13 years ago
Tue Nov 30 2010, 06:22pm
Note: This thread used to be called 'My Own Private Idaho', but since it seems like no one has seen that film, I thought I'd change it into a more general thread. :) After all, I don't want to have to open a new thread every time I want to discuss a new film. :P
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My Own Private Idaho:
Hello everyone, it's been a while since I last visited the Library. :D
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has seen this film? I saw it today, and I loved it. :nod:
I thought it really evoked a feeling of... I don't know - loneliness, wistful longing, etc. It revealed both the beauty of life as well as the senseless and cruel aspects. I'm actually not entirely sure how the movie made me feel. It's one of those nameless emotions that's really hard to describe but I think that we all feel sometimes.
Anyway, I found the theatrical dialogue and settings a bit jarring at first, but within the first half hour I'd begun to get used to it and appreciate it. Some of the dialogue seemed almost Shakespearean at times. (Or was that just me being weird?)
It took me a while to get used to Keanu Reeve's acting, as well. For some reason, I hated his acting in the first half of the movie, but then gradually grew to like it towards the end. Maybe it's because it took me a while to get used to his acting style, or maybe it's because he grew more comfortable with the character as the story progressed. Either way, I ended up liking him, even if I thought he got off to a bit of a shaky start.
River Phoenix was just brilliant! He was perfect for the character. There wasn't one moment in the film when I didn't believe him whole-heartedly, and I could feel myself taking on his emotions as my own. Only really great acting can do that. (Combined with a great script and a great director, of course).
I enjoyed the stylised aspects of the film. It sort of added to the sense of surrealism. I could imagine Mike seeing the world in that dream-like, hectic sort of way.
I loved the ending. Even though it sort of made my gut twist, the way Scott acted, I think it was right for the story. I just felt so bad for Mike. He just seemed so lonely/lost, and then Scott went and abandoned him too. I got the impression that he just needed a connection with someone. Scott took care of him, and was probably the only person in a long time who had shown him even the smallest amount of kindness, so naturally Mike clung onto him. It seemed almost like hero-worshipping, sometimes, the way Mike always went along with whatever Scott said or did.
And grrr, I love Scott but I hate him. His character was so complex. I'm starting to think that he saw the whole thing as a kind of joke, or just a way to get back at his father and effectively 'flip the bird' to that whole corporate world. Or maybe it was like a holiday to him, when he didn't really have to care about anything or anyone but himself. It confuses me the way some of his actions seemed so tender and caring, and at other times he was just so heartless and inconsiderate. Did he ever really care about Mike and the others, or was he just 'going with the flow' the whole time? If he didn't care, why would he go to so much trouble to help Mike? On the other hand, if he did care, how could he abandon them all that easily? Maybe he doesn't even really care about anyone but himself, not even that girl. I can't work out how his mind works. Still, I guess he's a fascinating character. And I guess his character holds the same sway over me as he seems to over every other character in the movie - I can't help but like him, no matter what heartless things he does. :P
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Anyway, has anyone else seen this film? If you have, I'd really like to have a discussion!
And if you haven't seen it, then I highly recommend it, although for mature audiences only because it does deal with some confronting subject matter. I do think it deserves a bit more than its M rating, but the way Australia does its film classifications seems to be a bit weird... I still don't completely understand how they figure it out. :-|
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Please feel free to jump in at any time to talk about the films, ask questions, or introduce films of your own! Let's get a discussion going. :)
*dpm*
Anyway, I watched another interesting film today: American History X
Anyone heard of it?
Again, it's only for mature audiences, as some of the scenes are a bit confronting.
Basically, it's about racism in America. I don't think any explanation I could give would really do it justice, but I thought it was a great representation of the way fear, anger and persecution cause nothing but destruction.
The thing that made this film so special was the complexity and insight with which they approached the subject matter. There are lots of films out there about racism, but most of them seem to show a pretty one-sided story, which detracts from the over-all meaning of the film.
American History X doesn't try to simplify anything. It doesn't provide any easy solutions. It doesn't go for the classic black and white, 'good guys vs bad guys' storyline. It even acknowledges that there will never be ultimate justice - as soon as one problem is fixed, the other side feels inconvenienced.
What it does do, is show that hate is a destructive emotion, and will never lead to happiness.
I loved Bob Sweeney's simple question to Derek: "Has anything you've done made you life better?"
It just makes you realise the pointlessness of clinging on to these negative emotions when all you're doing is destroying yourself, as well.
I also thought the ending was fantastic. It really added to the film. Although, like most of the movies I like, it made me tear up a little. ...Well, maybe a bit more than a little, but only because no one else was in the house at the time, so it was safe to let the emotions all flow out. ;P
It was so sad that Danny was killed just when he had managed to pull himself out of the whole neo natzi movement! He was such a sweet kid, despite being led down the wrong path. It just seemed like such an injustice. Which is why it was such a fantastic end to the movie - because you realise that of course it was an injustice, because it was an action fuelled by hate. And the kid who killed Danny was probably just as scared and misled as Danny was. And what about those two kids that Derek killed? So ultimately, there's no use laying blame and holding grudges, because you're just perpetuating the problem.
I loved Danny's last lines. "Hate is baggage. Life's too short to be [censored] off all the time." It's like he was telling Derek not to let his death drag him back into the hate that destroyed their lives.
