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Capone walks THE ROAD to nowhere, and admires its flawed effectiveness!!!
Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
What is it with all of these end-of-days movies? A couple weeks ago, it was 2012, and early into next year, we have LEGION (which I guess technically counts as pre-apocalypse) with Paul Bettany, and THE BOOK OF ELI, starring Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman. And while 2012 is about hope and action in the face of near-certain death, author Cormac (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN) McCarthy's THE ROAD is about something much more serious and believable--the final existence of life on Earth. Existing in a world set afire by unnamed forces (the biblical undercurrent runs very close to the surface here), this story is about the lengths people would go to when they are starving, when all the planet's animals are dead, water is poison, and the only meat available to them is that of other human beings. THE ROAD is certainly the grimmest movie of 2009, but there's an elegance and dignity to this telling of the novel (directed by THE PROPOSITION helmer John Hillcoat and adapted by Joe Penhall) that also makes it a work of great beauty in its own grey and haunting manner.
Viggo Mortensen plays Man (none of the characters have actual names), a stoic but loving father to Boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee). The pair are walking skeletons making their way through America in search of anything to eat. Mortensen vows to never resort to cannibalism, but he also promises himself that if he and his son are ever in a situation where they themselves might be eaten, he will kill them with his only weapon, a pistol with a few bullets remaining. They make every effort to avoid all contact with other people, assuming they would be easy targets with scavengers. But as you might expect in a movie called THE ROAD, the many obstacles on the journey is the whole point. During the quieter moments as they drift in and out of sleep, Man has dreams/memories about his wife (known as Woman, played with the appropriate level of growing desperation by Charlize Theron). We see them on the day the world cataclysm begins, their reaction to the early days of the crisis, and how she ends up not traveling with them. It's as heartbreaking to watch as anything in a story filled with one heartbreak after another.
Along their journey to who knows where, perhaps somewhere they think there might be food or at least warmer temperatures, Man and Boy do come across several other people. Every person they meet holds their cards close, and often when they reveal even a little bit of their true nature, things get awfully horrifying. Garret Dillahunt plays Gang Member, who spots the pair and is clearly hungry for boy meat (perhaps in more ways than one). Michael Kenneth Williams (better known as Omar Little on "The Wire") plays The Thief and the still great Robert Duvall is Old Man, who can barely see or walk, but insists on traveling alone rather than risk his safety with the father and son. The two also come across unnamed characters who live in what can only be described as a house of death, in one of the scariest sequences in the move. Guy Pearce and Molly Parker arrive late in the story, offering the closest thing to hope Man and Boy have seen since this mess began. There's another sequence where the two find what appears to be a fallout shelter stocked with months' worth of food, water and other supplies, but all good things must come to an end.
The individual run-ins in THE ROAD aren't really the point. What I liked best about the film are the in between father-son moments, where Mortensen is attempting to teach Boy survival, thinking, common sense and self defense, even though the kid is clearly in a constant mild state of shock and barely speaks. I'm not entirely sure that newcomer Smit-McPhee was the greatest choice for the role of Boy, but he certainly doesn't play the role the way a lot of more seasoned Hollywood child actors might have. His fear comes across as exceedingly real, and that's the key.
As he did with THE PROPOSITION, director Hillcoat has built a complete landscape and backdrop for his characters to inhabit and react to. This one is all about utter bleakness. You will likely come out of THE ROAD depressed and hungry, and that would mean that Hillcoat has done his job admirably. It may be a challenge to identify or connect with these characters (even Man and Boy), but when you do and you even attempt to imagine what their "lives" are like in this world, your heart will ache. As I often do with movies, I tried to imagine how I would handle existing under these desolate conditions, and I actually had to stop myself from doing so because I knew I would have been dead long before the events in this movie take place. That's a tough burden to bear as audience member, but I think the experience is worth it.
THE ROAD is an emotional journey unlike any other this year, primarily because by nature of the story it never stops being oppressively heavy. Man and Boy aren't looking for a place where all of their needs will be fulfilled; they know there is no such place. We have to imagine they are seeking a place to die comfortable, where human vultures won't devour them upon their deaths. That's pretty bleak for a holiday release, but anchored on the strength of Mortensen's performance and a visual context unlike any I've seen, THE ROAD succeeds at capturing the proper mood and emotionally weighty backdrop required for such a story. It's heavy stuff, folks, but when you come out the other side and walk back out into the world, you may see it in an entirely different light.
-- Capone
therealcapone@aintitcoolmail.com
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Got a screener
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cant wait
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To me, this book was all about fathers and sons period. For EVERY father, the world that he was born into is dying out and turning into something else, something other, that the son will have to learn to navigate one day on his own. It seems like now more than ever, there's a feeling that the world inherited by the son is likely to be less pleasant than the world that existed for the father, and that's a tough thing to bear. For all of its grimness, I thought the novel was ultimately hopeful, not in an "everything's gonna be OK" kind of a way, but in a "there is SOME case to be made for optimism" kind of a way. I can't see this movie having much box office, but I hope it lives up to the book. This review is the most positive I've read so far, and it definitely sounds like there's a good chance at it. Plus - it has Omar in it, so - who can walk away from that?
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...dilemmas. 1-The importance and or possibility of civilization and the most basic human decency in a world without god, hope or meaningful future.2-what hot chick would you eat first on THE ROAD.I'm always eager explore either question.
