tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post422878930456550965..comments2024-01-21T11:18:54.087-05:00Comments on Lost in the Movies: MilkJoel Bockohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-11782241568198645612008-12-27T12:27:00.000-05:002008-12-27T12:27:00.000-05:00Indeed it does. It was my #1 film of 2006.Indeed it does. It was my #1 film of 2006.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-12016353356504686182008-12-22T11:21:00.000-05:002008-12-22T11:21:00.000-05:00Sam, it was a twofer. Requiem, which at one point ...Sam, it was a twofer. Requiem, which at one point I considered one of my 100 favorite films, began to seem a bit forced, heavy-handed and over-inflated (though it's definitely a piece of virtuoso filmmaking). And yes, The Fountain seemed ludicrous to me, wanting us to care about a romance that it gave us no reason to care about. But it certainly does have its admirers, doesn't it?Joel Bockohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-48517115162440458922008-12-22T09:41:00.000-05:002008-12-22T09:41:00.000-05:00Movie Man: I bet you "soured" on him for THE FOUN...Movie Man: I bet you "soured" on him for THE FOUNTAIN, right? Ironically, that is the film of his that really hit a home run, but I know it sharply devided the critical ranks, with soem declaring it a masterpiece, while others deemed it "unwatchable." THE FOUNTAIN is the precise kind of film that makes 'taste' a definitive concern in evaluation.<BR/> As it turns out I thought highly of THE WRESTLER and Rourke was stupendous. I will rate it with 4/5 in an upcoming review, but I suspect the film will fall short of a top ten list. At least that's the way I feel today! LOL!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-20770251725004624812008-12-20T16:50:00.000-05:002008-12-20T16:50:00.000-05:00Sam, thanks for the compliments - as for the film,...Sam, thanks for the compliments - as for the film, it may or may not make a top ten, if I ever see enough of these films to create one. I am especially intrigued by The Wrestler; I was a big Darron Aronfsky fan at one point, mostly on the basis of Requiem for a Dream, soured on him a bit, but am ready to reevaluate. And Mickey Rourke was the only thing I really liked about Sin City (yes, it looked fantastic but the slick aesthetic also kind of added to the coldness which I found to be the picture's trademark).Joel Bockohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-8420951892865821142008-12-20T16:43:00.000-05:002008-12-20T16:43:00.000-05:00I would have to agree with Fox in that this is the...I would have to agree with Fox in that this is the finest review of MILK I have read on the illustrious blogs I frequent. It's extraodinarily attentive to all the disperate elements that make this a biopic worthy of acute dissection. You are a fabulous writer, my friend.<BR/> I am still debating how I will rank MILK at the end of the year, as I await the likes of BENJAMIN BUTTON, WALTZ WITH BASHIR, CHE, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD and the film I am seeing tonite, THE WRESTLER. I thought it was superlative when I first saw it, then it slightly declined in retrospect, then after I saw it a second time (earlier this week with Allan Fish, who is here for a few weeks from the UK) I reinstated my original position. It may make the Top 10, but the competition is fierce.<BR/> The film, as you note may have been better served with added depth into Milk's acendancy on the gay scene and a more perceptive look at his earlier years. Butg the truth is that's he's really a symbol of a movement, more than he is a flesh-and-blood person, despite Van Sant's predictably no-holds-barred examination of his romantic and sex life.<BR/> I say you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't. A stronger examination of him in a personal sense may well have been at the expense of the consideration of him in the context of the turbulent era he helped to ignite. The performances were outstanding, but Penn was singular, delivering one of the year's best performances. Let's see what Rourke does tonite, and then there is Richard Jenkins, who for me was tops for THE VISITOR.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-14945160905222919872008-12-18T15:35:00.000-05:002008-12-18T15:35:00.000-05:00On White:Yes, it was left a "suggestion" onscreen,...On White:<BR/><BR/>Yes, it was left a "suggestion" onscreen, but I got the sense we were at least somewhat prodded to believe in it. Both because the film was generally not so ambiguous (it was usually in the habit of telling us, albeit gently, what it wanted us to believe) and because, as Fox notes, there were more clues than just Harvey's statement. However, I am glad they left the question open to the extent they did.