DISQUS

markhorne · 1 year ago

I'm trying to remember when all the scandal hit about Woody and his ex-lovers adopted daughter, with whom he got involved. I suspect it was before you media savvy super powers kicked in. But I can't let it go. And anything I know is touched by him is going to only appear in its most lurid way. I think I'm doing much better with your review than I would with the movie.

I'm just thankful I saw Batman Begins when I was distracted and had forgotten all about Tom Cruise. I never thought of "cradle robbing" once during the whole movie.

Jandy · 1 year ago

1992, that was. I make no excuses for Woody's personal life...he's pretty much a dirty old man. Although he is married to Soon-Yi Previn now (Mia Farrow's adopted daughter), something you can't say for either Mia Farrow or Diane Keaton... But the man has made four or five, at least, of the greatest films between 1970 and now, and that has nothing to do with his off-screen life, for me.

Batman Begins...Tom Cruise...? Oh, because of Katie Holmes? It's less the cradle-robbing that bothers me about that and more the cult indoctrination. But again, on-screen, off-screen, two different places.

Ed Howard · 1 year ago

Who the hell still cares about Woody's personal life? I just flat out don't get it. The guy might be a bit of a dirty old man, though by all accounts his relationship with Soon-Yi is fairly stable and loving -- but again, who cares? Picasso was probably a jerk too. You're watching a movie, not eating dinner with the guy.

Anyway, I thought VCB was fantastic. Great performances (especially Hall and Cruz -- good call), really funny at times and surprisingly moving at others. I thought the ending was perfectly pitched too. These characters are drifting through life, their dreams are vague in the extreme, and they're basically applying a tourist mentality to every aspect of their lives. So it makes sense that the final shot shows them staring blankly off into the distance, uncertain what if anything they've learned or experienced in Barcelona.

Jandy · 1 year ago

I agree with you, Ed, but let's not get upset over it.

Hall and Cruz blow me away in everything, so I wasn't surprised they were outstanding in this. The variety of performances worked really well - Cruz is so high-strung, and yet perfect, and Hall is so subtle, and yet perfect, and Bardem and Johansson are somewhere in the middle...it's quite a feat to manage so many different levels of character and performances and still have it work as an ensemble.

Great description of the end, too. That nails exactly what I was feeling at the end - the final scene and shot felt right, but I couldn't really explain why.

markhorne · 1 year ago

Ed, I loved Batman Begins and was glad I didn't let knowledge of anyone's personal life spoil it for me. I liked Jandy's review and thought the movie sounded, well, well above average.

I think a chit-chat comment about personal foibles in going to movies is being interpreted as some sort of principled stand on the lives of those involved in movies. It was nothing of the kind.

Whatever shouldn't affect one's appreciation or not, of a movie, sometimes things do for some people. I was just reporting on mine. It was a good post and I tend to want to leave comments on posts that I like. So I came up with something. At ease, soldier.

I suspect the same foible, btw, also makes me want to *like* actors and directors of stuff I appreciate. Maybe my fanboyisms are also irrational and I shouldn't care a bit. But I can't help but think it would be somewhat inhuman to not care about people I watch perform for me so often (I'm thinking especially about TV here). So even though I agree with you in principle, I don't feel too bad having these irrational feelings, even if the get in the way of appreciation at some points.

Ed Howard · 1 year ago

Sorry, I didn't mean to come across as so pissed. I'm a big fan of Woody's work, and it annoys me that so many people dismiss his more recent films because of his personal life -- not that you were necessarily doing that, but I've seen it done so often that I tend to bristle at it.

As a sidenote, Katie Holmes bothered me in Batman Begins not because of Tom Cruise, but because she simply can't act. I'm so glad she was replaced in the second film by an actual actress.

Anyway, I enjoyed the review, Jandy, my own is up now too:
http://seul-le-cinema.blogspot.com/2008/08/815-...

Goannatree · 1 year ago

Hey....
I love the new look! Thanks for the work you did on mine. Getting Stumbled heaps and all that other good stuff. I think it is because you made me look good!

Jandy · 1 year ago

You're welcome! Glad you're getting more attention. ;)