Hairspray is the best movie of the year so far, and it's getting in ahead of all of the above movies, so that list will need to be trimmed by at least two...




There was outright booing in the theatre I saw it in, when the non-ending happened...

Even though I hated the ending myself, I understood why the Coens made the mistake of doing it that way - - but Average Joe Moviegoer is definitely going to feel ripped off and angry, and since it happens at the end, it's going to taint his memory/review of the whole movie - - WOM is going in the toilet on wide release...

lmao, talk about overreacting.

if the WOM was as bad as you said, I could absolutely guarantee you that it would not have had a $20K PTA in 150 theaters this weekend. I mean, if a film has bad WOM, it drops over 50%, right? If it stayed in 40 theaters, instead of over tripling it, and its WOM sucked, its PTA would've been around $20K. Considering that was its PTA in way more theatres, the WOM must've been really good. Like really good.

It's still just in the fancypants theatres, where some of the viewers consider themselves to be cinéastes or some such nonsense - - once it gets to yer average date movie megaplex it'll be a different story...

well sure, if they send it into like 2500 theatres it won't do well since it just doesn't have as much widespread appeal, but in 800 theatres, I think it's gonna do as well as Michael Clayton did in like 1400. If it was only doing well at a "fancypants" theatre, why was everyone booing it?

The theatre I saw it in was so ultrafancypants, that the audience were not just faux cinéastes, but were in reality true cinéastes, who saw through the Coens' foolishness.

Anyways, these are only my opinion and observations - - only time will tell how WOM turns out on wider release, and then it's effect on BO and awards...

(But just remember - - you heard it here first.)

i guess basically every critic wasn't able to see the Coens' foolishness? A 95% on RT does not ever go to bad movies, or movies that get tepid responses from audiences. The ones that receive false praise [Crash, Babel, etc...] never get grades over 80% for the most part.

As I already said in this thread - - it's a critic's darling...

(BTW, I don't see your review in the other forum - - is this just a theoretical obssession you have with this movie, or have you actually seen it?)

it's more of an All-I've-Heard-From-People-Who-Saw-It-Was-That-It-Was-Extremely-Good sort of thing, and this includes two of my [teenage] friends. So when I hear that AND i see its reviews, I can't see how this terrible WOM thing sticks.

Supposedly the Academy screenings are bringing mixed reactions. Of course I should also note the writer of this (Kris Tapley) has been eagerly going against the grain in not predicting it for Best Picture, so grain of salt, obviously.

I guess they should've cast Brad Pitt so he could cry on the phone for 20 minutes... that would've made it bearable for the academy

If anything, I think it's probably the older members of the Academy who are walking out because of the violence, but whatever the reason, Oscar voters walking out of Academy screenings of ANY contender isn't good.

And a talking goat faun should stalk Javier Bardem!

They should've just had Josh Brolin tell Javier Bardem halfway through the film to "go back to Mexico" and turn it into a beautifully realistic look at racism's existence in everyone - EVEN Tommy Lee Jones, aka God.

Seems every year a few big contenders gets some lame report like this and ends up just fine.

Yep, we had seen such random report for eventual BP nominees in the past.

after seeing the film, i definitely see this being a heavy contender. Best Picture winner? Probably not. But considering I have seen other films people are considering possible nominees [American Gangster, Michael Clayton], I can say this is definitely a better-made film and definitely stronger contender for a nominee than them [mostly for its raw intensity - which was notably stronger than in the two great said films]. It's as close to a lock as can be, but you never know with the Academy.

Is it deserving of Best Picture? Absolutely. Will it win? Probably not. Unlike The Departed which taught us a Best Picture winner can be violent, it has no redemption in the end. It is a sobering, difficult movie.

but it has a true, surprisingly strong message, whereas The Departed basically says that you're just f***ed if you get involved in the cop-gang business. I loved both films, though. and i think Old Men will get nominated, but I can't see it winning.

But think of the message. What is it saying? It's certainly not positive or life affirming.

of course not. but is it a brilliantly portrayed message? Definitely. Gladiator and Unforgiven and The Godfather don't have the loveliest messages either, and look how they turned out.

Up to 96%, 135 fresh 6 rotten, and whopping 8.6/10 average. 20 100s at MC. It's on a Sideways level.

Also, number 46 on IMDbs top 250, with less than 6k votes.

Now with 6,500 votes, it went UP to 8.9 and is currently residing at #35. The only 2000s films ahead of it now are City of God, Memento and the LOTR trilogy.

I thought it was filmmaking brilliance, but I must say I did not think people would adore it that much. I mean, a strong majority of it is brilliantly filmed intense silence. While that makes for an outstanding experience, I can't believe that IMDB would look upon it as one of the fifty best films of all-time. I'm glad it's getting praise, though. Maybe the Coens can pick up Best Director or something, since I have doubts that this film could really take home the big prize.