I give the technical aspect a pass, it's a drama film, not Drive. But it's incredibly depressing to see someone's life fall apart like that. That being said, it was a great film but definitely a one time watch.
jed52 Having Alzheimer's is not a Depressing, and seeing someone's Life FALL PPART is Real and is happing to someone's Life Today. But PRAYREING for someone with Alzheimer's is one answer.
Yep! I just saw it this morning. I told my sister all about it and suggested she watch it, but I won't watch it again. Very depressing flick! Good though.
I'm very tempted to watch this, but it hits close to home. My grandma has an MA and now she's losing her mind and it's devastating. My mother is trying to care for her on top of everything else she has going on and is now worried about early onset Alzheimer's. I'm focusing on improving my fitness and diet, to preserve my mental and physical health as late into life as possible. I'm glad these terrifying diseases are finally getting some attention and I hope that there will be significant progress toward treating and curing them. My heart goes out to everyone effected.
It all depends on who you are. Some rape victims can't watch really gritty movies about rape. I am the exact opposite. I watch movies for the visceral response I get from them. If a movie can tug at my heartstrings I'm all in, all day. Skitzo runs very deep in my family and some of my most beloved movies are those depicting the devastation of Schizophrenia on the individual, and on the family unit. The closer to REAL they get it the harder, yet more enjoyable it is for me to watch.
If this movie is everyone's idea of a made for TV movie instead of a movie that belongs on a Big Screen. Then bring on more and I will never have to go to a theatre again and see some of the other crap! Awesome movie!! I work with people with Alzheimer's and at times it is hard to comprehend what the person is going through. Now everyone can see, possibly feel what it is like for them. Bravo!
It was kinda funny to see Christy have a realization in the middle of the review thinking "oh wait why am I complaining about the production values for a movie like Still Alice?". They all seemed to agree the performances were good and the story about this women suffering from this disease was told in an interesting way which is what matters. On a side note its been great having Christy, Alonso, Matt and Ben all back again.
my mother was diagnosed with early onset dementia in her late 40s... yes this does happen. and I always felt like my mother was the only person in the world who got dementia so early and that it was all just so unfair. I'm glad a movie like this was made and helped me to feel not so alone. I watched this movie to see how accurate they were at portraying the disease and how it effects the person, the family, etc. Julianne Moore really does an amazing job, at times I literally had flashbacks with my own mother, she looked almost just like my mother had at that particular stage in some scenes. you can tell she really did her research for the role, and for anyone to say Moore was less than spectacular is insane in my opinion. she even convinced someone whose reality and life has essentially been this film. unfortunately the movie doesn't go on further to show how bad it can get, my mother is now in a nursing home and is not eating, and I worry how much longer she has to live at this point. it has been just 5 years since she was diagnosed, my entire time I've been in college. I worry all the time about myself, I hope we are able to find a cure in the next few decades. this is really a horrible, horrible, depressing disease that has changed my life forever.
Early onset is rare, even if you're related to the person who has it. Do a search online on your chances of also having early onset. I have been in your shoes and lost my mom 2 weeks ago to something connected to the Alzheimer's. Keep an eye out for your mom's urinary tract infections. There is an odd and deadly connection between them. The UTI makes the Alz. worse and the Alzh. makes the UTI deadly.
My deepest condolences to you both. My father had dementia but he was older and already in a nursing home. Also, we weren't close and aside from trying to introduce him to my daughter after she was born and having that go horribly (he wouldn't even open his eyes), it didn't effect me in the same ways you're describing. It was still extremely sad though to see & I can't even imagine if I were close to him like in your situations. I hope time has helped heal the wounds for you both 🙏
I have a problem with the old criticism that a small movie is like a TV movie. So what? Movies can be like a video game, or a comic book, or a cartoon, or a Broadway play and still be good. So why can't a movie be like a TV movie and be considered based on its quality? If it's good, it doesn't matter that it's like a TV movie. In the theater, it won't be like a TV movie.
Still Alice has finally arrived to our neighborhood theater in Phoenix! Everyone needs to see this movie. It is a must see movie for adults of any age. Alzheimer’s is going to be _huge_ for our aging population. Julianne Moore did her homework and nails many of the behaviors of a person with dementia, memory loss, or Alzheimer's Disease. Families could gain so much insight! Great interview.
