Reply to Topic
Let's not say things we can't take back.
Jinn's 100 Films of the 2010s
40. Jojo Rabbit (2019, dir. Taika Waititi)
Some people, I understand, were offended by this film. Personally, I think they probably need to get drop-kicked out a window quicker than Hitler. Some of the humor (like the opening comparing the Hitler Youth to Beatlemania) is deceptively scathing, some of it is just silly (the satirical banality of evil), some of it triumphant (Sam Rockwell's fabulous fashion sense). But the film also knows when to be touching, and exactly the line where these gestapo games are no longer a laughing matter. Our child actors, Roman Griffith Davis and Thomisine McKenzie, are no goonies but sympathetic idealists. You know, folks, the Nazis still don't win here. Calm down.
Some people, I understand, were offended by this film. Personally, I think they probably need to get drop-kicked out a window quicker than Hitler. Some of the humor (like the opening comparing the Hitler Youth to Beatlemania) is deceptively scathing, some of it is just silly (the satirical banality of evil), some of it triumphant (Sam Rockwell's fabulous fashion sense). But the film also knows when to be touching, and exactly the line where these gestapo games are no longer a laughing matter. Our child actors, Roman Griffith Davis and Thomisine McKenzie, are no goonies but sympathetic idealists. You know, folks, the Nazis still don't win here. Calm down.
__________________
"There’s absolutely no doubt you can be slightly better tomorrow than you are today." - JBP
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
Most of the people I run into that claim they are put off or offended by this film, haven't even seen it, simply claiming Nazis are no laughing matter. As if dozens of other films in the past haven't used comedy to process the horrors of the Third Reich.
It's a shame that laughter somehow became misunderstood as being an entirely empty gesture signifying nothing but a good time. Laughter is political, and it is a weapon. There is an enormous difference between laughing at Nazi's and laughing at the results of Nazism. Laughing at Nazi's, not only attempts to disarm the power they still have over us to this day, but helps squash the seeds in ourselves that can lead us towards such small-minded, cowardly, bigoted ideologies. It's like those who railed against the Life of Brian for disparaging the words of Jesus, not understanding the film was ridiculing those who misunderstood those words and how willing many of us are to blindly follow anyone who claims to offer a solution.
Ultimately, humours greatest value is drawing attention to all of the follies of being human, and how many events in modern history have been a better example of human folly than the rise of Hitler? So to all of those who say this is an off topic issue to be ridiculed, try and take a few minutes to look at what you are actually protecting by shielding it from a few jokes. It might not be what you think.
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
Hopefully, I'm not spoiling an upcoming entry, but while I liked Jojo Rabbit, I loved Boy, Taika Waititi's other movie about what happens when idealizing a father figure goes wrong.
__________________
Last Great Movie Seen
The Seven-Ups (D'Antoni, 1973)
Last Great Movie Seen
The Seven-Ups (D'Antoni, 1973)
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
Hopefully, I'm not spoiling an upcoming entry, but while I liked Jojo Rabbit, I loved Boy, Taika Waititi's other movie about what happens when idealizing a father figure goes wrong.
__________________
Most of the people I run into that claim they are put off or offended by this film, haven't even seen it, simply claiming Nazis are no laughing matter.
Ultimately, humours greatest value is drawing attention to all of the follies of being human, and how many events in modern history have been a better example of human folly than the rise of Hitler?
I actually prefer Hardy's take on Max to Gibson's now; I mean, Mel was good as the character in his own entries, but he still didn't leave as much of an impression as Hardy's sheer, animalistic intensity in Fury Road, if you ask me
33. Blue Ruin (2013, dir. Jeremy Saulnier)
An excellent crime/revenge drama that has a touch of the Coens' Blood Simple/No Country vibe in that Saulnier has a similar touch in plotting interesting contingencies - basically a Murphy's Law series of complications - mixed with a small-town realism. Macon Blair, our hapless antihero, is outstanding in unassuming ways.
HM: Macon Blair is also a promising filmmaker in his own right, and his debut, I Don't Feel at Home in this World Anymore is not as exciting, but a very good film in its own right.
An excellent crime/revenge drama that has a touch of the Coens' Blood Simple/No Country vibe in that Saulnier has a similar touch in plotting interesting contingencies - basically a Murphy's Law series of complications - mixed with a small-town realism. Macon Blair, our hapless antihero, is outstanding in unassuming ways.
HM: Macon Blair is also a promising filmmaker in his own right, and his debut, I Don't Feel at Home in this World Anymore is not as exciting, but a very good film in its own right.
31. Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013, dir. David Lowery)
Another example of a recent film about working-class small town rural America that doesn't condescend to its subjects (unlike, say, Hillbilly Elegy *gag*), this film strongly alludes to Malick's Badlands with it subject of young criminal lovers and Lowery's convincing rustic atmosphere (although Affleck's Bob is much more sympathetic than Sheen's Kit). Uniformly solid performances, with Keith Carradine perhaps at his best in a late-career comeback, and a surprisingly subdued turn by Ben Foster, an actor I normally can't stand because of his more hysterical, crazy-eyed tendencies. I guess he can actually be pretty impressive with a director capable of reigning him in.
Another example of a recent film about working-class small town rural America that doesn't condescend to its subjects (unlike, say, Hillbilly Elegy *gag*), this film strongly alludes to Malick's Badlands with it subject of young criminal lovers and Lowery's convincing rustic atmosphere (although Affleck's Bob is much more sympathetic than Sheen's Kit). Uniformly solid performances, with Keith Carradine perhaps at his best in a late-career comeback, and a surprisingly subdued turn by Ben Foster, an actor I normally can't stand because of his more hysterical, crazy-eyed tendencies. I guess he can actually be pretty impressive with a director capable of reigning him in.
30. Ex Machina (2014, dir. Alex Garland)
Clever sci-fi surrounding the nature of artifical intelligence and sentience. A Bezos/Musk-esque tech billionaire brings in a top programmer from his company to a secluded, extravagant compound to study his latest android creation and to administer the Turing test to see if she can pass for self-aware. Problems arise, secret motives emerge, intrigue compounds, Alicia Vikander steals our sentimental hearts and Oscar Isaac cuts a f#cking rug like Travolta.
HM: Garland's follow-up, Annihilation (with the real Natalie Portman this time
), is nearly as impressive, and probably should have been on this list.
Clever sci-fi surrounding the nature of artifical intelligence and sentience. A Bezos/Musk-esque tech billionaire brings in a top programmer from his company to a secluded, extravagant compound to study his latest android creation and to administer the Turing test to see if she can pass for self-aware. Problems arise, secret motives emerge, intrigue compounds, Alicia Vikander steals our sentimental hearts and Oscar Isaac cuts a f#cking rug like Travolta.
HM: Garland's follow-up, Annihilation (with the real Natalie Portman this time
), is nearly as impressive, and probably should have been on this list.
32. Burning (2018, dir. Lee Chang-dong)
The most fascinating South Korean thriller since Memories of Murder, it's a slow, moody and suggestive mystery evocatively shot with many ambiguous images. Disturbing and dream-like.
The most fascinating South Korean thriller since Memories of Murder, it's a slow, moody and suggestive mystery evocatively shot with many ambiguous images. Disturbing and dream-like.
__________________
https://www.imdb.com/user/ur53034975...=nb_usr_prof_0
https://www.imdb.com/user/ur53034975...=nb_usr_prof_0
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
34. Enemy (2013, dir. Denis Villenueve)
There's that scene in Prestige where, upon encountering his double, the magician instinctively kills him. It's a terrifying trait of primal human psychology. This film involves a similar fear/fascination with the doppleganger, even obsession. Donnie Darko done good here. And (sorry, Rock) that last shot is a scream.
There's that scene in Prestige where, upon encountering his double, the magician instinctively kills him. It's a terrifying trait of primal human psychology. This film involves a similar fear/fascination with the doppleganger, even obsession. Donnie Darko done good here. And (sorry, Rock) that last shot is a scream.
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
...I actually prefer Hardy's take on Max to Gibson's now; I mean, Mel was good as the character in his own entries, but he still didn't leave as much of an impression as Hardy's sheer, animalistic intensity in Fury Road, if you ask me:
And I generally like Tom Hardy. But I felt like he got overshadowed twice in one movie, once by the ghost of Mel Gibson and once by Charlize Theron.
30. Ex Machina (2014, dir. Alex Garland)
Clever sci-fi surrounding the nature of artifical intelligence and sentience. A Bezos/Musk-esque tech billionaire brings in a top programmer from his company to a secluded, extravagant compound to study his latest android creation and to administer the Turing test to see if she can pass for self-aware. Problems arise, secret motives emerge, intrigue compounds, Alicia Vikander steals our sentimental hearts and Oscar Isaac cuts a f#cking rug like Travolta.
