no. not desensitized. just suffer from a 'i am paying attention to some tiny detail rather than what i should be paying attention to' disorder. it's a problem i admit.
i did go 'awe, bunny' when he was shot.
but then the end of 'what's opera doc?' gets me EVERY TIME. i mean totally. tears. every time.
so see? i'm not a cold hard "beeyatch" at all.just a big ole GIRL.
I save my crying for "Dumbo" and "It's a Wonderful Life". I usually mist up when Dorothy has her meltdown in front of the crystal ball in "The Wizard of Oz", too.
Movies are great! It's harder to enjoy new ones as much as I did as a kid, but it's still great. There's still movies like "Quiz Show" and "Curse of the Were-Rabbit" that make the experience rewarding and fun.
...and 'broken flowers'. and 'the life aquatic'...and i actually really enjoyed 'mrs henderson presents' despite my prejudices against brit flicks.
it's true the magic is less...isn't that the bummer of growing up?
still, there's nothing quite like putting on something you know you love and just sinking into it's wonderfulness. or seeing a REAL classic at the cinema such as 'some like it hot' - hearing an audience laugh at the jokes and applauding at the end is so rewarding!
I guess that is part of growing up - getting more baggage in your head that gets in the way of having fun. I've managed to keep some of joy alive, anyway! I agree on how satisfying seeing a favorite with a good audience can be.
I love "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", and the best viewing was to see it at the Cinerama dome in Hollywood, packed with other ardent fans!
"Broken Flowers" was interesting, but I kind of felt like Murray was taking the Aging Burnout Thing a little too far, to almost complete inertia. Some nice performances from the supporting cast, though.
As for Wes Anderson, I haven't liked a film of his since "Bottle Rocket".
and 'bottle rocket' is the only one i haven't seen...
being an adult and having all the stuff that comes with it can ADD to the experience too though - reading more into things, seeing different layers, the joy of nostalgia etc. and if you DO hold on to the child-you (as i am glad i have) you have that thrill still lurking in there.
when i see a good kid's film i often think 'oh to see this first with a child's eyes' but then i think of having that sense still and all the other stuff to add to the experience. if that makes any sense.
of course seeing a kid's flick WITH kids in the audience can be an incredibly cute experience, like when i saw Monsters Inc and it got to the bit where Sulley says goodbye to Boo: there was a pause then a whole chorus of children crying REALLY LOUDLY. adorable.
also when i went to see the Hulk (very flawed movie but ok, i thought) and after his first transformation and you see Bruce again a little boy said in awe, 'that man's the hulk'. also when he was bounding across the desert the same kid said, impressed, 'he's good at jumping'.
kind of makes up for the type of kid who kicks at your seat and who you want to throttle.
oh! and, i do know what you mean about Broken Flowers and i was kind of expecting the patented bill-murray-as-midlife-crisis-man thing he seems to have down pat and that IS there. but i think the pacing is pure, delicious jarmusch and thought there wasn't a wasted moment or shot. his character develops but very, very subtley and in the end you aren't given the answer. i liked that, it's realistic to me.
in movies the characters usually have these massive epiphanies and are transformed. often in life it's the slightest things that can have the biggest impacts. or not!
i too liked the support but that was the bit that left me unsatisfied. i guess i just didn't get me enough jessica lange.
i'd like jim j to go back to those women's stories - not to give us the 'answer' to broken flowers, but just because they are good characters and fabulous actors playing them. and i would get me some more jessica lange.
In general? I did think "Flowers" was interesting (my wife hated it) - it just got to that "Being There" grey area - is it incredibly subtle? Or is the actor just doing nothing? I think it might be a film that I re-visit in the future. So far, I like "Stranger Than Paradise" and "Ghost Dog" the best.
I agree that the bonus of adulthood is that your added baggage can make a rich experience even richer. I saw "American Graffiti" in college and didn't think much of it. Now that I'm twenty years past leaving high school (and almost twenty past graduating college), the ending resonates with me a lot more than it used to.
i think i may have been in just the right mood to see 'flowers'. and i WASN'T sure what to expect. i'd been told it had got bad reviews but hadn't read any of them. hadn't even read what the movie was about either. it just worked really well for me.
i'm curious as to why your wife didn't like it. i told a friend about it and she just about curdled at the idea of another movie about a middle-age-man. i can see why that might annoy some people. would we see a similar movie with a woman in the lead? WILL we get to see any of those women outside of their cameo slots?
