http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Sun, 6 May 2007 04:16:06 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/02/22/073539.php#comment-586435 Moonraven, to each his own. My views: Pan's Labyrinth is a beautiful and inspiring film. Without doubt one of the best films I've ever seen. It is worthy of its awards. Yes, it may be simple, but in it's simplicity lies a complexity that you obviously didn't see. Also, before you go see a movie, watch an interview from it's creator, that way, with your deficient wisdow, you may grab an inkling as to what the bigger picture is about. 586435@blogcritics.org Sun, 6 May 2007 04:16:06 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/02/22/073539.php#comment-543843 I can't believe Jack Nicholson wasn't nominated. 543843@blogcritics.org Thu, 22 Feb 2007 16:31:04 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/02/22/073539.php#comment-543831 I agree that Anne Hathaway was the lead in Prada, but Streep's role is also pivotal -- without her role, there would be no story at all. So I don't have a problem with her being considered as the lead actress. Obviously, there can be more than one lead in any film (for example, both Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen were leads in The Queen). Same with Forest Whitaker. Sometimes, I guess, we can't really determine who is a lead simply by screen time. 543831@blogcritics.org Thu, 22 Feb 2007 16:25:42 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/02/22/073539.php#comment-543736 "Meryl Streep is delicious in Prada but it's difficult to win for a comedy, especially with such strong dramatic competition" The biggest reason Streep has no chance is because hers is a SUPPORTING ROLE in the Devil Wears Prada. She should not be up for Best Actress, but rather Best Supporting Actress. Anne Hathaway is the lead actress in The Devil Wears Prada. I too also feel Whitaker's role in The Last King of Scotland is a supporting role, but the argument there is a bit fuzzier than Prada. 543736@blogcritics.org Thu, 22 Feb 2007 14:23:32 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/02/22/073539.php#comment-543647 Much as I would like to see more Oscars gathered in by Mexican filmmakers (I have lived in Mexico for about 15 years now), I feel the hype this year has been, more than usual, built on sand. I saw El laberinto del fauno (Pan's Labyrinth) last weekend and it was not necessary for me to draw on all those years I worked as a film critic in the States to give it a big NO. I am interested in the context--post-Civil War persecution of the "losing" Republicans. I saw an excellent documentary a couple years ago at the Quito Documentary Film Festival that featured interviews with survivors, visits to the areas where they had camped out in the mountains, and so forth. The script for Pan's Labyrinth, unfortunately, presented two hours of one-dimensional characters--especially on the Falangist side. Zero credibility of the supposedly real characters made his specially effected ones superfluous. I have not been so disappointed in a film in several years. On the other hand, when I saw "Volver" last May in France, I was very pleasantly surprised. Complex relationships and characters. Black humor that was almost an update of Hitchcock's charming "The Trouble with Harry"--and from a director who irritated me mightily in the past with hysterical posturing and drag queen antics. If you haven't seen "Volver", give it a shot. And skip by Pan by at least 100 yards. 543647@blogcritics.org Thu, 22 Feb 2007 11:45:38 EST