movies

[JL21]

I wondered that as well, omaha.

[JL21]

Shutter Island: ultimately a bit of a disappointment, though I didn't dislike it as much as cpebbles apparently did. Thought it had great atmosphere. The story was the weakpoint.

I'm a big fan of GK's brother's review.

http://horrorsnotdead.com/wpress/2010/s ... paragraph/

[BooCubs]

i watched Road House on 11 last night.

[heyzeus]

[SHOW]

So, the Coen brothers apparently decided they don't need to offer any explanation on things like this, that would be useful for 99% of the population to know. The question in that opening sequence is whether the guy is a dybbuk. A dybbuk is the oldworld jewish/yiddish combo between a ghost and a curse; if you invite the dybbuk into your house, you are essentially fubar for life.

I think there are two purposes to this sequence. One, the big question of the movie, asked by Larry repeatedly, is "Why Me? I didn't do anything." He's just trying to be a good dad, a good professor, etc, and then horrible things happen to him. It's a big question in Jewish theology: if we're God's chosen people, just trying to be good, why does all of this bad [expletive] keep happening to us? The man in the opening sequence just invites an old man who helped with his wagon into his house, and now he's cursed? Or about to be a convicted murderer? Why me? Second, I think the scene is supposed to make us contemplate whether the visitors to Larry's home, who were invited in and seem to curse him, are dybbuks themselves: Sy and brother Arthur. Sy even reappears later as a malevolent ghost in his dream. Which raises the question of predetermination v. fate/chance/luck. Is Larry cursed? Or do bad things just happen all the time to us for no reason?

My two cents!

I just saw it last night and I felt the need to dig up the comments from you and Geen. The spoilered above, especially, is really great info.

[SHOW]

i kinda thought that the wife and husband at the beginning with the dybbuk were
distant relatives to Larry and family.. and because of what they did at the beginning..
stabbing the old dude.. the family was cursed forever.. so Larry is their great great great
grandson/nephew or something.. hence his family has no chance.. just something that
crossed my mind? anyway.. the beginning scene would have made an absolutely awesome
full length movie

[SHOW]

I think that's exactly the intent of the Coens, Omaha - to make you wonder what the connection is between the old-world man and husband and the modern protagonist of the movie. There is a sense in Judaism, partially true since there aren't that many of us, that every other Jew is family. You may've heard a Jewish person refer to another Jew as a "Member of the Tribe" (or MOT). If you go back far enough, we're all related, so the curse of the old country man and wife really is the curse of Larry, whether they're direct ancestors or not.

Tangent - if you're interested in the fables and mysticism of dybbuks, read The Slave by Isaac Beshevis Singer. It's pretty dense with judaica, though.

[doe_boy]

Finally saw 'Black Dynamite' on DVD. Never made the theaters up here in the Appleton, WI area. Did it see any type of theater release in '09? Or, did it go straight from Sundance to DVD?

I enjoyed it. Funny, and the dedication to replicating the low budget and cliche ridden 'blacksploitation' films is amazing. I really expected to see an ad for Rozell's Clothing somewhere in there.

[Fat_Bulldog]

I watched this last night and it was amazing as always.

[The Third Man]

Shutter Island

[SHOW]

I liked it a lot - not quite a favorite Scorsese of mine, but solidly second-tier with stuff like After Hours, The King of Comedy, and The Aviator. I absolutely loved the production design of the movie, it created a killer atmosphere. All of the noir and Hitchcock influences had me grinning start to finish. Of course, I'm a huge Scorsese fanboy, so grain of salt, etc.

I agree that the ending was ultimately predictable, but I long ago stopped trying to think ahead of movies, so even though I saw it coming I just lived in the moment of the movie which for me made it really enjoyable. However, I think that the very last scene, with Edward pretending to relapse, really distinguished the twist from being just a tired cliche.

[doe_boy]

I watched this last night and it was amazing as always.

That should read 'Barry Gordy's The Last Dragon'. Just sayin'

[cardsfansince82]

I watched this last night and it was amazing as always.

I've been trying to remember the name of that movie for awhile. Used to watch it all the time on TV growing up and it was incredible.

[go birds]

Went and saw Shutter Island

Anyone else see this? Thoughts?

Honestly, i almost walked out about half-way through because it starts out soooooooooo sloooooooooooooooowwwwwwwww.

But i stuck with it and i'm glad i did as it turned out to be really good.

The twist wasn't very twisty to me as i had everything figured out long before it was over, however my girlfriend was surprised by the ending. but then again she may or may not have fallen asleep and missed some things.

Not scorsece's (or leo's best) but i liked it enough.