I don't like Baumbach's film as a whole very much, but at least he seems to hate the father figure. The Squid and the Whale seemed a full on attack on the husband, and The Meyerowitz Stories kinda followed it up years later. I don't really get the argument, except that it's true his male characters often are too narcissistic to grow and reflect on what they've done.
― Frederik B, Friday, 29 November 2019 22:39 (four years ago) link
Didn't know what to make of their cathartic, Virginia Woolf-like meltdown argument. (Unmarried me to my married friend: "Is this the kind of stuff you people suppress?")
Maybe it's different in Canada, but a sizable minority of the 'happily married' couples I've known have fought like dogs in front of me. Part of the charm of mating.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 30 November 2019 22:00 (four years ago) link
Lol that NYT piece is bullshit re: Kramer vs. Kramer - it’s more progressive because it makes Meryl Streep out to be the selfish, self-absorbed and absent parent? Wtf
― Οὖτις, Saturday, 30 November 2019 22:08 (four years ago) link
(xpost) Obviously I've witnessed lots of marital sniping, among friends and, growing up, from my parents. I remember a friend and his wife visiting once where the back-and-forth was particularly unrelenting up-down/black-white one-upmanship. But Driver really takes it to another level towards the end of their big argument here. (They're alone, mind you, not arguing in front of other people.)
― clemenza, Sunday, 1 December 2019 13:51 (four years ago) link
well it's more fraught than most of the other circumstances we're discussing
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 1 December 2019 15:04 (four years ago) link
I added this to my queue but after watching the trailer it seems like it's going to be really stressful and annoying to watch. And I hate to be shallow but I am hoping there is a reason for Scarlett's terrible hair in the movie. I do love Merritt Wever though.
― Yerac, Monday, 9 December 2019 14:58 (four years ago) link
what reason would satisfy you
― johnny crunch, Monday, 9 December 2019 19:04 (four years ago) link
Awful
― flappy bird, Monday, 9 December 2019 19:10 (four years ago) link
colin jost's mom gave her a welcome to Staten Island haircut before filming? xpost
― Yerac, Monday, 9 December 2019 19:11 (four years ago) link
moralism is kinda silly to use on Baumbach and not, say, Bergman, who wasn't unimpeachably noble toward his women in his life
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Monday, 9 December 2019 19:12 (four years ago) link
i'm less concerned by the moralism and more by the navel-gazing and woe-is-me rich white guy meanderings. great actors help but you better have a REALLY good script and i don't think baumbach generally does much better than okay.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Monday, 9 December 2019 19:14 (four years ago) link
this was better than OK. It's true he tends to make films about well-off artists, that's whatcha get.
then again i thought Meyerowitz had a sterling Sandler performance.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Monday, 9 December 2019 19:16 (four years ago) link
(and a family w/ members at differing levels of financial/professional security)
Well-off artists are his bread and butter. It would be weird to see him make a movie about people who are genuinely struggling to get by and I doubt it'd be any good. (The solution of course is to let more working-class ppl make movies that get distributed, but good luck with that.)
― Simon H., Monday, 9 December 2019 19:21 (four years ago) link
my issue is the writing as well- the movie is so jejune and MOR in its content & conclusions, coming from a guy whose personal life is way more fucked up and interesting. I just think it's a cowardly film, especially seeing it a week after Shia LaBeouf's Honey Boy, which isn't entirely successful, but it's much more interesting and unique and affecting, and really fucking brave.
― flappy bird, Monday, 9 December 2019 19:26 (four years ago) link
I haven't seen Honey Boy yet but I don't really buy the autobiographical readings this movie is getting
― Simon H., Monday, 9 December 2019 19:28 (four years ago) link
i don't require him to alter his subject (and definitely not to "people struggling to get by") to take him seriously; I'm just saying I have no interest in pursuing Baumbach's stated metier so i need him to really wow me to keep my attention which he most certainly has not up until now. Except here he is with a massive culture-crossing statement so i feel i gotta try. the fault is likely mine.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Monday, 9 December 2019 19:31 (four years ago) link
I mean it's totally fair and fine to be sick of that subject matter area!
