You're right about the musical cues, even Lawrence in rubber gloves dancing to Wings
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 20 December 2013 23:09 (ten years ago) link
These movies are useful in reminding me what music I hated in high school.
― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Friday, 20 December 2013 23:12 (ten years ago) link
thankfully "I Feel Love" appeared and the crowds parted.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 20 December 2013 23:16 (ten years ago) link
Some of those excerpts are puzzling...It's too bad Goodfellas and Boogie Nights weren't done right.
I'll see this over the break. Can't say I'm optimistic. A local critic who's pretty good said it's a lot of people yelling at each other, something I generally can't stand.
― clemenza, Friday, 20 December 2013 23:46 (ten years ago) link
Armond goes crazy for it!Russell resists going for the crowd-pleasing ecstasy that he instinctively earns. But the ecstasy is also earned. Probing deeply into his characters insecurity’s (Irving’s horrible toupee, Sydney’s self-hatred, Richie’s insecurity, Roslyn’s hunger), Russell neither patronizes nor condescends. The actors’ energetic exactitude makes one feel for them.–and recognize them. This is the best example of improvisatory artistry since Robert Altman’s masterpieces and a Hollywood classic like Leo McCarey’s largely improvised 1937 The Awful Truth.... American Hustle is GoodFellas, The Sopranos and Boogie Nights done right.http://cityarts.info/2013/12/18/david-o-russells-stock-company/― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Thursday, December 19, 2013 12:39 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
looking forward to his total reversal once he realizes he's in the critical majority
― ★feminist parties i have attended (amateurist), Saturday, 21 December 2013 00:11 (ten years ago) link
it probably won't happen til march, though.
― ★feminist parties i have attended (amateurist), Saturday, 21 December 2013 00:12 (ten years ago) link
"The now-overrated American Hustle, which wasn't at all overrated when the NYFCC anointed it."
― Alfre, Lord Woodard (Eric H.), Saturday, 21 December 2013 01:43 (ten years ago) link
Labuza nails this one
Russell actually believes in the kind of faux-BS he sells in the movie, but only because he knows that BS sells both within the scope of his movie ("People believe what they want to believe" which is said somewhere like two dozen times) and most likely his intended audience.
Watching this film is both frustrating and fascinating. I'm trying to read a pulse, and the film seems dead for 10 straight minutes, only to oddly erupt for a brief minute before returning to the grave. Nobody seems to be sure what they are doing here, and Russell rarely ever establishes stakes or exactly how any of the film's seemingly elaborate plot is supposed to work. But Russell is more interested in interaction, in the how people act in situations. A great director would not necessarily have to split these, but Russell has always been interested in situations that Make No Fucking Sense (Iraq in Three Kings; the dance contest and subsequent bet in Silver Linings Playbook). If this is a caper movie however, the fact remains that its plot is so damn uninteresting and it spends 90% of its time of characters standing around in rooms looking like they have no clue what they are supposed to be doing, which is less a subversive statement than poor writing. It would also help if Russell's namedroping of stuff like Watergate or Nixon didn't feel like a "remember we're in the 1970s! lol" moment.
http://letterboxd.com/labuzamovies/film/american-hustle
― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Monday, 23 December 2013 05:09 (ten years ago) link
This bit of Armond's review seems a bit odd: When Irving describes Sydney’s awesomeness, he says “Like me she had to reinvent herself” but “reinvent” is a 90s word, Stephen Holden coined it in a New York Times article describing and institutionalizing a Madonna tour. And Russell understands how “reinvention” expresses contemporary American ambition–and American Hustle’s 70s story of the controversial ABSCAM sting operation draws a bead on American instability.
The word wasn't coined in the 90s - first known use is around 1686. People had been talking about David Bowie reinventing himself for years.
I enjoyed the film: I thought it was lighter film in tone than some of the critics would have you think.