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I've been waiting to see this god damn film for EONS!! Haven't read the book , but I've seen The Proposition, never been able to feel the desolation as much as I did in viewing that film. Best Western (that isn't in fact a Western) in many a year. Soundtrack was ace too and I here Nick Cave is on scoring duties again for this flick. Awesome. Awesome To The Max!!
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Been psyched for this ever since I heard Hillcoat was doing it. He is PERFECT for this. The Proposition is a must see.
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too on the nose and obvious, a real shame as I'm (usually) a huge fan of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis and their work on The Proposition was outstanding. Good movie though, fans of such grimness should also check out Haneke's The Time Of The Wolf.
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But when does Mel Gibson show up driving the tanker of sand?
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I've been waiting for this one too. The book made me cry man tears like a little baby, BOO HOO. Seriously. Oh, and Ebert just re-reviewed it and gave it high marks, apparently his first review was not supposed to be released and he reviewed it again after seeing it 2x.
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Blood Meridian owns, who should make it?
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The book was about as bleak as it gets, though. I mean, the non sequital style of writing indicate from the start that we're witnessing the final, ill-remembered fragments of human civilisation if not humanity itself. Now, that's a depressing as hell starting point.
It is pretty optimistic though, in its portrayal of the dying world - some kindness does remain, the ending was probably what kept me from creeping up in a corner with a bottle of booze.
Anyway, good review. The film probably won't be out on my end of the Atlantic any time soon, but to be honest; it's not the sort of film I'd watch around Christmas. -
Nov 25, 2009 12:21:48 PM CST
The Boy should have been the kid from TDK and the Mist...
by ebonic_plague
That kid is on his way to being typecast as "boy who has guns pointed at him by square jawed men."
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I was surprised when I heard they were making this into a film...the whole book is them just hungry and looking for food and trying not to get killed by cannibals....totally depressing. I guess every movie doesn't have to be a "feel good" affair and glad they made this but I don't see how it will make any $. I know the book was a best seller but that is probably thanks to Oprah and Cormac's rep.
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No man, no dad can read the book and not feel totally protective of and scared for that little boy. There's one line that still gives me chills: "Then they set out along the blacktop in the gunmetal light, shuffling through the ash, each the other's world entire."
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I've been waiting over a year for this, and the nearest theatre this is showing in is a four and half hour drive away.
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I LOVE you, but you ARE an idiot...
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Is being made by the guy who did In The Bedroom and Little Children. An interesting, and sober-minded choice seems to me. Might be perfect for that somewhat over-the-top material. Blood Meridian is an incredible book, well-written and shockingly violent, can't recommend it highly enough.
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That kid looks exactly how I envisioned the boy int eh novel. The kid they got just looks too old, pushing 11 or 12. The kid in the novel was absolutely no older than 8 or 9, and at that age it makes a huge difference.
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because the violence was too self-consciously literary to have the visceral impact it should have. Just like this goofy shit about characters with no names. He's a brilliant writer, but sometimes it makes me sad when I feel like I'm being unnecessarily reminded that I'm reading an Important Book (Oprah sticker aside).
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fuck summer blockbusters-this is when the real treats come out. It'll be nice to see a post apocalyptic movie with no mutants, cyborgs and or robots, aliens, and most importantly, no Roland Emmerich
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How is it that awful New Moon bullshit's playing on a billion screens and I can't find this film anywhere within a 2 hour radius?
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the book is very cinematic...would be hard to fuck it up.
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thought it was great. I chuckled a lot thinking about the reactions of Oprah's book club housewives as they read this.
I'm currently making my way through Blood Meridian, and am loving it. -
so they've already made a sequel to Antichrist?
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...not a valid complaint. The name thing isn't a conceit...names have no real reason to come up since both The Man and The Boy are the only person in the other's world.I feel uncomfortable calling my in-laws "mom" and "dad" and I've successfully avoided calling them anything for years now. I just start talking and they listen...so far so good.
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As a character named "Poser".
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... come from?) It's definitely an indication of the sick times we live in, and a shame that "New Moon" opens on 4000 screens while "The Road" and films like "Moon" "An Education", "A Serious Man" etc. are relegated to "art houses" at 1 or 2 screens per city - in the USA anyway...
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Apparently, the official release date for Ireland and UK screenings is January 8, 2010. In the interim, see about reading the book. Please. The movie comes close to replicating the book, especially in several key scenes, but the overall experience is dilute by comparison to the printed word. Isn't that always the case with adaptations? Sure, I enjoyed the film, but my memories of the book will last far longer.
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Absolutely loved the book. Was hiding in my office crying at the end of it. Book moved me like no other book I've read.viggo is the perfect actor for this.
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I've never read this Cormac fellow. Light-hearted fare, is it?
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...they could eat for a year.
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it comes from Sling Blade.
Our "art house" theaters play these gems just about the same time the movies appear on DVD! -
Christmas time is the new hot spot for end of the world books turned movies to drop now. Thank you William Smith.
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The Road can best be summed as follows; They starve then find food. They starve & are in danger then find safety & food. They're cold then find warmth. They're cold, starving & in danger then find safety, warmth & food.... The emotional core was fine, but the journey was horribly dull & repetitive. It'd be like playing Fallout 3 with only a dozen characters in the game world... Whom you must avoid to progress.
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CGI monsters in this, or men in giant suits?
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Just monstrous men
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..as long as you've got Omar Little cast!
