Precious now has a 61 rating on Metacritic. This might matter more if the film hadn’t yet been screened and won two major awards heading into the race. Okay, so maybe Sundance isn’t a major award, but for this film it set up a precedent that is likely to continue. It has heat, it has momentum. It doesn’t have two New York critics from The New Yorker and from New York Magazine. Somehow, though, this is kind of beside the point. If the film were being judged/seen this week for the first time we would all write it off. But it has been vetted, as I’ve already written in the comments, long before it will have hit theaters. To that end, the festival route has been great for Precious. I have read some really great reviews on the film. This one by Drew McWeeney at Hitfix worth a read. And here, Scott Foundas of the Village Voice is one New Yorker who went another way – high praise for Mo’Nique and for Sadibe:
A former casting director, [Lee] Daniels shows undeniable savoir faire with his actors, a mix of musicians and comedians effectively cast against type, from a dark-haired, deglamorized Mariah Carey as a tough-love social worker to a subtle Lenny Kravitz as an attentive male nurse. The picture belongs, however, to the gale-force Mo’Nique, who transforms an ostensibly one-note monster mom into a complex portrait of a psychologically damaged woman (no matter that Daniels seems to have edited her most showstopping scene in a blender), and to the magnanimous Sidibe, who carries the alternately exhausting and exhilarating narrative on her formidable shoulders. For most of the movie, her stoically beautiful face stays wrought tight in a mask of sadness and self-loathing. When she relaxes those muscles ever so slightly—one of the movie’s few subtle touches—it is like a weight of centuries has been lifted.
54 Responses for "Precious — What Matters, What Doesn’t"
Is it even possible we could be witness to the biggest shocker of the year?; an unprecedented victory at both Sundance AND Toronto, only to be followed up by a surprisingly unenthusiastic reaction? I have no doubt the Academy will still embrace it… but this is really coming as a surprise right now.
6 reviews out of 30 on Metacritics. There is not surprise. Metacritic always wait until Thursday night and Friday to post most of the reviews. They still have yet to post AP, Ebert. Scott, Phillips and EW who all loved the film. It is just 6 reviews out of 30
The Natural
There are only 6 reviews on Metacritic. Several 4 star reviews have yet to be added, so I think all this talk of critics not embracing the film is premature. Just take a look at Rotten Tomatoes, there’s definite STRONG support that hasn’t been reported on Metacritic.
I know it’s not THAT drastic, but even at RottenTomatoes the reviews seem to be less enthusiastic than I would have imagined.
But yeah, I guess this isn’t really going to mean anything in the long run.
Why Does Matacritic take so long to post review anyway. RT post them ASAP. MC always wait until friday. It like Monday – thuraday there are about 13 reviews on Metacritic and by Friday night there are close to 30. They are really slow.
New York critics are really cranky this season.
The 4 lowest scores for A Serious Man are all NY critics.
NY Daily News (50)
NYer (30)
WSJ (30)
Voice (30)
At least A.O. Scott loved “A Serious Man.” Those scores are ridiculous.
…and Edelstein (90), and Lou Lumenick (4 stars)
must be an uptown/downtown thing
Well, this whole time I’ve considered it one of the T5 contenders and still do (this whole time being…since Tiff), but I haven’t thought of it as THE front-runner at any point and it’ll take a lot to convince me. I’ve read certain comparisons to Slumdog & Crash, which make me wary.
Like Crash, Precious is likely to score a number of 100s and almost as many 50s. And also like Crash, it’ll hardly make a difference in its Oscar run: I’m not really among them, but those it hits, it wallops. And that is true of most BP nominees that get in without across-the-board support, in even 5-film years.
But you know what Precious will have going for it no matter what critic percentages you drudge up and throw at it? An audience.
Yes, an audience. And this is something Hollywood just hasn’t quite grasped. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — it will make some money. Butts will be in the seats. If they release it wide, people will flock to it.
Do we not realize there is a huge contingent of people out there that are HUNGRY for stories about them and about the situations that affect their lives and the people and communities around them? Do we not realize there are people out there HUNGRY for representation on the silver screen, or at least a familiar face.
This isn’t Spielberg directing a 1930s The Color Purple in the 80s. Nor is it even Jonathan Demme directing a post-slavery Beloved in the 90s. This is a relatively recent 1980s Harlem filmed at the tide-changing end of the 00s. It is helmed by a black director, written by a black screenwriter, based on a novel by a black female author, starring an all-black cast. It’s coming to theatres with built-in support out there. And it isn’t based on a Pulitzer-Prize winning novel either; it’s based on a popular novel within a select community. It’s a different kind of clout — it’s cred.
