A Most Violent Year

[m3tan]

How did this movie not even get nominated for Best Picture??? It is absolutely brilliant and probably the best gangster movie I've seen in almost 20 years. Oscar Isaac gives a Pacino/DeNero-esque performance and the pacing and direction were excellent. Was the movie just too slow paced and err.. realistic for A-D-D millennials??? When you don't overload the senses constantly it adds gravitas and punctuates those moments that the director chooses to emphasize. I know, a foreign concept. I think they used to do this in Hollywood in the 70s...

[Suture Self]

Lots of great movies don't get nominated by the Academy. Are you just now figuring this out?

[m3tan]

Lots of great movies don't get nominated by the Academy. Are you just now figuring this out? And what does it have to do with millenials? lol

There are many films that don't get nominated for obvious reasons. A Most Violent Year fits the profile of a Best Picture nominee and even won NBR film of the year. Yet it did nothing at the box office and almost nobody has even heard of it. I bring up millenials because I almost didn't rent it because of all the terrible reviews it received on Red Box. Reading all the "zzzz" and "boring" comments on Red Box, then seeing the movie, I realized that there is a complete disconnect between me and the typical Red Box customer. I long for the great dramas of the 70s - they consider them an absolute bore fest. In retrospect, those comments I read are mostly from younger viewers. It's clearly a generational thing. The Red Box demographics is: A Most Violent Year 2.5 stars, Wedding Ringer 4.5 stars. Thankfully I checked IMdB and RT and rented it anyway. I'm a gen-Xer and sadly we're getting "old"...

[Stewball]

How did this movie not even get nominated for Best Picture??? It is absolutely brilliant and probably the best gangster movie I've seen in almost 20 years. Oscar Isaac gives a Pacino/DeNero-esque performance and the pacing and direction were excellent. Was the movie just too slow paced and err.. realistic for A-D-D millennials??? When you don't overload the senses constantly it adds gravitas and punctuates those moments that the director chooses to emphasize. I know, a foreign concept. I think they used to do this in Hollywood in the 70s...

I almost hesitate to ask, but what did they do so well in the 70s that they don't do better now? I liked this movie too but it is something of a melancholy downer. Have you seen Nightcrawler? it's dark, but he, and the movie itself, are so bitingly honest you almost kinda like him even though he is a total creep. There's lots of good stuff out there, and not just at the Indyplex.

[ShogunRua]

The movie received a very rare four finger review by the Filthy Critic, so I have been interested in checking it out. Thanks for a further heads-up, m3tan.

As for why that style of 70's drama died out, that's one of the most frequently answered questions about film history, Stewie. The wild success of Jaws and Star Wars ushered in the modern era of spectacle blockbusters aimed at a much younger audience, while the disaster of Heaven's Gate convinced studios that giving free reign to directors was a bad idea.

Over time, the blockbusters became increasingly more complex in terms of CGI and effects and more simplistic in terms of script. Few people make a film like Chinatown or The Godfather anymore. Fewer still get promoted by the studio. And relatively few theater-goers want to watch them.

[Anomaly]

yeah but those damn millennials!!!

[ShogunRua]

yeah but those damn millennials!!!

What about them (us)?

[Stewball]

As for why that style of 70's drama died out, that's one of the most frequently answered questions about film history, Stewie. The wild success of Jaws and Star Wars ushered in the modern era of spectacle blockbusters aimed at a much younger audience, while the disaster of Heaven's Gate convinced studios that giving free reign to directors was a bad idea.

I thought you were pro-70s. And why don't you veer back in off your tangent and answer the question, what they have then that we don't have now, even better? Yeah there's the blockbusters for the mindless millennials, but there's a whole lot more. I haven't checked your movie ratings lately, how many you have for 2015, 1...2....?

Over time, the blockbusters became increasingly more complex in terms of CGI and effects and more simplistic in terms of script. Few people make a film like Chinatown or The Godfather anymore. Fewer still get promoted by the studio. And relatively few theater-goers want to watch them.

Do you even try to see any? The Departed is better than Chinatown OR The Godfather. Have you seen any of these recent movies: Like Sunday, Like Rain; American Hustle, American Sniper,The Words, Margin Call, Birdman, Nightcrawler, The Counselor, Savages, Carnage, End of Watch. They're quality movies that mostly weren't big at the box office, but they keep getting made. And BTW, Heaven's Gate was a dud, Kristofferson should never be in front of a camera.