American Graffiti is a movie i LOVED as a kid, didn't see it for about 15 years then saw it again a couple of years ago. i think the massive poignancy was a bit lost on me as a kid - i liked the funny lines, the cool cars, wolfman jack, the music and i wanted to BE carol in john milner's car:
'i was a dirty bird, Carol's not grungey she's bitchin''
but now curt's lostness is very resonant to me also.
It's hard to recall, but I think she couldn't deal with the utter lack of closure, and the flatline of the main character. I understand that, but I dealt with it a little better. She tends to be more conservative in terms of narrative.
I, too, would like to see more film with women over 28. There's so many good actresses that don't get much to do these days: Emma Thompson, Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, etc, etc.
and also it makes people THINK even if it's just because they are so disturbed by the lack of closure! but it HAS to be done well or else you feel cheated.
too many novels are like that, do it almost for the sake of it.
but i do really think (for me) that JJ did it very well.
there are SOOOOOO many good actresses over THIRTY. over FORTY! and it doesn't have to be roles ABOUT them being over thirty/forty either. but i guess people don't have the imagination or the gumption to attempt such stuff.
I think a lot of people have made up rules about what kinds of films (and performers) will make money. Of course, those rules change the instant an exception is a big hit. Remember the rule "Documentaries don't make money"?
I'm sure there's a lot of filmmakers who want to create those roles and use these performers, but can't get much backing for their work.
that's why the indies are always the best bets. but even then, i know, it's dodgy. people CAN make movies for relatively little money. that's often forgotten...or student movies would NEVER get made! if only a few people would drop their egos and drop their 'standards' a little, some gorgeous works COULD get made.
You may still live in a fantasy world, but actors and actresses (directors too) often do defer their salaries for smaller projects that they believe in. That's one of the best ways to get an audience interested in a indie-style film, so if it happens, you usually hear about it.
The answer to the age-old question, courtesy of "Family Guy".
21 Comments:
hmmm. i wouldn't put it past them to do 'what would happen if Elmer caught bugs-while-dressed-as-a-dame'...
that's RIGHT up the Family Guy alley!
(*shudder*)
is it terrible that my main thought was 'god. they didn't bother doing good impressions of the voices did they?'
A little desensitized, are we? :)
I'm sure they'll deal with the cross-dressing factor at a later date. I wouldn't put it past them, either!
no. not desensitized. just suffer from a 'i am paying attention to some tiny detail rather than what i should be paying attention to' disorder. it's a problem i admit.
i did go 'awe, bunny' when he was shot.
but then the end of 'what's opera doc?' gets me EVERY TIME. i mean totally. tears. every time.
so see? i'm not a cold hard "beeyatch" at all.just a big ole GIRL.
I save my crying for "Dumbo" and "It's a Wonderful Life". I usually mist up when Dorothy has her meltdown in front of the crystal ball in "The Wizard of Oz", too.
dear me YES. all severe blub movies for me. i'm usually inconsolible after IWL...
oh, but when mama elephant sings 'baby mine'...
geeeeeeez.
see. big SAP i am. and it appears, so are you.
movies are great, aren't they?
Movies are great! It's harder to enjoy new ones as much as I did as a kid, but it's still great. There's still movies like "Quiz Show" and "Curse of the Were-Rabbit" that make the experience rewarding and fun.
...and 'broken flowers'. and 'the life aquatic'...and i actually really enjoyed 'mrs henderson presents' despite my prejudices against brit flicks.
it's true the magic is less...isn't that the bummer of growing up?
still, there's nothing quite like putting on something you know you love and just sinking into it's wonderfulness. or seeing a REAL classic at the cinema such as 'some like it hot' - hearing an audience laugh at the jokes and applauding at the end is so rewarding!
I guess that is part of growing up - getting more baggage in your head that gets in the way of having fun. I've managed to keep some of joy alive, anyway! I agree on how satisfying seeing a favorite with a good audience can be.
I love "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", and the best viewing was to see it at the Cinerama dome in Hollywood, packed with other ardent fans!
"Broken Flowers" was interesting, but I kind of felt like Murray was taking the Aging Burnout Thing a little too far, to almost complete inertia. Some nice performances from the supporting cast, though.
