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Best Picture 2016 - Spotlight

LLJsmom

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Oct 24, 2012
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So I rented this movie the day before the Oscars. I didn't know it was nominated. I am a sucker for movies about journalism, and I loved all the actors in it, so I thought, yeah, why not.

I usually never start threads about this, but I still find myself thinking about the movie a lot, looking up pieces on it and the true people, and just understanding what happened. So I'm just wondering about other people's thoughts about this movie, if they've seen it.

I thought the movie was authentic, well-acted and impactful. I watched it three times in two days. I am fascinated by the process of deciding a story is important and the research required to uncover it, and everything that entails. And as to the subject itself, I'm just speechless and cannot begin to articulate how I feel about it. It punched me in the gut, without in any way, obviously trying to wring tears out of me. None of the characters chewed up the dialogue. No war, car chases, love triangles, final confrontation with a gun. It's basically about people working hard to accomplish something that they knew was the right thing to do.

I did not watch any of the other movies nominated. So when I say it deserved taking the best picture award, it's a very biased opinion. I am glad it won.

I have no specific question except to ask what people's thoughts are on it, if any...
 
I haven't seen it, but am going to watch it this weekend! I find the topic very interesting.

I'd seen Bridge of Spies, the revenant, mad max and the martian. The only other movie I thought was possibly worth it was the Martian. IMO the others weren't 'best picture' worthy, so I'm very interested to see Spotlight and how it compares.
 
Hot damn, lady! i was expecting to see some diamond **** when I clicked!

I do not do a good job of keeping up with current movies. I did watch Creed the other night - nominated for best supporting actor - S Stallone. My DH likes his Sly Stallone movies! I didn't expect to like it, but I got choked up towards the end. :eek: :shock:
 
telephone89|1456846887|3997876 said:
I haven't seen it, but am going to watch it this weekend! I find the topic very interesting.

I'd seen Bridge of Spies, the revenant, mad max and the martian. The only other movie I thought was possibly worth it was the Martian. IMO the others weren't 'best picture' worthy, so I'm very interested to see Spotlight and how it compares.

Telephone, I early await your opinion, especially since you've seen the others. I did actually see the Martian earlier, and I didn't find it worthy of a best picture nomination. It reminded me too much of Apollo 13, and I enjoyed Apollo 13 a lot more. But that is beside the point. My DH and son loved the Martian so I do understand that some people loved it. I do think Matt Damon did a great job in it too. I am sure his time will come.

I tried to watch mad max, but I fell asleep. I will try again.
 
PintoBean|1456848198|3997885 said:
Hot damn, lady! i was expecting to see some diamond **** when I clicked!

I do not do a good job of keeping up with current movies. I did watch Creed the other night - nominated for best supporting actor - S Stallone. My DH likes his Sly Stallone movies! I didn't expect to like it, but I got choked up towards the end. :eek: :shock:

My DH and son really enjoyed it too. I am looking forward to seeing this.
 
DH and I went to see it in the theatre. We both really enjoyed it and had several conversations about it after. We were both surprised that it took so long to have this come to light. DH and I thought the actors were well cast. :clap:

Eta - I usually go to see any movie with Mark Ruffalo in it. I think he is very talented. :dance:
 
LLJsmom|1456850689|3997921 said:
telephone89|1456846887|3997876 said:
I haven't seen it, but am going to watch it this weekend! I find the topic very interesting.

I'd seen Bridge of Spies, the revenant, mad max and the martian. The only other movie I thought was possibly worth it was the Martian. IMO the others weren't 'best picture' worthy, so I'm very interested to see Spotlight and how it compares.

Telephone, I early await your opinion, especially since you've seen the others. I did actually see the Martian earlier, and I didn't find it worthy of a best picture nomination. It reminded me too much of Apollo 13, and I enjoyed Apollo 13 a lot more. But that is beside the point. My DH and son loved the Martian so I do understand that some people loved it. I do think Matt Damon did a great job in it too. I am sure his time will come.

I tried to watch mad max, but I fell asleep. I will try again.
I'll be sure to come back with my thoughts!

I liked the martian as an overall. Mad max - I'm surprised it won SO MANY awards. It was good, kind of like a non-stop rollercoaster. No time to really catch your breath between action scenes. The revenant was the other front runner for Best Picture, and while I thought it was good, it just wasn't BP to me, I can't put my finger on why.
 
Rockinruby|1456857313|3997978 said:
DH and I went to see it in the theatre. We both really enjoyed it and had several conversations about it after. We were both surprised that it took so long to have this come to light. DH and I thought the actors were well cast. :clap:

Eta - I usually go to see any movie with Mark Ruffalo in it. I think he is very talented. :dance:

I enjoy watching Mark Ruffalo too. I did love that it was an ensemble cast. I especially enjoyed Liev Schrieber's performance as Marty Baron. This editor was very honest and commanding and full of integrity, yet without all the yelling and screaming. I also really enjoyed Stanley Tucci's performance as the low drama crusading attorney, who fought for the victims that no one else cared about. The movie made me care about and respect all the characters. It also showed clearly how wide spread the abuse was and how many had to find a way on their own to cope with the abuse. They didn't even go into the ones that took their own lives, but you knew some did.
 
I followed these particular Spotlight reports as the Globe published them (have family and friends in the Boston area, I lived in Boston while in law school), so although the subject matter wasn't new to me, I was curious to see how it would be treated in the film, discover who was included in the movie, see how they were brought to life.

As I'd hoped, it is a quiet film, not a theatrical one despite its inherent turbulence. Certain aspects made the film seem especially real to me. E.g., the bits -- beyond the scenes involving Cardinal Law and the local Catholic Church as an institution -- that give glimpses into how "insular" Boston was, even less than 15 years ago; the willingness to show that "good guys" can be flawed, aren't necessarily unadulterated super heroes. I liked the fact that the film didn't gloss over the "grooming", the impact of the sex abuse on the victims, and the circling of wagons, but is not lurid/graphic, so it's appropriate for a wider range of audiences.
I thought it was also good that the brief scenes involving Sacha Pfeiffer (portrayed by Rachel McAdams) and her South Boston grandmother did not end up on the cutting room floor; the last of those, showing (not in words, but by demeanor and facial expression) her pious grandmother coming to grips with the horrid secrets is a foreshadowing of the wrestling with reality so many others in Boston and beyond did after the expose's publication and subsequent reports.

You might be interested, LLJsMom, to know that a friend of my sister-in-law who has known Phil Saviano (the SNAP activist) for many years through her cousin, as well as a law school classmate of mine who was in the same firm as Eric MacLeish (played by Billy Crudup) at the time, think the script and the actors "nailed" the personas of both men. Mr. MacLeish has taken issue with the film's portrayal of him, factually speaking; don't know if he has seen the film since he made this Facebook posting:
https://www.facebook.com/eric.macleish/posts/922406084502403
https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2015/11/10/attorney-eric-macleish-who-represented-victims-spotlight-saga-objects-his-portrayal-but-hasn-seen-movie/qcvUdQTa84yvAqvKexV86K/story.html

My former law school classmate also steered me to this 2010 Globe article about Mr. MacLeish that I'd not seen before; it too packs an emotional punch:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/04/18/the_hole_in_the_heart_of_a_star/
 
This is the only movie I have ever seen in the theater where everyone left in silence. Literally, no one spoke. It was well done but I left feeling very depressed.
 
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