Oh hell yeah I love The Matrix, one of my favorite sci-fi films. Why, does my post come off as anti-matrix?
However, where as the Matrix was bogged down with the necessity to accomodate set pieces, TTF has no such problems
I guess I just read it differently. The phrase "bogged down" made it seem like a bad thing.
Well ... yes and no. I mean, don't get me wrong I love set pieces obviously, but it's undeniable that screen time that could be otherwise used to further flesh out the characters must be sacrificed to accomodate them. It's understandable, I mean it is a blockbuster film after all. TTF isn't a blockbuster or an action film so it was able to fully utilize it's running time.
I felt the film lacked focus and was very light on plot.
This was my main complaint. It's like it didn't know what kind of film it wanted to be.
Originally Posted by Still Servant
when they are rescued they escape. Instead of being happy and thankful for the provisions they are being offered, they escape like they are being held captive. Makes no sense.
This was actually something that I didn't have a problem with. We're not told how long these people have lived in the Bathtub (who knows? maybe their whole lives) so its possible that this is the only life they've ever known. We see these people as poverty-stricken people in need of aid and rescuing; however, maybe they're happy and content with their lives and their fend-for-myself mentalities.
Well if the polar ice caps didn't melt, how do you explain the mammoth like boars that they showed come from inside them in Antarctica? The ice caps were flooding, which is why the massive levee was built, to doom the areas of land that were doomed but to save the rest of the nation. Hushpuppie talks about how the universe exists because everything has a purpose, and perhaps our purpose was to free these animals trapped in the ice. Just another way you could look at it. It is loose on plot, but I think it's because we only see what is happening through the eyes of a little girl, who would overlook many details anyways.
Spoiler:
They showed the mammoth boars eating their own kind, to stay alive, to prosper...kind of like how many people were sacrificed to save the nation and their species, meaning the mammoth boars and humans were revealed to be the same
The aurochs were a metaphor. Hushpuppy learns about the aurochs and the ice caps from her teacher. When her home gets flooded, the only way she can explain it is by thinking that the ice caps are melting, which in turn would release the ancient beasts from their frozen slumber. Her imagination begins to run wild. If the aurochs were real, how did they get to New Orleans? If there was a frozen path connecting Antarctica and America then it would take months probably years for the beasts to migrate to America.
I guess my biggest problem with the film is that one of the messages seemed to be that people should be happy with what they have even if it's meager and that people can be kind and human to one another. We saw this in the film, but we also saw an abusive father, alcohol abuse, the disintegration of the family unit and people who are proud to live in filth. The film makes it seem like they live in a society without currency, or politics, or need for a jobs. Yet we see that the father has a job, presumably on the main land. Why can't he use his money to get his daughter out of this environment instead of spending it on boos?
I don't know, something just rubbed me the wrong way about this one. Some films grow on me after I watch them, this is one did the opposite. I kind of liked it after I watched it, but have since come to the realization that I actually didn't really like it because of all the problems I had with it.
Matt- I remember seeing on facebook that you were thinking of watching Shame. Did you ever up watching it? I may have missed a review if you wrote it, but I'm dying to know what you thought of it. It was one of my favorite films that I watched last year.
I had my infatuations, but we both know in our hearts who is the sole love of my short, bright life.
Matt- I remember seeing on facebook that you were thinking of watching Shame. Did you ever up watching it? I may have missed a review if you wrote it, but I'm dying to know what you thought of it. It was one of my favorite films that I watched last year.
Emily, there is some discussion about
Spoiler:
the relationship between Fassbender and Mulligan. Some people think there was a sexual experience between the two when they were younger. It's pretty hard to deny the fact that there was a ton of sexual tension between the two the whole film. The fact that they are siblings makes it pretty disturbing, but the characters are so strong I never felt creeped out by them. I've heard some people say that Mulligan and Fassbender were abused as children and found comfort in each other, which then grew into a sexual relationship. I'm not sure how to feel, but it's clear something went down.
He walks in on her in the shower and she doesn't even care. Why? Because they've seen each other naked before. Brothers and sisters do not act like that. I have a twin sister and she would never jump on my back while wearing a very thing revealing t-shirt.
This whole post is a giant spoiler for the film Shame, definitely don't read it if you've not seen it yet
Spoiler:
I saw an interview with Steve McQueen where he said that there was no previous sexual encounter between them, but that of course there was something sexual between them the way that there is between all brothers and sisters, because they're so close and the opposite sex. And I remember thinking... "What... the fuck?" I have three brothers, one who is close to me in age and my best friend, and I just can't say that that's something I've ever experienced. You're right, the shower, the revealing t shirt, the fact that she sleeps with someone in his apartment with him outside, none of those things are normal to me.
