The Holdovers

JP Liz V1

Paul Giamatti reunites with director Alexander Payne

https://youtu.be/bAXd27wVpIc

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058305478/the-holdovers

Looks like an extended Breakfast Club, but with some proxy father/son stuff added on 😅

I like Alexander Payne though, so will check it out for sure. Interesting that he didn't write this one - though he didn't write Nebraska either, and did a great job there.

JP Liz V1

Looks like this is getting a cinema release here mid January even though it might be available to stream watch already

Shred

Yes it's out on the 19th, really looking forward to seeing it.

I see Paul Giamatti celebrated his Golden Globes win with a visit to In 'n' Out, gotta love him 😁

FrancieBrady

Watched it and it's just ok. Nothing you haven't seen before to be honest and a bit trite and predictable.

orangerhyme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121590459#Comment_121590459

I watched the first half and found it boring.

I like Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti a lot though.

I feel like cinema's kinda shite at the moment.

Average films get great reviews.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121590828#Comment_121590828

I probably would have switched off only we were watching as a family.

AP and PG just treading water and bulking out the wallets so to speak.

As somebody asked Robert Mitchum - 'Why did you make so many bad films?',

RM: 'They pay me to act in them, not to watch them'. 😁

homerun_homer

I'm surprised at some of the initial reactions here. I loved this. Couldn't wait for the Irish cinema release to watch a movie set at Christmas and watched it last month. I can easily see this slotting into a nice comfort watch in future Christmas times.

~Rebel~

Quite enjoyed it too, particularly once it gets going after the initial setup switches round about 30 minutes in. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it's a nice intimate little story with some strong performances (though the kid did bug me at times).

santana75

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121592538#Comment_121592538

Thats good to hear, been looking forward to this one ever since I saw the trailer.

fatbhoy

I saw this over Christmas, which was probably the best time to watch it, in that little holiday bubble. Well, I loved it and scored it 10/10, and I very rarely score films above 7/10, let alone 10/10. It's a slow burner, and that's a nice thing.

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121598543#Comment_121598543

Yeah, I saw it back at Thanksgiving, which was perfect too... it's a real shame they didn't get a pre-christmas date sorted for the UK/Ireland release as it's just perfect for that time of year.

The Princess Bride

I loved this, and I personally think Paul Giamatti deserves every award he has won for his performance. One of my favourites from 2023.

JP Liz V1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121621716#Comment_121621716

If he wins the SAG, he likely take the Oscar over Cillian Murphy imho

gossamerfabric

Good movie about a man who deserves sympathy not seeking sympathy. The sub-plot for the leading Actress was well woven in to the script.

Will probably watch Sideways again based on the positive experience with this

Terrier2023

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121623153#Comment_121623153

loved Sideways it was bliss ! I think i will watch it too !

MfMan

Saw it last night. Nice little movie about (3) people searching for meaning and direction in their lives. If you mixed The Shining, Dead Poets Society, Scent Of A Woman and Good Will Hunting into a bowl, something like this would probably come out. I like Giamatti but this film doesn't really stretch his chops, the writing does the work for him. Newcomer Dominic Sessa was equally good I thought.

Terrier2023

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121633315#Comment_121633315

I agree a nice film about people looking for meaning ( life is like a henhouse ladder short & covered in ****_ , being nice to each other what a rarity worth a watch as every Giamatti role is

SharkMX

Nice film. Nothing outstanding.

gmisk

Saw this morning really enjoyable. I found it quite moving in places and funny too. The lead trio are wonderful.

It's a shame there aren't more of these type of films being made any more.

Anyone any idea why it wasn't released here at Christmas? Would have made sense.

stesaurus

Tried to watch over Xmas and found it extremely dull and boring. Nothing new or interesting I hadn't seen before. So we switched off about half way through.

Maybe it gets better?