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...to my "which hot chick to heat" line of inquiry.I would argue that a completely theoretical debate on the relative deliciousness of hot chicks (as opposed to traditional beauty, marriage-ability, or the more vulgar "fuckability") is a completely respectable way to pass a rainy afternoon. Especially since we learned in past talkbacks that talkbackers vary widely in their definition of "delicious" and "eatable".
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On this road there are no godspoke men. They are gone and I am left and they have taken with them the world.
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Where the Wild Things Are, since Capone was bringing in the little kids acting abilities. While every one was jacking off about how good Max was in Wild Things Are, everyones been shitting on this kid.
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The threads of negativity and fatalistic thinking throughout our culture right now is a direct result of the giant generation of baby boomers trying to come to terms with their growing sense of mortality. Every major shift in culture for the past 50 years has been due to the giant impact of that generation...simply because of thier size. Sometimes it's for better, sometimes it's for worse...but there is no doubt that generation is beginning to act like a swarm of locusts on our society. Global warming (whether it's real or not), health care crisis, trillion dollar deficits, housing boom and bust, stock market boom and bust...now it's end of the world fantasies. If the "Me Generation" can't live forever, then by God, they'll take everybody down with them!!
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where everyone is mean and nasty and shit? Wow, where does Hollywood come up with these great ideas?
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Thats an interesting way of looking at things. Maybe a first for a talkback.
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...well, not necessarily about the road, but I agree about boomers in genera.But they invented rock and roll and were sad when John Lennon got shot, so I guess they deserve all the world's resources and every last tax dollar of every American now and for the next hundred hears.Health care for everyone? That's impossible crazy talk. Better just to give seniors a tax break on Viagra.
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Every movie with road in the title seems to blow ass.
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You're talking out of your arse yet again lockesbrokenleg.
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Does anyone know yet? Please?
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Now I can't get that Talking Heads song out of my head! I've been humming it all afternoon!
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like an action thriller, which I imagine will surprise many a filmgoer.
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I've heard a little about this movie, and so far it sounds like a pretty good flick. I'm excited to see it
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One of the most interesting parts of the book is the fact that there is missing information.The mystery of what happened...with the ash falling from the sky. Could it natural? Like a volcanic eruption or *gasp* an asteriod (which is interesting, because horrible Hollywood films has made that scernario into a farce, but it is a grim reality)?The names of the characters aren't needed for the novel and I totally agree with the above poster in regards to this as a father/son story. The bleak fact that the Man has taught his son to kill himself if he does not return or in a capture situation.I would have to disagree with Capone saying that the child is in "shock" for most of the story. I think the child represents the last strands of morality and hope, concepts that the Man cannot afford to have. He's the grim reminder of what is lost.The big question remains...is the novel's most infamous scene removed from it's big screen counterpart? Capone - no spoiler for the rest of the folks - a simple binary response will do...Thanks for the review.
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If you are referring to a certain 'cooking' scene, then I know from others who've seen the movie, it isn't in there.
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Fair enough, though I thought a certain other scene in the book was more disturbing... That said, Fallout 3 conveyed much the same horrors without the monotony of The Road :)
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im sure his horrible "music" will ruin this movie
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Whens this out?
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http://www.movie-forumz.org/showthread.php?p=357242#post357242
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Yeah, this movie's gonna have a tough enough time finding an audience as it is. Including THAT particular part of the book would've been a liiiiitle bit over the edge.
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Capone asked why the heck we're getting all these end-of-days movies, and I'm saying that The Road is just another movie that plays to baby boomer angst. By the way, if you want another example of baby boomer angst manifesting itself in cinema, just look at all the devil child movies that came out in the late sixties and seventies...right around the time they were all starting families: Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, It's Alive!, The Omen, Omen 2, etc.
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Both Screenrush and LondonNet give it as January 8th 2010.
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Is a fucking idiot, the Whatever event makes no sense biblically or scientiffically, and they tackied on a crap Hollywood ending-Thanks again AICN-do you get cannibal action figures in the mail for this review?
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...you make a strong case. I would add that quite a few of these doomsday scenarios are being made by twenty and thirty year olds for twenty and thirty year olds...possibly because the oo's have been a depressing decade and the current working generation is the first in a long time to not be able to count being more prosperous than their parents...leaving one with a vague but persistant feeling of a world in decline...which of course brings us right back to the baby boomers...
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they never touted the limited release aspect, so when i woke up this morning thinking i could hit any one of a number of screens in my area, i ended up having to high tail all the way to Philadelphia to catch it today.
Megan_Foxs_Tool_Box, what Hollywood ending did they tack on? Ended up pretty damn close to the books ending...some stuff was verbalized that wasn't in the book but a certain person was still cold on the ground. If it was Hollywoodized, everyone would've lived happily ever after... -
you look hungry...why don't you come on up to the truck, get something to eat
...because your suck ass trailer's "exploding building" thankfully wasn't in the film. anyone even casually watching the trailer could see the house that explodes isn't even the same one the man shoots his flare gun into. -
Road Warrior, Road To Perdition, Revolutionary Road,The Road
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first they go here...then they see this and then they go there...
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Think about it - barely human characters with limited emotional range moving through a bleaker than heck environment, experiencing horrific things, all leading up to a bummer of an ending.
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I was going to see it tonight but turns out it's nowhere to be found.
