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Nice review, Steve. Looking forward to the film.
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It's wonderful ... a genuine treat for any true cinephile, and a loving soliloquy to the Spielberg/Williams collaborations.
Steve
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I so wanted to love it, but while it has some lovely sequences, I came away pretty disappointed. I don't understand the wild accolades for Michelle Williams in this - she's okay, but there's not enough meat in the role. I'm also no fan of Mr. Kushner's film work. It looks good, the Williams score is kept pretty low in the mix, but it works just fine. I will give it total props, though, for ending with a bang - David Lynch is terrific in the final scene and the final shot is pure Spielberg at his best.
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Posted: |
Dec 12, 2022 - 6:40 PM
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By: |
Howard L
(Member)
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Hey Steve, this afternoon was my first trip to the cinema in over 2-1/2 years and with the senior discount on top of a 30%-off matinee price I caught the flick at the local 20-plex, KN95 mask firmly in place.
Like you I went into it as one who grew up in a family of boomers not unlike Spiely and the rest of the brood. His section of Jersey was closer in bridges to your Walt Whitman than my George Washington. Either way I enjoyed the recreated neighborhood look very much. In that regard and per our shared affinity for Route 66, the best recreation of the overall 50s-early 60s look for my money was achieved in The Right Stuff.
Anyway, for that same money the finest section of the picture was right from the beginning through the Arizona scenes. Everything in main bio was fully established, highlighted by his drafting fellow scouts into his picture-making. Wonderful and moving foreshadowing moment on multiple levels as he and the tall guy drifted into Method territory. Oh my the sheer honesty in low-key passion inherent to earnest young teens!
The California high school shift kinda went thud for a while as I found myself restless and saying to myself come on, we've got the idea so let's get on with it already. I felt the family deterioration bit went on overkill; yet when the fundamental elements of where the picture was heading--once they finally got there, all was righted. The rebound was very much appreciated.
All the performances were uniformly excellent. I became aware of Michelle Williams late in the Dawson Creek series and clearly recall thinking she stands out from the rest of the faux teenage cast, in spades. Recently I read that the actress who played "Grams" mentored her in them early career days. That does not surprise; Mary Beth Peil came across as an articulate, mannered female John Houseman-type. I've never forgotten that.
Lastly and also in the Never Forgotten Dept., I was in sheer film music heaven with the classic soundtrack albums hanging on the wall and then later with the posters and the Max Steiner cue towards the picture's climax. And I must concur with a previous respondent that the closing shot is magnificent, its subtle frame shift in harmony with the advice given young Sam/Steven pure aces. Fantastic bit of  from the director.
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Posted: |
Dec 14, 2022 - 5:48 PM
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By: |
Howard L
(Member)
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But the scars of bigotry, racial derision and exclusion were there as well, along with the challenges of reaching maturity unscathed. As a Jew, I was subject to the cries of “Christ Killer” and dirty “kike,” as I retreated to the sanctity, safety, reassurance and security of television and film. It was a special world in which I could hide, and rise above the pain of day to day living and ever-growing isolation.
In this month's AARP Bulletin, interviewee William Shatner states, "I am Jewish and was brought up in a Conservative household in Montreal. I went to Hebrew school, and I did all the rituals that Jewish people do. But I was in a school district that was not Jewish, to put it kindly. I remember getting into fights almost every day. It was lonely being an actor, too. You're here, you're there, you're in a show, you're out. It doesn't lend itself to making friends."
Heck, when & where I grew up all we did was learn Yiddish expressions, European gestures [mostly of the Italian variety ] and Spanish swear words. Knowing ahead of time what Spielberg dealt with and as reenacted in the film, the worst for me was seeing Sam cower when physically threatened. It was heartbreaking. My experience with being bullied around his age was pretty minimal but the sensitivity we shared. Oh yeah.
His sensitivity and cringe reminded me of Upham in SPR.
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I am looking to this premiere more than for the NY)))
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But the scars of bigotry, racial derision and exclusion were there as well, along with the challenges of reaching maturity unscathed. As a Jew, I was subject to the cries of “Christ Killer” and dirty “kike,” as I retreated to the sanctity, safety, reassurance and security of television and film. It was a special world in which I could hide, and rise above the pain of day to day living and ever-growing isolation.
In this month's AARP Bulletin, interviewee William Shatner states, "I am Jewish and was brought up in a Conservative household in Montreal. I went to Hebrew school, and I did all the rituals that Jewish people do. But I was in a school district that was not Jewish, to put it kindly. I remember getting into fights almost every day. It was lonely being an actor, too. You're here, you're there, you're in a show, you're out. It doesn't lend itself to making friends."
Heck, when & where I grew up all we did was learn Yiddish expressions, European gestures [mostly of the Italian variety] and Spanish swear words. Knowing ahead of time what Spielberg dealt with and as reenacted in the film, the worst for me was seeing Sam cower when physically threatened. It was heartbreaking. My experience with being bullied around his age was pretty minimal but the sensitivity we shared. Oh yeah.
His sensitivity and cringe reminded me of Upham in SPR.
Being regarded as somehow different in a society of conformists is often challenging, especially when you're a lonely, particularly sensitive young soul growing up in 1950's and 1960's America.
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Being regarded as somehow different in a society of conformists is often challenging, especially when you're a lonely, particularly sensitive young soul growing up in 1950's and 1960's America.
Steve
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