<BR/><BR/>On sexuality:<BR/><BR/>I'd put it this way - sexuality is to the gay community what skin color is to the black community. Neither one comprises everything the community is about, but it provides the essential fulcrum which creates the community in the first place. So it did feel like something was missing - not that we needed a sex scene (and obviously Fox felt like there was already too much sex in the film, so opinions vary), but that eroticism was surprisingly absent. So while I hear what you're saying, and generally agree, I think my point still stands.Joel Bockohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-13894437401767493942008-12-18T13:05:00.000-05:002008-12-18T13:05:00.000-05:00Great review. Yes, we see the film similarly. A fe...Great review. Yes, we see the film similarly. A few things ...<BR/><BR/>On the hunch that White was gay: I heard/read interviews with the screenwriter and with one of Harvey's friends noting that Harvey did at least float the notion a few times. But neither man had a feel for how much Harvey <I>believed</I> that to be the case. The screenwriter noted on NPR that he hoped it was left open in the film -- like a possibility and not a statement of fact. I think he succeeds there. Fox might disagree.<BR/><BR/>As for the portrayals of sexuality: I don't see anything "odd" with defining the gay community through things other than visual eroticism. That makes perfect sense, actually. For example, I have a handful of gay friends and it's easy to recognize their membership in the gay community -- and I've never watched any of them having sex. In some cases, I've never seen them so much as lay a hand on another gay person. In other words, yes, their sex practices define them in the sense that those opposing homosexual unions whip out the procreation card. But the sex itself is no more important to the community than to any heterosexual union/community. It is about the relationships.<BR/><BR/>In "Brokeback Mountain" you're seeing something different: men coming to terms with their homosexuality. In that case, if the men could remove the sex, thy could say they're just good friends. Their sex is the smoking gun, so to speak, that makes it clear it's something more. In "Milk," there's no such discovery. These men are gay and know it and live it.<BR/><BR/>When all is said and done, "Milk" could wind up in my top 5 films of the year. But that says more about the year in film than the film itself. Last year it probably would have just made my top 20.Jason Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18150199580478147196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-54711989719798850882008-12-18T12:07:00.000-05:002008-12-18T12:07:00.000-05:00Fox, thanks for your compliments -for what it's wo...Fox, thanks for your compliments -for what it's worth, I appreciated your review a lot as well, and so far the most insightful reviews I've read have been in the blogosphere, though the back-and-forth comments help too (something you don't really see with a mainstream review).<BR/><BR/>As for Dan White, my problem with the "gay" theory is that it's a little glib. Hey, maybe it's true (and I think I read that the real Harvey suspected as much - though this may just have been a reviewer taking the movie at its word). But it annoys me how "outsiders" are made to fit into little subgroups. What if White was just an oddball who was an outsider because he DIDN'T fit into any group, even if he appeared to? I find that, and the resultantly weird and complicated relationship to Harvey, to be much more intriguing than the rather pat, "Oh, he's a closet homo, case closed" response.Joel Bockohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-43084841496779594262008-12-18T01:24:00.000-05:002008-12-18T01:24:00.000-05:00MovieMan-Though, as we've already established, we ...MovieMan-<BR/><BR/>Though, as we've already established, we disagree overall on this movie, I think this is the best review of <I>Milk</I> I've read thus far. (Truly, I appreciate your take and Jason Bellamy's take better than any critics I've read via Metacritic.)<BR/><BR/>And though I've talked this movie over a lot, but you brought up something I hadn't really thought on yet. And that is the implication that Dan White is gay.<BR/><BR/>I don't know much about the life of Dan White, so I'm unsure if that notion was created by Lance Black and Van Sant for the movie, OR, if there really was suspicion that Dan White was gay.<BR/><BR/>So, I'm wondering now why Van Sant had Emile Hirsch say "Is it me, or is he cute?", b/c it seems to undercut Sean Penn's more empathetic comment of "I find him intriguing". That right there is, to me, an example of what is wrong with Van Sant's filmmaking. He steps all over himself... and often.<BR/><BR/>Also, what did you think of Josh Brolin looking out his window in his underwear the day of the murder? Was that also some kind of "I'm trapped inside these walls of straight suburbia" implication? Personally, I found that shot to be odd. It was framed in kind of a coyly sexual way, I think.<BR/><BR/>Lastly, I think you make a good insight on Penn's shift in performance from scene one to the rest of the movie. Though, I wasn't a fan of his performance, it IS more nuanced in scenes outside of that kitchen table.<BR/><BR/>Anyway... good stuff!Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08067136509248849744noreply@blogger.com