Comments on: An Appreciation: The Films Of Michael Winterbottom

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:37:04 +0000

Loving this piece. Love the playlist. Gonna go and dig out some unwatched Michael Winterbottom films.

By: rodrigoperez

rodrigoperez — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 01:02:31 +0000

That's my bad on the oscar nom thing. i goofed. was writing at 2am. i correct, but yes, i'm admitting my flub. i do like the Frears/Linklater comparisons too. We were just trying to establish a broad talking point, but yes, those are actually closer to the truth qualitatively.

By: Katie

Katie — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 00:59:42 +0000

It irks me to this day that nobody bothers to mention the f-ckery going on with A Mighty Heart: Jolie in Brown face. Get your oscar vehicle on, i don't care, but in brown face?! So wrong on so many levels.

By: Bobby

Bobby — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 00:08:12 +0000

Angelina actually didn't get an Oscar nom for A Mighty Heart. She got it the following year for Changeling (of course A Mighty Heart snub played a big role in that). Too bad, it's one of her Top 3 performances along in Gia and Girl, Interrupted and personally my favourite one because of it's minimalism.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:34:06 +0000

He's never made a great film, but a he's made several good ones (or at least interesting failures). I'd say he's more like a British Richard Linklater — with "24 Hour Party People" being his "Dazed and Confused."

By: ben

ben — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:53:03 +0000

"In this World" is my favourite of his. It's an amazing piece.

"Genova" was recently shown on FilmFour. It has it's problems but the performances and how it explored the younger daughters guilt was nothing less than involving.

By: John Morton

John Morton — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:17:39 +0000

Brilliant article.

One curio that is still to get a DVD release is Family, a RTE/BBC co-production from 1995. It's a 4 part mini series, directed by Winterbottom, penned by Roddy Doyle and set in the same fictional Barrytown area as the other Doyle adaptations The Commitments, The Snapper and The Van. Winterbottom does a much better job with Doyle's material than Stephen Frears did with the last two mentioned films.

By: James

James — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:14:04 +0000

Excellent article. I agree with the previous poster about "Wonderland", however. I think it's his best so far.

And what about "In This World", my other pick for his best?

And of course "Butterfly Kiss" and "Go Now" are not to be forgotten. Though "With Or Without You" is. The less said about it, the better.

By: jessicakiang

jessicakiang — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:26:42 +0000

While I kinda agree with the "British Soderbergh" thing for Winterbottom I think his career is also analagous to that of fellow Brit Stephen Frears – also prolific, genre-hopping and rather uneven with occasional flashes of brilliance. Plus Frears did the last great Thompson adaptation with The Grifters. And I've never seen them in the same room together.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:11:51 +0000

Wow! Only a C for both "The Claim" and "Wonderland" ??? These two films are among the strongest in the Winterbottom filmography.