tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post1293048745425749810..comments2024-03-24T13:26:57.317-07:00Comments on Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule: THE SLIFR MOVIE TREE HOUSE #10: THOSE SUBLIME SHEEP AND THAT SILLY SWANDennis Cozzaliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-70949816326648725952011-01-17T13:19:43.787-08:002011-01-17T13:19:43.787-08:00On Portman's performance in Black Swan, I'...On Portman's performance in <i>Black Swan</i>, I'd note that I've known women who behave in a similarly rigid and one-note kind of way (I don't intend to single out women, but I don't remember any specific men who I interpreted in this way). They were so committed to an art or a way of being that they were completely devoid of not only humor, but of personality. They are what they do, and not much more. They wear the same face at all times with the only variation coming in the degree of stress they were conveying with it. In terms of the film, I thought the performance really worked on exactly that level. Portman's character is one-note and that is exactly what her stage director sees as well. The film is about her struggle to invent a character (or two of them) and to apply them to herself which is especially hard because she has no idea about how to be human. The film is about the process of acting. The problem is that Nina is not only devoid of personality, she is scared of doing (or being) anything that doesn't come with a rigid set of instructions.Jason Haggstrom (haggie)http://www.reel3.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-76790102946681622832011-01-16T11:04:31.732-08:002011-01-16T11:04:31.732-08:00There's a bigger, more obvious teeth moment af...<em>There's a bigger, more obvious teeth moment after Paul's faux pas with Laser regarding team sports -- and I think that makes this smaller, quicker one even funnier.</em><br /><br />Alas, the biggest faux pas in the sports conversation scene is when Paul pronounces Nike like bike, as if there's anyone on the planet who doesn't know how it's pronounced. That line, and the one about Nic needing Paul's advice like she "needs a dick in my ass" were two, forced, lame lines in a film that's often nicely written.Jason Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18150199580478147196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-15670227730457717762011-01-14T22:00:13.416-08:002011-01-14T22:00:13.416-08:00Jim - one of the moments I really loved in Kids Ar...Jim - one of the moments I really loved in Kids Are All Right, which seems to be a merging of all the elements we've been talking about (script/acting/filming) is the scene where Paul unthinkingly goes off on team sports, when he first meets his two kids. It is a perfect example of the kind of self-righteous bubble that certain people live in - even more toxic because it is all under the guise of being TOLERANT (the movie is brilliant in skewering that particularly awful brand of liberalism - and of course Annette Bening puts the nail in the coffin with her vicious hilarious monologue in the restaurant where she says, "If I hear one more person rave about heirloom tomatoes ...") - and Paul just babbles on to his son about how he "hates teams", even though the kid just said he "likes sports" ... Paul ends up making it okay, or trying to - apologizing, "owning" it - and Josh Hutcherson stands his ground. "I like team sports." <br /><br />It was probably 15 seconds long, maybe 20, that sequence, but there were no less than 4 or 5 different levels operating at any given moment.Sheila O'Malleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05859697259996394827noreply@blogger.com