I enjoyed all the new actors - Isaac's roguish charisma, Boyega's mix of determination and goofiness, Driver's combination of menace and insecurity. Ridley has enough fire in her to carry a movie all of her own. Carrie Fisher though looked really sleepy in this. Hamill will hopefully deliver in the next one.
The basic story beats in the original Star Wars were nothing new but I think we might be taking for granted how weird the universe and its details must have seemed at the time. Dudes battling space Nazis with sabers made out of energy and in WWII-esque dogfights, all set to classical-sounding music - as far as pastiches go, I bet it looked pretty original. There's nothing weird about The Force Awakens. It basically gets by on its energy and the charm of its actors.
It's pretty fun throughout and the new actors bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the table, but yeah, the movie does basically nothing to further develop the universe in any meaningful way. Literally everything we see is a riff on something we've seen before. Technically it's less flawed than the prequels, I suppose, but those actually dared to be their own movies.
Definitely my favorite reviw yet. But then Vishnevetsky always delivers.
http://www.avclub.com/review/quentin-tarantino-gets-theatrical-70mm-western-hat-229377
Just waiting for this to finally hit where I live now.
Didn't hear anything in Bridge of Spies that would be worth nominating but they'll probably throw Newman another bone anyway.
From the reviews I'm definitely getting the impression that Morricone's score isn't on the level of his greats but I think it'll win anyway.
Pretty sure it's gonna play everywhere at the same time. Also IIRC Tarantino and the cast members will be making surprise appearances in some theaters.
Hateful has a decent shot to win Score and/or Supporting Actress but it keeps missing the big two categories with the precursors so I wouldn't be surprised if it's not even nominated there.
It is the official opinion of this cinephile that this particular horror western is one of the better pictures of the year, and all of you fine ladies and gentlemen should not forfeit the opportunity to get acquainted with it.