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I just finished this movie and I absolutely loved it. I wish they would create a genre of movies called "Keenly Insightful and Hopeful". I'd put this movie, About a Boy, Stranger than Fiction, Where the Wild Things Are, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and probably plenty more that aren't coming to mind at the moment in this category.
Has anyone else seen it? Any other movies that you think would fit in this genre?
Posts: 1947 | Registered: Aug 2002
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"Thirteen Conversations About Thing" (from 2001) would seem to fit into this genre, though I'm not sure whether it was "hopeful" or just not bitter and cynical.
But the film that immediately comes to mind is "Sideways" from 2004 which, oddly enough, had a Japanese remake.Posts: 668 | Registered: Aug 2010
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Little Miss Sunshine, Garden State, Juno, Cyrus...those are all I can think of at the moment...
Posts: 6683 | Registered: Jun 2005
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I thought The Kids are All Right was all right. That's about it though, and I was disappointed after the hype about it. The biggest problem I had was that the film focused on the Moms, who were really uninteresting. Maybe it was that they were two women married to each other that made the writer think we cared more about that relationship but in the end they were caricatures, and the characters of depth and interest were pushed to the side. The kids and the father had depth and perspective, the Moms were starkly drawn and made of unwavering stereotypes. Not necessarily lesbian stereotypes but they were cardboard cut-outs none the less. the kids were the ones really having interesting challenges and changes and the father was the one who really moved the plot forward yet his decisions are left unexplained and unexplored.
I was also very unimpressed with the cinematography but that's another story.
So I wouldn't put this movie in your category, but the first one I thought of to fit it is the above mentioned Juno. Honestly, I feel a lot of Judd Apatow films fit this too (e.g. Knocked Up) but that's probably just me.
quote:Originally posted by Hobbes: [QB] I thought The Kids are All Right was all right. That's about it though, and I was disappointed after the hype about it. The biggest problem I had was that the film focused on the Moms, who were really uninteresting. Maybe it was that they were two women married to each other that made the writer think we cared more about that relationship but in the end they were caricatures, and the characters of depth and interest were pushed to the side. The kids and the father had depth and perspective, the Moms were starkly drawn and made of unwavering stereotypes.
QFT. If I had to watch a whole movie with those moms, I'd probably stick pencils in my eyes.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Hobbes, I can see your point- the moms weren't the deepest characters film has ever created. But I thought in some ways that reflected the plot- the moms were getting bored of each other. I felt the plot progressing emotions were genuine from all characters. The meaning and importance of family, the interconnected nature of our lives, the pain of hurting and being hurt, for me it all resonated. But to each their own.
I also love most Apatow movies. Their crudeness makes me hesitate in grouping them here, but I think you're probably right. I also love Juno. I'd never even heard of Cyrus- I should check it out. Sideways has been on my "list" for a while. I think it just got bumped up.
Posts: 1947 | Registered: Aug 2002
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I couldn't make it through "The Kids Are All Right." I got to the halfway mark and quit. I've been meaning to go back and finish it but there was nothing I enjoyed in the first half that gives me any cause to think that I'll be able to tolerate the ending.
I do consider "Stranger Than Fiction" to be in my list of Top Ten movies. "About a Boy" also ranks very high. I enjoyed "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" but have only seen it once and haven't had a desire to go back and rewatch it.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:I'd never even heard of Cyrus- I should check it out.
Cyrus is a movie about deeply strange, but very human people. You flinch through out much of the movie, waiting for it to be "one of those" movies, and it never is. It sticks to it's own weird truths, and is kind and hopeful and I really enjoyed it.
John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill and Marisa Tomei all turn in stellar performances.
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