The Road

→ in
Tools    
Page 1 of 2
12




meatwadsprite's Avatar
Profile
Posts
Message
Nice to meat you.
05-14-09


A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and, when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing: just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food--and each other. - IMDB



As awesome the idea behind post apocalyptic films are , there has never been one undeniably amazing film to fully utilize the ideas and themes possible. With Viggo Mortensen and a strong novel backing it , this just might be one of the best this year. Oh yeah and I happened to like the last Cormac McCarthy adaptation which won best picture (though of course we have a semi-first timer director on this one).

Release October 2009

Check out the trailer
__________________



Yoda's Avatar
Profile
Posts
Message
Administrator
05-14-09
I love that, when they need to film something which takes place after the apocalypse, they decide to film in Pittsburgh. Hell, in the right area, they don't even need sets.

Awesome. This should do wonders for civic pride.



Sleezy's Avatar
Profile
Posts
Msg
In the Beginning...
05-14-09
Hmm. I've been reading the book. The film looks much more like a summer action flick than the book reads. McCarthy's style is very subtle, quiet, and unassuming. I figured the film would feel much more somber and meandering, but this looks like a thrill ride. Maybe it's just the way the trailer is cut, but it does look like there are some wilder scenes than I've encountered so far. I guess I better finish the book.



MovieMan8877445's Avatar
Profile
Posts
Message
Registered Film Lover
05-14-09
The beginning of the trailer looked quite amazing, but the ending to the trailer looked like some action movie, which isn't a bad thing. It seems like they copied some of the trailer with I Am Legend's trailer, though.



Dill-man's Avatar
Profile
Posts
Message
He's called Tequila. He's a tough cop.
05-14-09
Originally Posted by Sleezy
Hmm. I've been reading the book. The film looks much more like a summer action flick than the book reads. McCarthy's style is very subtle, quiet, and unassuming. I figured the film would feel much more somber and meandering, but this looks like a thrill ride. Maybe it's just the way the trailer is cut, but it does look like there are some wilder scenes than I've encountered so far. I guess I better finish the book.
Exactly. This film should have more of a No Country for Old Men sombre feel to it. Seems more like Nicholas Cage's next movie according to the trailer. I hope they're doing some false advertising to get some unsuspecting costumers in it who think it's the next in line of the every odd month end of the world movie. If it is, I'll be gravely disappointed (I was expecting an Academy Award contender from such a good story and good actor).

We'll see.
__________________
"Travis Bickle: Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man."

Ask me a question, any question: Grill a MoFo: Dill-Man



adidasss's Avatar
Profile
Posts
Message
new and improved
05-14-09
I don't want to look at the trailer, but the stills look spot on as far as the mood and casting goes. Incidentally, I too loved the book. It's the first book I've read from McCarthy...



honeykid's Avatar
Profile
Posts
Message
MoFo Whisperer
05-14-09
So this has been pushed back nearly a year then?

From an article I posted last year.

John Hillcoat's drama The Road has had its release date changed after a receiving a negative reaction at a recent test screening.

Originally penciled in for a November 26 wide release, the adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel has been pushed back to December and could potentially be moved to 2009, says The Hollywood Reporter.

A film fan in attendance at a focus group screening of The Road told Chud that the movie was a "complete mess".

They said: "It was just a complete mess... the film never pretends to be interested in its opaque story, replacing what I assume would be literary details with bleak, miserablist moments edited together randomly, none feeling like they emerged from the same film.

"It might just be unadaptable, because after the first twenty minutes the rest of the film is a crushing bore of a foregone conclusion."

The Weinstein Company drama focuses on an unnamed man (Viggo Mortensen) and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) making their way across a post-apocalyptic landscape.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/a...-problems.html

Has anyone heard better news since?



mark f's Avatar
Profile
Posts
Message
Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
05-14-09
Yes, it was pushed back a year, just like The Soloist. I don't expect either film to garner any awards, but those types of films die out every year. It's just "funny" (not ha ha!) that BS seems to matter so much to people.