Nigel Fairservice

I called in to the cinema on my way home after work on Friday and I'm glad I did. What a lovely movie. It will definitely be added to my Christmas rotation.

johnny_ultimate

Safe, familiar and formulaic - and surprisingly winning despite that. Just a decent comedy-drama, very well told, with three great performances. Alexander Payne’s tackled meatier material in the past, but he’s still in comfortable territory here. A rock solid recovery from the muddled, meandering Downsizing.

One big annoyance though: the film is so aggressively trying to emulate the look and feel and sound of 70s cinema, I just don’t get why they didn’t film it on film. So much work is put into creating a digital facsimile of film grain and texture (right down to the little characteristic judder you get when text is on screen), but it’s still clearly a digital image when there are actors on screen. Just baffled why they didn’t just go the whole hog and shoot it properly on 16mm or 35mm! Would’ve looked substantially better IMO, and been truly authentic.

orangerhyme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121644238#Comment_121644238

I did the same.

Man Vs ManUre

Decided to watch this after the 5 star reviews and awards buzz. I didn’t really think much of it, fairly boring and sickening sweet. Nothing amazing about the lead actor performance, i was more impressed with the young supporting lad. I don’t know what was the point of the female actor role in it. It should not win any awards.

OwaynOTT

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121652196#Comment_121652196

I remember hearing this discussed in a review and found this:

“We shot tests on both digital and film, we even tried 16mm but we didn’t pursue it in the end as Kodak said that, due to Covid-era logistical issues, they couldn’t guarantee us the amounts of stock we needed. And, we realised that if we decide to shoot on film, we’d still have to build-in a lot of the artifacts of the early ‘70s stocks in post. We would basically have to de-grain the image, then add grain again, etc., which was quite discouraging, so we abandoned the idea.”

https://www.cinematography.world/eigil-bryld-the-holdovers/

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121657777#Comment_121657777

Yeah had seen that quote somewhere too. Can certainly sympathise with potential stock shortages, but can’t really get on board with digital being more effective than film in emulating a film - even very artifact-y - image. The end product just feels like a weird middle ground to me, as opposed to things actually shot on film. The film is good enough to rise above it, but was a persistent little flaw throughout for me - especially when the film is so in your face from even the opening company credits as flaunting its 70s bonafides!

OwaynOTT

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121658370#Comment_121658370

I havent gotten a chance to see it yet so can’t offer any opinion yet but it does sound like they would have to alter it digitally anyway to get the desired effect, so I suppose, in fir a penny in fir a pound

didn’t get a release near me, was very disappointed. Looking forward to watching it myself

bnt

Oscar nominations are up: Giamatti has a tough competition against Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer, but Randolph is looking very strong for Supporting Actress. Alexander Payne was not nominated for Director, but David Hemingson was for Original Screenplay. It's also up for Best Picture.

JP Liz V1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121659713#Comment_121659713

If Paul takes the SAG and Bafta, he likely also take the Oscar, more a reward for body of work etc., long overdue

Man Vs ManUre

PG in this film reminded me of John Candy in Planes, Trains and Automobiles. A much superior film to the holdovers yet no awards for it or the 2 genius comedy stars acting in it.

Banjaxed82

It's a well made film. Enjoyable. Nice to look at. As mentioned, nothing new, but still very well executed on many fronts.

My main issue with Giamatti's performance in regards to potential Oscar win, is that it feels like it's rethreading a ground too similar to Sideways. He's like the bloke he could have turned into if he never had his Sideways character arc.

Btw, what the hell was going on with that eyeball? Drew far more unnecessary attention than what it ever gave back in justifying its existence. Weird choice.

branie2

I'm seeing it on Friday

homerun_homer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121664627#Comment_121664627

It was a contact lens. I found it adds to how you perceive his character. A lazy eye can have a lot of stigma associated with it, from childhood bullying, his attractiveness to other people etc, these are no doubt things that his character would have had to deal with in life, without overtly being mentioned on screen. He has such a chip on his shoulder and the addition of the lazy eye adds to how you view his frustrations with his lot in life.

murpho999

Saw this last night and really enjoyed it.