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Exactly...it always come back to the boomers. We're living in their shadow. It is sad though that a generation that helped to change the world somehow morphed into one full of entitled narcissists. Cinema is a great tool for sociology. There is soooo much money in pandering to the boomers that we're going to have to deal with a society that caters to their fears for a long time. I agree, these movies are generally catering to younger people, but don't forget, the road was an oprah book club selection. Not exactly a fanboy plug. Oprah is the boomer queen!
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Hardly surprising really since Capone effectively flawed the ending of Public Enemies by not putting up a spoiler warning.
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Hmm your ideas intrigue me. I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
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You know the one, where he's with that kid, and they show the end of the movie at the beginning. I think Clint Eastwood was in it.
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I liked the 'swarm of locusts' line... and the bit about narcissism. It's funny, though, that they don't realize that they're largely narcissists. I actually think narcissism is today's number one problem in the world and THE mental disease that will bring us all down in the end. No doubt in my mind... and listen, I think Obama is an intelligent guy and has the potential to be a great leader, but nobody can tell me he guy isn't a narcissist. He's the perfect leader for one side of that generation, just as George Bush, "the decider", was the perfect leader for another side of that same generation.HOWEVER, when you talk about catering to the baby boomers, it's not like that on the inside of Hollywood at all... every fucking meeting is about how to make films skew younger... to the point of casting actors that belong in a noxzema commercial in parts they totally could not believably be playing. Then again... that could be down to an obsession with youth and a better self that leads us right back to THE FUCKING BABY BOOMERS!
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Nov 26, 2009 3:56:01 AM CST
oh what a surprise lockesbrokenleg doesn't like this
by liesandpicturesofalsolies
Whoever is behind that troll has constructed a brilliant retard character.
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that when the war in the middle east wraps up, we will see a lot less of this bleak material. people will want more optimistic movies. i mean, look at what happened with vietnam...during the war directors and writers were making hard-bitten movies that asked the hard questions and then, directly afterward we got stuff like STAR WARS and SUPERMAN:THE MOVIE
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Should pick up a copy of "The Fourth Turning". This book was written nearly twenty years ago and predicted with in a general way everything that has happened over the last ten years from 911 to Obama.
http://tiny.cc/1b95E -
I'm going to read this, then see the movie. Viggo plus post-apocalypse equals win.
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From the director of Ghosts Of The Civil Dead and The Proposition i'll watch anything.I also can't wait to watch this so that i can complete the Trilogy of Good SF Movies of 2009, together with Moon and District 9. As for Avatar, the way i see it and despite my cautious optimism, all bets are off.
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Yeah, I forgot you can't hate a movie on here when the usual shitheads here like it.
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How is this a sci fi movie? It doesn't look like any sci fi movie I've ever seen Do the character fly around in hover cars?
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I think Viggo in anything equals win. Not that I've seen his entire discography of films, but he was fantastic in LotR, a History of Violence, A Perfect Murder. . .I mean, the man simply brings awesomeness to every film he's been in.
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Nov 26, 2009 11:55:56 AM CST
lockesbrokenleg, you think SF is just spaceships and lazers???
by asimovlives
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And you think sci fi is all end of the world stuff?
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Regardless, I loved the book so much I'm not sure if I want to see the film.
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First off don't go into this for a good time holiday feeling..You won't find it..I live in a fairly big Metro area and it was only in two theaters out of hundreds of them around here. I thought the execution of the film was spot on dispite the changes made from the book...This film will not do well at the box office though. The simple reason was the timing of the distribution..As the lights came up there was a lot of nervous laughter and chuckling going on. I was on the way out and I heard more than a few people saying "what kind of film is this to release over the holidays?" I think just for that reason alone it will be a beautiful and bleak failure..and thats really too bad.
I wish I could be more optimistic about this films potential but I'm afraid it will get lost in the shuffle..The Studio Boneheads ( I think the Wienstiens) really fucked up the potential by giving it this release date..Smart Motherfuckers that they are..
As for my guess at the reason for the destruction Solar Flares.. -
I've read two reviews of this that assert the book is unfilmable, while It think the opposite is true. It's -besides No Country for Old Men - the most film-ready of all McCarthy books. Blood Meridian, now that's unfilmable. I still would like to see someone try.
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but then again so was the last shit I took.
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AMEN!
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One of the best actors of his generation. He doesn't get nearly enough leading roles. I'm going to see this film because of Hillcoat and for the five minutes Pierce is in it.
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Why doe's every post apocolyptic movie have to have cannibals? Could'nt the villains be treatening without having to make them maneaters?
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... by the audiences. Fellow actors and filmmakers, however, can't praise the man enough. And rightly so, this guy is tremendous. I love how great he is in The Proposition, and how he is so by being so understated.
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If you watch movies strictly for entertainment, skip the hell out of this one. If you don't mind letting yourself go and feeling your way through a harrowing tale about humanity, parents and children, and the meaning of existence, I'd consider it.
