As it was with music and books the last year, the film viewing leaned a bit more pop than normal. I do, indeed, appreciate more subdued art flicks that shed light on The Human Condition, though I prefer to watch those by myself to minimize distraction. Thing is, I haven't had much time to do that lately.
So the viewing was mostly communal experience. Films, for example, that wouldn't be ruined by a cell phone ringing in the middle of important dialog (much less, said cell phone user having a conversation during the movie) or wisecracks coming from the peanut gallery. It's like watching the re-release of the original Star Wars films or a special showing of The Princess Bride. The audience is expected to go into Jackass mode. It's all good.
Not that the viewing didn't touch on The Human Condition at all. Maybe if I'd seen Once 10 years ago after a failed engagement it would've helped save a bit of despair. Once captures that elusive poetic quality last seen in Before Sunrise or in Lost in Translation. Those fleeting moments you realize nothing is more perfect than right now, right here. Man, I'd be on blast if a cell phone went off during this.
As with Once, there's a great piano scene in The Lives of Others that helped me decide to keep my piano and take up classical. Playing is cathartic and that scene nailed it. Lastly, the first two-thirds of I Am Legend and its use of CGI in a meditation on solitude and loneliness is modern film-making at its finest.
At the end of the day, though, I still have to set my alarm clock. And when it goes off in the early morning when it is still dark and I am groggy and the bed is warm, there is one bit of dialog that helps me face the day. And that is "THIS! IS! SPARTA!"
Once
I Am Legend
Live Free or Die Hard
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
28 Weeks Later
A Scanner Darkly
Casino Royale
Breach
1408
The Lives of Others
300
Curse of the Golden Flower
Babel
The Departed
Pan's Labyrinth
So the viewing was mostly communal experience. Films, for example, that wouldn't be ruined by a cell phone ringing in the middle of important dialog (much less, said cell phone user having a conversation during the movie) or wisecracks coming from the peanut gallery. It's like watching the re-release of the original Star Wars films or a special showing of The Princess Bride. The audience is expected to go into Jackass mode. It's all good.
Not that the viewing didn't touch on The Human Condition at all. Maybe if I'd seen Once 10 years ago after a failed engagement it would've helped save a bit of despair. Once captures that elusive poetic quality last seen in Before Sunrise or in Lost in Translation. Those fleeting moments you realize nothing is more perfect than right now, right here. Man, I'd be on blast if a cell phone went off during this.
As with Once, there's a great piano scene in The Lives of Others that helped me decide to keep my piano and take up classical. Playing is cathartic and that scene nailed it. Lastly, the first two-thirds of I Am Legend and its use of CGI in a meditation on solitude and loneliness is modern film-making at its finest.
At the end of the day, though, I still have to set my alarm clock. And when it goes off in the early morning when it is still dark and I am groggy and the bed is warm, there is one bit of dialog that helps me face the day. And that is "THIS! IS! SPARTA!"
Once
I Am Legend
Live Free or Die Hard
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
28 Weeks Later
A Scanner Darkly
Casino Royale
Breach
1408
The Lives of Others
300
Curse of the Golden Flower
Babel
The Departed
Pan's Labyrinth
Comments
oh yeah & i loved chow yun fat's performance in curse of the golden flower.