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Two words for this poll: The Matrix.Think about it this way: How many of the symbols & symbolic references did *you* catch the first time you saw it?
saw it when released in 1968 at the Warner theater in Pittsburgh, one of the last great theaters, with a cinemascope screen and two balconies. It was a 70 mm print. I hadn't a clue what was going on, so I went out and bought the book. This was no help. Each time I screen it I know less about it.One of the things I like so much about this film, one of the things I find so chilling, is the complete sensual blackness--the total absence of sound in airless space. It is one of the most dehumanizing things about space, and an effect overlooked at the peril of great sci fi. Kubrick uses sound on a pallett unprecidented in the history of film--but what a unique opportunity: to use an absolute black for the color of sound in space. He sets us up right from the start, tantalizing us, forcing us to lean into the film for the first bits of sonic stimulation, gradually moving us into primate grunts and screams. We evolve auditorily along with his "apes". Then he lulls us with the Strauss, tricking us into dropping our guard, only to abandon us to the vast nothingness.
We as audiophiles feel the power of Kubrik's brilliant use of sound to manipulate his audience. Oh, but he's so good, I bet most of you didn't even notice it, ya, nitch var?
"HAL, open the pod bay door..."
This is a film for all time. A Masterpiece.
Perhaps Bergman's, Wertmuller's, some of Wenders'.How about RepoMan? A lot of commentary in the form of tossed off background conversation, "radio" programs, and other things which I didn't get the first time round. That comment about John Wayne wearing a dress came back to me when I later read about him being an infamous draft dodger during WW II.
Um...
Dr Strangelove,
Clockwork Orange
Gorky Park
Mononoke Hime
The Man Who Would be King,
The Cassandra Crossing,
Appocalypse Now,
Ran
Das Boot
Patton
Sichinin no Samurai
The Atomic Cafe,
Alien
Salem's Lot.
Nasferatu
Hellraiser
Iria
The Haunting
Fantasia
Excalibur
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
How the West was Won
The Wicker Man
The Lion in Winter
Becket
Eraserhead
Monty Python & the Holy Grail
Lianna
Ballad of Cable Hogue
Madadayo
Putny Swope
Young FrankensteinSome that are good to compare to the books
Bladerunner / Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Philip Dick)
The Thing (John Carpenter's) / Who goes There (John Campbell)
The Omega Man / I am Legend (Richard Matheson)
Clockwork Orange / Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
The Man Who Fell to Earth/ Man who fell to earth (Walter Tevis)
The Power / The Power (Frank Robinson)
The Exorcist / The Exorcist (William Peter Blatty)A few S-F I'd like to see as movies
A Canticle for Leibowitz (Walter Miller)
Lucifer's Hammer (Pournelle and Niven)
Ringworld (Larry Niven)
Brainwave (Phoul Anderson)
The Forever War (Joe Haldeman)
Mission of Gravity (Hal Clement)
The Fortunate Fall (Raphel Carter)
Bone Dance (Emma Bull)
Watcher's of the Dark (lloyd Biggle jr.)
----
you fill in the rest
This would indeed make a good film: vivid, interesting characters and a plot structure that would lend themselves very well to film. I've read a three act play based on Miller's book (forgot the author's name), and I'd be surprised if there weren't at least a film treatment or two.Now let's hope Kevin Costner has nothing to do with the project!
Yes, indeed it would... could even make a nice serial like Centenial since it goes from something like the dark ages to the beginning of space travel. Maybe even make a good anime OVA series... something like a cross between Record of the Lodoss War and Please Save My Earth. Watcher's of the Dark would make a good series too only as sort of a serious comedy... sort of an intergalactic Mike Hammer thing. Oh, another film to add to the view more than once list "The Name of the Rose"
as one's that I absolutely had to see again because I missed so much on the first go around:The Name of the Rose
McCabe and Mrs. Miller (still haven't seen enough of this one)
and who hasn't watched it every time it comes on:
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
I had to go and buy the script for this last one. I've found that in situations where I'm about to be dissed, slapped, beaten or killed, a few lines from this film are better than anything the NRA is protecting:
"Stop!
Who approacheth the Bridge of Death
Must answer me
These questions three!
Ere the other side he see!"Ask me the questions, Bridgekeeper. I am not afraid.
"What is your name?
"My name is Sir Robin of Camelot!
"What is your quest?
"To seek the Grail!
"What is the capital of Assyria?
...
My favorite from Python is Tim... he has such a blast blowing up the country side... then there's the scene with the monks and the holy hand-grenade of Antiock (^0^).Kinda ended like a Mel Brooks film though (always seemed he was great as starting a film but never quite knowing how to end it gracefully).
nt
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It is on my list to watch tonight. I have been pushing it back for awhile. Will report tomorrow, if it is interesting.
