SPOILERS: Viewing/rating my 4 picks for Oscar: Star/Born, Roma, The FavoUrite, Bohemian R

[UTUSN]

Last edited Sun Feb 3, 2019, 11:27 AM - Edit history (1)

Guess which is my #1 pick, hint (a truly difficult hint) :

I'm an erratic poster, so am a freak for awards shows when almost all of the time I haven't even seen the nominees. But in this case, at this point, I've seen Star/Born (in a real movie house, which almost never happens) and now The FavoUrite, and soon Roma. Bohemian Rhapsody for another day.

When I saw Star back in (October?) I posted an extensive write-up, which I can't find through Site Google, so not that it's important to anybody but if somebody can link me up with it here I'll deeply appreciate it. In lieu of it, I'll dispose of that movie with this: That for all the hype of Gaga and COOPER at the press rounds, it was nondescript, with all characters from lead actors down to including the secondary supporting and the "atmospheric" characters (dive customers and performers) being all cardboard. So nope/nup/nada Oscars for Gaga/COOPER/Sam ELLIOTT. Is he still married to the wonderful Katherine ROSS? That should be enough of an award.

************So, The FavoUrite. It's my favorite before seeing Roma and Rhapsody.

Starting with the Elton John song over the closing credits (above). Who knew it dates back to 1968? (I'm sure all the Lounge know-it-alls knew). But it is gobsmackingly good ending this movie. Forget the Star/Born "Shallow", which I know I did as soon as I heard it. When a movie has to tell you in the movie inside the story of the movie that "Shallow" is a great song and then is actually plugged as the keynote of the movie in real life, it ain't a great song. In The FavoUrite, I wasn't prepared for "Skyline Pigeon," which I had never heard before and didn't even know it was Elton, and am flabbergasted it dates to when it does - so there, "Swallow" I mean "Shallow".

As for The FavoUrite itself, I shall be brief: I will need more viewing of it to digest the dialog, the story line details. First impression, the first movie with driving women being FULL humans instead of stock characters in a movement of "women." Real human beings. Did I see references to classic movies or did I imagine them? 1) All About Eve, the upwardly mobile character vs the top dog. 2) Chinatown, hilarious when NICHOLSON's face appears with the bandaged sliced nose. 3) (I forget, will update if I remember)


**********Next post, Roma. Am still playing and re-playing Skyline Pigeon.

[Corgigal]

1. Bohemian rhapsody makes me cry.

It's not the movie so much, it's just what we lost.

It's winning awards because we miss Freddie, not because it's the best movie. Still might win because he should still be here and it took us some time to remember how good for was, and is.

[UTUSN]

2. Aw, sweetie.

[UTUSN]

17. I hope you will be pleased with my take in post #16!1

[ProudMNDemocrat]

3. LOVED Bohemian Rhapsody......

I have Pandora Radio playing my Queen Station. Hearing Freddie Mercury's voice makes the regret of not seeing him on Concert when I had the chance back in the 80's all the more painful. The film is amazing in how Rami Malek captured Freddie is every way. From the uncomfortableness of having buck teeth, to the fact he loved both men and women, loved Mary Austin with all his being and wanted to marry her. All the fame did not buy him happiness he wanted.


Bohemian Rhapsody is a classic already and one I plan to own. It comes out on 4 March. I will be rooting for Rami Malek to take the Oscar for Bes Actor. If he wins the BAFTA award, he has the Oscar.

[UTUSN]

4. Seeing it soon & will grant you Rami if you grant me one of The Fave women!1

[ProudMNDemocrat]

5. Going to see The Favourite tomorrow...

I love the Baroque period for Costuming. I have read several biographies on the Stuart rulers since King James I of England. Queen Anne was the last of the Stuart rulers before the House of Hanover took over in 1714 upon her death.

[UTUSN]

6. So you are prepared. It was an eye opener for me.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

7. Yes. As a Historical Costumer...It is my business to know these things.

I do a lot of research before I do a Historical piece such as this.

[UTUSN]

8. I would think this would be a blast for you, but then maybe not

[Croney]

9. I haven't seen The Favourite yet, but I think that "u" is part of its identity.

I agree with you about Star is Born; I wanted to be blown away by it but the wind never picked up.

Roma was so unusual I'm still thinking of it off and on. A seemingly simple movie, with intense values that just exist, without saying "look at me."

Last night we saw Can You Ever Forgive Me? Surprisingly superb acting, very entertaining story.

I call Bohemian Rhapsody "my Queen movie." My favorite movie of the year and I hope it receives all the awards it deserves.

[UTUSN]

10. WHOA-ohhhh - the "U" - what an awkward flub on my part!1

I never use emojis or smilies or whatever they're called, but need to here as an emblem!1 Will it be made worse for me to try to prove that I really really *know* about the Brit (or just "English"?) spelling, that I hold 2 degrees in English Literature (or is it a B.A. in Lib Arts and an M.A. in English Lit?) ?!1 Or that, back in December when the movie was due in my region, I Googled for venues countless times using, every single time, the U-less 'murican spelling and teh Google gave it to me with nary a hitch or condescension, haha?