[Though to be fair, all above-mentioned novels can be found at your local Borders in the African-American section. Why again do we have this section?]
And that cast. Does anyone get that Mo’Nique isn’t new to the game? Mo’Nique has a solid following and reputation outside of Hollywood circles. Mo’Nique’s been on the comedy circuit and television for years. Mo’Nique’s been telling her story for years. Mo’Nique’s been the host of Apollo. Hello? There are people waiting to see her flip the switch, waiting for her to blow the s**t up. And when she does, that will spread like wildfire. Trust me.
In fact, everyone in that film is playing against type, famous people playing against type. To some, this will become clear once everyone in the film does their publicity touring. To others, it’s clear from the get-go and there are a lot of people waiting to see those transformations. And they are the kinds of transformations Oscar loves.
What I’m saying is that the film has an audience and that only strengthens its momentum. And that momentum, as Sasha points out annually, is a factor to be reckoned with. Could all of that momentum and interest from a certain group hurt the film’s chances when it comes to Oscar? Could Oscar wave it off because of the appeal it has to a certain populace? Sure. Like Sasha said, if this film was just popping up on the radar, I’m sure it would still have its audience but critics and bloggers and Hollywood would probably sideline it. But as Sasha also pointed out, the thing that changes the game on that outlook is that it’s already been vetted, its already been awarded. Add that to the interest this film will reap, and it’s too much momentum to be ignored.
yes, numbers dredged up from some remote cobwebby corner of the web known as “me-tä-kri-tik” (n.) A vague and useless sort of score never before cited, nor indeed ever likely to be referenced ’round here hence. What possible purpose could such a “critics rating” serve? ah, but maybe the sharpest edge of the phrasing just missed grazing its mark. Percentages not dredged up, but “drudged” — as if to support some insidious political agenda, is that it?
Unless we discover tomorrow that the sprouting value rises to happier heights, am I right? In which case we can proudly embrace its validating significance. Someone please let me know how it all works out.
Other than that prickly opening gambit, the comment opens several interesting sight lines. Handy peep holes from inside the duck blind.
An audience? Really? At the end of the day Precious is a movie that you either want to see based on its subject matter or that you don’t want to. I don’t want to, and my friends who do want to see it are all female, and only a handful of them at that. Times are hard these days: audiences are not going to pay to wallow in squalor and misery. They want to be uplifted and entertained.
Talking of which, I hear that SHERLOCK HOLMES tore the roof off at an industry showing last week and Warners will be pushing for multiple nominations for it, including Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, and Best Supporting for Jude Law, who is absolutely aces in the picture.
it isn’t sundance or toronto but Precious won (tied) best feature at the hawaii international film festival. hiff has a little prestige and is mostly recognized for its asian films.
why this matters though is that precious is connecting with audiences of all different types. the demographic for the hiff screening was predominately asian american women, much different than sundance and toronto. this film has the emotional strength to reach a wide array of audiences.
sure some critics may not like it, but since when do critics=oscar voters or even a general audience.
all i am saying is that whether you like the film or not, you cannot deny its emotional power, (even if it is at times manipulated.) this film is touching something within its audiences and i think we can expect it to touch something within the academy…
(and for clarification, in my 5 years of attendance, hiff audience has NOT ONCE chosen a film that is not asian or locally influenced)
Metacritic does not really represent anything. 59 for ‘The Reader’ just last year.
If people love it it will be nominated. If they don’t, it won’t.
I do love how the current three lowest scores are all New York critics. I am slowly ready for the headlines “New York hates ‘Precious’”
What I am curious about is the numbers come the weekend.
This proves that the hype is bigger than the film, this is a good film with great acting, but it is not a great film. I hope this doesnt get BP
We may laugh at Peter Travers at times, but he gave Precious a fantastic 3 1/2 star review in the most recent edition — he listed all the reasons people might not want to see it and then proceeded to explain why it’s so good. Definitely will help it gain traction.
Sorry about that dog’s breakfast of a comment — edit function didn’t work.
Hey Vieira, I thought it was a great film. It’s critical score is not important in that regard, but for others critical scores are very important.
Look at metacritic scores for all the Best Picture nominees. A lot of 70’s and lower in there.
‘Precious’ was the best movie I have seen in a very long time. I am sure there are many other who think the same. In terms of Oscar though, I still do not see it. Perhaps it could make it in, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it go home with no nominations at all.
