Recommend a new or newish film you've seen fairly recently.

@msolga,

I suspect it was an important one for him.

He is shown as very concerned re the awful effect homophobia has ok young gays, and As having a real rescue drive

I have had various very sophisticated gay male friends fall for similar types

Also, I suspect the sex was great

Re the murderer....I found him quite well developed as a reaction formation type repressed fella

He also felt very betrayed by milk's using him

I t

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@dlowan,

Interesting, Deb.

I think I put that relationship down to a "rescue drive", too. Couldn't think of another reason for it, from Milk's point of view. Perhaps the sex was great, but I can only guess about that, going by the storyline.

Oh I thought the murderer was brilliant as an aggrieved, repressed fellow!... it's just that none of the reasons given: religion, thwarted ambitions, being used & double-crossed by Milk & the mayor, etc, seemed to fully explain why he'd resort to murder. He seemed too much the correct, repressed moralist for that. The murder had a "crime of passion" feel to it, so maybe there was something in the suggestion of repressed homosexuality? (Sorry, I'm not really certain of what a "reaction formation type" is.)

Actually (without knowing much of Milk's personal history, including the details of his death, prior to seeing the film ) I thought the unstable lover would eventually be his murderer. Unable to cope with sharing his (less than secure) private life with Milk with Milk's public life.

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@msolga,

I'll explain some more another time

I broke my computer somehow when I moved it lastweek, and I am writing on my iPhone!

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@dlowan,

You've broken your computer! Oh no! Shocked

You're writing on your iPhone! Shocked

You own an iPhone! Surprised

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I would like to acknowledge, though, the difficulties of making a film about the life of a fairly recent heroic figure to many ( The political movements of the 1970s are (obviously) still fresh in the minds of many people, including some of those whose lives are actually depicted in this film). Particularly since the struggle for equal rights for homosexuals has a way to go yet.

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@msolga,

[Well, let me see, I saw "The Reader" (Kate Winslet & Ralph Fiennes - drama) which was very good AND I also was very taken with "Taken" (Liam Neelson-action) AND "Eagle Eye" which also was very entertaining (Shia LeBeouf &Rachel Hollpman-thriller) and I thought (Burn After Reading - comedy) was hilarious. Clint Eastwood was excellent in Gran Torino & it isn't at ALL what you would expect - even after I'd seen the beginning - the ending was quite a surprise. Then there's the WWII era "Defiance" a historical drama that's good too. Cadillac Records (Adrien Brody- history) was a real smash & Doubt shows off Meryl Streep's acting prowess, tho I didn't like the story line, the movie was still worth seeing. Additionally there's "Pride and Glory" & "Seven Pounds" to be considered. It's a good time of the year for all the best movies to come out (prior to the Oscars). Plenty of good films to be seen.

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@Phoenix32890,

I simply MUST reply to Phoenix32890 regarding "March Of The Penguins". This film had me from the very beginning. It was so chock full of fascinating and little known facts about the lives of penguins, and what they go through in the "birthing" of a baby penguin. And BOTH PARENTS really have to do so much serious hard work & deprivation. In fact, I think
it's a great role model movie for anybody who's a parent, if they think THEY have it tough - they need to think again!! This was a genuine TRIUMPH of a film; and, my dear Phoenix, I couldn't agree with you more!!

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Saw The Reader this afternoon & find it hard to explain why I found it unsatisfying. The acting was terrific (particularly Kate Winset's Hannah), the cinematography was interesting .... but somehow, what seemed a very worthy subject seemed to drag. I suppose, that for me, anyway, Hannah's "secret" wasn't a convincing explanation for her crimes as a former SS guard. The Hannah I saw on screen seemed .. well, rather incapable of carrying out such terrible deeds, which she eventually took full responsibility for. Somehow it didn't seem possible, which made it difficult to be fully involved in the film. I did notice, though, that others viewing the film seemed very moved by it ... like the elderly, grey haired-gentleman who left the theatre wiping tears from his eyes. :

http://images.theage.com.au/ftage/ffximage/2009/02/19/reader1300_090219123445808_wideweb__300x300.jpg

Quote:

