#26
Posted: 5/20/08 at 8:58am
I wasn't kidding about The Mummy. To me, it is the greatest action/adventure film ever made.
The Sixth Sense (1999) — Page 2
#27
Posted: 5/20/08 at 8:58am
Well, Broadway, I'm glad that the movie resonates so profoundly with you. It certainly seems to address a lot of issues that you hold dear. I agree that it is well made, and the acting is beyond reproach, and all that. I'm glad that people like it, I just can't help feeling that there are WAY better movies out there.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
Updated On: 5/20/08 at 08:58 AM
#28
Posted: 5/20/08 at 9:32am
And I love this film and Signs
Agreed. I think Signs is the only one to even come close.
It seems most people were taken in by the faux-profundity.
To be honest, as a huge fan of American Beauty,, this comment kinda rubs me the wrong way.
Agreed. I think Signs is the only one to even come close.
It seems most people were taken in by the faux-profundity.
To be honest, as a huge fan of American Beauty,, this comment kinda rubs me the wrong way.
Updated On: 5/20/08 at 09:32 AM
#29
Posted: 5/20/08 at 9:37am
I preferred AMERICAN BEAUTY when it was called HAPPINESS, SEX LIES AND VIDEOTAPE, THE ICE STORM, LOLITA, etc. All excellent and admirable films that Alan Ball shamelessly ripped off to create a tired catch-all of dysfunctional family cliches. AMERICAN BEAUTY is almost completely useless, except for some very fine performances from Wes Bentley and Chris Cooper. And I liked Annette Bening's freak out in the empty house she's supposed to be showing.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
#30
Posted: 5/20/08 at 10:32am
"It seems most people were taken in by the faux-profundity.
To be honest, as a huge fan of American Beauty,, this comment kinda rubs me the wrong way."
At least reading it won't have sapped more than five seconds of your life, unlike the two hours of 'American Beauty' I ain't getting back.
To be honest, as a huge fan of American Beauty,, this comment kinda rubs me the wrong way."
At least reading it won't have sapped more than five seconds of your life, unlike the two hours of 'American Beauty' I ain't getting back.
#31
Posted: 5/20/08 at 10:46am
AMERICAN BEAUTY is almost completely useless, except for some very fine performances from Wes Bentley and Chris Cooper.
That's totally fine if you don't care for it, but... For a movie that will almost certainly become an all-time classic (along with Ice Storm and Happiness), don't you think that's a little harsh?
At least reading it won't have sapped more than five seconds of your life, unlike the two hours of 'American Beauty' I ain't getting back.
Touche.
That's totally fine if you don't care for it, but... For a movie that will almost certainly become an all-time classic (along with Ice Storm and Happiness), don't you think that's a little harsh?
At least reading it won't have sapped more than five seconds of your life, unlike the two hours of 'American Beauty' I ain't getting back.
Touche.
Updated On: 5/20/08 at 10:46 AM
#32
Posted: 5/20/08 at 11:07am
in re: AMERICAN BEAUTY's uselessness:
Well, I certainly can't agree that AMERICAN BEAUTY is fated to be an "all-time classic", so no, I don't think it is harsh at all. Who knows what is going to become a classic, or even remembered at all? Is THE ICE STORM an all-time classic? I'd say more people probably saw AMERICAN BEAUTY, more's the pity, as THE ICE STORM is the fascinating picture of American life that AMERICAN BEAUTY works very hard to pretend to be.
But what do I know? AMERICAN BEAUTY made a lot of money and won Oscars, and is highly regarded by a lot of people whose opinions I respect. They're just opinions, after all.
Well, I certainly can't agree that AMERICAN BEAUTY is fated to be an "all-time classic", so no, I don't think it is harsh at all. Who knows what is going to become a classic, or even remembered at all? Is THE ICE STORM an all-time classic? I'd say more people probably saw AMERICAN BEAUTY, more's the pity, as THE ICE STORM is the fascinating picture of American life that AMERICAN BEAUTY works very hard to pretend to be.
But what do I know? AMERICAN BEAUTY made a lot of money and won Oscars, and is highly regarded by a lot of people whose opinions I respect. They're just opinions, after all.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
#33
Posted: 5/20/08 at 12:09pm
Interesting. I'd guess that both are going to become classics, along the lines of a character piece such as Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Yes, Beauty got much more hoopla upon its release, but I think both will stand the test of time.
#34
Posted: 5/20/08 at 12:14pm
I really disliked American Beauty when it was first released. I saw it again last year and thought it was brilliant. A modern "Death of a Salesman." At the time I thought it was an emo soap opera disguised as a cleverly played-out midlife crisis. Now I think it's the perfect film for its time. Sums a lot of end-of-the-20th-century attitudes up. The acting, writing and directing are all superb. I see it both for the farce, and for the truth it reveals.
