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Author Topic: Respond to the last movie you watched (2013-2016)  (Read 973460 times)

Junior

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1490 on: March 28, 2014, 02:33:40 PM »
Noah. (Read my review with pretty pictures on my blog.)

Before this film came out I told any family member who expressed an interest in it that Darren Aronofsky’s Noah probably wasn’t going to be exactly what they were expecting. This wasn’t going to be a “rise and shine and build an arky arky” kind of thing. And it isn’t, but it also kind of is. No, you probably don’t remember the rock angels from your Sunday school classes and Russell Crowe’s Noah is a heck of a lot more dour and brooding than the nice 900 year old man from the story, but the bones are there. Aronofsky has just put his own kind of meat on them. As such, it’s a pretty successful movie for film fans and religious moviegoers alike, so long as each keeps an open mind about what the other might want and enjoy from a movie such as this.

There is apparently some controversy involved in the fact that Noah doesn’t ever use the word God to refer to a central character in the story’s narrative. Instead, Noah and his family and his distant cousins, the sinful sons and daughters of Cain who want to get a piece of his sweet salvation, use The Creator to refer to the entity whose biggest act to this point had been the creation of the universe. Doesn’t seem like that bad a compromise, as there was no real organized religion at this point in “history” and therefore no name to be named. It also underlines the dramatic irony of the whole situation. We know what happens to man during this story, our great destruction is at the very center of the film, so to call God “The Creator” calls attention to the fact that he’s about to do the opposite of that moniker quite soon.

It’s also telling that two of the film’s best sequences come back to back which tell parallel stories of destruction and creation, first as the flood waters rise and those rock angels protect the ark for just long enough to allow Noah to achieve his goal and then, as Noah and his family listen to the dying cries of humanity – a haunting and terrifying sound with one equally scary visual representation – Noah tells his sons and daughter the first story, the creation of the universe. This is done in the most spectacular of ways: a montage of short 3-4 frame bursts of motion that at  first follow the Big Bang and then zoom into Earth as the seas die down and life begins to form inside them, starting as a single cell which splits into many and then eventually forms fish who sprout legs and walk on land and so on and so forth. It’s imagery that you can see watching Cosmos, but the frantic energy wrought by the staccato editing enlivens and invigorates the otherwise overly familiar story. The montage ends with the legacy of Cain as two silhouetted warriors meet on an almost-pop-out-book battlefield and enact the history of warfare with all the technological advances in killing that have happened throughout history using the same rapid-fire editing. It is brilliant filmmaking and storytelling combined into one outstanding package.

But for all of the large scale things that must happen in a Noah story, the heartbeat of Aronofsky’s film comes in the more intimate – but no less intense – second half. When it’s just Noah and his family the impact of what has just happened becomes almost too much to bear. Noah becomes convinced that not only must all the descendants of Cain die, but also his descendants, those of Seth, the other brother of Abel. Even his own daughter’s child might need to be eliminated, should it be a girl, because the sin of humanity might still live on in her and her offspring. Everybody else on board disagrees and there is much family drama. Like I said, not the Noah of the Arky Arky song. Noah’s relationship with The Creator is a rough one; he often looks to the heavens and sees only the sky. Aronofsky’s God is mostly absent, or at least deliberately hiding. It is then up to Noah to overcome his survivor’s guilt and try to see the good that humanity can be. Does he? Well, it’s a Noah story, but also an Aronofsky movie. He has a penchant for killing off his main characters. You’ll have to see it yourself.

8/10.
« Last Edit: March 28, 2014, 02:42:28 PM by Junior »
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verbALs

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1491 on: March 28, 2014, 02:56:01 PM »
However did young people, back then, express their depth of emotion without being able to say OMG!

Joan Jett....she's a rock angel.
« Last Edit: March 28, 2014, 02:57:54 PM by verbALs »
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smirnoff

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1492 on: March 28, 2014, 05:40:05 PM »
Naked Gun 2 1/2

"Now Jane, what can you tell me about this man you saw last night?"
"Uh, he was Caucasian."
"Caucasian?"
"Yea, you know, a white guy, with a mustache, about six foot three..."
"That's an awfully big mustache."

That caught me completely off guard when I watched it. Huge laugh. Biggest of the movie. :))

Sandy

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1493 on: March 28, 2014, 09:17:46 PM »
 :D




13 Going on 30




Journal Entry: May 12, 2004

I just got back from the late movie. I went and saw 13 Going on 30. I especially liked Mark Ruffalo's portrayal of Matt. Here was an idealistic child whom life had damaged, and the adult he became - world weary, resigned and still absolutely kind. Also with an underlying vulnerability. One of the best male characters I've seen in a long time.


Well, that's embarrassing. Three short, stubby sentences, followed by a long disjointed one and then a sloppy sentence fragment. I could excuse it by saying it was written late at night, or that I wasn't a consistent journal keeper, thereby not having kept my writing skills up, and it would be true. But the bigger truth is, I wanted to quickly jot down my thoughts on the man, in case I forgot about him later. I needn't have worried. He's been on my mind a lot over the years, since I haven't seen another character, with so few brush strokes, come off the screen as fully formed. How can such a frothy bit of fluff movie produce such an unforgettable character? It's because of the nature of the film and having now seen Ruffalo inhabit other characters, I put the praise squarely on his shoulders. His authenticity and (borrowing from the Breathing Life thread) sincerity shine through. I watched the movie again yesterday, to see if it I still felt the same way about the character and sure enough, there he was again. And for that, I love this silly movie. Oh, and Jennifer Garner is 13 as far as I can tell.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2018, 11:08:53 PM by Sandy »

1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1494 on: March 28, 2014, 10:51:35 PM »
Being the one person who didn't like You Can Count on Me, I wasn't instantly impressed with Mark Ruffalo. Now I can't think of a weak or uninteresting performance no matter how flat, commercial or underdeveloped the part.

Junior

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1495 on: March 28, 2014, 10:54:52 PM »
He's the heart of Zodiac, too. And is the only guy to get the Hulk right out of the 3 that have tried recently. Pretty great actor.
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Sandy

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1496 on: March 28, 2014, 11:20:14 PM »
I haven't seen Zodiac, but I heartily agree with what you've said about Hulk. I loved what he did with that role and I struggle to get very enthusiastic about Marvel Heroes in general. I mean, can any battle be won against these guys? I watched Avengers a second time, just to follow Bruce Banner around and observe his pain. Oh, and Natasha being interrogated (I was taking notes. :) ).


1SO, so well articulated, my writer friend. :)

Junior

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1497 on: March 28, 2014, 11:29:51 PM »
Zodiac isn't a Sandy movie, so I get that. I found myself following him in second viewings of The Avengers as well. Can't wait for the sequel.
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Antares

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1498 on: March 28, 2014, 11:36:41 PM »
Zodiac isn't a Sandy movie

I'll definitely second that thought. Whenever I think of that film, my mind focuses on that murder scene at the lake. That had to be one of the most disturbing murder scenes I've ever watched. If she watched that film, I could see Sandy covering her eyes or running out of the room in horror at that part.
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Sandy

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1499 on: March 28, 2014, 11:40:15 PM »
You know me too well.

 

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