Two movies in one week; new record for me!

Forums: Film, Sundance Film Festival, Robert Downey Jr, Jamie Foxx, Immigration From South America
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Last week, I went to see Sin Nombre about immigrants from South America traveling up to the US. I went to see this movie, because a "new" Japanese-American director from Oakland who won an award at the Sundance Film Festival for this movie. It was a "good" movie, but not a great one for me.

I went to see Soloist today; it's a true story about a writer at the Los Angeles Times, Steve Lopez (played by Robert Downey Jr) who gets involved with a homeless guy (played by Jamie Foxx) who plays a two stringed violin in a park with a statue of Beethoven. Steve Lopez gets interested in writing about Ayers, and finds out he once attended Julliard. The story really builds up from there, but things gets a bit complicated because of Ayers mental illness. It's a very good movie that I highly recommend.

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@cicerone imposter,

Lopex used to write for the Philly Inquirer as an investigative and feature reporter. He was always entertaining. I heard that the movie took some "liberies" with his book. I dont know, I havent read or seen either. I got "SUCKERED" into renting Marley and ME and was totally bored out of my skull.(another Philly Inquirer ex reporter).
The only(living) ex Philly reporter that I like to see movies made from his works is MArk Bowden

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@farmerman,

Many movies take theatrical license somewhat removed from the factual records to make them more entertaining or emotional. However, it's about a classical musician, so I really enjoyed the movie. I even react emotionally to fictional stories in movies, so I'm an easy target.

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@cicerone imposter,

Lopez was on the radio last week and was explaining to Terry Gross (FRESH AIR), how Jamie Foxx was trained to "lip synch" like hes playing the cello and several other of the instruments that Ayers plays.

Lopez always had a great eye for lifes unnoticed little vignettes. He did a story about bums that lived beneath Philly in the train tubes and how they would cook pigeons and rats over fire barrels, and how they lived their existence in the margins of the city's basement and kept themselves warm by dwelling in the radiant heat that a city puffs out. We lost a great writer here.
I always liked Jamie Foxx. His role as Ray Charles (my favorite make singer of all time), was really a great piece of acting.

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Well, CI, here is something we can totally agree on.
My wife and I went and saw "Soloist", and I thought it was a great film, one I would see again.
I have always liked Robert Downey Jr, and I cant recall a film he was in that I didnt like.
I wont be surprised to see this film win at the Oscars.

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@mysteryman,

I'm glad to see the "Soloist" reviews. The movie looked very interesting, but the tomato rater scores haven't been that good.

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@engineer,

I have very little use for "professional" reviewers.
IMHO, anybody that would decide to see or not see a movie or a play, or to read or not read a book, based on what some reviewer says, isnt very smart.

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@mysteryman,

I'm a long time fan of Lopez and know the film story pretty well.
I'm a long time movie buff, though not so much lately. I used to follow Pauline Kael's movie takes, not because I blindly follow critics, but because whenever I'd seen a movie and then her review, she was spot on re my own opinion most of the time. So, if she reviewed something before I saw it, I would keep her comments in mind but be open to disagreement. And that mode has been my way for the decades since, re checking critics' views.

The negatives I've picked up about the Soloist would likely grate on me too; for example, from Kenneth Turan in the LA Times, a couple of days ago. I won't link that so as not to be a 'spoiler'.

Will be interested to see what you all think.

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@ossobuco,

Dont get me wrong, I'm not saying that critics and reviewers dont have a place, or that they should be ignored.
I just dont believe that anyone should use what someone else says as the sole reason for seeing or not seeing a movie.

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@mysteryman,

Ok, we can agree on that..

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@ossobuco,

osso, I would really like to see Pauline Kael's review of the Soloist. It probably won't change my mind, but her review might reveal something I'm missing when I view movies. However, as in all art forms, we all have our subjective likes and dislikes, and I find nothing wrong with that.

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@cicerone imposter,

CI, Pauline Kael died years and years ago. Kenneth Turan is the recent reviewer I was talking about.
I'll see if I find a link to the article.

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@ossobuco,

Oh, ho ho ho. I just read a long review of the movie in the LATimes by Turan yesterday, and today it is very hard to find, with a short video replacing it in the LA Times (involved in some ways with the movie, including providing a set), and a lot of the movie review sites on google just showing a much shortened summary of his displeasure.

The good news is I found an interesting movie review site (in general) and it gives a wide view of many Soloist reviews, many of which at first glance really appreciate the movie. And, at the end of the reviewers listed is Turan - with a link to the full copy of his review. Hah, that brings me back to the short video.
Turan has been squelched.
Now that aggravates me.

But here's the link to that interesting lots-of-reviews-in-one-place site -
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/soloist

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@engineer,

I tried wandering around "Tomatoes" and I didnt see a long review of Soloist. Im interested in what they had to say about Jamie Foxx's performance.

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@farmerman,

The long Turan review, now squelched, liked Foxx's performance.

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@ossobuco,

Adds, if I were Turan, I'd be livid.

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@ossobuco,

osso, Thanks for that link. I think Roger Ebert missed the message of the movie. LOL

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Two movies in one week; new record for me!

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