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This post was found to be inappropriate by the moderators and has been removed.I honestly really did love the film. I understand the problems people have with it. But it is far from the worst I’ve seen this year and I was really interested in the story when watching. I enjoyed it more than a lot of contenders racking up a lot of the Best Picture nominations. I had a great time and loved the visuals and acting. Del Toro just has a certain style that appeals to me.
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This post was found to be inappropriate by the moderators and has been removed.
This post was found to be inappropriate by the moderators and has been removed.There’s no suspense, no dramatic tension, nothing to cling to except for the clearly outstanding production values that can’t save the movie from drowning in its messy tediousness. The pacing is off and the running time is way too long. The characters are empty shells. B-Coop works hard for his money but I didn’t find myself caring about his character one bit. Collette, Mara, and Dafoe are wasted on roles that amount to zero. Blanchett is such an electrifying actor that she stands out but really all she does is her Lauren Bacall 2.0 routine that she could do in her sleep.
ReplyCopy URLThere is a lot of great things about this film. The production design, cinematography and costumes are all beautiful. The performances were mostly great – especially Cooper, Mara and Dafoe. I also enjoyed a lot of the textual and visual references to classic noir films.
However there are things that refrain it from being an amazing film. The screenplay being my main issue, there is such uncertainty regarding the pacing the film is going for, there are abrupt changes in atmosphere throughout the film that adds nothing to the viewing experience, it all just feels like Del Toro and Kim Morgan stitched together ideas for specific moments without much consideration to the coherence of the bigger picture. Especially regarding moments of expectation and payoff, every scene felt like a push and pull of tension that added to absolutely nothing, for example that final office scene where Lilith steals the money she doesn’t needs/wants, shoots Stan but doesn’t kill him, he gets up and starts strangling her but doesn’t kill her and then he just leaves… That was supposed to be the climax, yeah! And with the amount of throw away scenes, one would expect that at least the characters were going to be well developed but nah, all of them felt underwritten – Mara and Blanchett’s characters were VERY weak. Unfortunately I have to mention that in my opinion the worst performance in the film was Toni Collette, how is that possible? I don’t know, but everything about the character and the performance felt ineffective, fake and shallow to me.
In conclusion: Visual feast where Del Toro mostly achieved the ‘noir’ atmosphere he was going for. Very solid performance from Bradley Cooper. Poor job of text adaptation and story development. Underdeveloped supporting characters – even if some actors gave good performances with the limited material. Undecided movie construction that made for a lukewarm viewing experience.
ReplyCopy URLFirst, I thought the marketing strategy for the movie was terrible.
About the movie itself, it has great production values but big problems with its pacing and how the story is narrated. And some of the performances were not bad but a letdown (mainly Cooper in the lead role). In the end it’s not a bad a movie, far from it, but personally I felt it was kinda dull.
It’s deserving of Production Design, and maybe Cinematography and Customes. I thought the Editing and Screenplay were its weakest part so I hope it doesn’t get those noms.
ReplyCopy URLNightmare Alley has one of the most unmemorable scores this season in spite of Nathan Johnson’s commitment who composed an excellent score for Knives Out. Really wish Desplat didn’t drop out of Nightmare Alley.
I think Nightmare Alley missing at the fall festivals was a sign that it would be underwhelming and completely rushed to the end, where post production was still focused on implementing the score and polishing the VFX. Searchlight’s campaign to campaign Mara in lead while campaigning Blanchett in supporting indicates a lack of confidence for Blanchett to be nominated in Lead Actress.
ReplyCopy URLMichelle (Yeoh, Williams) Oscar campaign manager.
FYC:
Best Picture: Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Decision to Leave
Best Director: Park Chan-Wook Todd Field
Best Original Screenplay: Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All At Once
Best Actor: Colin Farrell
Best Actress: Michelle Yeoh, Cate Blanchett, Tang Wei
Best Supporting Actor: Brendan Gleeson, Ke Huy Quan
Best Supporting Actress: Kerry Condon, Nina Hoss
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