I agree though, I never felt creeped out by the characters. There is a sort of sexual tension, but the emotional connection was a far stronger focal point for me. I've thought about this a lot and feel like I've almost decided on it as a definite- I think that something sexual happened between them, and the inappropriateness of it is what led to Fassbender becoming what he is- someone who can only find sexual release if he is doing with someone inapporiate, or in a way that's considered wrong or taboo.
I had my infatuations, but we both know in our hearts who is the sole love of my short, bright life.
This whole post is a giant spoiler for the film Shame, definitely don't read it if you've not seen it yet
Spoiler:
I saw an interview with Steve McQueen where he said that there was no previous sexual encounter between them, but that of course there was something sexual between them the way that there is between all brothers and sisters, because they're so close and the opposite sex. And I remember thinking... "What... the fuck?" I have three brothers, one who is close to me in age and my best friend, and I just can't say that that's something I've ever experienced. You're right, the shower, the revealing t shirt, the fact that she sleeps with someone in his apartment with him outside, none of those things are normal to me.
I agree though, I never felt creeped out by the characters. There is a sort of sexual tension, but the emotional connection was a far stronger focal point for me. I've thought about this a lot and feel like I've almost decided on it as a definite- I think that something sexual happened between them, and the inappropriateness of it is what led to Fassbender becoming what he is- someone who can only find sexual release if he is doing with someone inapporiate, or in a way that's considered wrong or taboo.
After reading your thoughts, I'm pretty sure that you're right. I think something happened. Good catch on your part because it totally makes sense why he is who he is and the sexual relationships he has. Overall, a very sold film. Fassbender is one of my favorite actors right now. After I saw him in Inglorious Basterds, I couldn't wait to see what else he was doing. I had just never even heard of him before that film. I've like Mulligan since An Education. I thought she was really good in that.
I'm actually currently writing up my thoughts on all the movies I've watched, since I haven't been on here in awhile, Shame will be amongst them. I very much liked it though, especially McQueens use of longshots...love longshots. EDIT: here you go, Emily.
Silver Linings Playbook: Mental Illness is of growing concern these days, as awareness is spread, stigmas slowly fade and the biggest danger, those who suffer with their illness undiagnosed, and without support or any strategy. We see this in Pat (Brad Cooper) as the break up of his marriage leads to a violent confrontation, and we see him as he is released from his stint in the prison. Pat is an undiagnosed and unmedicated bi-polar, which in itself if a condition which is rarely understood. His father is obsessive-compulsive, he loves Philadelphia Eagles football and has insane amounts of superstitions when it comes to gameday. A great scene involves a late-night heart to heart between them. A father and son estranged due to their mental illnesses. Pat meets a young widow, Tiffany, who also has mental illness as well, and through her, he hopes to breaks the bonds of a restraining order and reconcile with his wife. Lawrence plays Tiffany with strength and vulnerability, as someone who has accepted her issues as a part of herself, but I think beneath it all, she questions if that philosophy is bullshit. What happens along the way follows a typical pro gression of plot devices, that we can clearly see at work so the end of the road is by no means a surprise. But it's done with charm, and tact and it never shows these characters struggling with mental illness as charictatures or exploitation, we see them as people who are just trying to find a way out of they cyclical and self-defeating nature of mental illness. Beneath the great screenplay, fantastic acting and compassionate use of the subject matter, lies a true classic. This is whywe go to the movies.
The Impossible: The Tsunami rocked Thailand was one of the worst natural disasters ever. It devastated an entire nation and claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands. We see this event from the perspective of an English family there on vacation. When it happens there really is no warning, the wave is just there and quicker than a flash the wave is gone, leaving so much destruction. The tsunami and the aftermath are all execute extremely well. Despite Naomi Watts getting nominated, I didn't feel that she was given very much to do in the second half of the movie, and Ewan McGregor is listless. I think my problem is the parents are billed as simply parents, which isn't a bad thing, but when you look the oldest son (Tom Holland) and all he is given to do, he really carries the movie, which includes a great sequence where he is running around the hospital, getting name after name of people that are missing from their loved ones, and the look on his face when his hopeless quests at least yields a result was worth watching for alone. In the end, the movie treats the disaster with a magnifying glass; we don't really get a sense of the destruction, or the amount of death or despair that was caused and by movies end, there is no real tragedy witnessed - and by that I mean in thirty years, when someone who is twenty watches this movie with no recollection of the disaster, I feel they will be underwhelmed at the emotional whallop I felt this move needed. A movie about such great human loss, with no sense of loss, is a failure in my eyes.
