What's new

The Favourite (2018) (1 Viewer)

Tino

Taken As Ballast
Premium
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 19, 1999
Messages
23,565
Location
Metro NYC
Real Name
Valentino
I guess some here just have different definitions of what is and isn’t “pornographic.” Which is fine.
 

Winston T. Boogie

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 31, 2004
Messages
11,601
Location
Agua Verde
Real Name
Pike Bishop
Actually I’m not saying that at all.

I just don’t want people to be misinformed or misled unintentionally.

Well, it is hard to know what people will think is pornographic. I mean it includes anything a person might interpret as obscene, lewd, or crude. And this means language as well, it does not have to be graphic nudity and sex acts.

So, while you and I likely do not see what is in The Favourite as pornographic, some other people do.

Who is right?

All I am saying is that is for the individual to decide for themselves. While I love this guy's films I am totally open and understanding of the idea other people may see watching one as "torture" and I am OK with that.
 

Tino

Taken As Ballast
Premium
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 19, 1999
Messages
23,565
Location
Metro NYC
Real Name
Valentino
First time I’ve done this.

I just preordered the iTunes 4K version for $14.99 out this Tuesday February 12.

As a rule,I never pay more than $9.99 for a new release but this was a special circumstance as the Blu Ray isn’t released until March 5 and there are currently no plans to release it physically on UHD/4K.
 

Jake Lipson

Premium
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2002
Messages
24,493
Real Name
Jake Lipson
There is no graphic nudity in the film. At all.

As I mentioned it has a few female topless scenes. And a simulated sex scene in a brothel in the background where nothing is shown.

Everything else is implied.

If The Favourite was pornographic, it would have been rated NC-17 by the MPAA and most theaters wouldn't show it. I also think the Academy probably would not have decorated it so highly if their members felt it was pornographic.

It is rated R for "strong sexual content, nudity and language" -- all of which is fair and accurate, so in this case, the rating is an accurate description of what the film contains. If Terry and his wife didn't like it, that is of course their opinion and it is valid. But @Tino is also right in his description of what is shown and what is implied.

The bottom line is the same as what I've been saying since I was the first person here to see the movie:

It's slightly less weird than Lanthimos' other films, but is still definitely a thoroughly unconventional take on a period costume film which won't be to everyone's taste.

That last part is entirely consistent with Lanthimos' directing style. It's just that this film is getting more attention than his last two did, so more audiences are discovering it and some might not like what they're seeing.
 
Last edited:

TJPC

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2016
Messages
4,820
Location
Hamilton Ontario
Real Name
Terry Carroll
I find many movies that I don’t necessarily enjoy “interesting”. I found “The Favorite” interesting. My wife does not get the distinction.

I don’t think we are prudes, or religious at all, just 2 retired people who tend to socialize with a somewhat older crowd. Until she recently passed away we often took her mother with us to most movies. Strange to relate, her mother, who loved Quentin Tarantino movies for instance, would probably have enjoyed it. My wife would have been mortified!

I go to the movies really to be entertained. The major failings here for us is the fact that the movie was not historically accurate. I can put up with the silly camera angles, the wacky dancing and even the mind numbing music, but to our minds, this is only pretentious twaddle for the in crowd without a compelling story. Pardon me, I have to go eat my kale salad with Spanish Aioli dressing. ;)
 

Tino

Taken As Ballast
Premium
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 19, 1999
Messages
23,565
Location
Metro NYC
Real Name
Valentino
By the way, the dancing in this film was hilariously original. The more I think about this film, the more I love it. I hope it wins at least a few Oscars.
 

Jake Lipson

Premium
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2002
Messages
24,493
Real Name
Jake Lipson
he more I think about this film, the more I love it. I hope it wins at least a few Oscars.

Out of ten, I'd say the odds are good that it will get something. (Of course, American Hustle didn't, so it's not a guarantee.) But it's been such a crazy year with a different film winning each of the guilds so far, and every Best Picture frontrunner also having a reason why its win would be unlikely due to precedent, that I feel like they're probably going to go with a spread-the-love approach this year and award several films, rather than a sweep situation. We'll see soon.
 

Winston T. Boogie

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 31, 2004
Messages
11,601
Location
Agua Verde
Real Name
Pike Bishop
That’s pretty insulting to those of us that liked it don’t you think?

I don't think it is and I am a fan of the filmmaker. It is just what Terry, and I actually think he is not alone, thinks about the film. That really has nothing to do with what any of the rest of us feel about it nor do our thoughts on the picture have anything to do with Terry.

