The Power of the Dog (2021)

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 2/11/2022 at 12:15 PM, Brn2bwild said:

I'm surprised this is Kirsten Dunst's first Oscar nomination.

Oscar schmoscar.  Kirsten Dunst soared above all prizes when, in a Fresh Air interview, she said, "In terms of Jesse's and my relationship..."  It was thrilling.

[caracas1914]

On 3/1/2022 at 10:39 AM, AimingforYoko said:

Sam Elliott is not a fan. 

To paraphrase a line, Sam Elliot reminds me of “ I’m not a cowboy, but I portray one on TV.”

His statements smack so much of both homophobia and sexism rolled into one.   For someone who’s made Westerns his whole life, he’s criticizing  THIS film for being an inaccurate portrait of the West?   Seriously?  As opposed to what?  Wyatt Earp? Fort Apache? The Magnificent Seven? 
 

New Zealand isn’t Montana?  shocker!  Let’s burn all nitrate from every spaghetti Western that Sergio Leone/Eastwood filmed in Europe. Campion can’t understand Westerns but every Hollywood hack who filmed inaccurate portrayals of cowhands, Native Americans, the West I guess is OK for Elliot as long as they portray HIS version.   
 

As an actor, it’s embarrassing Elliot can’t grasp the notion of  a psychological drama wrapped around a Western setting because his head is too wedged in his ass for his own mythical West.

[angora]

20 minutes ago, caracas1914 said:

Campion can’t understand Westerns but every Hollywood hack who filmed inaccurate portrayals of cowhands, Native Americans, the West I guess is OK for Elliot as long as they portray HIS version.   

Yes, undoubtedly more than a quarter of the cowboys in all of Elliot's Westerns are Black or Latino, as was historically accurate. :eyeroll: Get outta here with that shit.

[BetterButter]

 

[tv echo]

DGA Awards: Jane Campion and ‘The Power of the Dog’ Take Top Honor
BY KIRSTEN CHUBA, RYAN GAJEWSKI, HILARY LEWIS   MARCH 12, 2022
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/dga-awards-2022-winners-list-1235109846/ 

Quote

The 2022 Directors Guild Awards were presented at the Beverly Hilton on Saturday night, with Jane Campion taking the top prize for The Power of the Dog.

At a ceremony hosted by Judd Apatow, Campion prevailed in the theatrical feature film category over Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza), Kenneth Branagh (Belfast), Steven Spielberg (West Side Story) and Denis Villeneuve (Dune).
*  *  *
Each of the five theatrical feature nominees was recognized with a DGA medallion ahead of the presentation of the top award. The Power of the Dog stars Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons were on hand to honor Campion, who recounted in her speech how “we often hear this time of year about first this and second that — those glass ceilings that are left shattered left and right in this industry. The road here has been long. I remember being the only woman in the room. I remember that outsider feeling as I fought to get my stories told from undeserved perspectives to light in a male-dominated field.” 

Campion then added to loud applause, “I think perhaps it’s time to claim a sense of victory on that front. We’ve come so far, and what’s more, we’re never going backwards. That sense of the eternal horizon invigorates me.”

 
Jane Campion accepted the top award for 'The Power of the Dog' at the 74th Directors Guild of America Awards on March 12 ....
 

Edited March 13, 2022 by tv echo

[Nordly Beaumont]

On 3/2/2022 at 1:12 PM, StatisticalOutlier said:

Over the last several years, I've spent a total of 30 days in Montana, which has to be a lot more than the vast majority of moviegoers.  And I never thought, "This doesn't look anything like Montana." 

Or maybe I just didn't bother to notice, having gotten used to every cowboy ever hanging out in that relatively small patch of land in Monument Valley (which, if I may digress, is the ONE place I've ever been to that looked exactly, exactly, like it was supposed to).

I grew up in a small town in Montana. The mountains surrounding us made it feel very enclosed. But I've never been a traveller and I figured there could be parts of Montana that feel more sprawling, so I had to Google it! I only checked because I'm from there and was curious. It made no difference in my enjoyment of this beautiful movie. 

[tv echo]

The Power of the Dog won four major Critics Choice Awards - Best Picture, Best Director (Jane Campion), Best Adapted Screenplay (Jane Campion) and Best Cinematography (Ari Wegner)...

