Author Topic: What do you all think of this review?  (Read 6507 times)

Offline Kelda

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Re: What do you all think of this review?
« Reply #10 on: October 19, 2006, 03:57:31 am »
great little reveiw and great insights here. Not got time to write more but thanks for posting Barb!
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Offline silkncense

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Re: What do you all think of this review?
« Reply #11 on: October 23, 2006, 01:30:47 pm »
Just saw this review & loved it.  Unlike many, I did not need nor want more of Jack or Ennis' life outside that which was depicted.  I knew all I needed about Jack's life from his words, how frequently he brought up aspects of his relationship w/ his father & the portrayals of his parents (so much revealed!).  Also w/ Ennis - what more would you need to know about his father?  And his brother & sister?  The just sort of drug him along until they could escape into marriage. 

The only thing I wanted more of was Jack & Ennis - not w/ words.  Just with small looks & gentle touches.  Just the everyday peace & happiness that two people in love feel.
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Offline ednbarby

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Re: What do you all think of this review?
« Reply #12 on: October 23, 2006, 01:56:31 pm »
Just saw this review & loved it.  Unlike many, I did not need nor want more of Jack or Ennis' life outside that which was depicted.  I knew all I needed about Jack's life from his words, how frequently he brought up aspects of his relationship w/ his father & the portrayals of his parents (so much revealed!).  Also w/ Ennis - what more would you need to know about his father?  And his brother & sister?  The just sort of drug him along until they could escape into marriage. 

The only thing I wanted more of was Jack & Ennis - not w/ words.  Just with small looks & gentle touches.  Just the everyday peace & happiness that two people in love feel.

I agree completely.  I think more Jack minus Ennis and Ennis minus Jack would have been too much.  I knew all I needed to know about both of them from what they said and did as it was, too.  Any more would have been pandering.  And I'm with you on more of them together.  If anything, I would have liked to see just a couple more scenes of them just enjoying each other's company.  But whatever wasn't shown I have lots of fun making up (and embellishing) in my mind, so it's all good.

Speaking of character development, my one co-worker *finally* watched the DVD I lent her back in April.  And made my blood boil by declaring she liked "Crash" better (I said, "Funny - I don't recall asking you to compare it to that one.").  She went on to say she thought it did a better job of characterization (!!!) - for instance, with Matt Dillon's character.  I said, "Oh really?  And what was his character's name?" She goes, "I don't remember."  I go "Can you remember *any* of the characters' names?"  She goes, "Well, that doesn't matter."  I go, "OK - let's see.  What do we know about Matt Dillon's character besides that he doesn't appear to have a name?  That he's a racist, that he is kind to his sick father, and that he's capable of heroism in a crisis.  What else do we know?"  She goes, "OK, I see what you're getting at..."  I went on, "Meanwhile, I can rattle off 10 things right off the top of my head about Ennis Del Mar that I knew after just one viewing:  One.  His parents ran their own car off the road and were killed when he was a kid and he was raised from then on by his older sister and brother.  Two.  He only got one year of high school in.  Three.  His father thought rodeo cowboys were fuck-ups.  Four.  His parents left him and his siblings 24 dollars in a coffee can.  Five.  He's one hell of a sharp-shooter.  Six.  He can read horses extremely well, but he can't read people for shit.  Seven.  He loves baked beans.  Eight.  His folks was Methodists.  Nine.  He doesn't mind being alone at night in the wilderness in a pup tent.  Ten.  He drinks beer when he wents to smooth out the edges but keeps his wits about him, and he drinks whiskey when he wants to get drunk.  And that I got from the first half of the movie."  She goes, "Oh, it doesn't matter.  I still liked Crash better.  This one was too ambiguous."  I resisted saying, "Yeah, because you like your movies to spoon-feed you what you're supposed to think and feel and to tie everything up into nice, neat little packages at the end."

Geez.  God forbid some people watch a movie that actually asks them to *think*.  Idiot Americans.
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Offline ekeby

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Re: What do you all think of this review?
« Reply #13 on: October 23, 2006, 02:57:24 pm »
This is a surprisingly insightful review. Really very good. I think we get a sufficient view of Jack's home life post mortem, during Ennis's visit to Jack's bedroom and in the kitchen scene with his parents. Tells us all we need to know.
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Offline silkncense

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Re: What do you all think of this review?
« Reply #14 on: October 25, 2006, 09:35:07 pm »
Quote
Geez.  God forbid some people watch a movie that actually asks them to *think*.

And without car chases to keep them awake!  No wonder Bush was elected - twice!!! ???

