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[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

Now I'll maintain my eagerness to call out Pitt for not being as y'know fascinating as Bana in Chopper (after all I wanted to sway all the big talk to him) though I certainly don't see my criticism as solely a whinge on the disparity of their modes of expression, 'outward' 'reflective'. It's just good old fashioned tools of appreciating acting here such as: the credibility of their emotional volatility, the mannerisms and ideas which intrigue the viewer to follow, observation/insight etc etc. It all prevails to how the actor is inhabiting the character.

It's been a while since you wrote this, but I'd like to point out that, being an actor myself, I simply disagree wholeheartedly with your assessment of Pitt's performance. I don't want to say that you 'missed the point' because that is so often the safe haven of people unable to take criticism of things they like; rather, I'll say that you've simply misjudged the performance completely and speak of acting in terms that are simply not used by folks in the trade, at least none that I've known.

"The credibility of their emotional volatility" - An overly verbose way of judging how believable an actor's emotions are. Indeed, there is never a sense that Pitt's emotions in Jesse James are anything shy of believable and 100% committed.

"The mannerisms and ideas which intrigue the viewer to follow" - This reads like an incomplete thought, but I can point to a few idiosyncrasies (his blinking slightly too much, the way that his jaw has a slight stiffness/underbite, the coldness of his gaze) which 'intrigue' me as a viewer to follow him; he simply commands the screen whenever he is on it.

"Observation/insight" - If you don't see observation and insight in Pitt's performance, I'm not sure where you would ever see it.

"Inhabiting the character" - This is actually a part of the standard set of criteria by which to judge a performance, but I challenge you to look at the previously posted picture of Pitt in Jesse James in this thread and tell me that you see even an inch of Pitt in that picture. In terms of inhabiting characters, Brad Pitt is simply one of the best working today, whether it's in drama or comedy. He, like Clooney, hearkens back to the Henry Fonda and James Stewart types, leading men with a strong personality and star power who could still be counted on to commit fully to their roles and to turn in fantastic, varied work each time.

Edit: and swoon, yeah, Malick definitely could change the language of cinema, easily. He's simply one of the all-time great film artists, no question.

 

[Expendable.]

European Release For ‘The Tree of Life’ Set; Headed To Berlinale?

Feb. 23rd, 2011

 

[KingGondo]

First production shots of Malick's next film.
Wow.

Really making up for lost time.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=268&articleid=20101005_268_0_BARTLE615180

New article about the production. Blew my mind that he's shooting in Bartlesville, where my grandparents lived for many years.

Northern Oklahoma is really beautiful, and I'm sure he'll do it justice. Now I just need to do something about seeing one of Malick's films. (I know, I know...)

 

[polyh3dron]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=268&articleid=20101005_268_0_BARTLE615180

New article about the production. Blew my mind that he's shooting in Bartlesville, where my grandparents lived for many years.

Northern Oklahoma is really beautiful, and I'm sure he'll do it justice. Now I just need to do something about seeing one of Malick's films. (I know, I know...)

The Thin Red Line just came out on Blu-ray, and Days of Heaven is also out on Blu-ray.

GET THEM, WATCH THEM.

 

[swoon]

Edit: and swoon, yeah, Malick definitely could change the language of cinema, easily. He's simply one of the all-time great film artists, no question.

it's pretty unlikely considering the way he directs and his influences and what he's trying to do. also that the film language doesn't really change - it is added to and it's not really added to that often.

anyway here is an actually interesting piece on malick:

http://www.slate.com/id/2269262/

take note enthusiast press.

 

[Timber]

Green Day??

and i just realised that the line "Maybe all men got one big soul everybody's a part of" is borrowed from The Grapes of Wrath

 

[Expendable.]

Release Date: May 27th, 2011

 

[jett]

Release Date: May 27th, 2011

Wat, so it's going to miss the award season? Are they planning to set this up as a summer blockbuster or something? :lol

 

[WyndhamPrice]

Wat, so it's going to miss the award season? Are they planning to set this up as a summer blockbuster or something? :lol

I can't wait for the press release next year that reads "TREE OF LIFE BREAKS 1 BILLION WORLD WIDE."

and then people will bitch that just because a film is successful doesn't mean it should be a Best Picture nominee.

 

[Expendable.]

Wat, so it's going to miss the award season? Are they planning to set this up as a summer blockbuster or something? :lol

Cannes is the week before, so it may premiere there. It's just opening limited. Not sure the reason for May though.

 

[Krev]

Wat, so it's going to miss the award season? Are they planning to set this up as a summer blockbuster or something? :lol

Searchlight are being smart.
This is going to be a very weird film. If they open in Oscar season it will probably end up ignored. Releasing in May leaves time for the film connoisseur contingent to hype it up, so that at the end of the year there's a good wave of hype behind it. The Hurt Locker may not even have been nominated had it been released in December, but in the six months after its June opening there was a big critical push for it to be considered. Plus, it landed on DVD just in time for Oscar season.

