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Spoilers What Movie Are You Watching?
- Thread starter Huntn
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eh
I was pretty let down by this one.
it felt like it couldn't decide what it wanted to be...
Had a Tim Robbins evening tonight.
Adrian Lyne: Jacob's Ladder (1990)
Jacob Singer, a Vietnam veteran, starts having severe hallucinations after being discharged and sets out to find out if he's going crazy, and if so what exactly is causing his sanity, and his whole being, to slowly unravel.
Great work by Tim Robbins as the titular Jacob. Both of the films I watched tonight are my favorites of his, but I'm pretty sure if I had to choose this would be it. There's some really well done and disturbing imagery in this film and coupled with the heavy symbolic themes it all works out really well. Still flip flopping about one change I'd maybe make to the ending, but it works really really well as it is.
Only the second time for me seeing this one, and I suspect there will be a third.
Mark Pellington: Arlington Road (1999)
A man (Jeff Bridges) who has lost his wife get's new neighbors (Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack). They seem sketchy.
A lot of twists and turns in this one, but the story grabs you pretty strongly from the get go and doesn't really let go until the credits are over. Or even a while after that. Not much I want to say about this one lest there be spoilers, other than it's highly recommended because of the great cast and inventive storyline.
Adrian Lyne: Jacob's Ladder (1990)
Jacob Singer, a Vietnam veteran, starts having severe hallucinations after being discharged and sets out to find out if he's going crazy, and if so what exactly is causing his sanity, and his whole being, to slowly unravel.
Great work by Tim Robbins as the titular Jacob. Both of the films I watched tonight are my favorites of his, but I'm pretty sure if I had to choose this would be it. There's some really well done and disturbing imagery in this film and coupled with the heavy symbolic themes it all works out really well. Still flip flopping about one change I'd maybe make to the ending, but it works really really well as it is.
Only the second time for me seeing this one, and I suspect there will be a third.
Mark Pellington: Arlington Road (1999)
A man (Jeff Bridges) who has lost his wife get's new neighbors (Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack). They seem sketchy.
A lot of twists and turns in this one, but the story grabs you pretty strongly from the get go and doesn't really let go until the credits are over. Or even a while after that. Not much I want to say about this one lest there be spoilers, other than it's highly recommended because of the great cast and inventive storyline.
A Tim Robbin's evening without a viewing of Shawshank? Good Sir, you have earned my wrath!
It’s weird, like really weird. But give it a chance. I won’t say anything else about the movie itself, but as much as we always discuss the talent of actors/actresses, I don’t think directors/core writers receive enough credit for How much time they must invest in to these types of narratives to piece everything together to make it seemingly work and then pick the right characters for the roles for a movie with six different plots to immerse the viewer. It’s like a chemistry experiment with hoping for the best outcome, it’s crazy if you think about it.
Inception and Cloud Atlas are by far the two biggest ‘mind-f’ers’ of a movie.😁
A Tim Robbin's evening without a viewing of Shawshank? Good Sir, you have earned my wrath!
I took a calculated risk in making that post, fully expecting the condemnation I rightfully deserve. In my defense, though, I could probably stage a one man performance of Shawshank right now and not miss a single line, so that has to count for something, right..?
It really does.
A frightening parallel universe in which George Costanza became a lawyer.
If you ever need a good date movie, try
It's the story of a one-hit wonder band, and I swear, every time I see it I think it is flawless. The story is engrossing from beginning to end, the music is fantastic, it's funny and a little heartbreaking, and the acting is excellent.
This is one of the best feel-good movies ever. And you know how you know a song is really, really good? When they play it no less than eight times during the movie and you still want to hear more.
The only downer is that the guy who composed that hit, Adam Schlesinger, died of Covid-19 recently.
It's on HBO this month.
Liv Tyler is just ****ing adorable in this movie. The scene where she's gonna mail some letters and their song comes over on the radio and she has a total, screaming freakout, is my absolute favorite part. Words don't do it justice. 😀
This is one of the best feel-good movies ever. And you know how you know a song is really, really good? When they play it no less than eight times during the movie and you still want to hear more.
The only downer is that the guy who composed that hit, Adam Schlesinger, died of Covid-19 recently.
It's on HBO this month.
Hahaha, it certainly does
Yeah, I like doing a little change up where you don't always cue up an actor's apex mountain. The Hudsucker Proxy is another terrific, less well known, Robbins movie.
Knives Out, such a fun movie.
Inception I loved, Cloud Atlas, I was like what’s the point?
So you’re saying you didn’t understand it? Ok...Got it. 😁
Seriously though, Cloud Atlas is not for everyone. And I find even some of the ‘negative reviews‘ have proven they don’t understand the narrative, which causes confusion, therefore the viewer automatically induce a negative mindset that it was a ‘bad movie’. That tends to be the median for those who don’t have an attention span for more than five minutes.😁
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Hahaha, it certainly does
Yeah, I like doing a little change up where you don't always cue up an actor's apex mountain. The Hudsucker Proxy is another terrific, less well known, Robbins movie.