Spoiler:
It was upsetting to see the family back together (while well done) and they get off with minor wounds really, on the whole of the family. I know these people were real so the story is real, but are we supposed to be moved by rich (I assume) white people that went to a third world country on christmas, and the entire country was rocked with a natural disaster, destroying their infastructure and families and economy...but these white people got out okay, never to actually have to deal with the fallout of the storm...all that was missing was them joking at about it over tea and crumpets to make me dislike the movie, despite how well it's made - just the wrong story to tell.
Argo: Ben Affleck is the lump of coal that took the pressure of his criticism and became a diamond of a director. All his movies have been great and I'm sure us King fans are happy he is heading the two film adaptation of The Stand. We see the story of the freeing of six stranded Americans during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, and how an extraction is veiled under the guise of a Canadian, science-fiction movie, capitalizing on the success of Star Wars. The amount of effort that goes into this operation is insane; casting, script, parties, publicity, articles in variety etc, just to legitmize the production, so their cover is iron clad. The tension that is created during the last third of the movie is expertly done, reminded me a lot of Singer's ability to build tension for a long period. He assembled an great ensemble. while Affleck himself is criticised as an actor, I think he works very subtlely, and even if he isn't as good as his supporting cast, they do their job and he sure doesn't make the movie worse. In Argo, his character sacrifices the relationship with his son, to save the lives of strangers, and his son could never know about it.
Spoiler:
The final shot of the movie was brilliant.
As good of a movie I thought Argo was, I also came away underwhelmed, as it just kind of lacked something. I think The Town was his best movie. Perfect segue.
The Town: The town gives us a movie we have seen hundreds of times; there are bank robbers and they are very skilled and the cop/fed is trying very hard to outthink them and catch them - yet it is rarely done this well. We see the robbers are really just victims of their surroundings, as their neighbourhood was the breeding ground for the best bank robbers and armoured car thieves around. Doug (Affleck) comes from a broken home, and was practically raised by his best friend James's (Jeremy Renner) family. Doug wanted to play Hockey, even got drafted but the life caught him. He became a oxycontin addict, but when the movie begins he is clean now. A circumstancial hostage taking during a bank robbery, leads to a romance between Doug and the bank manager, Claire (Rebecca Hall); to further complicate things, Agent Frawley (Jon Hamm) begins to investigate the robbery and doug's crew. Claire doesn't know Doug was resonsible for her dramatic event. And while this romanctic plotline could become muddled and unrealistic, it's done in such a way that feels plausible; Doug knew The Town ruined his chances at a good life, and Claire is apart from The Town, and all he wants is out. The heist sequences are great, the performances are all spot on (best scenes involved Renner and Affleck at the spot Renner first killed someone, and Doug visiting his father (Chris Cooper) in prison) and gives us a great dose of familiar but excellent, which is very hard to do. Also one of the final performances of the late, great, Pete Postelwaithe.
Shame: Sexual Addiction has been widely disputed, it's real then not real and I'm not even sure if it's actually considered a mental disorder anymore. Whatever is wrongwith Brandon, it could be considered sexual addiction. It consumes his entire life; he watches obscene pornography at work, carries on relationships with web cam whores, is a master womanizer if only out of necessity (knowing women's eye colour without effort) and entirely private. All his relationships seem superficial and artificial, as if his entire life is nothing but a front for his crude needs. He doesn't understand why he needs to orgasm, he doesn't even seem to enjoy it so the act has become nothing more than animalistic compulsion he can barely tether. He is not above getting a hummer from a guy in a gay sex club if that is his only option of release. We see him during a three some, where the one only exists as a reliable source of orgasm. His sister barges in on his life, it creates chaos as it destroys his zone of secrecy because he is eternally ashamed of it. "It takes a real sick person to watch this stuff all day" his boss (James Badge Dale) tells him in reference to what was on his work computer. The relationship between him and his sister (Carey Mulligan) is complicated; allusion is made to some kind of sexual
to their childhood, and it has affected how both of them view sex and each other. He lashes out on her as if she was the cause of his problem, or agitates it severely. We're left without much conclusion to the struggles of the characters, as their road to recovery is very long.
