Jan 26
A Few Movies
I am not motivated to write individual posts for each of these movies, but wanted to pass along recommendations for the good ones i’ve seen recently.
The Wrestler - Very good. Not your typical movie. I commented to Lance that the story arc in some ways is the inverse of a normal story arc. It’s been nominated for some Oscars. Highly recommended.
Bigger, Stronger, Faster - a documentary about the use of steroids. It was extremely well-done, and makes many thought-provoking points. It changed my attitude, if not my overall opinion.
Slumdog Millionaire - I thought this was a very good movie. All sorts of Golden Globes, nominated for many Oscars. I’m not sophisticated enough to understand all the hype, but i did thoroughly enjoy it.
Notorious - A portrayal of the life and times of Biggie Smalls, or the Notorious B.I.G. The lead actor did a great job, i thought. Personally, while i know some of his music, all i knew about Biggie’s life was that it ended too young. So i learned a lot about the Biggie-Tupac fued. Well done.
January 26th, 2009 at 9:18 am
What did you like about The Wrestler? (Other than the inverse story arc thing, which I don’t really understand, although it sounds intriguing.) Will really liked it. I thought it was well-made, but it didn’t really do much for me. The guy progresses from hopeless but unaware to hopeless but resigned? I don’t get it.
January 26th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
By inverse story arc, i mean that a normal story starts out w/o conflict, then there is conflict, then it is resolved. The Ram’s wrestling career sort of follows that typical pattern. But the rest of it - his relationships with others and the state of his life, follows the inverse pattern - it starts with conflict (no rent, daughter hates him), and toward the middle he starts to figure things out (talk to his daughter, start a romantic relationship, retire from wrestling, become a charismatic deli server), but then it ends with most of the conflict unresolved. I thought it was cool that the character is flawed and in the end sort of accepts himself that way. He’d like to “have it all” but he can’t, and he chooses wrestling. I don’t think it’s a choice i could make, but the movie made me understand it. It evoked some complex emotions for me - happy that he could do a big comeback in wrestling, but sad for everything else in his life. For me, my relationships matter a lot more than a legacy.