I watched Jack Clayton's The Innocents 2 nights ago and it was extraordinary.
There were some chilling and eerie scenes in this film, esp. in that one extended scene which those of you who have seen it know what I'm talking about.
Totally worth purchasing during this sale.
I would think The Univited would make a great companion piece to this.
I just watched The Horse Soldiers and was so impressed by it I just had to post. All I had read prior to viewing the film was how it was "lesser" Ford and a problematic film, but that's not what I saw. I saw a fantastic Civil War film with a great, engaging story and two excellent performances from John Wayne and William Holden. I found the blu of this in the bargain bin at Walmart and it's a real gem. Not many people have seen this one as it's distribution (and quality) has been so shoddy in the past. Pick this one up if you haven't!
I just finished watching the Criterion Blu-ray of The Big Chill and am now going through the extras.
I don't really feel like writing a cohesive User Review for this movie, so I'll just ramble for a while.
JoBeth Williams, who plays Karen in The Big Chill, starred in Tobe Hooper's Poltergeist, which was released the previous year. These two films are quite different in terms of plot developments, but they would nonetheless make for a fitting double feature. I've always been a huge fan of Poltergeist, and, whenever I watch the movie, I get the impression that the husband, played by Craig T. Nelson, and the wife, played by Williams, were free-thinking hippie types when they first met, and that they are still somewhat bewildered that they have grown up to be average yuppie parents living in a cookie-cutter suburban subdivision. The Big Chill is centered around this bewilderment, with its story of thirtysomethings who each ponder the compromises that they have made to survive in the real world when they are reunited with college friends who knew them when they were optimistic that they would never make compromises.
When I was a teenager, my friends and I listened to Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, and Black Flag while we skateboarded on crude wooden ramps in our driveways, and we always promised that we would never grow up to be "posers." Whenever I'm reunited with these friends, we chuckle at those memories, and we are amused that we grew up to be just like our parents after all. People usually make compromises in their adult lives, because a life without compromise can be a lonely life, as Enid and Seymour in Terry Zwigoff's Ghost World might tell us, and as Alex, the never-present, but nonetheless central character in The Big Chill would presumably tell us.
I'm 42 years old, and I find that some of the most scathing reviews of The Big Chill come from people in my generation, who were 11 years old or so when the movie was released. Indeed, I think that The Big Chill is an easy film to dismiss. Unlike most Criterion titles, The Big Chill merely grazes the brain instead of leaving a lasting mental scar. The soundtrack of popular but innocuous 1960s songs has become synonymous with lazy complacency (hence the jab against this film in Stephen Frears's High Fidelity). More than anything, The Big Chill is a "safe and comfortable" movie, in the same way that the characters in the film have grown up to lead fairly safe and comfortable lives. In so many ways, this movie is the cinematic equivalent of the office secretaries who listen to adult contemporary radio stations all day and have the posters of the kittens on the tree branches with the caption, "Hang in there!"
The more that I think about it, though, I suspect that the above criticisms of The Big Chill are part of the intended point of the film. It's an easy movie to watch, and the interactions have a flow to them that is just as effortlessly comfortable as the Nike shoes that are gifted to each of the characters. The ease to which most of us can settle into the groove of this movie might well represent our natural inclination to settle into things that are familiar and easygoing instead of being constantly challenged. The Big Chill might not send the same spike into my mind that Criterion titles like Ivan's Childhood or Insomnia do, but I nonetheless find the movie engaging and infinitely relatable. It strikes me as Lawrence Kasdan's way of telling us that we too will eventually conform for the sake of comfort.
Now, I do not relate to the aged 1960s radical aspect of the story in The Big Chill, but I do relate to movie's general observations about growing up in the real world. I find it best to view the movie, as Lawrence Kasdan himself states in one of the supplementary features, as a story that really has nothing to do with its specific time period.
Although The Big Chill is a movie that the part of me who enjoys John Hughes films, slasher movies, and sci-fi movies from the 1980s is inclined to ridicule, I find that it hits the sweet spot of my nostalgia for that decade in the same way that those other movies do. Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote the screenplays for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark, and helmed movies like Body Heat and Silverado, was at the top of his game here in terms of the ability to give films a lightening fast pace by way of witty dialogue and camera placement. It's also fun for this 1980s kid to watch the ensemble of young actors (William Hurt, Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, Meg Tilly, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, JoBeth Williams, etc.) work their magic. I also get a kick out of the Magnum P.I./Riptide/The A-Team vibe of the television show for Tom Berenger's character.
