansson
S. Actor: Willem Dafoe
S. Actress: Jennifer Lopez (?)
O. Screenplay: Marriage Story
A. Screenplay: The Irishman
International: Parasite
Score: Hildur Guðnadóttir (maaaaaybe Mark Korven for The Lighthouse)
Song: Randy Newman (The Ballad Of The Lonesome Cowboy or I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away)... Erivo has a chance for an insanely fast EGOT though, and I wouldn't throw TSwift out of the mix...

Which will probably all be wrong, but I could kinda see it happening. Brad Pitt might have a chance at supporting, but I think Dafoe put on a much better performance. Could be a huge year for Netflix.

1917, Little Women, Rocketman, and Toy Story 4 will probably all walk away with something too. I think Jojo Rabbit and maybe even Once Upon A Time In Hollywood will be shut out though.

PurpleHazel

Saw The Irishman last night. Think it's Scorsese's best film since Goodfellas, though not as good as it (haven't seen Casino in a very long time, so not sure how Irishman stacks up against that one). Like Goodfellas, the main character's Irish but becomes a high-level mobster, and like Goodfellas, he narrates the film (both movies are adapted from books, The Irishman from a "non-fiction" novel). Pacino's great. Shame Harvey Keitel has such a small role. Glad I saw this in the theater.

Saw Marriage Story last week. Excellent film; undoubtedly one of Baumbach's best, though The Squid and the Whale's still my favorite (I esteem Greenberg more than most people do too). Not quite as dark as I was expecting, which most people would consider a good thing. There's only one really rancorous scene; it's a divorce lawyer who stirs up a majority of the conflict. Laura Dern's great as the scorched-earth lawyer. Going to be hard (or already hard) for a major Hollywood film to top these two this year.

CA Dreamin

Gender: Male
Location: LA

Hayden wrote:

CA Dreamin wrote:

I thought someone would have replied to the Martin Scorsese post from a couple days ago, but alas.

Eh, I kinda think he's right. But I've just never been into Marvel, so I might be biased. I just don't think I've ever given one of there films above a 5-6/10... I've watched The Avengers, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Guardians of The Galaxy, and Infinity War (yes, I skipped an Avengers segment), and thought all were kinda flat flashy soulless nonsense.

I've seen every MCU movie and enjoyed the majority of them. But Marty is totally right. His speculation about 'entertainment' marginalizing and belittling 'cinema' is an interesting discussion point if anyone's willing to have it.

PurpleHazel wrote:

Saw The Irishman last night. Saw Marriage Story last week. Going to be hard (or already hard) for a major Hollywood film to top these two this year.

Proud to say I also saw Irishman in theaters. Solid movie, but a little hampered by a bland central character. I can think of a major Hollywood movie that already tops these two that literally has "Hollywood" in the title.
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on such a winter's day

Hayden

Location: CDMX

CA Dreamin wrote:

Proud to say I also saw Irishman in theaters. Solid movie, but a little hampered by a bland central character. I can think of a major Hollywood movie that already tops these two that literally has "Hollywood" in the title.

I didn't think of him as bland at all. I actually found him a really human character. Made everything seem like a reliable narration (whether or not it was, who knows, but I'm sure the discussion will be resurgent). My main qualm is the same as De Niro's, I think the film should've kept the name I Heard You Paint Houses. Other than that, I'd feel safe in calling it one of Scorsese's best.

I think 2019's really one of those years... 2007, 1994, 1977, 1960, etc... The Irishman, Marriage Story, Parasite, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, The Lighthouse, Toy Story 4, Knives Out, Joker, Uncut Gems, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood... and I'm sure some people would include Endgame, Jojo Rabbit, The Farewell, Booksmart, Bacurau, Ford V Ferrari, Waves and Klaus up there. 1917 and Little Women are still in the mix too. Dig deeper and there's even more. Not to mention Chernobyl, Too Old To Die Young, and When They See Us on the small screen (which isn't so small anymore).

Can't help but feel we're living one of those years people will look back on and say it was stacked. There's been some duds for sure, and an insane amount of unnecessary live-action Disney nonsense, but where it shines, it really shines.

Gave The Irishman a 9/10.

Villain

Gender: Male
Age: 28
Location: Canaduh

Quote:

I didn't think of him as bland at all. I actually found him a really human character. Made everything seem like a reliable narration (whether or not it was, who knows, but I'm sure the discussion will be resurgent).

I agree, most of the reviews I've read about the film praise Pesci's performance as the best in the film, but I found De Niro's performance to be excellent. Especially in the final half hour where he has to live with all his choices as a younger man. His soldier-like loyalty came back to bite him and it cost him some friends and his relationship with his family.
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Check out some of my other interest on my own review site. Scum N' Villainy

http://www.scumnvillainy.com/

PurpleHazel

Hayden wrote:

I think 2019's really one of those years... 2007, 1994, 1977, 1960, etc... The Irishman, Marriage Story, Parasite, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, The Lighthouse, Toy Story 4, Knives Out, Joker, Uncut Gems, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood...

Can't help but feel we're living one of those years people will look back on and say it was stacked. There's been some duds for sure, and an insane amount of unnecessary live-action Disney nonsense, but where it shines, it really shines.

