Jennifer Lawrence - J-Law Appreciation #30 - "I'm a very big fan of hers. I think she could end up being another little Bette Davis." - Quentin Tarantino - Page 6

**Violent Delights** · 01-24-2016, 06:07 PM

It is, I should watch it again.

or the original.

TPF1138 · 01-24-2016, 06:39 PM

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Originally Posted by sunworshipper (View Post)

You lost me at vampire. I am so over that stupid trend.

You're doing yourself a disservice, but okay.

sunworshipper · 01-25-2016, 09:02 AM

Jennifer Lawrence affirms her star power in the films of David O. Russell · Together Again · The A.V. Club

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Jennifer Lawrence is one of the biggest movie stars in America. If that wasn’t clear before Christmas 2015, she managed to open Joy, a drama about mop patents, to $17 million despite mixed reviews and competition from the biggest movie ever. It’s the kind of feat that used to be accomplished by stars like Will Smith (whose own commercially iffy film opened the same weekend as Joy, to considerably lower numbers), and Lawrence may be the only actor under 30 capable of getting there.
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Moreover, the ditching of formal biography again allows Lawrence to play a role for Russell that seems ideal for someone about 10 years older than her actual age. In making this conceit work, Joy also draws upon her cinematic history with Russell; as much of a stretch as it requires to buy her playing a widow in Silver Linings (at age 22) and a single mom to a kid who looks about 6 in Hustle (at age 23), by the time she clocks in as yet another single mom to a couple of non-baby children in Joy (at age 25), she has accumulated the air of authority that would usually come from an older actor (or at least an actor who wasn’t concurrently playing the decidedly teenage Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games series).

Technically speaking, Lawrence is probably miscast in all three of her movies with Russell. But Russell, while an energetic and talented filmmaker, does not necessarily thrive on the technical. Based on the somewhat undisciplined nature of most of his films, and the fact that each successive movie with Lawrence employs an additional credited editor (Joy has four, including three veterans of past Russell films), he seems to find his movies, at least to some degree, in the editing room. Though some see him as a more mainstream, Oscar-baiting director following his 2010 comeback with The Fighter, the loose, messy sensibility of his earlier movies remains intact. Casting Lawrence with the magical (and not incorrect!) thinking that she can star-power her way past misgivings about the potential age mismatch further heightens the off-kilter weirdness he sneaks into familiar genres like the rom-com, the con-artist picture, or the biopic.
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And Joy, while less exuberant than its immediate predecessors, still teeters repeatedly on the edge of song and dance. Joy meets her husband, a singer, at a party, where he near-literally sweeps her off her feet with dance and eventually convinces her to perform “Somethin’ Stupid” with him in what the film’s narration vaguely and blithely refers to as the “town musical.” Before it can seem indulgent, the tenderness in Lawrence’s eyes diminishes any lingering questions about why Joy stays friends with this man when he becomes her ex later in life.
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It’s the least successful of their three films together, but a major reason Joy still works—probably better than it should, really—is Lawrence’s face. The film’s QVC exec played by Cooper says that performances on the home-shopping channel are “really about the hands and the voice—that’s the heart of it,” and while Cooper performs accordingly with big hand gestures, Russell goes another way with his star. He favors shots of Lawrence walking with silent purpose, her face furrowed and resolute, as in the scene where she marches to the amateur shooting range that’s set up next to her father’s business and asks to take a turn with a rifle.

That determination carries over to the film’s climactic confrontation with one of Joy’s rivals in commerce. It’s a dialogue scene, but it’s bookended with shots where Lawrence walks down the street in mirrored sunglasses, a dark jacket, and a new haircut, like she’s about to slip away and assassinate an unsuspecting target. Russell’s use of Lawrence’s face to tell his story is not so different from strategies employed by the Hunger Games movies—Catching Fire ends with a particularly memorable shot of Lawrence’s face turning from grief and shock to determination and rage, and it’s one of her best moments of film acting so far.

