Comments | firebluespinel: Pass the popcorn...

firebluespinel

Pass the popcorn...

Oct 28, 2010 22:53

...because it's time for a film review post! And I'm actually getting somewhat close to catching up to myself in real life, so I can't exactly call these "old reviews" anymore, lol. But regardless, here are today's (minviendha, are you getting this?):

( Valkyrie )

orient express, ayelet zurer, meryl streep, kenneth branagh, poirot, philip seymour hoffman, valkyrie, viola davis, john cusack, the outlander, samuel l. jackson, tom wilkinson, david bamber, john patrick shanley, eddie izzard, tom hanks, stephen king, movies, bill nighy, ewan mcgregor, kevin r mcnally, tom cruise, doubt, stellan skarsgaard, angels and demons, albert finney, amy adams, armin mueller-stahl, 1408

Comments 18

misstopia October 29 2010, 04:07:52 UTC

I am convinced that Streep is the greatest female actor film has ever seen.

Much truth.

cyshobbitlass October 29 2010, 04:33:28 UTC

Did you think Philip Seymour Hoffman's character was completely innocent? I wanted to. I tried to, both when I read the play and watched the movie...but I have to admit that in the end when Streep's character called his old school I was left with some doubts, which I guess was the point, but it hit me like a ton of bricks.

I LOVE 1408! I'm so glad you did too. I actually got to see it in theaters and I found it probably my favorite experience seeing a horror movie ever. Not maybe the best horror movie but the best horror movie theater experience. Cusack's character is the perfect audience surrogate. He's genre savy, he doesn't believe, he's laughing about it and then when things start to get to him they start to get to you. It's a "this guy is with us" feeling. So well done! I don't know many other people who feel the same way about that movie but I'm glad you do.

firebluespinel October 29 2010, 05:28:00 UTC

Here's the main reason I was able to give 1408 such high praise: I HATE horror movies. The idea of voluntarily or even joyously putting yourself through two hours of film whose only purpose is to scare/startle/disturb/freak you out, just makes me want to run the other way. I hate feeling fear for a good reason, let alone for a fake one, lol. (But I do love reading Stephen King...I think for some reason horror books don't scare or bother me the way horror films do, lol.) So the fact that 1408 was able to hold my attention and make me want to keep watching despite my hatred of horror films makes it a choice flick indeed. I agree with pretty much everything you said about it ( ... )

cyshobbitlass October 29 2010, 05:37:04 UTC

Re:Doubt. One thing I want to say from the get go is that I was definitely on his side, not hers, the whole time. I think the ending is ambiguous. I don't think it would be as good a play if it was just a good guy, a bad woman and a couple of people with varying ideas confused in the middle. I think the fact that it hit so close to your heart was a good thing...in terms of art...maybe not for you, but the fact that it could make someone so passionate is a good thing ( ... )

firebluespinel October 29 2010, 05:45:42 UTC

See below...PMing just became redundant.

Also, you're right about the ambiguity. It is a play/film called "Doubt" after all, and fittingly it never really confirms anything. That's one of the things that makes it a great movie, it allows the audience to think about it for themselves. (Inception, incidentally, does the same thing, though in a much less heart-shattering way.)

coaldustcanary October 29 2010, 05:27:54 UTC

I'm going to make this unfunny.

In this day in age, or even fifty years ago when Doubt was set, when a woman wants to ruin a man and takes the sexual deviance/harassment rumor route to doing so, the man literally has no way out.Except this has always been more of a neurotic male paranoid fantasy than a reality; it happens a lot more in movies and fiction than it actually does in real life. Everyone "knows somebody" who has been falsely pilloried in the rumor mill, but can rarely point to a population whose lives have been ruined in the way you describe ( ... )

So much for anyone PMing me about this... firebluespinel October 29 2010, 05:43:05 UTC

Here's the thing.

Except this has always been more of a neurotic male paranoid fantasy than a reality; it happens a lot more in movies and fiction than it actually does in real life. Everyone "knows somebody" who has been falsely pilloried in the rumor mill, but can rarely point to a population whose lives have been ruined in the way you describe.

Not true. Not. Fucking. True.

This is not an anecdote on my observations of society. This is not me "knowing someone" who has had that happen to them. This is my own bloody perspective. I've been accused of serious sexual harassment that I was absolutely innocent of, and I've had absolutely no one believe in that innocence, because people were lying to ruin my pure, pristine reputation, and because the girls in question were unquestionably believed over me. It pretty much ruined both high school and college for me. I don't discount anyone whose life was horrifically impacted by actual harassment, but my perspective actually lends itself to what you accurately described as my "expression ( ... )

Re: So much for anyone PMing me about this... coaldustcanary October 29 2010, 15:10:36 UTC

I am sorry that happened to you. I don't know you well, certainly not outside a shared fannishness context, to be sure, so I can't say anything but that. That sucks. It is brutally unfair, and I am sorry.

I'm a little confused by your subject line. I tend to assume that if a LJ entry has open comments, that the content of that entry is up for discussion. I do not PM people about the contents of their posts; that seems oddly intrusive to me, as if it demands an answer. If you would prefer not to have a public conversation on the topic, which is absolutely your right, please feel free to delete my post and this thread.

I see what you meant in your comment above, apologies. Your comment and mine hit at the same time; I certainly didn't see it before I posted.

Re: So much for anyone PMing me about this... firebluespinel October 29 2010, 23:02:24 UTC

Thanks. I appreciate the sympathy. For what it's worth, I've been able to move on completely from the situation, and none of the people who were involved in it are part of my life anymore. And I'm sorry about the knee-jerk angry reaction to your comment; I hope I didn't take your head off too hard.

atomgal October 29 2010, 14:02:55 UTC

Oooh, I want to go watch 1408 again now. You made a great point about the pacing of it, the "gradual erosion." I hate it when horror movies beat viewers over the head with gore for gore's sake. 1408 is more terrifying than those kinds of films, in my opinion, because "normal" slips away so gradually that it takes you off guard when you realize, "Whoa, this is really messed up."

firebluespinel October 29 2010, 23:15:09 UTC

Agreed! And that's actually one of the main issues I had with the Saw films and others like them...not only are they torture porn, but you pretty much start the film with normality already completely gone. 1408 really took the high road on that, so to speak.

skyclearblue October 29 2010, 14:39:46 UTC

The thing about Doubt that I don't think you covered is that Streep's character really believed that the priest had abused that boy. She hated the man and wanted him gone, and so spite was a motivation, but at the same time she believed that she was doing the right thing...despite some doubts, she was acting on conviction.

Also...you liked It, the movie? Ugh. But you should (if you haven't already) try The Shawshank Redemption on for size. I have friends who literally did not believe me when I told them that that movie is based on a short story by King. It also happens to be my favorite movie of all time.

firebluespinel October 29 2010, 23:10:50 UTC

I didn't really LIKE It, but I think it did a good job doing what it was meant to do--i.e., being psychologically scary in the way that King's books tend to do so well.

And The Shawshank Redemption is my SECOND-favorite movie of all time, just behind American Beauty. No more heartwarming or inspiring movie exists than Shawshank, as far as I am concerned. Good call. XD