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And the critical acclaim continues to pour in for Kristen as several reviews were submitted by film critics earlier today (March 16, 2017) praising her performance in Personal Shopper, whose Tomatometer ranking has increased to a Certified Fresh rating of 81% overall and 91% for top critics. Her are more excerpts from reviews of the top film critics:
"Kristen Stewart goes far beyond Bella in ‘Personal Shopper’
Kristen Stewart’s performance in this film is in a universe beyond the bite-the-lip, minimalist-schlock work she delivered in the “Twilight” movies, and this film masterfully delves into a number of genres, none of them light romantic comedy.
If you stopped paying attention to Kristen Stewart’s career arc after the “Twilight” films, you’ve missed a number of wonderful performances in a diverse and very fine array of films, from “On the Road” to “Clouds of Sils Maria” (her first partnering with director Assayas) to “American Ultra” to Woody Allen’s “Café Society.”
Stewart rises to the next level with her startlingly excellent work in “Personal Shopper.” She is in command of her character, sometimes almost casually so, keeping us focused on every little bit of physical business, every interesting choice of line readings, every moment of vulnerability that begins to bleed through the self-protective exterior. Stewart was the first American actress to win the Cesar (essentially the French Oscar) for her work here, and she deserves an Oscar nomination as well.
I can’t explain everything I saw in this film, but I was entertained and enthralled by every second of it." ~Richard Roeper
<a href="http://chicago.suntimes.com/entertainment/kristen-stewart-goes-far-beyond-bella-in-personal-shopper/">http://chicago.suntimes.com/entertainment/kristen-stewart-goes-far-beyond-bella-in-personal-shopper/</a>
"Kristen Stewart (so good in Assayas’ previous film, “Clouds of Sils Maria”) plays Maureen, a young American in Paris whose habitual quiet masks a terrible loss — the recent death of her twin brother, Lewis.
And Stewart lets us see both Maureen’s tough shell (she has a brisk, poignant efficiency in her job) and the vulnerable heart that it guards. The jewelry, dresses and handbags seem trivial yet tangible; something solid that’s she’s drawn to, in contrast with the dark, airy mysteries swirling in the rest of her life." ~Moira MacDonald
<a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/movies/personal-shopper-review-ghostly-shadows-drape-kristen-stewart-drama/">http://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/movies/personal-shopper-review-ghostly-shadows-drape-kristen-stewart-drama/</a>
Highly doubt it for three reasons I can think of. If she was a victim of Celebgate, nude pics of her would have already been leaked all over the internet by now as she has been the target of paparazzi especially since starring in Twilight. Second of all, Kristen isn't a big fan of social media. And thirdly, I don't believe Kristen to be ignorant enough to be fooled by phishers into giving them her login credentials.
"the fact she hosted SNL shows that her career is on the downside."
Huh? Are you serious when you imply this?
Ben Affleck hosted Saturday Night Live a total of 5 times, his first appearance on February 19, 2000 and his most recent appearance was on May 18, 2013. From 1997 to 2001, Affleck had already starred in a bunch of feature films, including some high profile ones such as Good Will Hunting, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Armageddon, Shakespeare in Love, and Pearl Harbor. Was his, "career on the downside" since his first SNL appearance? Certainly not! In fact, he has been cast in one high-profile film after another, including some he directed and starred in, such as The Town and Argo. As you probably know, Argo won the Best Picture Oscar on February 24 2013, three months before he appeared for his 5th time on SNL.
Tom Hanks has hosted SNL 9 times from December 14, 1985 to December 8, 1990. While his breakout role was in Splash (1984), his career did not take off into the stratosphere until after his first SNL appearance and subsequent host appearances. So much for Hanks' career being on the downside after his first appearance.
Perhaps I should reference someone closer in age to Kristen. Next up we have Scarlett Johansson who hosted SNL 5 times from her first in January 14, 2006 to her most recent appearance being just a few days ago on March 11, 2017. Her breakout role, as far as adult oriented fare was Lost in Translation (2003). Did Johansson's career take a nosedive after her first SNL appearance in 2006? While it is true that 3 out of her 4 Golden Globe nominations were awarded to her before her first SNL appearance, she received her 4th G.G. nod after. And as far as receiving roles in Hollywood big budget blockbusters, her highest paying roles came years later in films such as Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain American Civil War (2016), and The Jungle Book (2016). She's also reprising her role as Black Widow in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film Avengers: Infinity War (2018).
