Main Menu

Last movie watched...

Started by SmallBlueThing, 04 February, 2011, 12:40:44 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

manwithnoname

Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 17 January, 2018, 08:40:42 PM
Dunkirk. You download scores of obscure podcasts, if you're me, and listen to recorded lectures and debates on the most dull topics, delivered by the most diverse proponents boredom can spawn, and you think you're getting a handle on things. You know that war is either a profitable scam run by the 1% on the rest of us or a consequence of small groups of people with too much power acting all like hard-ons in the name of Stupidus, the occult god of stupidity, arrogance and penis envy. Or a mixture of the two. Probably.

Whatever. WWII was no different; a clusterfuck caused by elite douchebaggery of one form or another and paid for with ordinary human lives. Small lives caught like grain between the quarrelling millstones of big lives. All those people, on all sides, who would rather be left alone to live their lives in peace but get pressed into the service of the state whether they like it or not. A clusterfuck aided by the elite douchebaggery of their rape and humiliation of the German people after WWI. A clusterfuck exacerbated by the greed and psycopathy of a pack of ravening bankers and industrialists. A clusterfuck facilitated through the Prussian method of public education and the private trivium method. A clusterfuck ignited by a bigot with an Oliver Hardy moustache and fanned by liver-spotted fists filled with dollar bills. A clusterfuck of clusterfucks. The Perfect Clusterfuck.

Ahem.

So, if you're me, you approach films like Dunkirk with a certain tonnage of cynical baggage.

I enjoyed it.

That last deserved a line of its own because it surprised me. Logically, I know that any depiction of a historical event is a feeble shade of the actual event in itself; shallow and narrow and subjective. All a film of this type can be is a reflection of the mythology woven by the winners. I was surprised at how deeply this British myth still affects me, and what a superb job of reflecting this particular myth the film does. (I should probably clarify that I do not use the word "myth" in a derogatory sense. I am given to understand that myths are lessons in how to be human, and it is in this sense that I call Dunkirk a myth.)

If Dunkirk is a myth, and I think it should be, then it is a myth worth telling. A myth teaching us what happens when the authorities reach the limits of their illusory* power. When we get to your actual ragged edge, what's left, propping it all up? People. People just like you and me, but generally younger. People doing their best to survive the grind of those expensive millstones. And that, to anyone with the stamina to read this far, is worthy of mythologising. This film, I think, does a commendable job in that respect.

I loved the rhythm of the film, the way it progressed from moments of calm to moments of sheer terror. The depiction of the rapidity of encroaching waters is terrifying enough to ensure I suffer disquieting dreams tonight. Kenneth Brannagh stole the show for me. His one line, "Home," brought an actual tear to my eye. Tom Hardy's Spitfire pilot was the heart of the myth, for me. It doesn't matter about all that shit I typed at the beginning of this post novella, this is what matters. To draw a line against the night with every action you take or decision you make and to never, ever give in.

Like I said, a myth worth having.

TLDR: Dunkirk. I thought it was okay.

* trust me. Go on, be brave...

I enjoyed your superbly overwrought satirical review more than the film, which bored me.

And the fact that it wasn't satire makes it even funnier and more enjoyable.

Jim_Campbell

Quote from: manwithnoname on 17 January, 2018, 09:08:00 PM
And the fact that it wasn't satire makes it even funnier and more enjoyable.

You really seem hell-bent on getting up as many people's noses as possible in the shortest space of time.
Stupidly Busy Letterer: Samples. | Blog
Less-Awesome-Artist: Scribbles.

Goaty

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 17 January, 2018, 09:18:29 PM
Quote from: manwithnoname on 17 January, 2018, 09:08:00 PM
And the fact that it wasn't satire makes it even funnier and more enjoyable.

You really seem hell-bent on getting up as many people's noses as possible in the shortest space of time.

Glad I am not only one to notice that.

The Legendary Shark

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 17 January, 2018, 09:18:29 PMYou really seem hell-bent on getting up as many people's noses as possible in the shortest space of time.
I thought that was my job!? Somebody call The Union! I put a lot of time and effort into being the Forum Asshole (remember Deaddinosaurjuicegate?) and I'm not happy playing second fiddle (oo-er Missus) to some Johnny Come Lately!!! Hang on a minute...
[move]~~~^~~~~~~~[/move]




Jim_Campbell

Stupidly Busy Letterer: Samples. | Blog
Less-Awesome-Artist: Scribbles.

