I should have expected this, really
Jan. 30th, 2011 12:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
floatingleafI just saw Vanilla Sky. And I am reminded, yet again, why I don't watch American movies anymore. Don't get me wrong: at first I liked it quite a lot, was captivated by the story, and couldn't wait to find out what really happened. Only to be confronted at the end by the same old, typical, patronizing, cliched, insultingly simplistic moralistic message that about 95% of Hollywood productions deliver. I mean, why? The plot really had potential. It could have been a good, gripping, realistic drama about a guy who loses his mind after a traumatic, disfiguring accident. Deep, meaningful, thought-provoking psychological stuff. Why add some ridiculous, phony, pseudo-sci-fi mind-fuck blabber at the end?... Just to reinforce the message that having casual sex with someone you don't care much about is wrong and immoral? Puh-leeease. People have random, meaningless sex all the time. It may not be very responsible, and yes, there is a risk of unrequited feelings developing in the process - but that doesn't mean it's a crime deserving of disfigurement or death. Most people get over it without committing murder or suicide. Now, personally I do feel that casual sex is pretty pointless, and I don't have any interest in it. But I wouldn't dream of enforcing this view on everyone else or claiming some high moral ground, suggesting that those who do engage in it are evil sinners. Which clearly proves I am not an American filmmaker... lol.
/random rant. At least I made a post about something OTHER than my own petty miserable problems, yay. I can sleep peacefully now. *sarcastic smirk*
/random rant. At least I made a post about something OTHER than my own petty miserable problems, yay. I can sleep peacefully now. *sarcastic smirk*
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-31 01:18 pm (UTC)*hugs*
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-01 03:10 am (UTC)I just find Hollywood moralizing really annoying. I think I need to see the original Spanish film that "inspired" this one - I want to know how much (if any) of that weird pseudo-sci-fi stuff was already there, and how much was added to make the story more attractive/acceptable for the American audience. Cultural research, you know.;)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-20 09:19 am (UTC)I've been watching the Millennium trilogy films, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, etc. I've seen the first two in Swedish with subtitles and am awaiting the third, but I hear they're going to do American remakes and I don't really know why it's necessary.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 02:57 am (UTC)EXACTLY. The thing is, often you don't even know that it's a remake until you've seen it, because the original film doesn't get half the publicity in the media (if any). For example, I recently watched a movie called Brothers, with Jake Gylenhaal and Natalie Portman - and only as I was checking out the "special features" on the DVD did I find out that it was actually based on a Danish film with the same title. It is as if the American filmmakers (or rather, remakers) want to take all the credit for a good story. Or as if the American public needs the story "translated" into their own reality, because they are not interested in what happens in other countries. I find that implication plain insulting. To me, learning something about various countries and their culture is one of the main reasons I watch movies at all; I want believable, universal characters/storylines, sure, but I also want the specific context of a place and time I may not be familiar with. That's what I find the most engaging. If every story I am told happens in modern-day US, then I will get bored very quickly. I find it hard to believe that the average American viewer doesn't get bored. Or is it too much of an effort to read subtitles?... Some people say it is, but really. I don't think I have patience for that sort of people. *snort*
I've been watching the Millennium trilogy films, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, etc.
I'm not familiar with those. Though I'm sure I WILL hear about them if they do indeed remake them.;P
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-19 11:55 pm (UTC)Yeah. Cuz... Vanilla sky remains a movie (ONE OF THEM RARE)I do really like. And I really HATE Tom Crise while also being impossibly in lurve with Penelope and... yeah... seriously, one of those movies, still - that I can watch for the forth or fifth time, always discovering somthing new...
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-20 02:01 am (UTC)Did you see the original Spanish film? I'm just curious how much they changed in the American version.
Anyway... I love your new icon. It's brilliant.:P
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-24 04:27 pm (UTC)Yeah, I suppose you're right in that its Matrix-ending isn't typically realistic. Though I think I never saw the rest of the movie in the way of a drama to begin with, so the Matrix-part was not that of a surprise, if I remember correctly. Maybe I should rewatch it again and try analyze it from a different prospective - it's always intresting to vision it from someone else's POV.
For the return of the quirky!self, there was a need for some new iconsies LOL
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-26 03:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-04 08:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-05 04:33 am (UTC)No idea. Maybe she wanted the story to reach a wider audience... or maybe they paid her better money in the US.:P