You know what, as many times as I've heard and read about that movie I've yet to actually watch it all the way from start to finish. I really should get on that, so thanks for the reminder!
The problem is I did understand it, but rejected it for reasons other than the concept, or better said I disliked the implementation of the concept and the associated stories which did not move me.
The idea that reincarnation of the same souls over and over again and how they evolve and the impact on history is ambitious and could be very intriguing. Also partially my dislike is because I did not care for Tom Hanks in this. Maybe I should read the book? This is a pretty good article discussing it:
The World According to Cloud Atlas
How the World of Cloud Atlas Works
The first question you’re likely to have after walking out of Cloud Atlas is: What was up with that leprechaun? But you’ll probably have some more...
Oh my.
As someone extremely familiar with the original source material - as well as other Mitchell work, which is provides additional perspective, as he has some common themes across books - I can tell you, not only did I thoroughly understand the movie, I was easily able to critique the execution. I appreciated the attempt by Wachowski and Tykwer to film the 'unfilmable" (the latter difficulty even expressed by Mitchell ...), but the translation from print to film did not do well in preserving some of the more nuanced ideas of the book. Sure, it's got a visual heavy handed, "Look, we're more than the tangibly defined ideas of race, gender and some things transcend time and space", but the book is much more complex, and if this sort of "pop music" version of the ideas are interesting, I'd highly suggest a deeper dive by way of the author.
Would that actually help you understand the movie better? 😁 (<— I’m kidding) I don’t know anything about the book, and sometimes I find that books versus the actual movie are entirely different, based off directing style or things are changed in the script. This is just my own viewpoint, I Wasn’t entirely sure that you actually watched Cloud Atlas in its entirety, Because your original post To me stated “What was the point?“ Like, I don’t even know what that means, which is why I stated maybe you didn’t understand it or actually watched the entire film in regards to your reply, but then again, we all have different takes on how we view things. And this film being entirely different.
Anyways, I realize I’m ranting here, but in retrospect, Cloud Atlas transcends into something much deeper when you look at how they put the worlds together in terms of evolution, but it does make sense, it just has multiple puzzle pieces that to show the viewer how those worlds collide based on decisions.
Quite often I dislike movies the first time (no it’s not a matter of not understsnding) and change my mind with a second viewing (a matter of adjusting) so maybe I will watch it again. The simplist explanation is as it stands after one viewing, I did not like the presentation nor the stories.
Would you say the movie missed the mark, the book was shooting for? I’d be curious to see how these characters are linked (in the book), to each other through time.
Oh my.
As someone extremely familiar with the original source material - as well as other Mitchell work, which is provides additional perspective, as he has some common themes across books - I can tell you, not only did I thoroughly understand the movie, I was easily able to critique the execution. I appreciated the attempt by Wachowski and Tykwer to film the 'unfilmable" (the latter difficulty even expressed by Mitchell ...), but the translation from print to film did not do well in preserving some of the more nuanced ideas of the book. Sure, it's got a visual heavy handed, "Look, we're more than the tangibly defined ideas of race, gender and some things transcend time and space", but the book is much more complex, and if this sort of "pop music" version of the ideas are interesting, I'd highly suggest a deeper dive by way of the author.
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The Book of Eli (2010)- 64% RTAS. Imo a low score for such a good movie. It is a visual work of art, uplifting if you are Christian, intriguing if you are not, with explosive violence, and incredible atmosphere playing out on a backdrop of majestic desolation in a post apocalyptic world as Carnegie seeks the book with the right words to sway the faithful and Eli is on a mission.
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The Last House on the Left [2009]
It’s really easy to classify a film as a ‘suspense‘, but when it’s really not. (No, This is not a horror movie, even if the movie poster makes it appear that way.) This film is actually a true suspense movie with a great cast. (Aaron Paul and Monica Potter-She was in Along came a Spider).
The film is about two females abducted from some criminals, one of them escaped and leads We’ve been to her lake home with her parents, that’s when things take a severe turn. [And realistically, that’s all I can say about the film.]
And to be honest, I don’t know anyone that actually has heard of this film other than myself, it’s one of those films that seems lost, but is truly excellent with a plot, acting and shot-scenery was on point.
It’s really easy to classify a film as a ‘suspense‘, but when it’s really not. (No, This is not a horror movie, even if the movie poster makes it appear that way.) This film is actually a true suspense movie with a great cast. (Aaron Paul and Monica Potter-She was in Along came a Spider).
The film is about two females abducted from some criminals, one of them escaped and leads We’ve been to her lake home with her parents, that’s when things take a severe turn. [And realistically, that’s all I can say about the film.]
And to be honest, I don’t know anyone that actually has heard of this film other than myself, it’s one of those films that seems lost, but is truly excellent with a plot, acting and shot-scenery was on point.
The 1970's original was also great.
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Great, meaningful movie if you ask me.
Speaking of complicated plots, I love Johnny Bravo but sometimes......