This is the thread where we discuss matters pertaining to the detrius that accompanies the "End of the Year in Cinema" -- 2014

Don't bring your Grammys into this thread.

BP? what is this BP? take it away

beep

well now it's time for Last of the Unjust

appparently you and I are the only American fags who liked Pride, Sotosyn.

pride is better than theory of everything and imitation game and should have won more awards.

mais oui

Last of the Unjust a complicated watch whose initial seeming faults mostly turn into assets.

INDIE SPIRITS with mostly a xerox year. Still no idea why ppl are bowled over by Nightcrawler.

Best Feature: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Producers: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole

Best Director: Richard Linklater (IFC Films)

Best Screenplay: Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler (Open Road Films)

Best First Feature: Nightcrawler (Open Road Films)
Director: Dan Gilroy, Producers: Jennifer Fox, Tony Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Lancaster, Michel Litvak

Best First Screenplay: Justin Simien, Dear White People (Roadside Attractions/ Lionsgate)

John Cassavetes Award (For best feature made under $500,000): Land Ho! (Sony Pictures Classics)
Writers/Directors: Aaron Katz, Martha Stephens, Producers: Christina Jennings, Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy

Best Supporting Female: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood (IFC Films)

Best Supporting Male: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash (Sony Pictures Classics)

Best Female Lead: Julianne Moore, Still Alice (Sony Pictures Classics)

Best Male Lead: Michael Keaton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Robert Altman Award: Inherent Vice (Warner Bros.)
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, Casting Director: Cassandra Kulukundis, Ensemble Cast: Josh Brolin, Hong Chau, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Sasha Pieterse, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, Serena Scott Thomas, Benicio del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Michael Kenneth Williams

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Best Editing:Tom Cross, Whiplash (Sony Pictures Classics)

Best International Film: Ida (Poland – Music Box Films)
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski

Best Documentary: CITIZENFOUR (RADiUS-TWC / HBO Documentary Films / Participant Media)
Director: Laura Poitras; Producers: Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky

Special Distinction Award: Foxcatcher (Sony Pictures Classics)
Director/Producer: Bennett Miller, Producers: Anthony Bregman, Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik, Writers: E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman, Actors: Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum

FC readers poll

http://www.filmcomment.com/entry/film-comment-readers-poll-2014

Should probably have linked here earlier. In the midst of the ILX 2014 Film Poll rollout here: People, they love blood. They love action. Not this talky, depressing, philosophical ILX 2014 Film Poll Thread - Voting closes Friday, Feb. 21st at Midnight EST.

Just saw Imitation Game -- terrible film saved by an inherently interesting story and decent acting. Script is awful. Putting that tagline "Sometimes the individuals you least expect...[or whatever]" in the mouths of characters THREE different times is beyond the ordinary hacky biopic garbage. Way too little time spent actually trying to convey how Engima worked and/or how they solved it. Lots of unbelievable conceits (literally the first attack they have the ability to stop just happens to be on one of the codebreakers' own brother's ship) Director had obviously seen "The Fog Of War" and tried but failed to lend gravitas with similar math/carnage overlays.

I really like Amalric's The Blue Room, esp that blase-like-a-fox magistrate.

I did too. As an exercise in swank economy, The Blue Room is the kind of movie hard to screw up. It’s content to stay on the surface, registering as nothing more than an adaptation of Simenon. I saw only one howler: a cut from a closeup of Esther’s vagina to Julien’s daughter.

I'm too upset by any shot of a vagina to notice what follows.

i've seen many movies "like" that screwed up, if we're talking erotic thrillers. Louis Malle's Damage? Terrible.

(tho phaps that was sold on the sexy more than a Simenon adap wd be)

Oh I love Damage. It's genuinely weird.

"Damaghed peeeple are dahnjerou peeple. That's how we surbive."

Haha

A lovely, winsome Blythe Danner performance and Sam Elliot's sexy rumble are at the heart of I'll See You In My Dreams, a snappier than usual Hallmark Channel movie (and in the eighties James Garner would've starred).

Watched Spotlight: good, with a couple impressive moments. Not as effective as Zodiac cuz visually it's dead (Fincher would have at least shown Boston's insularity by showing how close the Globe building is to Michael Keaton's high school earlier and more gracefully).

oops -- wrong detrius