You can post all reviews and such in here so they aren't all over the place. Here's a review from Ebert and Roeper. They gave it "Two thumbs way up"

From IMDB:

"Ebert & Roeper gave this film two thumbs "way" up! They said that all of the performances were brilliant. Roeper said that Julia gave a better performance than in Erin Brockovich."

He continues:

"I watched it on their TV show. It comes on 7:30 on ABC on Saturday mornings. The review should probably be up on the website by Tuesday afternoon. They didn't say anything about Oscars, just that the all four actors gave great performances. Roeper especially liked Julia. "

And some more...

One of the most viscously insightful movies this side of "Virginia Wolf". (R)

Brutal, sadistic masterpiece. (R)

The most devastating exchange I've seen this year involves Clive Owen who's prodding Julia Roberts into revealing the details of her sex with Jude Law. (R)

...Contains some of the strongest writing and acting I've seen all year. Big thumbs up. (R)

Mike Nichols is at the top of his form again. (E)

This film is mesmerizing. I was zeroed in on it from beginning to end. It takes place at a very high level of intelligence and aggression and lust and desire. (E)

You have these actors, Clive Owen has played some dark characters before, but Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, and Jude law are such likable, charming characters they've always been able to carry a movie by the sheer power of their movie star magnitude, and here they are all really acting. I think this is a better performance by Julia Roberts than she gave in Erin B. for which she won an Oscar and everyone else is just as good. (R)

Four great performances. (E)

We really understand these four very different personalities and how they do not exist on this earth just to meet each other, not in any happy way anyway. They just continue to collide from start to finish. (E)

Amazing stuff. (R)

It's a very good movie. (E)

I like that picture of Portman, remind sme of her haircut in her first movie, The Professional. Matilda, I think?

Do we need all these separate threads for each possible best picture movie? Also we have a Closer thread already.

Roiger & Ebert gave it thumbs up?

That has to be good at least for the performances. They both gave We Don't Live Here anymore thumbs dopwn because the characters were "unlikable"

Just by loooking at the ads though, I do think this will probably be Julia's best performance

I don't see why there shouldn't be. I didn't see a thread, so that's why I started one.

It's pretty easy to see. "Peter Travers reviews Closer". I assume that's the review thread for Closer, since I hope people don't start "Roger Eberts reviews Closer", "EW reviews Closer"...

That's what I was saying. It looked like that was an individual thread, so I made this as an "all Closer" one, but if not, then this can be locked.

It's ok. I just want to discuss a movie in one particular thread, whichever one we choose to use. Since we only have a handful of regular contributors to the Oscar forum, I didn't like to see all the discussions got scattered around.

No one can imagine what this thread just did for me!!!!!
This is my most anticipated movie for the rest of movies yet to be released in all following years and just to hear that made my week, a hard task consdiering I'm doing all these essays for colege applications even as we post!

Can't wait for Ebert and roeper tongiht!!

Ebert and Roeper raved about Closer on Sunday.

Roeper: One of the most viscously insightful movies this side of Virginia Wolf, a brutal, sadistic masterpiece involving the most devastating exchange this year which involves Clive Owen who is prodding Julia Roberts into revealing the details of her sex life with Jude Law. Closer contains some of the strongest acting and writing I've seen all year. This is a better performance by Julia Roberts than she gave in Erin Brockovich. Amazing stuff.

Ebert: Mike Nichols is at the top of his form. The film is mesmerizing. I was zeroed in onit from beginning to end. It takes place at a very high level of intelligence and aggression and lust and desire. Four great performances. It is a very good movie.

With NBR coming up, Closer is going to fly out of gate with all the positive attentions. This is by far my most anticipated movie the rest of the year.

Time Magazine: "Funny, hurtful, splendidly acted. "

Newsweek:"Here's a surprise: of the four actors in Closer, Clive Owen is the least famous, but he delivers the most memorable performance."

It has a score of 80 at MetaCritic.

The consensus seems to already be that if you can get past the coldness of the movie, it's a brilliant one.

The qustion now is will that keep it from getting a best picture nomination.

I feel Clive Owen almost has the supporting actor win in the bag.