.
Movies like that make me lose my faith in mankind, if only for a brief moment.
"'The Matrix' did not bore me. It interested me so much, indeed, that
I wanted to be challenged even more. I wanted to follow its material
to audacious conclusions, to arrive not simply at victory, but at
revelation. I wanted an ending that was transformational, like
'Dark City's', and not one that simply throws in a sensational action
sequence. I wanted, in short, a Third Act."
If so, what exactly do you find so deplorable about this movie?
I have seen parts of it. I don't think anyone could force me to watch the whole movie.I am a bit sorry about starting this - usually I try to not make comments about other people's choices.
I don't know how far you would like to take this, but I am trully sorry "movies" like that are being watched. Plus their existance makes stuff like SPR passable.
Again, don't mean to start a war.
No offense taken Victor - I enjoyed Matrix, and parts of Saving Private Ryan, but I would be the first to admit that both movies are flawed on many levels and certainly would not feel compelled to defend either one.> > > I am truly sorry "movies" like that are being watched < < <
I dunno - I can think of some films that are a lot worse that pass for "mainstream" entertainment - especially those films that glorify violence as an acceptable solution for dealing with life's problems and kid's films that are mean-spirited or include inappropriate subject matter. I'm not sure what you specifically find objectionable in Matrix or SPR but they are IMO fairly benign compared to much of the tripe that passes for "entertainment" these days. (Starting to sound like a cranky old fart - or worse, my parents - "that hippie-crap rock music you kids listen to is garbage!").
It's a complex topic that can stir complex emotions - cinema as a reflection of our culture.
***I dunno - I can think of some films that are a lot worse that pass for "mainstream" entertainmentI suspect you are right.
***- especially those films that glorify violence as an acceptable solution for dealing with life's problems
I thought that one had all the violence you might need - but really, it is not violence that bothers me. There is plenty of it in the Clockwork Orange, with only one small difference - that one is a work of art. Meaning that there is depth and there is something behind the violence, in other words it is not gratuitous.
***and kid's films that are mean-spirited or include inappropriate subject matter. I'm not sure what you specifically find objectionable in Matrix or SPR but they are IMO fairly benign compared to much of the tripe that passes for "entertainment" these days. (Starting to sound like a cranky old fart - or worse, my parents - "that hippie-crap rock music you kids listen to is garbage!").Oh, I am with you on that old fart issue. However, the biggest problem with the Matrix is that it is very representative of things responsible for dumbing down of this nation. If you like, I would compare it to reading the comic books. One book is not gonna make you dumb, but you get my tilt.
***It's a complex topic that can stir complex emotions - cinema as a reflection of our culture.
It is a pretty good reflection, indeed.
The Wachowski(sic?) brothers are reported to be huge comic book fans, as is evidenced throughout The Matrix. If you ever do see the movie, take note of the freeze-frame/slow-motion shots. If the movie were condensed into a comic book, these are the exact shots (drawings) that you would make up the comic book action shots. Also of comic book note is the direct refernce to "Superman" at the end of the movie.
Interesting observations... I think we are in agreement on the major issues... perhaps my senses have been numbed from a steady diet of violent American cinema. I don't really perceive Matrix as violent movie per se as it takes place in a cyber-world and therefore none of the violence is "real" and all of the action is way over the top. I suppose it's easy to get desensitized when you see a character get killed every 10 seconds on TV...I agree with you about Clockwork Orange being a work of art, but find it sad that the violence that was considered "science fiction" in the sixties had become a common daily American occurrence less than 30 years later.
I have to interject that the violence in the Matrix and probably in many other movies should be understood symbolically by the audience. Unfortunately one cannot expect the mainstream to not take things literally, which is where problems arise...There is no spoon,
Andrew
what is it that you dislike about it? popular, lowbrow, whatever you may call it, this kind of entertainment is not new.was it the heavyhanded symbolism? that's a pet peeve of mine.
***what is it that you dislike about it? popular, lowbrow, whatever you may call it, this kind of entertainment is not new.Are you saying I should not get sad over something simply because it is not new?
.
Jodorowski's 'El Topo'?
.
- Blade Runner
- The Fifth Element
- Pulp Fiction
- Reservoir Dogs
- The Sixth Sense
- 12 Monkeys
- The Usual SuspectsSome people will say: Oh, I got that one right away! I don't care, I had to see them twice to fully understand what the hell was going on.
Sometimes you just have to see these films twice to catch all the good stuff
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