tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post7665559424233966169..comments2023-10-24T01:19:24.492-04:00Comments on Little Worlds : The Road, Red Cliff, and Precious: Based on the Novel Push by SapphireRichard Bellamyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-76003045640801324962009-12-28T19:44:28.409-05:002009-12-28T19:44:28.409-05:00Thanks for the thoughts. I think McCarthy's ow...Thanks for the thoughts. I think McCarthy's own language would have given the film more substance - at least for me - because I see what you're saying about Hillcoat focusing on images on the screen and less on experiences. He could have been a little less faithful to the novel and added some experiences that would have moved the film along better. <br /><br />As for the filters - I see what you're saying. Post-apocalyptic landscapes are starting to look all the same (even though that might be the only way things are gonna look after an apocalypse). As it was, the locations near Mt. St. Helens were bleak enough. I liked the scene when all the trees fall down! The movie definitely needed more episodes like that in which something is happening.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-34226532351547092632009-12-27T21:37:16.674-05:002009-12-27T21:37:16.674-05:00Nice review of The Road. We can agree to disagree...Nice review of <i>The Road</i>. We can agree to disagree about the extreme solemnity of the movie and how a little more playfulness might have helped. I see what you mean about trying to bring in more of the words of the book, but wouldn't more narration from the novel make it more like a documentary? Admittedly, Scorsese uses quotes from the novel of <i>The Age of Innocence</i> to good effect in his movie adaptation, but Hillcoat seems intent upon translating Cormac's novel into images on the screen, with mixed results. Weren't you bothered by the use of white and grey filters to connote devasatation? Too often, Hillcoat seems to want to suggest bleakness when I would have preferred that he more exactly laid things out. To me, the film views like mood poem fraught with its own importance instead of resembling an actual experience. It's like an argument in favor of <i>not</i> being too faithful to the source material.The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-46748980576491447062009-12-11T13:26:22.082-05:002009-12-11T13:26:22.082-05:00Thanks for coming back, Jason. I know what you mea...Thanks for coming back, Jason. I know what you mean about feeling fearful about the man and boy. I felt that way when they sleep in the semi cab on the bridge. I thought that was a very stupid place to camp; if cannibals came along and saw them, they'd be trapped. The bridge with the semi is in the book, but I need to check to see if they sleep there.<br /><br />So glad you went to see <i>Red Cliff</i> on my recommendation and that you liked it! You're right. It's a fun, fulfilling entertainment - and it doesn't feel like it's going to be that way in the beginning. A nice surprise for this year.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-18185017243898302092009-12-10T18:12:18.477-05:002009-12-10T18:12:18.477-05:00So I made my way back to your thoughts on The Road...So I made my way back to your thoughts on <i>The Road</i>, since I finally wrote my review, and we're very much on the same page ... and not just because we mention how gray the film is.<br /><br /><i>The film never makes a discordant misstep; it refrains from inserting unrealistic niceties or comic relief.</i><br /><br />Indeed. That's something I like about it. I didn't really find much of anything wrong with <i>The Road</i>, but other than a few scenes I didn't feel I was able to get close to it. As I said in my own review, I was preoccupied by their vulnerability. Every time they lit a fire at night I thought, "Gee, you won't be hard to find now, will you?" I was so worried for them. That's the strongest or deepest emotion I felt. It was similar too but not quite the same thing as actually caring for them.<br /><br />As for <i>Red Cliff</i> ...<br /><br />For a film that's a lot of action and little more, it's pretty darn fulfilling. I had low expectations, so I was pleased to find myself chuckling aloud during the sequence where they "steal" the arrows. That scene exemplifies what I liked about the film, which is that it doesn't present things as fantasy -- like, say, <i>Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon</i> -- but as <i>fun</i>. That's the way to bring me in.Jason Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18150199580478147196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-61555872503671030642009-12-03T11:05:52.133-05:002009-12-03T11:05:52.133-05:00This part I totally agree with:
