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The Pit's Film Discussion Thread

myDeaconmyhand said:
I think you might be missing the point if you are interpreting the direction style as instruction for yourself (the viewer). The setup for, and relationship between David and his mother is portrayed in that style to describe how David understands love, which is completely innocent, pure, and simple, the way that a young child loves. David isn't a dynamic character because he can't mature, since he was a robot designed to be a child-forever. The film actually moves past this setup rather quickly, and that's when it becomes more nuanced.
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I'm confused. You say the setup is not for me, the viewer, and then go on to describe the ways in which the setup is for my benefit.
 
Bronson Pinchot said:
I'm confused. You say the setup is not for me, the viewer, and then go on to describe the ways in which the setup is for my benefit.
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I'm saying that Spielberg isn't telling you how to feel, he's telling you how David feels, and the scene that turned you off so much was the initial set up for that. Honestly i've probably seen A.I. 10 times, i'm not bullshitting you, just trying to encourage you to finish the film.
 
wasn't suggesting you were bullshitting at all, i'm enjoying the convo. i will probably give it another go one night this week after the first 25 minutes. maybe it was just the exposition i didn't like. i have no complaints about robo haley as an actor either. just the mom. either her writing or her delivery really put me off to start the film.
 
Bronson Pinchot said:
wasn't suggesting you were bullshitting at all, i'm enjoying the convo. i will probably give it another go one night this week after the first 25 minutes. maybe it was just the exposition i didn't like. i have no complaints about robo haley as an actor either. just the mom. either her writing or her delivery really put me off to start the film.
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I don't want to set you up though, even having seen it so often, it wouldn't make any top list of mine for it's time period.
 
iodeac said:
Really getting into Indie films recently. Watched 'Your Sister's Sister' with Emily Blunt, watched "Take this Waltz" with Seth Rogen, Michelle Williams and Sarah Silverman, and in the middle of watching The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which I really like so far.
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Watched Take this Waltz this weekend -- man, was it terrible. Only redeeming parts were the unnecessary full frontal shots of Williams and Silverman (extra points for going with jungle bush), with deductions for the unnecessary full frontal shots of fat old ladies
 
Bronson Pinchot said:
I'm guessing (in the realm of animated movies) you prefer stuff like Spirit Away, Hotaru no Haka, Kikirou and the Sorceress, that sort of thing, fanatic?
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[Didn't want to derail the Pixar thread]

I haven't yet seen the three you list, but I will say that out of Japan, I have become totally enamored with the work of director Satoshi Kon: Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, the series Paranoia Agent (which was one of the most personally moving works of art I'd ever seen at the time I watched it), and Paprika. He was sort of a David Lynch-Gaspar Noe-Darren Aronofsky hybrid in the realm of animation, though not as graphically extreme as the latter two. In fact, Aronofsky bought the American filming rights to Perfect Blue and recreated its bathtub scene in Requiem For a Dream:

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Sadly, Kon died in 2010 from cancer. But his movies opened my awareness of the Japanese industry, which has put out some absolutely phenomenal work in the last 20+ years.
 
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Another couple films that do a tremendous job with animation as a medium, but definitely don't fit with Pixar, or even in the Japanese realm, are Waltz with Bashir and Scanner Darkly.
 
Perfect Blue and Millenium Actress are fantastic. Love Bashir. Persepolis is another daring animated movie that I really like.
 
Watching the horror movie VHS

fuck the first movie on the tape just mind fucked me
 
Just finished watching The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and I thought it was really well done. India seems like a fascinating country to me, and the movie was cast very well with Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith and Judy Dench among others, as well as the kid from Slumdog Millionaire.
 
Marquee Moon said:
I don't get how she thought she'd get away with it
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I don't think it was pre-planned on her part. She acts differently after the first visit from the girl (off camera; what the husband talks about while brushing his teeth). Probably reminded her of what the fortune teller said. IIRC at that point she begins to focus the camera on random things around the room, like the door lock, as if she was gathering info or ideas on tape meant for someone else to see.
 