There is no magic un-apocalypse button that Viggo must rush to press while a clock ticks down, and that's going to turn a lot of people off. I can understand the loathing for this movie, a dude I saw it with was aggressive angry with us for making him go see it, but I didn't find it boring at all. In fact, I found it to be one of the most engaging films I've seen in recent memory. Everyone focuses on the relentless grim aspects of it, but there is a small but very soft underbelly to the film. It wants you to see the world and wonder if you'd make the same choices the Man made. It wants you to consider the nature of the human spirit. The acting is top notch, with great cameos and some real knockout moments from Viggo and the kid. True, the film is a meandering journey, as there is no three-act structure in hell, but it is a journey worth going on. Tailhook, a few posts above, paints defending a film for "the solid technical aspects of the artistry" as elitist. If enjoying a well-made work of art is too elitist for you, I'd tell you to stick with the talking robot movies and keep your head firmly in the warm, comforting sand. That said, the movie isn't perfect, the scenario is so unconcerned with any background and set-up that it requires a pretty giant leap into the pool of disbelief-suspension. The Man and The Boy are so vaguely defined outside of the immediate events of The Road that they, at times, are in deep danger of becoming generic. I once again point to the performances of Viggo and crew, though, who make sure that you're firmly imprisoned with them to such a degree that it doesn't matter who they were--it only matters that they carry the fire. -
Apocalyptical and Post-Apocalyptical stories are sub-genres of the Science Fiction genre. So, yeah, all are SF stories. Doesn't matter if they are realistic or fantasy-like, action-packed or dramatic, all are SF. You don't get to learn what SF is just by watching Star Wars, you know?
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It's fine not to like things, and if fact I think the Road isn't a movie that many filmgoers would like and that's perfectly okay by me, but you post in a lot of talkbacks making some dumb snarky comment with zero depth, so you must be either a troll or an idiot--and I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt!
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I don't get the mentality of people to whom movies are just providers of light-weight so-called fun/entertaiment/whateverthefuck. specially form people who call themselves movie geeks. The way i see it, movie geeks should have more stamina then just to get satisfacttion from the merest light-weight fluff, and they should get more broad tastes and acceptance of movies which is just not the typical mallrat pleaser "fun/entertaiment/whateverthefuck" fluff. All i care if a movie is good, and doesn't matter if it's a depressing tale. If i had the mallrat loving only the "fun/entertaiment/whateverthefuck" fluff mentality, i would be missing out on really great movies, like 2001, Apocalypse Now, The Proposition, Moon, Blade Runner, The Thing, even The Dark Knight. And that would be so stupid.
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Our friend lockesbrokenleg loves all the bad and worst movies there is. There's not a single terrible movie he doesn't like and defend with vigour. But i don't think he's a troll, i think he's the real deal. Only, he's just a very strange character. Which makes him interesting to me, to tell you the truth.
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I agree with you about movie geeks. I'm going to resist going on an armchair psychologist limb, but I think the most deep enjoyment of film comes from a place of accepting movies can be made with a thousand different goals in mind. I like me some truly terrible movies, I'll be happy to destroy all my internet credit and pledge my love for "Night of the Roxbury", for example (a comedy that I saw as a young teen before I Knew Better and still brings a smile to my face). I also love movies that challenge me, confuse me, weird me out, or anything else they can think to throw at me, because they're the best ride for your money out there, I feel. Movies mean different things to different people, though. My buddy who *hated* the Road (more than any other person in the talkback) just wants to be entertained by movies because they're so powerful and arresting to him that he doesn't like the loss of control when something like the Road forces him into a bad place. The guy is a scientist and metalworker and finds fulfillment and satisfaction in other things.
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I haven't really noticed his defense of all that is shitty, as I am new to AICN. It's not his (or her, lol!) taste I criticize, though, it is his eagerness to shit on anything and everything on AICN for hollow reasons. I do find it notable enough to comment on, certainly, but I doubt I'd miss it. The dude must have some distant glimmer of taste, though, like Alpha Centuri so many light years from here. He has a Lost-based named for Christ's sake! I bet he hates the latest season or something, though.
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First of all, i bid you welcome to this den of scoundrels. You will not find a place populated with the most vicious example of humanity then in here. Well, except a Republican Party Office, of course. Anyway, welcome.The way i see it, and i might be terribly wrong in thinking like this, but i rather prefer to attack somebody's tastes then to attack themvelves as people, if you understand what i mean. I believe there's a difference between the two things. And i have seen this in effect with my dealins with fellow talkbackers like rogueleader66 and southafricanguy, two guys who really liked amovie which i find totally exacrable and one of the worst examples of modern bad movie making, which i call STINO but others are more kind and call it Star Trek (the 2009 version). And despiste our difference sof opinions on that movie, we still are very fiednly and cordial to each other. Why? Because, i think, we mgith not agree with our tastes, and we critcise each other's tastes, but we don't criticise each other personally. And for myself, i think this is how it should be. Of cours,e if some motherfucker come in here just to talk shit and insult any and everybody indescriminatly, then all bets are off and the gloves should be taken off.
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Nor i lose any sleep for not watching it. If i want to watch great TV, i pop my DVDs of Rome or Carnivále and enjoy. Beside,s i loath to give to anything that Jar Jar Abrams has been even remotly involved a chance. Fuck him and the shit he makes.This is one of the reasons i can't wait to watch THE ROAD. So i can get my fill of really good movies, and to wash away the fetid taste of bad fluff pudrity that i got awashed this fucking year. God, what a terrible year this was! Thank goodness for Moon and District 9!
