Author Topic: Top 100 Club: Sandy  (Read 56526 times)

Sandy

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 12075
  • "The life we build, we never stop creating.”
    • Sandy's Cinematic Musings
Re: Top 100 Club: Sandy
« Reply #60 on: May 02, 2018, 09:13:51 AM »
Thanks, oldkid. :)


I can't think of anyone off hand who would do it better, though I feel I've seen performances that capture what I'm thinking of they're not coming to mind. I quite like Hathaway as an actress and she has good screen presence and I wonder if maybe current Hathaway, 10 years later, could deliver more punch and complexity to the role.

Great observation! At first, I'm right on board, wanting to see this version of her Jane, but then I think of how unfinished I was at a young age, and having such a knowing actress might make Jane too knowing too. Jane was limited in her experience of life. With all her imagination and ability to express herself in writing, she really was in need of her horizons widening. :)

Quote
I don't really have a mental image of Jane and her personality beyond this film, so that makes it hard to imagine someone else in the role. The writing is ok but yeah, that's part of it. I was thinking of your comment about it being written and directed by men, especially when thinking about McAvoy and the way he's presented vs the way Jane is. He doesn't quite overtake the film, but he takes a big part of the stage in a way that he probably shouldn't if the film is really to be about Jane. Relative to their importance in the film, the writers definitely gave him more to work with, though to his credit he made the most of it without outshining Hathaway.

Another great point! Mcavoy's portrayal is a big reason this film is in my top 100 and here you help me see that part of his work is his ability to not upstage, even if he is more skilled and has a better written character. That is a generous actor, indeed.

Quote
I hesitate to fall back on "a woman would have done it better," the film's (lead?) writer was a woman after all as was the editor, what's important is someone who has an interest in Jane as a person rather than a symbol which probably would be more likely from a woman than a man.

Ah, they had Austen herself as the lead writer! Love it. I hesitate with you on making a statement about the gender of the writer and director being the problem. I appreciate the exploration of it with you though. Women and men bring their own unique views of the world and nuance is a real thing. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to sit in contemplation about a film that was already special to me. :)

PeacefulAnarchy

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 2132
    • Criticker reviews
Re: Top 100 Club: Sandy
« Reply #61 on: May 02, 2018, 01:35:13 PM »
I can't think of anyone off hand who would do it better, though I feel I've seen performances that capture what I'm thinking of they're not coming to mind. I quite like Hathaway as an actress and she has good screen presence and I wonder if maybe current Hathaway, 10 years later, could deliver more punch and complexity to the role.

Great observation! At first, I'm right on board, wanting to see this version of her Jane, but then I think of how unfinished I was at a young age, and having such a knowing actress might make Jane too knowing too. Jane was limited in her experience of life. With all her imagination and ability to express herself in writing, she really was in need of her horizons widening. :)
Yeah, that's the tricky part isn't it. Casting someone who can express complexity while still expressing youthful naivete is not an easy task.


Quote
I hesitate to fall back on "a woman would have done it better," the film's (lead?) writer was a woman after all as was the editor, what's important is someone who has an interest in Jane as a person rather than a symbol which probably would be more likely from a woman than a man.

Ah, they had Austen herself as the lead writer! Love it. I hesitate with you on making a statement about the gender of the writer and director being the problem. I appreciate the exploration of it with you though. Women and men bring their own unique views of the world and nuance is a real thing. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to sit in contemplation about a film that was already special to me. :)
I meant Sarah Williams who wrote the original screenplay and pitched the idea for the film. Another writer (Kevin Hood) was brought in after but it's not clear to me if it was a replacement or addition, hence the question mark. In the end the director chooses what to shoot and the producers probably had final say so it's impossible to say what any one person's vision was.

MartinTeller

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17864
  • martinteller.wordpress.com
    • my movie blog
Re: Top 100 Club: Sandy
« Reply #62 on: May 02, 2018, 02:41:48 PM »
I think I have enough free time to respond to reviews (although my responses may be brief) if ses isn't available and you want to do my list next. However, I skipped Sandy's month so maybe that wouldn't be fair.

oldkid

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 19044
  • Hi there! Feed me worlds!
Re: Top 100 Club: Sandy
« Reply #63 on: May 02, 2018, 11:24:22 PM »
I think I have enough free time to respond to reviews (although my responses may be brief) if ses isn't available and you want to do my list next. However, I skipped Sandy's month so maybe that wouldn't be fair.