"I just think...This part I totally agree with:<br />"I just think such situations this tragic need to be handled with greater care..." Yes, and there are many situations in the film that are very problematic and needed to be handled better. As for the ending, I didn't feel the sense of a great triumph there, and I'm not a big fan of this film as I made clear in my post, but I felt this moment - when she stands up to her mother and walks away - is a significant moment. Even if she is going to die, she has gained a modicum of dignity. <br /><br />As I watched the ending, I thought of an award-winning novel by Ernest Gaines called <i>A Lesson Before Dying</i>. In that novel a teacher is asked to educate a very ignorant black person on death row (who was only a very innocent accomplice to the crime)so that he can at least gain some dignity from learning to read before he dies. Right - learning to read ain't gonna mean much when they execute him, but it means a lot to him in the process. Gaining dignity for a short time is significant for that man. It is a small, pathetic triumph in regards to his previous life and his fate, but it is a gain.<br /><br />I feel the same way about this movie. Precious has gained something, and I never meant to suggest that I consider that a great triumphant ending. I'm not "cheering" the end of the movie. For the most part, I don't like this movie. We agree there. I guess we just need to agree to disagree about our reactions toward the ending.<br /><br />Thanks for all your astute comments!Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-83654018489747748742009-12-03T09:11:31.213-05:002009-12-03T09:11:31.213-05:00If she gains some dignity, when she had none, that...<i>If she gains some dignity, when she had none, that could be looked upon as a considerable triumph; perhaps what she gains is realistic.</i><br /><br />I agree with that in spirit (and in relation to the realism). I think I'm distracted by the fact that the movie's high note is sending this woman into the world with two kids and AIDS (in the 1980s, when AIDS was usually a swift death sentence). Yes, she has gained some kind of dignity, but it's still so low. She's still so lacking in awareness that I don't think she appreciates the gravity of her situation.<br /><br />So, two points: The first is that a very tragic story could be told using the Precious at the <i>end</i> of this movie as the starting point. As down-and-out origins go, her predicament at the end of the film is right up there. And that leads me to my second point: The only thing that really keeps the conclusion of this film from being another low point in her story, rather than the high point, is the fact that the movie ends here instead of going on. <br /><br />Yes, yes. I know. She just stood up to her mother. And along the way she comes out of her shell just a bit. I'm not blind to that. I get it. But I believe that part of the reason people are reading triumph into the film's conclusion is that we have become conditioned to looking for triumph there. We believe that's what the filmmakers are trying to show, and so we nod our heads, exclude all that is tragic or contrary, and give the film more credit than it's earned.<br /><br />Strangely, watching this film reminds me of why I feel uncomfortable at the end of movies like <i>The Day After Tomorrow</i>. I know why you like those disaster flicks -- the spectacles, the survival. Those things have appeal, I agree. But I'm uncomfortable when these films suggest I should cheer for the very few characters who have lived while all those around them have died, particularly in cases when the world left behind is almost completely inhabitable.<br /><br />So to cheer Precious at the end of this film would have felt heartless to me, though I do think -- in theory -- that there's validity in celebrating even small triumphs. I just think such situations this tragic need to be handled with greater care if triumph is going to be celebrated.Jason Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18150199580478147196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-55420065962692316802009-12-02T20:26:53.625-05:002009-12-02T20:26:53.625-05:00Jason - I guess we disagree on this point in regar...Jason - I guess we disagree on this point in regards to <i>Precious</i>. If she gains some dignity, when she had none, that could be looked upon as a considerable triumph; perhaps what she gains is realistic. Whatever, we agree that it's a problematic film; that's for sure.<br /><br />Daniel - Thanks for your comments. I agree that the novel <i>The Road</i> is better than the movie, but I enjoyed it. Sorry you found it dull. Visually, it wasn't dull for me, and I found the father's dedication to survival to be inspiring.<br /><br />As for <i>Precious</i> - I agree. Too many elements distract. I found Carey's performance to be odd - and so it distracted me in that sense. And there was something ill-advised about the casting of Patton; you're right that it is jarring that she is pretty and much more fair-skinned than Precious.<br /><br />And, as I said, some of the scenes like the fried chicken just didn't ring true. I enjoyed elements of this movie. But now, the more I think about, the more I'm recalling how untouched I was.