With The Aviator, Miramax has completed the transformation into big budget studio.
And, with that, I believe Elvis will leave the building. Whether or not The Aviator wins or loses will determine whether or not Miramax – as we know it, and as it has become – will end with a whimper or a bang.
My money’s on bang.
Sideways gave me the best feeling of these five. And I don’t just mean it made me happier. Actually, Ray was probably the closest thing to a feel-good movie here. I mean in terms of congruency, consistency, overall entertainment, I felt the least let-down by Sideways. Admittedly, I saw it before all the hype, so my expectations were at About Schmidt levels, not “second coming of Hal Ashby” levels. But, in one way or another, the other films disappointed. Not terribly – all are fine works – but perceptibly.
The Aviator takes a good two hours to really get its shit together. Finding Neverland is touching but slow, even staid. M$B is amazing for a time, and I won’t give away “the plot point,” but suffice it to say my problem with it wasn’t so much the controversy some are pointing to, but my feeling that it wasn’t consistent with the characters as established, which made it feel a little contrived. And Ray isn’t afraid of the cheese.
Sideways, while not perfect, just doesn’t have those kind of glaring flaws. I know that’s not a huge endorsement, but limited to these five, it puts it on top.
And there you have it, folks. Last year I batted .67 with my predictions. This year, if I bat even .500, I’ll be very impressed. What are you shooting for?
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