Critics Choice Awards 2022 Winners: See the Full List Here
BY KATEY RICH    MARCH 13, 2022
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/03/awards-insider-critics-choice-awards-2022-winners 

Quote

Best Picture
Belfast
CODA
Don’t Look Up
Dune
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
Nightmare Alley
WINNER: The Power of the Dog
Tick, Tick…Boom!
*  *  *
Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
WINNER: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Guillermo del Toro, Nightmare Alley
Steven Spielberg, West Side Story
Denis Villeneuve, Dune
*  *  *
Best Adapted Screenplay
WINNER: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter
Siân Heder, CODA
Tony Kushner, West Side Story
Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth, Dune

Best Cinematography
Bruno Delbonnel, The Tragedy of Macbeth
Greig Fraser, Dune
Janusz Kaminski, West Side Story
Dan Laustsen, Nightmare Alley
WINNER: Ari Wegner, The Power of the Dog
Haris Zambarloukos, Belfast

 

Edited March 14, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

The Power of the Dog also won the BAFTA Film Awards for Best Film and Best Director (Jane Campion)...

BAFTA Film Awards: ‘The Power Of The Dog’ Named Best Film; ‘Dune’ Leads With Five Wins And Dominates Crafts – Full Winners List
By Patrick Hipes    March 13, 2022 
https://deadline.com/2022/03/2022-bafta-film-awards-winners-list-1234977084/

Quote

BEST FILM

THE POWER OF THE DOG
Jane Campion, Iain Canning, Roger Frappier, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman
*  *  *
DIRECTOR

THE POWER OF THE DOG
Jane Campion

 

Edited March 14, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Benedict Cumberbatch: My ‘The Power Of The Dog’ Character “Represents Anyone Who Hasn’t Been Seen Or Heard Or Understood”
By Antonia Blyth   March 17, 2022 
https://deadline.com/2022/03/benedict-cumberbatch-the-power-of-the-dog-interview-jane-campion-1234979331/

[tv echo]

Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog) won the AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Director...

AARP Movies For Grownups Awards: ‘Belfast’ Named Best Film; ‘King Richard’ Lone Double Winner – Full List
By Erik Pedersen     March 18, 2022
https://deadline.com/2022/03/aarp-movies-for-grownups-awards-2022-winners-will-smith-belfast-1234980867/ 

Quote

Nicole Kidman took home the Best Actress trophy for Being the Ricardos, and The Power of the Dog’s Jane Campion continued her awards-season hot streak with a win for Best Director. ....
*  *  *
Best Director
Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)

 

Edited March 19, 2022 by tv echo

[Leeds]

On 2/15/2022 at 2:14 PM, SallyAlbright said:

Absolutely loved it, found it tense and riveting rather than boring. All four of the main actors were fantastic, I wish Cumberbatch would win but think Will Smith will get the "overdue" Oscar this year. Phil was so horrible yet tragic and I kept having twinges of sympathy for him even while he said and did terrible things.

Kirsten Dunst is underrated generally and was lovely in this. Kodi Smit-McPhee was excellent and I will watch literally anything Landry Jesse Plemons does. He didn't even have that many scenes, and yet made me nearly cry when he said how nice it was not to be lonely anymore. 

Friday Night Lights is one of my go-to places when I'm feeling down, and Landry is one of the main reasons. 

On 3/1/2022 at 10:55 AM, Simon Boccanegra said:

It sounds as though he's angry at the film because of things its admirers claim on its behalf, which is a trap I try to avoid. I've seen or read a few Campion interviews, and she hasn't claimed to be eviscerating a myth or anything so pretentious. As for the part of its being shot in New Zealand instead of Montana...I cannot bring myself to care. Stanley Kubrick shot a Vietnam film entirely in England, much of it on soundstages, and a lot of people call it a masterpiece. (I personally think it's his second-worst film of the 11 that really count, but not because he failed to shoot on location.) 

  

Sam Elliott's just jealous because he has never received the critical (rather than just popular) acclaim that both Campion and Cumberbatch already have with still (hopefully) decades of work in front of them. 

[Amethyst]

I had some reservations about this movie, but I have to admit, it was excellent.  It really is a psychological thriller wrapped up in a western.

I don't like Jane Campion, but her movies really are gorgeous.  The cinematography combined with the score was incredible.  I liked how the discordant notes would play when Rose was around, to emphasize how drunk and disorderly she had become.  

