Given the number of Academy Award Nominations and the array of cast of this movie, my friends and I decided to give this movie a shot without knowing what the movie was even about. This movie stars Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo depicting the true life story of John E. Du Pont, Mark Schultz and Dave Schultz respectively.
Foxcatcher was nominated for:
• Actor in a Leading Role for Steve Carell, who played John du Pont
• Actor in a Supporting Role for Mark Ruffalo, who played Dave Schultz
• Directing for director Bennett Miller
• Makeup and Hairstyling for Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
• Writing and Original Screenplay for Dan Gilroy
The makeup and hairstyling was pretty convincing. It took me awhile to figure out that it was Steve Carell and Mark Ruffalo from the poster image. It’s unfortunate that Channing Tatum did not get nominated though. His performance was great too.
Mark Schultz and Dave Schultz were International freestyle wrestling champions who both won gold medals on the 1984 Olympics. This movie tells the story of how Mark and Dave got involved with John E. Du Pont and the events that led to the murder of Dave. Since I had no idea what the history of the movie is and the actual events that inspired the movie, I was surprised at the sudden murder of Dave Schultz.
Did I like the story? Sure. The story was pretty interesting and it showed the real behind-the-scenes encounter and struggles of wrestlers when not in the spotlight. It showed John Du Pont’s hunger for attention and recognition from his peers and especially his mother, who did not approve of his hobbies and interest in wrestling. I believe this was the main motivation of John Du Pont, apart from his fascination in the sport, that he organized the Foxcatcher Team. He wanted to show that he can boast of success even with the “lowly sport” of wrestling which is how Du Pont’s mother sees the said sport. With the help of Mark Schultz’s recognition and success in the world of wrestling, Du Pont becomes the “Coach” of Foxcatcher and presents himself as Mark’s “mentor.” It is also sad to see Mark’s struggle with himself in stepping out of the shadow of his also-champion brother, Dave. His insecurity is what drives him to spiral out of control and turn to drinking and drugs. Although at first Dave refused to join the Foxcatcher team, he was eventually convinced to uproot his family and move to the Du Pont estate to train and help manage the Foxcatcher wrestling team. It is at this point that we see Mark really lose his respect for John Du Pont especially after Du Pont calls him “an ungrateful ape” and goes ahead and recruits Dave to join the team. Mark felt that John Du Pont did not trust him enough with the Foxcatcher that he had to seek the expertise of Dave Schultz. This was a big blow to Mark’s ego, especially when he was already feeling he was able to leave behind being in the shadow of his big brother.
Did I like the movie? No. Why? Because it was slow and dragging.
I have no issues with story, the cast (they were great, by the way) or the plot. These elements show great promise, in fact. I don’t know why the movie was such a drag though and I don’t get why it needed to be like that. The movie was full of scenes where the actors were just staring at each other in awkward silences, waiting for one to speak. I get that there are times when this is necessary but this movie was just crawling with it. Too many unnecessary scenes, in my opinion. I have no idea who was responsible for this but I’m sure they could’ve made this movie more enjoyable.
I don’t know either if it was just me because other people seem to have liked the movie according to reviews. However, I’m sure I wasn’t alone in thinking that the movie was a bit too dragging for its own good. There were a bunch of groups at the cinema who even walked out in the middle of the movie because they couldn’t take it anymore. That, to me, is not a good sign.
Or maybe I’m just not the target audience of this movie, really, I don’t know.
I wonder though if there were scenes edited out due to censorship policies in this country.
NinthMelody rating: 2/5
The Book of Life is an animated film that tells a story of love, friendship, family and culture. The film is told in such a way where there is a story within a story. It starts off with a museum tour guide, Mary Beth, leading a bunch of unruly kids to the Museum of Mexican Myths and Legends. This is where they read off of the Book of Life which contains all the stories of the world. One such story is about the Mexican town of San Angel on the “Day of the Dead” festival. La Muerte, the ruler of the Land of the Remembered, gets into a wager with Xibalba, the ruler of the Land of the Forgotten, wherein whoever wins will be the ruler of the Land of the Remembered. La Muerte and Xibalba agree to the wager by betting on 2 young lads, Joaquin and Manolo, for the hand of Maria in marriage.
Ninth Melody 