What films have you seen recently? ....or ever..

[rafromca]

Hello Martin and other forum members:

I just saw "Tree of Life" directed by Terrence Mallick and starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. I think you might appreciate this movie, and apologies if you have already discussed. The film is very unconventional and seems to capture a sense of a cosmic consciousness. While the focus is on Sean Penn's character, his childhood and his perspective, there is at the same time this sense of a larger consciousness that taps into the history of life on earth or perhaps the akashic field. I'd be interested if any of you have seen it and what your thoughts were. Some are comparing it to Kubrick's 2001 which is true to some degree. I think Tony may see the daemon and the eidelon at work here, and it may speak to his more recent work in exploring out-of-body experiences and the consciousness field.

[Hurlyburly]

Hi Ruth,

Yes I saw this on my own when I was in New York. It's a very strange movie. It's the kind of film I usually like but I'm still a bit undecided with it even after seeing it a second time when I got back.

What I will say for it is that is gives a brilliant generic illustration of life in all its forms (which I guess was kind of the intention!) But by that I mean no matter what family dynamic you grew up in, you can relate to the humanity and relationships in this film. Whether you grew up with brothers, sisters, both or even as an only child there is an element of "everyman" to this film that allows you to relate to the bonds we make as human beings. It is a beautiful and painful film to watch but it can be very slow in places.

Definitely not for everyone.

[rafromca]

Martin:

It was good to see your response. I agree it is slow in parts, and could have been tightened up a bit. It was at the same time very beautiful, and seemed to convey the big mystery and marvel of life and its multitude of forms. I agree with those who speak of it being like those big beautiful coffee-table books that one sees on nature.
At the time I saw it I knew very little about Mallick, but I read the reviews afterward and about the meaning of the younger brother who played guitar, and dies too young. I then understood why it resonated so much for me. It's a strange juxtaposition of egos and family drama vs the BIG picture of life and its forms and evolution.

A warm hug to you from across the big pond.

[MAC]

Martin & Ruth: "Tree of Life" sounds like an interesting movie to rent.

Thanks for the recommendations.

Cam

[rafromca]

Hi Cam:

Yes I think you might appreciate this film as well. It might be a bit of time before it arrives on disk.

You might appreciate it more on the big screen. It does deal with father/son relationship and I know that is something that might haunt you, as it does me.

I hope you are well. The role of the father is played by Brad Pitt, and I think it is his best role to date. Despite his conventional beauty he portrays this tortured soul really well. I understand too well the desire to make something of oneself and motivate one's offspring to make something of themselves while realizing in the end that surrender and acceptance may be more important. Not just surrender and acceptance but appreciation of life as it is, can fill one with amazing grace and wonder. This is what I walked away with.

We all can choose to end it now or just stop and appreciate the amazing complexity and beauty of it all.

[MAC]

Hi Ruth:

I'll see if the movie is still here in the theatres. Our daughter saw it and she suggested I might appreciate it as well. Reflections on father / son dynamics are probably a good thing to engage in any case.

Thx

Cam

[Hurlyburly]

I watched the Time Traveler's Wife at Laurel's (TAN) the other night. I really, really enjoyed it. The film is a nice synthesis of several similar movies such as the Butterfly effect and 12 monkeys. For what is essentially a love story, it has the right amount of everything in it. It explores the perils of time travel and skewed timelines from the perspective of Eric Bana's character. He is unable to control where he goes as he boucnes back and forth through time. As a result, the object of his affection meets him throughout her life at different intervals. She sees him as an older man when she is a young girl and as a younger man as she ages. From this perspective it has similarities to Benjamin Button as well. There is a fair amount of humour in it as well, especially in the scenes where it comes across as if she is cheating on him with...."other him"...

It's a really great film and has relevance as yet another ITLADian film concerned with the nature of reality.

[Anthony Peake]

Hi Martin,

You may be interested to know that after reading the book last year I contacted the author, Audrey Niffenegger. I was stunned at the itladian implications of the storyline and I was intrigued to know more about her motivations in writing such a book. We swapped two or three emails and Audrey seemed genuinely intrigued by ITLAD. I think I then moved on to other things and we sort-of lost contact. You will remember that Robert Sawyer, the author Robert J. Sawyer was also checking out this Forum for a time. He was the author of the novel that they based the TV series Flash Forward on.

I must re-open contact with both of them.

Thanks for the reminder ..... I do strongly advise a reading of the Niffenegger book ....

Tony

[Anthony Peake]

Martin, Ruth & Cam,

I think that Terence Malick is singularly my favourite film director of all time. All of his films will be in my top twenty five and Badlands probably in my top three....

I must check this one out.

Tony

[jobsaboba]

50 first dates: adam sandler

i would reccomend this film

jobs