What MOVIE(s) have you been....seeing? watching?

Gregarius wrote: I like that you pointed out how many different ways you can read the "message" of the movie. That's always a strong positive for me, when you can interpret a work multiple ways.

Yeah, I mean, for me it's fun and being able to analyze a movie from different perspectives often brings a lot of small details to the surface. I don't know, I just like it and makes talking about the film more fun.

Gregarius wrote: What I like most about the premise of Truman Show is how preposterous and yet believable it is.

I agree. In fact, I think the reason it remains so believable is that it's preposterous only in scale!

Taken as a whole, the Truman Show is outragous but none of its parts are. It sounds extreme to show a whole life "from cradle to grave" but we have already been doing that in a piecemeal manner. We have had cameras following the lives of people when they date and confess to their real loves and a program about teen pregnancy. There are shows that cover every detail of family life, of dealing with drug addiction or alcoholism, of sex, that have people beat bullies, being "judged" or simply followed on their work. I mean we have had people being born on live television and also being killed in them. And that's just traditional television, there's people out there who stream their lives 24/7 and huge Wikipedias on incredibly minor internet celebrities.

The movie, I think, highlights this with the way the program was created and expanded. It didn't start out as a complete alternate reality. It started small, just following a baby around and eventually became a whole enclosed reality. It's not inherently absurd, it's just the logical conclusion of the concept of reality television.

I mean we have had people being born on live television and also being killed in them. And that's just traditional television, there's people out there who stream their lives 24/7 and huge Wikipedias on incredibly minor internet celebrities.

So true. I follow this vlogger who has about two million subscribers. I've been watching his vlog for about 300 days now. I've seen his young daughter start to talk, his son get ready for college, and his wife say she is not putting her body through another pregnancy and then a few months later talk about how she wants to have a second child. They've been talking about moving to Los Angeles, but have since decided to find a new place in New York. He's a filmmaker, so the production quality is pretty good. It also seems like parts of their lives are leaking into the vlog that they don't intend. I'm worried they're going to get divorced. I can see signs of strain, and a baby or new apartment isn't going to fix it. Man I sound pathetic.

craniac wrote: Man I sound pathetic.

It's probably because you keep saying 'vlog'.

Disgustipater wrote:

craniac wrote: Man I sound pathetic.

It's probably because you keep saying 'vlog'.

Also, I am the only person watching this youtuber who is not fourteen years old.

I love The Truman Show except for the whole advertising shtick. I mean, I get it and even appreciate it as an idea, but the way they demonstrate it in the movie is so obvious and hokey. I suppose it's part of Truman's increasing insanity that he starts to wonder "who the heck is my wife talking to about this vacuum cleaner." But still, that's one aspect that brings it down a notch for me. Other than that, though, I think it's wonderful, and that whole end sequence where he's sailing away and pushing against his ingrained fears to try to get to something real and to the woman he truly loves, and Christof/God/religion is hitting him with storms to try to keep him in the bubble... deep stuff there.

Saw Pride and Prejudice and Zombies today. Dumb fun, but pretty fun.

We saw The Man from U.N.C.L.E. this weekend. I had forgotten it was a Guy Ritchie movie. I liked the way the Sherlock Holmes movies were done. Although this wasn't as clever, I still thought it was amusing with lots of jokes.

I started watching Spectre and I had to stop about 45 minutes into it to do something. I don't know how the rest of the movie is, but I was pretty lost and mostly uninterested. I'm kind of doubting I'll finish it. The part where he killed a guy, then went to his funeral, and then walked into the grieving widow's house to start screwing her had me doing the "wtf is this shit?" face. Also, can Daniel Craig bother to actually open his mouth to talk?

Finally, we saw The Good Dinosaur. This one had me sobbing uncontrollably. I knew it would, but I didn't think it would get me this bad. It's been a rough past few months with our 15 year old cat passing away suddenly from a fast-growing cancer and now our 16 year old cat coming down with a series of ailments which involve us having to give her medication daily only to have her start to be scared of us bending down to pet her sometimes. My dad is also not getting any younger, and my younger sister just found out she needs heart surgery. Big sigh.

Just saw a movie named Wrecked last night on ShowTime. More or less a solo performance. Anyone else seen it?

That's the one with Adrian Brody in the crash? Watched it last year. Essentially 20 minutes of material stretched over 90+ minutes = boring as hell.

I didn't mind the slower pace. I'll be honest, the movie cruised right along for me and my wife. Didn't think it would at the beginning, but it did.

I'd recommend it

Does he do as stunning a performance as he did in Predators ?

The Secret of Kells

You know what I think?

Utterly Delightful!

How inspired to do the animation in the style of medieval illuminations. And the story was great too. Those Vikings were terrifying.

Repo, you HAVE to see Song of the Sea now. You have to.

I liked Secret of the Kells better. Both were good, but I thought Kells nailed it on the story. Beautifully illustrated too.

S.

The Killing (1956)

A while ago I decided to try and watch all the movies by a specific director to see if I could discern their style and growth and what makes them great. I chose Stanley Kubrick to start with. His first feature length film was called "Fear and Desire" and it felt like a student film. It did showcase Kubrick's love of the tight shot on the face of the actors but other than that the story was weak and the message of the movie a bit loud, as you would expect of a college student.

Next he made a movie called Killer's Kiss which I was unable to get a copy of.

So I moved on to his third film The Killing released in 1956. The improvement and growth is immediately apparent. This is a much better film. Based on a book by Lionel White and a script by Jim Thompson, although only listed for dialog in the credits.

This is a heist/noir story and I found it quite enjoyable. While I don't think it's as sophisticated as some of the classics of the genre, it kept my interest and I felt the tension throughout. Kubrick continues using very tight shots and builds a sense of claustrophobia by filling the frame with clutter, often objects between the viewer and the actor. This imparts the emotion of needing to break free of the cage the characters feel themselves to be in and gives an emotional element to their desire to pull off the theft.

The relationship between George Peaty, played by Elisha Cook Jr., and Sherry Peaty, played by Marie Windsor, almost steals the show and it's great to watch them. She is such a total bitch!




Next up is Paths of Glory

Paths of Glory is excellent.