Lumenick and Smith face off with dueling top 10 lists and briefly bicker about their choices at The New York Post.
Lumenick and Smith face off with dueling top 10 lists and briefly bicker about their choices at The New York Post.
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I haven’t seen Pitch Perfect or Ted (though I want to) and thought 21 Jump Street was one of the funniest of the year. But those two get on a list over The Master, Life of Pi, or even Middle of Nowhere (which I thought was a sleeper back at Sundance)? Don’t get me wrong, opinions are opinions and these lists keep things fresh. I’m just a big fan of The Master 😛
Plus it’s interesting that Lincoln is on neither of their lists…
Magic Mike was a joke. Less attempts at a story more stripper scenes please. I saw Les Mis this evening. Annie overacted her number and is MUCH better in DKR. The criticism that Hooper films every number just about the same is spot on. Russell Crowe looked SO unfcomfortable and constipated. Jackman and Epoinie were good though. But overall the film is bit flat. Disappointing indeed.
Whoa, whoever this Kyle Smith dude is, he has terrible fucking taste.
The Impossible? Oof. Tsunami-porn for white folks who can’t be bothered to care about brown people.
Ooh, thanks for the 60 minutes link, that was the first footage i had seen from Confrontation. Good stuff.
As for my good friend Sam Juliano, I am merely saying that LES MISERABLES (I hate the LES MIZ thing) is not going to take the Oscar as many of us all thought. Just because a film takes a while to be finished doesn’t mean it’s going to take the top award. It’s now a race between ZERO and LINCOLN.
I don’t see how a love of MAGIC MIKE and of 21 JUMP STREET and even PITCH PERFECT labels one as being gay. MIKE is a brilliant movie, whatever sexual stunts you practice. 21 JUMP STREET was fun, and so was (even more so) PITCH PERFECT (though I hated the vomit sequences, as I do in all movies…when will this practice end?). We get into, here, a thorny place. And I will not go on, except to say that, when I come, I come with women. Is this what I have to say before I make a judgement on a film? This is ridiculous. Should I tell you, also, that I prefer beef over chicken?
How about that,there is too much music in Les Miserables, actually ,”too many notes,” so it cannot be taken seriously. No operas for him that art format is too hard to handle for many film watchers.
The 60 minutes segment for Les Miserables, by the way:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57557944-10391709/crowe-vs-jackman-the-great-rivalry-of-les-mis/
“While I was delighted to see the film take the top spot from Kyle Smith, I will admit he’s an exasperating critic. THE POST is strictly right wing, endorsing Romney and spouting Bible Belt platforms in the liberal Big Apple.”
Yes, that was most evident in his last line about The Dark Knight Rises:
“As for ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ few political dramas, let alone blockbusters, have more smartly mocked the folly of proletarian revolts. It’s a movie that tells Occupy Wall Street supporters: ‘Argo eff yourself.'”
I’m weary of people making statements such as that, but what can you do…
LES MISERABLES is doing well enough critically in the early reviews the way I see it. We will know much more how it stands in about two weeks, but I am figuring the numbers will rise substantially, and I’m still thinking a Best Picture nomination. My excellent friend Dean above is figuring it will be a “year-end” disappointment, but that’s not where it seems to be headed now at all.
While I was delighted to see the film take the top spot from Kyle Smith, I will admit he’s an exasperating critic. THE POST is strictly right wing, endorsing Romney and spouting Bible Belt platforms in the liberal Big Apple.
Well, I don’t know how much it’s worth, but Hugh Jackman just got the “Streep” treatment – a segment on 60 Minutes – tonight. I assume it was new (or a rerun appropriately timed).
I think he’s a dark horse that’s moving fast in the Best Actor race in that he’s precisely what Oscar looks for, acting skills be damned.
Justin, move into the 21st century please. We’re getting married now.
And the award for most inappropriate and offensive comment goes to… rufossondheim. Congratulations! On another note, I do think Kyle Smith’s list is lacking. Ted, 21 Jumpstreet, and Pitch Perfect are odd choices, especially when we have movies like Silver Linings Playbook, Beasts of the Southern Wild, and The Master. I really liked 21 Jump Street (not as enthusiastic about Ted), but I don’t think it’s top 10 worthy, especially in a year this fantastic.
How gay is Kyle Smith? Les Miz #1, Magic Mike #2, thrown in another Channing Tatum flick and Pitch Perfect and, well, I hope he’s talked to his parents already.
The way I understand it, the problems with LES MISERABLES are not entirely that it’s sung straight through, but that Hooper filmed each of his sequences in nearly identical ways, with copious close-ups and similar camera movements. Also, I tend to think that if you are one who like the music, you’re going to like the movie. But if the music is irritating or repetitive to you, then it’s not going to be your cup of tea. I suspect, now, that LES MISERABLES is going to join those post-CHICAGO musicals like DREAMGIRLS and NINE, as being an end-of-the-year disappointment to all but the most ardent of fans. Finally, let me make note of two other great classics that are sung all the way through: the universally lauded THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG, by Jacques Demy, and Ken Russell’s adaptation of The Who’s TOMMY (one of my own personal favorites).
“…and the near-total absence of spoken dialogue — bothered me enough to rank [Les Miz] at No. 12.”
That right there is the number one comment about Les Miz reviews that just bugs me to no end. The stage version has been around for 25 years, it is no secret that it is a sung-through musical. It’s one thing to criticize the choice if it’s not executed well…it’s entirely another thing to comment about it purely because it’s there. Why is it so hard to believe that movie musical today can’t work when some of the most classic and revered films of all time are, in fact, MUSICALS?
Remember this is the NEW YORK POST, hardly a hotbed of sophistication. At least Lumenick liked MOONRISE KINGDOM. It was delightful.
Kyle Smith’s list, The Impossible aside, is very disappointing. Does he only bother to watch English-language films? Ted, 21 Jump Street and Pitch Perfect all on the list… nothing in any other language, though.
I’m not Lou Lumenick’s biggest fan, but his list is infinitely better than Kyle’s. And yet still disappointing.