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I was watching it on an Academy Awards screener (long story; Gravity and a movie I'd never heard of arrived in the same package, it was a joyful day!)  The fancy packaging that lists everyone being put forward for consideration also listed Terence Howard and Paul Dano in the supporting actor category, but the quotes from reviews all over the package didn't mention them, but did mention Jake. I agree, he was very nuanced.  Hugh Jackman was excellent.

Hugh was terrifying like I never thought he could be! He's growly and menacing as Wolverine, but you can't take the character that seriously in the end whereas in Prisoners, he was portraying the actual lengths a father could really resort to in such a time-sensitive, pressure-filled nightmare situation. You just woukd not wanna fuck with Dover Keller or his family, seriously.

I wouldn't mind Jake sneaking into Supporting Actor. I don't think he'd have a chance in hell in winning, but that race does seem slightly more wide open and I thought he was really good.

Oh, no way would he win, but I would love to see his performance at least recognized as it's one of my faves of his career so far.

Went and saw Frozen with the nieces. Highly recommend it for the two female leads and for going against Disney princess type.

Just saw Dallas Buyers Club and thought it was done very well. Great pace and plotting, wonderful acting from all involved, but Jen Garner really stood out for me. I wasn't aware she had such a major role in the movie, and she really balances warmth and vulnerability along with just the right touch of verve. Jared Leto was fabulously sassy and vulnerable as Rayon. I expected some emotional manipulation and a magical transformation of Ron Woodruff from bigot to Rayon's best friend, and I was happily surprised to find neither of those things in this film. You could see Ron cared about Rayon, but it's not like his homophobia vanished into the ether, which is what one review led me to believe would happen.

I watched Philomena, which is the story of an Irish woman who was sent to a convent after becoming pregnant, shamed and forced to do hard labour to pay for being there, only to have her son adopted off and the political journalist who helps her trace his whereabouts.

It is a fascinating story, very well paced, with both touching and funny moments. Steve Coogan is incredible in the role and the executive producer and one of the screen writers. It is a great movie and I highly recommend it. It is at times like this, that I am angered by my religion and can not agree more with Marx that religion is the opium of the people. But there are no dramatics in this movie - it is excellent!

whatthedeuce wrote:Just saw Dallas Buyers Club and thought it was done very well... Jen Garner really stood out for me. I wasn't aware she had such a major role in the movie, and she really balances warmth and vulnerability along with just the right touch of verve.

I felt the same way. From what I knew about the film going into it I had expected hers to be a really thankless role (which it was, in certain respects), but her performance was really good. The moment after

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was particularly powerful.

Jordan Baker, YES. That moment was my absolute fave in her performance. She just nailed that scene and that particular line.

I watched Nebraska last night. In some ways, it is a straightforward movie and in others, it is a very complex, layered story of families, America and legacy (or lack of). June Squibb is hilarious as the wife of the main protagonist. I can't say that I loved it, but I can't say I disliked it either. Which I don't understand b/c I loved About Schmidt. There are several feelings that come up as portrayed: envy, compassion, disgust, pity, honesty, duplicity. I think this is one of those movies I may need to watch again to truly appreciate it.

aficionada wrote:I watched Philomena, which is the story of an Irish woman who was sent to a convent after becoming pregnant, shamed and forced to do hard labour to pay for being there, only to have her son adopted off and the political journalist who helps her trace his whereabouts.

It is a fascinating story, very well paced, with both touching and funny moments. Steve Coogan is incredible in the role and the executive producer and one of the screen writers. It is a great movie and I highly recommend it. It is at times like this, that I am angered by my religion and can not agree more with Marx that religion is the opium of the people. But there are no dramatics in this movie - it is excellent!

I'm with you all the way. I was raised Catholic, and this movie reminded me why I was not one any more. The abuses of power within the structure of the Church in the name of religion make me so angry, especially how much women were made to suffer. Yet, the whole thread about forgiveness throughout the movie was ultimately what resonated with me. I found it so powerful.

I saw Saving Mr. Banks tonight. Liked a lot more than I expected to. Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks were really great as was Colin Ferrell and Paul Giamatti. Paul Giamatti had a smaller role, but he's such a talented actor, he really can do so much in so little time. Thoroughly enjoyed it as did the group of people I saw it with.

I saw All is Lost yesterday. A lot sadder and bleaker in many ways, but Robert Redford was amazing. I would not be surprised if he walked away with the Oscar for Best Actor (though I've yet to see Nebraska and apparently Bruce Dern is very good too.) He's alone on screen for the whole movie, and conveys so much without dialogue (there are maybe 50 words spoken in the whole film.) Impressive. Very visually interesting too as well as good work in the sound design.

I saw American Hustle.  The acting was great - I wouldn't have known it was Christain Bale if I hadn't already heard he was in it. The costumes and hair were fun and fabulous! But I thought it went a little long, and my mind started to wonder half way through.

Gallifrey Girl wrote:I saw American Hustle.  The acting was great - I wouldn't have known it was Christain Bale if I hadn't already heard he was in it. The costumes and hair were fun and fabulous! But I thought it went a little long, and my mind started to wonder half way through.

Heh, I was thinking that Christian Bale's cheek bones are still so handsome even with that hair and that beer belly.