Sleezy's Avatar
Profile
Posts
Msg
In the Beginning...
05-15-09
Originally Posted by adidasss
I don't want to look at the trailer, but the stills look spot on as far as the mood and casting goes. Incidentally, I too loved the book. It's the first book I've read from McCarthy...
I'd recommend reading No Country for Old Men also, but if you've seen the movie, don't bother. They're essentially one and the same.



Sleezy's Avatar
Profile
Posts
Msg
In the Beginning...
05-15-09
Originally Posted by honeykid
From an article I posted last year:

"It might just be unadaptable, because after the first twenty minutes the rest of the film is a crushing bore of a foregone conclusion."
This is also a fear of mine, despite the fact that it suggests the film is the extreme opposite of what it looks like on the trailer. The events of the book do plod along like singular vignettes of a larger tapestry, and they work within the context of the book because they're almost like narrative journal entries. On film, if done improperly, they might just translate as disjointed, unremarkable scenes.

As far as the bit about the "forgone conclusion," I think that's partly dependent on who can view the story as a glass half-full. Some people can't see the possibility of hope over the next hill, and so the whole journey is pointless to them. I don't think that they're wrong, it's just a difference in personality.



tramp's Avatar
Profile
Posts
Message
I am burdened with glorious purpose
05-20-09
Originally Posted by honeykid
Has anyone heard better news since?
This is quoted from wikipedia:

Well, according to Esquire magazine's Tom Chiarella screened the film before it was released and called it, "a brilliantly directed adaptation of a beloved novel, a delicate and anachronistically loving look at the immodest and brutish end of us all. You want them to get there, you want them to get there, you want them to get there — and yet you do not want it, any of it, to end".
I'm at school and can't read his article (they have this "global lock" on esquire magazine... afraid the kids will read it....) but it's over at esquire.com

So is he a shrill for the studio or is it good?

I was also reading people's responses on imdb and they hate the trailer. Back to the idea of can you really adapt a book like this. I think you can by getting to the core of the relationship between father and son. We'll see... but the trailer does make the film look very different from the book.

I really think the book is poetry which makes it a difficult task to adapt but that doesn't mean this won't be a powerful film. I'm gonna bet it is and Viggo up for another Oscar nod.



tramp's Avatar
Profile
Posts
Message
I am burdened with glorious purpose
05-21-09
Here's the link that I didn't post yesterday:

http://www.esquire.com/features/movi...ie-review-0609

Interesting thoughts here:

  • He talks about the beginning of the trailer where we see the destruction. That is what is upsetting to the fans of the book, as that was purposely not explained. Looks like it will still be unexplained and I'm not sure how that will be in the film -- is it added to the trailer simply so people know what the film is about?
  • He also talks about how the father-son relationship is at the core of the film which is exactly like the book.
  • This reads like publicity for the film so I'm still not sure how good the film will be... but the bleakness of the film is addressed. I'd be curious as to how well the film does even if it gets great reviews.



CayceP's Avatar
Profile
Posts
Message
dreamer
05-24-09
Originally Posted by meatwadsprite
Nobody cares about his first movie , not even him.
Nonsense. The Proposition is a superb film, and many film fans appreciate it. Even if Hillcoat himself doesn't care for it (and if that's what you're saying, I would like a source), it's excellent.

In any event, I was pretty excited about this for a while, but the Weinsteins are apparently intent on crippling it. Hopefully it will still turn out great.
__________________
the angel stayed until something died, one more murder suicide



Iroquois's Avatar
Profile
Posts
Message
Welcome to the human race...
05-24-09
Just to clarify - The Proposition wasn't Hillcoat's first film. His first film was prison movie Ghosts of the Civil Dead, made way back in 1988. I'm still trying to work on seeing it - has anyone else actually seen it?
__________________
Originally Posted by Yoda
I really just want you all angry and confused the whole time.
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

Page 1 of 2
12