One sequence in The Big Chill really makes me want to watch the Harryhausen film, It Came from Beneath the Sea, again.
In the end, The Big Chill is almost like a seemingly conventional, but effortlessly listenable new release by an old band like U2 or Aerosmith, where my brain tells me that the songs are bad, but my ears tell me that the songs are good.
Nice write up, Great Owl. I watched The Big Chill on a whim quite a while ago and was quietly knocked out by it. You're right, if you're really looking and it on the surface, it could be pretty easy to dismiss. But I think it covers a lot of ground in an extremely nuanced fashion. It's been a while so I don't know how intelligently I could speak of it, but I also found it a subtle examination of the Reagan years and damage that his presidency did on the psyche of a generation. It's a great film.
I watched Safe tonight and I thought it was a decent enough film. I partially expected more despite having absolutely no idea what it was about. I believe a rewatch is in order for me. The 4K restoration will help definitely assist in my viewing experience, as will my better grasp of the film as an allegory for
[Show spoiler]emptiness and modernization.
Still, the film is incredibly haunting and sticks with you.
I totally agree on the restraint thing and Nolan. I thought Following and Memento were two of his best if not his two best, and I wonder if that was partly because he had to be careful with money. It seems like the more successful he's become, the fewer restraints there are on him. And the weaker his films are getting. I think he needs to be restrained.
I was expecting complicated story gimmicks in Interstellar, along the lines of Inception,
[Show spoiler]so I was pretty happy that wasn't the case
. What worked so well in a movie like Following starts to get old when it's a standard go-to. But here, if there's one movie cliche that Interstellar missed, I don't know what it was, and I was honestly embarrassed for the actors at some of the lines they had to deliver. Some lines sounded like a sophomore physics lab report.
And I thought the music had that same heavy-handed quality to it.
Idea for drinking game: One shot of bourbon for every movie cliche you spot in Interstellar.
Idea for drinking game for light drinkers: One shot of bourbon for every innovation in the film.
We should be posting our thoughts on Interstellar in another thread but thanks for your thoughts.
I feel there is a curse that strikes movie directors if they're not careful, and that is, the more one has, the more one uses, but the less effective it becomes. So "more is actually less" when it comes to Nolan, because he doesn't seem to use restraint, like I said, on his productions and stories. I think he and his brother crammed as much as they possibly could into the most ultimate science fiction story they could come up with, but its really a tad insane. Yes, this film's scope was more ambitious than Cuaron's Gravity, and its odd because at times this film, Interstellar, reminded me of Gravity, so its interesting how Nolan borrows and possibly even "rips off" other sci fi films.
One last thing for now... a close friend of mine posted his thoughts on Interstellar last night on his Facebook page, and this is what he wrote:
Quote:
Ok "Interstellar," this generation's 2001, or a trans-dimensional farce? Idk where to begin…entertaining, at least for a while, some kind of strange mixture between "heart of darkness" and "Promiseland," but with far too many (temporal-mechanical, hehe) plot holes to pursue here, and as if to counteract the pseudo-scientific concepts being served up, with warnings of environmental irresponsibility, to idiocratic American audiences (no Nolan, a 'tesseract' has nothing to do with time, it's a 3D rendering of a 4th PHYSICAL dimension), a seemingly superfluous emotional storyline is clumsily spilled over the standard sci-fi action sequences (see Gravity or Armageddon) that includes a ridiculous couple of scenes with I won't say who, but what?! Nevertheless it makes you think for a few minutes, after you're done crying that is, until you realize how untenable the science actually is (is elementary physics that hard?), and lacking any meaningful ending or reasonable sense of closure (aside from the overused fragment of a poem by Dylan Thomas which somehow justifies the whole adventure, again what? Does this help the story?...), one is left to wonder what the hell happened to the 3 hours of time this thing took to unravel, and after my mind cleared from all the ponderous, lopsided 'ideas' that distracted me from the unfolding drama, I was left feeling a quiet sense of not quite dread, but bewilderment, and wishing that this portion of my recent memory could somehow be erased, or maybe simply lost into this black hole of a film (my dreams tonight will no doubt sweep this overrated event into the dustbins of forgotten film experiences)... Sorry, this is no 2001, it's not even a 2010, it maybe ranks up there with "Prometheus" at best, but can Star Wars VII do anything to resurrect this ailing film genre?
