So the Whale...

[Baby Punisher]

I'd call it a good not perfect movie, like a lot of movies based on plays. The ending was amazing imo. I might have given the Oscar to Colin Farrell but either way I'm happy it wasn't another musical biopic performance.

In terms of the role of the daughter Elie, Charlie is refusing to go the hospital as without health insurance it would cost a lot of the 100k+ he's planning to give to her after he dies. On the other hand, I question whether this is redemption or just the easy way out and a way to feel better about himself as he dies, which he probably wanted to anyway (I think "The Whale" his Ahab is trying to kill is really depression, not his eating problem). Living, losing weight and redeeming himself by being a good father to his daughter is harder. The thing Elie probably needs more than money is emotional support and the ONE person who believes in her instead of thinking she's a devil spawn like her mom. Otoh Charlie could also be somewhat naive just brushing off some of the nasty things she did like making the facebook post about him, and telling himself that she was trying to help rather than hurt the religious guy. He gave that kid a little too much credit as well and ended up seeing a nastier homophobic side of him, although by the end totally didn't give up on him.

Overall I think there is a lot of interesting character dynamics (I didn't mention Hong Chau's character who is enabling Charlie, and an angry person), but I credit a lot of it to the play which I'm sure is great, I'm not sure I totally love the mix of Aronofsky's style and the material compared to if someone took a relative low key and stagey approach. He made the film feel dark and claustrophobic which paid off at the end when the light was used for the ending, but I'm not sure how I feel about affecting the whole film just to get a better ending.

Put the hundred Grand in an account under her name and go the hospital Problem solved, credit roll the end.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

overly pretentious

 

[zombie kopitar]

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In Fabric thought it was like some amazing satire but it just felt like a Twilight Zone story drug out for 2 hours, we get it, consumerism. Don't even get me started on Spring Breakers

That being said, I just watched Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. Awesome movie, was like a Charlie Kaufman movie in a martial arts fever dream. Get why it was an awards darling and a24 does make good films, some people just stan them a little too hard.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

In Fabric thought

I will not go back to the pretentiousness debate, and I haven't seen that film, but I'm fairly certain that it didn't think. Nor that it pretended. I have seen a shit load of movies, and only two of them where I noted elements of concrete pretentiousness (I'm sure there's a lot more, you could even say that every movies pretending to being reconstituting the factual reality - the "this movie is based on actual events" type of things - is pretending to some degree, but I'm not sure it qualifies as being pretentious). A film that you feel is aimed at pretentious people is not pretentious. A film that you don't understand is not pretentious. A film that was voluntarily made to be abstruse or confusing is not pretentious, even if you feel it was made by pretentious people. You could say that a comedy that is not funny (and there's so many of those) is pretending to be, but again, it wouldn't be the film that's pretentious, at worst it would be the marketing campaign (unless the film starts with "This is the funniest shit ever").

 

[Shareefruck]

You can reasonably give your thoughts on a movie regardless of how much of it you watched, it just means that you might be wrong or change your mind later.

 

[zombie kopitar]

I will not go back to the pretentiousness debate, and I haven't seen that film, but I'm fairly certain that it didn't think. Nor that it pretended. I have seen a shit load of movies, and only two of them where I noted elements of concrete pretentiousness (I'm sure there's a lot more, you could even say that every movies pretending to being reconstituting the factual reality - the "this movie is based on actual events" type of things - is pretending to some degree, but I'm not sure it qualifies as being pretentious). A film that you feel is aimed at pretentious people is not pretentious. A film that you don't understand is not pretentious. A film that was voluntarily made to be abstruse or confusing is not pretentious, even if you feel it was made by pretentious people. You could say that a comedy that is not funny (and there's so many of those) is pretending to be, but again, it wouldn't be the film that's pretentious, at worst it would be the marketing campaign (unless the film starts with "This is the funniest shit ever").

So you tell me you're not getting into the prentious debate then give me an essay why it's wrong to call a film pretentious. Whatever dude, it's like my opinion man

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

So you tell me you're not getting into the prentious debate then give me an essay why it's wrong to call a film pretentious. Whatever dude, it's like my opinion man

Oh those 6 sentences felt like an essay to you? My bad. I just meant I wasn't going back into the back and forth on the subject.

As for the gif:

 

[Rodgerwilco]

I thought it was an excellent movie. If the point of art is to make you feel and experience something visceral, then for me, it accomplished that goal.

I love the very limited set and the fact that’s it’s based on a play. The entire movie, I felt like I was in that living room and kitchen with them.

Just finally watched this one and revisited the thread. I can’t help but to say this comment sums it up perfectly.

Visceral is as accurate a descriptor as any. The emotional layers of Charlie’s choices, how his life has panned out, how it has affected everyone around him… just so powerful. I thought every performer in the cast did an excellent job, but Fraser was absolutely phenomenal.

Haven’t watched a film that made me feel that deeply for quite some time, maybe ever. That’s art, that’s cinematic drama. What a flick.