Kubrick / Role Models / Alienating People / The Wrestler...

[MinionZombie]

Another crop of movie musings from yours truly, hehe.

Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut, and Role Models:
http://deadshed.blogspot.com/2009/01/eyes-wide-shut-role-modelsand-kubrick.html

It was time for a Kubrick fest with the 10 disc box-set, and a case of finally getting to see his last film for the first time 10 years after it came out ... and a comedy that was good for a laugh.

How To Lose Friends & Alienate People:
http://deadshed.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-to-lose-friends-alienate-people.html

It's got Simon Pegg in it ... it's a comedy ... and it's rubbish, oh dear.

The Wrestler:
http://deadshed.blogspot.com/2009/01/wrestler.html

Much love to what's already a strong contender for my top film of 2009. It's proper good, so it is.

[Mike70]

if you enjoy kubrick, you really should see "barry lyndon." i know i've droned on about this to you before but i like to repeat myself.:D

i really think it is one of kubrick's better movies and the cinematography by john alcott is amazing.

[MinionZombie]

if you enjoy kubrick, you really should see "barry lyndon." i know i've droned on about this to you before but i like to repeat myself.:D

i really think it is one of kubrick's better movies and the cinematography by john alcott is amazing.
Yeah I'll watch it sometime probably ... I've just not been all that interested in seeing it, not entirely sure why.

Although I've still not seen Spartacus ... but that was a film that became a Kubrick movie, as he was hired after it had already started shooting. Nor have I seen his first two movies, and I've still got Day of the Fight on video somewhere taped off BBC2 to see.

...

The Wrestler was fucking gold though - if folk ain't seen it yet, check it out.

[Cody]

The Wrestler looks like a really good movie, cant wait to see it

[bassman]

The Wrestler looks like a really good movie, cant wait to see it

Me too...but where the fuck can we see it? It's not playing anywhere around here. Looks like another great film that will have to wait for DVD.:annoyed:

That Kubrick set is pretty nice aint it MZ?

[MinionZombie]

Hell yeah the Kubrick set is kick ass:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31iIAgCfQDL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

The Wrestler was somewhat relegated in the cinema where we went to see it. It was in one of the smaller theatres and the sound was fuzzy at certain points on the mid-right speaker - with all the fuss about it, you'd think they could squeeze it into a bigger screen by budging aside one of the three million showings of sodding Bride Wars. :rolleyes:

The Wrestler is fucking top notch though, absolutely top notch.

[capncnut]

if you enjoy kubrick, you really should see "barry lyndon." i know i've droned on about this to you before but i like to repeat myself.:D
The one thing people could never accuse Kubrick of is lack of detail. The visuals in 2001: A Space Odyssey are utterly remarkable, the same as Barry Lyndon. The art, costumes and overall feel blew me away the first time I saw it.

[AcesandEights]

Glad you appreciated The Wrestler, MZ. I was pretty much floored by the acting and script, even though the overall story is a bit pedestrian. In fact, the story being kind of run of the mill, actually worked for me, as it allowed me to really feel for the character even more, because I know it's representative of a lot of people who are barely holding on to the last rung in a life they've allowed to get completely messed up.

To me, however, the ending is really anything but open to interpretation ;)

.

[MinionZombie]

Ooh-arr Aces, then tell me (in spoiler tags) how do you think The Wrestler ends?

Rourke is just fantastic in it, and after a series of great supporting roles recently on his way back up, he deserves it too. It's like a mainstream arthouse Rocky Balboa about the 999,999 dudes who don't make it, unlike the 'one in a million' Balboa, if you will.

Great movie, highly recommended.

Capn - bloody nora, watching 2001 again on DVD (my second ever viewing) was just amazing - I was constantly floored by the detail and what they were showing on screen, I was bending my mind trying to figure out how they did it - or just giving up and just enjoying what was on screen instead.

The first time I saw it I was about 14 or 15, so a decade later I definitely "get" it better than back then for sure. A superb piece of filmmaking, mesmerising.

[capncnut]

Capn - bloody nora, watching 2001 again on DVD (my second ever viewing) was just amazing - I was constantly floored by the detail and what they were showing on screen, I was bending my mind trying to figure out how they did it - or just giving up and just enjoying what was on screen instead.

The first time I saw it I was about 14 or 15, so a decade later I definitely "get" it better than back then for sure. A superb piece of filmmaking, mesmerising.
The story itself is mindblowing, mate. If you wanna explanation of what actually happened at the end of the movie, I'd be happy to give it to you, that's if you didn't suss it out yourself (which takes a few viewings and a full read of the book of course). ;)

Arthur C. Clarke was actually stopped at an airport by a member of staff in the late 60's and told "you ain't getting past this turnstile until you tell me what the f**k happened at the end of that movie". He wrote the book shortly after.

But for 1968 it is an amazing piece of work. Barry Lyndon is right up there too.

[MinionZombie]

Keir Dullea's character is transported to another dimension (or what have you), as a result of the monolith (and what/who controls(ed) it) and ultimately evolves beyond his physical self to become "the star child" - essentially he's been birthed into a new entity.

As for the room - it's a hotel room (if memory serves) from his childhood that he remembers, and it's presented to him as a sort of 'comfortable' and familiar space as whatever/whomever controls the monolith (and all that jazz) evolve him/transform him/whatever.

The character then goes on to defend earth in 3001, if memory serves (from what my Dad has told me - he's read all the books, a big Clarke fan so he is - Foundation, the lot of them).

That's about it ... right?

When I first saw it, I had piss-all idea what happened at the end, haha!

[capncnut]

Keir Dullea's character is transported to another dimension (or what have you), as a result of the monolith (and what/who controls(ed) it) and ultimately evolves beyond his physical self to become "the star child" - essentially he's been birthed into a new entity.

As for the room - it's a hotel room (if memory serves) from his childhood that he remembers, and it's presented to him as a sort of 'comfortable' and familiar space as whatever/whomever controls the monolith (and all that jazz) evolve him/transform him/whatever.
Pretty f**king good for someone who's only seen it twice. :D

[MinionZombie]

Pretty f**king good for someone who's only seen it twice. :D
It's that thar film edu-ma-cay-shun I done got which 'elped, innit.

Yeah mate. :D

[MinionZombie]

A couple more recent movie viewings:

Madagascar 2:
http://deadshed.blogspot.com/2009/01/madagascar-escape-2-africa.html

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951):
http://deadshed.blogspot.com/2009/01/day-earth-stood-still-1951.html