HM: Garland's follow-up, Annihilation (with the real Natalie Portman this time), is nearly as impressive, and probably should have been on this list.
Clever sci-fi surrounding the nature of artifical intelligence and sentience. A Bezos/Musk-esque tech billionaire brings in a top programmer from his company to a secluded, extravagant compound to study his latest android creation and to administer the Turing test to see if she can pass for self-aware. Problems arise, secret motives emerge, intrigue compounds, Alicia Vikander steals our sentimental hearts and Oscar Isaac cuts a f#cking rug like Travolta.
HM: Garland's follow-up, Annihilation (with the real Natalie Portman this time
), is nearly as impressive, and probably should have been on this list.Also, Isaacs dancing was not lost on me either. I actually felt it was important to the film that he be good at it. Reminded me a bit of Sam Rockwell in Charlie's Angels in that it mattered that he could pull it off with an easy, self-assured swagger.
The "plot" is just a conveyer for one incredible set piece to arrive at another incredible set piece.
Unfortunately "vulpine" doesn't mean "animal intensity" so you missed the point I was making anyway, but sometimes, Stu, you really can make being wrong into an artform of its own.
I gotta be honest, this surprises me. I didn't think Hardy's Max left much of an impression at all. He was just sorta there for me, filling in for an actor grown too old to wear the leathers of a character he created and completely inhabited. Almost like a mannequin.
And I generally like Tom Hardy. But I felt like he got overshadowed twice in one movie, once by the ghost of Mel Gibson and once by Charlize Theron.
And I generally like Tom Hardy. But I felt like he got overshadowed twice in one movie, once by the ghost of Mel Gibson and once by Charlize Theron.
I get that, but what I'm saying is, a rabid fox has more of a screen presence than a relatively calm one.
Hardy is fine as Max, he brings a different energy to Gibson and that's arguably necessary when the film at large differs from the Gibson entries.
In that case, I think it would be fair for me to say that there is nothing inherently wrong with mocking Nazis but that Jojo Rabbit in particular is a bad example of how to do it for these exact reasons (e.g. it has multiple Nazis who can be considered sympathetic/relatable/redemptive).
Ugh, I've seen the same responses and its so frustrating. Of course Nazi's are a laughing matter. Has anyone ever taken a good look at the ****ing clown they followed? At the pathetic levels of empty pageantry they needed to disguise their moral cowardice? Is it really an acceptable level of cultural retribution to only portray them as the ultimate avatar of villainy, and skip on our opportunity to also throw a few cream pies in their faces, or show them having the ass of their pants split mid-goosestep? Nazi's are the perfect mix of being pitiful without even the slightest redemptive qualities, which makes them the absolute ideal target for comedy.
It's a shame that laughter somehow became misunderstood as being an entirely empty gesture signifying nothing but a good time. Laughter is political, and it is a weapon. There is an enormous difference between laughing at Nazi's and laughing at the results of Nazism. Laughing at Nazi's, not only attempts to disarm the power they still have over us to this day, but helps squash the seeds in ourselves that can lead us towards such small-minded, cowardly, bigoted ideologies. It's like those who railed against the Life of Brian for disparaging the words of Jesus, not understanding the film was ridiculing those who misunderstood those words and how willing many of us are to blindly follow anyone who claims to offer a solution.
Ultimately, humours greatest value is drawing attention to all of the follies of being human, and how many events in modern history have been a better example of human folly than the rise of Hitler? So to all of those who say this is an off topic issue to be ridiculed, try and take a few minutes to look at what you are actually protecting by shielding it from a few jokes. It might not be what you think.
It's a shame that laughter somehow became misunderstood as being an entirely empty gesture signifying nothing but a good time. Laughter is political, and it is a weapon. There is an enormous difference between laughing at Nazi's and laughing at the results of Nazism. Laughing at Nazi's, not only attempts to disarm the power they still have over us to this day, but helps squash the seeds in ourselves that can lead us towards such small-minded, cowardly, bigoted ideologies. It's like those who railed against the Life of Brian for disparaging the words of Jesus, not understanding the film was ridiculing those who misunderstood those words and how willing many of us are to blindly follow anyone who claims to offer a solution.
Ultimately, humours greatest value is drawing attention to all of the follies of being human, and how many events in modern history have been a better example of human folly than the rise of Hitler? So to all of those who say this is an off topic issue to be ridiculed, try and take a few minutes to look at what you are actually protecting by shielding it from a few jokes. It might not be what you think.
__________________
I really just want you all angry and confused the whole time.
X
Favorite Movies
|
|