Two for 'Closer' - not expecting that

[Kire]

Having seen both movies, I would have gone with Thomas Haden Church and Virginia Madsen for 'Sideways', not Natalie Portman (as much as I love her) and Clive Owen, like most people expect.

That was a mind-blowing scene between the two of them in the VIP room of the strip club, but I never would have thunk "Liberal Hollywood" be THAT liberal.

[Reverend_Smitty]

1. Yeah I would have bet money...

that tonight would have been a love fest for Sideways, so far it's not shaping up that way. But who knows the night is still young

[Shopaholic]

2. Me too. I thought Sideways was a much better film

Go figure.

[n2mark]

3. Well,

maybe "Liberal Hollywood" is not going to cave in like the Dems in Washington DC.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

4. Naw, Sideways was a narrow movie

There's something so precious and self-defeating about men-coming-of-age movies. My husband hated it - I liked it - saying he was just sick of men being portrayed as such whining, self-involved assholes.

I couldn't argue with him about that.

"Closer" was a lot more interesting, with much better character development, and a fascinating plot, plus it's a Mike Nichols movie. His name on it means POWER in Hollywood, don't forget.

But, honestly, the buzz about "Sideways" really made me think there's been a generalized lowering of standards among the movie-going public. It was a movie about nothing.

I liked the scenery, though.

[Kire]

5. I feel that way about portrayals of men like that.

In fact, I am often ranting about them.

But, I don't feel that way about sideways. The whole movie was a transformation away from a self-involved asshole to a grown-up man.

The example is when he stole the money from his mother, he knows it's the wrong thing to do and as soon as he goes back downstairs his mother asks him if he needs money, but she was such a piece of work that I don't think it would have been wise to confess, at least not right away. I think he really needed to go on that trip, and if his mother knew that , I think she would forgive him, judging from the way she obviously loved him so much. There was so much tenderness in him, I don't think your husband got that.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

6. He got it

What you interpret as tenderness, he and I both saw as weak-willed exploitation. It was unfortunate, I think, that the frames of reference within the movie were all self-referential, and that made it, as far as I was concerned, not terribly interesting. Hence, the "narrow" gloss.

For what it's worth, I felt the same way about "Seinfeld," and I can't, for the life of me, understand why anyone thinks Larry David is funny.

It takes all kinds, I guess.

[Cadence]

7. I didn't dig Closer. I thought it was lame.

I know, I know artsy, human condition...blah, blah ... the characters didn't engage me. :shrug: