The Machinist

[ono]

Apparently, Christian Bale lost 65 pounds for this role. They say his performance is Oscar-worthy. We'll see...

Drastic changes in physical appearance != Good acting.  See also: Monster, The Hours, er, um, uh, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason ().  Yes.  We will see.  (I just realized that you wrote that like 9 months ago.  Oh well.  Still.  Point stands.)

[03]

Raging Bull, Full Metal Jacket

[ono]

Yes, but De Niro was a good actor before those changes.  FMJ was D'onofrio's first really big role.  Can't say the same about Theron (though I'll give you Kidman).

[03]

ok; i did not really see your point. i thought that you were suggesting those changes made them act badly. i understand.

[MacGuffin]

Trailer here.

[jonas]

Seeing it tonight, I'm very excited.

Is it me or has the last 4 months really SUCKED movie-wise?

[modage]

Seeing it tonight, I'm very excited.

Is it me or has the last 9 months really SUCKED movie-wise?

its not just you.  i really only love 2 movies this year so far.

[Pubrick]

whatever, this year is awesome.

u might get away with saying sumthing like "the last 4-months", but that's the norm for every year. the best stuff is sposed to be released at the end, to state the obvious.

this year is different cos there's already been some great ones released.

[Chest Rockwell]

This year's friggin' great so far, considering this is the first year I've been following movies closely since the beginning. But seriously: Eternal Sunshine, KB 2, Before Sunset, The Dreamers, and for controversy points Fahrenheit 9/11 (and it's opponents) and Passion of the Christ. And to look forward to in the next couple of months I have Sideways, I Heart Huckabee's (just released here finally), Shaun of the Dead (released here last week and still need to see it), Team America (again, controversy points), Finding Neverland, Brown Bunny, etc. What I find cool is that as far as I know there isn't some movie that's bound to be nominated for every single Oscar this year. It seems like I haven't heard of any big features being made expressly for the purpose of raking in awards. But I don't know--few more months left.

[Ghostboy]

Everything Chest said true. To paraphrase a line from Calvin and Hobbes, there's treasure everywhere.

The Machinist, on the other hand...well, I haven't seen the trailer yet, but I did just watch Session 9 and wasn't impressed. On the other hand, I liked Next Stop Wonderland way back when.

[cine]

I'm going to jump in here and say that yes, this has been a truly great year so far. I really don't care if you only loved 2 movies this year.. as Mini-Gt, I'm forced to take what you say with a grain of salt. Always

As for this year, my Top 15 So Far This Year list is proof of the great stuff this year has seen.

[Ghostboy]

I caught this this morning, and while it's not as bad as Session 9, nor did I think it as unsatisfying as Weak2ndAct did, it's still a real shame that Anderson and Kosar took it in the direction they did, because the atmosphere in general and Bale's performance in particular are incredibly strong. In fact, I thought everything about the movie would have been great, including the ending, if it hadn't been for that stupid mystery character Ivan. His purpose in the plot is evident from frame 1, and he's just annoying and stupid. If that had been cut out, we'd have been left with an eerie and unsettling character drama, sort of like Young Adam. I loved all the scenes where Bale was just talking to people, going about his business, etc. but as soon as the mystery guy would show up I'd lose patience.

But nonetheless, I enjoyed it enough to give it a mild recommendation. And the score really kicks ass -- between this and Bad Education, it's as if Bernard Hermann was still alive and well.

Did anyone catch Lisa Schwarzbaum's review in EW? She gave it a D, and the only reason she seemed to have was that Bale's physique was offensive to the memory of the Holocaust.

And in answer to Weak2ndAct's question about why it was made in Spain, the answer, according to my press kit, is that it was financed entirely by Spanish producers.

[NEON MERCURY]

when this dvd  coming to region 1?  from the posts/reviews here, it seems like a mixed bag but from the look of the film, bale, and the plot it sounds good.

[modage]

netflix says june 7th.

[Kal]

I agree with GhostBoy's comments regarding Ivan. The movie itself was very well done. The music was very good too. Its a shame that Bale had a very good performance, and the sacriface to prepare for the role, and it was ignored by almost everybody.

If anyone really wants to see this, I have a copy of this film that I got from the studio in Spain. One of the investors of this film is actually working with us in one of our films. So if anyone really wants it I can burn/send a copy, as I know its not out on DVD for a while here in the US.