Entries tagged 'cat:Death'

Film: Womb (2010)

Entry created on 2023-02-05 author:steeph (337) cat:Death (7) cat:Films (16) cat:Incest (1)

What three words come to your mind first that describe the film?

Soft, Love, Incest. Well, to be honest, those are the first three. I wish the third one would have been a different word. The forth one would have been Sci-Fi. More keywords are: cloning, childhood, ostracization, ocean, death, depression

How does the film end?

The scene that is shown first in the film is chronologically the last scene in the story. So, that's how the story ends. The rest of the film creates the meaning of what is seen and what she sais in that first scene.

Which two movies is this one a mix of?

Kind of Birth (2004) and Be Right Back (2014, Black Mirror epispde). It's not the same story as Birth. But if you've seen it you will notice the similarities, about which I don't want to tell too much here. Maybe even more so for Be Right Back.

How does that melody go?

DING DING DING DING. ding DING DING DING DING. ding DING DING DING DING DING ding. DING DING DING DING ding. ding ding DING DING DING DING … It's a mostly slow movie. This slow melody sets or accompanies the mood during moments where nothing happens, like during scenery shots. I can't forget that melody. Actually, the melody doesn't reaccur after the beginning of the story. (The instrument does, though.) But still, I can't forget that melody.

Why is Doctor Who there?

Matt Smith is the name of the actor. I see hom so rarely in roles other than The Doctor. This is an entirely different sort of science fition. He still did good.

What open questions remain at the end of the movie?

Why is the new Thomas physically atracted to Rebecca when he only knows her as his mother? How will the new Thomas's life be like after he knows?

Would you watch it again two weeks later because it's a good movie and can be enjoyed twice?

Yes. And I Have.

What's the overall mood of the movie?

I'd say: peaceful. Not every scene and everything that happens is peaceful. But most of the time that's the prevelant mood that I got from it.

You said love is one of the themes of the film. What sort of love story is it?

Well, I didn't use those words. But alright. Was it true love, love at first sight, first love and the love of her life all at the same time? If so then I'm counting it as an achievement that the film told the story without getting cheesy. The following relationships are adressed: childhood friendship, young love, son - mother, mother - son (erotic). Shown but not really addressed much are those: one-night stand, grandfather - granddoughter parents - dead son.

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Film: Tideland

Entry created on 2023-01-17 (edited 2023-02-03) author:steeph (337) cat:Adventure (2) cat:Child Abuse (3) cat:Death (7) cat:Decomposition (1) cat:Drugs (1) cat:Films (16) top:Films (13)

I didn't think I could be entertained by watching a little girl being traumatised for life in various ways for almost two hours.

Is it a weird movie?

Why, yes. Yes, it is. That is if you consider a movie weird if it contains a scene of a corpse being taxidermied to keep a deceised person around then placed at the dinner table with the still living part of the family. But it is weird in that way without being a gory horror or torture movie.

Would Jean-Pierre Jeunet like this film?

I don't know Jean-Pierre Jeunet or what movies he likes. But Tideland reminded me of his movies' style very much. Camera work, colours, character weirdness, music and the naturalness of unusual events made me suspect that it may be intentionally a tribute to Jean-Pierre Jeunet's work. But that's a silly thought.

Is it a children's movie?

I never understood the criteria for which movies are considered children's movies and which are not. But this one might genuinly be impossible to classify as either. It seems to be a children's movie, telling the story of a child from her point of view, with imaginative play and all. But who would want to show such fucked up shit to a child? Well, actually, why not? Some other children's stories aren't any better. And some, like some of Grim's fairy tales, are more gory than this one.

Shouldn't you have started this with an explanation of what the movie is about?

No. But here are a few keywords: girl, heroin, child abuse, death, friendship, decomposition, mummification, family, adventure, imagination, innosence, love, lonelines

Why is Brendan Fletcher doing this weird retarded act?

I don't know but you can't say it's offensive because he's not actually portraying just a neurodiverse man but a man who has part of his brain removed. Still offensive but for different reasons? Well, okay. I guess not, since he has been complimented for a realisitc portrayal of a mentally challenged person. Anyway. I found his role quite nice and well acted.

So, is it a horror movie or isn't it?

Does it have a romance component in the story?

In an unusual, awkward way, yes, kind of. Well, calling it a romance would legitimise it. It's definitely not the usual cliché romance component. So, no. At least that's how I see it. Others are more open about admitting that a relationship between a child and a grown-up with a romantic component can still be a love story. By definition I agree. And I guess the film shows enough to talk about if you want to discuss the topic, but omits the more erotic parts from the book.

Oh, it's an adaptation of a book?

Yeah, but I haven't read it. It's also called Tideland. Mitch Cullin wrote it.