Nice write up, Great Owl. I watched The Big Chill on a whim quite a while ago and was quietly knocked out by it. You're right, if you're really looking and it on the surface, it could be pretty easy to dismiss. But I think it covers a lot of ground in an extremely nuanced fashion. It's been a while so I don't know how intelligently I could speak of it, but I also found it a subtle examination of the post-Reagan years and damage that his presidency did on the psyche of a generation. It's a great film.
I am of that generation and my psyche did just fine. But thanks for generalizing and assigning an assumed universal viewpoint to us all.
I agree with you it is a great film, and I appreciate Owl's write up for its perceptive assessment. He is spot on in that Kasdan's story itself is timeless. Responsibilities as we age change us all, and the universal theme of The Big Chill is the compromises we make with ourselves to accommodate them on the road to our graves.
I agree usually, Antichrist got it SO right score wise, simple, subtle but eery sounds to back up the imagery and dialogue - perfection.
But for me the LOUD and in your face soundtrack worked so well for me and actually made the film better in my opinion, some scenes could have come across so corny and blughh, but his beautiful and powerful score really changed that for me. The score captured the moments and emotion in the film - big, complex and beautiful.
I wouldn't have changed the score or how it was used in anyway, it became its own character and played a huge part of the film.
As much as I love Black Swan and the soundtrack, its one of those films where it was used so poorly, it was used in scenes that didn't need it which ruined the tension and atmosphere, for Black Swan I would have used the score at only certain points an not used it on most scenes, like really cut back.
i've literally been playing nothing but the Interstellar score since I got it and I am in love haha.
I agree about the Interstellar score! It's gorgeous, evocative and deeply moving. Disagree about Black Swan tho. After attending the opening midnight showing I went home and purchased the soundtrack on iTunes immediately. Loved it too much, and thought it did a great job underlining the nervy energy of the film, and following Nina's psychological breakdown.
I also found it a subtle examination of the post-Reagan years and damage that his presidency did on the psyche of a generation. It's a great film.
huh? Reagan was in office from '81 through '89.
regarding the film, I found it pleasant and it held my interest reasonably well. I must admit, though, that had Criterion not released this film, I never would have bothered to see it.
I felt that some of the assertions the film attempts to make about life are rather false. the film doesn't have much to say at all, really, considering the premise. please don't ask me to expound either because I don't recall. pleasant, but not very memorable.
and the soundtrack?? keep it. but that's the snob in me. some good music to be sure, but a lot of those tunes are so ubiquitous that the whole, "oh, man.. remember when we were in college and enjoyed this song?!" thing is kinda silly.
Nice write up, Great Owl. I watched The Big Chill on a whim quite a while ago and was quietly knocked out by it. You're right, if you're really looking and it on the surface, it could be pretty easy to dismiss. But I think it covers a lot of ground in an extremely nuanced fashion. It's been a while so I don't know how intelligently I could speak of it, but I also found it a subtle examination of the post-Reagan years and damage that his presidency did on the psyche of a generation. It's a great film.
One minor problem with your analysis...this movie was made in 1983, when REAGAN WAS STILL PRESIDENT, finishing his first term in office...otherwise, I have no problems with your assessment of this terrific dark comedy, which I saw during its original theatrical run...
I'm starting to realize, by the way, such as with my above posting, that I shouldn't have to feel the need to own or purchase films in order to watch them, especially if I'll only see the film once. I feel that Amour will be a one-time viewing for me for the foreseeable future.
Is this a lesson I am finally starting to learn?
if I can pick up a movie for 8 bucks or less, then usually I am content just buying it even if my hunch is that I'll only see it once. of the hundred or so titles I have - for the ones that I found enjoyable, my gut tells me that they'll will be revisited again at some point in my life.
there were a few that I plain disliked and those get sold off.
Ha, I certainly don't mean EVERYone from that generation. But I think the film has politics, particularly the Reagan administration, on it's mind.