Russell has his own version of this recurring iconography. Beyond the steely-faced determination, both the walking and the talking in the climax of Joy are distillations of a Lawrence hallmark Russell clearly loves: the moment where one of her characters walks into a seemingly impenetrable (and usually male-dominated) situation and takes control. In Silver Linings, it’s the scene where she stands up to De Niro’s character and explains in great detail why she hasn’t, in fact, jinxed the Philadelphia Eagles by spending time with his son (Cooper). In American Hustle, it’s a pair of party scenes where her purportedly anxiety-ridden and housebound character hits the town with her nervous husband and charms everyone around her, including a gaggle of gangster types who have intimidated everyone else in the vicinity. Instead of Lawrence standing alone with her weapon, the camera finds her holding court in a crowd of inferior dudes, and Lawrence holds the shot’s interest with her reading of her small talk, at once offhand and preening in her offhandedness.

Joy drops away the other people for its signature shot of Lawrence in sunglasses, a succinct and satisfying distillation of her dominance in Russell’s films; the actual verbal confrontation that accompanies this image is smaller and less crowd-pleasing than its equivalents in Silver Linings and Hustle (in part because it isn’t played for laughs). But if the movie itself is the least kicky of the three Lawrence/Russell pictures, it shows progress in other ways. It relies less on comedy, refuses to define Lawrence’s character in terms of the men in her life, and downplays what appears, in the previous films, to be Russell’s lusty feelings toward his star. (Even in the film where Lawrence essentially acts out a matriarchy origin story, Russell manages to get her down on all fours for at least one shot, albeit one less lingering or sexualized than similar shots in the other two films.)
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If she makes good on this promise, their collaboration may continue to essentially substitute for the usual work that a female star would log between action-movie franchises: the romantic comedies, the thankless girlfriend roles opposite other big stars, the occasional Oscar bait. Silver Linings, American Hustle, and Joy dabble in those areas, but they’re heightened versions of tried and true formulas—classic Hollywood narratives knocked for a loop into familial chaos, at once grittier and more ridiculous than their ancestors. Lawrence’s movie-star chutzpah, far less restrained than in her big-budget Hollywood roles, contributes mightily to that heightening effect. In these distorted visions, Lawrence’s cracked versions of the screwball love interest, the nagging wife, and the plucky businesswoman aren’t reacting to action-movie fireworks—they are the action. Her confrontation scene with Amy Adams in Hustle, for example, pops off the screen. Moments like this are emotionally believable while remaining slightly self-aware in their amped-up cinematic structure.

That’s why the caricatured style of American Hustle works for, not against, both Russell’s work and Lawrence’s—and maybe why the more subdued madness of Joy doesn’t coalesce with quite the same sense of delight. Even when their movies don’t entirely work, though, they crackle with life and possibility. To watch Lawrence in a David O. Russell movie is to be made aware of just how little leeway, how little inspiration, so many other talented actresses are allowed in their own vehicles. Russell may stumble through his self-created chaos while semi-discreetly ogling his star, but ultimately Lawrence gets to march in and take control.

BTW, ignore the comments. This sites comments are always worthless. It's not trolls or hate, they just want to compete for the best wisecracks and usually ignore the content of the articles completely.

TPF1138 · 01-25-2016, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunworshipper (View Post)

BTW, ignore the comments.

I generally do.

It's a nice article, with a very astute reading on the partnership between Russell and Lawrence, even if I don't agree with every point that's made (mainly with regards the prurient dimension that the author ascribes to Russell). The unpacking of that tendency of Russell's to send Lawrence marching into male dominated scenarios that she seizes control of though, is particularly on the ball.

I this was my favourite part...

Quote:

To watch Lawrence in a David O. Russell movie is to be made aware of just how little leeway, how little inspiration, so many other talented actresses are allowed in their own vehicles.

This is why I love her work with Russell. It opens her up, and allows her to be creative, in a way that's far more restricted in her other work... to date. With luck, her upcoming projects will afford her such similar creative inspiration. I'm looking at you, Mr. Aronofsky...

**Violent Delights** · 01-26-2016, 01:48 PM

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ignore the comments

words to live by.

**J-LawForever** · 01-27-2016, 06:07 PM

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Originally Posted by Devil's Cry (View Post)

words to live by.

Yep. Especially on YouTube. the place id a cesspool of filth and nothing more.

Tati_SwanJones · 01-27-2016, 06:55 PM

never read comments

**Violent Delights** · 01-28-2016, 02:26 PM

I try not to.

