Garden State

[Recce]

Finally came out in Montreal today, went to see it. Had to catch up on ten pages on posts, but now I'm up to date with the rest of you (damn, we're behind up here, geez).

I really liked it. It wasn't the best film I've ever seen, but it definitely had several strong moments that any of us would be lucky to have in one of our projects. I got worried in the very beginning, as it started off pretty bad. The opening sequence was nothing more then some pieced together, 'cool' looking shots that, to me, branded it as hard core student filmish (the opening and closing of the medicine cabinet with all the pill bottles neatly placed, for example). Another one would be when he walks by the row of sinks and they all go off. While cool, they were pretty cheesy and did not serve any purpose whatsoever. Everything picked up when Nathalie Portman's character was introduced however. Since I liked the rest of the film, I'm willing to attribute the rough and boring start to a deliberate attempt by Braff at making it a representation of his life pre-portman. Its probably not the case, but I'm willing to go easy on it, seeing as its his directorial debut (I think).

As far as the whole music thing, it's true that they seemed a touch forced at times. One thing that I felt stuck out was the song in the closing sequence in the airport (Let Go by Frou Frou). I'm not sure if its because I had heard it so many times before in the teaser, but it completely threw me off. The little montage sequence of all the characters in the end didn't really work for me either, now that I think about it. So, the opening and closing sequences were weak, but everything else in between was great. Nathalie Portman rocks.

[modage]

In vanilla sky, cruise is picking music, "Looper? Or how about Radiohead?" And penelope cruz, "Vickie Carr or Jeff Buckley?"

i really love cameron crowe, but have to agree, vanilla sky has a handful of awkward music cues like he REALLY wanted to use stuff he liked whether it fit or not.  otherwise i think all his music is great and he usually has some of the best cues in all his films.

i really dont think braff was trying to be cool with his choice of music.  i believe that at the time he was writing the script/working on the movie these were the songs he really was into and seemed perfect for the film.  (if he wanted to be 'cool' he wouldnt have told spin magazine that he heard the shins because they were played on scrubs.)

[SHAFTR]

i can't wait till this crappy hype falls flat on its face and we can move onto things that deserve the attention/expectation.

Wow, did you judge that on the trailer?  I mean aren't you the person who ridicules people who get excited over a trailer, or try to judge a film by the trailer.  I'd attempt to insult you but the truth is that there is nothing more to you than your Pubrick internet personality which I'm sure you are very proud of, so it's not worth my time.

I don't understand the predisposition of everyone to hate this film before seeing it.  I thought it was one of the better films I've seen this year and a great debut film.  If you want to split hairs over the film's aesthetic and how obvious the influences are, go ahead.  If you are attempting to try to prove to everyone how you are able to spot the influences, congratulations.  I see them too.  The important thing is that this film works.  The aesthetic still works, regardless of the influences.  I'm sure all of you have so many ideas in your movies that are completely original and not influenced by anything (except the French New Wave, because that would be vogue).  

The (main) characters are fleshed out, and the supporting characters that are met along the way serve their purpose.  Some how caricatures are often insulted in films, but I know and even have friends who can be best described as caricatures, so I have no problem with that.

I'm just so sick that a movie like this, which people who frequent this board should be excited and even proud of, still find a reason to insult (unless it was directed by one of the directors who have their own forum, of course).

Maybe I just love this movie because I could really connect with it.  I understood a lot of what he was going through.  The only reason I can find to be angry at this film is b/c a lot of the ideas & threads presented in Garden State are ones that I had, and I realize that they are presented better than I could have done.  I guess I could be bitter and act like a dick, but that's what Pubrick is for.

[UncleJoey]

i can't wait till this crappy hype falls flat on its face and we can move onto things that deserve the attention/expectation.

Wow, did you judge that on the trailer?  I mean aren't you the person who ridicules people who get excited over a trailer, or try to judge a film by the trailer.  I'd attempt to insult you but the truth is that there is nothing more to you than your Pubrick internet personality which I'm sure you are very proud of, so it's not worth my time.

