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Ang Ang Ang

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MaineWriter:

--- Quote from: shakesthecoffeecan on September 13, 2009, 10:59:05 am ---I dunno, perhaps I am naive in my outlook, but I thought it was a wonderful adventure Elliott went on thru this summer. I am curious what loose ends there were for you Leslie.

--- End quote ---

Maybe my problem is that I liked the book better than the movie (which is typical). In this case, the book was good, but not great and in the hands of Lee I was expecting a great movie, which I didn't get (to me). Given that he directed BBM from great source material, you can see why my expectations were high. However, taking that thought a step further....the screenplay for BBM was written by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry while the screenplay for TW was written by James Schamus....and Schamus wrote the hippie scene in BBM which ended up on the cutting room floor. So maybe my issue is with JS as a screenwriter, not AL as a director. Hmm...

The biggest loose end for me was the "romance" with the construction worker. I read somewhere he was a closeted married guy but I certainly didn't see him enough to figure that out from the movie. Was he wearing a wedding ring? Maybe, but I didn't have a chance to see it.

Other loose ends: the whole logistics of planning and Eliot's role in that (which he discussed much more in the book). In the movie I felt like he spent a lot of time walking around, not actually doing anything. All the money stuff (much funnier in the book, actually). That was never really clarified. And Vilma and the dad? Somehow that was totally lost on me, too.

L

serious crayons:

--- Quote from: MaineWriter on September 13, 2009, 12:57:05 pm --- Schamus wrote the hippie scene in BBM
--- End quote ---

He must like hippie scenes!


--- Quote --- Was he wearing a wedding ring? Maybe, but I didn't have a chance to see it.
--- End quote ---

That's funny, because we know how good Ang is at subtly showing that.

Front-Ranger:

--- Quote from: southendmd on August 31, 2009, 11:16:24 pm ---I saw Taking Woodstock tonight. 

I hate to be the naysayer, but...

While there were some good moments, overall I didn't think it held together very well.  Mostly, because I thought the Elliot character just wasn't interesting enough to carry the film.  Like his mother says, he's a "schnook", and by the end he's still a schnook.  I would like to have seen more of Emile Hirch's character, and Liev Schrieber's Vilma was so underused.  I'm not sure if it's James's script or the source material, but the story was pretty jagged, and, full of clichés.

Call me jaded, but I was pretty disappointed. 

Maybe you have to see it high.

--- End quote ---

The New Yorker had somewhat the same reaction. I'll need to see the movie a couple of times more, but overall, I was disappointed too.

stonebiscuit:

--- Quote from: shakesthecoffeecan on September 01, 2009, 01:11:51 pm ---Whats wrong with being s schnook?  ;)

--- End quote ---

Saw this film yesterday and being slightly prepared for a letdown after reading some of the reviews, i was pleasantly surprised. A lot of the negative comments seem to centre around the fact the momentus event of the film's title is largely left out of the proceedings. Like BBM, Ang Lee here has gone for a small story and placed it in the context of much larger events, however they are never allowed to swallow or overwhelm it. I enjoy his restraint in this way - it gives the film an obverservational feeling. All in all a fun ride and made me long to grow my hair out and dive screaming down a mud covered hillside. "This is our hill" says the lead character to his Vietnam vet friend. Reminds me of two other friends, from another hill........

Front-Ranger:
What a touching reaction!

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