tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post6079123985236133454..comments2024-03-22T14:48:09.697-04:00Comments on Dell on Movies: The Theory of EverythingDellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-88875181509655069822015-08-18T08:17:13.455-04:002015-08-18T08:17:13.455-04:00Still mulling over whether I think he was a deserv...Still mulling over whether I think he was a deserving Oscar winner. As for the film, it just failed to show me much of anything worthwhile.Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-8976759389318534022015-08-18T04:55:37.521-04:002015-08-18T04:55:37.521-04:00I agree it was a sanitized fluff piece. Eddie Redm...I agree it was a sanitized fluff piece. Eddie Redmayne was the best thing about the film. For me, he gave the best performance of the year and deserved his oscar. The actual film was decent enough, just I wish it had done a better job of explaining why he is a genius. Too much emphasis on his disability, not enough focus on his achievements. Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09395044055566348346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-53576955393031709832015-08-13T07:38:05.157-04:002015-08-13T07:38:05.157-04:00Safe and easy are great ways to describe this. I&#...Safe and easy are great ways to describe this. I'll swing by your place some time today to read your review.Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-37063890462037174602015-08-12T23:47:36.929-04:002015-08-12T23:47:36.929-04:00"The little things, the things that would mak..."The little things, the things that would make him a real human being are either skimmed over or ignored." Yes!!! I said pretty much the same thing. Great review. We are right in line on this one. It isn't even close to everything. Such a safe, easy movie. <br /><br />Check out my review if you want: http://speaksinmovielines.blogspot.com/2015/02/well-not-quite-everything.htmlKevin Powershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04219017960488448934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-48742541462949189502015-08-12T19:18:15.574-04:002015-08-12T19:18:15.574-04:00Yeah, it was just so...so dry. I did like the lead...Yeah, it was just so...so dry. I did like the leads, but agree Redmayne was not as good as Keaton. Haven't seen The Imitation Game, yet. Soon, I hope. And yes, Watson is wasted.<br />Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-80411746769158591792015-08-12T16:53:16.392-04:002015-08-12T16:53:16.392-04:00Well put Dell. I felt very similarly to the way yo...Well put Dell. I felt very similarly to the way you do about the film. It was doubly disappointing since bio-pix are one of my favorite genres. Quite frankly even the lead pair's performances didn't blow me away. Jones was okay but it was a performance any competent actress could have given and Redmayne's very calculated, he was nowhere as good as Keaton who didn't have a hook to hang his performance on. For that matter Cumberbatch was better than he was in Imitation Game. Then narrative which should have been riveting was dry as dust. Their house was pretty though. <br /><br />What killed me even more was that the brilliant Emily Watson was completely wasted in a nothing part as Felicity Jones's mother. It inexcusable that that's the best she's being offered.joel65913https://www.blogger.com/profile/14526657073681774683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-2086227001904637672015-08-12T12:33:04.907-04:002015-08-12T12:33:04.907-04:00I appreciate both Redmayne and Jones. I thought th...I appreciate both Redmayne and Jones. I thought they were both terrific. Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-32619778179393433542015-08-12T11:17:24.355-04:002015-08-12T11:17:24.355-04:00I truly appreciate your perspective and your passi...I truly appreciate your perspective and your passion. This is a great comment. For me, how much of a burden this was on Jane doesn't come through. It's something I can assume, but not feel. The same goes for how callous Stephen was at certain points. It's there, but the film seems to want to give him a pass. So without a similar experience, not enough was done to get me as invested as I needed to be to make it work.Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-43972563399200694582015-08-12T10:05:58.403-04:002015-08-12T10:05:58.403-04:00Redmayne is great, and I can't wait to see him...Redmayne is great, and I can't wait to see him in The Danish Girl.<br />I thought Jones was wonderful too though. Not the Oscar baiting role of course, but she really stood up to him.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-17005707476753808892015-08-12T09:44:20.675-04:002015-08-12T09:44:20.675-04:00I think this film is far more complicated than you...I think this film is far more complicated than you give it credit for. (Full disclosure: for three years I was living with my partner on dialysis and basically became a glorified home health aid after a while, so I have a bit of a unique perspective on this.) Since the film is based on Jane's memoirs, it makes sense that Stephen's work is mostly left out, and the film truly does make this a portrait of a marriage, not one man and his accomplishments. In that way, I found it incredibly focused. And neither Jane NOR Stephen comes off as totally evil or totally saintly. He has terrible mood swings throughout, often lashing out at Jane for no good reason (or at least, for no reason that's her fault). And she sits back and just takes it, and is often quite callous in her caring for him.