Anyway - Barb, I printed the review & took it to work for two moms of younger children - (the review & web-site gave me another opening - I'd been sprinkling in talk about Brokeback since last December).  Tomorrow one will be getting my lending copy to view!
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Offline starboardlight

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Re: What do you all think of this review?
« Reply #15 on: October 26, 2006, 03:50:22 am »
... Director Ang Lee is a master of repressed love whether between young Taiwanese men in The Wedding Banquet...
hrm, she didn't see the Movie, I think. Nit-picky I know, but I don't know why it bugged me that she inaccurately described the film. The Wedding Banquet was not about repression and was not between young Taiwanese men. The men, one Taiwanese American and the other caucasian, were not repressing their love.

Quote
this movie falters a step when its slow and deliberate pace nevertheless fails to take the audience into an admittedly very private love beyond their time together on the mountain. Jack is a complicated character and, with the exception of the scene where he confronts his father-in-law, his character development later in the film seems uneven and his hold on Ennis less tenable, perhaps because Lee leaves so much to be said in the silences.

I don't quite agree with her here. I wonder if her desire to see more of Jack's personal life comes from a desire (resulting from infatuation?) to find more connection with his character (like so many of us, think of all the fan fics we've generated), rather than a real need to understand more about him. I'm not sure that seeing more of his life would give us more insight into his character. Look at all the people here who say they totally see themselves in Jack. It's illustrate how well the character is defined by the writers, director and actors (I give both Jake and Heath credit because there's no Jack without Ennis).

Quote
Visual cues in this movie are very important and families might talk about these subtle touches, such as the way Ennis' life shrinks as seen by ever smaller interior spaces, about the smiles -few and far between-and who they are between, and about eye contact, which Ennis in his isolation uses sparingly and Jack in his recklessness uses often.

ooh! that gave me goose bumps. very astute observations. I thought we've exhausted every detail, but the contrast between uses of smiles and eye contact between the two men is brilliant.

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Offline starboardlight

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Re: What do you all think of this review?
« Reply #16 on: October 26, 2006, 03:54:55 am »
Beautiful review! Thanks for posting it, Barb. Here is a sentence I particularly loved:

She's probably a little optimistic to think that "audiences will realize" this, as if everybody will, when in fact we know there are plenty of dumbass mules out there who don't realize that. But Movie Mom seems to be at least a semi-Brokie (a full-fledged Brokie would have given it an A+ but, as Elle points out, Movie Mom must be a tough grader).

I wonder if she grades by not only how good a film is, but how family friendly it is as well. While this is one of the best films of our generation, let's face it, it's not easy for families to watch together. A discussion about the film would be really difficult. The film is difficult enough for an adult to come to terms with, let alone an adult who then has to conduct a discussion with their teens and even preteens.
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Offline serious crayons

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Re: What do you all think of this review?
« Reply #17 on: October 26, 2006, 11:20:09 am »
I wonder if she grades by not only how good a film is, but how family friendly it is as well. While this is one of the best films of our generation, let's face it, it's not easy for families to watch together. A discussion about the film would be really difficult. The film is difficult enough for an adult to come to terms with, let alone an adult who then has to conduct a discussion with their teens and even preteens.

Very true. My 10-year-old son came home from school a few weeks ago just as I was finishing watching the movie. He was mildly curious about it, but I ushered him out of the room, simply because I didn't want him seeing only the last scene without seeing everything else. After it ended, though, I offered him the opportunity to watch the whole thing (sans sex scenes, of either kind). He declined. When my 12-year-old son got home an hour later, I repeated the offer to him. He declined also.

I was simultaneously frustrated, relieved and unsurprised. Frustrated because I wish everybody would see it, and I think for my sons it could have been educational. They're pretty mature film-viewers and I think it's possible they'd "get" it. Relieved because if they didn't get it -- and as we know, many people don't -- it might do more harm than good.

Unsurprised because even under ideal conditions they don't really like romances (how many 10- and 12-year-old boys do?). But the circumstances surrounding this movie are far from ideal. My sons are very pop-culture-conscious, so they've heard all the jokes. And I'm sure they've heard things from their peers that have made them ... well, hopefully not homophobic, but probably uncomfortable or ambivalent about the subject of homosexuality. They don't say so to me, but I sense it's there. Of course I do what I can to counteract this by expressing my own views. But as with so many things in which I disagree with their peers or pop culture -- video games, heavy metal music, Cheetos, Adam Sandler -- my opinion only goes so far. I think watching BBM would make them nervous, in much the same way it makes so many straight men nervous. In their case it's more understandable, as they are just starting to understand sex of any kind and are never eager to grapple with sensitive aspects of the subject in the presence of their mom.

So I didn't push it. About all I can do is be clear about my own views without becoming so overbearing that it backfires. And exposing them when possible to entertainment that touches on homosexuality in a casual, normalizing way, without generating much tension or controversy. Luckily, there are more opportunities for that than when I was a kid. So I'm hoping -- expecting, actually, because they are smart kids -- that as they get older everything will work out all right.

So anyway. My long way of saying, yes, I agree Nipith, not every family would have an easy time watching and/or discussing Brokeback Mountain. Though it would be great if they could.