I have over my life many times listened to people tear apart films I love. Kubrick's 2001 was a big film for me. I was asked once to join a movie club where a group of us would take turns picking the film we watched. I believe the first film I showed was 2001...they thought it was so horrible they begged me to turn it off. Begged me.

I was surprised at the negative reaction, sure, but when I took off the glasses I saw the film through...which were all about love and adoration for the picture...I realized that, sure, Kubrick is not using your standard methods of telling his story here.

The dialogue was sparse and intentionally opaque and mostly did not explain anything. The pacing was, to them, glacial. The music, yes that music, was way too overly dramatic to the point they felt it was ridiculous.

Of course, I did not share their feelings nor was I insulted...just a bit bewildered that none of these people were seeing, hearing, or feeling what I always had when I watched this picture.

With movies the filmmakers have all kinds of tools at their disposal to tell a story. There are images, music, sets, costumes, dialogue, acting just a wide array of ways to get across whatever it is they want to deliver.

What I accept though is that not everybody enjoys all the different ways you can do this. I don't think this has anything to do with the viewer not "getting it" or not being hip or intelligent...I think that art, storytelling, acting...it just strikes people different ways. If it connects with you, you embrace what is happening and what is being shown, and the story being told. If it doesn't...well...you just don't.

What I like about you, Tino, is as a movie fan you embrace it all. You like the big dumb ridiculous pictures and you like the little artsy fartsy pictures. Once and a while you will throw something under the bus (Vice) but mostly you just seem to accept everything they throw at you.

The thing is, not everybody does. Not everybody likes all different kinds of stories nor all the different methods used to tell them. A lot of people need "the hook" the thing that draws them in and gets them involved. If that does not happen for them...well...the picture is not going to work for them.

I don't think that is an insult, it's just how it works.
 

Robert Crawford

Crawdaddy
Moderator
Patron
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 9, 1998
Messages
67,598
Location
Michigan
Real Name
Robert
I'm going to watch this movie eventually, but I don't think I can watch it in one sitting. It appears to be one of those films I have to watch in segments like one hour today and then the second hour tomorrow.
 

TJPC

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2016
Messages
4,820
Location
Hamilton Ontario
Real Name
Terry Carroll
But it wasn’t meant to be. It’s not a documentary. What led you to believe it was going to be? I knew it wasn’t from the first trailer.
I am bewildered by this. Why set it in the period of Queen Anne at all? Why not 2365 or any other time?
 

TJPC

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2016
Messages
4,820
Location
Hamilton Ontario
Real Name
Terry Carroll
By the way, the dancing in this film was hilariously original. The more I think about this film, the more I love it. I hope it wins at least a few Oscars.
I and I am sure my wife, found the “dancing” so stupid and jaring that we could barely look at it. I remember the hair on the back of my neck actually tingling.

Also, I have racked my brains. What was even moderately funny about this movie? At the screening I attended, which was about 3/4 full, you could hear a pin drop throughout the movie, and at the end we all left in stony silence.
 

Tino

Taken As Ballast
Premium
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 19, 1999
Messages
23,565
Location
Metro NYC
Real Name
Valentino
I am bewildered by this. Why set it in the period of Queen Anne at all? Why not 2365 or any other time?
Bewildered? Really?

Because it’s a fictional film. It was never intended to be historically accurate. Nor was it advertised as based on a true story. It sounds as though you had preconceived notions on what the film was about and are disappointed that it wasn’t what you thought it would be...or should be. That’s not the films fault.
 

Tino

Taken As Ballast
Premium
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 19, 1999
Messages
23,565
Location
Metro NYC
Real Name
Valentino
Also, I have racked my brains. What was even moderately funny about this movie? At the screening I attended, which was about 3/4 full, you could hear a pin drop throughout the movie, and at the end we all left in stony silence.
Any attempt by me or others to convey to you what we thought was funny would be fruitless since comedy is subjective.

And anecdotal evidence is useless as you know since at my screening there were howls of laughter.
 

Winston T. Boogie

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 31, 2004
Messages
11,601
Location
Agua Verde
Real Name
Pike Bishop
I and I am sure my wife, found the “dancing” so stupid and jaring that we could barely look at it.

Sometimes there are things you just can't say with words you can only do so through some form of interpretive dance. I find this works in films but when I do it to tell my wife something when we are at the super market or at a business gathering people do seem to stare and give me odd looks.
 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Articles

Forum statistics

Threads
356,809
Messages
5,123,540
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top