Hey,

The best new US film that I've seen in a while. Gonna see it again to see if I love it. It's a sci-fi story out west in modern times. Good story that unravels rather than plotted. Really good.

On 8/5/2022 5:42 PM, william ahearn wrote:
> Hey,
>
> The best new US film that I've seen in a while. Gonna see it again to see if I love it. It's a sci-fi story out west in modern times. Good story that unravels rather than plotted. Really good.

Oh no, I agree with Billy Ahearn! Accurate description of a really well
made movie.

On 8/5/2022 5:42 PM, william ahearn wrote:
> Hey,
>
> The best new US film that I've seen in a while. Gonna see it again to see if I love it. It's a sci-fi story out west in modern times. Good story that unravels rather than plotted. Really good.

I enjoyed it but not as much as I'd hoped because so many parts of the
story just lay there disconnected. (And now I've just deleted a
paragraph describing what I mean because it gave away too much plot.
I'll just say generally that the amusement park looked distractingly
phony and the park owner belonged in a different movie with his own plot.)

Still, the movie entertained and a few small touches were quite funny.
Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer were excellent as the taciturn brother
and the ebullient sister, and Brandon Perea was charming as the Fry's
version of a Best Buy Geek Squad technician. I liked the cast.

But I still say the plot should've been tighter. Oh, sure, go on, give
it a look. It's sufficiently engaging. And then it would be great if you
would please explain to me why this "unraveled" movie needed that
chimpanzee.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

On 8/27/2022 9:40 AM, Bill Anderson wrote:
> On 8/5/2022 5:42 PM, william ahearn wrote:
>> Hey,
>>
>> The best new US film that I've seen in a while. Gonna see it again to
>> see if I love it. It's a sci-fi story out west in modern times. Good
>> story that unravels rather than plotted. Really good.
>
> I enjoyed it but not as much as I'd hoped because so many parts of the
> story just lay there disconnected. (And now I've just deleted a
> paragraph describing what I mean because it gave away too much plot.
> I'll just say generally that the amusement park looked distractingly
> phony and the park owner belonged in a different movie with his own plot.)
>
> Still, the movie entertained and a few small touches were quite funny.
> Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer were excellent as the taciturn brother
> and the ebullient sister, and Brandon Perea was charming as the Fry's
> version of a Best Buy Geek Squad technician.  I liked the cast.
>
> But I still say the plot should've been tighter. Oh, sure, go on, give
> it a look. It's sufficiently engaging. And then it would be great if you
> would please explain to me why this "unraveled" movie needed that
> chimpanzee.
>

I had a very similar reaction the first time I saw it. Then I saw it a
second time and understood it better. I didn't necessarily like it
more, but I understood how it all tied together.

The reoccurring theme involves people trying to tame wild creatures for
their own use and things going horribly wrong as a result. That's how
the chimpanzee ties in.

Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
> On 8/27/2022 9:40 AM, Bill Anderson wrote:
>> On 8/5/2022 5:42 PM, william ahearn wrote:
>>> Hey,
>>>
>>> The best new US film that I've seen in a while. Gonna see it again to
>>> see if I love it. It's a sci-fi story out west in modern times. Good
>>> story that unravels rather than plotted. Really good.
>>
>> I enjoyed it but not as much as I'd hoped because so many parts of the
>> story just lay there disconnected. (And now I've just deleted a
>> paragraph describing what I mean because it gave away too much plot.
>> I'll just say generally that the amusement park looked distractingly
>> phony and the park owner belonged in a different movie with his own plot.)
>>
>> Still, the movie entertained and a few small touches were quite funny.
>> Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer were excellent as the taciturn brother
>> and the ebullient sister, and Brandon Perea was charming as the Fry's
>> version of a Best Buy Geek Squad technician.  I liked the cast.
>>
>> But I still say the plot should've been tighter. Oh, sure, go on, give
>> it a look. It's sufficiently engaging. And then it would be great if you
>> would please explain to me why this "unraveled" movie needed that
>> chimpanzee.
>>
>
>
> I had a very similar reaction the first time I saw it. Then I saw it a
> second time and understood it better. I didn't necessarily like it
> more, but I understood how it all tied together.
>
> The reoccurring theme involves people trying to tame wild creatures for
> their own use and things going horribly wrong as a result. That's how
> the chimpanzee ties in.
>

SPOILERS BELOW!!

I agree that one recurring theme involved the unpredictability of animals,
their failure to do what their “masters“ want them to do. OK, animals are
unpredictable, even domesticated ones like the horse. Don’t we all know
that? So maybe we learned something more insightful about this from the
movie? What exactly? Are we guilty of something? We saw that animals are
unpredictable and that fact just lay there.

