tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post6955966301983585421..comments2024-03-29T00:03:18.432-07:00Comments on VINYL IS HEAVY: Viewing Log #40: On earth as it is [4/5/10 - 4/11/10]Ryland Walker Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09233954424885027837noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-91237214216523819842010-04-12T16:26:18.194-07:002010-04-12T16:26:18.194-07:00Ken, it's funny: a friend recently said, "...Ken, it's funny: a friend recently said, "_A Prophet_ is _Departed_ but serious," which is both a selling point and not in that I only really liked the farcical aspects of the Scorsese flick. But I'll still watch _A Prophet_, and I'll probably enjoy it. More on that later.<br /><br />Ignatiy, Yea, I gathered from others that it's different from his features but I still don't know if I'll dig the features despite the fact that making a film about people with people will undoubtedly be more "honest" than a film about people with a bag. In any event, it's fine, and the final line does sink in, but it's also only that, and a mixed metaphor. And I'm all for flipping a fallacy into something productive, but this flip just turns me off. (Echoes of _Wall-e_ and its bone-headed "message.") It's awfully rare (I'm thinking Renoir, mostly) that a flick makes me truly hopeful for humans and their capacities.Ryland Walker Knighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09233954424885027837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-78601587062996915162010-04-12T15:57:18.758-07:002010-04-12T15:57:18.758-07:00Ry,
It should probably be said that part of what ...Ry,<br /><br />It should probably be said that part of what makes Plastic Bag so interesting to me is that it's completely unlike Bahrani's other work (and I should add that I'm definitely not part of The Herzog Cult). So, if you don't dig it, I think you'll still dig his people-centric other stuff.Ignatiy Vishnevetskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877465254612151095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-4610135782837633992010-04-12T14:28:40.376-07:002010-04-12T14:28:40.376-07:00Agree with you on Plastic Bag. Just saw A Prophet,...Agree with you on Plastic Bag. Just saw A Prophet, my first Audiard, and really dug it. Gorgeous and smart and tense. More perfect, maybe, than The Departed, although not nearly as wild.Ken Baumannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12621073880755140131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-90052992206147966112010-04-12T10:01:12.290-07:002010-04-12T10:01:12.290-07:00Andy, thanks for stopping by. Yea, I suspect I'...Andy, thanks for stopping by. Yea, I suspect I'll enjoy _A Prophet_, but I don't expect to be blown away. Will, at the least, put up some quick takes in a log in the near future.<br /><br />That was the first Bahrani film I've seen. I am not clamoring for more. I think people make a fuss because it's Herzog's voice, mostly, and its ideas about the value of death and to that end the value of cycles that "immortal" plastics seem "relevant" or something. Lord knows it's accomplished, but it's also super simple.Ryland Walker Knighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09233954424885027837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-78039503705612511182010-04-12T08:25:01.547-07:002010-04-12T08:25:01.547-07:00Everything you say about Read My Lips applies to A...Everything you say about <em>Read My Lips</em> applies to <em>A Prophet</em>, too: it's supremely entertaining and, in its way, ingratiating; it's clearly Tahar Rahim and Niels Arestrup's movie; it has a lot of ideas, but isn't exactly either rigorous or free-wheeling. It's <em>bigger</em> than the previous two Audiard films, but otherwise it seems to be up to pretty much the same sorts of things. I can't decide what I want to do with it, so I'm looking forward to your thoughts.<br /><br />Also: I'm with you on <em>Plastic Bag</em>. What's all the fuss about, I wonder? Your <em>Wall-E</em> connection is intriguing, and might warrant further exploration.Andyhttp://thepartingglass.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com