This is my most anticipated movie for the rest of the year, and I'm glad it's getting rave reviews. I hope I'll think the same of it.

Time magazine has a 4 page review artcile on Closer including within the review a sort of analysis of adult and sexual movies of the modern day and 30 years ago. It gets at how we finally have movie about for adults about love relationships, or something along those lines.

It was a glowing review (though I skimmed through the middle)

And also, if anyone is interested, ehre are the two songs featured in the trailer....

Damien Rice - "the Blowers Daughter" ("...can't take my eyes off of you..."
Suzanne Vega - "Caramel"

I love both of them and after watching the trailer 3 times again and the review, I just am going insanely nuts anticipating this movie.

I am beginning to wonder of Jude Law will get a consecutive Best actor nod if the academy full-heartedly loves the film and all the actors are nominated.

Hollywood Reporter raves Closer, and it handicapped other contenders.

MSNBC's rave review:

“A good fight is never clean.”

So says Larry (Clive Owen), a London dermatologist who supposedly represents the voice of experience in Mike Nichols’ witty, spiky, rather nasty movie of Patrick Marber’s 1997 play, “Closer.” You can’t say you haven’t been warned.

The highly competitive Larry marries a photographer, Anna (Julia Roberts), who can’t stop loving the scampy obituary writer, Dan (Jude Law), who brought Larry and Anna together. Dan lives with a stripper/waitress, Alice (Natalie Portman), who is not immune to Larry’s charms.

"Meeting cute” takes on a menacing new meaning here. Dan runs into Alice when she’s hit by a car. Larry’s courtship of Anna begins with a practical joke that involves the e-mail equivalent of phone sex. Larry thinks he’s been communicating online with a woman, but it’s devious Dan in internet drag.

The foursome talk a lot about love, but intense, hurtful fighting is mostly what they’re good at. It’s never clean and it’s rarely nice. These people probably draw more blood than any quartet since, well, since Nichols made his movie debut with Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” nearly four decades ago.

Just as Albee’s endlessly quotable zingers may have stayed with you longer than his plot contrivances and much-debated finale, it’s Marber’s zesty dialogue, much of it lifted directly from the play, that makes the strongest impression here. Little wonder that the tangy moments survived: Marber gets sole credit for the screenplay.

The four actors have rarely been better, though Owen, who played Dan in the original London stage production, stands out in what may be the best-written role. Larry is especially adept at check-mating Dan and out-guessing Anna, and Owen rules the screen whenever Larry’s on top.

But the other actors don’t exactly slip into submission. Larry may think that Anna is amused by “all my nasty habits,” but he’s in the process of losing her, and Roberts does a persuasive job of establishing Anna’s yearning for something else. Dan is also easy to underestimate; there’s more than a touch of Law’s “Alfie” in this performance.

Its not getting the critical praise that the oscars nominates.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/closer/

Its at 61% right now,pretty much a mixed bag.

Its critical reaction is EXACTLY EXACTLY what I predicted months and months ago!

63%, much better than this time yesterday. I think it will eventually rise to the 70's because there are 6 or 7 rave reviews that aren't on there yet. I still think plenty of Oscar Nods are in order.

Currently at 66%: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/closer/

Hm. Could this be its downfall...?

We Don't Live Here Anymore all over again

I still think it'll get nominated for 7 Oscars:

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Editing

Even if it stays at 66%, which I doubt, I still say it gets those 7. I think when it's all said and done, it'll be above 70%. There are 7 or 8 reviews not listed which were really good.

But maybe it's December opening plus strong performances (from reviews I've seen) will be enough? We shall see...

Well, if We Don't Live Here Anymore was directed by Mike Leigh and starred Julia, Natalie, Jude, and Clive, I'd think it'd be an Oscar frontrunner right now.

So yeah, I still think it has a good chance but the problem is that while it might be esy to admire it it might not be as easy to put it at the top of your favorite movies list at the end of the year (for the academy), and that was always a known problem.


I still think it will do well but best picture is iffy.

If Spanglish does really well with critics you Closer probably doesn't stand a chance.

Up to 69% and 77% COTC. And the 7 or so reviews I was talking about aren't on there yet, from what I can see.