Ammonite (Romance-Drama starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan)

[Zillamon51]

I had a funny trailer reaction.

One of my pet peeves is artsy-fartsy movies with misleadingly-cool titles, like The Squid and the Whale and Eagle vs. Shark.

So my GF and I were sitting on the couch, watching trailers on YouTube. I see the thumbnail for this, and say, "This probably has nothing to do with prehistoric shellfish." It starts playing, and I'm like, "Cool! Fossils! Maybe I'm wrong!" But as soon as Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan start walking on the beach, my GF says, "They're going to fall in love. It's another Victorian lesbian movie."

And she was right. I can't catch a break.

[Koller70]

LoooL. 78 on Metacritic, but they counted the EW review (91) twice to inflate the score, and a 100 review comes from BBC which co-produced the movie.

They are pretty desperate.

[Britnasty]

1.5/5.

I randomly got an invite for a virtual screening for this today at 9am and immediately signed up. I literally just finished and I have to say this was just absolutely dreadful.

There is absolutely ZERO chemistry between Kate and Saoirse. I hate to compare it to it but it’s hard not to. What we got in Portrait of a Lady on Fire last year, this tries to do the same and falters. Intense stares, slow talking, arguments that build tension into romantic moments; it’s so dry. There is absolutely zero believability in it.

I was bored for much of the runtime but there are moments when Kate really does shine through. That’s all I got.

[Koller70]

Loool
Now it's 74 on RT after 23 reviews and 77 on Metacritic after only 13 reviews.

It's definitely not a universally critically acclaimed darling like Carol, Call Me By Your Name, and Portrait of A Lady On Fire.

This one won't definitely get nominations in Picture and Screenplay, and Ronan won't definitely get nominated in Supporting.
MAYBE only Winslet may happen in Best Actress, but it's gonna be really hard, and the field has to be very weak for it to happen.

[Monterey Jack]

Found this pretty snoozy, and the fact that I saw it in an unheated theater on a 40-degree day didn't help. Well-acted, but if you've seen the sublime Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, there's no reason to devote time to this unless you're a hardcore Winslet/Ronan fan. Both are fine, and the movie is well-shot, but I've already forgotten most of what I watched. A B-minus is being generous.

[Toscaclarinet]

I went into this as a geologist and as a fan of Mary Anning. I knew about the controversy about the manufactured lesbian relationship but wasn't too fussed about that and was willing to give it a go as I found God's Own Country great. Sadly I found the whole thing plodding, with barely any palaeontology at all, and the pretty explicit sex scenes felt out of place with the rest of the film. I ended up actively wanting the couple to stay apart as I felt they didn't understand each other sufficiently to develop a long term relationship.

By contrast, I watched Portrait of a Lady on Fire a few days ago for the first time, and that was a much more interesting film with better chemistry between the leads. I ended up much more invested in the relationship and actually got a little emotional during the final scene. Will definitely rewatch at some point, can't say the same for Ammonite.

[jwk94]

This is out on blu-ray next week. Fastest theater to blu-ray turnaround ever?

[badadadadadawomp!]

Says OOS on Amazon, no where else seems to have it, ImportCDs says it's a "Manufactured on Demand" title.

What's up?

[gorobei]

Originally Posted by badadadadadawomp!

Says OOS on Amazon, no where else seems to have it, ImportCDs says it's a "Manufactured on Demand" title.

What's up?

I see the preorder is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Ammonite-Blu-...435396&sr=8-10

Released tomorrow, 1/12! (Great movie.)

[Count Orlok]

This seems to have been delayed. Amazon emailed me with an estimated delivery date of February 7th through March 11th. If not a delay, perhaps Amazon hasn't received a batch from whoever is creating the MOD discs.

[badadadadadawomp!]

Originally Posted by Count Orlok

This seems to have been delayed. Amazon emailed me with an estimated delivery date of February 7th through March 11th. If not a delay, perhaps Amazon hasn't received a batch from whoever is creating the MOD discs.

Thanks for this. I see the Canadian version of Amazon has a DVD version of this with digital code that they say is due in stock January 16th.

[Count Orlok]

Just received my shipping email from Amazon. It should be here by tomorrow night.

[Count Orlok]

Just ran the disc through my player. I can confirm its a pressed BD-50 that's region free and has English subtitles. The disc is plain white with the title and has the usual Universal layout.

[Geode]

Originally Posted by Toscaclarinet

I went into this as a geologist and as a fan of Mary Anning. I knew about the controversy about the manufactured lesbian relationship but wasn't too fussed about that and was willing to give it a go as I found God's Own Country great. Sadly I found the whole thing plodding, with barely any palaeontology at all, and the pretty explicit sex scenes felt out of place with the rest of the film. I ended up actively wanting the couple to stay apart as I felt they didn't understand each other sufficiently to develop a long term relationship.

By contrast, I watched Portrait of a Lady on Fire a few days ago for the first time, and that was a much more interesting film with better chemistry between the leads. I ended up much more invested in the relationship and actually got a little emotional during the final scene. Will definitely rewatch at some point, can't say the same for Ammonite.

I have long had a real problem with movies involving real people that have them doing or saying made up things that are controversial. I especially do not consider it fair when those people are deceased and cannot speak for themselves about the truth of the matter. I too am a geologist and have admired Mary Anning for decades. When I heard that a movie had been made about her I was glad, for in addition to chronicling her work perhaps for once we would get a story that involved invertebrate paleontology and not just the usual fascination with dinosaurs. But then I read an interview with the director saying essentially that because he was gay, he made her the same. Making an affair, either lesbian or heterosexual, as the central part of the plot is simply wrong in my opinion since there is no evidence to support one.

Part of me wished to see this for the casting choices, part of me wanted to boycott it. Thank you for your comments, I will do the latter. It just opened in a theatre here in Bangkok.