While I'm at it, why not make mention of the actor who has hosted SNL the most times? It's none other than Alec Baldwin who appeared as host on SNL 17 times, his first being on April 21, 1990 while his most recent was on February 11, 2017. Baldwin's breakout role was in The Hunt for Red October (1990). Did his career then come to a crashing halt, as he did after all, host SNL for the first time that year? Every year from 1990 up until now, Baldwin has starred in at least one feature film per year, with the exception of 2010. I'm guessing, half-jokingly, that he took a breather from acting to host the 82nd Academy Awards that year. For Baldwin, his SNL appearances seem to mirror his successful acting career instead of being an indicator of his demise--more like the more the merrier in terms of being a guest host on SNL. So I sure do hope they invite Kristen back and she jumps at the opportunity to churn out another wide ranging acting performance.
Agreed Austin. I should start off my saying that the best films on any controversial topic should avoid being preachy, manipulative or worse yet, promulgate propaganda. Instead, it should present both sides of an issue and let the viewers decided. After all, there are always two sides to any story and for a film's storyline to have a ring of truth even if it's based on a fictional work, it mustn't be biased either way. And Camp X-Ray did just that. In fact, Peter Sattler, who wrote the screenplay and directed this film, stressed the importance of not taking sides.
The most political role Kristen has had to date was as Kathryn Lynn in Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. But even this film wasn't predominantly political either as the main premise for this film was Billy's being torn between serving his country to the best of his ability as a decorated Army specialist while simultaneously trying to please his sister Kathryn who opposed the war. Even though Kathryn did oppose the war in Iraq, she did not engage in any protests, least to say, not the kind of violent protests as was seen by Dakota Fanning's character Meredith who portrayed a violent antiwar activist who planted bombs and killed innocent civilians in "American Pastoral". And besides, the vast majority of all contemporary war dramas about modern day warfare have an underlying antiwar theme. Case in point: I can't think of a single war drama made in the last decade about a war that occurred during the past 10 years which glorified such wars.
That being said, perhaps it should also be stated that Camp X-Ray did have geopolitical undertones in the sense that this film's premise hinted that detainees at Guantanamo Bay were being detained without due process, or more aptly, without abiding by habeas corpus along with implying that some of the detainees were being tortured since they are not afforded protection from such abuses under the Geneva conventions as prisoners are, a point which Cole made very clear--geopolitical in the sense that Gitmo's very existence has and continues to spark international outrage.
Great list as usual Carved and you can't go wrong using songs such as "Bad Moon Rising" which has been used in numerous films, television shows and trailers along with MIKA's Underwater because of its perfectly matched title and catchy melody.
One song which I stumbled across, which may be a good choice for the Underwater soundtrack because in my opinion its lyrics seem to describe what we know of its storyline is "Blue Ocean Floor" by Justin Timberlake: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWmyT8DM1r4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWmyT8DM1r4</a>
I too love that she keeps trying to sharpen her skills by taking on one challenging role after another. Sometimes I think I'm going crazy since I've considered her to be the most talented actress of her generation for the past few years despite her not winning any major accolades (Oscar, SAG, GG) here in the states--and yet many top film critics perceive her acting in a similar fashion as how I view it, which validates what some of us fans have known about her talent for quite some time.
If I were to rule out politics, via Oscar campaigning, as the reason why Kristen gets snubbed by the Academy despite being a critically acclaimed actress for years--not as if she hasn't paid her dues--it probably has something to do with her starring in indie films which many, including most Oscar voters, don't get to see in theaters. Or, it could be that AA voters, like many American moviegoers, prefer films produced by Hollywood filmmakers which have a tendency to be overly optimistic, as in having a Hollywood happy ending, as opposed to watching films directed by non-Hollywood filmmakers, more specifically, art house films made in Europe, by auteurs such as Assayas, who have a tendency to be more pessimistic in their vision, selecting non-plot storylines, static characters, in this case, he does not define who Kristen's character Maureen really is in Personal Shopper, and whose films rely more on dialogue, such as was the case with Clouds of Sils Maria, which had more of an open-ended ambiguous ending. Contrast this with Hollywood films that rely heavily on archplot and fleshed out characters that change dramatically for the better, often times riding off into the sunset so to speak. Hollywood produces films with an archplot story design because these films have the potential to make much more at the box office as opposed to art house styled non-plot films. So this could explain why most of Kristen's indie films don't make a killing at the box office nor are seriously considered by Academy members of the actors branch--recognition I honestly, or should I say, strongly believe she deserves.
