The Descendants

Maybe the hype was too much...I have yet to see it, partly because I don't go to the movies (even though it was playing by me for awhile) and partly because I don't handle hospital scenes well....it seems to sad for me. I will catch when it comes to cable....

Descendents comes out on DVD and Blu Ray in 2 days (the 13th). If you have a player you can see it then.

I. ABSOFREAKINLUTELY. LOVED. IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND, I'm looking forward to my DVD arriving!!! George was robbed - he should have gotten that Oscar!!!!!

I agree melbert...100% he was robbed.

Made up for you that you saw it at last !

melbert wrote:I. ABSOFREAKINLUTELY. LOVED. IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND, I'm looking forward to my DVD arriving!!! George was robbed - he should have gotten that Oscar!!!!!

Absolutely. Unfortunately he was run over by a speeding Artist...

I think in the long run though, and film history will show, that George's performance will be more remembered and revered. George is a Hollywood icon with a growing body of important and memorable films; and a legacy as a filmmaker that will leave it's mark on film history. "The Artist" was certainly delightful, but as a lasting footprint it will wash away.

G's films seems to have legs
long ones

I wish I knew the politics behind his loss. The oscar was his and then it wasn't. What happened????

a blackmail
I fear

blubelle wrote:I wish I knew the politics behind his loss. The oscar was his and then it wasn't. What happened????

a blackmail
I fear

I honestly don't think there were sinister politics behind the loss. I genuinely believe that "The Artist" had gathered an unstoppable head of steam at just the right time. Academy voters, even though they are an antiquated bunch in general, do like to reward films about Hollywood and the movies; as well as films that might be seen as something different and therefore *fresh*. "The Artist" fit the bill. I think they saw it as perhaps their one chance to reward not only Jean DuJardin, but the film itself. They probably assume (rightfully so) that there will be future opportunity to reward Clooney. I know there is a tremendous amount of goodwill towards G in Hollywood, so I think it was just unfortunate "The Artist" came along when it did, and that everyone fell in love with it. It is true that timing is everything.

I agree Astras. I also think in the long run, The Artist will be remembered long after The Descendants has been forgotten.

It was such a different and unique film that it'll stand out for a long time.

Won the "Artist" because it is a beautiful and unique film, The descendant is a good movie but not as brilliant as The Artist (remain in the history of cinema), even if George did a great job to interpret Matt King, one of his best performances .

will The Artist remain in the history of cinema?

well... dunno how many went to see it
and how much they liked it....

how many?

Google it I M ?

I agree that The Artist is probably a more memorable movie
though I still think that acting wise - clooney's performance is stronger

Haven't seen the artist yet, but when I saw TD, I walked away feeling what's the bid deal. Think it was all the hype, but later I couldn't quit thinking about TD, so I'm looking forward to having my own DVD and watching it again in my home theater (living room) think I will enjoy it much more second time around. Yes I love this film!

Hey all, I just found a video ETonline, I guess to promote The Descendants' release tomorrow. I don't think anyone has posted this yet and I'm too new to post a link myself.


Text from the site: "George Clooney is a well-known prankster and all-around clown on the movie sets he works on, and we've got an exclusive look at some of his behind-the-scenes dancing and antics on The Descendants, hitting DVD and Blu-ray Tuesday.

George Clooney: 'I Don't Hate All Children'

"He loves to laugh a lot and tell jokes," says Descendants co-producer George Parra, while Descendants author Kaui Hart Hemmings recalls a moment in which Clooney was rapping with her husband: "They knew every single line to Sir Mix-a-Lot and to all these old rap songs. My husband was very impressed with that. Oh, this George Clooney, he's all right."

Judy Greer: Kissing George Clooney Was 'Awesome'

The on-set levity is a welcome distraction from the serious nature of the film's plot, which finds Clooney (nominated for an Oscar for the role) as a caring-but-absentee dad forced to wrangle his kids when his wife falls into a coma. As he weighs a heavy decision involving royal family legacy and inherited land in Hawaii, he discovers that his wife was having an affair behind his back."

Excellent article about the push behind "The Artist," and why it likely won. Two words: Harvey Weinstein.

Source:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

(CNN) -- "The Artist" beat out films from the likes of Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and George Clooney to top honors at the Academy Awards on Sunday -- not bad for a silent, black-and-white French film with no big-name stars.

