The Squid and the Whale - Directed by Noah Baumbach
 

http://www.squidandthewhalemovie.com/

Just saw this today and have to say that's it's probably the best thing I've seen this year. Performances were excellent all around, particulary the father/son dynamics. Jeff Daniels was superb. Great script as well.

I'm looking very forward to this. I can;t wait till it hits the Enzian Theater near me.

I saw this at the Toronto Film Festival. A fantastic movie. One of my favorite films of the year. Noah Baumbach is one of my favorite film makers. I highly recommend checking out his films "Kicking and Screaming" and "Mr. Jealousy."

Terrific film. I saw this last month at the NY Film Festival, followed by a Q&A with the director and all 5 principal actors. All the performances are great, but it is Jeff Daniels who will surprise you. I've always enjoyed his performances, but this is on a whole new level, and is a must-see.

If they rename it to 'Squid vs. Whale' they'd make huge box office.

It's screening at the Austin Film Festival this upcoming Thursday. This is one of four films that I anticipated highly for this festival. I've seen the other three (The Ice Harvest, Shopgirl, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang). I haven't been let down by any of them...so hopefully this one lives up to my expectations, too. Jeff Daniels is supposed to be there afterwards for a Q&A. We shall see.

-JP

Bump.

Saw it tonight and loved it. It was my second favorite film of the festival (to Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang...though the two are entirely different, and as such shouldn't really be compared). I may see it again in theaters, and I'll definitely pick it up on DVD. Jeff Daniels did show up for the Q&A...and was relatively informative.

-JP

The girlfriend and I saw this tonight on a whim - I'd heard absolutely nothing about it except that it'd been nominated for some awards...not even about the plot. Thought it was fantastic, and I'll echo the thoughts about Jeff Daniels awesome performance.

= J

This is a great movie. top 10 on my list.

Too bad Linney and Daniels will likely be left out of the Oscars.

Also, note that the DVD comes out on 3:21:2006.

= J

I have yet to see this but it looks really good. The word of mouth has been fantastic as well.

Considering it was nominated for a Best Musical or Comedy Golden Globe I expect to walk out of the theater with my sides hurting :rolleyes:

I'd been wanting to see this for a while but the playtime down in Miami was pretty bad, I got back up to school (Gainesville, FL...population equal to about 1 square mile of Miami) and to my surprise it was still playing, today was actually the last day. Checked it out and loved it, but I knew with Baumbauch (sp?) writing/directing, I wouldn't be let down. I think at a few points, the kind of subtle sarcasm was a tad bit too intense, but otherwise I was very much impressed.

Why is this so great? I thought it was a piece of shit. Seriously - not to insult anyone - everyone has different taste, but I'd like it explained to me what was so special about this movie. I keep hearing how awesome it is, but the film did nothing for me at all.

There were actually quite a few elements of dark humor in the movie. I don't agree with the film being classified as a comedy/musical (no more than I agree with Walk the Line being classified as such), but the film definitely has it's comedic moments.

There's the answer to your question. Personally, I thought the performances were great all around. I loved the dark humor spread throughout. I appreciated the take on what can happen to children caught up in the middle of parental disputes. I thought the story was captivating, and the dialogue was well written. I think Baumbach had a certain flair behind the camera. I could go on. Like you said, though, everybody has different tastes. No explanation I could offer would, or should change your opinion of the movie. If it worked for you, it worked for you. If not, no harm done.

-JP

this movie was awesome. it was so hilarious. i hope it wins a best original screenplay oscar.

yeah, you gotta enjoy that weird type of humor to like this movie. not everyone does and it's understandable. have you seen "the life aquatic?" i'd say that's around teh same line, though that was funnier imo.

Yeah - life aquatic I saw and liked... it's pretty much why I saw this one. I just didn't think the movie was funny at all. I didn't think the characters were very interesting. Well, there were a few characters i liked - but they weren't main characters. I don't know. This is another one of those movies where nobody ever says anything bad about it and I feel like I'm in the twilight zone or something because I'm the only one who didn't like it. Maybe it's because I went through alot of that in my own life (except for the public masturbation) and didn't really find any of the film to draw me in like it should. I mean, I can identify with these situations yet I'm totally disinterested rather than pulled in. Meh.

Is this the one that features Pheobe Cates son?

Surprised i enjoyed this one as well. mainly because i didn't care for "life aquatic" (wes anderson produced this movie) and the other big sundace movie last year "junebug" The movie was funny at times (a bit dark though). Anyone else humming along when "hey you" was playing through out the movie?

I thought this movie was amazing
From about 5 minutes in till the end my jaw was dropped, completely wrapped up in the characters
So only a few people knew "Hey You" in 1986?

Or maybe only college kids, and wasn't floyd about dead by 86?

After learning that Jeff Daniels starred with Anna Paquin in Fly Away Home when Anna Paquin was still quite illegal made their on screen kiss in Squid and the Whale take on a different kind of weird feeling for me.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

I listened to Floyd in junior high in 87-89, so I'd say people were still pretty aware of them in the mid-80s.

Look at that raging mullet that Daniels has on that Fly Away Home DVD cover, wow. To discuss The Squid and the Whale I found it outstanding. In a short amount of time it took me in alot of different directions and made me think alot of different things about divorce. I know a little too much these days about parents divorcing so it made me think about how the dividing line is drawn between the two and how difficult it is to figure out what to do with yourself. Not to mention the film is hilarious at just about every moment. Me and people I know just quote it all the time to each other. Also need to mention Lou Reed's finest song in my opinion Street Hassle is played for the ending which has me revisiting it like 10 times a day.

Yes, he is the younger son in the film.