Deneil

5 but after the gold rush at least 5+!

Since I've been writing comments about this film on various blogs for two days now (considering that many see it as just a little movie), I'll just copy and paste something I've already written:
I found the film truly empty, a complete void incarnate.
Starting from overly simplistic metaphors that can’t be considered delicate, moving through a direction filled with long and pointless, heartbreaking close-ups and images of bewildering rhetoric (that flag at the end… please…), ending with a finale set to music (at least we all agree on this) and, in my opinion, rather lackluster acting performances (Sarandon does her best but appears for 5 minutes, Theron does excellently, and Tommy seems like a statue, though I understand there may be differing opinions about the last one).
In my opinion, the film maxes out at a 5… really just to be generous, as it slightly surpasses that other masterpiece of banal rhetoric, World Trade Center by Oliver Stone (but nothing and no one is saved there). As I was reminded, even the script of Million Dollar Baby wasn’t perfect with that family of puppets she found herself with… I can’t speak on Crash because I haven’t seen it yet, but having witnessed this disgrace leaves me with many doubts about whether I want to see it or not.
In short: rhetorical, slow, and searching for the easy and false tear of the audience, this film has it all to convince me not to watch another film by Haggis.
I’m not looking for cryptic depths, but “In the Valley of Elah” feels more to me like a dramatic film for a Channel 5 afternoon rather than a work by someone who has won an Oscar… and very likely (I hope) it will end up just like that in those afternoons twenty years from now.
When it is finally recognized, after the tenth film by Elah, that it isn’t made for directing.
In my opinion, the camera movements follow the characters because Haggis has nothing else to show us other than the faces of his protagonists; in short, we don’t know where to find an image, a right space, so we rely entirely on the actors. They can tell us more than a thousand shots.
The characters’ gazes obviously aim beyond because Haggis’s film strictly follows all the classic rules of Hollywood cinematography (which isn’t a flaw, but here it becomes one).
I mentioned that there could be differing opinions about Tommy; indeed, his performance, which I don’t care for in this film, could also be appreciated.
There’s no doubt that her family comes off as puppet-like (I’m rewatching the scenes now and becoming more convinced).
I don’t think it’s necessary to cry… I didn’t express myself well before, but it’s the sad reflection that Haggis wants to convey that is irritating.
What work on the characters??? Sarandon is barely sketched out (and not because she appears little; it’s such a simplistic character that it feels like you’re in a Channel 5 movie!), the soldiers are caricatures, Theron’s son is just a child so let’s leave him aside, Theron is the classic cop discriminated against by her colleagues although I save her, and Tommy is the most predictable and classic character ever seen.
I won’t elaborate further on the final flag because I really wanted to leave when I saw the son’s little bundle with the flag and him going outside to hang it up like at the beginning of the film...
There are other points but I hope I’ve been clear enough.

baaaastaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! I'm arguing with those two or three bloggers who still insist on considering this a good film... it's annoyingly rhetorical, slow like few, and seeks to elicit false tears from the audience. Besides this, from the very first image you'll already know how the film ends, the script is terrible to the point that all the characters seem like puppets, and Tommy with his two expressions did not appeal to me at all (but I understand this can vary from person to person, Theron holds her ground and Sarandon is wasted crying in the 5 minutes she appears).
In short, a decidedly bad film, keep your money for something else and let's hope Haggis returns to writing scripts for capable directors because here there is even a directing mess that is quite bothersome.

@poletti: "the same flaw as The Lord of the Rings, the grandiloquence never turns into true spectacle"... and tell me, Poletti, when does it become a spectacle?? I want an example...

Farinotti is a fool and we all understand that, but I believe that the opinion of more people (obviously I’m not talking about Boldi's admirer... but then again, maybe I am) when appropriately compared, can be much more useful than any clueless critic. And keep in mind that among bloggers (I’m not talking about forums because usually in forums you meet fans...) there are people who are very well-prepared.

Ah well, if Morandini gives it 8/10, it's worth seeing... but for heaven's sake... I’ve eliminated the critics and only take into account the cross-referenced ratings from dozens of blogs run by completely different people... finally, I've found the antidote to official criticism... it’s a bit hard to follow everything but definitely better than the sterile rating of a "critic" (and let's not even talk about Farinotti, for goodness’ sake….)

I have the original.. grunge heart??? Well.. you must like a bit of crossover otherwise the Cold are hard to digest. Anyway, the track by track review is always a bit boring.. the album?? I'd say 3 and a half stars..

The best album is undoubtedly Deja Vu.. followed by the first and the self-titled one (okay, 4 Way Street too, but that’s not new material).. then there's the latest one they've made.. I haven't heard it yet, but just from the horrifying cover I’m scared.. and then you mentioned Landing on the Water.. brrrrrrr..

I agree with oleinar, but for the first time I don't quite align with the rating. I've listened and re-listened to this album, as I do with all of Neil's albums, and while at first it might seem a bit off, after a few listens it really picks up! Then I put on Deja Vu and listened quite a bit to that too, and what comes out is a 3... no more, no less. The album has some good moments (incredible that Stills has written something decent for the first time in ages!), but unlike Deja Vu, the four of them seem disconnected. It's true that the hallmark of CSNY has always been that they are a group of individual excellent musicians, each giving their own little contribution to each other's songs, but here the disconnection among the four is too evident! In short, it's a good record but nothing more... I would place it on the same level as Silver & Gold, if that helps... that one also gets a 3... for example, I would give a 4 to Prairie Wind...

no for heaven's sake it's a term of my own that I use to indicate certain ridiculous individuals who dress like the worst "truzzi" in town..now..since I live in the north but in a town that's 90% Sicilian and Neapolitan..including my dad..with "terronaggine" I refer to those Neapolitan guys in town that you see in the square and you just pull your hair out..I don't know how to explain it to you..it's the suburban "truzzo" who's even worse than the one in the city because he has intelligence between his shoes..anyway, I repeat, the Avenged Sevenfold have a very high level of "terronaggine"!