Author Topic: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film  (Read 64415 times)

Corndog

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17025
  • Oo-da-lolly, Oo-da-lolly, golly what a day!
    • Corndog Chats
Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #90 on: May 22, 2010, 09:23:00 AM »
ses593
To Kill A Mockingbird
Directed by Robert Mulligan; Written by Horton Foote

To Kill a Mockingbird. A book I read in school as a child and a movie I never got around to seeing. I think this might be a tragedy. I remember really liking the book. It was about two kids, Jem and Scout, and their awesome dad who defended not only a man, but a black man and all that was right and just in the world. Then of course there was good ol', spooky Boo Radley. Apart from that I did not recall much except to say that I remember really enjoying the book. As for the movie itself, I know I have heard all about how great it is and all that, Gregory Peck delivers one of the best on screen performances, but I never did see it until now and I say what a shame that is, and I will let you know why.

I became slightly disappointed with this film. Maybe it was my high expectations given the hype and my love of the book, which honestly I don't remember a whole lot about though. But before you go crazy, it was a very good film and I enjoyed watching it, that much I am sure of. The characters are all pretty good: Scout, Jem, and their summertime friend Dill are all fun to follow around as they roll around in tires and creep around the courthouse talking about Boo Radley. Boo himself is a mythical character of sorts, until of course... Well anyway, the best character was of course Atticus Finch played by Gregory Peck. He did live up to the hype. He was a man of such value and determination. He had integrity and it was a great thing to watch. Tom Robinson and the girl, Mayella, were good to watch in the courtroom too. The courtroom scene was everything it was chalked up to be. Masterful, and on edge, it was a demonstration of courtroom drama at its finest. Everything about that scene is now legendary to me. However, when we move out of the courtroom is where all I see is a good entertaining film that does not live up to its masterpiece label.

I do not want people to think I did not like this film, and I know this is about the third time I have said this, but I did have a good time with it. I guess where this defense comes from is the fact that, in this marathon, there have been so many different great films that I have watched and for the most part they have all lived up to or past their reputation for me. Now back to the what a shame it was I had not seen this earlier. I say this because I feel like this film might base a lot of its reputation on nostalgia. People who remember their dad like Atticus, or the way the country was then, or when they saw it as a kid in association with the book. Well I feel like had I seen it as a kid I would have loved it then and then the nostalgia would have carried into today too, but I did not see it as a child, I saw it as a 21 year old college student, not to say my demographic could not also come to love this film, but I am just trying to rationalize why I did not absolutely love it because, honestly, me not loving it has sort of disappointed myself. But remember I DID LIKE IT.

***

Up Next: Either The 400 Blows or Umberto D.
"Time is the speed at which the past decays."

ses

  • Administrator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 14979
    • Sarah's Kitchen Adventures
Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #91 on: May 22, 2010, 09:58:22 AM »
**mild spoilers**


For me, the reason I love this film is not attached to nostalgia.  I actually found this movie to be kind of boring when I was younger.  It wasn't until I got older that I really fell in love with this film.  And Gregory Peck definitely doesn't remind me of my dad:).  But I understand what you are saying about nostalgia in general.  The small town, the way that the film is shot, the music, it's all about nostalgia.  This film spans about a year, and I think you feel each season, you can feel the wind blow through the leaves in the fall as well as the heat of the summer, and that adds a large touch of nostagia.  Also, it's in black and white, in 1960, when a lot of films were in color by that point. 

I am glad the courtroom scene lived up to its hype, it's truly magnificent, and I can't watch this film without tears welling when Gregory Peck is leaving the courtroom "Jean Louise, stand up, your father's passing".  But I disagree that the story wanes a bit when they are outside of the courtroom.  I think there are so many great scenes.  The whole Boo Radley story I think is told perfectly, from the kids point of view, it really gives the feeling of mystery and fright, and the way it resolves itself really culminates with Scout's whole story.  She is growing up and coming to realizations about the world, and that things aren't always as they seem, and people you may think are good (like the men she confronts when Atticus is guarding the cell), aren't always who they seem, and that men that are scary (Boo), are not.  And she is learning more about who her father is as a person.  He's not just her dad anymore.  The story is hers. 

As for Gregory Peck, I am glad he lived up to his hype.  I think the quieter moments are as great as the courtroom scene.  When his back is half turned to the camera when he gets the news about Tom Robinson, they way he delivers his disappointment and his hope about the appeal, is just perfect, as well as his moments with the kids.

I glad you did like it Corndog, and I am sorry that it disappointed you in some aspects, but I hope you do revisit it in the future.  Like I said, I didn't love the film when I first saw it, but now it's my favorite.   
"It's a fool who looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart"

http://sarahskitchenadventures.blogspot.com/

Sam the Cinema Snob

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 26795
Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #92 on: May 22, 2010, 10:02:20 AM »
I'm with corndog on this one. I don't dislike the film, but I don't get why everyone loves it.

Bondo

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 23082
Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #93 on: May 22, 2010, 10:54:15 AM »
I don't have a special place for the film of To Kill A Mockingbird. I never read the story but I saw a stage version of it before ever watching the film and preferred the live version. I think the film is less a great film than a good telling of a great story.

