Unfortunately it’s hard to think you’ll like it given what you were hoping for, but hopefully it delivers better than expected.
If you REALLY want to support him, you’ll watch Exodus. (I just want people to suffer as I’ve suffered.)
I think it was a good movie, in that it has some great moments but plenty of meh. In some ways I think it’s unfair to evaluate the 2hr 40 min version, because a solid critique is that it’s missing about an hour an 20 minutes of exposition, which the “final” version will have.
I think it’s interesting that the 1776 Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and their ideals mattered to Napoleon and many intellectuals but are absent from the film (except perhaps in Robespierre’s brief appearance). “Let’s go kill some monarchs” was a solid rallying cry for Napoleon, but in the film he’s only personally ambitious, and barely even that. That said, some scenes are great and even cribbed history will likely blow some minds.
It’s tempting to impose a narrative arc on Napoleon (and everything else), but the lack of such an arc or some made up arc with Josephine does not improve the film.
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Nice. It honestly surprises me that there’s a divide that I’m on the positive side of with this movie since I was skeptical going in, but it sounds like our bottom-line quality grades are pretty similar.
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One of the Flop House guys said that Hausu is basically like if Pee-Wee’s Playhouse was haunted and I can’t stop thinking about that.
Can confirm now that Past Lives is as crushingly beautiful as its proponents claim. Certainly one of the best of the year.
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I really liked Napoleon and await the 4 hr version. Definitely misses stuff at this length but didnt really care.
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So glad you liked it. It’s still my favourite of the year.
I can’t believe that’s a director’s debut film. Really impressive. And please give Best Supporting Actor to John Magaro. All three of the main characters were acted really well, but just from how the categories are shaping up this year I’d like to think that he actually stands a chance at the win, and it would be well-earned.
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Greta Lee, The lead, spoke zero Korean before agreeing to join the film!
Oh wow, that’s a great detail. Shades of Robert De Niro moving to Sicily for months to immerse himself in order to properly play young Vito in Godfather II. I loved her performance even before you just told me that, but that’s another level. Best Actress looks loaded this year, so I hope she’s at least a nominee.
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Rewatching Dune (2021) and halfway through I think I must have been in a pandemic fog first time around because while I recognized it as an objectively good film, this time I’m able to follow all of the characters and planets and political intersections, and that has deeply improved my enjoyment of the story.
My significant other is enjoying it so much I convinced her to give Jodorowsky’s Dune documentary a shot, but sadly it’s not streaming anywhere. Maybe it’ll come back to a platform when part two of the new one releases.
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Had you ever read the book? I re-read it before watching and I think that worked out well for me.
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No, I think I tried once as a teenager in the late 90s and did not like Herbert’s style of writing at all. That may have changed now tho so maybe I’ll revisit it before/after the second movie.
I was probably more excited for Napoleon than any film I’ve seen in a few years, but came away disappointed. I guess I shouldn’t have expected much, if any, historical accuracy given the director, but still, I thought we’d get a bit more. On top of that, Napoleon was highly empathetic and charismatic to a degree that almost instantly won over people. Showing more of this would explain how his return after exile went so well. Given what we’d seen in the film we were wondering, why the F would these guys even care that he’s returned?
IRL, the whole return to Paris was also a very interesting event taking place over 7-10 days. Initially the newspapers were running headlines like “The Ogre has landed in Antibes”. Each day progressively changing their tune until the day of his return was “Our Glorious Emperor has returned to Paris”.
Initially I gave it a 6 and was thinking that the 4 hour director’s cut could be really good, but after reading more about Napoleon I think I’d revise my score to a 4. I guess if you go in with the correct mindset that is has less than 0 historical or biographical value, then you could likely enjoy this.
I did read that Spielberg has been rumored to be working on an 8-part series covering Napoleon. Apparently, Kubrick had been planning a series in the 70s and extensively researched Napoleon, but sadly the series new saw the light of day. However, Spielberg has been given access to this research and wants to give it a go. I am beyond amped for this.
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Yeah, I’m feeling a bit ripped off. Joaquin Phoenix is a good actor, but you need to play to his strengths, which are sullen and brooding and sometimes vulnerable–definitely not ambitious, tactical, and fiercely intelligent. I was thinking about how Daniel Day Lewis played Lincoln. From all accounts, it was a quite an authentic portrayal. (Lincoln is, I think, one of the few people with more books about him than Napolean.) Now, imagine if Joaquin Phoenix played Lincoln as not very smart, impulsive, and driven in significant part by Mary Tood. Americans would have been up in arms (as the French apparently are).
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Yah, pretty much this.
Phoenix is an incredible actor, but I guess it should’ve been obvious the tone the film was going for when he was cast.
It would be like casting Zach Galifianakis as Lincoln. OK, obviously an exaggeration, but I’m salty about Napoleon.
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I’ll be doing this just before the next one comes out. The last time I was this hyped to see a sequel was for LOTR Two Towers, which wound up being my favorite series of all time. I have hopes that Dune can supplant it. Two fingers crossed they stick the landing. Something about the tone really resonates with me.
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Yeah, I thought Dune was about as good an adaptation as you could hope for, honestly surprised it didn’t get more love.
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More love?
It was widely acclaimed by critics and audiences and won 6 Oscars. What more did you want?
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