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AlmostAGhost

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Posts posted by AlmostAGhost

  2. Posted

    What did you all think of the music?

    I liked a couple of songs (one by Rumer Willis and one near the end) but mainly I found them completely unremarkable

    I'm still baffled why they didn't match music style to the era. I guess the '70s one was vaguely disco-ish, but that seemed like a real clear choice to be doing in a musical like this and they didn't.

    • Like 2

  4. Posted

    I watched the version on the Internet Archive; it was the 2 h 57 m one, with no music or anything.

    I loved it. I want to watch it again, taking my time, and focusing on the details of the narrative.

    But anyway, it's so huge and awesome and such a spectacle, I don't see how this could be left off the list. It was 1916! As I said in my Letterboxd, Arrival of a Train - that famous 50-second film of a train arriving in a station that baffled audiences - came out in 1896. That's what Griffith was competing against here. Imagine a world where everyone's making TikTok videos and then basically someone drops like 2001 on them.

    I know the story of what triggered Griffith to make this. But I don't feel much of that in the stories and final product. It's not all "everyone should tolerate racism!" in any way. So for me, that's really easy to get past in a way I wouldn't for Birth. If anything here, the "love and intolerance battle" message is laughingly simplistic. But then, if you're going to tell a story interweaving four epics in a way nobody had ever experienced before, a simple message probably is necessary.

    So yea, I'm with Amy here - I love this film. And I find its accomplishment and existence beyond comprehension for what I know about film from back then. I am a little in awe of it.

    • Like 2

  12. Posted

    Paul & Amy salute to 1942's Jimmy Cagney musical extravaganza Yankee Doodle Dandy! They analyze the film as a template for modern musical biopics like Bohemian Rhapsody, break down a bizarre proposal scene, and learn how the real life political views of Jimmy Cagney clashed with his subject George M. Cohan.

    Plus: listeners offer their thoughts on Cabaret!

    For Intolerance week, what movie set do you think could inspire a great mall!

  14. Posted

    1 hour ago, Cameron H. said:

    I don’t mind the title so much. I think the Berger voluntarily cutting off his hair for Claude, especially when he was so adamant he would never cut his hair earlier in the film, is effective—if facile— narrative shorthand. 

    Yea, that narrative part is fine, but to be the actual point they elevate to title status? Seems very minor to me. 

    • Like 1

  15. Posted

    I felt like adding, I hate that it's called Hair. It has nothing to do with anything. I know the relation between hippies and hair, let it flow, but it's such a stupid reference point for the film. Also it's just another aspect that makes me assume they're mocking the hippies. 

    How many of the songs could have been more interesting titles? Age of Aquarius? 

    • Like 4
    • Haha 1

  16. Posted

    51 minutes ago, Cameron H. said:

    It was listed as a goof on IMDB, and I didn’t notice at the time, but the tombstone at the end has Berger’s name, not Claude’s. This means that at some point the military discovered the switcheroo, but didn’t do anything about it.

    Weird. There goes my theory that Claude has to live his days as Berger, much like Don Draper did in Mad Men.

    • Like 6

  18. Posted

    1 hour ago, grudlian. said:

    The movie I think sides with Berger and his friends but they also come across as a bit ridiculous. I appreciate that it's not quite taking a strong stance one way or the other on the hippies. I wonder how I would have taken this movie had I watched it as a teen.

    Yea I wondered this in my Letterboxd. I truly couldn't tell. It seems like it's supposed to pro-hippie, but also goes out of the way to make them look pathetic. I kind of wish it had a bit more of a stance on this.

    But I did like it, it's super crazy. The songs are NUTS. The situations are even weirder. 

    But honestly, I found the deeply ironic ending to be really good. It's all sort of nonsense before that, but I thought it was a good twist ending. 

    • Like 4

  19. Posted

    On 4/13/2020 at 5:43 AM, Cinco DeNio said:

    That's good to know.  Thank you. We never see him in any other class.  The study group each takes their special subject to outline but I assume the students still have to attend.  Don't they?

    Yea, they would still attend. Outlines are basically little synopses of every case you're going to discuss: main facts, arguments, the final holding. Then when you're called on, you can have those at the ready. I guess it helps to do it via a group because it's so much material (I studied alone as best I could, I prefer it, but couldn't always avoid it).

    On 4/13/2020 at 6:46 AM, grudlian. said:

    I'd be curious how accurate this is to the law school experience. I'm assuming it's kind of the Platoon of law school movies where he condensed every crazy story into one group of kids. I assume there's some validity because the author was a lawyer. 

    It's pretty accurate. I think modern professors are probably a little less rude/argumentative, but the putting your knowledge on the spot like that in class would still happen. (Or did when I went 15 years ago.) Also what it really nails is how much it makes you insufferable, when this sort of overwhelming experience is all you think about. We didn't have suicide attempts at my school, but in our first year there were plenty of drop-outs, crazy relationships, etc., so I didn't take this as condensed as a Platoon. Felt all pretty real to me.

     

    • Like 2

  21. Posted

    7 minutes ago, grudlian. said:

    I'd be curious how accurate this is to the law school experience. I'm assuming it's kind of the Platoon of law school movies where he condensed every crazy story into one group of kids. I assume there's some validity because the author was a lawyer. 

    yea i am sure it's a little blown out of proportion/hyperbolic, but there is a lot of lingering 'have to make the first year brutal' sentiments out there by lawyers/professors. will report back!

  22. Posted

    2 hours ago, Cinco DeNio said:

    On the other hand I find it less satisfying because I know he has more challenging years ahead of him. If he thought the first year was tough just wait!

    First year in law school is the trying, difficult one. For various reasons. But it generally gets easier from there. (I'm a lawyer.) I've been meaning to watch Paper Chase sometime, I'll try to do that this week!

    • Like 1

  23. Posted

    Yea, I scanned briefly some reactions in the FB group and I saw a lot that were like 'I don't like it, but I get it's very important and should be on the list' conclusions.

    I'm sort of the opposite. I do really enjoy it, but I don't think it should be on the list. I agree with @sycasey 2.0 that it maybe lacks in filmmaking/storytelling. But I still really enjoy taking that ride with them and I think it did land on something, even if it's restrained to just a very specific moment in time. 

    That's just my personal reaction, I haven't listened to the ep yet so will hold on to more thoughts until I do.

    • Like 2

  24. Posted

    1 hour ago, Cinco DeNio said:

    For me that's very true.  Back in the 90's my dad and I got tickets to see Harry Blackstone Jr., the magician.  The show was postponed several times.  One time we'd even driven well over an hour to get to the theater just to find out it had been postponed yet again.  The last time we were getting ready to go.  My sister said "Didn't he die recently?"  We looked it up and, sure enough, he had, from pancreatic cancer.

    Harry Blackstone lived in my hometown! (Where I am currently self-isolating too.) His daughter was a year or two behind me in high school.

    • Like 1
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