As founder of the Top 100 Club, you will always have a top place on the list.

Please, if you have time, go ahead.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

Sandy

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 12075
  • "The life we build, we never stop creating.”
    • Sandy's Cinematic Musings
Re: Top 100 Club: Sandy
« Reply #64 on: May 03, 2018, 10:18:40 AM »
Yeah, that's the tricky part isn't it. Casting someone who can express complexity while still expressing youthful naivete is not an easy task.

Nope!


Quote
I meant Sarah Williams who wrote the original screenplay and pitched the idea for the film. Another writer (Kevin Hood) was brought in after but it's not clear to me if it was a replacement or addition, hence the question mark. In the end the director chooses what to shoot and the producers probably had final say so it's impossible to say what any one person's vision was.

Oh! I see. She must have had enough story and interesting ideas to catch a producer's eye. Since Kevin got top billing, I wonder if there was a lot of work to be done on it. It's fun to speculate. :)

pixote

  • Administrator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 34237
  • Up with generosity!
    • yet more inanities!
Re: Top 100 Club: Sandy
« Reply #65 on: May 04, 2018, 10:42:49 AM »
I watched 13 Going on 30 with my 13 year old, for the first time, a few weeks ago. Lots of bonding. :D

I wish there had been a DVD supplement with commentary from the two of you.

pixote
Great  |  Near Great  |  Very Good  |  Good  |  Fair  |  Mixed  |  Middling  |  Bad

Sandy

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 12075
  • "The life we build, we never stop creating.”
    • Sandy's Cinematic Musings
Re: Top 100 Club: Sandy
« Reply #66 on: May 04, 2018, 07:22:28 PM »
I wish there had been a DVD supplement with commentary from the two of you.

pixote

:) We're all thirteen year olds, down deep inside.

Bondo

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 23082
Re: Top 100 Club: Sandy
« Reply #67 on: May 30, 2018, 08:42:49 PM »
Taps (1981)

This film hasn't aged particularly well. Not per se because of the film, but because of society. It's hard not to see this in light of our current gun debate. Careless firearms management leads to a tragedy. The tragedy leads to a proposed entirely reasonable gun control regime. Petulant boys who have the delusion of being heroes rebel against authority. Tragedy after tragedy follows as they remain bound to their tradition in the face of overwhelming evidence.

Now, it would be awful if the film fell solidly behind the boys' motives, thankfully it doesn't fall for the same nonsense they do, simply observing it. Still, by embedding perspective among them it assumes a greater investment than I was able to give.

Sandy

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 12075
  • "The life we build, we never stop creating.”
    • Sandy's Cinematic Musings
Re: Top 100 Club: Sandy
« Reply #68 on: May 30, 2018, 09:28:16 PM »
That's because you don't have a huge crush on Timothy Hutton! Way back in 1981, as a young teen, I was totally invested in him. :)) In fact, I still have a scrapbook from that time. Let me grab a few pics from it.







So if I bawled like a baby at the movie theater, you'll understand why. Just a few months ago, I took my 13 year-old to see Maze Runner: The Death Cure and she too cried a lot, because her celebrity crush happens to be Thomas Brodie-Sangster. I got to tell her about Taps and it was another movie bonding moment. :)

Thanks for watching the film, Bondo and investing time in something that is part of my past. The important question is, at the age of 14, who would you have cried buckets of tears over in a sad film?

« Last Edit: May 30, 2018, 09:34:58 PM by Sandy »

Bondo

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 23082
Re: Top 100 Club: Sandy
« Reply #69 on: May 30, 2018, 10:21:26 PM »
I mean, if Fly Away Home ended with Anna Paquin's character crashing her bird plane and dying, that would have been a bummer. Maybe a Thora Birch or a Kirsten Dunst. Alicia Silverstone as well, though she tended to play some darker characters who met poor ends.

because her celebrity crush happens to be Thomas Brodie-Sangster.

Relatable! Though my opinion of The Maze Runner being what it is, maybe she should view this as a happy occasion. He is free to not be in that franchise now.
« Last Edit: May 30, 2018, 10:23:17 PM by Bondo »

 

love