This movie is a 5. Christy got it right to begin with. There is nothing special about this flick. It's like someone thought "hey lets make a movie for Moore where she gets some emotional scenes so she can be nominated for awards". The story is just average and a 5 reflects average.
This is not a movie to judge from a technical aspect. This is strictly a storyteller with a message, nothing more. Now your opinion I can respect, because you stated the story was average.. fair enough, since the only things this film WANTS you to judge is its story and acting. It's a character study. Christy unfairly judged the film by its budget and the way it looks, not what the film was going for. So no, Christy never "had it right" to begin with. then to top it off, she changed her score in the end, proving to be a coward and follower rather than give an honest opinion of the film. And really, a 5/10 reflects average? You mean, average, the middle? Half and half? 5 being...half of 10? Thank you for clarifying this.
I agree that she buckled under peer pressure but not that this was basically a Lifetime movie. The only thing different from a typical Lifetime movie is that it had big name actors. And yes as to my way of scoring. IMO it's the only logical way of scoring. 10 the best of the best (Gravity, Her, Under The Skin, etc) 9 outstanding 8 really good (Nightcrawler) 7 good 6 above average 5 average
Gravitationalist I use a 1-10 grading system too. I was just busting your balls. Only thing different was big actors? You've apparently never watched a Lifetime movie. You don't get quality storytelling, acting, and character study in a Lifetime film.
it's so unfair what you say..... if she is really good in emotianal scenes - she is in my opinion - she deserves tha award nominations... if she tries too much to get them means she's good at her job so once again she deserves both the nomination and the award!! if it was up to me i would make about 10 "movies for Moore where she gets some emotional scenes" as you put it because i consider her one of the best actresses alive, not just for the awards! they would come anyway!!
I thought it was great. Although not perfect. I wish it showed more of how the other characters were experiencing. It's also quite obvious that the film was constructed around Julian's performance. The ending was way too abrupt. I was sitting there for a second wondering if my copy was broken. The good however are the performances. Julian Moore gave probably the best acting performance all year. No one was a weak link even someone like Kristen Stewart gave a solid performance. It was also very emotional which is always a plus. In the end I feel like the movie did everything it tried to do so good job guys. 8/10.
oscar for Moore! Its Time!!I Just like Leo, Amy and til "the Reader" for Kate Winslet, she has had several noms.and no win because usually there is another performance that wins by a landslide! She is a frontrunner this year!
Mom wasn't "officially" diagnosed (early onset) until a few months ago but by the time she was, we already knew it. Looking back we realized that what we thought was just "mom being odd" was really the early stages of Alzheimer's. She never really accepted that she had the disease and was still "covering" for her declining skills when she passed. She lived with it for 20 years, give or take a couple. It made me angry when Christy (reviewer) said something along the lines that the movie will help (those with or the families of) victims. Let me tell you from experience NOTHING HELPS! The disease takes over the life of the victim and those of the family members! Medicare doesn't care, employers don't care, Medicaid doesn't CARE. Medicaid approved my mom for Family Planning. That's a JOKE. Medicare wouldn't allow my mom help for bathing or any of the other functions that she was still physically capable of performing but wasn't mentally capable of doing. We couldn't get meals delivered because she was physically capable of moving. Because she had no physical handicap. She had been in a nursing home for 22 days but we had to take her out because we couldn't afford the part that Medicaid would have paid had they approved her for anything but Family Planning. The "system" is a bleeping joke! My only hope is that the movie will raise awareness and more research will be done for a cure. I would not wish this disease on my worst enemy.
So sorry you had to go through that. My father had Dementia but we weren't close so & he was a lot older and already in a nursing home so it didn't effect me in the same way that your situation did. Only time it really did effect me was we arranged to have my daughter meet him after she was born, my mother had passed away several years ago so I wanted her to at least be able to meet one of her grandparents on my side but it was a total disaster, we couldn't even get him to open his eyes. Very sad. Anyway again, I'm truly sorry for what you had to go through with your mom.
Julianne Moore is 54. One of the very few leading ladies who still reappears frequently in movies after age 40. Good job. The rest of the old leading actresses quickly become forgotten road kill at that point
I think I have to pass the torch from Kathy Bates to Julianne Moore when it comes to my favorite actress. In ten years it looks like Amy Adams might take the mantle but she still has a few big performances to go in my humble.