Tati_SwanJones · 01-28-2016, 05:12 PM

sometimes I do like the first one and I stop right away

sunworshipper · 01-28-2016, 05:56 PM

Health & Life - Tom Hanks is America’s Favorite Movie Star, Followed by Johnny Depp and Denzel Washington

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Jennifer Lawrence hit the holiday season box office with the one-two punch of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 and Joy, and with a repeat in the No. 7 spot she has plenty to be joyful about indeed.
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Many of these top-10 performers are garnering other strong scores as well. Perfect scores for endorsement potential, in fact. According to Nielsen Talent Analytics data, many of these stars show perfect N-Scores of 100 out of 100 among many, if not all, Americans:

Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington and Sandra Bullock each show perfect N-Scores among all U.S. adults (aged 18+).
Harrison Ford and Julia Roberts each earn this distinction among those aged 35 and up.
Johnny Depp achieves the same among Millennials (aged 18-34).
Jennifer Lawrence, on the other hand, “scores” among Gen Z (those aged 13-17).

Jen is 2nd among 18-35s, 2nd in the suburbs, tied for 2nd in the eastern U.S., tied for 3rd among all women. She is also the only person on the top ten younger than 48. I assume maybe 1st among 13-17s.

Another significant insight: Jennifer Lawrence wasn't even in the top ten in 1994.

Must have been all those disgruntled lobster rights activists.

TPF1138 · 01-28-2016, 11:45 PM

What's most impressive is really how young Jennifer is compared to the other names in that top 10. I do find it remarkable that DiCaprio isn't in there, but then I suppose audiences might have learned respect for him over the years, without necessarily 'liking' him.

Worth noting as well, is that there's only three women on there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunworshipper (View Post)

Must have been all those disgruntled lobster rights activists.

Always someone with an axe to grind...

sunworshipper · 01-29-2016, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TPF1138 (View Post)

What's most impressive is really how young Jennifer is compared to the other names in that top 10. I do find it remarkable that DiCaprio isn't in there, but then I suppose audiences might have learned respect for him over the years, without necessarily 'liking' him.

Leo's absence is surprising. But note that the most of the stars don't seem to firmly establish themselves in this Top Ten until their 40s. Depp 39, Washington 40, Bullock 36, Pitt 48. Roberts is the only anomaly at 31.

This list is primarily a measure of endurance on the A-list and secondarily, the prominence of their recent films. Which makes Jen stand out. I wouldn't be surprised to see Jen drop out of this soon. Stars tend to drop on this when they don't have big films coming out and Jen was buoyed by all of the prominent YA, superhero, and Oscar-type films she's had the last three years. That pace won't continue. And older generations barely know who she is. Look at John Wayne. She's very well-known among young adults and children but barely among seniors, I'm guessing.

TPF1138 · 01-29-2016, 10:17 AM

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Originally Posted by sunworshipper (View Post)

I wouldn't be surprised to see Jen drop out of this soon.

I think I agree. She's off down a more off-beat track ( or seems to be), that should lead to her being less... highlighted all the time. There are a few Oscar possibilities I suppose, in her upcoming slate, that may cause a spike but yeah, an easing off seems likely...

**J-LawForever** · 01-29-2016, 07:38 PM

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Originally Posted by Devil's Cry (View Post)

I try not to.

That's the first rule of internet club.

sunworshipper · 01-30-2016, 01:12 PM

Cate Blanchett praises Jennifer Lawrence - TV3 Xpos�

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Cate Blanchett thought Jennifer Lawrence's essay on gender inequality in Hollywood was ''necessary'' and hopes it will inspire change in other industries.

The 'Truth' actress hopes the 26-year-old star's piece of work - in which she revealed she had been paid considerable less than her male 'American Hustle' co-stars - will encourage women in other industries to take a stance on the issue.

She said: "I thought it was fantastic. I thought it was timely, brave, and necessary.

''I applaud her for saying that because, forget the film industry for a second, it encourages women in other industries to say, 'You know what, I'm not receiving equal pay for equal work here.'

''You're not saying, 'I want to be paid squillions of dollars'. That's not her point.

''Her point is, I'm drawing lots of audiences to this film, as much as the men. We're all doing equal work.

''It's a basic, basic thing.''

Squillions? Is that Aussie for a jillion dollars?

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Fan Forum > Female Celebrities > Jennifer Lawrence > J-Law Appreciation #30 - "I'm a very big fan of hers. I think she could end up being another little Bette Davis." - Quentin Tarantino