It's early yet but I have a strong feeling that Ryan Gosling-Damien Chazelle could become the most boring ongoing actor-director collaboration in human history.— 𝕿𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖇𝖑𝖊 𝕰𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖞 𝕯𝖆𝖞 (@NickPinkerton) August 31, 2018
But seriously, even when I was 7 it was obvious to me that Armstrong was either boring or hiding his charisma very well.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, 31 August 2018 20:01 (five years ago) link
the family / boyhood scenes look kinda Malicky (might be just the handheld)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18sDK0IkTMc
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, 31 August 2018 20:04 (five years ago) link
Unless there's a Mr. Gorsky character in this, I'm not going.
― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 31 August 2018 20:35 (five years ago) link
And there’s already a rightwing idiotic blowup over this movie:
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/08/first-man-american-flag-moon-landing-controversy-neil-armstrong-ryan-gosling
― Glower, Disruption & Pies (kingfish), Friday, 31 August 2018 21:08 (five years ago) link
yeah just saw that. bury them with McCain.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, 31 August 2018 21:17 (five years ago) link
Someone should tell Marco about the Nazi technology that helped us get to the moon courtesy of Wernher von Braun
― Josefa, Saturday, 1 September 2018 03:51 (five years ago) link
Strictly speaking, a technology does not have a political ideology, although a technologist may have one and a technology may aid or abet an ideology. Technologies do not have opinions or beliefs.
― A is for (Aimless), Saturday, 1 September 2018 05:21 (five years ago) link
was it Tom Lehrer who said von Braun's autobiog's full title was
I Aim for the Stars... and Occasionally Hit London
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 1 September 2018 05:47 (five years ago) link
It's true that there was a Cold War tilt to media coverage of the moon shot -- JFK's goal, and all that -- but i don't know it was forefront in the minds at NASA.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 1 September 2018 05:49 (five years ago) link
they obviously only excluded the flag because of Trump
― flappy bird, Saturday, 1 September 2018 05:50 (five years ago) link
that joke actually seems to come from a Hollywood film about von Braun!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Aim_at_the_Stars
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 1 September 2018 05:52 (five years ago) link
A good review from a non-fan of Chazelle!
http://www.filmfreakcentral.net/ffc/2018/09/telluride-18-first-man.html
(it still looks boring to me)
― Police, Academy (cryptosicko), Saturday, 1 September 2018 18:08 (five years ago) link
Ryan Gosling looks more like Holly Johnson (lead singer of Frankie Goes To Hollywood) than Neil Armstrong.
― Visibly Over 25 (snoball), Thursday, 11 October 2018 19:07 (five years ago) link
it does feel boring at first but there's a remarkable calm that runs through this film - tonally it echoes Armstrong's quiet dignity, interiority, and emotional distance. like La La Land - an OK film elevated by its stunning ending sequence - the walk on the moon & the flashbacks & the bracelet reinforce the idea that this is a movie about one man more than it is about all people or America. Not bad. Feel like this one will sit with me for a while. I really hated Whiplash and I'm not really a fan of Chazelle but I think he could make a great film one day. One thing that struck me were shots of the moon in the sky when they're at home, at the funeral, at lunch, etc.
― flappy bird, Saturday, 13 October 2018 20:12 (five years ago) link
Brody:
It’s true that the flag-planting isn’t dramatized, but the blowhards need not worry: “First Man” is worthy of enduring as a right-wing fetish object. It is a film of deluded, cultish longing for an earlier era of American life, one defined not by conservative politics but, rather, by a narrow and regressive emotional perspective that shapes and distorts the substance of the film.
― flappy bird, Sunday, 14 October 2018 06:24 (five years ago) link
Opening weekend was $16 M in North America, apparently somewhere between "meh" and DOA, and well behind Gaga and Venom. Owen Gleiberman thinks 4 decades of Jedi at the multiplex have killed wonder at real space exploration in the movies.
https://variety.com/2018/film/news/first-man-how-40-years-of-star-wars-killed-the-mystery-of-the-moon-shot-1202979759/
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 17 October 2018 15:23 (five years ago) link
I'll take another opportunity to recommend the bookIf the Sun Dies by Oriana Falllaci for some revealing insights into the personalities or lack thereof of the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo astronauts. Some were duller than others, basically. One struck me as borderline sociopathic, can't remember which now. A couple had a sense of humor. This all comes from Fallaci interviewing and in some cases socializing with the astronauts in the mid-'60s.
