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duluoz said:
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One of my favorites of the year. Hawke was excellent. For such a small and contained film, there are a lot of layers here. And I mostly missed an entire layer with all the musical theater and song references weaved in, but caught some of them. Pro tip: subtitles help here because they put those titles and lines in quotes where applicable; a lot I’d have missed otherwise.

But the wordplay, the acting, the old world New York setting at Sardi’s, all pitch perfect. The writing was too clever for anomaly I recall, and I can see that… but it folded perfectly into the time and place, giving it a bit of a stagey vibe, by design. Plus by the accounts I’ve heard and read, Hart really was that quick and clever with words.

A big bonus for me was EB White making a surprise appearance, and especially the storyline working in his essays, which are some of my favorite writings by anybody, anywhere.

Great movie. Loved it. Don’t let the musicals aspect deter you — there are no song and dance scenes or anything hokey like that. It’s more a story about the passage of time, loneliness, friendship, love, artistic integrity, ambition, beauty. A movie for writers, readers, lovers of language. Fantastic.

But definitely not for everyone, I imagine many would find it slow and uneventful. I found it incredibly rich, and at 1:40 I couldn’t believe Linklater had accomplished so much in that little time. Much tighter than a lot of movies this year that needed to shave 20-30 mins.

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Wife and I really liked it too. I think it would make a killer stage play.

I’m a musician and I’ve learned and still play and perform a lot of the tunes and songs mentioned in the film.

Especially liked Morty “Knuckles” Rifkin playing all those tunes on the piano as Larry would go on and on about Elizabeth and his disdain for Oklahoma (Exclamation Point)
 
UNCMSinLS said:
#4 of 10: "Train Dreams". Grade: A-

As a theater owner, I'm not a fan of Netflix. I've always worried that the biggest threat to theatrical exhibition was the studios' insatiable desire to "sell their product" directly to the "end user". The middleman (the movie theater) must be destroyed. The studios have mounted their attacks for decades. VHS sales and rental, DVD & Blu-ray, Blockbuster, Netflix, Redbox, and early streaming ... all efforts failed ... until COVID. With theaters closed and people at home, streaming became, for the first time, not only viable but preferred. Primarily streaming titles began to be nominated for Oscars after perfunctory theatrical releases. One finally won the Best Picture prize when Apple TV's "CODA", a lightweight, 1980s-vibed, feel-good movie, won the big prize at 2022's ceremony. Even though the movie wasn't good for the bottom line, I really liked it. We even got a digital drive and showed it.

So, here we go again, with not one but TWO Best Picture nominees from Netflix: "Frankenstein" and "Train Dreams". As if that wasn't bad enough, the streaming giant now wants to gobble up last year's most successful studio, Warner Bros. The loss of 20th Century Fox to Disney a few years ago was horrible; the loss of Warners might be catastrophic.

So, with that background, I really wanted to hate "Train Dreams". I didn't. Like Mikey with Life cereal, I liked it. I really liked it. The slow and quiet story about how quickly life passes explored themes of loneliness and longing, moments of terror and bliss, and the randomness and finality of violence by man and nature. Sure, the movie had its slow moments, but that pacing allowed the viewer to drink in the beauty and ugliness that life has to offer, particularly if one opens his or her eyes.

The best shot this movie has of winning an Oscar is for Cinematography. The vistas of tall trees against western skies are awe-inspiring. While it likely won't win the Best Picture prize, "Train Dreams" may encourage viewers to appreciate the special moments in life and to consider the words of the old-timer, "My family is everywhere there's a smiling face."
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Touching upon your first paragraph, I really am saddened to see what has happened to movie theaters. So many of the theaters that existed in Charlotte 10 years ago have closed. You also don’t see the crowds at theaters that you used to see. Part of that is the modern theater which has fewer seats, as they’ve made room for big recliners and have spaced the seating out much more. Speaking of which, I’m not a fan of that and it has taken away from my movie theater experience. I am sure I am in the minority in this regard, but I much prefer the old school theater where people are packed in and the seats remain upright. I feel like it was much more of a shared experience back then, and that’s what I loved most of all about going to the movies. Now I feel so distant and separate from everyone in the theater, other than those sitting right next to me. Sure, the screen is big and the sound is great, but I feel more like I’m just watching a movie at home, which makes me wonder why I’m even there.
 