Good one Owlfy, as they both have similar sized facial features and proportions, although I must say Kristen resembles Halsey's profile/side-view much more than front-on.
I'll refer to Halsey the next time someone brings up Eminem for the millionth time on YouTube--although I must admit, like I mentioned earlier, Slim Shady was one of the first things that crossed my mind.
She also looked over a decade under her age in the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory spoof sketch, "Golden Ticket" on SNL. I wonder if this has a lot to do with her being a vegetarian. I say this from personal experience as I myself was a vegetarian for about seven years and during that period people who knew me would tell me that I didn't seem to age as far as appearance during those years. So perhaps I should go back to being a vegetarian, although I must admit it does take a lot of willpower when you live and work among carnivores.
I had the same problem too Carved and by your response, I'm guessing others had issues with this as well. I believe this has something to do with the creators finding a way to prevent trolls, or anyone else for that matter, from creating multiple sock accounts with a single IP address as some used to do on IMDb, and I'm guessing that in order to accomplish this would require members to re-register as some members were discussing this on a thread on the General Discussion board.
A few days ago I could not log onto my account either so at first I thought I may have entered my password incorrectly when signing up for a membership, yet how could this be when we're all required to enter a password twice to eliminate such mistakes. Interestingly, I signed up again, using my same screen name, same password and same internet address and was able to log in successfully since. So this reconfirmed my belief of having to re-register.
To paraphrase what I was telling April, the reason why The Shining was so visually arresting was because Kubrick was a master of focusing on a simple mundane object, putting it on a pedestal in such a way that it becomes so important that the viewer becomes fascinated with it, which is pretty much what an artist aspires to do. Once Kubrick has a viewer under his hypnotic control with his artistic vision, he can pretty much toy with you any way he chooses, which in a horror film can be downright scary to experience.
The irony is that Kubrick wasn't even on location when they filmed the opening scene, yet I'm pretty sure it was his idea to shoot aerial footage of Glacier National Park in Montana and use it for the opening credits since it was consistent with the rest of the film. Describing this scene as "gorgeous and fear inducing at the same time" is the perfect way to put it, for it foreshadowed what was in store, as the rest of the film's visually arresting scenes suggested normalcy yet were simultaneously coupled with unexplained oddities--for after all this film involved supernatural elements along with a main character who had a few screws lose. And then there was the sexual undertones in this film, such as the man in the bear costume which some say was a visual motif for incest, along with supposed political undertones which have led some to speculate about conspiracy theories involving this film. And then you have Kubrick's strict attention to detail--taking 5 years to make this film, not to mention reshooting scenes multiple times, most notably Shelly Duvall's scene showing her trying to hit Jack Nicholson's character with a baseball bat, had 127 takes. Being more specific about this film's backdrop, the interior of The Overlook Hotel, was comprised of grand ballrooms, enormous lobbies and a seemingly endless maze of corridors, which couldn't possibly fit in a hotel of this size judging by the size of the exterior, which was done intentionally to play tricks on the subconscious mind of a viewer. Perhaps all that needs to be said is, before David Lynch rose to prominence, there was Stanley Kubrick.
Such great reviews that one would assume that she should be in the conversation during awards season later this year. However, Kristen has received even more widespread critical acclaim for her performance in Clouds of Sils Maria in 2015 and to a lesser degree in Cafe Society in 2016 and yet she wasn't an Oscar front runner for neither. Oh well, here we go again, she receiving lots of critical acclaim again, this time for Personal Shopper in 2017, yet Oscar voters' may not even give her the time of day :(
So perhaps you may want to include in your OP, which criteria should be used in judging whether or not a film should be considered overrated such as the critical acclaim and accolades such films have received. In other words, films are considered overrated masterpieces by whom?
