The way you feel about the portrayal of midwesterners in most Hollywood film is how I feel about southerners. I think the Coen Bros have managed to poke fun perfectly at both. Glad to see love for Alexander Payne on here. Not too many filmmakers like him left
Great analysis of Payne and his work. About Schmidt is easily my favorite, and one I love to rewatch. I own all of his films, and while I don't love all of them, I love seeing Payne's themes presented in each work. He is the master at portraying midwest characters.
That's so weird you mention Hal Ashby. I watched a retrospective on Being There just yesterday. If I had to choose a favorite of Payne's, it would be Sideways. I first watched it when I was going through a divorce of my own, and I guess it struck me as relatable, in certain respects, entertaining in others. I also enjoyed Downsizing, although I think the 'end of the world' twist in the second half of the film is what threw things off a bit. I still think it's a decent Payne film with a lot of satire and humanity, which is better than most. Payne is a great filmmaker - he's someone who looks at his characters with an uncompromising eye, but he doesn't only trash them for their flaws. Good video.
Payne LOVES his caracters, seeing them realistically, at the same time! Kinda reminds me of Ken Loach on this: although he also has a criticall view over his caracters, he obviously likes them, with all their flaws! (No wonder that, both being present for masterclasses, here in Athens, a few years ago, Payne attended Ken's masterclass, too!)
I really enjoy your channel and your reviews are always insightful, thoughtful, and help me to better understand the art of cinema. I would be interested to see your take on 2015s “Victoria” by Sebastian Schipper.
To be honest you made me buy some blu rays immedately with this great analysis of A.P.'s work. 😂 I am very curious on watching these movies now. Until now I just know "Sideways" which is really fun and I do really love and think it holds still up today. I have "Downsizing" as well as "The descendants" which I liked (well and Roger Ebert gave 4 stars...😇) so I need to watch the others soon. Maybe I have seen "Abou Schmidt" ages ago but cannot remember. Thanks for the video! But I am wondering why you did not mention Alexander Payne's latest movie "The Holdovers". What about that one? Anyway: Alexander Payne is a great director and maybe really underrated.
@@LearningaboutMovies Ah ok, sorry. I missed the time stamp of your video 🫣. Tonight I watched "About Schmidt". Very interesting is indeed despite the story and the events in the movie are sad ones the way Alexander Payne shows all that made me smile and even really laugh. It's a great gift for a director being capable of dealing with dark satire as subtle as he does. Very impressing! And what great performance Jack Nicholson gave! Wow! But I think you need a certain age to really connect to the movie and the characters. In my 20ies I certainly wouldn't have enjoyed it that much I guess. Next one to watch will be Nebraska. 😎
Doc, I have heard you speak a lot about Payne on this channel, but I can't help but notice that his movies don't always get the highest rating by you on Letterboxd. Am I misreading it?
@@LearningaboutMovies I have to agree. Thanks for introducing him on this channel and thanks for a great video! As Paul Schrader said, movies should be like a mirror where you see your self, and I think everyone can identify with the good and the bad of Payne's characters.
I went out and bought The Holdovers yesterday on DVD but was a bit underwhelmed. The 2nd half was more enjoyable and engaging, but I felt the story a bit constructed and stiff overall. I didn't really engage with the other characters beyond Giamatti's, and I think I missed the presence of other adult males with him to interact and contrast with. His character wasn't as nuanced and interesting as I was hoping for in general. The growing revelation of the unity of ostracism and personal troubles that he shares with the boy was quaint and well-played, just overall I found fewer moments of humor and quirky insight than I was expecting. The homage to late 60s style in the formatting of the film was cute, but a bit predictable (maybe as I watch a lot of late 60s/70s movies on a regular basis!). ... I'll donate the DVD to our public library (as I often do).
Doggone it! I wish I had watched this before I made and uploaded my Alexander Payne video! Alas, of course yours is better. Your most interesting point here I never noticed was the stuff about TV. Great job!
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
The way you feel about the portrayal of midwesterners in most Hollywood film is how I feel about southerners. I think the Coen Bros have managed to poke fun perfectly at both. Glad to see love for Alexander Payne on here. Not too many filmmakers like him left
Great analysis of Payne and his work. About Schmidt is easily my favorite, and one I love to rewatch.
I own all of his films, and while I don't love all of them, I love seeing Payne's themes presented in each work. He is the master at portraying midwest characters.
I never noticed how much Payne does road trip movies. Great video even The Holdovers fits your analysis
Such a great video. I gotta see more of his movies, because I've only seen 2.