It's also awesome counter-programming to release this when every other week brings something like Pirates of the Caribbean or Thor. Plus, this is pretty much the movie event of the year for the arthouse crowd, so the date is appropriate. It also comes right after the premiere at Cannes, which is sure to raise eyebrows.

 

[FoneBone]

I suspect that it's been deemed too arty to have major Oscar chances.

 

[Krev]

I suspect that it's been deemed too arty to have major Oscar chances.

Films that leave people saying (to quote an anonymous reaction Anne Thompson relayed), "what the fuck is this?", and 'Oscar' don't tend to go hand in hand.
Hopefully Lubezki will get his cinematography Oscar this time, at least.

 

[Expendable.]

Searchlight has officially confirmed the May release date. We are all set to go!

 

[(._.)]

YES Penn wont win an Oscar he doesn't deserve this year.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

YES Penn wont win an Oscar he doesn't deserve this year.

Rourke was good, but he didn't GOT MILK.

 

[Discotheque]

Pretty much. Sean Penn's greatness. Greaaaatnesss

 

[UrbanRats]

Can't wait.
The New World is probably my favorite movie ever. °______°

 

[jett]

Fuck Sean Penn. I hope his character dies early in this movie, can't stand the douche.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Discotheque, it actually kind of irks me how much we've been in agreement recently. Stop it.

What the fuck jett? Penn was brilliant in MILK.

 

[Expendable.]

promo poster from AFM (aka don't complain, because it will never be seen again by the general public):

if that doesn't load:

official synopsis:

From the Desk of Terrence Malick….

Spoiler

We trace the evolution of an eleven-year-old boy in the Midwest, JACK, one of three brothers. At first all seems marvelous to the child. He sees as his mother does with the eyes of his soul. She represents the way of love and mercy, where the father tries to teach his son the world’s way of putting oneself first. Each parent contends for his allegiance, and Jack must reconcile their claims. The picture darkens as he has his first glimpses of sickness, suffering and death. The world, once a thing of glory, becomes a labyrinth.

From this story is that of adult Jack, a lost soul in a modern world, seeking to discover amid the changing scenes of time that which does not change: the eternal scheme of which we are a part. When he sees all that has gone into our world’s preparation, each thing appears a miracle—precious, incomparable. Jack, with his new understanding, is able to forgive his father and take his first steps on the path of life.

The story ends in hope, acknowledging the beauty and joy in all things, in the everyday and above all in the family—our first school—the only place that most of us learn the truth about the world and ourselves, or discover life’s single most important lesson, of unselfish love.

 

[Krev]

Going for the sci-fi feel I see.

 

[Discotheque]

Poster looks cheesy. Kind of like imitation Spielberg with Close Encounters or ET. :lol

Synopsis got me hard though.

 

[Krev]

Even more reason to see "Black Swan" this weekend: a two-minute trailer for "Tree of Life" will be attached to all prints.

Hype

Spoiler

HYPE!!!!

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Fuckin' A! Bout time. Will the trailer include a release date?

 

[Krev]

Fuckin' A! Bout time. Will the trailer include a release date?

Release date is May 27. It's an open secret that a Cannes premiere is locked in.

 

[Cosmic Bus]

Trailer better end up online since Swan doesn't open in this neck of the woods until the 10th.

 

[TekkenMaster]

I've got my Black Swan tickets for Friday. Can't fucking WAIT for this trailer. I expect a transcendent, mystical experience that will change my life.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

To get in on a conversation from several months ago: Penn was good in Milk, but Rourke in The Wrestler was easily the better performance and probably one of the best of the previous decade.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

To get in on a conversation from several months ago: Penn was good in Milk, but Rourke in The Wrestler was easily the better performance and probably one of the best of the previous decade.

Rourke was amazing in The Wrestler, easily the runner up to Penn. But Rourke was still very much playing a version of himself - which felt extremely honest and raw mind you, but what was incredible about Penn's performance was that he compeletely became another flesh and blood character that was absorbing yet entirely disconnected from Penn himself.

 

[Expendable.]

2-MINUTE TRAILER hits with Black Swan this weekend! Also, extensive details on his next project, The Burial.

Initial synopsis:

Set over a period of years, the film stars Affleck as Neil, a failed writer stuck in a loveless marriage with Marina (Kurylenko), whose expiring visa put pressure on Neil to propose. Neil and Marina have a daughter (Tatiana Chilin) together, but both of them are looking outside the marriage. Neil is drawn to Jane (McAdams) and Marina betrays her husband by having an affair with Charlie (Charles Baker).

Both Neil and Marina seek guidance from Father Quintana (Bardem), a priest frustrated by his inability to live his own life because he’s too busy advising his parishioners on theirs. The couple’s dysfunctional relationship begins to take a toll on their daughter, who starts having problems in school.

 

[Blader]

I'm seeing an advance screening of Black Swan on Wednesday night.

Who would have thought there'd be a downside to that :lol

 

[Expendable.]

I'm seeing an advance screening of Black Swan on Wednesday night.

Who would have thought there'd be a downside to that :lol

Yeah, I'm debating going to see it a 3rd time this weekend because of that. I really hope Searchlight puts it online.