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Icky Mettle said:
Touching upon your first paragraph, I really am saddened to see what has happened to movie theaters. So many of the theaters that existed in Charlotte 10 years ago have closed. You also don’t see the crowds at theaters that you used to see. Part of that is the modern theater which has fewer seats, as they’ve made room for big recliners and have spaced the seating out much more. Speaking of which, I’m not a fan of that and it has taken away from my movie theater experience. I am sure I am in the minority in this regard , but I much prefer the old school theater where people are packed in and the seats remain upright. I feel like it was much more of a shared experience back then, and that’s what I loved most of all about going to the movies. Now I feel so distant and separate from everyone in the theater, other than those sitting right next to me. Sure, the screen is big and the sound is great, but I feel more like I’m just watching a movie at home, which makes me wonder why I’m even there.
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Is the Manor still open? Saw a lot of great stuff there back in the day.
 
Board consensus on Train Dreams is everyone liked it.
Centerpiece said:
Wife and I really liked it too. I think it would make a killer stage play.

I’m a musician and I’ve learned and still play and perform a lot of the tunes and songs mentioned in the film.

Especially liked Morty “Knuckles” Rifkin playing all those tunes on the piano as Larry would go on and on about Elizabeth and his disdain for Oklahoma (Exclamation Point)
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Haha “exclamation point” was such a great, bitter little line. All of his bitterness came from passion and perfectionism though, which I felt gave it a more sympathetic tone.

You’re right about it being perfect for the stage. I bet it’ll get there. And it’s cool that you picked up all the slick little musical theater references, I’m not familiar enough to have caught all that, but that insider stuff is extra fun when you’re on the inside.

Is the Knuckles character a historical figure? He was “an aspiring composer” so I was wondering if he actually made it or was just a fictional character.
 
duluoz said:
Board consensus on Train Dreams is everyone liked it.

Haha “exclamation point” was such a great, bitter little line. All of his bitterness came from passion and perfectionism though, which I felt gave it a more sympathetic tone.

You’re right about it being perfect for the stage. I bet it’ll get there. And it’s cool that you picked up all the slick little musical theater references, I’m not familiar enough to have caught all that, but that insider stuff is extra fun when you’re on the inside.

Is the Knuckles character a historical figure? He was “an aspiring composer” so I was wondering if he actually made it or was just a fictional character.
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Morty is just a character in the movie. But what a cool way to weave in all those Rodgers and Hart compositions. Becomes the perfect back drop and helps the dialogue by moving everything along. And don’t you know there were some killer piano players working their shifts at Sardi’s back then.
 
Icky Mettle said:
Sadly, it closed a few years ago. I worked there in the summer of 1995. Grew up 3 blocks from there. I miss it very much. I have so many good memories from there whether it was watching movies or working there.
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Wow! You worked at the Manor in 1995? I was living in Charlotte then and it was our favorite theater. The wife and I saw tons of films there between 1994 and 1996. I’m sure we had to have seen you working.
“A Diet Coke and a Sprite… and no butter on the popcorn please.”
 
Centerpiece said:
Wow! You worked at the Manor in 1995? I was living in Charlotte then and it was our favorite theater. The wife and I saw tons of films there between 1994 and 1996. I’m sure we had to have seen you working.
“A Diet Coke and a Sprite… and no butter on the popcorn please.”
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If you stopped by that summer, no doubt you did. I can’t remember all the movies that played there that summer but the ones I do remember were Smoke, Once Were Warriors, Il Postino, and I’m pretty sure Apollo 13 played there that summer.
 
It’s brutal when great old theaters close. Way too many lately.

Netflix took over The Paris in Manhattan and now uses it for premieres and special events, and for Oscar screening requirements, etc. Not my favorite place to see a movie but it is like 100 years old or something. Lacking the charm of other old spots though.

I haven’t been able to bring myself to go to anything there yet since they took over, but they do have some cool stuff, classics and cult hits, etc.

I still go see plenty of things in theaters but I try to patronize the littler theaters when I can, and buy beers and snacks. But really they all need it, tough sledding these days.
 
^ I had a buddy in college who looooved UHF so I watched it with him more than once. I remember laughing but I was always drunk and/or high so I don’t recall much other than Kramer is in it, and also I think it had something to do with a tv station getting shut down. But don’t quote me on that last part.
 
duluoz said:
^ I had a buddy in college who looooved UHF so I watched it with him more than once. I remember laughing but I was always drunk and/or high so I don’t recall much other than Kramer is in it, and also I think it had something to do with a tv station getting shut down. But don’t quote me on that last part.
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That's pretty much it. Weird Al takes over as manager of a pitiful UHF station and turns it into huge success with a bunch of wacky shows.
 
Icky Mettle said:
If you stopped by that summer, no doubt you did. I can’t remember all the movies that played there that summer but the ones I do remember were Smoke, Once Were Warriors, Il Postino, and I’m pretty sure Apollo 13 played there that summer.
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We for sure saw you at Il Postino and Smoke. I know we watched those 2 there in '95
 
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