Fun Stuff > ENJOY
The Road & The Book of Eli
scarred:
to be fair, if I saw that movie I'd probably giggle at her a fair bit too. I really can't see her as anyone but meg anymore.
Inlander:
I saw the Road tonight. If anyone still has any doubts about it, put them away. Hillcoat and co have done a magnificent job and have produced probably the best adaptation it would be possible for anyone to make. I can confirm that none of the newreel nonsense from the trailer at the beginning of this thread appears in the film, and that - again, despite that awful, abject trailer - the tone of the film is about as far from a Hollywood action blockbuster as it's possible to imagine. It's true that Charlize Theron is in the film marginally more than her character appears in the book, but none of her scenes have even the slightest whiff of "Quick! We need eye candy!" about them, and the brief and mostly wordless scenes with her that have been added for the movie are all effective and I would argue essential to making the film what it is.
What the film is, more so than the book, is a story about the love between the man and his son. In fact in a way the film is a mirror-image of the book: while the book was a story of horror and despair with a strong subtext of love and hope, the film is really a story of love and hope with a strong subtext of horror and despair. For this reason it doesn't really matter that arguably the two most horrific scenes in the book - the melted road and the dead baby - are missing from the film, because while the film is frequently harrowing it is nonetheless overwhelmingly about the relationship between the father and the son. In fact, I think a direct effect of verbalising the almost subliminal dialogue of the book - something we were worrying about earlier in this thread - is to bring the emotions to the forefront. That these emotions and the strong and pervading sense of love never even approach sentimentality is a credit to both Viggo Mortensen as the father and Kodi Smit-McPhee as the son. Mortensen must certainly earn a slew of awards nominations for his performance, but Smit-McPhee is no less deserving of acclaim.
So in short, it's a magnificent film. A stunner, literally: I don't think I've ever been in a more silent cinema (except for those many times when I've been the only person in the cinema, but let's not go into that). Please go and see it if you have any interest in quality cinema.
sean:
oh i never gave my thoughts on this oh weird. (though who cares its not like im ever gonna say a thing more eloquent than harry)
i think was the most bummed i have ever been at the end of a movie than i ever have been at the end of a movie. i mean, just the sheer fact that vigo just straight up dies on the beach and his son is just left completely alone i think is enough to tear anyones heart out. i mean theres the new family that takes in the kid but still. i also have not seen that many depressing movies but my god, this one hit me hard. also there were enough horrifying images in that move to get the point across i'm actually pretty happy they didn't show the dead baby (i have never read the book but my mom told be about that scene after i watch it.)
elizaknowswhatshesfor:
--- Quote from: pilsner on 03 Dec 2009, 20:35 ---
--- Quote from: scarred on 03 Dec 2009, 19:15 ---OK guys I just finished the Road and it was fantastic and everything but Cormac McCarthy needs to learn how to use a fucking apostrophe, seriously that shit was infuriating.
--- End quote ---
Apparently it's some kind of brilliant marketing strategy to really piss off word nerds.
--- End quote ---
Stephen Fry says there is no official usage that has been documented of the use of that particular piece of punctuation. If He says it, it must be true. Fact.
I'm going to see it tomorrow night. I'm excited.
But I wanted to share a fantastic conversation I overheard in the queue to get Wednesday tickets (241 HUGE queue).
The couple having the the conversation were Nottingham Uni students (you could tell by the hoodies/sweaters). This means they live outside of the city, are extremely posh & have no awareness of how the rest of the world behave. It also means they are too dumb to get Oxbridge or even one of the back up schools. (Sorry if this is mean but it's mostly true & these guys were completely that.) Having yelled into his phone for 10 minutes about his friend being in the wrong place & HOW random that was. He started talking about films he had seen....(Imagining this spoken in a very posh English accent & almost shouted)
"I saw the Road the other night, it was the worst film ever. Hardly anything happened. Where do they get the ideas for these things?"
"Why did you go & see it? I thought you were going to watch Alvin & the Chipmunks?"
"It was the only thing on apart from 44 Inch Chest, the girls thought that would be too violent."
nobo:
I saw Book of Eli this past weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Who is the author of the book that The Road is based on?
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