Picked up a HD copy of “Animal House.” Before watching it, I caught a “making of” video on YouTube.
It was so very revealing. There was just an incredible magic in the making of that movie, all the right things aligning at the right time. Such a terrific cast, too. So many people who went on to be notable TV/movie stars.
National Lampoon was a comic media operation, producing mostly magazines. This was their first try at doing a movie. But it doesn’t show. Harold Ramis and others worked out a great system that made it all come together.
Seeing it again in HD is fantastic. Of course… it’s the late 1970’s, so there’s some sensitive racist stuff in there. But, all things considered, they handled it well back then. You can appreciate it in that context. But at this point, nobody could really do a remake of it. It’s a unique gem.
Yeah, quite a bit of tough-love / life isn’t easy content in this movie, but it’s good. My 5-year-old loved it, and watched it many times, and I did with him.
Been a few years since I saw it.
But if you like chop-sake movies, check out. Kung-Fu Hustle
Made about 2004
It starts out like a typical K-F flick - then it gets different.
I’ll say no more,
All the Best,
Jeff
My first thought after seeing this movie was to wonder why it was made. First, there have already been more than enough movies devoted to this character. I had to see it, due to all the hype and the many reviews describing the artistic and thematic merit in the movie. After watching the movie, I can only say I was very disappointed and perplexed about the many glowing reviews.
The movie features many scenes obviously inspired by the movies of Martin Scorsese, in particular Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, that were meant to be parodies of our society’s low regard for the “everyman,” and the violent ways that the downtrodden of our civilization often take their revenge out on those perceived as their tormentors. However, in this movie, the actions of the main character Arthur come across as just plain mean, and the scenes in which Arthur erupts in sudden violence that is supposed to be shocking punctuate much longer segments that consist of Arthur complaining and moping endlessly about his disaffection, depression and anti-social urges. At one point, he accuses a therapist of not caring about him, a view that is not at all supported by the behavior of the therapist. The end result is that I did not feel sorry for Arthur as much as I felt revulsion for him and for the people behind the creation of this movie. Most of the other characters in the movie do not come across as behaving realistically. They seem like characters carefully scripted to justify Arthur’s anti-social behaviors.
The theme of the downtrodden in our society being damaged to the point that they react with violence toward their tormentors has been addressed previously in movies that handled the material in a much more interesting and intelligent way, such as Monster (2003). In that movie, and in movies such as M (1931), and A Clockwork Orange (1971), the viewer is manipulated by the filmmaker very effectively to feel both revulsion and sympathy for ruthless murderers at various points in the movie, but I can’t say the same for Joker.
After all, the vast majority of the poor, the sick and the down-on-their-luck in today’s world do not resort to murder to cope with their lot in life. And Arthur doesn’t appear to even try to overcome the obstacles in his life - this is just a story that seems to want to glory and delight in Arthur’s illness, and in his violence. That message, and the way it is presented, don’t appear to me to warrant all of the critical and fan praise this movie has generated in some quarters. Neither do the artistic qualities of the film. The above-mentioned movies, and HUD (1963) are examples of movies that dared to feature unsympathetic characters, and with results that were startling, compelling, and groundbreaking thematically and artistically in their day. This movie is not comparable to those efforts in any way.
+1 with regard to The Florida Project. It was emotionally difficult for me to watch that movie, because the child’s-eye view of the story is presented in a documentary fashion, with no sentimental artifice or sugar-coated plot twists inserted to spare our feelings.
I had not heard of Fish Tank, but I will put it on my list - looks good.
Wow. Well, this is a movie that requires the right mood. It’s a very tough & wrenching movie to watch. Not a date flick! I’d say it’s like a WWI “Saving Private Ryan.” Premise — “OK, we need you to go travel some tremendous distance to pass on a message to someone. It’ll mean crossing treacherous terrain and you’ll likely get killed. Good luck!”
If there’s one thing I do have to say about it — the cinematography & editing is spectacular. It feels like one long continuous handy-cam shot. There’s hardly any breaks. It telegraphs that there would be an absolutely enormous field of old style WWI trenches for the set. I can’t believe they had to do that. Must be some CGI blending going on. “It was not actually shot in one take, but rather a series of continuous, uncut shots that were then cleverly connected to give the feeling of one long take.”
Anyway, there’s no “resolution” ending. This movie isn’t about plot. It’s about “feeling” what it was like on the German front lines in WWI. And man, did they deliver. It’s spectacular film making.