Alzheimer's disease is harder to handle for the family and friends surrounding the patient. Usually the affected person won't be aware that something is wrong as memories in life will slowly disappear....
Did you guys see Maps to the Stars? That's a film with a fantastic Julianne Moore performance......I'm a huge fan of hers in most things but this is not a movie - it's tele-visual which is fine :)
From what I've seen in the trailer, it looks like a very good movie to me. And one of the local theatre corporate office employees told me it's great! I usually don't agree with critics anyway.
For some reason, I was sure the movie is based on a true story. But after seeing it, I learned that it's not based on any specific person. That improves the movie in my eyes.
I haven't seen the film, and know nothing about it, but "Still Alice" is a sort of palindromically phonemic pun. I don't know whether it's brought up in the movie or not, but phonemically, "Still Alice" would come out as "Sill Allitz" if done backwards, and correcting for orthography. It would also create a metathesis. As she's meant to be a linguistics genius - again, I haven't seen this - I find that a clever name for a movie, aside from whether she's still herself or not.
Another thing about the movie and book is that Anna (oldest daughter) is tested positive as having the gene that will lead to Alzheimer's and YET she chooses to have invitro for twins, and then decide she wants to go back to work after the babies are born. Yo, Wonder woman! How man hours does YOUR day have!? Would she prefer packing family time into the memory that will go south, post menopause, or would she prefer remembering her career and how big her office was and how much she was written up for this accomplishment or that? Then , boom! The kids (she never tried to raise) are in their twenties and Anna's developing memory hiccups to where she has to leave her career and be cared for by her husband and two kids she barely knows.
I saw this today and suffered the same thing I always suffer. It's an OK film, although I'm not sure where the Oscar for Moore talk comes from, but no matter what I see him in I just never believe in Alec Baldwin.
I liked the book.... at first. But the more I listened to the audiobook, the LESS I liked Alice. She was so up into herself; waving either her brain or her uterus in everyone's face. I'm a WOMAN who had KIDS but didn't really raise the third one because I was busy proving to the world how brilliant I am. There's even one scene (in the book) where she tells her husband he shouldn't support their younger daughter in her ACTING classes because she's not doing what Dr. Howland almighty wants her to do. By the time I found someone else who wanted to listen to that book, I couldn't take it anymore and I was GLAD when Ms Brilliant WOMAN got her EGO handed to her in the form of a crippling neurological disease.
Everyone in this movie is miscast. I haven't read the book, but the play was much better. I found this movie moving at times, but like a TV movie that didn't mean it was any good. Oddly the least miscast seeming person in this movie was Kristen Stewart.
Also, kind of weird that nobody mentions that all of these plot details they're gushing about were a result of how this is an adaptation of a popular novel.
why did Alonso voluntarily destroy his credibility as a critic? You have a personal relationship with someone, so you're incapable of giving an objective opinion? lame.
What? He actually displays some journalistic ethics and you criticise him for it? Do you want to drag film journalism down into the same cesspit as video game journalism?
I give the technical aspect a pass, it's a drama film, not Drive. But it's incredibly depressing to see someone's life fall apart like that. That being said, it was a great film but definitely a one time watch.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
jed52 Having Alzheimer's is not a Depressing, and seeing someone's Life FALL PPART is Real and is happing to someone's Life Today. But PRAYREING for someone with Alzheimer's is one answer.
Yep! I just saw it this morning. I told my sister all about it and suggested she watch it, but I won't watch it again. Very depressing flick! Good though.
Julianne and Kristen are really good in this. This disease must be terrifying :(
I'm very tempted to watch this, but it hits close to home. My grandma has an MA and now she's losing her mind and it's devastating. My mother is trying to care for her on top of everything else she has going on and is now worried about early onset Alzheimer's. I'm focusing on improving my fitness and diet, to preserve my mental and physical health as late into life as possible. I'm glad these terrifying diseases are finally getting some attention and I hope that there will be significant progress toward treating and curing them. My heart goes out to everyone effected.