In my opinion, The Shining is one of the best films in the horror genre, largely due to its eerie atmosphere, richly textured backdrops, hallucinatory scenes, graphic images which are just as much about art and style as they are about the violence which they depict, and ultimately, the way Kubrick makes mundane, harmless images, such a boy riding a tricycle down a hallway generate so much suspense, hitting very close to home as he makes such normal everyday things and occurrences appear so surreal, realistic and at the same time, downright scary when he so chooses to. Most of the great horror films such as Psycho and The Exorcist employ the same techniques. Not sure why many consider Kubrick's films, even his best, to be overrated since I consider him to be one of the greatest directors of all time.
When the OP says overrated, does this mean overrated according to the IMDb Top 250? If so, even Citizen Kane should not be considered overrated since it's 8.3 on IMDb. Here are some films that are rated 8.3 or higher which I do consider to be very good films yet overrated if you were to compare them with cinematic masterpieces such as Citizen Kane:
1) City of God - 8.6
2) Whiplash - 8.5
3) The Intouchables - 8.5
4) La La Land - 8.4
5) The Lives of Others - 8.4
6) Snatch - 8.3
7) The Hunt - 8.3
8) Inglourious Basterds - 8.3
9) Requiem for a Dream - 8.3
10) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - 8.3
I thought I should also add that several on this and other threads consider Stanley Kubrick's sci-fi masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, which is also rated 8.3 on IMDb to be overrated, when in my opinion this was a groundbreaking film that was one of the most influential films of all time in this genre, as it preceded and set the precedent for other great sci-fi films such as Star Wars and Alien.
1) Star Wars
2) The Lord of the Rings
3) James Bond
4) Batman
5) Harry Potter
6) Jurassic Park
7) Spider-Man
8) Indiana Jones
9) Star Trek
10) X-Men
Yes Gerard, Kristen may have received a lot of flack for Twilight, yet she must be given credit for helping to anchor a $3.3 billion film franchise, which also happens to be the highest grossing female oriented franchise of all time.
And besides her riveting performance in Camp X-Ray, before that she made On the Road and The Runaways and after that she received critical acclaim for films such as Clouds of Sils Maria, Still Alice, Cafe Society and Personal Shopper.
And lest we forget that before and after the first installment of Twilight, she did Adventureland and before that, The Yellow Handkerchief, Into the Wild, The Cake Eaters, Speak and Panic Room.
Like I said, she's the best indie actress of her generation.
After Kristen received a ton of prestigious critical acclaim in 2015 for her mesmerizing performance in Clouds of Sils Maria, being recognized by the French with their equivalent of the Oscar, the Cesar award, along with her receiving numerous awards from the most prestigious film critics groups in the world including awards from the New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, National Society of Film Critics, Boston Society of Film Critics, etc. I honestly thought she was a lock to receive an Oscar nomination--and why not since she received more critical acclaim than ANY Best Supporting Actress nominee in 2015, including the eventual BSA Oscar winner Alicia Vikander and was the first American actress to have ever won a Cesar.
So this year I'm not getting my hopes up despite the fact that she is also receiving lots of rave reviews from the top film critics in the industry for her stellar performance in Personal Shopper. Not sure if the Academy has a negative bias towards her acting or if this has more to do with AA voters rarely nominating actors who star in art house films, which in the strictest sense of the term, refer to indie films produced in Europe, which Sils Maria and Personal Shopper definitely qualify as. Unfortunate, since in my opinion, Kristen has become the best indie actress of her generation, bar none.
Best performance: Clouds of Sils Maria
My sentimental fave: Adventureland
She'll have at least 2 films which will be released in U.S. theaters in 2017, "Personal Shopper" which was released yesterday and "Lizzie" which is still projected to be released sometime later this year, although its exact date is yet to be announced. And then we have her big budget film "Underwater" which I was hoping would be released in December but most likely will be released in 2018. Still no official word as far as whether or not JT Leroy will be greenlit for production this summer. Anyhow, having two of her feature films being released in one year is still more than what the vast majority of Hollywood actresses have each year, so I'm appreciative of that.