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Thank you for the welcome! I much appreciate it out here in the internet wilderness. As for taste, after a long stint working in a video store, I've found judging taste is a path to madness, personally. I'd rather get into the hows and whys of movies and the business and art of making movies. I admit that I am not above kicking some shallow and dumb snark back when I feel it is called for, though. As for the new Star Trek, I loved it. I thought it was a terrible screenplay and a misappropriation of everything that Trek stands for, but I couldn't make it matter in my viewing experience. It was a fun sci-fi movie and I was able to take the nostalgia exploitation for what it was. It's not a movie I'll go out of my way to buy on DVD but if it is playing at cheap theater that serves beer, I'll go see it a second time. You at least have to give Star Trek this: Quinto is a genius at showing no emotion whatsoever.
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I liked the cast of STINO. It's everything else that's the problem, both related to TOS and as a movie in and itself. I don't realy fault the actors for their job in the movie, i don't blame them for the complete clown act that is the characterizations in that movie. I blame the clowns who wrote the script, and the even bigger clown who directed it. The characterizations's problems is a reflection of the filmmakers, not the actors. And while i think that Quinto was a brillant choice as Spock, and he is a pretty darn good actor, the Spock he played is a mockery of the character was once was, he's nothing but an emo boy who is fully human and no alieness to him.
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Star Trek was enjoyable. A true cinemaphile can see the value in a blockbuster popcorn flicks, as well as profound arthouse fare. There are good and bad blockbusters (e.g Star Trek good, Transformers2 bad)
and good and bad arthouse films. There are hack film makers with 200 million dollar budgets and hacks with a budget of a few thousand. I was entertained by Star Trek, this doesn't mean I'm a moron who doesn't appreciate higher art in cinema. On the same day I bought Star Trek on DVD I bought Moon, which I watched first. I have a DVD collection of a couple of thousand movies and believe me, every type of film is well representedbut. Sometimes I'm in the mood for an emotional gut punch of movie, and sometimes I just want to have a blast with a well executed action movie. -
Pine and Urban were far more imressiive, Urban being a revelation.
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This is a The Road talkback afterall. WHEN THE HELL IS THIS GONNA BE OUT IN IRELAND!!
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The Road and Inception
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It's all a matter of a movie being good or bad. It doesn't matter if it's a blockbuster. TDK is a blockbuster and it's brillant. Being a blockbuster doesn't excuse a movie from being dumb and bad. Being a blockbuster is no excuse or justification.
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Karl Urban was a revelation in STINO? IN FUCKING STINO???? This is what blows my mind, that this geeks, this geeks, they SUDDENTLY discovered that Karl Urban is a good actor in a movie which has one of hois performances thatis in no particular way better then his all other in so many other movies. He had a much better performance playing a mostly mute character in the far superior movie THE BOURNE SUPREMACY. It makes me fall to the ground laughing when i see people suddently discovering that Karl Urban is a good movie because of jis job in the exacrable STINO. Jesus fucking Christ, what were you doing when you watched Karl Urban in the other movies? Certainly not watching the fucking movies! Fuck's sakes, man!
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That's exactly what I said Asimov, once again you didn't grasp what I was saying. I said there are good and bad blockbusters. I said there are good and bad indie flicks. Hell, my whole damn post was about how all that maters is if a movie is good or bad!!
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What is it about people that like this movie that pisses you off. And yes, a revelation in this movie. I've seen him in many other works and he did a great job, but this part was totally alien from what kind of character he ordinarily plays, he is barely recognisable. Take a chill pill Asimov jeez, and pay attention to what people are actually posting before you respond to what they've said
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It will be one of the antidote movies of the year, to help cure me from the blockbuster poisonous shit i got all year, with very few exceptions. Bring it on, bring it on!
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Sorry to break the news
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I attacked tastes and opinions. i don't attack you, because i don't know you, and for all i know, you might be Jesus reincarnated on Earth.
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And I guarantee he will be offered a greater variety of roles on the back of this performance. And if you don't think so then your blind deaf and dumb.
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..you came across no different than lockebrokenleg there, except with a much higher opinion of yourself
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STINO is a text book example of a terrible blockbuster. That it got such a following and mannaged to be loved from so many is one of those mysteries that science is yet to explain.And The Road will be one of those truly good movies which will be ignored and loved by a few, a happy few. Buit contrary to mnay, i don't take it loving a lesser known good movie as a badge of honour. Because i'm one of those who thinks that all good movies should deserve a welthy box office result. Which i don't think The Road will get. Call me pessimistic.
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Why is it that people who have strong convictions are accused of having "high opinions of oneself"? Could it ever accor to you that i might have strong convictions but also be pretty self-deprecating? Since when having a strong conviction is any indication of one own's inflated perception of self? Nonsense! That's nonsense! The two are not related. Whoever first related the two different phenomena knew jack shit about people.By that logic, i could also say that people with lesser convictions are lame brained and flaccid zombies with no self-worth. And that would be silly. Convictions and a sense of self-worth are two different things. How many people you have meet who think very highly of themselves and yet don't have one single idea of their own? That's it.
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It's a popular movie because it's enjoyable. I'm not talking popular as in boxoffice, many people went to see Trans2 but weren't impressed, I mean popularity as in the people that did see it usually came out having had an enjoyable experince. Mant went back a second time. Isn't it more plausible that it was simply a good blockbuster movie that you were not impressed by, rather than it being some unexplained mystery why so many loved it? It's not a mystery my friend, it was good, and you don't have to like it, every film has it's detractors. Man your so eager to hate this movie that you didn't even read my post properly, you just saw a positive Trek comment and layed into me, saying all that matters is if a film is good or bad, which is EXACTLY what I had said in my post!
