Who Else Thought The Ice Storm Was Never Given Respect (1 Viewer)

[Craig S]

Quote:

Well, there's some folks around here that will disagree with you on that. At the end of 1996 I had three films at the top of my list, and I couldn't decide which was "best". Over 5 years later, I STILL can't decide between The English Patient, Fargo, and John Sayles' Lone Star. These are three very different, and very great films. I certainly can't fault the Academy for going with TEP. It's actually one of their better choices of the past decade.

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

Jefferson, Ride with the Devil tanked in NY and LA and didn't fare too well with critics there either. Thus the distributor lost most of its enthusiasm for spreading it elsewhere assuming that these reactions would be indicative of everywhere else. (The local arthouse employee told me that the film's poor showing in these cities is why they had difficulty bringing it here.)

 

[Marc Colella]

I agree that The Ice Storm is very underrated (even thought critics seemed to love it).
While I really like L.A. Confidential, I feel the best film that year was The Sweet Hereafter - and is one of the best in the 90's.

 

[Quentin]

Awwww...what the heck, if I can defend "Titanic" why not AB?

While the original script may have been nothing more than what you suggest (though I'll defend Ball and say that most specs NEED to be somewhat commercial and simplistic in order to get that first sale), Mendes turned it into something wholly different and superior.

As is, the film charts the human experience toward Nirvana. No crap. "Look closer". Lester's journey is one toward enlightenment, and like any perfect trip toward enlightenment, once he finds it he must die. It's perfectly structured.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Here's another vote for The Ice Storm over American Beauty.
As for Ride With The Devil, my main problem with that one was Tobey Maguire who, in my judgement, never convincingly played the character he was meant to portray.
~Edwin