I agree it was a little long and wandering. I like Jennifer Lawrence and think she's a good actress, but she was really young for her role. And I had a hard time buying Jeremy Renner as remotely Italian-American, even though I like him, too. I liked the film overall, but I'm a little baffled by how much praise its getting. I will say that Bradley Cooper is a much better actor than he used to be. Like, somewhere in the past 5 years I feel like he started taking lessons or something.

Binky wrote:I like Jennifer Lawrence and think she's a good actress, but she was really young for her role.

I wondered that too. When I first saw the previews I assumed she was the mistress and Amy Adams was the wife. As much as I loved her in Silver Linings (and her win was deserved) I thought it there too.

Binky, Cooper studied at The Actors Studio years ago so he's definitely had a solid education. I agree that he seems to be improving recently as well. Something about him rubs me the wrong way, but I thought he was pretty damn good in The Place Beyond the Pines earlier this year. I was very surprised by his performance.

I didn't think Jennifer was too young for her role in American Hustle. She looked to be in her mid-twenties and especially in the 1970s, being a housewife/mom at that age would've been completely unremarkable (not that there aren't young mothers now even). I thought it worked for the story where

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Arabella wrote:I didn't think Jennifer was too young for her role in American Hustle. She looked to be in her mid-twenties and especially in the 1970s, being a housewife/mom at that age would've been completely unremarkable (not that there aren't young mothers now even). I thought it worked for the story where

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I think pairing her with Christian Bale (and Bale with Amy Adams) made her young for the character, since as you said the age worked for her character's storyline. I thought her character's traits would have been more interesting and, well, funnier (yet in line with the wackiness of the other characters), on an older woman.  I thought Jennifer Lawrence's performance was good, but I  do feel the character would have fit in better with the rest of the cast if she were older.

I watched American Hustle on Christmas Eve. I really enjoyed it. It made me laugh and it made feel empathy for Bale's character; I felt how uncomfortable he was to conning outside of his league and someone he allegedly liked. Amy Adams was incredible as the bigger con-woman! I loved her outfits and covet them!
I definitely could see, and enjoyed seeing, how they magnetized to one another.

Lawrence's character was manipulative and unpredictable. Age wise, it made sense. I think the Jeremy Renner character could have been older, like 50, instead of 40 (not that I'm knocking the accomplishments of a 40 yr old, but in politics in those times, an older politician would have seemed very likely).

I saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty today. It was a little slow in places, but I think Ben Stiller did a decent job. It made me actually not feel white hot hatred for any character Sean Penn plays onscreen, which is quite a feat.

We saw American Hustle the other day, too. I liked it, but didn't love it. I thought it was a little slow and meandering. Christian Bale and Amy Adams were great. Jennifer Lawrence was a hoot, and Bradley Cooper... well, he was very Bradley Cooper. It's not that he's bad or anything, but it was like, "oh hey, there's Bradley Cooper with curlers." The clothes and makeup and hair (oh my god, the hair!) were really fun, though.

I thought American Hustle was ok, too long and kind of unfocused. Apparently a fair amount of the dialogue was improvised and I think that shows in a number of the scenes. And not in a good way.

naughty zoot wrote:I thought American Hustle was ok, too long and kind of unfocused. Apparently a fair amount of the dialogue was improvised and I think that shows in a number of the scenes. And not in a good way.

I didn't know that, but now that you say that, suddenly a lot of it makes sense. Also, when Christian Bale was yelling at Jennifer Lawrence in the bedroom for

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, I leaned over to my husband and whisper-yelled, "WHAT DON'T YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND?!?!" It kind of seemed like Russell just wanted him to recreate that rant, heh.

I forgot to mention my utter delight with Louis C.K. He was my second favorite thing in the movie, next to Bale's comb over.

See, I loved American Hustle despite it's overlength. My biggesst issue was actually that I think Bale/Adams didn't have nearly enough chemistry to sell their MFEO con coupling, which I figured was why they film spent equal amounts of time on Adams/Cooper who had way more energy however sort of creepy and rotten. But I also kinda *liked* that Irving was at heart a mensch.

J. Law was amazing and I had zero issue with her age, it was part of the point of what was wrong with her and Bale, I hope she takes home the Supporting Oscar for this. I also loved what I thought was the Meta casting of Boardwalk Empire's Jack Houston and Shea Whigham in a story set around Atlantic City and corruption.

In other viewing I saw Saving Mr. Banks and pretty much though it was NOT good. Libby Gelman Waxner's take down of it pretty much reads for me, a little less with

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flashbacks please.

naughty zoot wrote:I thought American Hustle was ok, too long and kind of unfocused. Apparently a fair amount of the dialogue was improvised and I think that shows in a number of the scenes. And not in a good way.

Yes. I saw it today, and while I didn't think it was too long, because it was so unfocused it felt like it draagggged in places. Everything I've read was like, this is best film of the year, and I really hope that isn't the case, because I don't want that to be as good as it gets. I thought Catching Fire was better than American Hustle. The performances were great, though it's almost like I felt the effort behind the acting from Bale, Lawrence and Renner. Which is odd, because of the whole cast I would say Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper are my least favourite, but I found them the most captivating and the ones I got swept up in. Them and DeNiro in his scene and Louis CK.

I have to say I wasn't feeling the length of American Hustle, I pretty much enjoyed the ride all the way through. This is the most I've enjoyed Christian Bale in a very long time, and I think the performances of him/Adams/Cooper/Lawrence are all being justly praised, though I wish I saw more critical love for Jeremy Renner as well. I just loved him.