I'll just say, honestly, that I was blind to the spelling as I glanced past the word so many times, the way I can proofread something two or three times and only see a glaring error much later in the company of people who will *notice*. But I will say that the design of the title and credits with the extra spaces certainly add stylishness but are hard to read. (Stylishness is certainly also an illuminating characteristic since isn't the furniture named after Queen Anne? Whups, I typed "Ann" instead of "Anne"!1 )

I have Edited all of my mentions of it, but inserting the "u" as a capital "U" so as to credit the correction and not attempt to portray myself as not having erred to begin with. THANKS - *sincerely*!1

[Croney]

11. HaHa, you're welcome. It's an easy mistake to make, since

those Brits don't know how to spell and our way looks a lot better. 😀

[UTUSN]

12. Mighty gracious of you. Program note: My take on Roma (next) continues our collision course!

[UTUSN]

13. O.K., brace for my barbarian take on Roma: *********SPOILERS!*********

Last edited Sun Feb 3, 2019, 01:46 PM - Edit history (2)

A quibble: My response to what I see is without the context of background study, neither of history of the period nor of the resume of the director/writers, just the product I see in front of me, stand-alone.

Ahead of seeing it, I'd heard that "Roma" is not about the Roman Empire or anything else Eyetalian, but rather the name of an affluent neighborhood in Mexico City, set in the ('70s?), and all in Spanish without subtitles or dubbing, that it's in black and white, and that it's about the relationship of the indigenous maid and the economically upper class family, with a backdrop of societal turmoil, and that the depicted family is the director's own and their maid.

So imagine seeing a movie in a different language and then passing judgment on it, which is what we've got here since I'm cheeky.

First of all, the maid Cleo is in just about every scene in this very very long movie, and whatever scenes she's not in are for context about her, so it's definitely about her - big take-away, haha!1 It seems to move along in simple chronological order.

The family home is almost a character, just where everybody comes back to despite forays avoiding claustrophobia into the street outside and extended scenes elsewhere. This is the director's childhood home, is "upper" income ------ in Mexico, that is; would be fairly Middle Class here. At some point it seems the director made this whole movie to show how well off he grew up.

So it's a family in a house. Four(?) kids, the 40ish mother, a grandmother(?), and two(?) maids. The father is a member of the family, but except for a couple of cameos of his arriving from wherever he works, he is fairly much absent, no, almost totally absent. And nothing of school or any other outside activities are seen for the kids. It's all the daily activities of a family grouping inside a house - kids playing and quarreling, mother manager/boss, maids doing their chores interspersed with minor nannying.

The whole thing is comings and goings of everybody living their individual lives together and separately, along with the whole outside world of a giant metropolis also filled with everybody else going about their individual activities. It seems that the camera is always panning from left to right with complicated activities going on all at once and a few stock players dashing past close up.

I don't want to spell out what I gleaned of a "plot" so I'll just say that things happen, "things" being the everyday (and social turmoil) activities of all this multitude of populace have going on collectively and separately. Everything is with the camera seeing at a distance. The relationships are confined but don't give a sense of intimacy.

Cleo is always there but fairly much an impassive observer, a couple of times giving way to imploring in need, but enveloped in Stoic endurance ("stoic" - Rome, do you see what I did there?!1 ).

*********O.K., this is it. Really, my overwhelming impression is how complex it is to make *any* movie with all their moving parts, but especially one of these panoramic dimensions, oddly with an interior focus - "interior" in both senses of personal and of scene. I also think "Crash" (the movie) for complex activities going on (except for strict chronology of Roma) and Seinfeld for whatever is happening without seeming to be happening.

If it's up to me, I'm fine with giving it prizes for writing, maybe directing, and whatever is called putting all the parts together. Perhaps the acting is so restrained that it disguises artistry, but I'm hoping for The FavoUrite's three actresses.

***********Actually, what I'm left with is my mundane curiosity as to whether the real life Cleo is still alive and whether she and the director are in contact and what that's like.

[Croney]

14. Did you really not see it with subtitles? We saw it on TV

while it's still in theaters; I think it was Netflix, and there were subtitles. But Spanish is my second language, so I understood what was going on pretty well.

I didn't know it was the director's house until you told me. My main complaint is about the endless, slow, repetitive, boring sweeping of the courtyard, but I'm sure it had a symbolic meaning.

You put SPOILERS in the thread title, so I'm going to mention some. SPOILERS BELOW!



There is full male nudity! (A would-be revolutionist dances around with his junk bobbing up and down and all around.)

The father of the family is a jackass.

The maid's pregnancy ends with a delivery room scene from Hell.

Children almost drown.

So see, things actually did happen, between the long, drawn-out street-sweeping minutes that seemed like hours.

I thought the directing was amazing. The acting was OK but, like you, I put it way down on my list.

[UTUSN]

15. You are being kind and generous to me, thanks!

Last edited Sun Feb 3, 2019, 08:06 PM - Edit history (1)

Yeah, I saw those things happening, but except for the delivery room, everything just rolled on by like normal (or understated).

The ocean scene *did* give me a bit of suspense and dread.

As for the male frontal, it was a brief one-time scene and at a distance as with everything else, and it flopped about as with everything else, haha!1

*********But right now, one of my all time faves is on, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum - I remember that it got dismissive reviews when it played.

ON EDIT: Wiki says the Forum reviews were pretty good.

[UTUSN]

16. O.K., here's my Bohemian Rhapsody, and the good news is:

I have nothing negative to say and quite a bit of excellent things to say, but will keep it short.

The movie was authentically moving throughout, was well told without distracting angles. Beforehand I had seen somewhere that the real life band members were miffed that the focus was on F.M. himself, but that's outside the product on the screen. This was only about the second bio-pic I've seen and it's a TIE (haha, see what I'm doing here?) with STREISAND's debut break (you know which).

But aside from all of that good stuff I've said, the absolute best it has going for it is Rami, for whom I am solidly hoping for the Oscar.


*********O.K., have done more homework for this year's awards than for all the other years combined when I often never saw ANY of the nominees!

As for Best Pic, I'll just say this, that of these four movies, the only one I will view more than once, in fact a FEW times, is:

**** T H E ______ F A V O U R I T E ****