― Simon H., Monday, 9 December 2019 19:34 (four years ago) link
yes it is
just as i am sick of QT's veneration of cultural sputum
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Monday, 9 December 2019 19:35 (four years ago) link
Honey Boy is like spending 89 minutes in a room with Stephen Miller playing with spray dye.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 9 December 2019 19:45 (four years ago) link
ouch
― Simon H., Monday, 9 December 2019 19:47 (four years ago) link
this is the most i've ever liked a baumbach film. everything really works
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 02:46 (four years ago) link
looking forward to seeing it
― Dan S, Tuesday, 10 December 2019 02:52 (four years ago) link
I could've used more ScarJo and less of the Driver breakdown scene in which she comforts him, especially since it's more likely that she would've moved toward him, stopped, changed her mind, and walked away.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 02:55 (four years ago) link
refereed a lotta knockdown dragouts?
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 03:21 (four years ago) link
I can't self-referee.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 03:30 (four years ago) link
I was confused by your ref to "Driver breakdown scene" until I figured out you meant the big fight scene. It's a dual breakdown if anything, surely?
I think it's fine that the film is more from his POV. Men relate to and understand men more than they do women. That's why women filmmakers are better at representing women.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 03:40 (four years ago) link
definitely a dual breakdown that's also a complete breakdown in language and a catharsis, and so i think it's appropriate they embrace
film is to the correct degree aware of itself as a film imo
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 03:46 (four years ago) link
i also think scarjo's initial scene with dern is so powerful that i didn't really notice we were with driver more
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 03:47 (four years ago) link
Alan Alda microwaving his lunch while strategizing with Driver = small comedy classic.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 03:50 (four years ago) link
also the fact that we were with driver more just got me acquainted with what an obstinate shithead his character often is, as much as he is also sympathetic, bc the characters in this film are really well drawn imo (i loved scarjo's family)
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 03:51 (four years ago) link
oh god i loved alda in this so much
Good interview with Baumbach, including his choices on POV shifts. (When Charlie gets the Macarthur, we're seeing it from Nicole's POV not seeing the moment where he finds out. Same with when he's served.)
― ... (Eazy), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 03:55 (four years ago) link
This movie is great! Lots of laffs!
― The Mandymoorian (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 04:33 (four years ago) link
My only complaints are the like four or five edits that were super melodramatic and the dogshit Randy Newman score, but just great script, powerhouse acting, lots of great lines, good small moments, good big moments
― The Mandymoorian (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 04:36 (four years ago) link
Can’t stop thinking about how the last straw for Scarlett’s character in “Marriage Story” was her husband didn’t know her phone number. In 2019. I BARELY know my own phone number. If you’re not my parents or the parents of my childhood best friend, I don’t know those digits.— KatieEllen Humphries (@MsKatieEllen) December 8, 2019
― jesus is zing (symsymsym), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 05:42 (four years ago) link
http://pitchfork.com/features/5-10-15-20/noah-baumbach-music/
When I think about Bert Jansch in The Squid and the Whale, and Karen Dalton and Jorma Kaukonen in Margot at the Wedding, not an especially interesting list.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 10 December 2019 06:10 (four years ago) link
Yes! I had the same thought! Thanks for the reminder. He's a shitty writer!
I don't think it's a dishonest movie anymore though. Just nothing left for me besides the performances. It even looked lousy, at its worst looked like that one fuckin Instagram filter that makes beige look like piss.
xp
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 10 December 2019 06:19 (four years ago) link
well!
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 12:10 (four years ago) link
idgi was your tv dying
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 13:03 (four years ago) link
i thought a lot abt the phone number line also, that tweet statement feels like such a universal truth that i cant believe it wasnt brought up to baumbach & the line made it in anyway so... idk
― johnny crunch, Tuesday, 10 December 2019 13:12 (four years ago) link
i feel bad for the twitter person barely knowing their own phone number, you still need it for a lot of things
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 13:15 (four years ago) link
also i can't go in on this movie for bad writing at all, the letter writing that opens and closes it is phenomenal and it's so fucking funny throughout
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 13:17 (four years ago) link
the movie looked fine! no idea what's wrong with fb's tv/computer/phone/whatever
― Simon H., Tuesday, 10 December 2019 13:18 (four years ago) link
director eating crackers...
― WmC, Tuesday, 10 December 2019 13:48 (four years ago) link
Baumbach is not a great visual stylist or whatever, but it looked perfectly fine. No worse than usual. No worse than all the rest of the American Oscar industry focused mainly on narrative and acting.
― Frederik B, Tuesday, 10 December 2019 13:52 (four years ago) link
a lot of visual flair to be had in the way both the camera moves and the way the actors move within the shot in this film imo
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 13:54 (four years ago) link
that was not a great sentence but tbf i’m not awake
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 13:55 (four years ago) link
I didn't need this to look like Mandy or whatever. (otoh...)