And why did this thread turn into such a sour bitch-fest??
Oh, wait...
*rhetorical question*
And why did this thread turn into such a sour bitch-fest??
Oh, wait...
*rhetorical question*
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#35
Posted: 5/20/08 at 12:24pm
Yeah, sorry.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
#36
Posted: 5/20/08 at 12:31pm
Well, and if your know that your tastes run a certain way, why antagonize others? If you know you are out of the mainstream, fine. It's not a crisis.
#37
Posted: 5/20/08 at 12:36pm
How exactly did I antagonize anyone? I posted my opinions on a couple of movies. What's the big deal?
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
#38
Posted: 5/20/08 at 12:45pm
It's more than this thread I am alluding to.
If I were to suggest that a certain movie music/Best Picture winner was a great film, well, we all the know results would be pretty ugly. lol
If I were to suggest that a certain movie music/Best Picture winner was a great film, well, we all the know results would be pretty ugly. lol
#39
Posted: 5/20/08 at 12:49pm
I've come around on that particular film. It is the single highest achievement in the history of human endeavor. It will outlast Shakespeare and The Bible. The works of Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock and Fellini will be left in the dust, while Rob Marshall's CHICAGO will stand as proof of the worth of cinema as art.
Am I mainstream yet?
Am I mainstream yet?
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
#40
Posted: 5/20/08 at 12:52pm
lol
I don't care what you are or what you like. It's how we act about certain things that matters. There's nothing wrong with having different opinions.
I don't care what you are or what you like. It's how we act about certain things that matters. There's nothing wrong with having different opinions.
#42
Posted: 5/20/08 at 12:59pm
As long as there is no dissension, no suggestion that some film/play/etc. isn't an undying masterwork of Eternal Magnificence, there will be peace on this board.
Hallelujah! Glory to Rob Marshall!
Hallelujah! Glory to Rob Marshall!
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
#43
Posted: 5/20/08 at 1:03pm
I never said that. And your smartass tone confirms everything I'm saying.
Criticism is vital for art to flourish.
But HARPING like a HARPIE is not. It's tedious.
Somms--there are a few things I never discuss in mixed company--politics, religion, and Brokeback Mountain!
Criticism is vital for art to flourish.
But HARPING like a HARPIE is not. It's tedious.
Somms--there are a few things I never discuss in mixed company--politics, religion, and Brokeback Mountain!
#44
Posted: 5/20/08 at 1:06pm
Totally with you little buddy. It leaves lots and lots of room for the important conversations -- like, sling versus saw horse.
#46
Posted: 5/20/08 at 2:22pm
Lighten up, I was kidding. I'll not be posting on certain subjects anymore, my blood pressure won't allow it.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
#48
Posted: 5/20/08 at 4:49pm
"Now I think it's the perfect film for its time."
Exactly.
Of course, I was only 11 when it was released. So I didn't see until a few years later.
And I don't think it is fair at all the say the movie drew people in with faux-profundity. Stating it like that is trying to make it seem like people who like American Beauty are too stupid or dumb to not be suckered into what you think is faux-profundity. Instead, maybe the themes and ideas and characters in the film didn't resonate with you, but they resonated loudly and strongly with other people. There is nothing "faux" about that.
Very few films and works of literature have changed the way I look at life in significant ways. But American Beauty is one that did.
Exactly.
Of course, I was only 11 when it was released. So I didn't see until a few years later.
And I don't think it is fair at all the say the movie drew people in with faux-profundity. Stating it like that is trying to make it seem like people who like American Beauty are too stupid or dumb to not be suckered into what you think is faux-profundity. Instead, maybe the themes and ideas and characters in the film didn't resonate with you, but they resonated loudly and strongly with other people. There is nothing "faux" about that.
Very few films and works of literature have changed the way I look at life in significant ways. But American Beauty is one that did.
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
#49
Posted: 5/20/08 at 4:55pm
Well, isn't it a fair statement of opinion that the "profundity" of AMERICAN BEAUTY is kind of faux? Just because someone somewhere likes something, does that necessarily elevate it to the status of High Art? Is it a snobbish statement to find the "profundity" of AMERICAN BEAUTY to be rather easy and pre-digested and, yes I'll say it: faux?
I've been moved by the occasional greeting card, but I don't mistake them for Shakespeare.
I've been moved by the occasional greeting card, but I don't mistake them for Shakespeare.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
#50
Posted: 5/20/08 at 5:31pm
Thank you Roscoe, you saved me the effort of having to pull my thoughts together and said just what I was thinking. :)
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