Optimism as a revolutionary act.

[children with angels]

Just wanted to put this on out there... Crowe uses this phrase on the commentary of Say Anything, and I think it's one of the most true and sad and wonderful statements I've ever heard. I love it. It also has alot to say about his movies in general.

[Cecil]

i disagree strongly with that statement. his intentions are good, but optimism in films only feed the idiots who prefer illusion to despair.

but mainly, im a pessimist and optimists piss me off  8)

[Him]

cynic. in my view, (which has gone full-circle) cinema is meant to be there as escapist entertainment, (i'm quite happy now) and as a result 90 per cent of the time should end happily. those interested in 'socially conscious' cinema should watch a spot of sullivan's travels.

cameron crowe is one of top three favourite filmmakers, by the way.

[children with angels]

I think the cinema that has the strongest affect on me is the kind that fills me with equal amounts of happiness and sadness - shows you the worst and the best in life. Films that are purely uplifting - or purely depressing - definitely have their place and can be amazing, but are essentially failing to tell the whole truth. There aren't many films that do what I'm describing. I'd say Magnolia is one. Vanilla Sky is another (although bad in a number of respects, I think the final minute or two ranks among the best). Buffalo 66, definitely...

[©brad]

I agree. It's a common misconception that a happy ending denotes "selling out." Show the bad, show the good, laugh, cry, cheer, piss your pants- that's a good movie.

[Cecil]

cinema is meant to be there as escapist entertainment

oh so thats what cinema "is?"

escapist entertainment is only ONE of the many forms cinema can take. how DARE YOU say that cinema is "meant" to have one and only one purpose

im too pissed off to write more for now.

[children with angels]

The whole 'optimism as a revolutionary act' concept isn't really to do with escapism as I see it: it's a complete acknowledgment of how fucked up everything is, and then taking it to the next level by trying to find some hope within it, going against it with pure - maybe naive - optimism...

[Him]

but optimism in films only feed the idiots who prefer illusion to despair.

well, geez, i guess this makes me an "idiot" who prefers illusion to despair. the fact is, films of the like cameron crowe makes and billy wilder made are all to do with the sour and the sweet...and the fact is that a film that ends on the sour having delivered two hours of sour isn't emotionally rewarding.

do you think people who are truly in despair want to go and see a film about depression? that they want their lives rubbed in their faces? or do they want to go and see something with ginger rogers and fred astaire in that will refresh them like a cool glass of champagne?

frankly, i don't have much time for film which deals solely with depression and despair and poverty because most of the time the film-makers are only interested in the picturesque poor and depressed, when these people would be better off with the illusion. hence my contention that film should be escapist fare.  

tell me, big cameron crowe fan are you?

[Newtron]

You have to understand that Cecil B is hardcore and reminds us constantly through his use of smileys.

[Him]

by the way, cecil b., just read your 'shape of cinema to come'. hmm. i get the feeling we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

as a film-maker i plan on delivering my own cinematic manifesto. a blueprint. no, wait. even better. a mission statement. i've dubbed it 'look ma, no hands'. i think you'll find it interesting, and i'll make sure you get it.

[Ghostboy]

I like movies that are good and depressing, but I also like to smile. I'm not against any sort of feeling a movie compells me to feel, as long as it gets me there honestly (without any overt manipulation).

I have to admit, also, that I do appreciate a movie that has a chance to end, with perfect legitimacy, on a negative note, but pushes past that.  THIS DOES NOT MEAN I LIKE IT WHEN A HAPPY ENDING IS JUST TACKED ON, however. But movies like Buffalo 66, or Run Lola Run (or Princess And The Warrior) don't need to prove a point by ending bleakly, and they've developed characters whose momentary joy at the end of the film is far more powerful than any other conclusion.

[Cecil]

frankly, i don't have much time for film which deals solely with depression and despair and poverty because most of the time the film-makers are only interested in the picturesque poor and depressed

i may be wrong, but you come off as only seeing the films that play in the local multiplex, and liked jerry maguire cause it makes you feel good and hated angelas ashes cause its too depressing. give me a few examples of these kinds of films (depression & despair) that youre referring to.

[Him]

you see, i didn't like angela's ashes, at least the movie.(hmm...it was ok.) the book ends on a high...his passage to america representing his final escape from the desperation of 30s ireland. the film was patchy, lost a lot of the humour through not having an older frank as an omniscient narrator right the way through (not that i'm saying it should have had one, just that it lost the humour of the book - a lot of it was in the language) and as far as i can remember (i've only seen it the once) chopped off the last third of the book...losing what was a more satisfying emotional conclusion.

you have to ask where the move adaptation of 'tis is...maybe it's not there because there wasn't that fantastic a response to a.a.?

by the way, i work in a video store. i do most often go the multiplex to see films (i wouldn't describe it as local) because that's where most of the films i'm eager to see are on. i catch everything else (and i do mean pretty much everything - i get seven free rents a week) on video and dvd. i can't pretend to be a movie renegade when my favourite movie of all time remains raiders of the lost ark, hotly followed by back to the future...it just isn't me.

[©brad]

frankly, i don't have much time for film which deals solely with depression and despair and poverty because most of the time the film-makers are only interested in the picturesque poor and depressed

i may be wrong, but you come off as only seeing the films that play in the local multiplex, and liked jerry maguire cause it makes you feel good and hated angelas ashes cause its too depressing. give me a few examples of these kinds of films (depression & despair) that youre referring to.

There's nothing wrong with people who only see the mainstream movies. Growing up in South Carolina before blockbuster took over the world those were the only movies that were avaliable to me. I was lucky to get a Woody Allen movie.

[Him]

by the way, with regards to the sort of depressing films i was talking about, the one which springs to mind the most readily is 8mm. so much shit happens to this guy, and in the end, he's worse off than he was at the beginning, with no real levity throughout.

mind you, i'm probably not being very controversial in calling 8mm a piece of crap.