Hi All. I hope your summer is going swimmingly! The summer reading thread seems to have petered out, so I thought I'd see what you had to say about movies. Anyone seen anything really good? or really bad? I saw Superman Returns, and liked it, though Superman's extreme superness is always a problem. How much tension can you generate if the guy is invulnerable and can lift continents and use heat vision and ice breath and see through walls and hear everything on the planet? He's kind of like God, and as anyone who's read Paradise Lost knows, God makes for kind of a boring literary character. I guess I liked the personal conflicts in this Superman -- the poor orphan, the thwarted lover, the mighty alien having to pretend to be a nebbish. What'd anyone else think? I haven't seen much else. The X-Men movie was tedious, I thought (since the writer/director of the first two, Bryan Singer, fled to Superman). Superhero stories always get out of control when the superpowers get too huge and everything blows up and the whole universe is threatened. Yawn. Maybe Spiderman will restore my faith in comics movies. I saw Da Vinci Code too, but that was a while back. It's definitely my favorite movie with a huge albino killer dressed as a monk, but large parts of it seemed even dumber than the book. What's good out there?
Posted by hhamlin at July 6, 2006 10:14 AMI saw a movie this year that although not new was a real eye opener for me. The Deer Hunter. If you have a spare 3.5 hours and the attention span to make it through the first half (the longest wedding scene/party in cinematic history) you may find that this is the one of the best movies out there. In my opinion this film cuts closer to the bone of real relationships, maturity from youth, and the trauma of war then anything I have ever seen on the screen. It is also a beautiful dennouncment of American society's treatment of the working class as cannon fodder.
Posted by: Carl Boor at July 6, 2006 01:11 PMI definitely agree, Carl. There have been a lot of Vietnam films, but this is one of the best. How would you compare it to Apocalypse Now?
Shifting gears, I remember another movie I saw fairly recently -- The New World by Terrence Malick (starring Colin Farrell, Christian Bale). I loved it, but of the two people with me, one didn't like it and one was in between. To me it was gorgeous and meditative, and the ending was beautiful. But I can see how some might think it was slow-moving (and silent! so little talking). Anyone else see it?
Posted by: HH at July 6, 2006 03:31 PMI loved Superman!!! I think it was actually was meant to be a literary allusion to Jesus. --Nic brought this to my attention when we saw the previews come out--and my mind was churning. Superman --sent by his father, the only son, has to save the world, he can hear everything---plus the symbolism in the movie was amazing. The movie alluded to the crucifixion and ascension. Nic also let me check out the comic book-- if you can’t find the allusions in the movie they are in the comic. ALSO …Sorry, but I thought Superman was way more interesting than Paradise Lost--I’ve got John Milton forever burned in my brain ick. (sorry HH) :)
I saw X-men twice, and loved it. However I haven’t seen the da-vinci code yet. Both times I went to see it I was thwarted. Do you think that’s a sign?--haha.
I want to see the new Pirates of the Carrabian that’s coming out tonight!! Anyone want to go with me? Johnny Dep fans? ;)
I've just been given the name of this movie by a co-worker. SQuid and Whale. And independant film anyone seen it?
hey whats a pirates favorite letter in the alphabet?
Posted by: jesi at July 9, 2006 09:47 AM--->
Posted by: arrrghhh at July 9, 2006 09:48 AMI just saw a movie recently (that wasn't new either) called To End All Wars. It might be because of my perspective (I am currently living in Japan), but I thought it was one of the better movies that I've seen. It definitely asks some serious questions, through the venue of "based on a true story." I would strongly recommend it to anyone who likes movies that make you think.
Posted by: HollyK at July 13, 2006 07:17 AMHi Holly! The wonder of the internet, connecting English Club alumni across the globe!!
Continuing the line of "serious" films (I'm not sure superhero movies count), I just saw Al Gore's film, "An Inconvenient Truth," and I recommend it highly. Whether you are a Republican, or a Democrat, or something else (yes, there are other options), this is an important film to see. Certainly Gore voices some harsh criticism of the current administration, but this is not simply partisan politics. This film will set to rest (dare one hope?) the silly and dangerous idea that there are two sides to the question of Global Warming, an idea that no one on the planet seems to entertain except Americans. It's a disturbing film, but one that makes you feel the urgency of addressing the environmental crisis NOW, before we all end up under water.