Bill Thompson

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17561
  • DOOM!!!!
    • Bill's Movie Emporium
Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #94 on: May 22, 2010, 04:46:24 PM »
I'm with Ses, I didn't see TKAM until last year, and my father was a deadbeat I never knew, so I don't have the nostalgia you spoke of Corn. The reasons Ses listed are pretty much the same was what I would have said anyways.  :)

FLYmeatwad

  • An Acronym
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 28785
  • I am trying to impress myself. I have yet to do it
    • Processed Grass
Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #95 on: May 22, 2010, 09:11:12 PM »
Make it Umberto D.

Corndog

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17025
  • Oo-da-lolly, Oo-da-lolly, golly what a day!
    • Corndog Chats
Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #96 on: May 25, 2010, 04:28:53 PM »
pixote
The 400 Blows
Directed by Francois Truffaut; Written by F. Truffaut & M. Moussy

So I guess that guy from Close Encounters directs too? Well, okay, whatever. My French New Wave education is quite shallow to this point. I have seen Godard's Breatless and, courtesy this marathon, Renais' Last Year at Marienbad. Past that I know nothing of the movement. I had always heard of this film and been curious about Truffaut's work in general, so when the chance arose, I was definitely excited and had fairly high expectations, even though I knew nothing of the plot of the film. At a somewhat short 96 minutes, I was not expecting such a simple, slow moving storyline. The film follows Antoine (Jean-Pierre Leaude) who is a school boy in Paris with some problems. He feels as though his mother does not love him and treats him poorly, and he is frustrated with his school responsibilities, resorting to skipping or even plagiarism. When he finally breaks free and runs away he gets caught and sent to an observation center.

Until the third act, I was not hooked by what was going on on screen. The acting was great, the look was good, but I was never pulled into the character of Antoine, I could not find sympathy for his actions. None of them made sense to me and I could not relate to him as I would not have done any of the things he did, nor have I experienced some of the hardships he was experiencing. That is until the third act when he gets sent to the observation center. It is what happens here, one scene in particular, and the masterful ending that brought it all back to me and got me to appreciate what I had just seen. I was able to sympathize with Antoine and the struggles he had been through for the course of the year. Like many films I have seen before it, this is a prime example of why you must watch movies from start to finish. The ending was so rewarding and so satisfying that I can imagine seeing this again and liking it better the second time just for the simple reason that I know how it ends.

***

Up Next: Umberto D.
"Time is the speed at which the past decays."

'Noke

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 11799
Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #97 on: May 25, 2010, 04:33:45 PM »
I loved it a lot more then you did Corndog, but I'm glad you liked it. Nice review.
I actually consider a lot of movies to be life-changing! I take them to my heart and they melt into my personality.

tinyholidays

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3715
  • It's a hard world for little things.
Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #98 on: May 25, 2010, 04:45:30 PM »
pixote
The 400 Blows
Directed by Francois Truffaut; Written by F. Truffaut & M. Moussy

So I guess that guy from Close Encounters directs too? Well, okay, whatever. My French New Wave education is quite shallow to this point. I have seen Godard's Breatless and, courtesy this marathon, Renais' Last Year at Marienbad. Past that I know nothing of the movement. I had always heard of this film and been curious about Truffaut's work in general, so when the chance arose, I was definitely excited and had fairly high expectations, even though I knew nothing of the plot of the film. At a somewhat short 96 minutes, I was not expecting such a simple, slow moving storyline. The film follows Antoine (Jean-Pierre Leaude) who is a school boy in Paris with some problems. He feels as though his mother does not love him and treats him poorly, and he is frustrated with his school responsibilities, resorting to skipping or even plagiarism. When he finally breaks free and runs away he gets caught and sent to an observation center.

Until the third act, I was not hooked by what was going on on screen. The acting was great, the look was good, but I was never pulled into the character of Antoine, I could not find sympathy for his actions. None of them made sense to me and I could not relate to him as I would not have done any of the things he did, nor have I experienced some of the hardships he was experiencing. That is until the third act when he gets sent to the observation center. It is what happens here, one scene in particular, and the masterful ending that brought it all back to me and got me to appreciate what I had just seen. I was able to sympathize with Antoine and the struggles he had been through for the course of the year. Like many films I have seen before it, this is a prime example of why you must watch movies from start to finish. The ending was so rewarding and so satisfying that I can imagine seeing this again and liking it better the second time just for the simple reason that I know how it ends.

***

Up Next: Umberto D.

I'm glad you got on board with it by the end, which is, as you noted, masterful. I really love the rest of the movies as well, especially the scene where he goes on the spinning ride. But I adore New Wave and all of the slow (as you put it) letting be that that entails.

Corndog

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17025
  • Oo-da-lolly, Oo-da-lolly, golly what a day!
    • Corndog Chats
Re: Corndog Watches Your Favorite Film
« Reply #99 on: May 25, 2010, 05:03:52 PM »
yea, the spinning ride was pretty cool
"Time is the speed at which the past decays."