Sam Mendes - Appreciation thread

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  • matt_umatt_u better known as Mr. Roark
    Posts: 4,343
    Since the monumental technical achievement 1917 is, Mendes winning for directing is far less surprising than 1917 winning the best picture, if you ask me.
  • Posts: 7,653
    Not having seen the movie yet I am sure it is heck better than his attempts at 007. Looking forward to this WWI movie, even if I think it will give a less impressive vision than Peter Jacksons work with original footage from WWI last year.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,686
    Oscar nominations for 1917:

    Best Picture
    Best Director - Sam Mendes
    Best Original Screenplay - Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns
    Best Original Score - Thomas Newman
    Best Production Design - Dennis Gassner & Lee Sandales
    Best Cinematography - Roger Deakins
    Best Makeup and Hairstyling - Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis and Rebecca Cole
    Best Visual Effects - Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler, and Dominic Tuohy
    Best Sound Editing - Oliver Tarney and Rachael Tate
    Best Sound Mixing - Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,000
    Plenty of Bond vets even in the technical categories. Bravo.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,009
    Oscar nominations for 1917:

    Best Picture
    Best Director - Sam Mendes
    Best Original Screenplay - Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns
    Best Original Score - Thomas Newman
    Best Production Design - Dennis Gassner & Lee Sandales
    Best Cinematography - Roger Deakins
    Best Makeup and Hairstyling - Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis and Rebecca Cole
    Best Visual Effects - Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler, and Dominic Tuohy
    Best Sound Editing - Oliver Tarney and Rachael Tate
    Best Sound Mixing - Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson.

    Saw it last night. All thoroughly deserved.
  • 00Agent00Agent Any man who drinks Dom Perignon '52 can't be all bad.
    Posts: 5,185
    Looks like Sam Mendes is pretty much on his way to win his second Oscar,
    after 1917 won the BAFTA for best directing and best movie.
  • Proof Mendes is a genius...check out this amazing video

  • matt_umatt_u better known as Mr. Roark
    Posts: 4,343
    1917 was incredible. Thanks for sharing.
  • Posts: 1,680
    Not the type of film I was expecting. Good solid tracking shot that was cool Though

    Seemed like there wasn’t enough action though

  • matt_umatt_u better known as Mr. Roark
    Posts: 4,343
    Most of the best war films ever produced doesn't have a lot of "action".

    Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, Come and See...

    1917 is a journey to purification though hell. Better than Dunkirk.
  • Posts: 11,425
    matt_u wrote: »
    Most of the best war films ever produced doesn't have a lot of "action".

    Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, Come and See...

    1917 is a journey to purification though hell. Better than Dunkirk.

    Good to see Come and See get a mention. Amazing film. The definitive Russian/Soviet WW2 movie?
  • matt_umatt_u better known as Mr. Roark
    edited February 2020 Posts: 4,343
    Getafix wrote: »
    matt_u wrote: »
    Most of the best war films ever produced doesn't have a lot of "action".

    Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, Come and See...

    1917 is a journey to purification though hell. Better than Dunkirk.

    Good to see Come and See get a mention. Amazing film. The definitive Russian/Soviet WW2 movie?

    Without a doubt. A masterpiece. Truly devastating but yet, so desperately poetic. The Russian have a certain ability to dive into the depths of the human heart with such an intellectual but so emotionally rich approach few others are able to do it. Just think about Tarkovsky or the great writers. My ex-girlfriend is Russian and her grandpa lost 6 brothers/sisters during the Nazi atrocities in the actual Belarus. What they did there was just beyond the worst one man could ever imagine.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited February 2020 Posts: 15,686
    Sam Mendes and 1917 have lost to Bong Joon-Ho and Parasite for Best Director and Best Picture at the 2020 Academy Awards.

    1917 won 3 Oscars: Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography and Best Sound Mixing.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,000
    Massively surprised Mendes didn't come out with an award for this, but glad Deakins got another gold statue as this was one of his best works.
  • edited February 2020 Posts: 3,273
    As much as I have my issues with SF and SP, 1917 should have bagged best picture and best director. This reeks of the Oscars getting bang on PC again, and why we can't really take Oscar awards seriously.

