Being Da**** *** ******ff

[muckefuck]

As part of my ongoing ambition to be the absolute last person I know to see the most talked-about films of the last ten years, I NetFlixed Being John Malkovitch for tonight. A little disappointing. I don't think it was so much a problem of not living up to the hype, but of the impossibility of comparison to The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. As monshu can attest, I had such a powerful emotional reaction to that film that I couldn't even talk about it coherently afterwards, let alone pick it apart. But BJM struck me as less engrossing and more gimmicky, so I had too much mind power free to find flaws in it, especially in characterisation. Catherine Keener's character in particular was too opaque for me to accept wholeheartedly. None of this is fatal, since if the movie were that bad I wouldn't be so keyed up thinking about it an hour-and-a-half later.

(I'm not going to bore anyone with my reactions to other musty properties; if anyone's really interested, feel free to ask. I'd also be willing to post a list and talk about any of the films you wanted to hear more about.)

Today was more shopping to prepare for the trip. If you need a set of luggage, you could do far worse than to pick up a four-piece (well, including fanny pack) at Nordstrom Rack for $100. That's less than I paid for a single new bag at Filene's. Not 100% happy with it, but I felt compelled to leave with something, since the one I've had has been crying out for replacement for half a year now. (Okay, a whole year.) I'm hoping that the fact that it's snugger will force me to be more organised rather than dumping everything into it like a portable automobile on a strap.

I've got more bitching to do about my Chinese homework, but I've been putting off that entry because it means typing out a lot of quotes. At least I've found some help in my project to learn Simplified characters: A Mainland guy who had to teach himself Traditional is trying to reverse engineer his mnemonics for my use. Pretty cool considering the contentions discussion of Trad vs. Sim we had some years back.

Comments

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

But the movie didn't just present the idea, it illustrated it in heartbreaking detail. You could understand how the protagonist gets to the point of deciding to erase his memories and--more importantly--feel the horror as the full realisation sinks in of what he'd done to himself. Our memories make us what we are and destroying them is a form of self-annihilation. This is well-illustrated in the reaction of Dunst's character when she discovers she's also undergone the same treatment.

I liked the complexities because they developed reasonably from the basic idea rather than feeling like a lot of tacked-on twists to keep me from getting bored at the 45-minute mark. At the end of the day, Groundhog Day is just a standard rom-com with a supernatural twist. Eternal Sunshine is a meditation on memory and loss that works at a much deeper level--or, at least it did for me. It's not a thriller, it's a philosophical film. Trouble is, we've been conditioned as moviegoers to expect the former even when we're promised the former.

[itchwoot.livejournal.com]

I couldn't really understand why Jim Carrey's character decided to have his memories erased as well - it seemed pretty random to me, he had no reason other than "she did the same and she's with another guy now, so I'm unhappy and I want that to go away".

I haven't been promised a philosophical film. Have you seen the trailer?
First, there's the supernatural component, presented in a comedic fashion. Then, they show a lot of happy scenes, mixed with some of the weird stuff and happy music. So of course I expected a "rom-com with a supernatural twist".

The problem is the visualization. It's a beautiful movie alright. But from my p.o.v., the illustration didn't help bring the point across, it more so distracted from it and utterly confused me as a viewer. The "frame story" arrangement didn't help either. They shouldn't have done that if the movie wasn't supposed to be a mindfuck à la David Lynch.

Also, I didn't like Kate Winslet's hair at all, it's yucky. ;)

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

he had no reason other than "she did the same and she's with another guy now, so I'm unhappy and I want that to go away".

At the risk of sounding utterly presumptuous, this is the reaction I'd expect from someone who's never been completely devestated by a breakup. People make incredibly bad choices in the depths of the situational depression brought on by being dumped. It makes perfect sense to me both that he makes the decision he does at the time and that he immediately regrets it when it becomes apparent what that really entails.

No, I never saw the trailer. My expectations were based completely upon reviews, so I had a good idea what I was getting from the start. If it's any consolation, monshu was so bored with the film, he gave up on it halfway through and went to bed. I guess the plot didn't speak to him either.

Yeah, I didn't think Winslet's character was All That, but it wasn't hard for me to accept what she represented to Carrey and substitute the reactions I've had in an identical situation.