a darkly beautiful "Million Dollar Baby"- Page 3

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 1/30/05 at 8:57pm

I really really love this movie, and it is deserving of all the praise it's getting. I really think it's a better film than THE AVIATOR - I do not understand what all the hype about THE AVIATOR is about....it's BLAND!

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 3:36pm

Finally saw it today and I have to say I agree with Margo and Borstalboy. I was completely underwhelmed by it. It's an OK film, but far too cliched and overly sentimental for my tastes. I honestly didn't know what the 'twist' was, going into the movie. I avoided any and all spoilers so as not to ruin it for myself. But I could have guessed what was going to happen about 30 minutes into it. And I would have been right (to a point). All of the performances were good, Freeman's being the best and most understated. Clint was good, but IMO no way deserving of an Oscar nod for Best Actor over some of the other performances that were overlooked. And while Hilary deserves her nomination, I sincerely hope she doesn't win for it. (I'd also like to see her play a woman in her next film.) What I really don't get is why so many people are saying that it's not really a "boxing" movie, and that even if you don't like boxing movies, go see it, because it's so much more. Really? Of course it's a boxing movie. Just because it takes a turn in the last 30 minutes or so, and doesn't end exactly the way some other boxing movies have ended, doesn't make it any less of a boxing movie. Is it also about something other than boxing? Well, yes. But isn't just about every movie about more than one thing? And as far as actual filmmaking goes, I'm sorry, but Eastwood is just not in the same league as Scorcese. He may be well liked in the industry, but as far as I'm concerned Eastwood is a competent Director who makes mediocore to good movies. He doesn't come close to matching a Director like Scorcese's skill and attention for detail. All in all, The Aviator is the better made film. And while I agree that it's not Scorcese's best film, it deserves to be awarded the Best Picture Oscar, and Scorcese deserves to finally be recoginized by the Academy for his outstanding contribution to the art of filmmaking. Now if you really want to see a "boxing" film that's nothing short of a masterpiece, check out the 30th Anniversary DVD of "Raging Bull".

Updated On: 1/31/05 at 03:36 PM

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 3:45pm

I wouldn't award Eastwood over Scorcese but I'd absolutely award 'Million Dollar Baby' over 'The Aviator' which is slick and a great movie but also a touch lifeless in my book.

'Million Dollar Baby' does what not a lot of movies know how to do: build a movie based around the decisions the characters make and the consequences of those decisions, rather than being a movie where the 'plot's the thing' and the characters are just there to mutter out the necessary exposition to get to the next plot beat.

I learned a creative mantra a few years back 'the plot isn't what the movie is about.' In that regard, 'Million Dollar Baby' isn't *about* boxing, it's about the people in this very specific world. I think that's a pretty substantial difference.

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 3:53pm

I can see the Academy splitting on Director and Picture and awarding Best Director to Scorcese (finally giving him the long overdue acknowledgement that he deserves) and Best Picture to Million Dollar Baby, thereby honoring Clint as well. But, while MDB's story might have been more appealing and/or inspirational to some, from a technical standpoint, I still think The Aviator is a better made film.

[MaTakeALookAtMe]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 6:36pm

I finally saw this movie yesterday. It is one of the best movies I have ever seen.

To me it is a very poignantlove story, although it not a romance.

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 7:05pm

And don't even get me started on the implausable ending, which I can't really discuss here without giving too much away. But I really found the last ten minutes a little hard to swallow. And something rather minor, but that nonetheless jumped out at me while I was watching the movie; I could have lived without the advertisement for The Apprentice on the side of the bus that Hilary's character was riding. It destracts from the timeless quality of the story. Just a minor faux pas, but one that could have been easily averted. It's all in the details.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 7:13pm

well it was set modern day wasn't it?

did The Aviator not have references in its art direction to period images?

And actually--Maggie is his apprentice. Accidents like that don't happen.

[MaTakeALookAtMe]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 7:21pm

I saw the apprentice ad. No big deal. And how was the last 10 minutes implausible.

My main complaint is simply that the redneck family is a little overdone. They were trying to hard to make them look white trash. It was almost cartoonish.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 7:28pm

I saw MILLION DOLLAR BABY this weekend, and let me just say that if you dont go see it, you have NO IDEA what youre missing. It's a cinematic gem. Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, and Morgan Freeman all give knockout performances *pun intended *. Please go see this film. If you dont cry at the end, I dont know what will make you shed a tear. This is a phenomenon of a movie and I hope to God it wins the Oscar for Best Picture. Lord, does it deserve it.