    1917 was a brilliant masterpiece in film, and I seriously doubt this Korean film is superior in any shape or form. For technical achievement alone, I don't think many films can compete with 1917.

  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,000
    As much as I have my issues with SF and SP, 1917 should have bagged best picture and best director. This reeks of the Oscars getting bang on PC again, and why we can't really take Oscar awards seriously.

    1917 was a brilliant masterpiece in film, and I seriously doubt this Korean film is superior in any shape or form. For technical achievement alone, I don't think many films can compete with 1917.

    So, you haven't seen PARASITE?
  • Posts: 3,273
    As much as I have my issues with SF and SP, 1917 should have bagged best picture and best director. This reeks of the Oscars getting bang on PC again, and why we can't really take Oscar awards seriously.

    1917 was a brilliant masterpiece in film, and I seriously doubt this Korean film is superior in any shape or form. For technical achievement alone, I don't think many films can compete with 1917.

    So, you haven't seen PARASITE?

    is it any good?
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited February 2020 Posts: 15,686
    Parasite and 1917 are 2 of the greatest films made in years. I don't think anyone should be angry or sad that either of them lost to the other. We should all be glad that 2 such masterpieces were released in the same year.

    1917 currently stands at 8.5/10 on IMDB (51st on the top 250), 78/100 on Metacritic, 89% from critics on Rottentomatoes (8.35/10 average rating) and 88% from audience on Rottentomatoes (4.41/5 average rating).

    Parasite currently stands at 8.6/10 on IMDB (25th on the top 250), 96/100 on Metacritic, 99% from critics on Rottentomatoes (9.38/10 average rating) and 92% from audience on Rottentomatoes (4.59/10 average rating).
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    edited February 2020 Posts: 8,000
    As much as I have my issues with SF and SP, 1917 should have bagged best picture and best director. This reeks of the Oscars getting bang on PC again, and why we can't really take Oscar awards seriously.

    1917 was a brilliant masterpiece in film, and I seriously doubt this Korean film is superior in any shape or form. For technical achievement alone, I don't think many films can compete with 1917.

    So, you haven't seen PARASITE?

    is it any good?

    Yes, and I say that as someone who thought 1917 had it in the bag.
  • Posts: 3,273
    As much as I have my issues with SF and SP, 1917 should have bagged best picture and best director. This reeks of the Oscars getting bang on PC again, and why we can't really take Oscar awards seriously.

    1917 was a brilliant masterpiece in film, and I seriously doubt this Korean film is superior in any shape or form. For technical achievement alone, I don't think many films can compete with 1917.

    So, you haven't seen PARASITE?

    is it any good?

    Yes, and I say that as someone who thought 1917 had it in the bag.

    Maybe I'll give it a go then.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,000
    As anyone ought to. For what it's worth, after watching it, it made me actually want to look back at some of the director's other films. I don't often do that unless a film like PARASITE strikes a big impression.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    Posts: 2,721
    Okja is good, The Host is excellent and Memories of a Murder unique. (Frequent collaborator Song Kang Ho is the memorable lead in the last two as well as Parasite).

    Bong Joon Ho is a talented director who seamlessly blends genres. Parasite is his masterpiece and as good as 1917 is, I'm glad Parasite won the Oscars it did.

    It's about time that the best film of the year that happens to be in a 'foreign' language won. Too many have lost in the past. (Pan's Labyrinth, The Secret In Their Eyes, Amour...to name a few)
  • I can’t say I was enamoured with Parasite over 1917….both were good, but 1917 was more of a technical achievement that, for me, pushes it over Parasite.

    I went into Parasite with all the hype – so was expecting something revolutionary. Instead I got a very stylised and mischievous black comedy. It’s outstandingly directed, arguably more assured than 1917 (which is really really saying something). But I think the best picture victory is a little hollow in comparison to 1917 which seems more deserving.

    I think the academy got their fingers burnt after giving best picture to the passé Green Book last year and needed to find an edgier more cinephile-friendly film this year…..plus, for a foreign language film, Parasite has been widely seen.

    I think it’s a shame that Mendes didn’t get one of the Oscars he was nominated for. Especially since he was doing so well across the board otherwise.