[ShogunRua]

As for why that style of 70's drama died out, that's one of the most frequently answered questions about film history, Stewie. The wild success of Jaws and Star Wars ushered in the modern era of spectacle blockbusters aimed at a much younger audience, while the disaster of Heaven's Gate convinced studios that giving free reign to directors was a bad idea.

I thought you were pro-70s.

I am. What made you think otherwise?

And why don't you veer back in off your tangent and answer the question, what they have then that we don't have now, even better?

A studio that gave them freedom and control to make whatever they want (granted, there were also downsides to this, as Heaven's Gate proved) and a large enough audience to watch such pictures.

Yeah there's the blockbusters for the mindless millennials, but there's a whole lot more.

Says the man who considers The Avengers 2 a deep and intelligent film.

I haven't checked your movie ratings lately, how many you have for 2015, 1...2....?

To my surprise, the answer is actually one. (I was expecting zero)

Namely, the quality documentary I Hate Christian Laettner. I don't bother watching many newer films, since they usually tend to disappoint me. I learn from my mistakes.

The Departed is better than Chinatown OR The Godfather.

HAHAHA. I watched the movie The Departed is a remake of; Infernal Affairs. I once caught about 30 minutes of The Departed; decided it was an inferior rehash of the HK original (which was admittedly very good), and then stopped watching.

If you feel it's better than Chinatown and The Godfather, by all means continue with your current consumption. But my answer is one that even current cinema lovers generally accept as valid.

Have you seen any of these recent movies: Like Sunday, Like Rain; American Hustle, American Sniper,The Words, Margin Call, Birdman, Nightcrawler, The Counselor, Savages, Carnage, End of Watch.

Yes, I have seen End of Watch. It was embarrassingly awful shit. Here is my review;

"Irritating and stupid. By pushing the realism angle so hard, the movie attains an Uncanny Valley effect, emphasizing the elements that ARE Hollywood bullshit in a more jarring manner. Why don't the cops use tasers, which is the first step in the force continuum? Why does this movie try (and fail) so desperately to come up with cool dialogue? Why do they try to make every female cop and criminal seem badass in the most contrived manner possible? Without the realism aspect, this is plain boring."

[Stewball]

Says the man who considers The Avengers 2 a deep and intelligent film.

Hardly deep and with only occasional moments of inspiration. Quit being so prone to exaggeration in your zeal to find faults where there are none.

I haven't checked your movie ratings lately, how many you have for 2015, 1...2....?

To my surprise, the answer is actually one. (I was expecting zero)

Then how can you possibly criticize contemporary movies in a rational manner? Ah, in the same manner as seeing a bovine female as attractively curvacious, no doubt.

Namely, the quality documentary I Hate Christian Laettner. I don't bother watching many newer films, since they usually tend to disappoint me. I learn from my mistakes.

The Departed is better than Chinatown OR The Godfather.

HAHAHA. I watched the movie The Departed is a remake of; Infernal Affairs. I once caught about 30 minutes of The Departed; decided it was an inferior rehash of the HK original (which was admittedly very good), and then stopped watching.

If you feel it's better than Chinatown and The Godfather, by all means continue with your current consumption. But my answer is one that even current cinema lovers generally accept as valid.

Have you seen any of these recent movies: Like Sunday, Like Rain; American Hustle, American Sniper,The Words, Margin Call, Birdman, Nightcrawler, The Counselor, Savages, Carnage, End of Watch.

Yes, I have seen End of Watch. It was embarrassingly awful shit. Here is my review;

"Irritating and stupid. By pushing the realism angle so hard, the movie attains an Uncanny Valley effect, emphasizing the elements that ARE Hollywood bullshit in a more jarring manner. Why don't the cops use tasers, which is the first step in the force continuum? Why does this movie try (and fail) so desperately to come up with cool dialogue? Why do they try to make every female cop and criminal seem badass in the most contrived manner possible? Without the realism aspect, this is plain boring."

I think I see the problem here, the Pearls Before Swine Syndrome. Such criticism from one who thinks phony cheap martial arts movies are good or realistic action, that the 70s is the Golden Age of Cinema, that fat is either healthy or attractive, or that Rowan Atkinson is anything but retarded and boring, is beyond the pale and a waste of my virtual breath. Leave the swine to wallow without my gems to buoy its tread.