It really is something else that Phil met his match with Peter.  Phil did end up being a tragic villain, and even with his cruelty, you could tell that he was just a lonely, miserable man.  And it didn't help that the other ranchers worshiped him and kept him on a pedestal.  But his cruel treatment and contempt of Rose would eventually break her, if not kill her entirely.  I don't think Peter was evil or a psychopath, just more calculating than anyone realized and knew that his mother's life was at risk.  But his gaze while Phil was washing the rawhide was disturbing.  Peter told Phil that his late father had worried that Peter was too strong and incapable of kindness, and Phil scoffed at that.  If only he knew.

[Bastet]

In the early scene where Phil warns a cowhand not to touch a dead cow, because of anthrax, I said to my cat, "Chekov's anthrax?"  Just how that came to be was well done.  I'm not generally big on revenge murder stories, but when Peter told Rose, "Mother, you don't have to do this.  I'll see you don't have to do it," I found myself wanting to see how it played out.  I can sometimes go with it in fiction with characters who, because of their gender, race, sexuality, etc. and the time/community in which they live, don't have any realistic options for something resembling justice.

I like that the film explored the root of Phil's cruelty, but it wasn't a villain apologia piece; understanding something doesn't mean excusing it.

[SunnyBeBe]

Just when I though Elliot’s comments were bizarre, I see Campion. Who thinks that way, let alone say it? !!!  She apologized, but it seems this woman has a really warped sense of ego.  She was accepting an award at Critics’ Choice Awards and has to insult others to make herself stand taller.  Ugh…..
 

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/jane-campion-venus-serena-williams-b2035182.html

 

 

Edited March 27, 2022 by SunnyBeBe

[StatisticalOutlier]

15 hours ago, Amethyst said:

The cinematography combined with the score was incredible.  I liked how the discordant notes would play when Rose was around, to emphasize how drunk and disorderly she had become.  

Since you mentioned the score, and @Simon Boccanegra mentioned Jonny Greenwood upthread, I'll link to a Fresh Air interview with Greenwood.  It talks in more detail about his score for Phantom Thread, but it offers a lot of insight into his scores.

https://www.npr.org/2022/02/07/1078802881/radiohead-jonny-greenwood-the-power-of-the-dog

[tv echo]

Jane Campion won the Oscar for Best Picture...

Oscars 2022 winners list: Will Smith, Jessica Chastain, CODA win big at wildest Academy Awards in years
By Joey Nolfi      March 28, 2022
https://ew.com/awards/oscars/2022-oscars-winners-list/ 

Quote

Best Director
Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
WINNER: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Steven Spielberg, West Side Story

Jane Campion Accepts the Oscar for Directing
ABC    Mar 27, 2022

 

[caracas1914]

Well Sam Elliot has apologized for his earlier bashing:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/sam-elliott-apology-power-of-the-dog-1235128001/

 

 

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, caracas1914 said:

Well Sam Elliot has apologized for his earlier bashing:

Eh, fuck him.  Like most, I love his voice, like many, I love his roles, like some, I hate his mustache, and add it all together to find I regard his performances as from eh to terrific overall.

But at least a month has transpired, not just since when he said it, but when it was reported, so he could have I was misquoted himself out of it.  But nope:

Quote

“And in trying to tell the ... WTF guy how I felt about the film, I wasn’t very articulate about it,” Elliott continued. “I didn’t articulate it very well. And I said some things that hurt people. And I feel terrible about that.”

What's there to be articulate or not about that?  And then we get to:

Quote

That’s what all these fucking cowboys in that movie looked like. They’re all running around in chaps and no shirts. There’s all these allusions to homosexuality throughout the fucking movie"? or “What the fuck does this woman — she’s a brilliant director, by the way, I love her work, previous work — but what the fuck does this woman from down there, New Zealand, know about the American West? And why in the fuck does she shoot this movie in New Zealand and call it Montana and say, ‘This is the way it was.’ That fucking rubbed me the wrong way, pal. The myth is that they were these macho men out there with the cattle. I just come from fucking Texas where I was hanging out with families, not men, but families, big, long, extended, multiple-generation families that made their living and their lives were all about being cowboys.

Shut up, dude.

[AngieBee1]

I was at the event where he apologized and it felt very genuine and heartfelt but he didn't explain the totality of the comments and what exact point he was attempting to make on the WTF podcast. I truly believe he felt bad that he made people feel bad, but really stands by what he previously said.