FACED!!!!!!


I also thought this was a great movie, by the way. Probably my second favorite of the year after Eternal Sunshine. Everyone else in the Theatre seemed to really enjoy it, it's getting fabulous reviews - I think this will be a nice little late summer hit. At least I hope it will be. Braff really deserves some acclaim for a fantastic debut film.

[Film Student]

I'm just so sick that a movie like this, which people who frequent this board should be excited and even proud of, still find a reason to insult (unless it was directed by one of the directors who have their own forum, of course).

Maybe I just love this movie because I could really connect with it.  I understood a lot of what he was going through.  The only reason I can find to be angry at this film is b/c a lot of the ideas & threads presented in Garden State are ones that I had, and I realize that they are presented better than I could have done.

Well Put.

[tpfkabi]

i've got your Lost in Translation comparisons right here:

Garden State > Lost in Translation

 at least in my book. (no backlash please)

i enjoyed the film very much. I happen to love the Shins very much, but the songs of theirs he choose didn't seem to fit the scenes. the song that played while he was on a trip at the party seemed lyrically too obvious, but whatever. it didn't take me out of the film so much so that it ruined it (if this were true then Collateral would be considered ruined by Audioslave).

SPOILERS

i loved the extra framed award in the Dr's office. i didn't quite understand the whole mother's necklace thing........did he take the necklace, sell it......then decide to get it back? that secret hallway in the hotel was pretty creepy.........and i could have sworn that they actually showed part of the airplane ripping apart in the trailer, but not in the film. i wonder if i am just having a Donnie Darko flashback.

[Pubrick]

i can't wait till this crappy hype falls flat on its face and we can move onto things that deserve the attention/expectation.

Wow, did you judge that on the trailer?  I mean aren't you the person who ridicules people who get excited over a trailer, or try to judge a film by the trailer.  I'd attempt to insult you but the truth is that there is nothing more to you than your Pubrick internet personality which I'm sure you are very proud of, so it's not worth my time.

I don't understand the predisposition of everyone to hate this film before seeing it.  I thought it was one of the better films I've seen this year and a great debut film.  If you want to split hairs over the film's aesthetic and how obvious the influences are, go ahead.  If you are attempting to try to prove to everyone how you are able to spot the influences, congratulations.  I see them too.  The important thing is that this film works.  The aesthetic still works, regardless of the influences.  I'm sure all of you have so many ideas in your movies that are completely original and not influenced by anything (except the French New Wave, because that would be vogue).  

The (main) characters are fleshed out, and the supporting characters that are met along the way serve their purpose.  Some how caricatures are often insulted in films, but I know and even have friends who can be best described as caricatures, so I have no problem with that.

I'm just so sick that a movie like this, which people who frequent this board should be excited and even proud of, still find a reason to insult (unless it was directed by one of the directors who have their own forum, of course).

Maybe I just love this movie because I could really connect with it.  I understood a lot of what he was going through.  The only reason I can find to be angry at this film is b/c a lot of the ideas & threads presented in Garden State are ones that I had, and I realize that they are presented better than I could have done.  I guess I could be bitter and act like a dick, but that's what Pubrick is for.

geez, what the fuck is ur problem dude.

not only did i say that like 3 months ago, i then said this just one month ago..

ok this is officially the best movie of all time.

not that i hav to justify myself to this random attack, which is truly random as fuck considering when i said that, and how ur trying to bring up all this fucking old shit about how i'm this and that. fuck man, get a life and a calender.

my initial stance on this thing was based on ppl's reactions to the trailer, everyone was already praising it like it was the second coming of christ. so i looked at it, and i commented on how they are being impressed by bullshit. and to wait for the movie before they make such big claims. after i saw a few clips i said it was the best movie of all time.

so why hav u taken such personal offence at sumthing i said three months ago and then retracted? who knows. my guess is that ur a fucking psycho.

