Xixax Film Forum

Film Discussion => The Vault => Topic started by: picolas on October 29, 2009, 04:43:59 PM

Title: Dear Zachary
Post by: picolas on October 29, 2009, 04:43:59 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.filmschoolrejects.com%2Fimages%2Fdear-zachary-poster.jpg&hash=aae2566ff1b648fab638c484454ec116f89aaeb6)

trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtyY0CXdiNo

not sure if there's a thread for this... i watched it last night and it shattered me many times over. no one else in the world could have made this movie. much like Anvil it's made by someone who has known his subject since childhood, so everyone really opens up to him and he has all the footage he could ever possibly need. i wish it could've been 15 minutes longer, and those 15 minutes would've been spaces between people talking and letting their thoughts sit for a couple seconds more. in other words the editing can be very jarring but also really overwhelming and effective.. don't sit down to watch this without knowing it will destroy you.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: pete on October 30, 2009, 12:54:28 AM
I started watching it maybe now I should finish.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: Stefen on October 30, 2009, 01:15:50 AM
I saw this on MSNBC last year and it really broke my heart. Didn't think to start a thread because I thought it was just one of those cable news documentaries which sometimes end up being good.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: OrHowILearnedTo on October 30, 2009, 01:41:43 PM
This is really great. At the beginning i thought the pacing and editing was inappropriate but the interviews are just so affecting. I made it 40 minutes before i started crying. I don't remember the last time i cried watching a movie, and it wasn't just the moments of loved ones talking about a person they missed, the stuff that got me was the little things like watching Andrew's photography.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: squints on October 30, 2009, 03:53:34 PM
anywhere online i can watch this?
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: picolas on October 30, 2009, 03:59:39 PM
oneclickmoviez.com
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: pete on October 30, 2009, 07:37:21 PM
also if you've got netflix.
but I heard the DVD is supposed to be like a total work of art - the cases and whatnot, from the beastie boy guy's new boutique label.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: matt35mm on October 30, 2009, 08:36:21 PM
I will watch this but I'm scared.  I need to wait until I'm ready to be destroyed.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: Pedro on October 31, 2009, 01:51:57 PM
Don't be too scared; just dive in.  This was pretty remarkable.  The editing is often overwhelming, especially at first, but as the film progresses you get caught up in the narrative and the style seems to reinforce the content in a clever and beautiful way.  I didn't cry as much as I was expecting to, but the ending was so touching that I couldn't control myself.  All in all, an incredible documentary, both as a true crime narrative and a personal reflection.  I'd like to watch it again.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: pete on October 31, 2009, 05:54:48 PM
best film of the year.  maybe of the decade.  it's as good as capturing the friedmans.
I didn't realize it was directed by the guy who did "validation", the short film that everyone fell in love with last year.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: squints on November 06, 2009, 01:12:50 PM
hey fuck you guys for getting me to watch this. i wasn't prepared. this is really great but so incredibly sad.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: CatMan5129 on November 06, 2009, 08:28:27 PM
Devastating.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: brockly on November 06, 2009, 10:02:10 PM
this movie really fucked with my emotions. it is, indeed, utterly shattering. and while it's probably the saddest and most rage-inducing movie i've ever seen, in the end i was overwhelmed more by love and awe than sadness and anger. everyone should watch this.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: SiliasRuby on November 17, 2009, 04:03:21 PM
Everyone basically already said what I was going to say. Man, what a punch to the gut. I almost never get emotional over films but this really got to me and by the end I was on the brink of tears. True crime disturbing and it then turns heartfelt as the movie rolls on. My heart is beating sooo fast still. I want to recommend this to everyone but they probably won't give me the credit. Man, what a film. I need to watch a comedy right now to shake out some of the sadness.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: squints on November 17, 2009, 04:25:49 PM
watched this AGAIN with some friends last night and then immediately watched the two latest episodes of curb. good contrast.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: I Love a Magician on November 17, 2009, 08:25:25 PM
because one is good and the other isn't

(curb is good)
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: pete on November 17, 2009, 08:58:37 PM
blasphemy.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: I Love a Magician on November 17, 2009, 11:20:21 PM
i'd be fine with the movie if it weren't for how the dude presented the big turning point
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: squints on November 17, 2009, 11:36:35 PM
spoil:


are you talking about all the screaming and fast cuts and gratuitous shots of babies in the pool?
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: I Love a Magician on November 17, 2009, 11:58:19 PM
that's the stuff
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: pete on November 18, 2009, 01:53:41 AM
I agree that stylistically it wasn't very deft, but it was such a devastating moment in the film that really any way it was depicted would've been fine.  he got the point across and in no way made it "bad film".
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: squints on November 18, 2009, 02:05:12 AM
yeah each time i've seen it that has bothered me but it doesn't ruin the whole film by any means.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: matt35mm on November 20, 2009, 02:42:26 PM
I can see I Love a Magician's point.  A lot of little things throughout the film bugged me just enough as to take away from the emotional impact.  I think there was also a lot of repeating of footage that didn't really make any sense to me.  Like how one of the interviewees would say something and then there'd be a cut to one of the director's old films where Andrew has a bit of dialogue that more or less says the same thing, which vaguely suggests that everything's connected when really it's not.  I suppose it could be argued that it's stylistically almost stream-of-consciousness in the way that it bounces back and forth, how a new thing can bring back an old memory... but this part of the film's style was mostly distracting to me.

I still liked the movie, because the story is really gripping and really sad, and the interviews with those who knew and loved Andrew are very touching.  But I'm kinda glad to see some criticisms popping up, because I think this was too hyped up for me.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: Pas on November 20, 2009, 02:57:50 PM
Another great exemple of Canada's fucked legal system. There was a guy a couple months a go : 6 years of prison for raping and leaving in the coma some 50 year old mom and pushing someguy who tried to save her on the metro rails (the metro managed to stop)

Because of prison overcrowding the sentence is automaticaly reduced by 3 (6 if non-violent crime) and because he was in prison for 1 year and 2 months before the hearing this time counts as double (because of overcrowding again) so his sentence was actually 0 day, 0 minute and 0 seconds.

Oh well...
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: modage on February 06, 2010, 11:32:59 PM
This was the most devastating movie I have ever seen.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: Derek on February 07, 2010, 12:06:01 PM
Yeah, I wanted to reach through the screen and choke that judge and the mother.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: md on February 15, 2010, 01:57:12 AM
Quote from: Derek on February 07, 2010, 12:06:01 PM
Yeah, I wanted to reach through the screen and choke that judge and the mother.
Title: Re: Dear Zachary
Post by: children with angels on May 17, 2010, 07:33:04 PM
SPOILERS

Just watched it. Jesus. Too emotional to give much in the way of coherent thoughts. I just wanted to say that the moment when Kate (Andrew's mother) breaks down, then David (his father) pauses before yelling in a voice that carries a rage and a grief you can't describe, "THIS IS WHAT THAT FUCKING BITCH DIDN'T KNOW," is one of the most affecting things I have ever experienced in cinema. I responded emotionally to that outburst in a way that wasn't like watching a movie - it was as if I was sitting in a room with this man and his pain; how often does that ever happen? It's the portrait of these two incredible people being pushed to the edge, yet somehow carrying on, that makes this doc something very, very special.