Spoiler:
I think the weirdness of their sibling relationship comes down to Brandon's need for sex and orgasm. His sister would have been, in a Freudian sense, his sexual template for the rest of his life. It's possible this issue he was born with and he tried to act upon these compulsions with his own sister. I don't think they ever slept together, but he probably made it really clear that he needed to. When she sleeps with his boss in his apartment, he is angry not only at the stress it puts on his job, but on his compulsions; I think he wanted to be in there with her, having sex with her. Perhaps his shame with sex comes from his sexual attraction to his sister, and how that has warped his love for her, and would bleed into his sex life. When he goes on the date with his co-worker, he can't have sex with her, as much as his body compels him too, because I think he was falling in love with her, and to him, sex with someone he loved was a source of shame and self degredation. His sister I think, has also wanted to sleep with her brother if only in response to his attraction - sleeping with his boss, in the same apartment, was as close as she could get. Her singing 'New York, New York' (the lyrics) was a plea to her brother to sleep with her, and he realized this. Brandon's love and attraction for his sister forces him to drive her away, to which she gets upset and makes bad choices, to which it makes him hate her, which brings her in closer to seek approval and love, which drives him mad and they repeat their cycle. They are really lovers who socially (and I think legally) can't be together, so they punish themselves and each other over and over again.
Hell yeah, bro! Been a fan of his ever since I first saw him in tv series Hex. Glad to see he's gone from strength to strength in Hollywood, that's for sure.
Never be cruel and never be cowardly. And if you ever are, always make amends.
You are a walking talking Doctor Who encyclopedia to me. - Melike
Berberian Sound Studio. - What a marvelous film! Everyone keeps mentioning Lynch in connection with it, but bears would first of all emphasize its definite BartonFinkishness. Loved it, will soon re-watch. A real treat for mind, eyes, and - especially - ears.
James, will you post a review?
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hell yeah, bro! Been a fan of his ever since I first saw him in tv series Hex. Glad to see he's gone from strength to strength in Hollywood, that's for sure.
I think we talked about this a while ago, but I loved him in Fish Tank. Such a great performance. Overall, a very underrated film.
Damn, I keep hearing so many great things about Fish Tank, even downloaded it off iPlayer before I ran out of time to watch it. It's on Netflix, so I may get round to watching it later tonight.
Never be cruel and never be cowardly. And if you ever are, always make amends.
You are a walking talking Doctor Who encyclopedia to me. - Melike
Damn, I keep hearing so many great things about Fish Tank, even downloaded it off iPlayer before I ran out of time to watch it. It's on Netflix, so I may get round to watching it later tonight.
Oh, that's right. You said you hadn't seen Fish Tank yet back then. I checked and I watched Fish Tank in April. You're slacking, man.
I was getting that conversation confused with one you and I had about Four Lions. I remember I mentioned I watched it and you were interested in how I liked it.
I've watched Silver Linings Twice and probably will again very soon. I've only heard one person say anything bad about it, it was on facebook, and he's and idiot so I'm sure you'll love it!
With regards to the "Hobbit" and "LOTR" you folks should really read the books!!! I know many people crap on his writing, but I think that is a misnomer!!! Read the books!!! Amazing tale!!! IMHO
Mulholland Dr. - Just...wow. I don't even know where to begin with this movie. I think I may have a grasp on it, but it's hard to say without watching it a second time and a third and fourth time.
Mulholland Dr. - Just...wow. I don't even know where to begin with this movie. I think I may have a grasp on it, but it's hard to say without watching it a second time and a third and fourth time.
It's one of my favorites. I can watch it over and over. After a lot of picking through reviews and critiques and analyses, I think I've got a very good handle on what happened and how the structure of the film plays out. Pure genius.
I thought Lynch (first Lynch I have ever seen) did a fantastic job of building up tension. The entire movie is filled with this overwhelming dread that the viewer can't escape. During the final ten mins of the movie, the sound of a knocking door has never affected my body so much. He uses clever, dragging shots around corners, them music is often so minimal and constant during sequences just feel uneasy, then we there is silence from the music I found myself feeling more uneasy. There are several scenes (the discussion of the dream in the coffee shop for instance) that are obviously hinted as important by the movies end yet I struggled to find the signifigance of it. The scenes most befuddling to me, as much as I enjoyed them, involved the director and his struggles with getting his film made and his marital problems and how exactly they fit into the movie. We're left with many plot avenues that simply end and are never retouched upon again, for instance the two cops investigating the crash. It's interesting to discover Mulholland Dr. is a collection of things filmed for a TV show that never aired, with some additionally filmed footage - I would love to know what was additionally filmed and what wasn't, if only to have a clearer sense of the films construction.
Originally Posted by Still Servant
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