tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-859290034031232542.post7782408909193808157..comments2023-12-09T00:47:34.811-07:00Comments on Blog Cabins: Movie Commentary and Reviews Made Fun: Fletch's Film Review: W.Fletchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299302086449086987noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-859290034031232542.post-35437650507915051842008-10-30T11:47:00.000-07:002008-10-30T11:47:00.000-07:00Really solid review here, Fletch. One of your best...Really solid review here, Fletch. One of your best of the year, I would say.<BR/><BR/>I agree on pretty much all counts but Newton and Wright, who I was thrilled and disappointed by, respectively.<BR/><BR/>I think people will look back on this movie in 15 years and appreciate it more than most have right now.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05222052132452709301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-859290034031232542.post-78286182771069240722008-10-24T13:22:00.000-07:002008-10-24T13:22:00.000-07:00Josh Brolin did a convincing Dubya, though he remi...Josh Brolin did a convincing Dubya, though he reminded me a lot of his cowboy character from No Country for Old Men... over all, i don't doubt that 'W.' will have the effect Oliver Stone desiredAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-859290034031232542.post-44920083310955616122008-10-23T11:28:00.000-07:002008-10-23T11:28:00.000-07:00I thought Brolin did a great job as did Jeffrey Wr...I thought Brolin did a great job as did Jeffrey Wright. Thandie seemed to play a caricature of Rice and it seemed strange.<BR/><BR/>Overall though, I was surprised at how boring this movie was. You can say a lot about Stone, but you can't say he's a boring filmmaker - except with this one. If it weren't for my faithful sweettarts I would have fallen asleep. And my wife did a couple of times.<BR/><BR/>And you can also say what you want about Bush, but you can't say that his 8 years have been uneventful. And yet this film didn't seem to cover too much ground from his term standpoint. <BR/><BR/>It seems that in Stone's quest to be not too one-sided, he delivered a movie that was too straight down the middle.PIPERhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13054305230216613759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-859290034031232542.post-57454773549621406042008-10-23T08:37:00.000-07:002008-10-23T08:37:00.000-07:00I luuuuuurrrved Jeffrey Wright. He was my favorite...I luuuuuurrrved Jeffrey Wright. He was my favorite part of the movie, actually.Nayana Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16332782426894904414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-859290034031232542.post-90922905333899475582008-10-22T19:05:00.000-07:002008-10-22T19:05:00.000-07:00My biggest complaint was the humor side. You can h...My biggest complaint was the humor side. You can have a drama without it being grim; there was no need to throw in the humor. I've got a Bush quote of the day calendar. I've heard those flubs before, as has everyone else. So to throw in "misunderestimate" and "Is our children learning" was <I>totally</I> extraneous. It killed the tone, which I thought was Daily Show/Michael Moore business aside, really engaging.Clive Dangerouslyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02973665107340815862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-859290034031232542.post-85200886013173511222008-10-22T18:16:00.000-07:002008-10-22T18:16:00.000-07:00Shawn - It's true, there's not too much depth, but...Shawn - It's true, there's not too much depth, but then again, the same could be said for Bush himself. ;) But seriously, I didn't have a problem with that. Stone chose an angle - the beginnings of the Iraq War and how Bush's youth and lead-up to the Presidency affected the decisions later made - and stuck with that. <BR/><BR/>Robb - haha. Yeah, I would have survived just fine having not seen this in the theater, as I too am sick of the man, but I have a much higher capacity for him when the portrayal isn't too positive (this, Fahrenheit 9/11, Maher, etc.).<BR/><BR/>Nayana - just because Laura is pushed to the background IRL doesn't necessarily mean she should have been an afterthought in the movie as well. They've been married for what, more than 20-25 years, right? Surely, she has plays a bigger role in his life than as a cheerleader. My point was, for such an insignificant role, why bother even getting Banks?<BR/><BR/>As to yours and Pat's points on Thandie - to be fair, Condi sounds pretty cartoony IRL. <BR/><BR/>As for Wright, I thought he was great as usual, capturing the spirit of Powell (or at least, of the role) without resorting to an impersonation (the same could be said of Cromwell and Dreyfus). Brolin, while giving a great one, was still essentially doing an impersonation.Fletchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17299302086449086987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-859290034031232542.post-57791865654530878602008-10-22T18:00:00.000-07:002008-10-22T18:00:00.000-07:00Nice review, Fletch. You pretty succintly capture...Nice review, Fletch. You pretty succintly capture the tone of the film. (and characterizing Bush as having "aspirations beyond his intellect" is dead on - for both the movie Bush and the real one!)<BR/><BR/>I'm with Nayana on Thandie Newton - her Condoleeza voice sounded weird and cartoony to me. Ditto for Jeffrey Wright, who neither looked nor sounded anything like Colin Powell. But those are minor quibbles. It was a damn entertaining movie, and Josh Brolin was fantastic.Patricia Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15394997608325540950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-859290034031232542.post-78725970089519716962008-10-22T08:30:00.000-07:002008-10-22T08:30:00.000-07:00I enjoyed W., though I didn't see Lorne Michaels i...I enjoyed <I>W.</I>, though I didn't see Lorne Michaels in it as much as you did. I couldn't handle Thandie Newton... But I have to beg to differ with you on Elizabeth Banks. I thought she was fantastic. She was absolutely pushed to the background... but so is Laura, really.<BR/><BR/>And hey, how about Jeffrey Wright?Nayana Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16332782426894904414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-859290034031232542.post-15033710783457506312008-10-21T19:41:00.000-07:002008-10-21T19:41:00.000-07:00You are a stronger man than I am. No way I could ...You are a stronger man than I am. No way I could watch this movie, any more than I could watch either of the 9/11 movies. Maybe in 30 years. If I tried now I'd just be mad through most of it. lolRobbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01360501621610946324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-859290034031232542.post-8502271890193755252008-10-21T16:30:00.000-07:002008-10-21T16:30:00.000-07:00I agree almost 100% with your review. I found Brol...I agree almost 100% with your review. I found Brolin perfect and the supporting cast pretty amazing as well. I also found Stone to be pretty even handed with the portrait of Bush that he portrays. He kind of lets his exploits speak for themselves. What I didn't like though was it's basic lack of any real depth. It tries with the W and Poppy daddy issues and Jeb the favorite son and so on, but it ultimately fails in this respect. At least it did for me. Anyways, I'll have my own review up soon. I might as well just copy and paste this comment.Dead Panhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14948105275239152520noreply@blogger.com