[-Bianca-]

Oh. That would make sense.

If that movie had just left well enough alone, they wouldn't have had to explain it though. The book's plot in relation to the title was relatively self explanatory.

[Prospero]

Thanks for the explanation. It makes sense to me....
Although I think we'll only have a right answer when the movie's out.

(I didn't know what slaughter rule is either until I saw the movie...)

[heaven85]

Originally Posted by -Bianca- Oh. That would make sense. If that movie had just left well enough alone, they wouldn't have had to explain it though. The book's plot in relation to the title was relatively self explanatory.

Well for a walk to remember when they tested audiences no one understood the title of the movie so that's why they added it in.

[-Bianca-]

Oh, I know.I was just saying they wouldn't have had to stick it in if they had just stayed truer to the book. The walk(s) were basically when Landon fell for Jamie. In the movie, they didn't show that as well.

That's all.

Originally Posted by Prospero (I didn't know what slaughter rule is either until I saw the movie...)

I didn't know what it was either and I'm an (American) football fan... I agree it'll probably be the same here, we won't know what 'Half Nelson' refers to exactly 'til the movie.

[heaven85]

I totally get what you mean Bianca and if they did it the way it was supposed do then it woudln't be such confusion but they had their own reasons for not doing it although I don't agree. Well hopefully we will know what Half Nelson means when the movie comes out.

[-Bianca-]

All those reviews and pictures.

::sniff::

[heaven85]

I know. Such great pictures that have to be found and post again.

[-Bianca-]

Later in the day, after snarfing down free samples at Whole Foods (you would not believe how good a vegan brownie could be), I walked back to the Ritz for Half Nelson, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year. Remember how I was saying that Akeelah and the Bee is the only film I can think of where a little black girl is the lead and appears in almost every scene? This movie comes close. Except the actress' name is Shareeka Epps and she's freakin' unbelievable. It's rare to see a child actor give an understated performance, but that's exactly what happens here. She's only in about half the scenes, so I'd call her a co-lead, but the other co-lead is the incredible Ryan Gosling, as the falling-apart-at-the-seams-teacher-who's-really-cool-except-maybe-for-the-crack-habit protagonist. http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/04/03/121257.php

On ''Half Nelson," which premiered at Sundance in January, Boden served as editor, co-writer and one of the producers. Ryan Gosling stars as Dan Dunne, a charismatic but flawed teacher struggling with drug addiction. The ante is upped when one of his students, Drey (Shareeka Epps), catches him getting high. ''Half Nelson" is a feature-length version of ''Gowanus, Brooklyn" and stars the same lead actress. ''We never imagined that we'd be able to keep [Epps]," said Boden, speaking by phone from Brooklyn, ''[but] she can play young enough. Her character is a bizarrely old soul captured in a young body." http://www.boston.com/news/globe/liv...6/giant_steps/

Ryan Gosling’s history teacher in Ryan Fleck’s Half Nelson (2006 ; April 19 at 7 pm at the Somerville Theatre, with Fleck and screenwriter Anna Boden in attendance) combines the strong points of the two history teachers in Chalk. Too bad he’s also an alcoholic and drug addict. By day he regales his inner-city middle-school students with his hip, dialectical approach to history (Civil Rights Movement vs. Racist Establishment = Black Republicans?) and by night he’s hanging out with whores and smoking crack. So when does he grade papers? Sometimes he doesn’t even make it off the school grounds before he starts pulling on his pipe, and that’s when his 13-year-old student Drey (Shakeera Epps, the acting discovery of this festival) finds him sprawled out in a stall in the ladies’ room. What follows is a sometimes subtle, sometimes bombastic (Gosling’s performance ranges from brilliant to bug-eyed) parable about class, race, power, and the dialectics of family relationships. http://www.thephoenix.com/article_ektid8752.aspx

