Comments | thehefner: OBSERVE AND REPORT is a disturbing, thought-provoking must-see... but not for everybody

thehefner

OBSERVE AND REPORT is a disturbing, thought-provoking must-see... but not for everybody

Apr 11, 2009 18:38

Well now. I'd heard some people say that the new Seth Rogan film OBSERVE AND REPORT wasn't accurately marketed, but that's a massive understatement.

Good lord, that was an excellent but deeply unsettling movie.

It's not at all surprising that it's gotten such mixed reviews, but my favorite joyless bastard, Devin from CHUD.com gave it a rare 10 ( Read more... )

movies

Comments 27

tragical_mirth April 12 2009, 00:40:06 UTC

thehefner April 12 2009, 01:10:50 UTC

I'm not sure about this weekend, but maybe, or maybe the next one. Perhaps I could try and get a mini-group together. This is definitely one I wanna pick apart with people over beer and nachos.

Man, I'm gonna be thinking about it all night, I just know it. The film refuses to get out of my head. Just wait, I'll watch it with you guys and I'll be like, "Really? I was all a-tizzy over that?" But we'll see if that happens.

tragical_mirth April 12 2009, 03:54:51 UTC

thehefner April 12 2009, 03:57:23 UTC

Nice choices! I actually haven't seen PERSEPOLIS yet, and I needta. But THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME? I haven't seen that yet, and I should! But only if I can bring around SURVIVING THE GAME. It's a modern adaptation, where Ice-T is being hunted by Rutger Hauer, Charles Dutton, John C. McGinley, F. Murray Abraham, and... wait for it... Gary Busey.

Thread 6

angrylemur April 12 2009, 02:47:43 UTC

If there's a laugh to be had in that scene, it's only a laugh of nervous relief, and even that sounds horrible to say. Trust me, it's ALL about context, because this is not a character with whom we're ever asked to sympathize. Even if he fools other people into thinking that he's the hero he thinks he is, we the audience know better.

Oh! Well, that makes it totally fine to laugh at a woman being raped, then. After all, rape is all about context. And the punchline is that she really wanted it anyway, she was asking for it. What a relief ( ... )

thehefner April 12 2009, 02:53:54 UTC

I never, ever said that.

I never said it was okay. It's no more okay here than it was in, say, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. And those that say it is okay fall into that last category I mention, the idiots who see ORANGE and TAXI DRIVER as role model movies.

I didn't laugh, by the way. But then, I didn't laugh at much anything in the film, because I found it all disturbing.

angrylemur April 12 2009, 03:14:04 UTC

I don't think I'm saying what you think I'm saying you said. Wait, what? Agh.

What I was responding to:

"But if you're that special kind of viewer, the kind who likes to be challenged, who likes to go places sane people avoid, who thinks transgression isn't just desirable but also kind of hilarious, Observe and Report might be your favorite movie of the year."

He sums up my thoughts pretty well...The other thing I was responding to I quoted directly from you ( ... )

thehefner April 12 2009, 03:37:31 UTC

Okay, whew.

Well, that's ultimately what I'm also wondering too. How much does the movie ultimately trivialize or even glorify Ronnie's actions? Maybe other people aren't thinking about that, but I certainly am, and responses like this just make me want to dissect this film all the more. Because one way or another, for good or bad, this is a film that gets under one's skin. It's a very troubling film on a number of levels, but I don't know if that's a bad thing.

Thread 9

karmaflouge April 12 2009, 03:03:14 UTC

Heffie! I have a Nick Cave emergency! Where the hell did all his actual music videos go? I can't find a single damn one on YouTube!

thehefner April 12 2009, 03:05:56 UTC

Maybe the record label put the kibosh on 'em? They do that sometimes. Lame. Maybe they're just trying to get their official channel for videos up or something.

jellied April 12 2009, 03:17:56 UTC

I'm probably not going to see this movie. For a couple of reasons, one movies are 12 dollars here (and if I am spending that much on a movie, it better fucking be the best thing I have ever seen, and I get the feeling that it's not). Also because I have read and taken to heart many of the incendiary blasts that many of the websites I frequent have made of O&R.

It's not just that I don't find rape funny. It's the casualness of which it's being addressed, and the fact that Hill, Rogan, Farris (who should know better) et al are normalizing rape and rape jokes.

thehefner April 12 2009, 03:45:56 UTC

I've heard a bit of that from Farris, but how have Hill and Rogan been normalizing rape and rape jokes? Because that... shit, it's almost like they missed the point of the film. Or at least, the point I took from it.

How many of these incendiary blasts have been made by people who've actually seen the film? I'd be interested to read those, rather than, like, all the people at raging ontd_political who clearly haven't.

It's definitely not the best movie you've ever seen. But it just might make my top ten list at the end of the year. Depending on whether or not other articles or criticisms cause me to rethink this whole film, which is entirely possible.

angrylemur April 12 2009, 04:32:29 UTC

From a recent interview, Seth Rogen's take on the rape itself:

when we’re having sex and she’s unconscious like you can literally feel the audience thinking, like, how the fuck are they going to make this okay? Like, what can possibly be said or done that I’m not going to walk out of the movie theater in the next thirty seconds? . . . And then she says, like, the one thing that makes it all okay.

I haven't seen any interviews with the director. But um, yeah.

thehefner April 12 2009, 04:39:48 UTC

Yyyyyyeah, Seth, not so much.

jellied April 12 2009, 04:03:20 UTC

I might have mispoke about the first part-- for some reason I keep thinking there might have been more instances in previous Apatow work-- but none come immediately to mind right now.

And I'm pulling from sites such as Jezebel, Gawker (read into that what you will) and hubsites such as Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes.

I think I might be more offended by there being two mall cop movies this year. But even in context that clip (of Farris and Rogan) still makes my stomach turn.

thehefner April 12 2009, 04:57:59 UTC

Well, one way or another, it's very much not like an Apatow movie, that much is sure. I personally don't care for 'em myself, although I do enjoy SUPERBAD and have heard ADVENTURELAND is excellent, but they're more like spinoffs from the Apatow clan, not actually done by him.

I should actually brave the critics on Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes, intimidating as that is. I usually give a quick sweep and leave 'em be, as critics can be an infuriating bunch. I try to find the handful who I trust or at least are entertaining enough to keep me interested and forget the rest. Like, fuck what THE NEW YORKER thinks about IRON MAN, I mean really.