Actually, the generation in The Big Chill are baby boomers of the 1960s now moving into new phases of life. For a certain segment of that generation, Reagan was something they could never accept, although the film was made only two years into Reagan's administration so I question the gravity of that particular political slant being applied to it. Characters making observations about lifestyle and values shifts in their own lives, later often associated by the media with the newly coined term yuppies, isn't a negative comment on Reagan. The film is more about changing perspectives and recognizing our responsibilities to others and not just to ourselves. This is why, as Kasdan notes and Owl points out, the film is not uniquely rooted in any specific time period.
Me, I'm a Gen-Xer who came of age in my late teens and 20s as part of the Reagan generation. I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark, Predator, and Top Gun in a theater; rocked out to The Pretenders, The Talking Heads, The Call, AC/DC, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and New Wave and "hair" bands; thought VHS was the coolest thing ever; made my living as a bartender for several years; and had a mullet for awhile. The 1980s were pretty awesome.
I finally opened and watched my copy of Howard's End tonight, and am at a loss as how to judge the quality of my disc. It played all the way through, but I was pretty appalled by the "video noise" (some speckling and banding) in several of the scenes, especially those with dark shadows. (I was unpleasantly reminded of the "laser rot" that eventually infected so many of my LaserDiscs.) Although the disc wasn't unwatchable, I was left wishing that the movie looked as clear as the bulk of the more recently produced supplementary features.
I checked several websites, and there seems to be a lot of controversy surrounding this particular Criterion release. So I thought I would ask all of you, whom I trust more than the average viewer: should I simply be happy with the disc I have, or is there a "flawless" pressing of this film that might make an exchange worthwhile?
P.S. I purchased my copy directly from Amazon USA on June 13, 2013, so I'm guessing it's probably from a later pressing ...
Thanks for the review. I ended up going to see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 yesterday instead of going to see Interstellar. Mockingjay - Part 1 is good, but the pacing suffers because of the studio's decision to split the third book into two movies. Jennifer Lawrence, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, and the others are all great in their roles, but the movie itself seems padded compared to the vastly superior previous films.
I wrapped up the Vincent Price Collection II box set this weekend, and then watched House of Wax (also starring Price) and Mario Bava's Planet of the Vampires. In a few minutes, though, I'm about to return to Criterion territory with The Big Chill.
Huh, I felt that the pacing was fine on this one. It's also the new trend to split the last novel into two films for blockbuster teen films. I think the pacing worked, and the slight changes from the novel as well. Next film's going to be all out action and war, similar to the last two Harry Potter films. This one was darker and more adult.
but I also found it a subtle examination of the post-Reagan years and damage that his presidency did on the psyche of a generation. It's a great film.
I do not think of The Big Chill as a critique of the Reagan Administration, but the movie is filled with observations, not necessarily critical, of the "yuppie" culture of that era. These observations are not specific to the early 1980s, though, and I think that they could apply to any generation. In fact, the same vibe can be conveyed if one watches Richard Linklater's Slacker, and follows it up by watching the cast reunion footage in the supplements of that film. Those early-1990s Austin kids probably now lead adult lives that are quite different than they imagined back then.
I think of The Big Chill more or less as a "universal appeal" story about how the ideals of our youth are molded or softened by the realities of surviving and working in the adult world.
Incidentally, I happen to be a defender of the Reagan Administration. That's another discussion for another thread on another forum somewhere, though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BohemianGraham
Huh, I felt that the pacing was fine on this one. It's also the new trend to split the last novel into two films for blockbuster teen films. I think the pacing worked, and the slight changes from the novel as well. Next film's going to be all out action and war, similar to the last two Harry Potter films. This one was darker and more adult.
I actually preferred the first two films to their source novels, because the movies eschewed the heavy-handed teenage girl point-of-view in favor of 1970s-esque dystopian sci-fi cinema, in the vein of movies like Soylent Green. Mockingjay - Part 1, however, seemed like a return to the heavy-handedness of the books.
I still think that it's a good movie, but I was underwhelmed, especially after the excellent pacing of Catching Fire.
My favorite part of Mockingjay - Part 1 was the scene where Philip Seymour Hoffman was reacting to the above-ground bombings, and it was obvious that he was terrified and struggling to maintain his composure. That little scene was a great demonstration of the talents of this late actor.
PLEASE share pics when you get , I am so excited by it and will get soooon.
I've got it ordered, but it's supposed to be a birthday gift for early December so I'm sure someone else will get to it before me. That said, there's a bunch of photographs on Criterion.com already.
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