Yeah, once I heard the buzz for The Irishman and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, it felt like a standout year. Left out 1999. Which films to you elevate 1994 to the top tier? Assume you're including non-English language films because other than Pulp Fiction it doesn't appear to be a particularly noteworthy year for American movies.

CA Dreamin wrote:

I can think of a major Hollywood movie that already tops these two that literally has "Hollywood" in the title.

Ha, I knew you didn't agree. Though it's one of Tarantino's better films, DiCaprio's pre-climax storyline didn't completely work for me. However, both Scorsese and Baumbach stayed in their comfort zones (though Marriage Story may be Baumbach's second most autobiographical film), while Tarantino deserves a lot of credit for pushing into new stylistic territory, and he if continues in that vein, I eagerly look forward to what he does next.

Hayden

Location: CDMX

In respect that you may want to edit that bit out of your post, I'm not going to quote you Purplehazel Laughing

Shawshank Redemption
Chungking Express
Leon: The Professional
Pulp Fiction
Satantango
The Lion King
Forrest Gump
Red (Rouge)
White (Blanc)
Crumb

And, to boot:

To Live
The Hudsucker Proxy
Natural Born Killers
Ashes Of Time
Hoop Dreams
Ed Wood
The Kingdom
Through The Olive Trees
Vanya on 42nd Street

Just bringing it up because it's 'consensus', but 10% of IMDb's top 50 are from 1994, including the #1. And I'm sure Satantango would be up there too if a whole bunch more people watched it. It was a great year. Definitely quality over quantity. I think I've given almost everything in that top bit a perfect score.

I might think more of '99 after I watch The Green Mile, The Matrix, Audition, The Sixth Sense and Eyes Wide Shut Laughing

it's pretty high up there for years I've ignored films from.

Regardless, glad to hear you like this year too. I wouldn't be surprised to see 5-6 films from this year land in IMDb's top 100.

PurpleHazel

Hayden wrote:

In respect that you may want to edit that bit out of your post, I'm not going to quote you Laughing

I'm good, but very considerate of you. Smile

PurpleHazel wrote:

Assume you're including non-English language films because other than Pulp Fiction it doesn't appear to be a particularly noteworthy year for American movies.

Still not a great year for American movies to me, but I agree it's an exceptional one for foreign films:

Shawshank Redemption - pretty good movie, but one of the most overrated of all time.

Forrest Gump - excuse for Zemeckis' archival footage special effects, with an odious message.

The Hudsucker Proxy - bad

Natural Born Killers - bad, though with 3 good scenes; wish Stone or someone else applied its bravura filmmaking to a better movie.

This is a pretty good list:

Pulp Fiction
Crumb
Ed Wood
Vanya on 42nd St.
Shawshank Redemption

Quote:

Just bringing it up because it's 'consensus', but 10% of IMDb's top 50 are from 1994, including the #1.

And only 5% are from before 1970. Useless as a GOAT list, though it's a great gauge of the tastes of young men on the internet.

CA Dreamin

Gender: Male
Location: LA

Hayden wrote:

I think 2019's really one of those years... 2007, 1994, 1977, 1960, etc...

Okay, time out. I'm usually one to keep conversation on topic with the thread, but 1977 was not a great year for movies. Had to get that out. Now, back on topic...

Hayden wrote:

The Irishman, Marriage Story, Parasite, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, The Lighthouse, Toy Story 4, Knives Out, Joker, Uncut Gems, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood... and I'm sure some people would include Endgame, Jojo Rabbit, The Farewell, Booksmart, Bacurau, Ford V Ferrari, Waves and Klaus up there. 1917 and Little Women are still in the mix too.

Can't help but feel we're living one of those years people will look back on and say it was stacked. There's been some duds for sure, and an insane amount of unnecessary live-action Disney nonsense, but where it shines, it really shines.

We haven't seen some of these films yet because they haven't been released. It's cool to be excited but I can't help but feel this is a premature statement. Jojo Rabbit turned out to be bullshit, right? (according to you anyway, I still haven't seen it Anxious

) It's possible some of these other unreleased movies could be disappointing as well. Let's wait and see.

In regards to The Irishman, I agree with Villain that Scorsese brought a new twist on his crime/biopic genre, in that the ending showed us regret and consequence to an extent never seen before in his films. For example, at the end of Goodfellas and Wolf Wall Street, we see our characters lose everything, but it's kinda glossed over. (Spoiler) But in The Irishman's final 30 minutes, we see our main character suffer, slowly withering away to decrepitude, losing his health, friends, and family along the way. That aspect felt new in Scorsese's body of work, and gave the ending a powerful punch. Nevertheless, I found the lack of energy/motivation from the main character somewhat boring at times. I also felt it could have used a little trimming here and there, because the guys arguing over punctuality and clothing got redundant at times.

PurpleHazel wrote:

Quote:

Just bringing it up because it's 'consensus', but 10% of IMDb's top 50 are from 1994, including the #1.

And only 5% are from before 1970. Useless as a GOAT list, though it's a great gauge of the tastes of young men on the internet.

Yeah imdb's list is garbage. Haven't looked at it in years.