The Legendary Shark

[move]~~~^~~~~~~~[/move]




The Legendary Shark

Hey Jim, while I think on and have booze...

I was thinking about how we've butted heads in the past, and how counterproductive that was, and how bad that made me feel, and I thought I'd try to build a few bridges, or at least a row of stepping-stones. We both love the Twooth and so I was wondering if you'd like to team up with me to do something for this Rogue Trooper fanzine.

No probs if not, don't sweat it.

*closing joke deleted*

[move]~~~^~~~~~~~[/move]




darnmarr

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore

(which really could've done with a less self-harming-teenagers-bedroom-door-slamming-exit-shout of a title), was funny and tense and sharp and warm and stood up for the notion of 'ordinary decent people' in a way that reminded me of 'Fargo' when it 1st came out. I strongly recommend.

Smith

Sharky,wouldnt you by definition hate war movies then?
I mean that as a neutral question.

The Legendary Shark

Good question, Smith.

I think it's more that I hate war itself rather than war films. To me, a good war film is about how people get through it, not how many of the enemy they can kill. From this perspective, war becomes a backdrop like an earthquake or similar deadly disaster. One might despise war itself and pray for less of it but to steer clear of war films is to ignore its existence which, I think, ignores how terrible it is and pushes the survivors out of sight.

[move]~~~^~~~~~~~[/move]




TordelBack

I suspect that no war film ever made even approaches 'reality'. Otherwise more would start with the protagonist getting gutted by shrapnel and dying of sepsis in the sand for the remainder of the running time while the rest of the conflict plays on out of sight.  Like all entertainment, they mostly pick the palatable and engaging stuff, even while pretending to be hard-hitting and/or unflinching.  Which is totally understandable.

Great review of Dunkirk there, Sharky.

Smith

I would recommend Come and See,in that case.But its not an easy watch.At all.

The Legendary Shark

Thanks, Tordels.

And thanks, Smith; I'll search that one out.

[move]~~~^~~~~~~~[/move]




Dark Jimbo

I watched The Water Diviner on telly t'other night. Really good Russell Crowe flick that had totally passed me by until now - I'm not sure the rather non-descript title helps, though it makes perfect sense in context.

Not quite a War film so much as an... aftermath film? Crowe travels to the Dardanelles in the wake of the Great War searching for the bodies of his three missing-presumed-dead sons, fighting against a tide of scepticism and bureaucratic obstruction. It's not a theatre of war that gets much focus so it's fascinating if only on that score, but it is also a really superb examination of the Gallipoli fiasco in its own right, and the logistics of what happens when the guns fall silent and there are 270,000 bodies to identify and bury. I also liked that Crowe isn't raging against the Turks or the Germans or the ANZAC higher-ups; there's no overwrought 'Why was this allowed to happen?' or 'What a pointless waste of young lives!' He just walks quietly through the aftermath and it's left entirely to the viewer to decide how he feels about things. The actual flashbacks to the fighting are brief but really powerful - I had a Great-Grandad at Gallipoli who survived the War but came home crippled by shellshock and was dead by 1919, so they were a hard watch.
@jamesfeistdraws

pictsy

It  The effects were well done and it was satisfactorily creepy throughout.  I did have some problems with the film.  The loud blasts of noise were awful.  They took me out of the film and just ruined the effect.  Some of the kid characters were poorly fleshed out as well and I found it difficult to connect to the group as a whole because of this.  Because of this, the bleak tone of the film ended up being too bleak for me.  The horrible adults everywhere, the bullies and IT were too much antagonism for me because it wasn't offset by enough levity and/or likeable characters.  I just found it hard to get invested and the tone was just tiring me out.  I mean this wasn't the case throughout the film but it happened enough for me to start feeling bored and just wanting it to wrap up.  That all being said, it was a good film that has a lot going for it.

My opinion on the film is probably skewed because I have a fond place in my heart for the mini-series.  Specifically the kids sections.  Ever since watching it as a kid, viewing the mini-series has always had me very much invested in what the characters are doing and the danger that seems to be ever present.  I know the adult sections of the mini-series are far from great, but they had their charm (for me, at least).

Comparing the two I can't say I prefer the film over the mini-series and as it currently stands with only one film, I'd probably choose watching the mini-series over the film.  I actually think that they are both as good as each other, because the film does some really great stuff.  It just fails more where the mini-series excelled and vice-versa. 

A second viewing of the film may change my opinion, now I know what to expect.  I might also need to rewatch the mini-series to check if nostalgia might be messing with my judgement too much.