 

[Krev]

It will be some bullshit if it doesn't go online before Friday. I can't think of anything more disgusting than the first glimpse of Malick's magnum opus coming from a phone camera.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

Rourke was amazing in The Wrestler, easily the runner up to Penn. But Rourke was still very much playing a version of himself - which felt extremely honest and raw mind you, but what was incredible about Penn's performance was that he compeletely became another flesh and blood character that was absorbing yet entirely disconnected from Penn himself.

Honestly, while Penn was good, I didn't think it was any more standout than your standard biopic performances. I'm always more inclined to give the nod to folks who have to start completely from scratch, only the script to guide the choices that they make.

I'd also say that Rourke's was more of a transformation. Penn had the outward tics and mannerisms, but such things are surface. Rourke plumbed the depths of his character more fully and honestly and so, despite maybe seeming more like Rourke on the surfaces, transforms more fully on the whole. That's not to say that Penn didn't HAVE the interior, merely that Rourke's interior was more fully-formed (though the fact that he was working off of a better script likely helped), and in the end, that inner life is the bread and butter of a performance.

Edit: Also, to bring it back on topic, I'd like to say that I have to imagine that Penn in this movie will be fantastic, as will Brad Pitt.

 

[Expendable.]

at the LA Searchlight party tonight:

They've got the Tree of Life trailer on loop at this Searchlight party. Looks GORGEOUS.

- Tapley


ffffuuuuuuuuu

 

[jett]

With a title like that I guess it's a stupid question, but I wonder what's the Random Trees/Main Cast screen time ratio.

 

[Krev]

When Alex Billington asked Searchlight when it's going online, they told him "TBD".
That had better be code for, "not telling, want to drive Black Swan ticket sales, but really it's coming out tomorrow" and not an indicator that it's going to be online only or some bullshit.

 

[Expendable.]

yeah, Alex said "The Tree of Life trailer is only in theaters in front of Black Swan this weekend, but it won't be online for quite a while."

It looks like I'll be seeing Black Swan again this weekend.

 

[Krev]

yeah, Alex said "The Tree of Life trailer is only in theaters in front of Black Swan this weekend, but it won't be online for quite a while."

It looks like I'll be seeing Black Swan again this weekend.

What has me baffled is, why do that when Black Swan is only playing in 20 theatres? It's a good way to guarantee that many people's first glimpse at the film will come from a cam trailer...

 

[Expendable.]

Write-up of the trailer - http://lat.ms/hOKUOX

 

[Expendable.]

stills!

 

[Substance]

quite a dollop of hippie schmaltz

is it wrong i'm looking forward to THE BEAVER trailer more for weird mid-life crisis movies?

 

[Expendable.]

quite a dollop of hippie schmaltz

is it wrong i'm looking forward to THE BEAVER trailer more for weird mid-life crisis movies?

I can't believe its actually coming out! Trailer tonight.

 

[Blader]

I thought the trailer was beautiful.

Spoiler

It looks simultaneously intimate and epic in scope; and when I say epic, I mean a beginning-of-life, spanning-time-and-space kind of scale. I could have sworn I saw a recreation of the same Earth/Sun/Moon shot from 2001.

Brad Pitt looks like he'll be amazing in this. There was way too little of Penn to judge (literally, I think there may have been or two or three very quick shots of him).

Can't wait.

 

[TekkenMaster]

Cam version of trailer:

http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/7980/6n5.mp4

I saw it tonight in front of Black Swan (my favorite movie of the year), and it blew me away. So much emotion and beauty is packed into every frame. The sci-fi / mystical elements provide a scale and scope that makes this seem like the type of life-changing movie that comes once in a blue moon.

 

[Dead]

Cam version of trailer:

http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/7980/6n5.mp4

I saw it tonight in front of Black Swan (my favorite movie of the year), and it blew me away. So much emotion and beauty is packed into every frame. The sci-fi / mystical elements provide a scale and scope that makes this seem like the type of life-changing movie that comes once in a blue moon.

;_; do want

 

[Krev]

quite a dollop of hippie schmaltz

is it wrong i'm looking forward to THE BEAVER trailer more for weird mid-life crisis movies?

I caved and watched the cam, and it was much better than The Beaver trailer.

Never bet against Malick.

Spoiler

Except when it comes to box office

 

[Substance]

yeah it's certainly more vivid than the Sundance-baiting THE BEAVER trailer (It delivers on the Mel though)

still this doesn't look so revelatory.

malick will definitely wring every little enchantment out of that suburban front garden (a few evocative shots spotted seemed quite similar to TNW though.. baby foot adult hand, watering garden with kid)

but I don't know how fuzzy headed i can last for the coming of age conflict between MOTHER and FATHER character (complete with the contemplative malick moppet growing up as Penn feeling the rush of tapwater!)... oh and CREATION OF THE WORLD!! Malick calm down dude. YAWN 'Life'

 

[hateradio]

The trailer makes the film seem quite intriguing. Looks beautiful.