― Josefa, Wednesday, 17 October 2018 15:47 (five years ago) link
is Ryan Gosling nude in this
― You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 17 October 2018 16:13 (five years ago) link
"One small cock for (a) man...."
― fuck the NRA (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 17 October 2018 16:40 (five years ago) link
he is not
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 17 October 2018 17:02 (five years ago) link
tbqh I find his buff waxy body very offputting
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 17 October 2018 17:04 (five years ago) link
I do too but Ken dolls have their functions
― You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 17 October 2018 17:05 (five years ago) link
Opening weekend was $16 M in North America, apparently somewhere between "meh" and DOA, and well behind Gaga and Venom. Owen Gleiberman thinks 4 decades of Jedi at the multiplex have killed wonder at real space exploration in the movies.https://variety.com/2018/film/news/first-man-how-40-years-of-star-wars-killed-the-mystery-of-the-moon-shot-1202979759/― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, October 17, 2018 8:23 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, October 17, 2018 8:23 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
vadertime says:OCTOBER 15, 2018 AT 10:12 AMI think that making a movie of the first moon landing is a banal and boring subject. There are probably better documentaries using real footage on Public Television. I’m not sure this movie was necessary and I’m not sure what the studio executives had in mind when they bankrolled this project. I was 11 when the Apollo 11 landed on the moon. A few months back, I watched Avengers: Infinity War. Now that is a movie worth my 2 hours of time.
― omar little, Wednesday, 17 October 2018 17:46 (five years ago) link
i do want to see this, but i don't think as far as fact-based space exploration films it has a chance at coming close to something like The Right Stuff (which is still one of my favorites in any genre.)
― omar little, Wednesday, 17 October 2018 17:49 (five years ago) link
it's more of character study than a space movie imo
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 17 October 2018 17:52 (five years ago) link
Gravity didn't kill any interest at real space exploration.
― You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 17 October 2018 17:54 (five years ago) link
In 3018 AD, if there still is school, schoolkids will only remember Hitler, Einstein, and Armstrong as names of the 20th century. Someone had to do the first Armstrong biographic. This is a pretty important film, and I'm glad it doesn't seem to be terrible.
― godless hippie skank (Sanpaku), Wednesday, 17 October 2018 19:54 (five years ago) link
Saw this at the imax last night (because my wife decrees that we have to see all space movies at the imax). It’s not a great movie for that format, the handheld camera is a bit jarring at that size and my enduring impression is that Ryan’s Gosling has weirdly small ears. It does, however set up an interesting counterpoint with the lunar scenes being full imax as opposed to the rest of the film being regular widescreen, as well as going from jumpy handheld to serene. I guess that’s the point, also going from high activity to a very contrasting moment of serenity on the moon.
It also owes a lot to the right stuff, I found the colour and grain to match that film very well and the first scene is almost a mirror of Chuck Yeager’s last flight in that film. (Bouncing off the atmosphere rather than failing to reach space). It’s not quite as inspiring as the right stuff but it’s a much more personal film, very sparse dialogue, reflecting Armstrong’s character.
Worthwhile, I think although was pretty stoked for the queen biopic they trailed before hand.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Wednesday, 17 October 2018 20:08 (five years ago) link
Oh yeah, all that handheld camerawork really got on my nerves. I saw regular DCP projection fwiw.
Also forgot to mention that when I saw it, when they got the moon and the soundtrack went completely silent, we all heard Lady Gaga belting a song from A Star is Born playing in an adjacent theater. Lol
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 17 October 2018 23:12 (five years ago) link
If the Sun Dies by Oriana Falllaci
I am reading this now and jfc she is a great writer, really a wonderful snapshot of the era
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 17 October 2018 23:15 (five years ago) link
If you can find it, Salyut 7 is worth seeing. Review: https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/29/16373940/salyut-7-movie-review-russian-space-blockbuster. Both it and Apollo 13 were better than this.
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 18 October 2018 17:39 (five years ago) link
It's great, some people are digging to find reasons to dislike or ignore films.
― Van Horn Street, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 01:03 (five years ago) link
like Brody's assessment is just so full of shit.
― Van Horn Street, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 01:04 (five years ago) link
Little in the film suggests that the world of pop has undergone a change or that culture and mores were changing with it. There is one brief scene of a party at which something like rock music is playing, but there’s no sense of what Neil’s perspective might be on the Twist, the Beatles, or anything else going on in the turbulent sixties.
This trend to politically define a film by what's its leaving out is infuriating to me, you can rhetorically add anything to almost any film and go 'see it's right wing'. Who ever gives a shit about what Armstrong thought of rock music and the Viet Nam war, dude was busy with something else.
― Van Horn Street, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 01:10 (five years ago) link
i've been avoiding this mostly cuz i think RG is too weird to play Armstrong
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 01:31 (five years ago) link
Best big-studio film I've seen in a couple years. No wonder it failed at the b.o.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 27 November 2018 04:21 (five years ago) link
The opening X-15 scene is great btw.
when they got the moon and the soundtrack went completely silent, we all heard Lady Gaga belting a song from A Star is Born playing in an adjacent theater. Lol
At NYC MoMA, it was a subway train roaring 40 feet under us.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 27 November 2018 04:27 (five years ago) link
Yeah, this was engaging.
― An Uphill Battle For Legumes (Capitaine Jay Vee), Tuesday, 27 November 2018 04:27 (five years ago) link
yes!
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 27 November 2018 04:39 (five years ago) link
lol well I would prefer this to gaga on the moon
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 27 November 2018 04:41 (five years ago) link
Pop records are my kinda hell
And Gaga's on the moon
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 27 November 2018 05:03 (five years ago) link
I wonder how many viewers thought the regular sonic booms were part of a score by a German industrial band.
Enjoyed the two genuflections toward Kubrick -- a waltz threatening to break out just before the Gemini capsule goes spinning end over end, and Armstrong parrroting HAL 9000 by telling his sons "We have the greatest confidence in the mission."
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 27 November 2018 15:30 (five years ago) link
you guys really don't discuss between first weekend and digital release
Corey Stoll is racking up playing historical assholes (here, Aldrin)
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, 30 November 2018 16:39 (five years ago) link
I can respect if they were trying to utterly invert the "great man" mythos, but it didn't make it any more engaging.
― I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 14:17 (five years ago) link
hmmmmm
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 15:10 (five years ago) link
It's an idea movie, I think. When America Did Expansive Things (and the individuals who pushed the rock).
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 15:13 (five years ago) link
There's certainly a thread of "this could not happen any longer" running through it.
― I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 15:27 (five years ago) link
When I was leaving the MoMA screening, a 20something woman turned to her friend and asked, "So there was really a fire, and three guys died?" I had to exit quickly before I was tempted to lecture.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 15:37 (five years ago) link
LOL, two women behind me shared that they forgot about that with my theater's audience.
― I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 15:49 (five years ago) link
I don't think Claire Foy was given anything particularly interesting to do, true to life or not.
― I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 15:50 (five years ago) link
I thought her role was unusually subtle for that archetype 90 minutes in, without the reading-Neil-the-riot-act scene... and then of course that scene came along.
Still the best thing I've scene that played 'plexes this year.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 16:02 (five years ago) link
Certainly the only thing by DC i haven’t outright loathed
― I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 16:11 (five years ago) link
such a drag that this got buried because of press conference comments and Green Book gets out unscathed
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 11 December 2018 17:39 (five years ago) link
Green Book hasn't even made half of what First Man made and even with the expected Oscar nominations probably will only match it.
― I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 17:41 (five years ago) link
I think this was only (relatively) buried by public disinterest in our IRL space voyaging.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 17:45 (five years ago) link
I think Gosling's (innocuous) comments about not including the flag "to make it more human / universal" hurt its box office & unlike Green Book I suppose there was no plan to let First Man "find its audience"
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 11 December 2018 17:50 (five years ago) link
the whole tone of the film wd've been anathema to red-state red-meaters
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 17:54 (five years ago) link
(which included one earthbound flag raising, and numerous shots of astronaut flag patches)
And also a repeated shot of the flag planted on the moon but, you know, not reverently enough in mega-closeup, I get it.
― I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 17:56 (five years ago) link
yeah no one would've noticed or complained had Gosling kept his mouth shut. but I think enough of those people avoided First Man on MAGA principle to hurt its business & awards attention. if ASIB or BR bombed they wouldn't be collecting undeserved awards. that red state audience might've been mad after they saw it, but they still would've paid to see it. obv opening weekend is everything for studio movies - perhaps appropriate that Lady Gaga leaked into the screening I saw when the sound cut out on the moon.
