So Tony Scott and Manohla Dargis, his new partner in film reviewing, handicap the fall movie season in today’s NYT. Now about the new kid: she praises David O. Russell and Alexander Payne in the same sentence, so she can’t be entirely, irredeemably, Joyce Wadler-style crazy, but the only possible explanation I can come up with is it’s a cry for help:
Even if Before Sunset doesn’t make huge sacks of money, it will probably be one of the best if not the best film [Warner Brothers] puts out this year. It’s too small to get Oscar recognition, because those dolts in the academy rarely look at a movie that tiny, but big Warners has to understand that this movie has great worth.
Before Sunset just about drove me INSANE. Those two jabbery narcissists deserved each other; the Ethan Hawke character’s invisible wife must plop into a Calgon bath as soon as he walks out the door for his book tour.
Did someone mention walking? I haven’t seen such a pointless randonnee since Gerry. But with its incessant, empty banter, Before Sunset is almost the exact opposite of Van Sant’s nearly dialogue-free buddy pic. Before Sunset is the anti-Gerry. And you’ve gotta pick your poison; you’re either a Gerry person or a Before Sunset person. Unless you’re Manohla Dargis, who apparently loved both. Move over, Joyce.
The Best Movies We’ve Never Seen [NYT A&L]
Related: greg.org on Gerry