Director Michel Hazanavicius's love letter to old Hollywood cinema was the undisputed king of the industry's biggest night, garnering five Oscars for best picture, best directing, best costume design, best original music score and best actor.

But was the rise of "The Artist" from contender to best picture winner -- the first silent film to win the award since "Wings" at the first Academy Awards in 1929 -- a triumph of marketing over art?

For many, the film's triumph at the Oscars was a foregone conclusion, the result of a marketing process set in motion months ago by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who snapped up the U.S. distribution rights before anyone at the Cannes film festival had a chance to swoon over the French film last year.

"There wasn't any doubt when it came to the top awards who the winners were going to be," Total Film deputy editor Jamie Graham told CNN. "Harvey is the best in the business at getting that awards attention, and it became clear with 'The Artist' two months ago that this was the film that had caught the tailwind."

The mercurial movie promoter and co-founder of Miramax Films, credited for discovering "Pulp Fiction" director Quentin Tarantino and a string of commercial and critical successes including "The English Patient," "Shakespeare in Love" and last year's "The King's Speech," is famous for harnessing the momentum of his films at the right time and riding waves of publicity to wins at the podium and at the box office.

No sooner had Jean Dujardin taken the top actor award for his portrayal of silent film star George Valentin at Cannes than Weinstein had the film's stars and directors hitting the award campaign circuit to capitalize on its surprise success.

Best actor winner Dujardin walked red carpets around the world as other awards began to flood in. Co-stars Berenice Bejo and John Goodman plugged the film on CNN, and Uggie, the film's canine star, played dead and performed tricks from the film on major news channels on both sides of the Atlantic.

"People who don't play the game tend not to win at the Oscars," said Graham. "You really have to press the flesh and hit the road, and for the last three months their lives would've been dedicated to that."

Empire magazine's Ian Nathan says that by the time the Golden Globe Award nominations came around, the race for Oscar glory had narrowed to a two-horse race between George Clooney's "The Descendants" and "The Artist" -- a race Weinstein's relentless campaign strategy began to win by the end of last year.

"Something about what Harvey managed to do -- getting these three very charming leads and the director out there, getting the dog out there, screening it to everyone who mattered, milking the nostalgia and old Hollywoodness of it -- lifted it from the competitor to the favorite long before the show came around," he told CNN.

"Once one film has a foothold -- once it's become the thing like 'The King's Speech' did last year -- then even Clooney can't compete," he said.

Weinstein's strength, says Nathan, lies in his ability to catch a "middle-brow" film right before it becomes popular and turn it into the frontrunner.

Nathan told CNN: "He's very good at picking the middle-brow films... and the Oscars are a mainstream event which celebrates the best of the middle. Harvey's been a very wily player in that, and you have to give him that credit, he knows how to map that out over a year."
While "The Artist" has punched above its weight at the box office, tallying roughly $76 million in worldwide receipts so far (58% from outside the U.S.), the film didn't receive much of a box office bump following the announcement of Oscar nominations in January, according to Ian Nathan -- especially compared with "The King's Speech," which raked in an estimated $415 million worldwide (66% from international) on its way to winning best picture, actor and director at the 2011 Academy Awards.

"It hasn't made the usual Oscar success money that the 'The King's Speech' did last year," said Nathan. "It's a silent film with a French sensibility, and it's a tougher sell for audiences. But now that it's got all the attention in the world, can that translate to more money?"

While the money may not follow, Nathan says one thing seems certain -- after a relatively dry decade, the back-to-back successes of "The King's Speech" and "The Artist" means Harvey Weinstein is back in business.

"Harvey's come out of his fallow years as the guy to beat at the Oscars," he said. "It's a bit of a second coming -- clearly he's still got a little bit of that magic."

caudata wrote:Hey all, I just found a video ETonline, I guess to promote The Descendants' release tomorrow. I don't think anyone has posted this yet and I'm too new to post a link myself.

Thank you for the post caudata. It's one I'd love to own. The DVD of the "The American" also features George behind the scenes being silly. It's amazing how he can switch from jokester to serious focus in the blink of an eye.

he can switch from jokester to serious focus in the blink of an eye

I still don't understand
how he can do it....

because he is THAT good!

Somehow Astras I don’t quite understand your comments.
I am getting some mixed signals.
In your post above you said : “ I honestly don't think there were sinister politics behind the loss.”

But in the introduction to the article you are saying:

Astras wrote:Excellent article about the push behind "The Artist," and why it likely won. Two words: Harvey Weinstein.

