If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins, 2018)

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#1 Post by **domino harvey** » Mon Jul 10, 2017 6:04 pm

Annapurna is funding Jenkins' next film, an adaptation of James Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk

big ticket · #2 Post by **big ticket** » Mon Jul 10, 2017 6:14 pm

Outstanding news, and completely out of left field for me, as I had no idea he had adapted Beale Street and was in the process of obtaining the rights.

As a side note, I chuckled when I saw Variety misattribute Gloria Karefa-Smart's reference to Jenkins' debut film as a turn of phrase!

ianungstad · #3 Post by **ianungstad** » Mon Jul 10, 2017 6:30 pm

Annapurna, not A24.

#4 Post by **domino harvey** » Mon Jul 10, 2017 6:31 pm

Right you are, fixed!

The Narrator Returns · Thu Aug 02, 2018 2:13 pm

Trailer

#6 Post by **domino harvey** » Thu Aug 02, 2018 2:17 pm

Wow, looks great!

#7 Post by **mfunk9786** » Thu Aug 02, 2018 3:15 pm

I am extremely ready for an African-American Carol vibe from the director of Moonlight. Extremely.

The Elegant Dandy Fop · Thu Aug 02, 2018 3:31 pm

I wasn't the biggest fan of Moonlight, but this looks fantastic. I'm glad Barry Jenkins didn't compromise on his follow-up to it!

Jean-Luc Garbo · #9 Post by **Jean-Luc Garbo** » Thu Aug 02, 2018 7:12 pm

Good god now that's a trailer! Those Demme shots are a great way to pull you into what everyone's about to say. I loved Moonlight and Carol so beyond excited is how I'm feeling about now.

Persona · #10 Post by **Persona** » Thu Aug 02, 2018 11:33 pm

I liked but didn't love Moonlight.

This is looking pretty phenomenal, though. There's just something about the imagery that is really resonating.

big ticket · #11 Post by **big ticket** » Sat Aug 04, 2018 3:24 am

Persona wrote: Thu Aug 02, 2018 11:33 pm This is looking pretty phenomenal, though. There's just something about the imagery that is really resonating.

Indeed. This teaser / trailer might be the best-shot thing I’ve seen this year.

MongooseCmr · #12 Post by **MongooseCmr** » Sat Aug 04, 2018 11:44 am

It’s a great trailer but I’m not seeing how this is so different from what Moonlight was showing in its own trailer.

Persona · #13 Post by **Persona** » Sat Aug 04, 2018 2:39 pm

Oh, yeah, it's not all that different, I just think the cinematography game looks stepped up a notch and maybe the vision looks even more confident this time around? Some of the close-up shots here like the hand gripping or the underwater shot are just really something and I hope there's a lot of that in the film. But also some beautiful wide shot compositions, too, with kind of the lovely use of color and soft-edge lighting that Moonlight had in some of its scenes, but there seems to be a little bit more going on in these. Can't wait to see the whole thing and also what Cuaron did with same camera, Alexa 65, in B&W for Roma.

I also found the trailer's use of sound really effective. That audio clip of Baldwin really couldn't have been used better, I don't think.

The book sure doesn't take it easy on cops/district attorneys/white Americans. Maybe Boots Riley will like this one better.

#14 Post by **mfunk9786** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 4:30 pm

Persona: You know there's an "edit" feature on your posts, right? You have now posted 4 times in succession, and 5 of the last 7 in here are yours. Hit the little pencil icon and you can just add further thoughts onto your last one.

I posted something snarky about this yesterday that I shouldn't have, but you really do not need to bump this thread every time you've got a new passing thought about it, there are better ways built into the forum's code that make that unnecessary.

Persona · #15 Post by **Persona** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 5:16 pm

Apologies, yeah, I didn't even realize that I was doing that since there were days between each of the posts and I guess I should have made mental note that I was the last one posting each time. Thanks.

#16 Post by **mfunk9786** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 5:17 pm

All good.

#17 Post by **Matt** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 6:03 pm

Nothing wrong with enthusiasm, Persona, but you also don't want to treat the forum like your personal blog or Twitter account. It wears out your welcome real fast.

Persona · #18 Post by **Persona** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 10:22 pm

Yeah, certainly not my intention. In fact, I will go ahead and combine my posts.

#19 Post by **domino harvey** » Mon Sep 10, 2018 6:06 am

Positive first response out of TIFF... but as not many effusive reviews as I think most expected. Prob not the awards player it seemed to be

senseabove · #20 Post by **senseabove** » Mon Sep 10, 2018 5:54 pm

domino harvey wrote: Mon Sep 10, 2018 6:06 am Positive first response out of TIFF... but as not many effusive reviews as I think most expected. Prob not the awards player it seemed to be

I'm going mostly by Twitter reactions, admittedly, and that's probably tainted by Barry Jenkins being an active on there himself, but most of what I've seen has been pretty effusive. Are there actual reviews that are being more measured?

Kirkinson · #21 Post by **Kirkinson** » Mon Sep 10, 2018 6:21 pm

Reviews in the Guardian and THR are both positive but yes, more measured. A few slightly less enthused reactions on letterboxd as well. The consensus among them seems to be that it contains a lot of individually beautiful and powerful moments but other elements drag it down and it doesn’t cohere into a singularly satisfying experience. Dave Franco’s brief appearance is also being singled out as an odd and distracting moment.

There is still an abundance of effusive reactions, though, and it seems likely to continue to be an awards player at least for cinematography, score, and a handful of performances, as everyone seems to agree those elements are all pretty exceptional.

Persona · #22 Post by **Persona** » Mon Sep 10, 2018 8:06 pm

Well the character Franco is playing is sort of an odd and distracting one in the book, too.

Maybe this is a case of a film being too faithful to its source material? Because I can see a lot of the stuff in the book, which works well in that context, perhaps not working so well in the cinematic medium.

Looking for myself and it does seems to me that most of the praise is pretty genuine and effusive. Maybe not "Star is Born" type hyperbole, but that's probably a good thing.

#23 Post by **mfunk9786** » Mon Sep 10, 2018 11:31 pm

K. Austin Collins, one of my favorite critics, wrote a very thoughtful rave in Vanity Fair

#24 Post by **mfunk9786** » Tue Sep 11, 2018 2:10 am

Continuing to be incredibly excited for this.

#25 Post by **domino harvey** » Tue Sep 11, 2018 2:24 am

Whereas I could go the rest of my life never needing to see hyperbole like that directed towards any movie

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