Transformers is about a group of robots with the ability to transform into automobiles and various other mechanical things, who come to earth to find the Allspark, the source of power and creation on their world, which was long since decimated by war.
This is a wet dream for anyone of my generation... (continued here)
http://imdb.com/title/tt0418279/usercomments-568
all my comments... http://imdb.com/user/ur15766810/comments
Monday...an important Davey G post!!!
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
I’ve got a secret…a dirty secret.
The Secret: a movie I watched today.
I was writing, or trying to write a post about this movie but it just got so ridiculous I didn’t really feel like exposing everyone to what I thought about it. I did something that I never, ever do, and I actually read through nearly all of the user comments on IMDB about it. For some reason, this movie inspires a visceral reaction to it’s ideas. I admit, I’m fascinated by the way people hate it.
So screw it, here goes.
The basic premise of this movie is that the energy you put forth teaches the universe how to treat you--whatever you feel, whatever you want, the world has a way of making sure you get it, whether it is good or bad. Put forth positive energy, and good things tend to happen, and vice versa for negativity.
My criticisms: some cheesy production, and the ideas presented, as I understand them, are not new. And in all honesty, the assumption is that everyone who wants something is essentially good, with no bad motives or desires. Adolph Hitler can visualize the destruction of the Jews and it’s okay because he just really wants it (I stole this idea from Dan Savage in his book The Commitment, thank you!). People are not inherently good. They are not bad either, they merely are. The Secret is pretty much like watching an episode of Oprah except Oprah never shows up. Which is weird. (I actually think that Miracle Man guy they showed was on Oprah.)
One of the things that I think is so hilarious is reading reviews on IMDB and seeing how violently against this movie people are. I just read one that called it a “scam.” And a “lie.” Like they are selling Amway or something (but this site is more fun!) . Where exactly is the scam, or the lie? I just wonder what about this so plainly irritates people. (Granted, the internet is probably not the best indicator of opinion--I think people are much more likely to go on-line about stuff they hate then about stuff they like, but come on.)
I have read reviews that say how much this movie insults poor starving children in Africa and Jews who died in the Holocaust because apparently they didn’t wish hard enough to get out of their situations. I say this is bullcrap--if you understand Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, you see that self-actualization occurs after all the other basic issues of food, safety and security are addressed. (if you believe in Maslow, but as the internet keeps teaching me, not everyone does.) So saying that this perpetuates a “blame the victim” mentality is false. What it says is that now that we have come to this point in our history that we do not need to be hunting and gathering for our very survival, we can in fact concentrate on happiness. God forbid.
Yeah, I know, just shut up and play the damn keyboard.
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com
I was writing, or trying to write a post about this movie but it just got so ridiculous I didn’t really feel like exposing everyone to what I thought about it. I did something that I never, ever do, and I actually read through nearly all of the user comments on IMDB about it. For some reason, this movie inspires a visceral reaction to it’s ideas. I admit, I’m fascinated by the way people hate it.
So screw it, here goes.
The basic premise of this movie is that the energy you put forth teaches the universe how to treat you--whatever you feel, whatever you want, the world has a way of making sure you get it, whether it is good or bad. Put forth positive energy, and good things tend to happen, and vice versa for negativity.
My criticisms: some cheesy production, and the ideas presented, as I understand them, are not new. And in all honesty, the assumption is that everyone who wants something is essentially good, with no bad motives or desires. Adolph Hitler can visualize the destruction of the Jews and it’s okay because he just really wants it (I stole this idea from Dan Savage in his book The Commitment, thank you!). People are not inherently good. They are not bad either, they merely are. The Secret is pretty much like watching an episode of Oprah except Oprah never shows up. Which is weird. (I actually think that Miracle Man guy they showed was on Oprah.)
One of the things that I think is so hilarious is reading reviews on IMDB and seeing how violently against this movie people are. I just read one that called it a “scam.” And a “lie.” Like they are selling Amway or something (but this site is more fun!) . Where exactly is the scam, or the lie? I just wonder what about this so plainly irritates people. (Granted, the internet is probably not the best indicator of opinion--I think people are much more likely to go on-line about stuff they hate then about stuff they like, but come on.)