    Check out his reaction to loosing:

    https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/sam-mendes-best-director-oscars-bong-joon-ho-a4357791.html

    I’m disappointed for him…
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,000
    I can't feel too disappointed for him, given he already won an Oscar 20 years ago.

    If there was worry that 1917 would be seen as the "safe choice" like GREEN BOOK, it's probably for the better that it didn't win so that it wouldn't be put up on a pedestal for many to scrutinize. With PARASITE winning, 1917 can now be one of those films that many would look back and believe it's as deserving like SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, but the bonus being that PARASITE cannot possibly be seen as a "safe choice" because it broke ground for foreign films winning the top prize.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    edited February 2020 Posts: 2,721
    I think Parasite is a more daring film to give the Oscar to. It is the kind of film that should be encouraged. I went to it with no hype. I saw it in its first week of release and it was a rewarding, surprising watch that masterfully see-sawed with audience's empathies towards its characters. It was emotionally resonant, thought provoking and unique.

    1917 was an ambitiously filmed piece which deservedly won Deakins his second Oscar but as far as directing goes I was more impressed in terms of construction with Nolan's work in Dunkirk. And awarding Best Picture to a technical achievement that ran along the lines of the familair 'war is hell' trope would have been predictable. And with Parasite winning at least this years Oscars were not predictable.

    The only reason Saving Private Ryan didn't win best picture was because Harvey Weinstein was a cleverer marketer/briber at awards season. His singular focus on award bait during the 90s was apparent and culminated in his snatching the Oscar for Shakespeare in Love. Unfortunately it wasn't the worst thing he did...

    Awards for art, by their nature, are fairly arbitrary and impossible to return a uniform consensus (it's not like being the fastest across a distance or scoring the most points over a set time). So I bear no ill will toward someone who prefers one film over another out of a handful of films.
  • 00Agent00Agent Any man who drinks Dom Perignon '52 can't be all bad.
    edited February 2020 Posts: 5,185
    I was quite disappointed about Sam and 1917 not winning, mostly because i stayed up all night to see him win. The Oscars run from 2am to 5am where i live, so i kinda felt like
    BYsX.gif

    I can't comment on Parasite, as i haven't seen it, but since i only hear good things, i'm sure it's deserving too. And it was a nice gesture to the south korean film industry, and i really liked the moment with all the team onstage, they seemed as shocked and confused as everybody else lol.

    Though i am still a bit confused how a film can be nominated as "best international film" and best film overall. Is this the first time this happened? I think they could have clarified that a bit more in the lead up, as either one would have been fine, but both? But it's their rules so they can do whatever the hell they want i guess.

    Also was hoping for Newman to win, but at the same time i can't find faults with Joker winning. That soundtrack was Masterful as well.

    Gassner did not get one either, sadly.

    Only other Bond connection at the Oscars that i can think of was Best Sound mixing for 1917.
    Both winners Stuart Wilson and Mark Taylor worked on different films in the Craig era.

    Overall rather disappointing for 1917 though.
  • edited March 2020 Posts: 4,400
    Universal have released some very insightful excepts from Sam's audio commentary from 1917. He even references Skyfall at one point and his '007 know how'...



    I wish Mendes did one for Spectre - or Eon never released it. I know Marc Forster recorded on for QOS and it never saw light of day. Perhaps they are saving it for an 'Ultimate Daniel Craig Collection' box set. They do have some special documentary in the works.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,686
    Very cool Chinese poster for 1917:

    nineteen-seventeen-ver5-xlg.jpg
  • Posts: 4,400
    Beautiful poster...are China up and running with film box office?

    Meanwhile, Sam Mendes is busy proving he isn't a Tory by writing articles in the FT about keeping his luvvie theatre industry alive. In fact, I very much echo his sentiment

  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,000
    I wish Mendes did one for Spectre - or Eon never released it. I know Marc Forster recorded on for QOS and it never saw light of day. Perhaps they are saving it for an 'Ultimate Daniel Craig Collection' box set. They do have some special documentary in the works.

    I assume Mendes never recorded one on the basis that he did a lot less publicity over SP than he did of SF. Perhaps years later when he feels more comfortable speaking openly about SP we may get a commentary for a future edition. I'm very interested to learn his overall view of his experience, because he's said so little about the film after shooting it.
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