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-28627020867400978292009-12-02T15:41:45.929-05:002009-12-02T15:41:45.929-05:00Interesting thoughts on The Road. I have to admit,...Interesting thoughts on The Road. I have to admit, not having read the book, I was a little surprised the ending of the story was as dull as the movie is. I just don't know how well something like this can translate to the screen. It's horrifying and existential and fascinating to consider the end of the world, and I thought this (not surprisingly) did a much better job than 2012 of making it in any way emotionally engaging. Yet I somehow still felt empty while watching it. I think the text of the book, as you describe, might have made for a more enriching cinematic experience. Plus the sound was really low in the theater so I could hardly hear Mortensen's narration...<br /><br />We're at about the same level on Precious, as you've already shared on my review. I didn't say anything about it, but as you mention the supporting characters, and particularly the casting of the supporting character, really threw me for a loop. I didn't know why someone as beautiful as Paula Patton had to play that role (to make everyone else look worse?), or why Lenny Kravitz was making his acting debut in a story like this, or what Mariah Carey was doing in there at all.<br /><br />Their acting was actually great across the board in my opinion, but those questions I just posed ending up distracting me a bit within the movie and disconnecting me from it.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05222052132452709301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-77560148280528188952009-12-02T11:27:55.928-05:002009-12-02T11:27:55.928-05:00I see Precious as doing more than just dodging the...<i>I see Precious as doing more than just dodging the bullets at the end. I think, through her education, she has gained some dignity. That is something.</i><br /><br />Sort of. Yes. But that's just it. She's gained <i>some</i> dignity. It's a very low bar that <i>Precious</i> sets by using her as nothing but a victim early on. She can't help but clear it.Jason Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18150199580478147196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-78035798643020449512009-12-02T09:07:12.485-05:002009-12-02T09:07:12.485-05:00WEB SHERIFF
Who You Gonna Call
Tel 44-(0)208-323 8...WEB SHERIFF<br />Who You Gonna Call<br />Tel 44-(0)208-323 8013<br />Fax 44-(0)208 323 8080<br />websheriff@websheriff.com<br />www.websheriff.com<br /><br />Hi Hokahey, <br /> <br />On behalf of Magnolia Pictures and the movie’s producers, many thanks for plugging "Red Cliff" ... .. thanks also, on behalf of the distributors and producers, for not posting any pirate copies or non-trailer clips of “Red Cliff” and if you / your readers want good quality, non-pirated, previews, then the official trailer for “Red Cliff” is available for fans and bloggers to post/ host / share etc at http://www.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/redcliff/ ... .. for further details of on-line promotions for this movie and Magnolia releases generally, check-out www.magpictures.com and their official YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/MagnoliaPictures .<br /><br />Thanks again for your plug.<br /> <br />Regards, <br /> <br />WEB SHERIFFWEB SHERIFFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00650064481919290484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-72662571312939666352009-12-01T20:47:17.278-05:002009-12-01T20:47:17.278-05:00Thanks for the comment - I'll be interested in...Thanks for the comment - I'll be interested in your responses to <i>The Road</i>.<br /><br />I see Precious as doing more than just dodging the bullets at the end. I think, through her education, she has gained some dignity. That is something.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-68904756270044916542009-12-01T15:40:00.462-05:002009-12-01T15:40:00.462-05:00I'm leaving your thoughts on The Road for late...I'm leaving your thoughts on <i>The Road</i> for later, and I read just enough of your thoughts on <i>Red Cliff</i> to decide I need to try and see it, so thoughts on <i>Precious</i> ...<br /><br /><i>Unfortunately, these abuses overshadow the touching story at the film’s core: the transformation of a virtually illiterate, obese, abused African-American girl from scowling, inarticulate bitterness and ignorance to emerging dignity and self-respect.</i><br /><br />If anything, that's putting it mildly. Agreed. With a character so abused all she really has to do to transform is avoid the flying frying pan and TV. I'm not denying that the character grows -- just a bit -- but as much as anything she just dodges the bullets that used to hit her. Modest (and cheap) triumphs, to be sure.Jason Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18150199580478147196noreply@blogger.com