The Descendants

[canadian_turtle]

Oh yes, that's right - I remember reading Oscar buzz yesterday, after hearing the "meh" reviews from funthing29 and Celini I'd forgotten that there was a lot of positive buzz from other sources already. I'm glad, I think this movie really deserves it. (can't compare to Ides of March yet though, as I haven't seen it yet)

[kevinknapman]

Well I also thought this was excellent. Bittersweet, moving and often very funny. George Clooney was fantastic often getting across a lot of complex emotions with very little dialogue. The younger actors were also very good but there were some great character actors in smaller roles. Robert Forster was outstanding as the father-in-law and there were also some excellent brief appearances from Beau Bridges, Matthew Lillard and Judy Greer.
The Hawaiian scenery and soundtrack was also wonderful. I've heard it described as a minor work from Payne but I thought it was a mature and thoughtful piece, less immediate perhaps than Election or Sideways, but no less affecting.

[valda]

she indeed called your real name!
I did not notice people outfits and I was definitely not dressed to impress -but very well prepared for the cold-

the only one dressed up was the girlfriend and I nearly stepped on her dress just before she went up the stairs LOL

[funthing29]

While George Clooney is obviously the main attraction celebrity wise for many people I also really like the kids who played his daughters and the boy that tagged along; Sid. They ensured that the movie did not become solely focused on one actor while simultaneously providing a sense of the "family man" behind the main character.

9/10

I found Sid rather annoying. I thought his sole purpose was for comic effect, as we did certainly did not get a sense of his relationship with Alex, and then the script tried to give the character more depth when we learned about his family but I think it was too late.

I also thought the acting by the daughters were good. The only part of the film which made me tear up was when[spoiler]Scotty was told that her mother was dying.[/spoiler]

[valda]

Truly grateful for being invited along but it wasn't for me. I didn't like the mix of drama and humour, it just didn't gel together for me. Clooney was really the only thing that kept me awake ( George, no more running) 6/10

Boo to the people who still felt they had to wave thier smart phones around! You've pa*d big bucks to go, so turn the phone off. Boo to the ignorant guy in fron't of me who kept on leaning forwards to watching, thereby blocking the screen.
Yay for DAvid Walliams who I thought was queuing up for sweets, but he was just walking to his seat.

Tarantinoed thanks again for the spare ticket, My mate was so grateful, this was the first year she hadn't seen a film at the festival. And she loved the film as well so that was great. She also said the seat next to her was empty all night

[superhero]

Still getting good buzz in the States -

http://perezhilton.com/2011-11-21-georg ... sxZLGMUqso

[elski]

Free copy of The Descendants novel with this week's Sunday Telegraph (collect from Waitrose or Booths) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/promotions/9 ... dants.html via @Telegraph

[Beate]

Oh, thanks for the reminder.

[Celini]

(I may get one for Turtle, that'd be a nice surprise when she's back!)

(Edit: unfortunately, no Telegraph left heer!)

[McG]

(I may get one for Turtle, that'd be a nice surprise when she's back!)

You certainly want to keep on the right side of c_t, Celini. What a lovely idea for c_t . . . . that's what friends are for!