It all depends on who you are. Some rape victims can't watch really gritty movies about rape. I am the exact opposite. I watch movies for the visceral response I get from them. If a movie can tug at my heartstrings I'm all in, all day. Skitzo runs very deep in my family and some of my most beloved movies are those depicting the devastation of Schizophrenia on the individual, and on the family unit. The closer to REAL they get it the harder, yet more enjoyable it is for me to watch.
both my grandmothers ended up quite demented so this hit very very close to home for me. i do not regret watching it one bit. it was fantastic.
i think juilanne moore's performance was definetly nomination worthy at the Oscars she might even win
Philip Moore Thanks for watching!
If this movie is everyone's idea of a made for TV movie instead of a movie that belongs on a Big Screen. Then bring on more and I will never have to go to a theatre again and see some of the other crap! Awesome movie!! I work with people with Alzheimer's and at times it is hard to comprehend what the person is going through. Now everyone can see, possibly feel what it is like for them. Bravo!
It was kinda funny to see Christy have a realization in the middle of the review thinking "oh wait why am I complaining about the production values for a movie like Still Alice?". They all seemed to agree the performances were good and the story about this women suffering from this disease was told in an interesting way which is what matters.
On a side note its been great having Christy, Alonso, Matt and Ben all back again.
not suffering, struggling!
What a great review, I think. The conflicting but self-acknowledging viewpoints are awesome.
my mother was diagnosed with early onset dementia in her late 40s... yes this does happen. and I always felt like my mother was the only person in the world who got dementia so early and that it was all just so unfair. I'm glad a movie like this was made and helped me to feel not so alone. I watched this movie to see how accurate they were at portraying the disease and how it effects the person, the family, etc. Julianne Moore really does an amazing job, at times I literally had flashbacks with my own mother, she looked almost just like my mother had at that particular stage in some scenes. you can tell she really did her research for the role, and for anyone to say Moore was less than spectacular is insane in my opinion. she even convinced someone whose reality and life has essentially been this film. unfortunately the movie doesn't go on further to show how bad it can get, my mother is now in a nursing home and is not eating, and I worry how much longer she has to live at this point. it has been just 5 years since she was diagnosed, my entire time I've been in college. I worry all the time about myself, I hope we are able to find a cure in the next few decades. this is really a horrible, horrible, depressing disease that has changed my life forever.
Early onset is rare, even if you're related to the person who has it. Do a search online on your chances of also having early onset.
I have been in your shoes and lost my mom 2 weeks ago to something connected to the Alzheimer's. Keep an eye out for your mom's urinary tract infections. There is an odd and deadly connection between them. The UTI makes the Alz. worse and the Alzh. makes the UTI deadly.
My deepest condolences to you both. My father had dementia but he was older and already in a nursing home. Also, we weren't close and aside from trying to introduce him to my daughter after she was born and having that go horribly (he wouldn't even open his eyes), it didn't effect me in the same ways you're describing. It was still extremely sad though to see & I can't even imagine if I were close to him like in your situations. I hope time has helped heal the wounds for you both 🙏
I have a problem with the old criticism that a small movie is like a TV movie. So what? Movies can be like a video game, or a comic book, or a cartoon, or a Broadway play and still be good. So why can't a movie be like a TV movie and be considered based on its quality? If it's good, it doesn't matter that it's like a TV movie. In the theater, it won't be like a TV movie.
Still Alice has finally arrived to our neighborhood theater in Phoenix! Everyone needs to see this movie. It is a must see movie for adults of any age. Alzheimer’s is going to be _huge_ for our aging population.
Julianne Moore did her homework and nails many of the behaviors of a person with dementia, memory loss, or Alzheimer's Disease. Families could gain so much insight!
Great interview.
This movie is a 5. Christy got it right to begin with. There is nothing special about this flick. It's like someone thought "hey lets make a movie for Moore where she gets some emotional scenes so she can be nominated for awards". The story is just average and a 5 reflects average.
This is not a movie to judge from a technical aspect. This is strictly a storyteller with a message, nothing more. Now your opinion I can respect, because you stated the story was average.. fair enough, since the only things this film WANTS you to judge is its story and acting. It's a character study. Christy unfairly judged the film by its budget and the way it looks, not what the film was going for. So no, Christy never "had it right" to begin with. then to top it off, she changed her score in the end, proving to be a coward and follower rather than give an honest opinion of the film.
And really, a 5/10 reflects average? You mean, average, the middle? Half and half? 5 being...half of 10? Thank you for clarifying this.
