Movie of the Month - The Grey (December 2017)

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Movie of the Month - The Grey

December 2017



Hot on the heels of the last podcast is December's choice: The Grey. This one was picked by our very special guest, @The Rodent! And @Slappydavis is there as well, mostly out of scheduling inertia at this point.

There are three reviews of the film here on the site; none of them hated it, but they're pretty mixed about its half-measure between action and character study.

Podcast in the next post. What do you guys think about it?




The best way to get it is to subscribe with iTunes. The next best ways are to just download it with this link (or add the podcast feed into your RSS reader). Or you can just listen right now with this embedded player:




AWESOME! As I said before, love The Grey! I've seen it probably around 8 times. It has extremely high rewatchability. Without giving away too much of a spoiler, the scene after the plane crash when the one passenger is dying is VERY powerful and dramatic.



Yeah, it is; @Slappydavis talks about that specifically near the end. Tagging him here in case he felt like elaborating, since I think I ended up only using part of his answer.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
: Combination of this and Phantom menace convinced me that Liam needs an Oscar for playing bored so convincingly.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Who is the englishman - Rodent? Oh yeah, Slappy is definitely americano.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Lmao at the convo about the baby and the husky puppy


and then the stupid laptop took it back to the porny opening music

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH have to start from the beginning. Might need to wait until M r D can check out why laptop keeps doing this. So damn annoying.



We've gone on holiday by mistake
Good film. I find myself spending nearly the whole runtime annoyed that they left the plane and effectively went to a place with no defense though. I mean just block the exit, cannibalise the dead, snow for water (just like "Alive") and await rescue, happy days.
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You can't win an argument just by being right!
Good film. I find myself spending nearly the whole runtime annoyed that they left the plane and effectively went to a place with no defense though. I mean just block the exit, cannibalise the dead, snow for water (just like "Alive") and await rescue, happy days.
I know, right. There was a lot of criticism for that when it screened.



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
We're talking about the 2011 The Grey, right?



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
Yeah it was good. I didn't like how they saved the reveal at for close to the end:

The reveal that Liam Neeson's character's wife was dead all along. Cause I thought if they revealed it earlier, it would generate more sympathy for him earlier in the movie. We still have sympathy of course, but there would be more.

But either way, it's a very good movie.



You should probably check out the podcast, then, because Slappy's girlfriend realized something about that which seems obvious in retrospect, and which would probably preclude that idea.

I'm also not sure I understand the distinction between sympathy during the movie and sympathy when the movie is over, anyway. The only time to judge the film properly is once it's over, and when it is, we already have the whole story, and the knowledge we acquire near the end can infuse the character's story with sympathy retroactively.



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
Okay thanks, I'll check it out!

Well what I mean I felt that the story would been even more compelling for the main character, if we knew his wife was dead originally. Finding out right before the climax, came off as kind of gimmicky, like they needed to shoehorn in a surprise, for the sake of having a final surprise, when it would have been more of a natural build up to release the information earlier.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Yeah it was good. I didn't like how they saved the reveal at for close to the end:

The reveal that Liam Neeson's character's wife was dead all along. Cause I thought if they revealed it earlier, it would generate more sympathy for him earlier in the movie. We still have sympathy of course, but there would be more.

But either way, it's a very good movie.
i was saying to someone earlieri dont even remember it, and I watched it twice. Need a rewatch when I get home. Eeeek my watchlist is growing like a triffid.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Nice!


I didn't sound as bad as I thought I would
Hate my own voice


Tell you what though, @Yoda... that's some great editing


Hope we can do it again some time!
Hey what are you talking about, Rattus. You sound great. And I agree about the editing. Always feels very smooth. smooooooth. And no tell tale sign of the date line!



My review of the film

Liam Neeson is a trained killer of grey wolves ; its his job in Alaska to protect humans by killing the grey wolves that inhabit the snowbound part of the North American continent . He's an authority on grey wolves ; he knows their territorial habits , their methods of stalking their prey and can smell their scent from a mile away . All of which is very good---for his knowledge is going to come handy very soon.....

......Because his plane carrying him and others back to the American mainland crashes somewhere presumably in the northern part of Canada in the middle of nowhere with only grey wolves for company.....

The crash kills the majority of the passengers and the entire crew and leaves only 7 of them alive---all males , not a single woman.....

And cut off from civilization as they are , no one is going to come to rescue them---as the cliche goes , they have to survive against all odds......

And the odds stacked against them are truely terrifying---not only do they have to battle the sub zero degrees cold , but also many of them are wounded . And the blood from their wounds attracts killers from the icy wastes---the grey wolves , who else.....

The director creates a world of ice and snow and howling winds in a forbidding landscape where no food is available---and above all , the survivors themselves are about to become food for the terrible grey wolves . And the wolves are rentless---one by one they begin to pick and kill the survivors .

Fire is the only thing that can halt them , and that too only temporarily---and the fuel for that too is in short supply.....
The remaining survivors do get a macabre revenge as they manage to kill a wolf and cook him for dinner---a dinner greeted by the bloodcurdling howls of the other wolves......

Liam realises that they must leave the territory of the grey wolves to escape a terrifying death and leads them towards a river , crossing tons of obstacles along the way . But the more wounded among them slow down , and the grey wolves are ever ready to pounce on the stragglers.....

Grief stricken and driven to despair , Liam beseeches god to come to their rescue---and the non existence of god is proven !!! For no one comes to rescue them out of their living nightmare.....

So does any one survive to tell the tale of horror and death ??
Go and watch the movie for that.....
For I found it to be a decent watch , though a tragic one......

Verdict---three out of five stars .



Got a chance to listen:

I know I say this a lot, but I think you did a fantastic job. I'm tickled each time I get to talk with another one of you because you are clearly all so passionate about movies and MUCH more naturally insightful about them than I am. Even while accounting for the couple layers of selection bias (on a movie forum, and willing to do a podcast) my expectations have been exceeded by the guests I've been really happy with the discussions.

I am surprised to find out that you don't like your voice though. The most apparent thing to me is (obviously) an accent because that's what stands out to anyone that doesn't share the accent, but I also particularly enjoyed your tonal inflection. So I'm surprised because it comes off as very comfortable.

Re: The early death scene of one of the passengers. I think Yoda kept in most of the salient parts. Scenes where a character is aware of their experience of the dying process always get to me, and this was a particularly powerful one. Especially for how it establishes the main character's ability to be both blunt and empathetic.

This film was a lot better than I thought it was going to be.