HH
Posted by: HH at July 13, 2006 09:07 AM(P.S.) Coincidentally, there is a blurb on the OSU mainpage (http://www.osu.edu/) about Global Warming, and the work on this topic by one of OSU's Geology faculty.
Posted by: HH at July 13, 2006 12:18 PMOn Jesi's vague Pirates of the Carribean reference....
Captain Jack Sparrow has got nothin' on The Dread Pirate Roberts.
yeah. but Johnny Dep does...
Posted by: jesi at July 13, 2006 01:51 PMMovies.....Man of the House and The Last Holiday, both comedies!! Both super. I guess with the stuff I have going on this summer, I need some serious laughs!!! Keeps me from looking at essays!!!
Posted by: Tj at July 14, 2006 10:53 AMJesi, I'm having an extreme delayed reaction here- I did see The Squid and the Whale, and it was really good. Jeff Daniels did a great job at playing a completely arrogant jerk who's really hurt and vulnerable (didn't he get an Oscar nomination for it?), and the film itself brings to surface all the squeamishness that accompanies adolescence and understanding sex. Don't watch it with your parents ; )
On a side note, our trip to Cleveland to see Cymbeline was unfortunately canceled at the last minute last night. It turned out that the website was wrong and it wasn't even Cymbeline that was playing but King Lear. Plus, the forecast called for storms in Cleveland and it was to be an outside production. So, if anyone showed up looking for us, so sorry- hopefully no one went too far out of their way.
We are still planning a trip to go see Macbeth at Stan Hywet in Akron, probably the first weekend of August. I'll send out more information when I have it!
"Y tu mama tambien"
This one came out in 2001, but is something everyone should experience - it is in Spanish, but has subtitles if needed.
Another good one is "The Dreamers," directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. It's set in Paris, during the late sixties. It's erotic, narcotic, and hypnotic. It came out in 2003, and is also available in French as "Les Innocents," and Italian as "I Sognatori." I suggest watching it in the dark, in the wee hours of the night while smoking clove cigarettes and having a spot of absinthe.
I saw "The New World," and found it quite a movie. It is mostly silent, and "poetic," and that's refreshing considering the junk that keeps coming out in theaters. The only problem I had with the experience is not being able to stop the song "Foolish Games" from playing in my head. The young woman who plays the role of Pocahontas is Jewel's second cousin or something. She's beautiful.
I'm anxious to see "Lady in the Water," if only because it's an M. Night Shaymalan film. He's brilliant as a writer and director. "The Village" was wonderful.
Are any of you Tim Burton fans?
Oh, and I have one thing to say about "Superman"
Kate Bosworth needs to eat some dinner! Now! I can't give my full attention to a movie where one of the characters is so thin or ill. Unless it's specific to the role, being so thin is a distraction for me. I hate it.
Posted by: MM at July 15, 2006 06:47 PMThanks for the skinny on Superman.
Posted by: Jim at July 16, 2006 09:06 AMDon't mention it.
Posted by: MM at July 16, 2006 10:18 AMMonica -- I'm glad to hear you liked "The New World." I thought it was beautiful and moving. I haven't seen "Y tu mama tambien," but I just saw Almodovar's "Bad Education," which stars the actor who plays Che Guevara (in "Y tu mama") as a gay transvestite (sort of -- hard to explain). He's excellent, and the film is very interesting, though I was disappointed by the ending. Another film I saw over the weekend, on DVD, is "Tristram Shandy," directed by Michael Winterbottom. This one I highly recommend. The novel is one you can't imagine anyone filming, it's so bizarre, so deeply caught up in it's own literary form -- so postmodern, really. (That's the problem with postmodernism; so many premoderns were already doing it.) Anyway, the film is remarkably imaginative, weird, funny, and well worth seeing, whether you've read the novel or not.
Posted by: HH at July 17, 2006 09:03 AMOooops. Right actor, but wrong movie. The actor I mentioned who is in "Bad Education" does play Che, but in "Motorcycle Diaries." However, he's also in "Y tu mama." A busy man.
Posted by: HH at July 18, 2006 10:03 AMHard Candy.....a disturbing, but good movie.
Posted by: nic at July 25, 2006 02:34 PM