The Road
Since we're talking movies anyway, how about The Road?
I needed to wash Avatar off of me, so I went to see what is probably the anti-thesis to Avatar: less than two hours, cheap by comparison, muscular acting, and largely devoid of cliche. It's a film based on the 2006 Pulitzer winning novel by Cormac McCarthy, which means I would probably never read it but I would go see a movie of it in a heartbeat. The story, such as it is, is about a man (Viggo Mortensen) who wanders a post-apocalyptic America with his young son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) trying to avoid cannibals, find food without resorting to said cannibalism (the high road!) and make it to the coast, where things are hopefully better.
Because I like this movie and want some of you to go see it, I won't give you any spoilers. The movie is extremely well-made, leveling strong senses of dread, fear and hopelessness with little more than acting to pull it off. Sure, there are some scenes of end-of-the-world carnage, but it's all static and dead. In most of the scenes the only thing moving are the two lead actors, and that is most of the scenes of this film. They shot some of this on New Orelans Katrina land and at Mt. Saint Helens. Desolate, son.
If you aren't into character studies like this (which is an interesting kind of film to make with a cast of unnamed characters), you might find the film kind of boring. It's not, but I must slap the wrist of the filmmakers for cutting out some of the more horrific scenes. I know they shot some of them - they admit they shot some of them - but they cut some of them because they thought it would be heavy and redundant. I assure you that while it might have been horrific, it would not have been redundant. Without that horror, there is some punch missing here. You don't need to leave it ALL up to the imagination of the audience. Give us a little juice. McCarthy did, and if it was good enough for an Oprah Book of the Month (c) selection, it's good enough for your already R-rated film.
I liked this movie a lot. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, but I would recommend it for everyone that I think reads books or that enjoys a little thinking in their films (as opposed to the friend who gushed over Avatar who I now have to scratch out of my phone book).
By the way: you could have made 15 The Roads with the money it took to make Avatar.
I needed to wash Avatar off of me, so I went to see what is probably the anti-thesis to Avatar: less than two hours, cheap by comparison, muscular acting, and largely devoid of cliche. It's a film based on the 2006 Pulitzer winning novel by Cormac McCarthy, which means I would probably never read it but I would go see a movie of it in a heartbeat. The story, such as it is, is about a man (Viggo Mortensen) who wanders a post-apocalyptic America with his young son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) trying to avoid cannibals, find food without resorting to said cannibalism (the high road!) and make it to the coast, where things are hopefully better.
Because I like this movie and want some of you to go see it, I won't give you any spoilers. The movie is extremely well-made, leveling strong senses of dread, fear and hopelessness with little more than acting to pull it off. Sure, there are some scenes of end-of-the-world carnage, but it's all static and dead. In most of the scenes the only thing moving are the two lead actors, and that is most of the scenes of this film. They shot some of this on New Orelans Katrina land and at Mt. Saint Helens. Desolate, son.
If you aren't into character studies like this (which is an interesting kind of film to make with a cast of unnamed characters), you might find the film kind of boring. It's not, but I must slap the wrist of the filmmakers for cutting out some of the more horrific scenes. I know they shot some of them - they admit they shot some of them - but they cut some of them because they thought it would be heavy and redundant. I assure you that while it might have been horrific, it would not have been redundant. Without that horror, there is some punch missing here. You don't need to leave it ALL up to the imagination of the audience. Give us a little juice. McCarthy did, and if it was good enough for an Oprah Book of the Month (c) selection, it's good enough for your already R-rated film.
I liked this movie a lot. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, but I would recommend it for everyone that I think reads books or that enjoys a little thinking in their films (as opposed to the friend who gushed over Avatar who I now have to scratch out of my phone book).
By the way: you could have made 15 The Roads with the money it took to make Avatar.