― mohel hell (Bob Six), Monday, 23 December 2013 12:09 (ten years ago) link
It's true the movie's dead about 10 minutes in the first third but damn if I can tell which ten minutes.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 23 December 2013 12:45 (ten years ago) link
I thought Bale was amazing
― Le passé, non seulement n'est pas fugace, il reste sur place (Michael White), Monday, 23 December 2013 15:06 (ten years ago) link
I thought of all the acting was great: particularly Bale, Amy Adams, and Jeremy Renner.
― mohel hell (Bob Six), Monday, 23 December 2013 15:17 (ten years ago) link
yeah, if pretties playing dress-up to caricature working/jumped-up immigrant slobs is great acting, I guess.
I guess I noted the Armond "reinvent" thing on the Armond thread. He just makes shit up.
― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Monday, 23 December 2013 15:53 (ten years ago) link
The word "reinvent" had been around for a long time, in stock phrases such as "reinvent the wheel". However, I'm not sure if it was very prevalent in the sense of "reinventing oneself". Google Ngram Viewer shows usage of the phrase "reinvent myself" starting around 1970 but not really taking off until the mid-80s:
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=reinvent+myself&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Creinvent%20myself%3B%2Cc0
Self-help author Herbert Arthur Otto appears to have been one of the earliest to use the phrase.
― o. nate, Monday, 23 December 2013 16:14 (ten years ago) link
also the NY Film Crix Circle is on crack
― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, December 4, 2013 10:59 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink ^^^^^^
― socki (s1ocki), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 14:47 (ten years ago) link
the fuck was up with this dumb movie
when bradley cooper's triumphant comeuppance occurred i was like... wait... he was supposed to be the bad guy??
― socki (s1ocki), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 14:48 (ten years ago) link
or the gangster at the end being all like "ayo bro, mr. ruggiero says you did him a solid, fuhgeddaboutit"
or christian bale mourning his amazing friendship with jeremy renner, which consisted of like.. one fun night on the town? not exactly donnie brasco there
― socki (s1ocki), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 14:49 (ten years ago) link
Don't think the movie frames him as a bad guy, just a guy not as sharp as the competition.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 14:49 (ten years ago) link
no, but he had the denouement owed to a movie bad guy—our heroes get off scott-free and he's humiliated
― socki (s1ocki), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 14:53 (ten years ago) link
xp Something he and the movie have in common.
― Alfre, Lord Woodard (Eric H.), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 14:54 (ten years ago) link
i felt his character was somewhat... vague... despite his tics. didn't really buy his dog day afternoonish homelife.
though i did like the scene where he was on the phone with amy adams and they were both in curlers
― socki (s1ocki), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 14:54 (ten years ago) link
Oh man, his mom was strained.
― Alfre, Lord Woodard (Eric H.), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 14:55 (ten years ago) link
FBI = bad guy
(one of the few things Russell got right)
― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 15:38 (ten years ago) link
i... guess... the whole thing seemed rather confused tbh
― socki (s1ocki), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 15:40 (ten years ago) link
how were the fbi the bad guys in abscam?
― balls, Tuesday, 24 December 2013 15:41 (ten years ago) link
Russell makes the most of Coop's limited range and un-charm, and extraordinary hair.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 15:42 (ten years ago) link
dude felt way out of his depth
― socki (s1ocki), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 15:43 (ten years ago) link
bradley cooper is limitless iirc
― balls, Tuesday, 24 December 2013 15:46 (ten years ago) link
FBI entrapped "ordinary" crooked pols
hetero guys weirdly worship Cooper, idgi
― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 16:01 (ten years ago) link
The only thing I can say about Cooper is that I don't feel he's as handsome as widely reported but he does have charisma
― Le passé, non seulement n'est pas fugace, il reste sur place (Michael White), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 16:08 (ten years ago) link
Looking 'out of his depth' was pretty appropriate for his character and the storyline.
― Le passé, non seulement n'est pas fugace, il reste sur place (Michael White), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 16:09 (ten years ago) link
The older woman behind me at the awards screening was wowed by the Jerry Vale cameo (a direct steal from Scorsese, no?).
― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 16:33 (ten years ago) link
sorry, NOT Jerry Vale--- Jack Jones
same thing, really
yeah I thought Renner was the standout, and Elisabeth Röhm, who played his character's wife, was the strongest female performance
― rip van wanko, Tuesday, 24 December 2013 18:49 (ten years ago) link
Amy Adams was good. I particularly liked the scenes where she was interacting with Cooper, and you can kind of see from her eyes and general expression that she's thinking 'how far can I string this guy along?'
― mohel hell (Bob Six), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 19:18 (ten years ago) link
Elisabeth Röhm, who played his character's wife, was the strongest female performance
egg nog all over keyboard
― napgenius (goole), Wednesday, 25 December 2013 07:43 (ten years ago) link
hahahaha
― balls, Wednesday, 25 December 2013 08:00 (ten years ago) link
that 'emotional' scene where Renner tells Bale to leave his house = zero
― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 25 December 2013 09:58 (ten years ago) link
Interesting for a movie set in the 70s that he was the only one shown using cocaine (at least I assume that's what he was huffing in one shot).
And why are we not talking about Louis C.K.'s performance as his supervisor?
― Word Salad Username (j.lu), Wednesday, 25 December 2013 11:38 (ten years ago) link
Cuz I had to look at the credits to realize who it was?
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 25 December 2013 12:39 (ten years ago) link
(same thing happened in Blue Jasmine)
cmon, i've never seen his show and i knew who he was
― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 25 December 2013 12:41 (ten years ago) link
It was a stretch for him to play Renner's wife.
― Alfre, Lord Woodard (Eric H.), Wednesday, 25 December 2013 16:24 (ten years ago) link
Some decent performances, but I don't even want to acknowledge them cuz the movie was phbbbt and probably Oscar bound.
― da croupier, Wednesday, 25 December 2013 21:27 (ten years ago) link
Decent performers is prob a more apt description than performances. Lawrence has energy, cooper has those blue high beams.
― da croupier, Wednesday, 25 December 2013 21:32 (ten years ago) link
They should have just named the movie "Decent Performers."
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 25 December 2013 21:56 (ten years ago) link
Mike Leigh filtered through Scorsese
― mohel hell (Bob Six), Wednesday, 25 December 2013 22:10 (ten years ago) link
If Mike Leigh had directed this we would've seen 45 minutes at Renner's watching him interact with his wife and children -- and it woulda been the best in film.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 26 December 2013 01:14 (ten years ago) link
Found some of Joy puzzling--things like the scene where everyone was urging Lawrence to declare bankruptcy; it didn't feel right to me that panic would set in so soon--but overall, I didn't mind it. Thought De Niro was better than I'd see him for a while (admittedly, I skip most everything he does nowadays). Cream's "I Feel Free" was wasted.
― clemenza, Monday, 15 February 2016 22:48 (eight years ago) link
As with Gone Girl, liked American Hustle a little more second time around. I think Bale's excellent; he completely disappears into the role. Many excellent musical cues. Don't think it means much, don't think it tries to mean much.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 29 June 2016 01:04 (eight years ago) link
you and I are gonna argue about the musical cues and Bale until the Atlantic absorbs Hialeah and Doral.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 29 June 2016 01:08 (eight years ago) link
Totally loved "10538 Overture" (such a great choice), Chicago, and "Dirty Work," and things like "Jean Genie" and "I Feel Love" worked well too. I mean, I know there wasn't a great deal of imagination at work with a couple of those, but there's just a knack for matching the song to the moment throughout. Much better than anything found in Joy.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 29 June 2016 01:16 (eight years ago) link
joy is at heart a more hateful elitist absolutely fucking stupid story than atlas shrugged and i'm sort of horrified that it hasn't been more generally received that way (from what i've seen?).
― R.I.P. Haram-bae, the good posts goy (s.clover), Wednesday, 29 June 2016 04:32 (eight years ago) link