Synopsis: Though THE READER may boast the typical pedigree of a Holocaust film--acclaimed actors, a literary source, and an Oscar-baiting end-of-the-year release date--this drama has a significant... Though THE READER may boast the typical pedigree of a Holocaust film--acclaimed actors, a literary source, and an Oscar-baiting end-of-the-year release date--this drama has a significant difference: it focuses on a perpetrator, rather than the victims. Kate Winslet takes on the hefty supporting role of Hanna Schmitz, a woman who has an affair with Michael Berg (German actor David Kross), a 15-year-old boy in 1950s Germany. They spend their brief romance alternately making love and focusing on literature, with Michael reading everything from Chekov to Homer to his lover. Soon, Hanna abruptly disappears, and Michael returns to his normal life. Almost a decade later, Michael is studying law, when he sees Hanna again; she is on trial for her crimes as an S.S. guard during the war. Michael is torn between a desire for justice and his knowledge of a secret that may save Hanna. THE READER makes full use of hindsight and historical perspective. Based on the bestselling novel by Bernhard Schlink, the story is framed by an older Michael (Ralph Fiennes) who deals with both his personal history and the collective past--and guilt--of the German people. This is a complex film that doesn't give the audience any easy answers; Hanna is undoubtedly guilty of horrific crimes, but she is a multilayered character who is always fascinating and always human, thanks to the terrific performance of Winslet, who plays Hanna over four decades. Director Stephen Daldry earned an Oscar nomination for his work on another literary adaptation, THE HOURS, and he deserves more praise for this polished film.

Reviews, trailers, etc:
http://au.rottentomatoes.com/m/reader/

1 Reply

@msolga,

Anyway, it'd be interesting to compare perceptions with those of you who've also seen the film.

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@msolga,

Haven't seen that yet...but I did see Gran Torino and The Changeling last weekend.

I really liked Gran Torin...didn't really DISlike The Changeling....but was not very impressed.

Jolie's lips are a distraction!!! You can (I think) see the scarring left by the stuff that makes them so huge...but they kind of distracted...(a number of people who have seen it said that)...and while the film was interesting, I would have loved to see it explore things that it didn't.

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I had not intended to watch Apocalypto, until my brother gave me a copy. Curiosity got the better of me and I am glad I did. It kept me on the edge of my seat, all the way up until the sacrificial murders were taking place. At that point I realized that coincidence would save the main character again and again, and I relaxed somewhat. Still, I found the rest of the movie very good and would highly recommend it. As for language and history issues, I don't give a crap. Fictional films are not to be confused with documetaries.

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@shewolfnm,

That's the original one right, because it's rumored to be being remade now if I'm not mistaken?
I do want to check out the original. It's usually a good thing if the film is deemed good enough to be remade by Hollywood studios.

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@kermit,

i'd heard somewhere that steve spielberg was involved in the remake and that wil smith had also been mentioned

it should be a horrible movie, the original is fantastic

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@edgarblythe,

Unlike "The Lashin' of the Christ" where one knew the main character was not going to make it. However, I still see Gibson's sadistic fetish problem in Apocalypto even though he obviously tried to make it more conventionally entertaining. I recently watched a National Geographic documentary about the last of the Mayan super-kings and his son who inherited the city and was buried in a shallow dirt grave, all of his family members murdered and thrown into a sacred pond. It was far more enthralling, if still graphically horrifying, and had detailed information about what happened to the Mayan civilization.

Now I'm addicted to National Geographic HD channel, so movies have taken a back seat. However, I did recently and finally saw "Juno" and love the movie. What a great independent sleeper.

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@Lightwizard,

That film about the Christ made me sick. And, yet, my son in law felt that it was a spot on treatment of the crucifixion. I left the room frequently as it played.

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@edgarblythe,

Gibson's researchers pulled out every possible scourging out of the entire history of punishments in Rome, real and imagined, and decided to inflict them on their version of Christ, making them as gory and bloody as possible (with pieces of flesh flung up into the air by the barbed lashes, which they did not use -- they were rope knots). It made Freddy look like a piker. He would have died before he reached the cross. He was placed on Earth as human and was not Clark Kent.

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@Lightwizard,

Quote:

.....I'm addicted to National Geographic HD channel, so movies have taken a back seat.

Say it isn't so, LW! (the bit about movies)

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@msolga,

Hey!

I'm immersed in a bio of Harvey Milk.

I may be able to explain the dynamics of the murder better than the film did, later on.

Or not.

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@dlowan,

Quote:

I may be able to explain the dynamics of the murder better than the film did, later on.

Oh good! I'll be very interested to see what you discover, Deb!

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@msolga,

Just curious. How does the biographical account of his life compare with the film depiction? ... so far into your reading, anyway.

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Recommend a new or newish film you've seen fairly recently.

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