As for Wes Anderson, I haven't liked a film of his since "Bottle Rocket".
and 'bottle rocket' is the only one i haven't seen...
being an adult and having all the stuff that comes with it can ADD to the experience too though - reading more into things, seeing different layers, the joy of nostalgia etc. and if you DO hold on to the child-you (as i am glad i have) you have that thrill still lurking in there.
when i see a good kid's film i often think 'oh to see this first with a child's eyes' but then i think of having that sense still and all the other stuff to add to the experience. if that makes any sense.
of course seeing a kid's flick WITH kids in the audience can be an incredibly cute experience, like when i saw Monsters Inc and it got to the bit where Sulley says goodbye to Boo: there was a pause then a whole chorus of children crying REALLY LOUDLY. adorable.
also when i went to see the Hulk (very flawed movie but ok, i thought) and after his first transformation and you see Bruce again a little boy said in awe, 'that man's the hulk'. also when he was bounding across the desert the same kid said, impressed, 'he's good at jumping'.
kind of makes up for the type of kid who kicks at your seat and who you want to throttle.
a mixed experience, movie going...
oh! and, i do know what you mean about Broken Flowers and i was kind of expecting the patented bill-murray-as-midlife-crisis-man thing he seems to have down pat and that IS there. but i think the pacing is pure, delicious jarmusch and thought there wasn't a wasted moment or shot. his character develops but very, very subtley and in the end you aren't given the answer. i liked that, it's realistic to me.
in movies the characters usually have these massive epiphanies and are transformed. often in life it's the slightest things that can have the biggest impacts. or not!
i too liked the support but that was the bit that left me unsatisfied. i guess i just didn't get me enough jessica lange.
i'd like jim j to go back to those women's stories - not to give us the 'answer' to broken flowers, but just because they are good characters and fabulous actors playing them. and i would get me some more jessica lange.
In general? I did think "Flowers" was interesting (my wife hated it) - it just got to that "Being There" grey area - is it incredibly subtle? Or is the actor just doing nothing? I think it might be a film that I re-visit in the future. So far, I like "Stranger Than Paradise" and "Ghost Dog" the best.
I agree that the bonus of adulthood is that your added baggage can make a rich experience even richer. I saw "American Graffiti" in college and didn't think much of it. Now that I'm twenty years past leaving high school (and almost twenty past graduating college), the ending resonates with me a lot more than it used to.
i think i may have been in just the right mood to see 'flowers'. and i WASN'T sure what to expect. i'd been told it had got bad reviews but hadn't read any of them. hadn't even read what the movie was about either. it just worked really well for me.
i'm curious as to why your wife didn't like it. i told a friend about it and she just about curdled at the idea of another movie about a middle-age-man. i can see why that might annoy some people. would we see a similar movie with a woman in the lead? WILL we get to see any of those women outside of their cameo slots?
American Graffiti is a movie i LOVED as a kid, didn't see it for about 15 years then saw it again a couple of years ago. i think the massive poignancy was a bit lost on me as a kid - i liked the funny lines, the cool cars, wolfman jack, the music and i wanted to BE carol in john milner's car:
'i was a dirty bird, Carol's not grungey she's bitchin''
but now curt's lostness is very resonant to me also.
It's hard to recall, but I think she couldn't deal with the utter lack of closure, and the flatline of the main character. I understand that, but I dealt with it a little better. She tends to be more conservative in terms of narrative.
see i LOVED the lack of closure. i understand how it disturbs, especially as we are so used to it now, even if an ending is unsatisfactory.
I, too, would like to see more film with women over 28. There's so many good actresses that don't get much to do these days: Emma Thompson, Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, etc, etc.
Re: Closure - I can see that - more often than not, it's the very things that make films distinctive that make people split on them.
and also it makes people THINK even if it's just because they are so disturbed by the lack of closure! but it HAS to be done well or else you feel cheated.
too many novels are like that, do it almost for the sake of it.
but i do really think (for me) that JJ did it very well.
there are SOOOOOO many good actresses over THIRTY. over FORTY! and it doesn't have to be roles ABOUT them being over thirty/forty either. but i guess people don't have the imagination or the gumption to attempt such stuff.
I think a lot of people have made up rules about what kinds of films (and performers) will make money. Of course, those rules change the instant an exception is a big hit. Remember the rule "Documentaries don't make money"?
I'm sure there's a lot of filmmakers who want to create those roles and use these performers, but can't get much backing for their work.
that's why the indies are always the best bets. but even then, i know, it's dodgy. people CAN make movies for relatively little money. that's often forgotten...or student movies would NEVER get made! if only a few people would drop their egos and drop their 'standards' a little, some gorgeous works COULD get made.
or am i living in a wild fantasy world here?
You may still live in a fantasy world, but actors and actresses (directors too) often do defer their salaries for smaller projects that they believe in. That's one of the best ways to get an audience interested in a indie-style film, so if it happens, you usually hear about it.
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