EvanBenner
Well-Known Member
Everything after that is the best part of the book!
Movies
- Thread starter gouis
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Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
I just started watching ITOET last night; got halfway through it. I was actually hesitant to check it out, as I read the book a couple weeks ago, and found the ending to be horrid. It's exactly the type of ending I hate where
everything strange you've seen can be attributed to a decaying mental state, negating any sense of mystery and stymying any attempts at pinning logic to the previous two hours
However, I'd say the movie does more to plant seeds of what the story is about; so far it doesn't feel as much like a rug-pull as the book makes it. It feels like Kaufman is trying to convey the truth behind the weirdness from the jump. I'm actually curious what it'd be like to go in cold, as from the moment they show the janitor early in the movie I knew exactly where things were going and what the story was trying to convey.
Melt Face Molly Drop
Well-Known Member
I agree here. And had this movie come out 20 years ago, I feel they likely would have kept the violent ending in place, but to your point, the decaying mental state trope w/ twist has been overdone time and time again to the point where it's not shocking anymore but potentially more damaging to mental health stigmas.
All that aside, let's talk about the way the movie was shot. Is that a 4:3 ratio? Distracting at first, but fit well with the narrative IMO. Does anyone know why they did that?
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
That stood out to me as well! I don't see anything from the horse's mouth wrt the aspect ratio, but it certainly helps increase the claustrophobia and tension. It's also a more noticeable choice in a world where most screens are 16:9. It also means a different sense of framing scenes; Kubrick's later films used a similar aspect ratio, and it seems like Wes Anderson is playing with it more and more (though I'd say at least in Grand Budapest it's a more pointed and deliberate move to delineate the stories being told).
Funny we've come to this point when, 20 years ago, we were used to cropping and pan-and-scan, and people were complaining about the black bars on their dvds.
Melt Face Molly Drop
Well-Known Member
I always felt immediate disdain for any VHS tape I popped in that was labeled as widescreen. Having those 4:3 ratio square tube TVs that weren't very big to begin with, then adding black bars and I had to use a magnifying glass to watch the movie. Now that TVs are massive it's not that big of a deal, but man, I'd wish someone would agree on an industry standard and stick with it. Artistic direction be damned.
Melt Face Molly Drop
Well-Known Member
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
I find your take to be offensive and just-plain dangerous. It's people like you who normalize pan-and-scan.
Then again, this was me seeing the aspect ratio change in Grand Budapest for the first time in theaters:
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
And yes I realize the irony of finding a gif with letterbox bars.I find your take to be offensive and just-plain dangerous. It's people like you who normalize pan-and-scan.
Then again, this was me seeing the aspect ratio change in Grand Budapest for the first time in theaters:
Bennnnn
Well-Known Member
I agree. I think the book nails the ending but the movie gets a little too wonky and isn’t overly satisfying. But but but...I had a little revelation about it the other day.
So lately I have been digging into more musicals. And I’ve naturally found my way to Oklahoma! - the 2019 revival. It’s much darker, quieter, more bluegrass-y. It’s great. Anyway, there are a number of references to Oklahoma in ITOET. They hear a song on the radio, and there’s one or two shots of the janitor watching the kids perform it.
But that’s not all. So the song he sings (in ole age makeup) at the very end is also from the play, and it’s the one song sung by the villain of the show. In the show, he’s a farmhand with an obsession over a girl - and that’s what that song is about. It’s a menacing number about his loneliness and anger. It should also be noted that the villain in the show dies in the end, by his own knife (on accident). So there’s those parallels which I found very interesting. But that’s still not all.
Act I of Oklahoma ends in and extended instrumental dance sequence that starts nice and sweet and turns dark and violent. It’s very very similar to the dance sequence that pops up in ITOET. So while I think you can read into that scene as having deeper meaning, I also feel as though it’s kinda just the janitor thinking about Oklahoma, remembering the dance, and then drawing a connection to his lonely life. It gives a bit more shades of violence (set inflicted in this case), loneliness, and pining for love to his character.
still not totally crazy about the end of the film though. But I found all of that kinda neat, and I haven’t really seen anyone bring it up.
