Comments on: Noah Baumbach’s ‘Greenberg’ Finished, Up For Grabs At American Film Market

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:41:47 +0000

Kicking and Screaming was his best work in my opinion. The common theme of his work seems to be "upper class, intellectual white people with problems". Margot was decent and tailor made for Nicole "Valium induced coma" Kidman.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:05:03 +0000

By the way, I'm not saying a great film has to have a great script or any script at all. I'm just using that as one example of something she's been formally acclaimed for that she has no business meriting.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:16:54 +0000

they're not screening, btw. they're just for sale.

By: stephen

stephen — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:04:23 +0000

Lost in Translation is the only film by Sofia Coppola I don't like. Virgin Suicides is one of my favorite films of the '90s.

By: gabetoro

gabetoro — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:46:02 +0000

Lost In Translation is a piece of shit. Agreed with this particular pile-on.

By: rodrigoperez

rodrigoperez — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:45:57 +0000

Funny you mention that. I've always heard that the Lost In Translation script was bad, but i had heard that one never really existed. Coppola had put together a sketch and sent it to Bill Murray and he wasn't impressed, but he liked the idea, so they basically improvised most of it.

I dunno, I think it has a lot of Claire Denis like qualities, it's all about mood and atmosphere and tone and i think it succeeds for what it is.

There's not much of a plot, but that's never a sin and if they script was bad, well the end result was great to a lot of people.

By: American Thrift Media

American Thrift Media — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:30:35 +0000

Yeah it's hilarious that Lost in Translation won BEST SCREENPLAY…Clearly, no one who voted actually read it, because Bill Murray changed every line of his dialogue, improvised a ton and made the film much more interesting than it is on paper. That said, I've always had a soft spot for LiT, mostly because of the stellar cinematography and music.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:22:07 +0000

labute's wicker man is a mysterious, absurd, insane film that i actually thoroughly enjoyed because of the incredibly strange vibe it gave off and the "is it a comedy?" stuff going on. not to mention all that feminist fascist stuff going on and the hints that all the women have some kind of hive mind with the bees like when cage smacks that bee and the inn keeper winces...so good. so strange.

you lack all joy and common sense if you don't think nic cage screaming "killing me won't bring back your goddamn honey!" isn't one of cinema's finest moments. absurdism at its best.

labute's other work is crap though. especially the condescending lakeview terrace.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 07:59:15 +0000

I enjoy (latter day) Baumbach -- Squid was very good and Margot had many wonderful moments despite being too cynical and shallow overall.

Sofia Coppola, on the other hand, is the only hack in Hollywood. I know what you're thinking, but nobody thinks Brett Ratner is a great artist. And while I personally can't stand, say, Neil LaBute, I can see that he has talent. But Sofia Coppola's film are so shallow, vacuous, and downright (creatively) incompetent.

Have you ever read the screenplay for Lost in Translation? What was the best part? The staring blankly? The vaguely racist Engrish jokes? The part about a vain Spike Jonze-like "photographer" being mean to his beautiful, angelic wife? Or the plot ripped off In the Mood for Love? What was great about that screenplay?

Visually, I guess they are accomplished -- not because she comes up with fresh, invigorating images, but because she hires Lance Acord to shoot postcard pretty pictures of pretty surroundings and pretty people and pretty costumes. And then she picks trendy soundtracks that may or may not fit the actual scene they appear in.

I'm deeply annoyed, though not shocked at how critics have fallen for her schtick. I guess they like a good comeback story -- cute daughter of a legend, ruined Godfather 3, and now she making "art" films! You know, minus the art.

[DEEP BREATH; END RANT]

By: Eve Montana

Eve Montana — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:41:25 +0000

I would love to get the script for "Somewhere." While I wasn't a fan of "Virgin Suicides", I did enjoy "Marie Antoinette".

By: rodrigoperez

rodrigoperez — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:00:33 +0000

You're one of the worst films of the decade.

By: Joseph

Joseph — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:57:37 +0000

Margot at the Wedding is one of the worst films of the decade.

By: American Thrift Media

American Thrift Media — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:29:19 +0000

Ha ha ha. . .Yeah, of course I read that site and others. And a lot of times I agree with you guys. You've got good taste and a cool blog going, but I had to be honest about my feelings (or lack thereof) for Baumbach.

By: rodrigoperez

rodrigoperez — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:05:36 +0000

Read another site? Maybe you'd be more at home over at AICN? 😉

By: American Thrift Media

American Thrift Media — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:02:36 +0000

Yeah, I can safely say that neither one of these movies is on my list. Barring a select few sequences from The Squid and the Whale, I've never enjoyed Baumbach's work, which I find a hackish on-the-nose Woody Allen wannabe at best and juvenile masquerading as elitist at worst...Is there anything more insulting?

I've enjoyed Coppola's work much more (especially when her brother Roman is DPing and directing second unit), but the premise of her latest sounds like a snoozer.