Another recurring theme involved the willingness of people to chase fame at
any cost. The motorcyclist from TMZ was lying there incapacitated and all
he could think about was getting a good camera shot of his body in the
road. The main characters wanted to impress Oprah. The amusement park owner
clung to his childhood fame and was willing to put innocent lives in danger
in hopes of reclaiming it. The documentarian was so obsessed with
impressing the world with a shot of something no one had ever seen before
that he was willing to be gobbled up. Are people who chase fame guilty of
something? What exactly? Should people not chase fame? Should they be
punished for it as they were in this movie? We saw that people chase fame,
yes they do indeed, and that fact just lay there.

But I did enjoy the movie and I do enjoy thinking about it. It’s just that
the more I think about it, the shallower and less cohesive it seems.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

On 8/5/2022 5:42 PM, william ahearn wrote:
> Hey,
>
> The best new US film that I've seen in a while. Gonna see it again to see if I love it. It's a sci-fi story out west in modern times. Good story that unravels rather than plotted. Really good.

It was good, but you would think a cinephile like yourself would be more
observant. There were many good elements to the movie but the directing
itself was fucking fantastic. Every shot of this film was well composed
and well chosen. And it moved at amazingly quick pace. And used the
F/X extremely well. And showcased the actors extremely well. Oscar
caliber in my opinion, although I don't think the Academy will be smart
enough to pick up on this.

On 8/28/2022 8:42 AM, Bill Anderson wrote:
> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>> On 8/27/2022 9:40 AM, Bill Anderson wrote:
>>> On 8/5/2022 5:42 PM, william ahearn wrote:
>>>> Hey,
>>>>
>>>> The best new US film that I've seen in a while. Gonna see it again to
>>>> see if I love it. It's a sci-fi story out west in modern times. Good
>>>> story that unravels rather than plotted. Really good.
>>>
>>> I enjoyed it but not as much as I'd hoped because so many parts of the
>>> story just lay there disconnected. (And now I've just deleted a
>>> paragraph describing what I mean because it gave away too much plot.
>>> I'll just say generally that the amusement park looked distractingly
>>> phony and the park owner belonged in a different movie with his own plot.)
>>>
>>> Still, the movie entertained and a few small touches were quite funny.
>>> Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer were excellent as the taciturn brother
>>> and the ebullient sister, and Brandon Perea was charming as the Fry's
>>> version of a Best Buy Geek Squad technician.  I liked the cast.
>>>
>>> But I still say the plot should've been tighter. Oh, sure, go on, give
>>> it a look. It's sufficiently engaging. And then it would be great if you
>>> would please explain to me why this "unraveled" movie needed that
>>> chimpanzee.
>>>
>>
>>
>> I had a very similar reaction the first time I saw it. Then I saw it a
>> second time and understood it better. I didn't necessarily like it
>> more, but I understood how it all tied together.
>>
>> The reoccurring theme involves people trying to tame wild creatures for
>> their own use and things going horribly wrong as a result. That's how
>> the chimpanzee ties in.
>>
>
> SPOILERS BELOW!!
>
> I agree that one recurring theme involved the unpredictability of animals,
> their failure to do what their “masters“ want them to do. OK, animals are
> unpredictable, even domesticated ones like the horse. Don’t we all know
> that? So maybe we learned something more insightful about this from the
> movie? What exactly? Are we guilty of something? We saw that animals are
> unpredictable and that fact just lay there.
>
> Another recurring theme involved the willingness of people to chase fame at
> any cost. The motorcyclist from TMZ was lying there incapacitated and all
> he could think about was getting a good camera shot of his body in the
> road. The main characters wanted to impress Oprah. The amusement park owner
> clung to his childhood fame and was willing to put innocent lives in danger
> in hopes of reclaiming it. The documentarian was so obsessed with
> impressing the world with a shot of something no one had ever seen before
> that he was willing to be gobbled up. Are people who chase fame guilty of
> something? What exactly? Should people not chase fame? Should they be
> punished for it as they were in this movie? We saw that people chase fame,
> yes they do indeed, and that fact just lay there.
>
> But I did enjoy the movie and I do enjoy thinking about it. It’s just that
> the more I think about it, the shallower and less cohesive it seems.

You're like a Pavlov's dog. Shallower and less cohesive than what? Few
films in recent memory invite discussion like this. And yet, this being
the internet, you had to finish with something shitty! Pavlov would
have love it, classical conditioning at its best.