This film was brutally real about human suffering, yet uncynical, no mean feat. Disappointment with God was never really resolved, but it had to be so. I had to close my twenty-first century eyes to Death's makeup occasionally, but otherwise the heavy parts of the film were perfectly juxtaposed with the comedic - it was jarring, but very fittingly so. I watched a medieval Swedish crusader confess to Death the very same doubts I have articulated periodically for years. There was classic farce, and post-modern angst. There was everything, except colour.
Quite a lot of stuff in there about eschatology, fundamentalism, hope, and doubt. The alive ones, those worthy of emulation had doubt, but weren't cynical. They were alive to the possibility of suffering, even resigned to it, but not cynical. I liked that.
I hope the rest of Ingmay is as good.
I liked this film. The last line disappointed me, as it was too contrived and 'last-liney', as in the minute I heard it I knew it was the last line.
I would be really interested to know the reaction to this film from those who have worked with paedophiles and/or abuse victims. The film left very little room to judge Walter, and I wonder how such people would respond to that.
It also had one of the most emotional sex scenes I have ever seen in a film, and I didn't think it at all gratuitous, a rare response for me.
I like films.
I am watching Team America World Police. I'm about 70 minutes in. The fact that I'm watching it while writing this blog is an indication of how bored and unimpressed I am.
I had gotten the idea, from John's mini renditions and extracts, that it would be edgy.
I'm just bored. This is the kind of thing me and my mates used to make, when we were 16. It's funny to make, but to watch - nah...
This isn't going to be an eloquent review, just wanted to remind the Bex of the future that this is an incredible film.
One thing I found disconcerting was that I didn't feel like I had much of a frame of reference, a lot of it was incredibly alien, particularly the aggression in the relationship between the two main characters. It was a deeply sad film, though by the end I definitely came away with hope. Because there is one character in it who has hope, who has dreams, and even though none of them are realised, and even though he suffers for them, they are worth it. So that was a good 'message'.
There was a bit at the end where someone who has lost someone they love visits the parents of that person, and the whole encounter really rang true. It's that thing of clinging to the things left behind by someone, and feeling like if you let go then they'll really be gone... or something...
Although I generally enjoy sarky documentaries, I had not watched this
one because I thought it was just lots of shots of a guy throwing up,
and that the only thing to learn was that fast food is 'bad for you',
which I already knew. In actual fact it was a lot more interesting than
that. It raised, but didn't quite answer, lots of questions about the
limits of corporate responsibility, and its intersection wit the
personal responsibility of consumers. I was glad that it didn't quite
answer the questions, as that amde it food for thought, pun not
intended. There was also some footage about school meals in the US,
which correlated quite nicely with the recent exploits of Jamie Oliver in the UK.
I was going to draw a cartoon about this, but dinner is ready. it is not fast-food.
There was something missing. The White Witch wasn't seductive enough, Aslan wasn't big enough, or scary at all, and Susan was annoying and pouty. Lucy was perfect though! The cockney beaver reminded me of one of the porters at Robinson.
IS anyone else getting bored of reading Philip Pullman bitching about Narnia? I agree with him that the Last Battle isn't as good as the rest of the Narnia books. Can you think of any other well-known children's writers, whose other-world novels end in one which is nowhere near as good as the others in the series? Can you think of any other well-known writers for children who use their tales of other worlds and magical creatures to communicate what they believe to be true about the nature of spirituality?