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The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

#1
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7/22/07 at 6:10pm
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Forgive me if there is already a thread on this but I tried the search function and it did not produce any results. Now that I got that out of the way...

I now declare this movie, "The Best Picture of 2007." I've read how good this was and being a musical was somewhat skeptical but after seeing it today, I was just totally moved by it. The singing never felt out of place and actually was realistic when they started to. I really loved this movie and the characters are just so well acted and made me care for them unlike many movies out there. When the movie ended it made me want to see more. In addition, the music was just perfect and brilliant. If there is one independent movie that needs to be recognized come Oscar nomination time, this is the one.


*****/*****

Live Free or DIE!!!!!

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#2
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7/23/07 at 4:06am
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

It was great. Just solid all around. Great music, directing and story.

I have tickets to see Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the film's stars, performing their album 'The Swell Season' live this week at the Brattle Theater.
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#3
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7/23/07 at 12:23pm
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

Copied from the 2007 Film List thread:

Once

A bittersweet, sparse little romance flick that is bound to be overpraised (best movie of the year! rhaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!) by cynics and critics weary of the Summer of Sequels (97% RT ), but can you blame them? I wasn't really feeling it like I wanted to (I was distracted by the belief that the one other patron 10 seats behind me was a serial killer) until that great recording session performance. The same song (which I intend to acquire) was played over a later montage, and is the best of the film. The rest is OK, I found some of the numbers (a generous expression) a bit too long, but Indie Rock fans should have an absolute blast.

Good performances, very low budget affair too, and the terrible theater where such movies end up in my neck of the woods makes it hard to know if the redish tone and somwehat blurry picture is a feature of the movie or the venue. Still, my theater certainly did not introduce the curious onlookers I found in a couple of scenes.

I did feel Once was too short. Probably because it ended not too long after it finally won me over, leaving me wanting for more. You will walk out with a smile on your face for sure.

--

Needless to say, I disagree with title of this thread .

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#4
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7/23/07 at 5:46pm
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

Best film so far, huh? I guess this means you haven't seen License to Wed yet, have you?
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#5
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7/23/07 at 6:25pm
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

Hahaha License to Wed. I was gonna mention Transformers, but hey I think that one takes the cake. Actually Transformers did have some cool action...

Eric
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#6
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7/24/07 at 8:44am
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

Any comments on my complaints about picture quality?

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#7
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7/24/07 at 3:33pm
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

I didn't notice anything specific about the picture quality, so I guess it was unremarkable. I had no/low expectations coming in, though. It did not look obviously bad, like how 30 Days had some visible stairstepping which makes me think it was shot on DV.

As for the movie itself: pretty good, and a few of the songs were catchy, if a bit repetitive. Ratatouille is the best movie I've seen so far in 2007.
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#8
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7/25/07 at 5:04pm
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jose Martinez
Forgive me if there is already a thread on this but I tried the search function and it did not produce any results. Now that I got that out of the way...

Jose,
You can't bank on one of the best films of the year necessarily having a thread here, or once having a thread getting much response.
I'll give you credit for getting my buns into the theater yesterday, thanks!
I'd read repeatedly how good the film was but when I saw your topic header the other day I did not even read your post, I just decided to drive 150 or so miles and catch it.
So glad I did.
The movie capured me very quickly on several levels.
One level was that Glen Hansard reminds me of Harry Nilsson. Another was that Markéta Irglová reminds me of my first wife's hot younger sister.
Afterward I bought the soundtrack.
BTW, ever since I saw The Commitments in 1991 I've wanted to see it again.
Think I'll order it soon, Glen Hansard played guitar in that film at age 21.

From IMDB trivia for "Once".

Warning Spoiler! Click to show
"There is a moment when the guy asks the girl whether she loves her husband. She responds, "No. I love you." However, her response is in unsubtitled Czech, so the man does not understand her - nor do audience members who don't know the language."

I don't know Czech, but I knew immediately from the rhythm and the context what she had said.

"No one would know us there."

-Far From Heaven- (2002)

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#9
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7/26/07 at 4:32am
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

Glen and Marketa played a show at the Brattle theater last night in Cambridge and played a lot of songs from the movie. It was awesome. And, I was lucky enough to meet and hang out with them for about ten minutes afterwards. They are two of the nicest people you could meet. Glen is still trying to get a grasp on having people come up to him on the street and talk about how much they love the movie. He says it's an incredible feeling, but also a bit surreal to him.

He also mentioned that they are going to be taping an appearance for the Tonight Show this weekend, so you may want to keep an eye out in the next week or two for them on the show. I believe he also said they were going to be on the Craig Ferguson show as well.
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#10
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7/26/07 at 12:50pm
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

Althought it vanished from the neck of the woods weeks ago, FOX Searchlight is still (relatively) heavily promoting this one, it's been "advertised" a lot lately on NPR. Weird.

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#11
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7/26/07 at 1:36pm
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

Quote:
He also mentioned that they are going to be taping an appearance for the Tonight Show this weekend
Taped and not live? Anyway, it's Leno on Monday and Ferguson on Wednesday
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#12
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7/26/07 at 3:03pm
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Chan
Taped and not live?

The show is always taped.

"No one would know us there."

-Far From Heaven- (2002)

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#13
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7/26/07 at 7:38pm
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

So they'll probably be on Leno as the second guest and the musical one.

The movie is still doing good business around here.

Regarding the spoiler, I don't think it works for her to mean that.

~T
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#14
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7/26/07 at 10:25pm
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

I liked this movie too. The singing here sometimes feels a lot more immediate or intimate than some other musicals, even though it is presented in a much more bare bones way. The biggest moment at my theater was when the bank loan officer...

I don't know how it's doing at the theater locally, but it's been around for a very long time now.
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#15
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7/27/07 at 2:20pm
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

Quote:
The show is always taped
Sure, but it's "taped live" that day, not on the weekend.
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#16
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7/30/07 at 12:54pm
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

Just saw this yesterday, and did not feel it lived up to the lovefest of praise I've heard for it. It's a wisp of a story built around a handful of decent songs with characters I didn't care that much about. Oh well. . . Just this weekend alone, I saw and liked "Rescue Dawn" much more.
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#17
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7/30/07 at 2:00pm
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

for me the best movies of the year have been Atonement (which I saw at a preview screening, it hasn't come out yet) and Bridge to Terabithia, with Hairspray and Waitress coming in a very close 3 and 4

But Once is actually at the very top of my want to see list.
top 20 films
S&S List 62...212
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#18
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7/30/07 at 2:35pm
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

Knocked Up (I still can't believe I love a comedy this much -- and it's not a fluke I saw it twice), Black Book, Waitress/Transformers for me. There's tons I've yet to see still...

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#19
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2/22/08 at 9:07pm
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Re: The Best Picture of 2007 so far is... "Once"

I enjoyed the musical undercurrents of this film, which filled in the gaps where moments of traditional "character development" happens in most films. The film wears its emotions on each and every musical beat and lyric, and you either go with it, or resist it. Those who go with it are rewarded with a small little film that gives us just a peek into the ground floor of something rather organic and aurally magical against a backdrop of a meeting of the minds musically, and a bond, be it love/friendship, that comes from an unlikely musical collaboration between the guy and the girl that starts on the streets of Dublin. What I enjoyed were the quiet moments where each draws strength from their pairing, each doing for the other what they weren't poised to do on their own in pursuit of a dream, much like notes from different instruments building to support and enrich a musical piece.

I give it 3.5 stars, or a grade of B+.

"Jee-sus, it's like Iwo Jima out there" - Roger Sterling on "Mad Men"
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