Don't get complaints about "seen it before" or "formulaic". It's a very nice human story with nice characters and great performances by the cast, particularly Giamatti, who for me was perfectly cast for the role.

Can see why he's the main challenger to Cillian Murphy for Oscar nod, and he could get it.

Nothing wrong with a film being well made and having enjoyable story and I could'n't find anything to dislike about it.

It captured the time very well and I also liked that it was not overly sentimental.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121674346#Comment_121674346

No doubt the Academy loves this kind of saccharine candy floss film. Quite likely they will give the gong to Giamatti (for what is really a job he phoned in a lot of)

murpho999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121674456#Comment_121674456

Yes, that's why Giamatti is getting so much praise , not just from the Academy but from lots of different award bodies for his "phoned in" performance.

Seems there's many people who are just miserable on this forum and just don't want to enjoy things. Has to be dark, or a twist or maybe epic.

This is a very simple story, very well told and acted and unlike you I didn't find it saccharine at all.

Banjaxed82

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121670537#Comment_121670537

I get the idea behind the eye thing, but for me it was a constant distraction. Couldnt get the Steve Buscemi meme out of my head.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121674533#Comment_121674533

No, I found it passable as a movie, but don't see it as award material. Why do I think he phoned it in? There was no challenge in the role. He could play that character with his eyes closed tbh.

Banjaxed82

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121677821#Comment_121677821

I don't agree that he phoned it in, but I do agree that it wasn't a stretch for him. We've seen this character variation before in his career.

He does it well in fairness. Just not enough to blow you away, and start throwing awards at him.

El Duda

The Holdovers – 10/10

That feel when your most anticipated film delivers on every level. Paul Giamatti is one of my favourite actors and I adored he and Alexander Payne’s previous collaboration Sideways, so I pretty much knew this was a banker. The grainy 70’s aesthetic combined with the music choices made for a lovely couple of hours in the cinema. 

If it were up to me, I would give this all the awards. The only Oscar that I think it will win is best supporting actress for Da'Vine Joy Randolph, but perhaps I’m only saying that because her performance cut right into my very soul. Giamtti’s eye deserves an award alone. Factor in everything else and I think he edges Cillian Murphy. I don’t know where they dug Dominic Sessa up from, but what a debut. He brings a vulnerability to the role that works like a charm. 

I don’t know why they decided to release this in late January (it’s way too early) but it didn’t ruin my enjoyment at all. I’m just annoyed, as if they did bother to show this over the festive break, my Christmas would have been at least 33% better. That’s huge.

A very welcome new contender for GOAT Christmas film.

Man Vs ManUre

For me this is just a 6 or 7 out of 10. The 2 male leads were very good especially the young guy, I didn’t see anything special about the lady role. The film itself was a bit slow moving and I didn’t like the nostalgia feel to it. I compared it earlier to Planes, Trains….., Another film I found it similar to but very inferior, is Green Book. Now that film has some great acting in it and way better than this.

El Duda

Green Book is one of the worst Oscar winners of all time imo

Each to their own

Man Vs ManUre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121695580#Comment_121695580

I thought it was pretty good, and VG was hard done not winning also. Last years best film winner EEAAO was worst to win of what I can remember.

dubstepper

I don't see the big deal about this film. It's good but not great. Maybe a 7 out of 10.

Has PG stretched himself here? I don't think so. He has done this character, or a variant of it before. He does it well no doubt.

The story itself is enjoyable but I don't see it as a Christmas classic. I suspect the people who love it loved sideways and wanted more. This movie gives it to them.

Man Vs ManUre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121703242#Comment_121703242

Exactly. I also thought Sideways was very average. Was director also the descendants, another average family dramedy. This Holdovers is a nice film with good acting especially the new lad, but it’s no Xmas classic like Home Alone, Diehard, Planes Trains….. Green Book had an ending I can’t remember for either Xmas or Thanksgiving and that was a far better film with 2 powerhouse acting performances.