21 Responses for "Good"

1. Guy Lodge November 24th, 2008 at 4:19 pm 1

   I seem to recall this tanking with the critics at Toronto.

   If Jeff Lyons is the best quote they can get, I smell trouble. And all due respect to Feinberg as an Oscar blogger, but he’s not a critic.

2. Eric November 24th, 2008 at 4:26 pm 2

   Was it really at Toronto? I have no memory of it being covered at all.

3. Guy Lodge November 24th, 2008 at 4:32 pm 3

   Yes, it was:

   http://www.incontention.com/?p=1766

   http://www.incontention.com/?p=1737

   No so ‘Good,’ apparently.

   Sorry, that was atrocious. I’ll get my coat.

4. Ryan Adams November 24th, 2008 at 4:37 pm 4

   New as I am to reading these tea leaves, I find that an excellent festival reaction is a more valid indicator of a film’s merit than a more luke-warm assessment might be from exhausted festival-goers. Screenings like that seem so hermetic and dependent on a variety of irrelevant factors (VIP seating priorities, what wine was served in lobby, etc).

   Even a festival winner can’t be relied upon to achieve the same reaction in normal distribution than it does in the rarefied atmosphere of the festival circuit. (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford wowed them in Venice, but fat lot of good that did Brad Pitt when the release stateside was so badly bungled.)

   A good festival reaction is never a bad thing, but a less enthusiastic reception doesn’t bother me. I like to hear about a movie from a critic who hasn’t already been force-fed 12 films in 3 days.

   With limited reputable critics having seen an film that’s not been released in theaters, it’s not really uncommon to feature quotes from reliable guys who give good blurb.

   And hey, those critics might not have the stature of Dargis or Corliss, but they do get it right from time to time. Just as the Dargises and Corlisses can get it wrong.

5. Ryan Adams November 24th, 2008 at 4:58 pm 5

   ha, Guy. Nice to have deep access to site searches, isn’t it? I’m a compulsive archive burrower too.

   Due respect, who the heck is Dennis Harvey and why should I trust what a U.K. stringer for Variety thinks about anything? According to RT, he hated The Prestige too, and it’s at #81 on IMDb’s top 250.

   I’m sure your own John Foote at InCon is a fine upstanding fellow, but if he finds a “lack of passion” in Good, let’s remember Mr. Foote is recently quoted on your own site as saying that Hitchcock “may be the most overrated filmmaker of all time” and “Never have I felt anything for a Hitchcock character.” Open mouth, insert Foote.
   

6. Simone November 24th, 2008 at 5:02 pm 6

   I can’t wait to see this. I was not able to remain in Toronto for an extra day in order to watch Good on the Monday night screening. And since Viggo’s ‘The Road’ has been put off until next year, I hope Good gives him some Oscar buzz again.

7. Guy Lodge November 24th, 2008 at 5:15 pm 7

   Fair play, Ryan. (And believe me, John and I disagree on a regular basis.) I was just saying that most of the reviews I read (including Variety, Screen International, Emanuel Levy) were pretty tepid.

   The Hollywood Reporter likes it, however — if you can find the review buried in their haphazard website.

8. daveylow November 24th, 2008 at 5:22 pm 8

   I saw this in Toronto. Though Viggo does a good job in the film, the movie is not very exciting and should tank at the box office. But I could see it playing well on cable where viewers aren’t as picky and may welcome some serious fare to watch.

9. guany November 24th, 2008 at 5:25 pm 9

   What an awful tagline.

10. Guy Lodge November 24th, 2008 at 5:33 pm 10

    True, guany. And how about a comma?

11. Gentle Benj November 24th, 2008 at 5:47 pm 11

    Agreed, guany. That tagline is one of the worst I’ve ever seen. It clunks like a 40-year-old washing machine.

    Maybe they’ll change it for the DVD cover, as they did for “Enough.” Remember that? The original tagline was “Everyone has their limit” but by the time the movie hit DVD it had become “Everyone has a limit.” I did the Grammar Dance of Joy.

12. saul November 24th, 2008 at 6:21 pm 12

    i think it may be too late for any film to enter the race, we’ve got some locks right now, even if anyone hasn’t seen them yet

13. RichardA November 24th, 2008 at 6:32 pm 13

    Anything that can make people happy can’t be bad. Can it?

    There’s no free lunch. Sex vs. STD. Glucose vs. Diabetes.

14. Sasha Stone November 24th, 2008 at 6:56 pm 14

    And not to be a bitch about it or nothing but you can’t say Feinberg’s not a critic but an Oscar blogger and then go and point out Incontention (an Oscar blog) as having covering Good. It wouldn’t have been my choice to use Feinberg’s quote, though, and in fact I’d only want to use quotes from actual critics if I were doing the choosing. But it’s not my call.

15. Joao Mattos November 24th, 2008 at 7:30 pm 15

    “Good” is directed by a brazilian (Amorim) and, after Toronto, was the closing atraction for the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival. Amorim and Viggo came here; Mortensen gave excellent interviews.

    I didn’t see it, but the movie strongly divided opinions, despite a unanimous praise for Mortensen. But in a such crowded Oscar race, probably will be overlooked

16. Gentle Benj November 24th, 2008 at 7:48 pm 16

    “According to RT, he hated The Prestige too, and it’s at #81 on IMDb’s top 250.”

    And that’s why I say the hell with democracy. In the immortal words of The Kills, f#$% the people.

17. Guy Lodge November 24th, 2008 at 8:11 pm 17

    Sorry, Sasha, I didn’t meant to imply that the InContention post constituted formal criticism of the film. I was just using it to demonstrate to the previous commenter that it had played at Toronto — and those were the closest posts I had to hand.

    I can see how that gave the wrong impression, though. My bad.

18. Luke Gorham November 24th, 2008 at 11:50 pm 18

    I saw “Good” at Toronto – big mistake! The film wasn’t just bad, it was terrible. Ungodly. It was the worst film I saw at the festival (okay, it’s pretty even with “The Secret of Moonacre”), and I don’t know what Feinberg was smoking, but Mortensen does not merit (or come close to it) any of the adjectives he employed. Mortensen is lost in the film, unsure of what to do (most likely because the film has the same problem) and this pains me as I am almost always of fan of his performances. Anyway, point is, I can say with (near) certainty that it will bomb with critics and in every other conceivable way. I only wish I could convey this more absolutely to all of you.

19. Oshu Huddleston November 25th, 2008 at 12:42 am 19

    Viggo is a sexy bitch…how was he not winning Oscars ten or fifteen years ago?!?!

20. Daniel November 25th, 2008 at 1:49 am 20

    Too bad, looks like another miss for Viggo. Maybe The Road will finally bring him some luck next year.

21. GOOD trailer featuring Viggo Mortensen | Obsessed With Film November 25th, 2008 at 2:25 am 21

    [...] Awards Daily have premiered a new poster for the movie, which I have featured below after the jump… [...]