love

Author Topic: Respond to the last movie you watched (2013-2016)  (Read 973424 times)

Corndog

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17025
  • Oo-da-lolly, Oo-da-lolly, golly what a day!
    • Corndog Chats
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #6250 on: September 02, 2015, 09:33:01 AM »
The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967)

It is crazy that the movie wants us to believe in a relationship that starts in those terms.

I don't believe in the relationship, and I don't think Nichols necessarily wants you to either.
"Time is the speed at which the past decays."

Teproc

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3529
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #6251 on: September 02, 2015, 09:49:36 AM »
The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967)

It is crazy that the movie wants us to believe in a relationship that starts in those terms.

I don't believe in the relationship, and I don't think Nichols necessarily wants you to either.

That did occur to me, especially with that final shot, but I'm not sure what to make of it all if that's the case. Even if this is supposed to be a trainwreck, it wouldn't hurt to make Elaine more than an empty shell, and the way the character is introduced still rubs me the wrong way. She becomes the only thing everyone wants to talk about very suddenly.

Besides, I really felt likeI was supposed to root for them, especially with that montage by the end when Ben is driving around trying to get to her in time.
Legend: All-Time Favorite | Great  |  Very Good  |  Good  |  Poor  |  Bad

Letterbox'd

Bondo

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 23082
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #6252 on: September 02, 2015, 01:40:22 PM »
The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967)

3/10

I do realize this is pretty acclaimed though, so I am eager to hear why this film seems to work for so many.

I put my review in the form of words, but it really could have just been a vine of me punching a baby boomer in the face. Really didn't like it.

MartinTeller

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17864
  • martinteller.wordpress.com
    • my movie blog
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #6253 on: September 02, 2015, 05:34:19 PM »
it wouldn't hurt to make Elaine more than an empty shell

The movie is from Ben's point of view.  Fleshing her out would defeat the purpose of her character... she's a vague hope for a more meaningful life that Ben impulsively clings to.  She's not a person, she's an escape, a lifeline.  But the lifeline is just as illusory as plastics.  Chasing her is romantic and daring and passionate.  It's like a movie!  But reality inevitably settles in.

maņana

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 20862
  • Check your public library
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #6254 on: September 02, 2015, 05:51:05 PM »
Yeah, that.
There's no deceit in the cauliflower.

jascook

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 491
  • Cue the sun
    • Jas Watches Movies:  The Blog
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #6255 on: September 02, 2015, 06:02:36 PM »
it wouldn't hurt to make Elaine more than an empty shell

The movie is from Ben's point of view.  Fleshing her out would defeat the purpose of her character... she's a vague hope for a more meaningful life that Ben impulsively clings to.  She's not a person, she's an escape, a lifeline.  But the lifeline is just as illusory as plastics.  Chasing her is romantic and daring and passionate.  It's like a movie!  But reality inevitably settles in.

This is pretty much what I was going to say, but Martin beat me to it (and probably said it better than I would have).  Ben doesn't find love with Elaine any more than he does with her mother.  He doesn't know her.  I highly doubt he would have been as interested in her if he'd been set up with her at the beginning, before his affair with Mrs. Robinson could get off the ground.  Elaine becomes a forbidden territory, and therefore irresistible.  But Ben and Elaine are doomed from the start.  Even the ending cannot convince me otherwise.

Too bad, because Katharine Ross was damn gorgeous.
Sara: Good-bye, father Isak. Can't you see you're the one I love? Today, tomorrow and forever.
Isak Borg: I'll keep that in mind.

Teproc

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3529
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #6256 on: September 03, 2015, 03:44:49 AM »
Mmh. Maybe I'll try to rewatch it at some point, it seems I might have misread it, I thought Ben was supposed to be a sympathetic figure going against an overbearing society, maybe I'm not giving Nichols enough credit... how does the soundtrack fit into this though ? The way it's used towards the end of the movie seemed to me like we were watching some glorious act of defiance we should cheer for.
Legend: All-Time Favorite | Great  |  Very Good  |  Good  |  Poor  |  Bad

Letterbox'd

Bondo

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 23082
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #6257 on: September 03, 2015, 07:10:55 AM »
Just re-read my review (for The Graduate) and decided I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

chardy999

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3550
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #6258 on: September 03, 2015, 09:09:56 AM »
Just re-read my review (for The Graduate) and decided I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Facts out of the way: I am a big big fan of Mike Nichols and yet I do not like The Graduate.

That said, your first paragraph is terrible. It is pre-formed, stubborn and, ironically, entitled in its own way. Can you not find a way to argue points that I generally agree with in a more respectable fashion?
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.
- Groucho Marx

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #6259 on: September 03, 2015, 09:51:27 AM »
The Graduate is one of my favorite movies of all time, but I hate the strip club scene. It's well-directed, but the effect would be similar to when Travis Bickle took his date to a porno. What saves it for me is the way Nichols films the scene right after in extreme long shot. It's the kind of brilliant camera technique that is on constant display here.


Been meaning to revisit Mike Nichols' spiritual sequel Carnal Knowledge, which is just as good as The Graduate for the first 45 minutes. Then it spins off into different directions, becoming more interesting but less successful.

 

love