Author Topic: Can a Movie Really be Dated?  (Read 10124 times)

Bondo

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Re: Can a Movie Really be Dated?
« Reply #60 on: October 18, 2011, 04:13:10 PM »
I wasn't counting the anime films as being naturalistic, hence "Miyazaki aside"...there is nothing naturalistic about Miyazaki films. But we are talking about performances, not stories, being naturalistic. I don't think anything about horror (vampire/zombie) or sci-fi/dystopia demands stylized performance.

verbALs

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Re: Can a Movie Really be Dated?
« Reply #61 on: October 19, 2011, 05:33:17 AM »
We are just going to disagree then. Forget the cartoons sorry I missed your caveat. As for the other 3;

12 Angry Men- stagey by definition and by direction (probably why Lumet got the job) means stylised- emphasised for the sake of projecting in a large room.
American Beauty- the film would be only slightly less subtle if Spacey and Benning had used megaphones to deliver their lines.
Shortbus- hells bells if JC Mitchell was accused of trying to make a naturalistic piece he would  probably pop a conniption fit. The only thing that makes Shortbus look restrained is Hedwig.

The best example of a film I love and which is recent and well known AND more naturalistic than most (acting and directing) is Cyrus. BUT only when Jonah Hill is off screen. O'Reilly, Keener & Tomei get very close to what it feels like to be a mid-40s lump, but it's still acting and therefore stylised. Just thought my own definition of naturalistic would add more than me swiping at your examples.
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy

1SO

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Re: Can a Movie Really be Dated?
« Reply #62 on: December 30, 2016, 11:25:39 PM »
Tonight I watched the romantic comedy Miss Tatlock's Millions (1948). It's a sweet film featuring Barry Fitzgerald and Monty Woolley. The script is by Charles Brackett (3 Oscars) and the director is Richard Haydn, best known for voicing the Caterpillar in Disney's Alice in Wonderland. The overall quality is what you would hope for from these names except for one thing, the same reason why you've probably never heard of the film.

The plot involves a con where an actor attempts to inherit a fortune by pretending to be a long-lost mentally handicapped son, who unknown to the family burned himself to death two years ago. The script shows an uneducated and unfeeling portrayal of mental illness and the central performance is an embarrassing disaster. I considered if the film was trying to be edgy playing a handicap for laughs, but I believe this was originally created as lighthearted entertainment.


Can a movie be dated? I believe this one shows that it definitely can.

 

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