Which means politics were involved.

As I can agree that Weinstein doesn’t have a great reputation , he is known for being ruthless person and often is criticized for his business dealings but so are the others in the movie business. I would assume that all of them have these same techniques, otherwise they would not survived in the entertainment industry.
IMO, it is much easier to understand why Academy members preferred The Artist and Jean Dujardin to The Descendants and George when you can see both films. Which still doesn’t mean that everybody will agree with their verdict. I always thought that Oscar should go to “The Tree of Life”. But this is just my personal opinion.

zizi wrote:Somehow Astras I don’t quite understand your comments.
I am getting some mixed signals.
In your post above you said : “ I honestly don't think there were sinister politics behind the loss.”

But in the introduction to the article you are saying:

Astras wrote:Excellent article about the push behind "The Artist," and why it likely won. Two words: Harvey Weinstein.

Which means politics were involved.

As I can agree that Weinstein doesn’t have a great reputation , he is known for being ruthless person and often is criticized for his business dealings but so are the others in the movie business. I would assume that all of them have these same techniques, otherwise they would not survived in the entertainment industry.
IMO, it is much easier to understand why Academy members preferred The Artist and Jean Dujardin to The Descendants and George when you can see both films. Which still doesn’t mean that everybody will agree with their verdict. I always thought that Oscar should go to “The Tree of Life”. But this is just my personal opinion.

I appreciate your comments, but I don't think I'm sending mixed signals. Of course there are politics involved in awards voting, but in my opinion, nothing sinister directed at George. I don't think George was the target of any seedy mischief. My "two words: Harvey Weinstein," was not a negative statement, merely summing up the article in a tidy nutshell.

Harvey Weinstein is better at what he does than anyone else. I didn't disparage him or his approach. I simply directed people to an article that did an excellent job of explaining how Jean DuJardin edged out Clooney - who at one time was the clear favorite to win. I think I've been fairly consistent in my posts, having mentioned previously that timing is everything - and "The Artist" had very good timing indeed. I thought this article brilliantly illustrated that Harvey Weinstein is a master of timing and PR. Not a thing wrong with that. As you indicated in your statement that "everyone uses these techniques" - everyone campaigns to win. George worked his PR ass off this awards season! And that is not to say that "The Artist" was undeserving. Obviously it was.

I've seen both films and preferred George - because I thought he gave a beautifully layered, nuanced, somewhat quirky, poignant performance. He is one of Hollywood's best actors and one it's brightest stars; and he gave what many believe to be the best performance of his career. That usually brings home the gong, but in this case it was not meant to be because "The Artist" guided by Harvey Weinstein, was not only a unique and delightful film, but it had gathered a full head of steam as it rolled into Oscar season.

But as you said, it's a matter of opinion and this one is mine. But the voters didn't ask me...

Astras wrote....
"..... because I thought he gave a beautifully layered, nuanced, somewhat quirky, poignant performance. He is one of Hollywood's best actors and one it's brightest stars; and he gave what many believe to be the best performance of his career."

Very well put, I agree with that. I really thought there was no contest between him and Jean DuJardin.
But George kept hinting it was to be a French win.

Hi friends!

I love this pic because they are very natural . And Giorgio


[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Yummmmm.....love the pic alriv.

I just bought the Descendents DVD at my local FYE store for $19.99. I'm going to curl up on my couch now and watch it.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

'The Descendants' DVD sneak peek: Hawaiian Style
By Jean Bentley March 13, 2012 10:00 AM ET

The Oscar-winning, George Clooney-starring film "The Descendants" is out on DVD and Blu-ray March 13, and Zap2it has an exclusive first look at one of the special features included on the disc.

The film, which follows Clooney's Matt King, a descendant of Hawaiian royalty, as he decides what to do with a large chunk of land his family inherited, was based on a short story by native Hawaiian Kaui Hart Hemmings and shot entirely in the state.
In Zap2it's sneak peek at "Hawaiian Style," learn what Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Judy Greer and the rest of the cast had to deal with while shooting in what many would consider tropical paradise. Guess what? It's not so glamorous: Wild chickens.
"The Descendants" won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.

for some reason I can't embed the vid itself...
but it's here [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

 [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

how can he emit those sounds????

amazing!!!

cindigirl wrote:I just bought the Descendents DVD at my local FYE store for $19.99. I'm going to curl up on my couch now and watch it.