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Because they like a movie you don't Asimov, that is what gives the impression you have high opinion of youself. The way you just said its an unsolved mystery why so many people love a bad movie, rather than thinking you could possibly not appreciate a good movie, that further implies it.
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So, that is why Stegmann hasn't married Oprah!
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The day i find STINO enjoyable is the day i have gave up on all the good movies i ever knew during my whole life. Until then, that movie is nothing but cinematic misery and a reminder how many filmmakers get rich by going for the minimum common denominator and treat audiences as retarded idiots. And nobody is doing it more openly and shamelessly then Michael Bay and Jar Jar Abrams.And i nedd to imply nothing about the movie just because i don't like it. I can list DOZENS OF REASONS why STINO is a bad movie just out of the bat. I could wrote a post thart it would take you as long to read as it was for you to watch STINO for the reasons why it's such a bad movie, and it wouldn't even be complete. I could wrote a thousand words text about the failure of STINO and not even go on the nitpick. I can do this and mor abotu the failures of STINO. what do it's defenders have to say in it's defense? "It's fun". Woopy fucking do, pardon my french. There's people outthere who have fun by cuttingthemselves with big knifes, so pardon me if i don't give any credence to the fun argument.Fort he very same reason i know that STINO is a terrible stupid dumb movie, i know why MOON is a great movie, and makes me feel very confident that THE ROAD is a very good movie too. That's how it is. Call this THE STRENGH OF CONVICTIONS. Because that's what it is.
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The movie really could have used more flashbacks to happier times. It would have made the story more bittersweet and all the talk of "the fire" would have more resonance.
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Have you seen The Road 500 times already?
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It did absolutely nothing for me. I'd rather rewatch 'Le temps du loup' or 'A Boy and His Dog'. I wasn't affected by it at all. I didn't care what happened to them. And half way through the movie things that I should have been taking seriously were making me laugh. I started being reminded of Monty Python sketches and at one point I had to stop myself from yelling out "ONE RING TO RULE THEM ALL". Then the kid got on my nerves. He was cast perfectly lookswise because he looks exactly like Charlize but other than that he wasn't anything special. The constant "Papa"s drove me nuts. I suppose it doesn't help that I saw 'Bad Lieutenant', which I loved, 2 hours before it. But I can't believe how nothing this was. And not good nothing either. For the record, I didn't like 'The Proposition' either. It barely held my attention. So I'm clearly not made for this dude's movies.
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I think you nailed it.
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But you do, whenever someone has something good to say about Trek. When I said Urban was a revelation in this movie, instead of simply saying calmly "I disagree, and here's why" (In which case I would take you seriously as a critic) you started ranting and raving, cursing and saying how when people say urban is great in this film you "roll around the floor laughing". You finished by saying "Fuck sake man!". That doesnt sound like sombody who respects other peoples opinions Asimov, that sounds like an egomaniac. I have nothing against you, most of the time you have interesting things to say, but then you let yourself down by raving like some obsessive lunatic.
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...is the 'hershey highway'. signed: your friend
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..ot because of the book because I haven't read it, and certainly not because of the premise. I usually hate post apocolyptic tales, ESPECIALLY apocolyptic scenarios featuring cannibals.
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"what do it's defenders have to say in it's defense? "It's fun". Woopy fucking do, pardon my french. There's people outthere who have fun by cuttingthemselves with big knifes, so pardon me if i don't give any credence to the fun argument."
That is the single most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my entire life. Are you feeling alright Asimov? Maybe you need to take a lie down.
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At least I think I do. I don't think he was going after people for liking Trek he was venting about people claiming Urban somehow "arrived" in the film. I agree he was great in it but I knew of him and knew he was a good actor already. I think that is the point he was trying to make. If I'm wrong... Whatever that's how I read it. The Road was pretty good saw it tonight. Didn't go in with expectations and I thought it was pretty good.
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If The Road is at elast half as good as i think it is, and if it's 1/4th as good as The Proposition, i'll watch it as many times as it takes... and it will take a lot. So there.
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You did understand my point very well. This notion that Karl Urban "arrived" in that exacrable STINO bullshit movie, and people only noticed him in that movie how a good actor he is is just beyond compreention.It's just one of the many, many reasons that makes me firmly believe that the vast majority of the positive opinions shown for STINO is just a very bad case of group thinking with people repeating their neighbour's words religiously without much of a though to them. And religiously is indeed a good way to describe the acceptance toward STINO, as in, following blindly on faith, without reason.
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To quote from Christian Bale, what don't you fucking understand? If i need repeat, then there it goes: the fun argument is useless to justify or explain why anyone likes a movie and it should be considered good. There's lots of stuff, disturbing stuff, that people call fun. Some people call cutting themselves or others fun. Should i now think that stuff is good because the people who do that call it fun? Same way for movies. just because you think some movie is fun doesn't make it good. It needs much better reasons fro a movie to be called good. and concerning STINO, there has never, ever been offered a really good reason to mistake that movie for anything good. Meanwhile, there has been a downpour of reasons to justify and to explain i9n detail why STINO is indeed the terrible stupid dumb idiotic retard movie that it is.But doens't matter, since it seems you and I are at elast in agreement that The Road is a total must watch movie, and in all certainly a truly good one. and right now i'm putting more stock on our agreement on that then our disagreement about that STINO bullshit.
