What Wine Are You All Cracking Open for the Oscars?

originally posted by Steve Guattery:
originally posted by VLM:
originally posted by Steve Guattery:

I've been a fan of "I, Claudius" since I first saw it on PBS. It's great, over-the-top performances and all...
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I would call the performances "stagey" rather than over the top. This si essentially a play on the screen.
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I'll grant you stagey, though I still think John Hurt was over the top, not that it doesn't work in that part. I also recall that Brian Blessed as Augustus is always playing to the back balcony. I think the staginess is more a result of using a lot of stage actors than the adaptation of the books.
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Oh, yes. Agreed. Almost the creme of the British stage at the time. Pretty cool.

As you said, Sin Phillips was breathtaking.
 
So I take it that you don't concur with the NYT's assessment that Meryl Streep was OTT in this film?
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Oh, she's a touch hammy here and there, but she shows a great diversity of emotions... concerned, crafty, shocked, not shocked, sincere, crusty....

Really. I find PS-H to be an incredibly fine actor and I've loved everything I've seen of him.
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Agreed. I wanted very much to like him more, but he ends up emitting a sort of nervous bettor vibe that is too one-note.
 
I remember I Claudius from when I first saw it when I was still, more or less, in grad school. Those were the high palmy days of Masterpiece Theater. It led me to read the two Robert Graves novels (OK novels but better historical melodrama than even the Masterpiece Theater version). I haven't seen Rome yet but an account of Roman history without sex and violence would surely be ahistorical.
 
originally posted by VLM:
SnoozeI watched Vicky, Christina, Barcelona.

I mean, it was OK. A nice little film, but hardly wonderful and Penelope Cruz was fine I guess. But outstanding?
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I was going to watch this on the plane today but instead went with 'Scoop', which was pretty bad aside from a few funny Woody Allen lines. Although as bad and as skewed as his portrayal of the Londoners was, I tried to enjoy it just for the humor of it by not taking it seriously as 'film'.

And was Johansson as awkward and terrible in VCM as she was in Scoop? I thought she was better than that. Or is that the result of no editing and no re-shooting.
 
I have never even considered watching the Oscars.

Except for that one time I went to an 'Oscar party'. Although that wasn't really about the Oscars was it.
 
I have never even considered watching the Oscars.
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Oh my god, I am so so sorry.

Seriously, it's okay, we're all here for you, and we all have things about us that might seem odd to others. This is a safe place, no one here is judging.

But yes, Oscar parties are pretty much about the Oscars. It's right there in the name, like, say, Super Bowl party, or SATC party. Sometimes there are competitions about who gets the most picks right, stuff like that. They can be a lot of fun.
 
originally posted by Chris Coad:
But yes, Oscar parties are pretty much about the Oscars. It's right there in the name, like, say, Super Bowl party...
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Maybe in your crowd, with actual actors and all.

But one big difference between Super Bowl parties and Oscar parties is that most of the Super Bowl 'parties' I have been to are not really parties. They are more like a bunch of guys sitting around watching television. The Oscar parties I have been to have involved many more women and hence much less television watching.

But thus could just be a personal thing.
 
I actually don't know any actors anymore, just winegeeks and doctors.

Maybe it's some kind of regional difference. I can't see how you'd have an Oscar party and not watch the Oscars. Are these friends of yours of the Amish persuasion, by any chance?
 
I can't imagine what kind of shenanigans you crazy kids could get up to on Oscar night, so I'll just have to take your word for it.

I did once attend a Super Bowl party at Jay Miller's house. Jay Miller doesn't own a television; it was very frustrating.
 
originally posted by Chris Coad:
I can't imagine what kind of shenanigans you crazy kids could get up to on Oscar night, so I'll just have to take your word for it.

I did once attend a Super Bowl party at Jay Miller's house. Jay Miller doesn't own a television; it was very frustrating.
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How did you watch the ads? Doesn't everybody watch the Super Bowl for the ads?
 
Back in the day I once attended a so-called "Super Bowl party" where the host opened a half-dozen bottles of Latour stretching from 1970 back to 1949.

No one watched the game. It was just an excuse to pop corks. I have no idea who won. Well, maybe the '59.
 
originally posted by Chris Coad:
I can't imagine what kind of shenanigans you crazy kids could get up to on Oscar night, so I'll just have to take your word for it.

I did once attend a Super Bowl party at Jay Miller's house. Jay Miller doesn't own a television; it was very frustrating.
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You did that twice. But when I sent out the invitations I had no idea the Superbowl was on that night. Since then I've discovered it's a great night for grocery shopping. No lines!
 
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