[Ravi]

While I liked the film, it was more like a collage of various scenes that, while good on their own, didn't feel connected, at least in the first part of the film.  The comedy in the film is genuinely funny but it doesn't gel together into something bigger.  I don't know if I can explain it further than that right now.  Still, it is unique and interesting, and I enjoyed it.  It just isn't a brilliant film.

I am bad at spotting continuity errors, but I did see Braff's hair change a few times in the bathtub scene.  I wouldn't have noticed it if Ghostboy didn't mention that the film had continuity errors.

[UncleJoey]

my initial stance on this thing was based on ppl's reactions to the trailer, everyone was already praising it like it was the second coming of christ. so i looked at it, and i commented on how they are being impressed by bullshit. and to wait for the movie before they make such big claims. after i saw a few clips i said it was the best movie of all time.

So you thought people having such reactions to the trailer was foolish, but reacting to a few clips wasn't? I'm confused. Your comment on it being "the best movie ever" seemed rather sarcastic at the time, so either your "retraction" was bullshit, or you really meant it and you were just being a hypocrite. Perhaps you can clarify.

[Pubrick]

i was being sarcastic and at the same time making a final statement on the progression of hype that this film received before it opened.

u will notice that it was the last thing i said in this thread before shaftr decided to bring up an argument i was no longer defending. he has fucked shit up by addressing my comments with more seriousness than i had given them, at the time no one was making character attacks at anyone and no one was taking the trailer-discussion personally. apparently he has.

so u see, it was a fucking joke that ended more than a month ago., shaftr needs to get over me for the sake of my own nutsack. just like i had forgotten that he existed until today.

[SHAFTR]

Have you seen the movie?

[bonanzataz]

i was being sarcastic and at the same time making a final statement on the progression of hype that this film received before it opened.

u will notice that it was the last thing i said in this thread before shaftr decided to bring up an argument i was no longer defending. he has fucked shit up by addressing my comments with more seriousness than i had given them, at the time no one was making character attacks at anyone and no one was taking the trailer-discussion personally. apparently he has.

so u see, it was a fucking joke that ended more than a month ago., shaftr needs to get over me for the sake of my own nutsack. just like i had forgotten that he existed until today.

geez, pubrick. maybe you should just go die. asshole. fuckwad. dick shitter. you loopy bastard.


sorry, i didn't mean any of it. sometimes everybody on the board just has to BITCH OUT P FOR NO GOOD REASON!

[SHAFTR]

sorry, i didn't mean any of it. sometimes everybody on the board just has to BITCH OUT P FOR NO GOOD REASON!

hmmm, that's odd.  Why do you think that is?

Must just be bad luck.

[The Perineum Falcon]

While I liked the film, it was more like a collage of various scenes that, while good on their own, didn't feel connected, at least in the first part of the film.  The comedy in the film is genuinely funny but it doesn't gel together into something bigger.  I don't know if I can explain it further than that right now.  Still, it is unique and interesting, and I enjoyed it.  It just isn't a brilliant film.

This is exactly how I felt.
It kinda felt like a list of ideas he wanted in the film, but wasn't quite sure how to tie them in. I guess that's why it felt a bit awkward to me. And the music cues, which I'm positive is a tired subject now, did seem awkward (word of the day!) too. But, it's never bad to hear the Shins, so I didn't mind too much, but I see what everyone's saying.
I still enjoyed it and I'll more than likely see it again before too long.

EDIT: Speaking of the music, I'm afraid that I wouldn't know how to use music in a way that wouldn't be intrusive or distracting. I can't put my finger on why certain cues in this film are more distracting than in others.
I remember that either Kubrick said something about how music should be used or his use changed the way others used it. Anyone feel like helping me?

[RegularKarate]

This movie was alright... it was worth neither negative nor possitive hype.

It's indie quirkiness only carried it so far, then it had to rely on mediocre acting and a weak screenplay.

I think he could make a really good film (maybe even great) someday, this was his first shot and you have to admire a lot of it.  There were some good scenes, it's just that the good scenes didn't keep the movie together and the end was crappy.