I agree that she buckled under peer pressure but not that this was basically a Lifetime movie. The only thing different from a typical Lifetime movie is that it had big name actors.
And yes as to my way of scoring. IMO it's the only logical way of scoring.
10 the best of the best (Gravity, Her, Under The Skin, etc)
9 outstanding
8 really good (Nightcrawler)
7 good
6 above average
5 average
Gravitationalist
I use a 1-10 grading system too. I was just busting your balls.
Only thing different was big actors? You've apparently never watched a Lifetime movie. You don't get quality storytelling, acting, and character study in a Lifetime film.
it's so unfair what you say..... if she is really good in emotianal scenes - she is in my opinion - she deserves tha award nominations... if she tries too much to get them means she's good at her job so once again she deserves both the nomination and the award!! if it was up to me i would make about 10 "movies for Moore where she gets some emotional scenes" as you put it because i consider her one of the best actresses alive, not just for the awards! they would come anyway!!
You are not getting my point. I'm not attacking her. She is one of my favorite actresses and watch just about everything she is in.
I thought it was great. Although not perfect. I wish it showed more of how the other characters were experiencing. It's also quite obvious that the film was constructed around Julian's performance. The ending was way too abrupt. I was sitting there for a second wondering if my copy was broken. The good however are the performances. Julian Moore gave probably the best acting performance all year. No one was a weak link even someone like Kristen Stewart gave a solid performance. It was also very emotional which is always a plus. In the end I feel like the movie did everything it tried to do so good job guys. 8/10.
oscar for Moore! Its Time!!I Just like Leo, Amy and til "the Reader" for Kate Winslet, she has had several noms.and no win because usually there is another performance that wins by a landslide! She is a frontrunner this year!
Mom wasn't "officially" diagnosed (early onset) until a few months ago but by the time she was, we already knew it. Looking back we realized that what we thought was just "mom being odd" was really the early stages of Alzheimer's. She never really accepted that she had the disease and was still "covering" for her declining skills when she passed. She lived with it for 20 years, give or take a couple.
It made me angry when Christy (reviewer) said something along the lines that the movie will help (those with or the families of) victims. Let me tell you from experience NOTHING HELPS! The disease takes over the life of the victim and those of the family members! Medicare doesn't care, employers don't care, Medicaid doesn't CARE. Medicaid approved my mom for Family Planning. That's a JOKE. Medicare wouldn't allow my mom help for bathing or any of the other functions that she was still physically capable of performing but wasn't mentally capable of doing. We couldn't get meals delivered because she was physically capable of moving. Because she had no physical handicap. She had been in a nursing home for 22 days but we had to take her out because we couldn't afford the part that Medicaid would have paid had they approved her for anything but Family Planning. The "system" is a bleeping joke!
My only hope is that the movie will raise awareness and more research will be done for a cure. I would not wish this disease on my worst enemy.
So sorry you had to go through that. My father had Dementia but we weren't close so & he was a lot older and already in a nursing home so it didn't effect me in the same way that your situation did. Only time it really did effect me was we arranged to have my daughter meet him after she was born, my mother had passed away several years ago so I wanted her to at least be able to meet one of her grandparents on my side but it was a total disaster, we couldn't even get him to open his eyes. Very sad. Anyway again, I'm truly sorry for what you had to go through with your mom.
Of COURSE it's terrifying, as the reviewer says...it's a terrifying subject! And most everyone hopes & prays they don't get this disease!
Julianne Moore is 54. One of the very few leading ladies who still reappears frequently in movies after age 40. Good job. The rest of the old leading actresses quickly become forgotten road kill at that point
I think I have to pass the torch from Kathy Bates to Julianne Moore when it comes to my favorite actress. In ten years it looks like Amy Adams might take the mantle but she still has a few big performances to go in my humble.
Alzheimer's disease is harder to handle for the family and friends surrounding the patient. Usually the affected person won't be aware that something is wrong as memories in life will slowly disappear....
Did you guys see Maps to the Stars? That's a film with a fantastic Julianne Moore performance......I'm a huge fan of hers in most things but this is not a movie - it's tele-visual which is fine
:)
From what I've seen in the trailer, it looks like a very good movie to me. And one of the local theatre corporate office employees told me it's great! I usually don't agree with critics anyway.