― Simon H., Tuesday, 10 December 2019 13:56 (four years ago) link
i think i loved most when this film got explicitly stagey: scarjo walking around dern's office, driver and alda gravitating toward the microwave (what a detail imo), the argument/breakdown, driver's sondheim performance. it's not a play within a play or anything like that but it's more like there's an intriguingly light meta-transparency covering everything, like as soon as the director's distracted from his work it suddenly dictates the pace and choreography of his divorce. it keeps the movie from being bogged down by excruciating realism, and honestly in these scenes the visual, the text, and the performances combine into idk something i'd call cinema? it's powerful, and it feels like baumbach's career has been building toward this since kicking and screaming. the one scene from frances ha that stuck with me is the one of her walking three hundred blocks for an atm just to get cash for a cash-only restaurant; it's a moment that's so perfectly exaggerated that it feels more true than truth. and this film feels like a sequence of similarly exaggerated truths that, because of the way they're exaggerated, feel way more personally true (not necessarily personally true for noah baumbach, whose biography i don't care about, but personally true for me)
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 10 December 2019 14:32 (four years ago) link
we have different definitions of "a full stop"
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Monday, 30 December 2019 16:25 (four years ago) link
Wondering what made you feel that way about the Laura Dern office monologue scene.
― Evan, Monday, 30 December 2019 16:28 (four years ago) link
Monologues definitely happen when unhappy people finally have someone who is listening to them. Nothing felt false or out of place there to me. It might have sounded like an awkward rehearsal because it was -- Nicole's been writing these lines and this is her first table read.
― Miami weisse (WmC), Monday, 30 December 2019 16:32 (four years ago) link
the character herself is at sea. scarjo turned in a credible performance throughout imo, i didn’t once think “wow scarjo is trying really hard,” i just kept thinking about nicole
― american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, 30 December 2019 16:52 (four years ago) link
The scene itself as-written made sense and was fine imo, I just feel like Johansson didn’t stick the landing. It’s written as a really stagy technically demanding huge chunk of dialogue, and requires her to naturalistically do a lot of these deceptively hard actor-tricks, having stuff pop into her head, getting caught off guard by emotions that are appearing unexpectedly, having it look real while also making sure she’s getting across what is basically exposition, while also getting through this huge mouthful of articulate dialogue. I think she’s really good and but i just didn’t think she was 100% up to it, I could see her grinding her gears & felt like I was just kind of watching an actress really energetically recite a whole bunch of lines. Ymmv though
― warn me about a lurking rake (One Eye Open), Monday, 30 December 2019 16:56 (four years ago) link
I don't think it's a 100% "maturalistic" film.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Monday, 30 December 2019 17:04 (four years ago) link
yeah i feel that. like i said, didn't ruin the movie or anything but couldn't help but notice it. Driver's chops as a stage actor really stood out in comparison imo.
Now that I'm thinking about it, realizing that's her biggest scene without Driver - they def elevate each other in their scenes together.
― warn me about a lurking rake (One Eye Open), Monday, 30 December 2019 17:11 (four years ago) link
The film “A Marriage Story” (2019) should instead have been named “A Divorce Story” pic.twitter.com/5mKGgCzb08— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) February 24, 2020
― JoeStork, Monday, 24 February 2020 18:01 (four years ago) link
celebrity astronomers are very prosaic folx
― brooklyn suicide cult (Dr Morbius), Monday, 24 February 2020 18:04 (four years ago) link
there's something wrong with this man
― frederik b. godt (jim in vancouver), Monday, 24 February 2020 18:04 (four years ago) link
loool
― circa1916, Monday, 24 February 2020 18:16 (four years ago) link
Very interesting opinion on this movie about relationships from a guy with multiple sexual misconduct allegations
― turn the jawhatthefuckever on (One Eye Open), Monday, 24 February 2020 18:20 (four years ago) link
A Divorce Story? More like A Divorce Movie!
― reggae mike love (polyphonic), Monday, 24 February 2020 18:22 (four years ago) link
and he got the movie title wrong!
― symsymsym, Tuesday, 25 February 2020 03:42 (four years ago) link
The film “The Jaws” (1975) should instead have been named “The Shark That Kills People”
― fetter, Tuesday, 25 February 2020 11:38 (four years ago) link
Ray Liotta kills in this! Perfect
― calstars, Saturday, 25 December 2021 03:18 (two years ago) link