I have read reviews that say how much this movie insults poor starving children in Africa and Jews who died in the Holocaust because apparently they didn’t wish hard enough to get out of their situations. I say this is bullcrap--if you understand Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, you see that self-actualization occurs after all the other basic issues of food, safety and security are addressed. (if you believe in Maslow, but as the internet keeps teaching me, not everyone does.) So saying that this perpetuates a “blame the victim” mentality is false. What it says is that now that we have come to this point in our history that we do not need to be hunting and gathering for our very survival, we can in fact concentrate on happiness. God forbid.
Yeah, I know, just shut up and play the damn keyboard.
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Stranger Than Fiction
Stranger Than Fiction, starring Will Ferrell, is a new movie about an IRS auditor, Harold Crick, who suddenly realizes his life is being narrated as the main character in a novel that will end in his death. The sudden knowledge of his imminent death (minus the details, causing him to wonder as to the manner of it) results in the inevitable “Carpe Diem” approach as he breaks away from his number-oriented, regimented nature to finally live the life he always wanted, learning to play the guitar, and fall in love with the woman from the bake shop whom he is auditing, Ana, played Maggie Gyllenhaal.
There are some genuinely heart-warming scenes, notably the “cookie eating” scene between Ana and Harold, and the scene with Harold playing the guitar for Ana as a slow-building romance comes to a climax.
The idea of this movie is so fascinating to me, as we see the writer (played by Emma Thompson) stressing over how she will ultimately kill her hero, and seeing her hero trying to figure out if he is in a comedy or a tragedy (even at one point keeping score in a book as he initially fails at trying to land Ana). I have certainly stressed about how to end stories before, and there is not a creative person in the world who hasn’t experienced a form of writer’s block at one point or another. I think seeing Emma Thompson’s insanity, constantly envisioning ways to kill her hero, smoking cigarettes that she puts out mid-way, really drives home the frustration, and then the fear that you will “get it wrong” as a writer.
I enjoyed Dustin Hoffman (one of my all-time favorite actors) as the literary expert Crick consults to help him understand his predicament, who helps him bridge the gap between author and character. His constant coffee swilling and his chemistry with Will Farrell really worked for me. I just really kept hoping that the film would have a satisfying resolution, because it really kept a great premise going. I thought Will Ferrell was great--understated, not over-the-top. The film reminded me of Punch Drunk Love
crossed with
Being John Malkovich
only I enjoyed this much more. An existential dilemma? A plea to live life to the fullest? A goof on the voiceover as narrative convention? I just really liked it: Something quasi-tragic, sweet, and that makes people laugh--that has been my ultimate goal since I started writing.
New show announcement next week!
http://www.daveygandthekeyboard.com/
There are some genuinely heart-warming scenes, notably the “cookie eating” scene between Ana and Harold, and the scene with Harold playing the guitar for Ana as a slow-building romance comes to a climax.
The idea of this movie is so fascinating to me, as we see the writer (played by Emma Thompson) stressing over how she will ultimately kill her hero, and seeing her hero trying to figure out if he is in a comedy or a tragedy (even at one point keeping score in a book as he initially fails at trying to land Ana). I have certainly stressed about how to end stories before, and there is not a creative person in the world who hasn’t experienced a form of writer’s block at one point or another. I think seeing Emma Thompson’s insanity, constantly envisioning ways to kill her hero, smoking cigarettes that she puts out mid-way, really drives home the frustration, and then the fear that you will “get it wrong” as a writer.
I enjoyed Dustin Hoffman (one of my all-time favorite actors) as the literary expert Crick consults to help him understand his predicament, who helps him bridge the gap between author and character. His constant coffee swilling and his chemistry with Will Farrell really worked for me. I just really kept hoping that the film would have a satisfying resolution, because it really kept a great premise going. I thought Will Ferrell was great--understated, not over-the-top. The film reminded me of Punch Drunk Love
crossed with
Being John Malkovich
only I enjoyed this much more. An existential dilemma? A plea to live life to the fullest? A goof on the voiceover as narrative convention? I just really liked it: Something quasi-tragic, sweet, and that makes people laugh--that has been my ultimate goal since I started writing.
New show announcement next week!
http://www.daveygandthekeyboard.com/
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