<br /><br />But then, she HAS to. You can see her struggle in that scene with the letter board (Felicity Jones is truly wonderful in this film) - she's trying to keep it together, for her sake and his. She can't let her emotions come through; she has to be strong for him. Or at least, she feels she must. This is why her relationship begins with Jonathan, as an outlet for her emotions. And that great scene when he comes over for dinner, the moment with the peas... Redmayne and Cox play it so well. So much goes unsaid.<br /><br />And the climactic scene between them? "I have loved you..." I can't even. Jones absolutely NAILS that line reading, making it the key to the entire film. She's loved him this entire time. But it's hard. It's hard to care for someone in this way, to be strong enough for him, your kids, and yourself. It's a huge burden she has had to bear, but bear it she did. And she could have chosen not to, but she felt duty-bound and also loved him. So she stayed. You can see the toll it took on her, even as she wouldn't have had it any other way.<br /><br />I could go on, but my thoughts are too scattered elsewhere right now (stupid work, getting in the way of things that are REALLY important!). Suffice it to say, I loved this film, ridiculously golden-hued cinematography notwithstanding.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11480863610135936930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-39990542002187125052015-08-12T08:49:35.439-04:002015-08-12T08:49:35.439-04:00So true. I know nothing more about Hawking than I ...So true. I know nothing more about Hawking than I did before I watched it. Good point about Redmayne's performance.Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-40989314340219779132015-08-12T08:37:27.884-04:002015-08-12T08:37:27.884-04:00I'd take excellent away from him. He's go...I'd take excellent away from him. He's good. That's it. He's great at the physicality of the role (although the gimmicky editing style makes me question just how great he actually was there or if it was all spliced together to make him look better), but like you mentioned...all emotion is practically stripped from this film, and because of that, Redmayne's performance becomes one of a technician and not a real character. In my review I argue this point more, but the fact remains that we never get to know who Hawkins is as a person, and that is a shame.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-1083512524553615552015-08-12T08:27:27.434-04:002015-08-12T08:27:27.434-04:00He did leave his wife for his nurse, but to me it ...He did leave his wife for his nurse, but to me it came off like, 'oh well, that's the way the cookie crumbles.' Didn't really feel the emotional impact I should have. Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-54283903653954981632015-08-12T07:54:06.473-04:002015-08-12T07:54:06.473-04:00Great review. I liked this more than you did. It w...Great review. I liked this more than you did. It was clear Oscar bait, but I'm fine with that if they turn out a good movie, and this was one. They did show Stephen doing wrong at one point, he did leave his wife for his nurse. And that scene where he and Jane split up was easily the most powerful for me. I cried. (shocker)Brittani Burnhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07975067259283007280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-30531037435024632572015-08-12T07:19:20.139-04:002015-08-12T07:19:20.139-04:00Yes, that's it. It never decided what it wante...Yes, that's it. It never decided what it wanted to show us. Redmayne is excellent. Can't take that away from him.Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-14816677044847462522015-08-12T07:16:20.284-04:002015-08-12T07:16:20.284-04:00Good review man, I think this movie needed to deci...Good review man, I think this movie needed to decide what its focus was and what it wanted in the periphery. It's stuck between showing us Hawking's work as a scientist and his life at home and doesn't properly give us an idea of either because it never decides what the focal point of the story is. It fails when compared to great biopics such as 'A Beautiful Mind' or 'Imitation Game'. I think Redmayne fully deserved the Oscar, it's easier to see the good acting when you portray a person with a disability but there were also more subtle pieces of skill on show. That being said, I don't think he was the best actor amongst the crop of nominees but that's a discussion for another time. Kgothatjo Magolegohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17851686296089750322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-15231032827637066672015-08-12T06:34:43.213-04:002015-08-12T06:34:43.213-04:00They are both very good. I don't begrudge Redm...They are both very good. I don't begrudge Redmayne his nom. Still on the fence about him actually winning, though.Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-89399571089110258192015-08-12T01:40:24.427-04:002015-08-12T01:40:24.427-04:00I'm going to see this later this month or next...I'm going to see this later this month or next month since I have HBO as I want to see if Redmayne really deserved that Oscar.... plus, I like Felicity Jones. thevoid99https://www.blogger.com/profile/03055459287396592446noreply@blogger.com