MovieChat Forums > HuddsOn > Replies
HuddsOn's Replies
Thank you for helping to illuminate some of the sexual themes and for explaining the ending. But I fail to see what's "Leftist" about this film. It doesn't portray homosexuality as intrinsically good or desirable, firstly in that, as you have demonstrated, <spoiler>one of the gay characters is a murderer</spoiler>, and secondly if Phil and Bronco Henry had had some sort of a sexual relationship (as is strongly hinted at) such a liaison could be seen as exploitative and even predatory given the large age difference.
I also think it's a bit reductionist to view Phil's personality as wholly defined by his sexual orientation, or even as wholly "toxic" - he does have some good qualities after all, he's smart, self-reliant, focussed, hard-working, he isn't entranced by the trappings of success and he doesn't seek to ingratiate himself with his social superiors. In fact, think he's a better role model for a young man than George, in some ways.
The ones I liked best were the ones that weren't trying too hard to be funny:
1. Cate Blanchett as cousins in the hotel lounge. It perfectly captures the way that people who grew up together but have taken radically different paths in life have can difficulty communicating. But it's really touching the way they cherish and value each other, they're not really judgemental or envious. There's awkwardness, but the love cuts through the awkwardness. And they genuinely had me fooled - I didn't realise it was the same actress until the credits.
2. No Problem. Takes a familiar theme - people who say they're alright when they're not - and takes it to a sort of absurd extreme. I like the ambiguity - you can't tell whether Isaach de B's repeated questioning was friendly concern or neurotic control-freakery. Acting and delivery of lines was spot on.
3. Tesla Coil. Maybe just because it's just such a bizarre and random thing to do, bringing a Tesla coil into a coffee shop, but I like the interaction between him, Meg and the waiter.
Yes, it was probably smuggled. My understanding of it was that the two Ethiopians who found it decided to keep it and sell it clandestinely, rather than informing the mine owner, to whom it would have legally belonged. Even though it was an act of theft, I couldn't really hold it against them - it's implied that the workers are badly treated by the corporation that runs the mine, at least if the safety standards and emergency medical care are anything to go by.
When Jack asks "Were you successful?" and John replies: "I'm happy. Happiness is success". . . the most inspiring line I've heard in a movie all year, and then some!
Even assuming the confession for the rape was false, it doesn't explain why the convictions for the other assaults they were alleged to have committed on the same evening were thereby deemed to be unreliable as well.
I am against de-platforming by social media but it does not necessarily follow that respectable scientists and historians should engage in debate with flat-Earthers or Holocaust deniers. Holocaust deniers, in particular, already know they have lost the argument and have nothing new to offer. They have pretty much given up even the pretence of doing any serious original research - all they do is trot out the same old lies and half-truths and irrelevant talking points that have been debunked countless times. To engage in debate with such people demeans the whole concept of competitive debate. We shouldn't censor them, we should just ignore them.
In west Texas, dogs go into rigor mortis within a few seconds of dying.
85. When a man is running around covered in burning gasoline crying out in agony, he will stop screaming and calmly look around the second the flames are extinguished.
86. When in pursuit of a suspect, undercover cops don't have an obligation either to stop or to call for an ambulance if they run over one of the bad guys.
That's not the message I've been getting. Do The Right Thing broached the subject of black racism and how other races besides black and white get caught in the crossfire. Bamboozled implicitly criticised aspects of black culture, Mo' Better Blues shows us some very nasty black-on-black violence and self-destructive behaviour (although there are a couple of greedy white nightclub owners too). As far as I remember there was only one white character in Crooklyn. It seems like you're just seeing what you want to see.
Maybe she would do a short spell in prison, but serve the second half of her sentence in some sort of half-way house where she would be able to go out during the day to do some kind of community work in a controlled environment that would allow her to build her rating up again slowly, but not allowed to rate others. Then she would be free and allowed to go her own way. Maybe then she could train for some kind of manual trade where being popular doesn't matter so much.
My guess is, that if he had a plan at all, it was to get the corporate big shots - who were not "innocent" in his eyes - all together in one place some time during the ceremony or after, then detonate the vest and hope that it would blow up with just enough force to kill the executives but no-one else.
You say that Spike Lee has a history of caricaturing Jews. Can you give me any examples? I don't recall there being any Jews in the five or six other Spike Lee movies I have seen.
"So is this polarizing because it is GOOD Art, or...?"
Because it is gives the appearance of being a film of ideas, a film with an a hidden meaning or perhaps several...but some would say that's its downfall, because the director has tried to shoe-horn too many layers of meaning into it without developing them to completion, and whatever allegorical interpretation you choose to apply, it won't fit all the events of the film.