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 11 December 2018 18:24 (five years ago) link
I really think MAGAists go the movies maybe twice a year.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 18:30 (five years ago) link
and besides Clint Eastwood's yearly dud, they're going to see the movie about "a great American" over the Hollywood liberal musical or the biopic about the queen. I loved the movie but agree with Brody that in many ways it plays into right-wing fantasia, a paean to a time when America was great (enhanced by Chazelle's right-wing sensibility). if it had done better business I think we would've been spared some of this ASIB/BR nonsense.
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 11 December 2018 19:03 (five years ago) link
that Gil Scott-Heron scene would not have been in such a movie 5-10 years ago
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 19:17 (five years ago) link
neither would've the exclusion of the flag on the moon (it works in the movie, but it's clearly a Trump era move)
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 11 December 2018 19:25 (five years ago) link
Finally saw this, loved it.
It represented Armstrong so beautifully.His inscrutability, his steadfastness, his depth...but also how much he and all the Gemini & Apollo astronauts gave to the program, the deeply human cost of getting to the moon & the weight of the achievement of actually setting foot on the moon by showing how much had to go right.
I thought it was truly a beautiful movie, and a credit toArmstrong & his family.
I never thought Gosling could pull off a characterization of Armstrong but hats (helmets?) off, he really killed it.
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 19 February 2019 05:36 (five years ago) link
otm
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 19 February 2019 05:55 (five years ago) link
and that theme with the harp & the theremin omg in LOVE, the score overall but the theme song ugh magic
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 19 February 2019 05:59 (five years ago) link
I liked this a lot too, but there was a lot of strange ellipses during the moon sequence that I would have preferred to see...also it felt at times that the rather straightforward & sentimental framework of the dead daughter was too much of a constraint on a story that could have been about a lot more.
― ryan, Tuesday, 19 February 2019 17:19 (five years ago) link
I mean, the obvious reason they don't show the flag was because it wouldn't have fit the overdetermined mournful tone of that whole scene!
― ryan, Tuesday, 19 February 2019 17:20 (five years ago) link
yeah, huge mistake ever commenting on that. I don't remember if it was part of their promo or some journalist noticed there's no flag, but if it went unmentioned, no one would have noticed, and this might've had a better box office, and we would've had a much better movie getting nominated and winning awards right now.
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 19 February 2019 17:47 (five years ago) link
The Kids do not care about ol' moon shots, as noted previously
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 19 February 2019 18:02 (five years ago) link
I don't think it would've done ASIB or BoHo numbers, but it only made 5mil less than Green Book. But no way to know how it could've gone. leave it to the Academy to snub the only good movie Chazelle has made so far (technical noms - sure, ok. totally ridiculous it didn't even get a cinematography nomination).
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 19 February 2019 18:11 (five years ago) link
Saw this at home this evening, and really enjoyed it. The score was lovely, and I didn't know anything at all about Neil Armstrong's home life before, so it was all news to me. The shonkiness and barely-held-togetherness of all the tech was really highlighted, as was the fact that it was hard for any of them to appreciate anything they were doing, or ever relax. You couldn't even grieve your friend's death in public, you had to keep it together and get on with the next stage of the mission.
― trishyb, Saturday, 24 August 2019 23:26 (four years ago) link
Also, Ryan Gosling is among the more handsome men to portray someone on the autistic spectrum...
― hedonic treadmill class action (Sanpaku), Sunday, 25 August 2019 01:00 (four years ago) link
I didn't know anything about NA or the tests leading up to the Apollo 11 mission that killed astronauts. all that stuff is handled so well. so subtle as I've said so many times
― flappy bird, Sunday, 25 August 2019 01:50 (four years ago) link
Excellent film
― Thicc Nhat Wanh (rip van wanko), Monday, 17 August 2020 03:25 (three years ago) link
yes
― flappy bird, Monday, 17 August 2020 04:48 (three years ago) link
the scene where J.K. Simmons screams at Neil Armstrong for being a shitty drummer was v affecting
― muntjac wagner (Neanderthal), Monday, 17 August 2020 06:15 (three years ago) link