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THE DESCENDANTS Thread

post #1 of 14
11/6/11 at 9:55pm
Thread Starter 

The new film directed by Alexander Payne (Sideways) starring George Clooney is coming out November 18th.

 

Curious if this is on the radar of my fellow Chewers?

 

Screened it tonight, I'm currently under embargo (I'm going to see if I can wiggle out of it sooner rather than later) but this is a film that you guys should really be looking forward to. Can't wait to tell you all about it. Payne hasn't directed a film since '04. It's been far too long in this guy's opinion.

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post #2 of 14
11/7/11 at 1:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by roboTimKelly View Post

 

Curious if this is on the radar of my fellow Chewers?

 


Payne and Clooney? There is no way this film could possibly be any more on my radar. I could have an actual radar and this film could be a city sized sheet of tin-foil and it still wouldn't be on my radar any more than it is now.

 

 

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post #3 of 14
11/7/11 at 2:44am

Just watched "Election", "About Schmidt", and "Sideways" again recently. Still haven't seen "Citizen Ruth", but based on those three that I have seen, I believe Payne is an amazingly consistent director who gets better with every movie, with impeccable taste when it comes to choosing which stories to film. He has a real knack for dramedy...finding so much humour and poignancy in the mundane. That's why I'll be anxious to see his latest. I hope the incredible streak continues.

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post #4 of 14
11/7/11 at 5:11am

The weakest of Payne's films. Still decent, but a definite step down.

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post #5 of 14
11/7/11 at 7:18am
Thread Starter 

Glad to hear there's some anticipation for this. My review is looking like it's going to run on Wednesday of next week now.

 

Also got the opportunity to sit and chat with Jim Burke, the producer, this morning. Great interview and a lot of good insight into the way Payne works and how some of the actors (Clooney, Woodley, Lillard) came on board. 

 

This was one of the nice interviews where I actually really enjoyed the dude's film so there's not a lot of bullshit, just solid film discussion. Hopefully it reads well enough, Burke was a really nice guy.

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post #6 of 14
11/7/11 at 12:19pm

Haven't seen ABOUT SCHMIDT or ELECTION, but was very underwhelmed by SIDEWAYS. Regardless, having a sizeable man-crush on Clooney, it's definitely on my radar. 

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post #7 of 14
11/9/11 at 3:29am

Jesus, Michael. I just can't fathom your tastes.

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post #8 of 14
11/9/11 at 3:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Merriweather View Post

Jesus, Michael. I just can't fathom your tastes.


You're not alone, and I don't claim to be any kind of arbiter for what's best. As I said, I haven't seen SCHMIDT or ELECTION (no good reason - just haven't gotten around to them), so I haven't made any conclusions about what Payne does or doesn't do for me. But I found SIDEWAYS nearly unbearable. Story was about one douchebag and one pretentious wannabe writer. I know this tends to get shouted down a lot in these parts, but having a main character I can sorta like and cheer for is important for me in a movie. I hated both the main characters. It doesn't help that most of the people I've met in real life who are "into" wine are also unbearable and pretentious.

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post #9 of 14
11/9/11 at 11:37am
Thread Starter 

I liked the main characters in Sideways. They're not always likable but they felt believable to me. I wrote about wine a lot when I was with GUY, so I've met a few wine people in the past year. They're not all unbearable and pretentious. Some of us just like to get shitfaced in the classiest of ways.

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post #10 of 14
11/9/11 at 12:29pm

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by roboTimKelly View Post

Some of us just like to get shitfaced in the classiest of ways.


I'm hoping this is deliberate irony.

 

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post #11 of 14
11/9/11 at 12:36pm
Thread Starter 

What's irony?

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post #12 of 14
11/9/11 at 2:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelM View Post

Haven't seen ABOUT SCHMIDT or ELECTION, but was very underwhelmed by SIDEWAYS. Regardless, having a sizeable man-crush on Clooney, it's definitely on my radar. 



Sideways really almost requires a second viewing.   The first time I was underwhelmed as well but on the second try something clicked.   Some films are like that.

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post #13 of 14
11/15/11 at 2:38pm
Thread Starter 

Review for this should be live tomorrow morning sometime. I liked it considerably more than Jack & Jill.

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post #14 of 14
11/15/11 at 8:13pm

Isn't that like saying you like something more than your own horrible, grizzly death?

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