What is it that you like about it?

I don't know. I think like how different normalities of life circumstances are introduced without any inhibition or restraint in a somehow lighthearted seeming way. The innocent look on everything that happens.

And the consistancy in the changes throughout the story.

What is this movie a mix of?

I'd say Fear And Laughing In Las Vegas (Terry Gilliam) and The City Of The Lost Children (Jean-Pierre Jeunet). That's for the movie style. Terry Gilliam himself said Alice in Wonderland meets Psycho, which describes the story very well.

If you would have watched the film again, with the audio comment from Terry Gilliam after you wrote this entry, how would you have edited it?

I have amended some answers slightly and added one other question besides this one.

Can you show us some paradigmatic screen captures?

OK. But not from the end bit. Here you go.

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Film: I'm Thinking Of Ending Things

Entry created on 2022-08-14 author:steeph (337) cat:Death (7) cat:Films (16) cat:Philosophy (4) lang:en (186) top:Films (13)

I like this quote from the movie: Other animals live in the present. Humans can not. So they invented hope. It's something I can think about.

I like the movie in general for breaking with storytelling conventions in an artful way without being so hard to follow that I just want to switch it off sighingly while exclaiming: "I guess it's art."

I may not understand the metaphors, which no doubt are plentiful throughout the movie, and therefor may not even understand what it is about or what Charlie Kaufman wants to say. But it certainly holding plenty of opportunities ready for letting the viewer get carried away by the movie's discussions about essential questions that are probably part of anybody's life at some point. I certainly got carried away to musing about all sorts of things several times. The discussions between the both main characters are often poetic and their course often takes on unexpected little turns. There are many things in that movie that I've not seen done well prior to this.

CW, in case you want to watch it: Suicide, Depression, Death and touching other unpleasant topics here and there

There's one other thing that I like about this movie: Parts of it are the most dream-like scenes that I've seen in any movie, as far as I can remember. I've been yearning for more accurate representations of the phenomenological idiosyncrasies of dreams for a while. Depending on the genre, filmmakers have tried different approaches, used many different effects and took advantage of technological innovations, as the were made, to depict dream scenes. Turns out all you need is a flatbed editor (or scissors and some tape or whatever editors used initially).

"I'm Thinking Of Ending Things" was the Charlie Kaufmann film that made me look up who wrote it. I've seen two movies of him before. But now I also know his name, somewhat his style, and much more of his work.

Film: Hesher

Entry created on 2022-05-27 author:steeph (337) cat:Death (7) cat:Films (16) lang:en (186) top:Films (13)

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This is a movie that I quite like but because I don't know it for long and because there are signs that the movie contains an artistic allegory or something that I don't understand as a major part of the story, I don't include it in the list of my favourite movies that I've started recently.

IMDB plot summary: A young boy has lost his mother and is losing touch with his father and the world around him. Then he meets Hesher who manages to make his life even more chaotic.

For me the movie is hard to fit into a caregory. 1-star reviews call it "silly", a "rediculous script", "horrible and offensive" and a "waste of talent". Some say it's saved by good acting. Others at least give it that it's still a comedy and not supposed to treat its topic only with sincerity. I say it's a funny, chaotic and offensive comedy with a rediculous script, great acting, telling a silly story with horrible moments and it doesn't care to take any of the topic it touches seriously. I don't really agree with other reviewers about the point it supposedly is trying to make. I don't even think it's mainly about loss of a family member. That's just part of the chaotic story that's dominated by a chaoric character. Does it need to make a point? Does it need to take a side in something? Can't it be rediculous and weird with no fixed statement built in? I don't mind misinterpreting movies as long as I get to enjoy some of them precisely for not getting a point out of the story. This is a movie that performs that rare, fulfilling gratification that I mainly remember from watching great comedies for the first time in my teens. And it may be because I don't understand the parts of life this movie is depicting like I didn't understand life when I was 16. But if it means that I can enjoy a movie because it's funny and weird, I take it!

Film: Harold And Maude

Entry created on 2021-12-05 author:steeph (337) cat:Death (7) cat:Films (16) lang:en (186) top:Films (13)

This is a movie that hardly anybody seems to know nowadays. I have no idea how well known it was when it came out in 1971. But I imagine not enough. I don't find most movies from the 80s and older very enjoyable. So I guess by that definition I have to count "Harold And Maude" (IMDB) to the relatively few special movies from that time period. It's not moved or impressed me like other movies on that imaginary list. But it's a very nice story very well told and an uncommon story at that.

I guess that's all I wanted to say here. Check it out (if you want to watch a coming-of-age movie about ~~friendship~~love and a life-defining experience that is unlike any other movie that would be aptly so described and features just enough implied humor to not be called entirely a drama by me).