In Half Nelson, one of the highlights of this year's Sundance Film Festival, the wonderful Ryan Gosling plays a teacher who would like to inspire his students -- if only he could conquer his own debilitating self-hatred and drug addiction. Keep an eye out for this beautifully directed, tough-minded indie when it hits theaters in August: It more than puts the cheap uplift and easy moralizing of Take the Lead to shame; it also reminds that we can usually learn more from the sinners than we can from the saints. http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/entertainment/14279612.htm

"Half Nelson" (directed by Ryan Fleck): One of the more talked-about films stars Ryan Gosling, the guy with the best face and possibly the strongest acting chops of his generation, in a heartbreaking performance as a passionate, committed high school teacher and coach who on his own time is battling a major crack habit. When one of his students, Drey (the astounding Shareeka Epps), catches him wasted in a school bathroom stall, an unlikely friendship is born. While director Fleck leads audiences on a seemingly familiar path toward lessons learned and expected redemption, every stumble feels painfully real, every gentle moment is earned. Opens in August. http://www.ifctv.com/ifc/insiderNews...ge&BCLR=FF6600

In the realm of personal drama, there was Ryan Fleck’s Sundance underdog Half Nelson (). The film is well-trodden territory: A young, favored teacher (Ryan Gosling) spends his off time snorting coke and coaching the girls’ basketball team. He makes friends with one of the players (Shareeka Epps) and a friendship blooms that ends up helping him with his drug habits and her with Frank (Anthony Mackie), a drug dealer and friend of her imprisoned brother. The script has enough clichés and predictable outcomes to constitute a Lifetime logo in the bottom right corner of the screen, but the material is saved by the acting and Fleck’s directing. Gosling fills the screen with a rousing sense of wit and urgency, while Epps, a newcomer reprising the role she created in Fleck’s original short Gowanus, Brooklyn, holds her scenes with Gosling with striking intensity. Fleck sets a formidable atmosphere of woozy camera movements and he works excellently with the actors to give the somewhat stale dialogue a refreshing twirl. http://filmcritic.com/misc/emporium....b?OpenDocument

[heaven85]

Thank you so much for finding them again Bianca!!!! It means alot. We have them back.

[-Bianca-]

Oh, no. Those were new stuff I found recently; not all the old ones.

Just like these are new:

Hotline: What, no Parker Posey? Wednesday, April 19, 2006 E-mail article View text version View most popular The Independent Film Festival of Boston kicks off tonight with a screening of “Half Nelson,” starring Ryan Gosling, at the Somerville Theatre. Festival events run through Monday at the Somerville Theatre, Coolidge Corner, the Brattle, Jimmy Tingle’s Off Broadway and the Museum of Fine Arts. Among the highlights: conversations with Chris Cooper (4:30 p.m. Sunday at Jimmy Tingle’s) and Lili Taylor (5:30 p.m. Monday at the Brattle). Tickets: $8-$10. All-access passes: $200. Go to www.iffboston.org or check venue box offices. http://theedge.bostonherald.com/movi...ticleid=135717

Landing just before Cannes on the calendar, SFIFF has long had to glean the best from the festivals of the previous 12-plus months. The 49th SFIFF has done a better than usual job of shopping for nonstodgy items at Toronto, Sundance, and other fests, landing films such as The Descent, Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, James Longley's unembedded doc Iraq in Fragments, and Half Nelson, which features a Ryan Gosling performance that will probably figure in the Oscars next spring. http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=370

[-Bianca-]

Bah. Double post.

[heaven85]

Ooh great review... Ryans film in the oscars? That would be incredible. No worries Bianca. It happens to the best of us.

Oh is it new? Hm.. that's good. More info on it.

[-Bianca-]

I'm not going to get my hopes up for something like that just yet.

Someday though, even if it's not for this role, I definitely see him scoring a nod or maybe even a win. He's that type of actor.

[heaven85]

I agree that one day in the future he will at least get a nod at the oscars.

So cool that its release day is supposed to be August 11th. I read that at USOG.

[kells700]

I read that USOGF earlier and that just brightened my day. Ryan and Oscar in the same sentence. Sound lovely. But even if he doesn't get it this year, it's inevitable seeing how great he is. Those articles only make me unable to wait much longer to see this film. It sounds great.