Xixax Film Forum

I fucking love this movie.

The dvd is out. I picked it up.

It's the dvd I was looking forward to the most this summer and in my opinion, one of my fav movies for 2002. Transfer is great, deleted scenes are excellent! I wish they would have included some of them in there, like the resturant sequences.

Anyone else pick this excellent buy up today!?


chris

$15 at Target! What a deal.

Being New Line, it's too bad this didn't get the Infinifilm treatment. What's missing is a commentary track. I love Payne's track on "Election"; one of the best commentaries ever. Would've been great to hear what he had to say about this one.

yeah i loved this movie too.  certainly top 10 for 2002.  saw it twice in theatres, picked up the dvd today. cant wait to watch it again.  the extras are pretty skimpy though, yeah i wouldve really liked a commentary for this one.  isnt the election commentary him talking about how he filmed in a "real school with real students" for 2 hours? i cant remember much else about it.

Shit, I wish I'd known about that Target sale before mail-ordering....

Hopefully, my copy will arrive tomorrow.

Payne's commentary (along with some of the cast and crew) on Citizen Ruth is really interesting, too. I love his laid-back yet extremely intelligent way of speaking. He seems like a very cool guy.

i rented this today. i enjoyed it a lot.

it wasn't quite what i was expecting. i remember all the reviews talking about kathy bates a lot. i had the impression that the entire movie was about him dealing with the in-laws and trying to get his daughter to change his mind. i thought it was going to a more in-your-face type comedy. luckily it wasn't, and i was presently surprised.

but really.
was the k.b. and nicholson nudity really needed? i could've done without that.

My problem with the movie (and only problem) is that the family of Kathy Bates is full of really stereotypical people...you would have thought there would have been more depth to those characters.

Quote from: SHAFTRMy problem with the movie (and only problem) is that the family of Kathy Bates is full of really stereotypical people...you would have thought there would have been more depth to those characters.

isnt that what middle america is like?  more stereotypical than say....the characters in Mallrats? or Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back?

Quote from: themodernage02

Quote from: SHAFTRMy problem with the movie (and only problem) is that the family of Kathy Bates is full of really stereotypical people...you would have thought there would have been more depth to those characters.

isnt that what middle america is like?  more stereotypical than say....the characters in Mallrats? or Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back?

No, it isn't what Middle America is like.  Also, I don't think it is fair to compare Mallrats/J&SB Strike Back to About Schmidt.  About Schmidt is a drama first, comedy second; Mallrats and J&SB Strike Back are comedies, with drama not even fitting in there.

I definitely picked this up. It was weird, I didn't really know what to think of it the first time I saw it and then the more I thought about it the more I loved it...then I watched Election and absolutely knew for sure that I had to pick it up. It's a really cool movie. I think Dermot Mulroney steals it, he's so funny just looking at him and hearing his voice.

Quote from: SHAFTRMy problem with the movie (and only problem) is that the family of Kathy Bates is full of really stereotypical people...you would have thought there would have been more depth to those characters.

This is a persistent complaint about the film, but I personally think that Payne really avoids stereotyping people. Kathy Bates's family may be odd, but they certainly don't match any Midwestern stereotype I know of.

"About Schmidt is a drama first, comedy second; Mallrats and J&SB Strike Back are comedies, with drama not even fitting in there."

I completely disagree with you. The film is a comdey; it may have dramatic elements, but it is a really really dry comedy. I find the film hysterical, I love it, and it's easily the best film of 2002.

Quote from: Royal Tenenbaumit's easily the best film of 2002.

ahem...

i thought this was a pta message board!

Quote from: Royal Tenenbaum"About Schmidt is a drama first, comedy second; Mallrats and J&SB Strike Back are comedies, with drama not even fitting in there."

I completely disagree with you. The film is a comdey; it may have dramatic elements, but it is a really really dry comedy. I find the film hysterical, I love it.

i agree. i just didnt feel like arguing alone.

Quote from: themodernage02

Quote from: Royal Tenenbaum"About Schmidt is a drama first, comedy second; Mallrats and J&SB Strike Back are comedies, with drama not even fitting in there."

I completely disagree with you. The film is a comdey; it may have dramatic elements, but it is a really really dry comedy. I find the film hysterical, I love it.

i agree. i just didnt feel like arguing alone.

u film geeks and ur arguing. why do movies have to be cubby-holed into separate sections at blockbuster? all movies are drama, first off, yes? can't about schmidt be a dramatic story with comedic and sentimental elements, along with a whole other shit? geez, dont we have anything better to argue about?

Yeah.. ask me a question about omaha... I live here...

Also.. anywhere you go there are "white trash".. but the stereotype wasn't the purpose of why they are like that...  Its more of an uncomfortable situation for Schmidt to be in...

And yes I actually was cast as an extra but didn't get to the phone in time :(

Humm...I tought this movie was decent. The pace was pretty slow in the first act, I can't relate so much to old people's distress, and I found Kathy Bates family totally out of place as to the rest of the movie.

I might I've liked it more if I hadn't been told to prepare for the best film of 2002. PDL, Habla Con Ella, The Pianist, Adaptation, Laramie Project were much better. I even liked About a Boy a lot more. Anyway, personnal tastes may differ.

Quote from: Booth

I might I've liked it more if I hadn't been told to prepare for the best film of 2002. PDL, Habla Con Ella, The Pianist, Adaptation, Laramie Project were much better. I even liked About a Boy a lot more. Anyway, personnal tastes may differ.

I heard terrible things about The Laramie Project. Is it really worth checking out? The play was actually much, much better (complex and richer) than I'd anticipated.

About Schmidt was in my top 3 of 2002... I guess I just think Alexander Payne is to Omaha as PTA is to the San Fernando Valley.

i think its hilarious that every single time somebody is making a speech/toast in the movie they end up talking about themselves.  i cringe every time it happens.  there are so many hilarious touches in this movie that are so true to the way people are.