I also thought it was interesting the way they explored the origin of discrimination. Of course no one's born a racist, so it's all learned behaviour. It was really interesting that everything started from just that short conversation that Derek had with his father. I think that sometimes parents don't realise how much of an influence they can be on their kids. I know quite a few older people who spout things similar to what Derek's father was saying, and I don't think that they ever consider that just a few words, while meant to be harmless, can set a whole lot of other actions in motion.
Anyway, rant over. ;D
Anyone else seen it? If so, what did you think? Feel free to disagree with me. :)
Unfortunately, nope, haven't seen either!
But I did see Made in Dagenham the other day and I really liked it. It's about the female workers at the ford factory in Dagenham, England, being downgraded to 'unskilled' and complaining about it. So they go on strike, and it ends up as a nation-wide push for equal pay.
Wanderer Ward
13 years ago
Wanderer Ward
Dreamscape Artist
I haven't seen any of the films mentioned so far |:( but yesterday my friend and I watched Amelie. I really liked it, though the style naturally was a little strange. I'd been putting off watching it because it's in French and I wanted to give my brain a break from languages for the first bit of the holidays, but we ended up watching it with subtitles anyway.
We also watched Ponyo which was super cute :-}
13 years ago
Thu Dec 02 2010, 05:34pm
Sorry Cat-Eyes, I haven't seen Made in Dagenham. Maybe I should give it a go?
And I love Amelie, Kaede! :D I actually thought that it was pretty normal for a French movie. In fact, it made a lot more sense than most of the other french movies I've seen. ;P I just think it's really sweet, and I love the music and the cinematography as well. It's really well made. :)
If you liked Amelie, you should check out Goodbye Lenin and MicMacs.
MicMacs is by the same director as Amelie, and I found the style quite similar. It's an entertaining film, complete with quirky characters and a somewhat surreal and improbable storyline. Just like in Amelie, the characters are a collection of misfits and oddballs that are instantly likeable. And the film also does have a broader message about weapons and violence.
I absolutely love Goodbye Lenin. It's a German film, and it always reminds me of Amelie for some reason. I think it might be because of the feelings the film evokes - there's something almost wistful about it. Goodbye Lenin is a sort of sad comedy, I guess. (If it's even possible for a comedy to be sad. :P ). I wouldn't call it a black comedy, because the film's not nearly biting enough for that. It's the kind of film that can make you feel nostalgic for something that you've never even experienced before. It's really great. :)
I've actually been getting pretty into German movies lately. There are so many good ones out there. :)
*dpm*
Okay, I watched another good film recently. ;P Has anyone seen Candy?
It's definitely the best film focusing on drug-culture that I've seen so far. The story-line and acting were just so believable. It gave the film a really genuine feeling. You could imagine thousands of people's lives playing out just like that.
Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish and Geoffrey Rush were brilliant in their title roles. You really get caught up in their story. It was particularly affecting to watch Candy (played by Abbie Cornish) - who began as an innocent and optimistic girl - gradually develop into someone who was willing to sell herself to get by. I really liked the way the film was divided into different sections to represent the stages of Dan and Candy's lives together; Heaven, Earth and Hell. They're blissfully happy at the beginning of the film, believing that nothing could possible harm them. But it's only a matter of time before reality starts to settle in.
Anyway, I thought it was a great film, and I'd recommend it with the warning that the story does focus on drug addiction and various related problems.
Abbie Cornish was also great in the film Somersault. If you like Candy, you should check out this film as well. It explores themes of teenage sexuality and isolation, which I suppose might bother some people, so don't watch it unless you're prepared for a bit of an artistic and confronting film.
Also... Has anyone seen I (L) Huckabees?
I love this film, but it seems to be a matter of either love it or hate it. It has a very particular style of humour that might be a bit hard to appreciate, but I find it hilarious. If you like philosophy and whimsical humour, then this is the film for you. It focuses on nihilism vs existentialism (two opposing philosophical theories about existence). Albert, the main character, decides to seek out two quirky Existential Detectives to help him find meaning in a series of coincidences in his life. The detectives commence spying on Albert to get to the root of his problem, and they introduce him to an optimistic brand of existentialism. But when everything starts to go wrong for Albert, he's swayed by another woman who proposes an opposing nihilistic philosophy.
Just watch it people, it's better than it sounds, I promise. ;P
Anyway, anyone else seen anything interesting lately?
I really loved both Candy and I (L) Huckabees. I agree that Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish were amazing. It was the first time I'd seen AC.
Gotta love the Existential Detectives.
The film I'm most excited about this year is Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. It's based on John Le Carre's classic spy novel of the same name, about a mole in the British Intelligence. The book was made into a BBC miniseries in the late 70s, starring Alec Guinness, which is brilliant. This is going to be very different - the complex, intricate plot will have to be compressed majorly - but I think it could be good. Gary Oldman stars, but it also has names like Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch. I just wish they'd announce some more of the casting choices!
The Glass Virgin (a film of the book by Catherine Cookson).
This is a good film. Believable, strong actors. Realistic, atmospheric clothes and buildings. A plot which develops throughout the story. It's about a young girl brought up a lady but her family keep a secret about her. She makes her own way in the world. Learns what 'real life' is like and is better for it, and falls in love. It's a human story and a drama.