Have a lovely time with it cindi

Thanks Joanna - I hope everyone call buy it. I especially liked the "Hawaiian" extra part which explains what each Hawaiian expression means.

Getting ready to watch The Descendents now on Pay Per View! Curled up in my favorite chair with a glass of wine and a box of tissues. SOOOO excited!

I have no blu ray

so?
no extras...?

Astras wrote:
But as you said, it's a matter of opinion and this one is mine. But the voters didn't ask me...

Astras, I appreciate your reply. Thank you.

zizi wrote:

Astras wrote:
But as you said, it's a matter of opinion and this one is mine. But the voters didn't ask me...

Astras, I appreciate your reply. Thank you.

It was my pleasure. Any chance I have to ramble on...

I can't remember if I've mentioned this, but I absolutely love the music in "The Descendants." It's a great vehicle to showcase traditional and popular Hawaiian tunes. The music is so intrinsic it's almost like having another character in the film. I mean, let's be honest - before this film, Don Ho and "Tiny Bubbles" pretty much encompassed my exposure to Hawaiian *music*

Loved TD! Watched it on PPV the other day. And it wasn't just George that made the movie great he was right, Alex Payne did a great job at casting. The whole cast seemed to work well together and seemed to fit their character's perfectly.

Hi MyGirl I bought the Descendents DVD, ok I'm a hog, I need to see it a lot of times (5 times so far). Alexander Payne did do a great job of casting. He doesn't direct a whole lot of films but when he does, he's outstanding.

I finally saw TD this weekend and loved it. I've been so disappointed with most movies I've seen lately, but this one was great. I thought all the acting was great.

I finally watched TD and thought it was wonderful! I still think George should have won the best actor award! Alexander Payne did a great job! The casting was terrific and everyone did their part well. Kudos for making me cry! I felt it!

I agree Cinders...I think it's the kind of film that will stand the test of time and still look and sound good in years to come.
I saw it in the cinema and the word "authentic" kept coming into my mind all through it.

Got to wait until May now for the DVD to arrive here....grrrrrr

Not a chance!!! His portrayal didn't convey depth of emotion...
And that glycerin tear by the death bed! Oh, p-l-e-a-s-e!!!

Yeah... yeah....sure, the character was supposedly introverted & taciturn. That was the whole problem with the marriage.

DuJardin was MAGNIFIQUE!!!

Lakin460 wrote:Getting ready to watch The Descendents now on Pay Per View! Curled up in my favorite chair with a glass of wine and a box of tissues. SOOOO excited!

And ? And ?? What did you think ???
You can't just leave us in suspenders like that Lakin

Lovely avatar BTW !

[quote="George CantStandYa"]Not a chance!!! His portrayal didn't convey depth of emotion...
And that glycerin tear by the death bed! Oh, p-l-e-a-s-e!!!

Yeah... yeah....sure, the character was supposedly introverted & taciturn. That was the whole problem with the marriage.

[b]DuJardin was MAGNIFIQUE!!!

George CantStandYa wrote:Not a chance!!! His portrayal didn't convey depth of emotion...
And that glycerin tear by the death bed! Oh, p-l-e-a-s-e!!!

Yeah... yeah....sure, the character was supposedly introverted & taciturn. That was the whole problem with the marriage.

DuJardin was MAGNIFIQUE!!!

I agree with you Joanna - times 3. LOL

And it shows you have to be a certain kind of person to like The Artist more than TD.

YEAH, shortie! AN AMPAS AVALANCHE. White wash!!!
Georgie was annihilated.
He lost; FAIR & SQUARE.

Who took away my + to - red clicking feature???
And there's no clapping smiley...

Joanna wrote:

Lakin460 wrote:Getting ready to watch The Descendents now on Pay Per View! Curled up in my favorite chair with a glass of wine and a box of tissues. SOOOO excited!

And ? And ?? What did you think ???
You can't just leave us in suspenders like that Lakin

Lovely avatar BTW !

Hope this doesn't post twice.....something weird going on...

I LOVED The Descendants!!! Sorry I neglected to give feedback. It is, to date, my fav GC movie, with Good Night and Good Luck a close second. (altho I haven't seen them all.) He definitely showed a vulnerability that just made me love him more.

I laughed and cried. For me, it was thoroughly enjoyable.

As I was sitting in the theater, I laughed out loud and cried out loud, as did everyone else in the place Lakin. Glad you LOVED it!