89% on RT. 31 Fresh, 4 Rotten. 87 on BFCA
Thanks Ryan for catching my typo there. Or perhaps my pronunciation got the better of me. Either way, thanks for being such a stickler.
Though, as much as I love you, not every comment I make is directed specifically at you. Sometimes I just put it out there to the general readership. If it is directed toward you, I usually have enough manners to address you. Unless, of course, the banter is apparent. Sadly, as of late, my comments keep being read as potshots at either you or Sasha. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’m not one for ambushes or sniping, which seems to be what you’re insinuating. Nor am I here for low blows or undercuts. I’m not as adept at that as some, mostly because that’s not my thing and I could give a s**t. I don’t have any agenda other than to enter the discussions (usually way late) already in place and try to join the debate from my point of view. You know, comment. As I don’t comment as much as I used to, I usually take my time a bit and try to flesh out something resembling substantial or at least strike up further debate. The older I get, the less clever I get, and the slower my wit. So I barely have enough energy or rarely the interest to reach for the gun, let alone pull the trigger.
So I wasn’t gunning for anyone in those opening lines. Sasha posed the argument of what matters and what doesn’t when it comes to Precious. She made the point that despite the current Metacritic score, it is perhaps the film’s heat and momentum that was going to make the difference. I went one step further and said that the one thing people seldom mention, and maybe because they don’t believe it (Hunter), is that Precious comes with an audience.
I wasn’t taking the risk of going against the numbers so I could say, “I told you so” later. Nor was I feigning risk so that if the numbers do go up, it wouldn’t disprove my theory either. Hell, for all I know not a single black person will go see that film, and Jackson & Sharpton will inexplicably rally the urban black community to boycott the film. But that sounds a bit asinine, doesn’t it? I was in agreement with Sasha, or so I thought (again), and was just bringing up what I thought was an obvious factor no one had really been discussing.
So who knew anyone, especially you, might take offense to me pointing out that maybe the numbers game isn’t what we should be playing right now with Precious? I know Metacritic and RT numbers are integral parts of the language of the Oscarphile blogosphere. They have weight and merit and get tossed around here all the time. Contrary to what you might think, I don’t both live under a rock with my head up my ass. I come out of the bunker every once in a while when the light’s not too bright. The point I was trying to make was that sometimes in trying to wait to see what things surface, we sometimes forget what’s been cutting through the water all along. Often we’re looking down in the deep waiting for the critical rumblings to bubble up to keep things moving. I’m just saying the boat came with its own motor this time.
So on that note, if my comments have shed more light on my point of view for you, or anyone else for that matter, all the better. But it’s a point of view that’s been here since the beginning and throughout the 3 years I’ve been commenting on this site. So there’s no need to now question my aim.
I think it’s pretty much the consensus that Precious will be nominated for Best Picture. It just seems less and less likely that it will win Best Picture.
I dont think anyone is doubting its chances at a nomination with these reviews.
But it should certainly give pause to anyone predicting some sort of sweep of critic awards and precursor leading up to the Oscars. I didnt see that happening before despite Sundance and Toronton, and I certainly don’t see it happening now.
Besides, it makes for a more interesting race.
Apologies, tmoves. Your 3-year history here matches exactly with mine, and you know we have a long tradition of packing comments with private pokes and nods. That’s what I thought you were doing this week. The misunderstanding was compounded two days in a row when my email went unanswered. As one of my oldest buddies at AD your sporadic absences don’t go unnoticed. I’m always eager to see what you have to say when you do take time to drop by, and maybe that’s why my expectations were heightened and skewed. Familiar as I am with your skill at carefully crafting comments, I was first confused to see something I wrote turned around and pointed back at me by a good friend and then felt stung when I thought I saw it happening again a day later. I’m glad to find out I was wrong.
“An audience? Really? At the end of the day Precious is a movie that you either want to see based on its subject matter or that you don’t want to. I don’t want to, and my friends who do want to see it are all female, and only a handful of them at that” – Hunter
With due respect Hunter, you need to shut the hell up. You have clearly stated that you won’t watch Precious because you find fat women to be revolting. So please enough with this intellectual masturbation. Who do you think you are fooling? the cat has been out of the bag for a long time now.
With regards to Metacritic, all I have to say is who cares? it doesn’t matter. Past best picture nominees always have low scores on metacritic anyways and by low I mean between 60’s to early 80’s. More reviews are going to come in and Precious’ score is going to bump up. Have no fear kids, it shall be well.