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"very bad case of group thinking with people repeating their neighbour's words religiously without much of a though to them. And religiously is indeed a good way to describe the acceptance toward STINO, as in, following blindly on faith, without reason."
Do you have any idea how offensive and deluded that is Asimiv?? You're basically calling fans of this movie mindless morons, sheep to the herd. Do you kno how offensive it is comparing Trek fandom to self harm, not to Trek fans, but for people afflicted with this serious and horribily mental illness?? And I didn't cliam Urban had "arrived" in this film, I was a fan of im bwefore this, I said he was a revelation. The actor is unrecognisable in the role, an dhe should he has great co,mic timing. You know what, you're not even worth talking to anymre Asimov, your don't listen to anyone else opinion, you just see white noise until its your turn to say something. Goof luck to you -
I saw the movie expecting it to be terrible, and came out rather pleasently surprised. There was no mass delusion or cult mentality that effected my perception, and I extremely insulted that you tink there was. As I said before, you must be very egotistical to think all the people that enjoyed it were brainwashed morons instead of even entertaining the possiblity that you didn't enjoy a decent summer film. Your right and everyone else is wrong, isn't that right Asimov? As I said before, I hated Transformers2, made lots of money but if you ask people who watched it what they thought the have nothing but bad things to says. People talk of Star Trek like as the did Iron Man last year, the two films are on the same level. Now, lets forget this, it's getting tiresome, and you give me a bloody headache
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... until Asimov's wig catches fire. Never seen a talk-backer so easily pushed into meltdown mode. It's a fuckin' movie you creep. Calm the fuck down.
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From another Asshole Rant
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Never seen someone so invested in a movie he loathes
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from someone with a proclivity for caprine sphincter? ALINO is a cretinous cunt that thinks only his opinion count. ALINO is a fucking ass, ALINO is on a personal crusade against ST09 and like a little 'kid', he bring it up in every TB and uses his new meme 3 or 4 times on most posts. ALINO is a fucking ass, hey ALINO, your goats are in rut and calling for you. Baaaaaasimov, Baaaasimov...you are our king, show us your scepter. ALINO ALINO ALINO ALINO ALINO ALINO ALINO ALINO ALINO ALINO ALINO ALINO. In case you didn't get it AssholeLives is a fucking ass, right ALINO.
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Coming from a father with a 7 year-old, this movie really struck a chord. I often think how I'd cope if something happened to my son, and if it wasn't for my wife and two girls, I don't think I'd want to go on living. Despite the "meandering" pace of the film, I thought the elements of fear and possibilty of loss were captured nicely. And it was nice seeing Guy Pierce.
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i've been pent up to see this for over a year. the book is just marvelous. people complain that it's repititious, but they're missing the forest staring at the trees. the pattern of desperation and respite - like LOTR - is a rhythm.
the lack of names, chatter and constructed sentences is the textual manifestation of the concept that this is at once the end of civilization and the rise of a new dark age. the man is trying to pass along all that he knows in terms of basic skills b/c that's what the boy will need in the future. and there's no one else to teach him. much of it is skills the average person no longer had in the modern world. like keeping watch on your footwear, choosing footwear that would bear heavy travel. like opening canned food W/O a can opener. like digging diesel fuel from the bottom of a gas station pump. the film illustrates this in the mother's parting, when she takes off all her clothes. the boy is wearing her hat throughout. she gave him all she could.
(would someone plz tell me how to do paragraphs?! thx.)
in any event the movie was disconcerting in that he adapts - aka condenses - the storyline. i didn't feel plowed under by the grimness as with the book. the monotony and repitition is what makes is clear to you how difficult day to day living is in a world with no resources. every day is a struggle to find food and shelter. period. and you have to either commit to that struggle or lay down and die. with less time devoted to that plodding, exhausting desperate struggle, the story just felt different. also there's more dialogue in the film. the boy speaks in complete sentences. they both do, when the book shows how their life is so tight that there simply is no need. their world is so small, there's no need for extra words.
the mother's portrayal doesn't really work for me. while it clears up the misconception that she's blind, the film also makes it seem as though she never went out on the road with them. which is untrue. she walks away from their campsite, after having been on the road with them for some time. they are not living in a house by then. they were on the road when the boy saw his first dog.
and another thing that removed that sense of grimness was how clean things are. the man's and boy's clothes are grimy, but they blankets are fine. the boys oatmeal colored hat is clean. it has a smudge at some point. i know the effect of the falling ash would be hard, but the only evidence of it is on the ground and it's light enough to confuse with snow.
even the plantation house with the larder of people lost quite a bit for me. the people running it weren't as grizzled and desperate as they should have been. and the language of that scene does as much to lull us and allow that shock to blow our minds as possible. we know they haven't eaten in a week when they arrive and it's important to why they happened in to this house. we know that all the warning signs were noted by the man but he was too desperate to think about them (as with the recent wagon tracks in the snow). and they don't go searching dark basement rooms before they realize they're mistake. i just don't see why it was played that way. likewise the added scene of the cannibals catching another family. why put that in and leave the baby eaters out? the baby eaters say EVERYTHING about the truth of this world.
lastly, i found the ending too heavy handed. many want a more clearcut ending, but it seemed strange to go so far as they did with the veteran's family and they issues of who is following whom on the road. the book makes it impossible to believe that the veteran can have been tracking them across the months since they encountered the other boy. the movie still makes it hard to buy.
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