Sergio Leone Web Board
Other/Miscellaneous => Off-Topic Discussion => Topic started by: Nobody on December 22, 2004, 11:53:59 AM
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Clint's latest has already started gathering plenty of awards and nominations, and he supposedly delivers one of his absolute finest performances to date. Can't wait for this, has anyone here seen it? Roger Ebert says it's the best film of the year, as well as the best film Clint has ever made. Even Clint's own score has gotten a lot of praise.
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Well, it doesn't open here until April... :P
The American critics have gone crazy with this one, check this out:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/milliondollarbaby#critics
.. remember to check the bottom of the list, too.. refreshing after all the praise.
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Thanks Blueberry.
Well the bottom of the list gave it away, thanks, now I can wait to rent it, now that I know what its going to be about.
I go to films to escape reality, or to vistit different worlds, don't need to be bummed out.
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I loved Million Dollar Baby, Clint's best directorial feature in my honest opinion. Great, subtle, moving and harsh drama.
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yeah i agree David , i watched it last night. wow great film . the performance between Eastwood and Freeman was funny and moving. highly recommended.
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I saw this last night, very good film. I recommend it to all, Blondie did a great job. He's obviously a very talented filmmaker, and definitely had influences upon Leone as well (see stills of Clint in civilian clothes coaching Tuco previously posted by others). The final scene of "Baby" had some strong Leone influence to me.
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best movie made, not called eyes wide shut, in the last 20 years imo... i thought mystic river was as good as eastwood was going to make as a director... but this blows mystic out of the water.
also... surprisingly the saddest movie i have ever seen, by a longshot.
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It is suberb. I'm not exactly someone who usually gets upset after watching a film, but this one nearly had me in tears!. In agreement with grandpa_chum - it is without a doubt one of the saddest endings I've ever seen - right up there with 'Bicycle Thieves' and 'Sympathy for Mr Vengeance'. However PLEASE don't let this put you off watching this movie.
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Wonderful movie. Restores my faith in modern storytelling! :)
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After the negative replies from the first one who replied to this post, I'm glad there came some postitive ones. I have seen it myself now and was completely blown away. Eastwood's third masterpiece. The other ones being Unforgiven and Mystic River.
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I second that! Clints' best movie (that he directed).
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I say Yes. What about you?
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I agree. The lighting's class. Good use of shadow all the way through.
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It's great! But is it really necessary to have two topics about it here?
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Probably not... but who cares.
P.S ....this one has a poll.....
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8) hola amigos! well, I thought I'd be the first to mention it - CONGRATULATIONS MR. EASTWOOD... for the Oscars that is!
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yeah , i was really glad he won. great to see a smaller movie get it.
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Congratulations Clint Eastwood with the Oscar, I still can see you walking through the Almeria dessert.
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Yes, I saw it Saturday night it was great, and they shot it in only 35 days amazing.
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Damm fine movie! Der' b' life in the old dog Clint yet! 8)
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I was nearly crying at the end - great movie - Morgan, Clint & Hilary fully deserve their Oscars.
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haven't seen it yet , but will the first chance i get.
great character studys according to clint.
39 days to shoot which is still amazing
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Clint's efficiency always amazes me, especially when it results in such fantastic films like this. It's much more impressive than Kubrick for example. When a man spends two years shooting a film, sometimes doing more than 100 takes, I expect the final product to be nothing short of amazing. When you rarely do more than two takes, work 4-5 hours a day, and shoots a film in little over a month, a result like this really is impressive.
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Best Film Of 2004. It's one of the most realistic films I have ever seen in my life.
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so I finally saw Million Dollar Baby yesterday:
Before I had seen it, I knew everything about the plot (as did most people who didn't see the movie as soon as it was released, because it ignited a big controversy over the assisted suicide and many people were discussing it in public), so I am not going to give the movie a rating, cuz it's too difficult to judge it objectively having known the whole story before I began watching. For some movies, knowing the story is not all that important, but for others, it is very important, and this is one of them.
To the best of my ability to try to be objective here, I will say that I thought it was alright, but not a masterpiece like so many people believe. But again, I will absolutely admit that it's impossible for me to know how I would have felt if I had gone in not knowing anything about the story.
IMO, Swank is good but not incredible. (I didn't see any of the other Oscar-nominated actresses from that year, so I can't saw whether or not I thought Swanks deserved to win; but if you wanna use the phrase "Oscar-worthy" as a general phrase meaning "great," then no, IMO Swank was not Oscar-worthy. And I don't think Eastwood's performance was worthy of an Oscar nomination.
As a movie, I definitely prefer The Aviator.
I am absolutely not gonna get into a normative debate over assisted suicide; that's for each of you to deal with on your own terms, with your own conscience, religious leader, morals, family, friends, etc. I'll just discuss some positive issues (as in positive vs. normative) about the movie's controversies.
Cinematically, I thought the ending was very powerful. Definitely, those last few scenes are the best part of the movie.
I'm not sure if the whole storyline with Eastwood's estranged daughter was even necessary at all; I can see a lonely old trainer taking on a project like Swank even if he didn't have an estranged daughter; I am not sure if the estranged daughter adds anything to the story.
btw, I remember when it was first released, my roommate in college was talking about it, and said, "i refuse to see that movie; it's just a pro-assisted suicide propaganda." Now, I don't know if I would have seen it anyway -- at that time, I was a casual movie fan at best, and hadn't seen any Eastwood movies; all I knew about Eastwood was that he had acted in some movie called GBU that had this song called Ecstasy of Gold that Metallica walked to every concert to, and that at some point down the line, I therefore wanted to see GBU ;) ...) -- so there's a damn good chance I never woulda seen it at that time anyway, but then I was reading all about the controversies, including in sports magazines, and read about the ending, and whatever, I just never had an interest in seeing it.
Until now.
After seeing the movie, I will say this: I do not think it is trying to in any way justify assisted suicide, or take a position one way or another on the matter. The point is, I think everyone can agree that it's possible that a person in Swank's situation would want to die, and that a person in Eastwood's position would be tempted to help her, and maybe even do so, even if he has strong reservations about doing so. This is about how one man acted in a a particularly awful situation, and I don't think the movie was trying to make a point that said action was justified or unjustified.
Put it this way: this movie is certainly not making any point in a blatant way like Michael Moore's movies are anti-Bush, or An American Carol is anti-Moore, October Baby is anti-abortion, or Full Metal Jacket is anti-Vietnam.
Assisted suicide is obviously a very controversial and emotional issue, and perhaps I can see how someone who is staunchly opposed to it can believe that this movie justifies it, but IMO this movie is just about how one man acted in one situation, and I don't know if the movie necessarily is trying to justify it.
Finally, and this is something I feel very strongly about: there were a lot of disabled/paralyzed people, and groups representing those people, who were protesting over how they believed the movie is saying that a person is better off dead than paralyzed. That is absolute total bullshit. All it's talking about is one girl in one situation. Is it plausible that a girl in Swank's situation would want to die? Certainly. True, many people in her situation do not want to die. But the fact is that it is certainly plausible that someone in her situation would want to die -- people commit themselves over far less problems than paralysis -- and therefore, the story is plausible. This movie in no way, shape, or form is making the point that if one is paralyzed, he/she is better off dead. It's just about how one woman and one man were confronted with a devastating situation, and how they acted in that situation.
I guess Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby are generally considered Eastwood's masterpieces, but for me, nothing can touch Mystic River and The Bridges of Madison County.