The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
In the New Yorker...
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on May 02, 2018, 09:27:23 am ---When I finally saw the film, it was on TV. I was an adult by then, and I was still confused by the part about the apes and the black thingie.
--- End quote ---
The apes and the black thingie were the only part I liked.
That "Blue Danube" scene was incredibly boring, as I recall. But then, I thought the critically acclaimed movie Gravity was boring, too. The special effects were cool, but once you got used to those the story itself was kind of dull.
Someone should write a book about books and movies that look ahead to a specific year in the future that is now past, and compare the book/movie's vision with reality. So 2001, 1984 ... Prince's song "1999." Actually, we didn't party all that much that year. Had my mom and uncle over on New Year's Eve.
At one point that evening, my uncle asked my son, then 3, what he was going to do in the new year. "I'm going to eat a cracker!" Jack said, and we all laughed. How cute! Then Jack, smiling and completely cheerful, added, "But first, I'm going to set myself on fire and die."
:laugh: Maybe I let him watch the wrong Saturday morning cartoons or something.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: serious crayons on May 03, 2018, 10:01:24 am ---That "Blue Danube" scene was incredibly boring, as I recall. But then, I thought the critically acclaimed movie Gravity was boring, too. The special effects were cool, but once you got used to those the story itself was kind of dull.
--- End quote ---
Maybe it's a guy thing, but I thought watching the spaceship move and then dock was pretty cool. Plus, I liked the music. I know "The Blue Danube" is cliched, but I recall it as what I call "the full concert version," not just some short knock-off. Plus, I'm sure I read somewhere (maybe in an earlier New Yorker article?) that "The Blue Danube" was put in as "filler" because the music that was supposed to be specially composed for the scene wasn't ready, and somebody (studio exec?) liked it so much that it was kept in.
I've never seen Gravity. I think I'd rather see that one about Jodie Foster talking to aliens.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on May 03, 2018, 10:46:57 am ---Maybe it's a guy thing, but I thought watching the spaceship move and then dock was pretty cool. Plus, I liked the music. I know "The Blue Danube" is cliched, but I recall it as what I call "the full concert version," not just some short knock-off. Plus, I'm sure I read somewhere (maybe in an earlier New Yorker article?) that "The Blue Danube" was put in as "filler" because the music that was supposed to be specially composed for the scene wasn't ready, and somebody (studio exec?) liked it so much that it was kept in.
--- End quote ---
Well also, I was 10. So youth could have been a factor or I could be misremembering my reaction.
The movie that I think best handled famous composers' "full concert version" (I guess) music was Woody Allen's Manhattan, with its George Gershwin soundtrack. And I hate to say that because of how I feel about that movie otherwise. But Gershwin's soaring music could distract you from the fact that the movie's hero is a pedophile. (I mean, in the actual fictional script -- not necessarily in real life, though probably that, too.)
--- Quote ---I've never seen Gravity. I think I'd rather see that one about Jodie Foster talking to aliens.
--- End quote ---
I don't know exactly what you're talking about but it sounds familiar, so I've probably seen it.
But then, there are so many movies about women talking to aliens, including the most recent Best Picture Oscar winner, The Shape of Water. That creature might not have been an actual alien (i can't remember where the evil guys found him) but close enough.
It seems like pretty much every famous actress has talked to an alien. Especially if you can stretch the definition of "alien" to include characters who aren't quite aliens but might as well be, like King Kong.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: serious crayons on May 04, 2018, 10:26:53 am ---Well also, I was 10. So youth could have been a factor or I could be misremembering my reaction.
--- End quote ---
Of course I was 10, too, or maybe 11 at the oldest, so that's why I suggested it might have been a guy thing.
Meanwhile, I have no idea what to make of Anthony Lane's review of the new Avengers movie. Is he trying to be funny, or just condescending and snarky, or both? ??? It struck me as just condescending and snarky.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on May 04, 2018, 12:11:10 pm ---Of course I was 10, too, or maybe 11 at the oldest, so that's why I suggested it might have been a guy thing.
--- End quote ---
Well, you said you weren't sure exactly what year you saw it in school, and that you also saw it as an adult. I don't think I've seen it since, at least not the whole thing. Also, I said my memories aren't totally clear -- for all I know I did think it was cool at the time, and other parts were boring, or whatever.
Also, I don't usually think of your tastes as more "guy" than mine (and no, that's not a typo :laugh:). Arguably less so, to the extent that you can label tastes guy-ish or otherwise. For example, I've never been to a ballet. And you've never mentioned going to a major-league sports game, whereas have seen quite a few baseball games -- both in person and, when the Twins were in the World Series, on TV. (I've never watched a football game, though -- I'm not that "guy"ish.)
--- Quote ---Meanwhile, I have no idea what to make of Anthony Lane's review of the new Avengers movie. Is he trying to be funny, or just condescending and snarky, or both? ??? It struck me as just condescending and snarky.
--- End quote ---
I haven't read it -- I rarely read reviews of movies I have no intention of seeing -- but now I'll look it up. Aren't almost all of Anthony Lane's reviews a combination of humor and snark? That is, unless he really, really likes a movie, in which case he might take the snark down a notch. I used to think his writing was great, but less so these days. Often I feel like he stretches too far off topic just to make a joke.
I still love a phrase of his from years ago that has stuck in my head. He was writing about some big male star in some movie. His point was that he doesn't think of the star as a great actor but he was good in this movie. So let's say it was Tom Cruise. He said, "I can't say the walls of my bedroom are shrouded with Tom Cruise posters, but in this case ..."
It must have been Tom Cruise, because that totally applies to him. Not the greatest actor of his generation, but he's good enough (as Alma Jr. might say), and in a few movies he's been genuinely really good.
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