A great summation of one of the best American living directors
I love Nebraska too :)
great minds ...
Omaha is an amazing city.
I’ve probably seen Sideways a dozen times.
That's one of the few movies I've seen in a theater with huge audience laughs that added to the experience.
That's so weird you mention Hal Ashby. I watched a retrospective on Being There just yesterday.
If I had to choose a favorite of Payne's, it would be Sideways. I first watched it when I was going through a divorce of my own, and I guess it struck me as relatable, in certain respects, entertaining in others.
I also enjoyed Downsizing, although I think the 'end of the world' twist in the second half of the film is what threw things off a bit. I still think it's a decent Payne film with a lot of satire and humanity, which is better than most.
Payne is a great filmmaker - he's someone who looks at his characters with an uncompromising eye, but he doesn't only trash them for their flaws. Good video.
Payne LOVES his caracters, seeing them realistically, at the same time!
Kinda reminds me of Ken Loach on this: although he also has a criticall view over his caracters, he obviously likes them, with all their flaws!
(No wonder that, both being present for masterclasses, here in Athens, a few years ago, Payne attended Ken's masterclass, too!)
I really enjoy your channel and your reviews are always insightful, thoughtful, and help me to better understand the art of cinema. I would be interested to see your take on 2015s “Victoria” by Sebastian Schipper.
Thank you
I love everything except The Holdovers. Can’t win them all.
The Descendants is my personal favourite. So much emotion yet extremely enchanting.
that's a weird take
Oh, you're that kind of person
Hey...can you do a review on "Return to Seoul" please?
For me it's a tie between About Schmidt, Sideways, and The Descendants as my favorite of his.
To be honest you made me buy some blu rays immedately with this great analysis of A.P.'s work. 😂 I am very curious on watching these movies now. Until now I just know "Sideways" which is really fun and I do really love and think it holds still up today. I have "Downsizing" as well as "The descendants" which I liked (well and Roger Ebert gave 4 stars...😇) so I need to watch the others soon. Maybe I have seen "Abou Schmidt" ages ago but cannot remember. Thanks for the video!
But I am wondering why you did not mention Alexander Payne's latest movie "The Holdovers". What about that one? Anyway: Alexander Payne is a great director and maybe really underrated.
thanks. I made the video in summer 2023, months before The Holdovers came out. I hope you enjoy those movies!
@@LearningaboutMovies Ah ok, sorry. I missed the time stamp of your video 🫣. Tonight I watched "About Schmidt". Very interesting is indeed despite the story and the events in the movie are sad ones the way Alexander Payne shows all that made me smile and even really laugh. It's a great gift for a director being capable of dealing with dark satire as subtle as he does. Very impressing! And what great performance Jack Nicholson gave! Wow! But I think you need a certain age to really connect to the movie and the characters. In my 20ies I certainly wouldn't have enjoyed it that much I guess. Next one to watch will be Nebraska. 😎
Doc, I have heard you speak a lot about Payne on this channel, but I can't help but notice that his movies don't always get the highest rating by you on Letterboxd. Am I misreading it?
I've given them all a rewatch rating or higher. He's 8 for 8. That's an unbelievable body of work.
@@LearningaboutMovies I have to agree. Thanks for introducing him on this channel and thanks for a great video! As Paul Schrader said, movies should be like a mirror where you see your self, and I think everyone can identify with the good and the bad of Payne's characters.
I love citizen Ruth and Election
I went out and bought The Holdovers yesterday on DVD but was a bit underwhelmed. The 2nd half was more enjoyable and engaging, but I felt the story a bit constructed and stiff overall. I didn't really engage with the other characters beyond Giamatti's, and I think I missed the presence of other adult males with him to interact and contrast with. His character wasn't as nuanced and interesting as I was hoping for in general. The growing revelation of the unity of ostracism and personal troubles that he shares with the boy was quaint and well-played, just overall I found fewer moments of humor and quirky insight than I was expecting. The homage to late 60s style in the formatting of the film was cute, but a bit predictable (maybe as I watch a lot of late 60s/70s movies on a regular basis!). ... I'll donate the DVD to our public library (as I often do).
Downsizing is his only movie critics didnt like
Great director, great video. My ranking would be :
About Schmidt
Election
Nebraska
The Descendants
Sideways
The Holdovers
Downsizing
Citizen Ruth
Election is so good.
Doggone it! I wish I had watched this before I made and uploaded my Alexander Payne video! Alas, of course yours is better.
Your most interesting point here I never noticed was the stuff about TV. Great job!