I've read negative reviews that this movie is anti-woman

But I disagree. I think this movie is about men's darkest fears about women and how they shape our perception and treatment of them. The Skype episode for example. The girl friend is a sympathetic character. The boyfriend, a doctor, a position of power, manipulates her into feeling crazy. And what man hadn't experienced the emotions of a woman and sometimes yes it does feel like they are crazy. But if you understand it biologically you realize that this is just not how men react to their world. The medical student in this vignette perceives women as crazy so he gaslights them and brainwashes them through some real sick psychopathic action to believe they are crazy. It is a revenge short and the end reveals the scope of this sociopathic man's reach. How anyone can view that movie and the others (some lesser so) as anti female is beyond me. This movie is anti male and directed by 5? different men.
 
I haven't read many reviews of it and so I haven't heard the anti-woman angle, but I agree with you about its anti-male overtones. In 3 of the 6 tapes (counting the frame story) the guys are basically a pack of wild animals who all get what they had coming. The husband in the second tape is an insecure, mistrusting putz, and is hinted at being a psychological abuser as well (I got the sense it wasn't the first time he accused his wife of stealing money from him). Technically this movie was directed by 10 men; the final tape has 5 directors credited, a team called Radio Silence.

Have you seen The Woman? It's on Netflix. It created a bit of a stir at Sundance last year or the year before when some people walked out, and one guy berated the director and called him a misogynist. But it's actually one of the strongest pro-female, anti-male movies I've ever seen. The husband in it is just middle-America evil incarnate. You'll hate him.
 
KickballDeac said:
I haven't read many reviews of it and so I haven't heard the anti-woman angle, but I agree with you about its anti-male overtones. In 3 of the 6 tapes (counting the frame story) the guys are basically a pack of wild animals who all get what they had coming. The husband in the second tape is an insecure, mistrusting putz, and is hinted at being a psychological abuser as well (I got the sense it wasn't the first time he accused his wife of stealing money from him). Technically this movie was directed by 10 men; the final tape has 5 directors credited, a team called Radio Silence.

Have you seen The Woman? It's on Netflix. It created a bit of a stir at Sundance last year or the year before when some people walked out, and one guy berated the director and called him a misogynist. But it's actually one of the strongest pro-female, anti-male movies I've ever seen. The husband in it is just middle-America evil incarnate. You'll hate him.
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Brilliant insight on the stealing money. That's why I think it was premeditated.

Check out the Times review among many.
 
I think this is the problem with male and female communication.

The reviews that see it as misogynistic point to the boobs and stupid behavior by the guys. The whole movie is about the weakness of men. The only time a man is shown in a good light is when the guy doesn't rape the drunk passed out girl.

But he immediately moves on to the next available woman and his goal is to secretly tape and exploit her.

I could go on. This is a much deeper movie than it gets credit for.
 
KickballDeac said:
Have you seen The Woman? It's on Netflix. It created a bit of a stir at Sundance last year or the year before when some people walked out, and one guy berated the director and called him a misogynist. But it's actually one of the strongest pro-female, anti-male movies I've ever seen. The husband in it is just middle-America evil incarnate. You'll hate him.
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The Woman's probably my favorite horror movie of the past few years.
 
Just finished Carnage (Roman Polanski film with Christoph Waltz, John C Reilly, Jodi Foster, and Kate Winslet).

Pretty great for a relatively unambitious film. Basically 4 people talking to each other the whole movie. Not exactly "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" either. I enjoyed the writing and the performances (though all 4 were kinda insufferable in their own ways). The commentary of the film is excellent, if the execution is less than perfect.
 
Re: VHS, I thought the first and last were the two best. The Skype one and the one in the woods were both pretty stupid. Also, the whole storyline that ties them together was really dumb. Overall it was worth watching.
 
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