So lately I have been digging into more musicals. And I’ve naturally found my way to Oklahoma! - the 2019 revival. It’s much darker, quieter, more bluegrass-y. It’s great. Anyway, there are a number of references to Oklahoma in ITOET. They hear a song on the radio, and there’s one or two shots of the janitor watching the kids perform it.
But that’s not all. So the song he sings (in ole age makeup) at the very end is also from the play, and it’s the one song sung by the villain of the show. In the show, he’s a farmhand with an obsession over a girl - and that’s what that song is about. It’s a menacing number about his loneliness and anger. It should also be noted that the villain in the show dies in the end, by his own knife (on accident). So there’s those parallels which I found very interesting. But that’s still not all.
Act I of Oklahoma ends in and extended instrumental dance sequence that starts nice and sweet and turns dark and violent. It’s very very similar to the dance sequence that pops up in ITOET. So while I think you can read into that scene as having deeper meaning, I also feel as though it’s kinda just the janitor thinking about Oklahoma, remembering the dance, and then drawing a connection to his lonely life. It gives a bit more shades of violence (set inflicted in this case), loneliness, and pining for love to his character.
still not totally crazy about the end of the film though. But I found all of that kinda neat, and I haven’t really seen anyone bring it up.
EvanBenner
Well-Known Member
Hot damn, just watched The Wailing. How is it that Korea is so good at bleak storytelling and winding plots? Super long, but still well paced. Just a smidge lighter than I Saw the Devil which was also pitch-black perfection.
Max Sterling
Well-Known Member
My friends and I used to marathon these once a year before we all got married and started being super lame. We'd watch The Hobbit Cartoon first, though. It's been years since I've seen them because I refuse to watch them one at a time.
Gavaxeman
Well-Known Member
That was my preferred way , but I have to admit, splitting the extended versions into a part a night was really good, and no one fell asleep!
LeSamourai
Well-Known Member
I read the book a while back (it's non-fiction, and follows a handful of older nomadic workers living in trailers and RVs) and it was definitely an eye-opening look at the lives of people in an ignored corner of the margins of the economy. I'm excited to get a chance to see this movie.
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
Finally got around to watching the second half of I'm Thinking of Ending Things last night. Overall, I enjoyed it; there were bits that were clever, and others that were too-clever. I actually quite enjoyed the stuff in the high school; the dance sequence and the speech from a Beautiful Mind/Oklahoma! were pretty good.
I don't know how you'd do it and what you'd take out, but I wonder if a 90-minute version of this movie would've been a tad more palatable.
I do not know what I would have thought of this had I not read the book. As I mentioned, I didn't like the book, and the reveal at the end felt more like a twisty betrayal from the author. I thought that Kaufman did a great job of seeding the 'reveal' throughout the movie, but I wonder how someone going in cold would have taken it all in.
Overall, I liked it as a meditation on memory and The Life Unlived. It made me a bit sad; as a man in his 30s, I'm often finding myself looking back on different missed opportunities or left turns. I'm not a janitor at my old high school without a single human connection in his life, but it was a pretty relatable sadness. And to what end? The basic conclusion of the film is a release through death (perhaps).
Overall, I liked it as a meditation on memory and The Life Unlived. It made me a bit sad; as a man in his 30s, I'm often finding myself looking back on different missed opportunities or left turns. I'm not a janitor at my old high school without a single human connection in his life, but it was a pretty relatable sadness. And to what end? The basic conclusion of the film is a release through death (perhaps).
I don't know how you'd do it and what you'd take out, but I wonder if a 90-minute version of this movie would've been a tad more palatable.
TenderLovingKiller®
Well-Known Member
Good piece on Letterboxd...
www.theringer.com
The Future of Film Talk Is on Letterboxd
As the pandemic and expansion of streaming changes how and when we see a movie, one unassuming social media site is positioned as a haven for the film-crit community
www.theringer.com
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
Nice writeup; I love me some letterboxd. That said, Brat Pitt is why I wish you could mute users on the dang thing; some of their takes make my eyes bleed. As a Portlander I'll say it's no big surprise to learn they write for the Willamette Week.Good piece on Letterboxd...
The Future of Film Talk Is on Letterboxd
As the pandemic and expansion of streaming changes how and when we see a movie, one unassuming social media site is positioned as a haven for the film-crit community
Also, we need a Letterboxd for books because Goodreads ain't it, chief.