For some reason, I was sure the movie is based on a true story. But after seeing it, I learned that it's not based on any specific person. That improves the movie in my eyes.
Ben is on the wrong side of the table *twitch*
Ben is on the wrong side of the table *twitch*
Ben is on the wrong side of the table *twitch*
They're not releasing it anywhere near me...
I just hate the title. She is not "Still Alice". You lose your mind you lose who you are.
Exact opposite of what this story says
This trailer made me want to cry. I can't imagine what the movie is going to do to me.
I haven't seen the film, and know nothing about it, but "Still Alice" is a sort of palindromically phonemic pun. I don't know whether it's brought up in the movie or not, but phonemically, "Still Alice" would come out as "Sill Allitz" if done backwards, and correcting for orthography. It would also create a metathesis.
As she's meant to be a linguistics genius - again, I haven't seen this - I find that a clever name for a movie, aside from whether she's still herself or not.
***** Please add the film directors' names in the description as well.
Another thing about the movie and book is that Anna (oldest daughter) is tested positive as having the gene that will lead to Alzheimer's and YET she chooses to have invitro for twins, and then decide she wants to go back to work after the babies are born.
Yo, Wonder woman! How man hours does YOUR day have!? Would she prefer packing family time into the memory that will go south, post menopause, or would she prefer remembering her career and how big her office was and how much she was written up for this accomplishment or that?
Then , boom! The kids (she never tried to raise) are in their twenties and Anna's developing memory hiccups to where she has to leave her career and be cared for by her husband and two kids she barely knows.
I saw this today and suffered the same thing I always suffer. It's an OK film, although I'm not sure where the Oscar for Moore talk comes from, but no matter what I see him in I just never believe in Alec Baldwin.
Didn't she make this same movie but it was called Safe?
I do see where you're going at, but no. Very different.
I enjoyed this review because now I don't have to suffer through this movie.
"the lighting is flat..." *gets darker*
Julianne Moore, whoo hoo. Alsheimer's? Scary subject. Just saw a Korean import on this subject. Very discomforting.
Ummm... yeah I'm out, when Christy talks about the "Made for T.V." quality that's a dealbreaker for me, I hate Lifetime originals.
I liked the book.... at first. But the more I listened to the audiobook, the LESS I liked Alice. She was so up into herself; waving either her brain or her uterus in everyone's face. I'm a WOMAN who had KIDS but didn't really raise the third one because I was busy proving to the world how brilliant I am.
There's even one scene (in the book) where she tells her husband he shouldn't support their younger daughter in her ACTING classes because she's not doing what Dr. Howland almighty wants her to do.
By the time I found someone else who wanted to listen to that book, I couldn't take it anymore and I was GLAD when Ms Brilliant WOMAN got her EGO handed to her in the form of a crippling neurological disease.
And matts finished speaking...
Rob Cannon lol, thx for watching!
Haha I also was waiting to find out that Baldwin was having an affair during the whole movie.
This is the best film of the year. are you guys blind
I was expecting Alec Baldwin to have an affair too! aha, glad to know im not alone
Everyone in this movie is miscast. I haven't read the book, but the play was much better. I found this movie moving at times, but like a TV movie that didn't mean it was any good. Oddly the least miscast seeming person in this movie was Kristen Stewart.
Also, kind of weird that nobody mentions that all of these plot details they're gushing about were a result of how this is an adaptation of a popular novel.
Again I have not seen the movie as yet.
Ha! He's having an affair... I was thinking the same thing.
Ben's right. The title is terrible.
I hate when they complain about the title and they don't give any alternatives. What else should it be called Oops I Forgot?
Awww, Christy doesn't seem "Cold and Soulless", more like "fake and annoying."
why did Alonso voluntarily destroy his credibility as a critic? You have a personal relationship with someone, so you're incapable of giving an objective opinion?
lame.
Because these guys are nothing more than pretentious, wannabe film elitists. They don't know anymore about movies than you nor I.
What? He actually displays some journalistic ethics and you criticise him for it? Do you want to drag film journalism down into the same cesspit as video game journalism?
i think he didnt like it and didnt want to insult his friend
He said it would feel weird to rate a movie where he knew the co-director. Which seems to me like a sign of integrity.
How is making full disclosure destroying credibility? It is the opposite of that.