Also bear in mind that the Academy and the critics are two different entities. Sometimes they mesh, but other times they do not. If you look at the recent best picture winners in terms of meta critic you get an interesting picture
2000 – Gladiator – meta critic score – 64
2001 – A Beautiful Mind – m/c scrore – 72
2002 – Chicago – m/c score – 82
2003 – LOTR RTK – m/c score – 94
2004 – Million Dollar Baby – m/c score – 86
2005 – Crash – m/c score – 69
2006 – The Departed – m/c score – 86
2007 – No Country for Old Men – m/c score – 91
2008 – Slumdog Millionaire – m/c score – 86
Even nominated pictures as loved as ‘Moulin Rouge!’ only got a 66 meta critic score.
Plus there are films that scored higher with critics that were not even nominated.
More important is will there be an audience for the film?
Mr. Parsons,
Good job with the statistics. I was too lazy to go over to metacritic and fish those numbers out lol. I didn’t even know gladiator had a 64.
I strongly believe Precious will find an audience, a very loyal and outspoken audience. Their presence will be heard loud enough for AMPAS to take note. Have no fear people, it shall be well.
Useful reminder, Michael. I’m a sucker for lists with measurable data. Not sure we want to start drawing parallels between Precious and some of the most mocked BP winners in recent history, but I agree than the metacritic score will surely go up 15 or 20 points from where it stands now. I’m comfortable with BP winners in the range of 80 and higher. We’ve had enough eye-rollers this decade.
This movie will be nominated for Best Picture. With ten nominees, it’s a given. With 5 nominees, it gets a little tricky. It’s a very good film, I would say it’s great, but it’s not a 4-star masterpiece. It’s not a benchmark movie. I’m surprised by the lack of enthusiasm though.
Down to 57 today. I figure it gets boosted up to a high 60, maybe 70 once the 100s are in. 80-anything seems unlikely now with that many in the yellow range.
chrisw
Thus far, the lack of enthusiasm has come from three New York critics. Let’s wait until Thursday night or Friday morning, if the scores still remain in the 50/60 then there’s cause for concern. We all know that there’s at least four “4 Star Reviews” that have yet to be posted.
HOLD YOUR HORSES PEOPLE!
On a side note, while I tend to agree with Afrika on this particular argument (gags at the thought), I’m just wondering why when he or she appears the thread is flooded with negativity?
“With due respect Hunter, you need to shut the hell up. You have clearly stated that you won’t watch Precious because you find fat women to be revolting.”
No, I think we all know who needs to shut the hell up. You’re putting words in his mouth that were never there in the first place to stir up shit. And he’s right. I don’t personally know anyone who wants to see this movie, not because they find “fat women revolting,” you dolt, but because it looks horrendously depressing, gut-wrenching, and not fun to sit through. Believe it or not, a large majority of people wish not to linger in sadness and abuse for 2+ hours.
Well, Hunter DID say that before.
There’s a huge difference between a film with 12 Oscar nominations and nearly $200m in the bank like Gladiator not being well-received critically, and other films who aren’t critically acclaimed AND lack those double-digit nominations and big box office.
After a certain box office tally and number of overall nominations, critical acclaim doesn’t matter as much.
The fact that everyone thinks that this movie will be nominated for Oscars is ridiculous. This is exactly the type of movie that many Oscar voters will not want to see..The movie takes place in a neighborhood where very few older, White, male Academy voters visit.
Plus the fact that it’s a glorified Lifetime movie. I’ve seen it and was totally underwhelmed. Look for more tepid reviews and eventually a quick death for this movie.
Actually Hunter did say that fat people make him/her hurl. That was in another post though.
I love my stats…….however I always hope they will prove something, but I can never make them.
“Down to 57 today. I figure it gets boosted up to a high 60, maybe 70 once the 100s are in. 80-anything seems unlikely now with that many in the yellow range.”
Not saying it will get higher than 80, but that is only three reviews in the ‘bad’ band. It could make it to 80 or it could not. Rotten tomatoes is a better indicator of reviews really as its review reach is much broader.
No I know movieman, but I was expecting a close sweep of praise, not everyone is going to like the movie. I’m just surprised 4 reviewers didn’t like it already, considering they’re NY critics too. I thought this would be their bag.
I fear BO could hurt the film chances. Indie films that started with limited release aren’t doing much business this days(except Paranormal Activity obviously).
And talking about that, do you imagine An Education, Bright Star and A Serious Man nominated with less than 10 millions in BO?? The look wonderful I’m not saying the opposite.
Yes, but Precious will certainly make more than $10 million. Lionsgate has intrestingly placed the film in many theatres that black audiences tend to frequent to take advantage of the fact that Tyler Perry’s name is on the film. It’s not opening like a typical platform release in just indie theatres. It’s opening in multiplexes.