[Iris Chacon]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 7:31pm

"My main complaint is simply that the redneck family is a little overdone. They were trying to hard to make them look white trash. It was almost cartoonish."

Sad to say I know one family whois just like that. And yes; they seem cartoonish. this is a wonderful movie. But you got to be willing to take the journey .

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 7:40pm

"And actually--Maggie is his apprentice. Accidents like that don't happen."

You may be right. I've got to admit I didn't think of that. Maybe it WAS intentional. But I think it's more likely that it was just overlooked or considered inconsequential. Guess we'll just have to wait for the Director's commentary on the DVD to know for sure. Either way, I felt it was a distraction, and took away from the timelessness of the story. The Aviator, on the other hand, WAS a period piece, and it's job was to recreate and evoke the period in which it was set.

Updated On: 1/31/05 at 07:40 PM

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 7:41pm

I love your icon! HAHAHAH!

[Iris Chacon]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 7:45pm

I had so much trouble with Aviators innacuaracies. The timeline is all wrong.

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 8:04pm

"And how was the last 10 minutes implausible?"

Well... like I said, I can't really get into it without giving away the ending, which I don't want to do.

And just for the record, I didn't shed a tear. And as best I could tell, neither did anyone else in the theatre I saw it at. Then again, my emotions are not easily manipulated. When I cry at a movie, it's usually because I've been caught off guard by something unexpected. In this case, I saw it coming a mile away. But like Iris said... "you got to be willing to take the journey". I guess in this case, I just wasn't willing to "go with it".

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 8:14pm

I didn't cry either. Not even close. I just didn't feel the connection to that character which might have led me to feel something at that point. And I saw a half dozen people walk out during the last 30 minutes when I saw it. I was tempted to do the same as the film dragged on to its conclusion.

Updated On: 1/31/05 at 08:14 PM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 8:16pm

Yeah, it's manipulative, but that's what many good stories do: take us on a journey and hopefully pull out all the stops to ensure that we experience it.

But! Curtain Up, I hear you. I fully appreciate anyone not being sucked into something that someone says "you must see!" I remember feeling the same way about FRENCH LT'S WOMAN and (per the infamous Seinfeld episode:) THE ENGLISH PATIENT. I left that film dry-eyed. Same with DEAD POET'S SOCIETY. Then there are movies I cannot watch without sobbing through that NO ONE sobs through, i.e. THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST. The final two minutes of that film make me puddle up uncontrollably (Hurt stopping for Geena Davis in Paris...). So I get CurtainUps point about sitting through a crescendo and squirming when I'm "supposed to be" blubbering. We have so many factors that affect our individual experience of films. What one person experiences as genuine catharsis feels like heavy-handed manipulation to another. It's a mysterious thing that cannot be justified in a debate. Or, like the old adage, "the heart has reason ... reason knows not of..."

[MaTakeALookAtMe]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 8:22pm

I kinda see Curtains point. I can't fully go into everything without giving away the movie. But what made me cry was not the obvious...it was the beauty of their friendship and the fact that they could never say "I love you," yet they so obviuosly needed each other.

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 8:39pm

"We have so many factors that affect our individual experience of films."

So true. The most unlikely films can cause me to cry. Believe it or not, I cried like a baby at the end of The Green Mile. I was caught completely off-guard and it was totally unexpected. It took me a full 10 minutes to compose myself after leaving the theatre. And to this day, I still cry everytime I watch it. It has everything to do with what I was going through at the time with my aging mother, and the notion that it's possible to live too long. When that damned geriatric mouse comes out of that cigar box at the end, I loose it every time.

Updated On: 1/31/05 at 08:39 PM

[MaTakeALookAtMe]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 8:57pm

Why Curtainup...you're not the insensitive jerk I had you pegged to be :)

And see The Green Mile did nothing for me. Just goes to personal experience.

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 9:06pm

"Why Curtainup...you're not the insensitive jerk I had you pegged to be" :)

Gee Ma... thanks. I think.

Updated On: 1/31/05 at 09:06 PM

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 9:29pm

oh--I sure as hell cried.

I got the feeling that people left because the film wasn't your typical Rocky happy ending. I find movie audiences to be extremely lazy or lacking in good taste.

But, I guess it was possible that they didn't dig the film. Oh well. I loved it.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 9:31pm

If it doe not win in all catagories, I will be in shock. A masterpiece. My wife, who originally did not want to see it, gave it a 10

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 9:49pm

Well Roxy... prepare to be shocked.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 9:51pm

One never knows - do one ?

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 9:52pm

"One never knows - do one ?"

does one.