The Natural
Before you start wagging your fingers at me, check your facts. Hunter did say what I accused him of saying. let me quote Hunter, verbatim.
“KB, I live in Barcelona, where there aren’t any fat people. I find them revolting. I’m sure the actresses are very nice people and they are terrific actors, but just looking at them makes me want to hurl”
- HUNTER
And there you have it. I am waiting for my apology. Thank you
I´m not confident about “Precious” receiving a best pic nominee, but I bet it´s chances are in no way significantly lower than the chances for “Hurt Locker”, a movie everybody seems to be 100% sure will be in (well, not excactly 100%, since me and some other guys doubt it).
I saw Precious last night and so far, it’s the best film I’ve seen all year. It definitely deserves to be nominated and talked about for the oscars. Sure, one wonders if this is the Academy’s type of film, but I think in recent years, they’ve shown that they are very willing to accept dark films so I think Precious has an excellent shot at all the major awards. It will definitely be getting great reviews as more people see it.
Rotten Tomatoes lists Anthony Lane’s review as fresh even though it’s negative?
Who the hell said AMPS woulkd not get Precious. That was not the story at AFI
Precious is as good as in at this point but it made a huge impact at AFI this past sunday
Quote:
There were numerous Academy and Golden Globe voters attending the “Precious” festivities Sunday and the vibe was strong that a best picture nomination in both contests is almost a foregone conclusion. One veteran voter confessed this was the second time he had seen the movie, originally catching it at an early-morning festival screening months earlier. He said he was so moved by it initially that he couldn’t talk when he ran into Daniels immediately afterward.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/seas..e-hammond.html
Add TIME OUT NY to the list of negative reviews. This comes as a bit of a surprise since I consider them pretty fair in their reviews (despite their love for Funny People).
Just read Peter Travis review. He did a Very good write up of the film. Add Rolling Stone and EW to the list of raves
It’s so funny! The same people who are questioning Metacritic would be quoting it if it suported their cause. It’s an agragate number based on all the top critics and it is par for the course of how well a film is perceived to be playing among critics.
So this sounds like bad news for PRECIOUS in the sense that it is a potential “third strike” against its awards campaign, after Monique’s pay-to-play “no shows” and the director’s previous outspoken comments where he takes total credit for other people’s work on movie’s he produced. I loved THE WOODSMAN, by the way. I still look forward to PRECIOUS, but with reservations.
Um, that Mo’Nique crap has been put to rest. She’s was at AFI, was at a Guild screening and Q&A, and was at the HFPA press conference. She’s been doing many talk shows recently as well. And those Lee Daniels’ outspoken comments haven’t been talked about much at all. No one really cared because people were picking his words.
And where the heck is this Peter Travers review that everyone keeps talking about!? lol
I think the TIFF win will make the difference. It’s had a pretty good track record with Oscar nods, Slumdog, American Beauty, and Shine–and even Whale Rider for Keisha Castle Hughes–being the most famous examples.
Hear is EW rave review. Peter Travis and everts rave will be online for all to view later tonight.
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20317518,00.html?xid=rss-movies-Precious%3A+Based+on+the+Novel+Push+by+Sapphire
…and “Precious” metacritic score begins to make that expected climb in numbers.
So glad to see everybody championing the movie, but I saw it and thought it was on par with a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie. What lifted it higher than that was the acting by some Grade-A performance actresses. This is a gem of a movie for black actresses. If Daniels is given credit for anything, it’s the casting….and Precious didn’t grab me like Slum dog did, because you could actually see the transformation of the dirt poor Indian children, their struggle and survival techniques….two different movies….but one actually had HOPE written all through it and the other didn’t….Precious is more like a character study….I mean, at the end when she’s walking out of the welfare office with her two children strapped at her side, I didn’t feel sympathy for her…
maybe because I live in the ghetto and I see young girls like that all the time…
and it’s a big struggle for them…let nobody fool you, they don’t have a support system, they don’t have money, they don’t have an education….and they keep falling down and getting up and falling back down….
so when Precious walked out of the welfare office, I could see her future.
“Precious is more like a character study….I mean, at the end when she’s walking out of the welfare office with her two children strapped at her side, I didn’t feel sympathy for her…”
Thanks for spoiling the end of the movie Sally in Chicago. And what is up with you and your “HOPE” spiel? this is the real world honey; if you want “hope” and “feel good” entertainment, go and watch Disney Channel for crying out loud. SMDH
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