Milk

[jtm]

Most clarifications work better as an edit.

god i hate these internet/message board rules....why do you give a shit???

I don't give a shit, but a better question might be "why does it seem like you only ever post to complain lately?"

the truth?

i'm a bitter and angry person.

but i'm pretty sure society made me that way.

i used to be different. but, well, things change.

[last days of gerry the elephant]

Well, things won't change anymore. Welcome to your end.

Also, MILK was the tits. Minus the cliche ending with the candle lit roads, I thought that was an unnecessary addition. Could have possibly ended (SPOILER) with him looking outside the window as he was down on his knees. (/SPOILER)

[cinemanarchist]

Well, things won't change anymore. Welcome to your end.

Also, MILK was the tits. Minus the cliche ending with the candle lit roads, I thought that was an unnecessary addition.

I loved this movie, which is something I haven't said about it a biopic in a very long time but I agree the ending was kind of weak. The only time I slumped down in my seat was when Franco says, "Doesn't anybody give a damn," during the tiny funeral in the capital. Otherwise this was just a beautiful film across the board that didn't really bring anything new to the genre but the acting, writing and directing were all so magnificent that the typical structuring of the film didn't bother me at all.

[samsong]

the "doesn't anybody give a damn?" line is a near-fatal misstep but because what follows is so unbelievably moving i can overlook it no problem.  the reprise of the "i'm 40 years old and i haven't done a thing i'm proud of" scene was superfluous.

SPOILER i thought that was one of the more awe-inspiring moments of the film.  a candle light vigil at the end of a biopic is certainly cliche but in this case it's such a politically and humanistically charged image that i can't help but be moved to tears by it.  there's also that great cut to the stock footage of the actual vigil stretching the entire length of the street that bowled me over. SPOILER 

i'm glad the hyper-conventional nature of milk isn't deterring everyone from enjoying it.  for me a lot of the joy i experienced while watching this film was the idea that this was a relatively mainstream film that was socially conscious (without being abrasive or using the human element as a device to achieve topicality a la crash),  and possessed all of the qualities of a great hollywood movie in terms of breadth of emotions and scope of narrative.  my feeling is that it's the kind of movie fassbinder described when he said "The best thing I can think of would be to create a union between something as beautiful and powerful and wonderful as Hollywood films and a criticism of the status quo."  is there any moment in american cinema from this year more rapturous than the zoom out of sean penn and james franco kissing in front of the camera store?  danny elfman's score is uncharacteristic (though characteristically great) and lovely.  pouring on any more superlatives about harris savides is redundant.

[jtm]

Well, things won't change anymore. Welcome to your end.

i think this is the most sadistic thing i've ever read in response to something i wrote.

[72teeth]

i used to like luna, but now i see him as what penelope was to blow and stone was to casino... i hate theam all!

[w/o horse]

  It literally hit me right now, towards the end of The Yakuza (similarities between Milk and The Yakuza being esoteric and marginal enough that I won't delve) that what's horrible about Milk discussion is that no one seems to mention, or notice, how complicated the assassination really was, according to the film.  It's mostly talked about through a biopic or gay lense, and it's mainly evaluated from a biographical accuracy angle, in regards to the character of Harvey Milk, or a filmmaking angle, in regard to Gus Van Sant's emotional acumen. 
  What about the clearly deliberate and successful attempt at displaying the honestly complicated, confusing, and contradicting morality of the situation?  Even The Times of Harvey Milk (a terrific documentary) and the mainstream media seem to miss this.  Milk doesn't make Dan White simply homophobic.  He's not simply a faggot assassin, to emphasize by way of hateful coinage.  Not that it vilifies Harvey, but it certainly demonstrates the equivocal virtue of humanitarian efforts within popular politics.  And you can't help but assess the dog-poop policies and gay activist causes as unfair advantages in the popularity driven elections of contemporary politics.  The film, not me, makes this point.  Not to mention the lack of full communication between Harvey and Dan, owing to the political aspirations of both Dan and Harvey.
  Still, more complicated.  Because from here you could say its target is politics, which it couldn't be based on Harvey's chosen career and the film's affection for Harvey's ambition within that career.  And it's not supporting or defending the murder, obviously and of course, but it isn't portraying the characters in polar opposition.  It isn't blaming Harvey, but it isn't blaming twinkies either.  It's blaming Dan, but it's also giving him motivation.
  And that motivation is incendiary.  But it's eclipsed by the value of Harvey's goals.  As in Harvey was a much greater man, and more important man, than Dan was a confused or complicated man.  BUT he wasn't COMPLETELY irrational.  The film makes this point.
  That's brave.  I really think it is.  It's at least beyond conventional, which is what everyone seems happy calling it.  I just now pin-pointed for myself what I thought was brave about it, and hopefully or maybe some of you thought that too and just realized it or didn't discuss it prior.  It's braver than man-on-man action (who really thinks that's still a big deal?  Do y'all live in the south?), and it's braver than Penn's performance alone.

[MacGuffin]

A powerful film, headed up by a brave performance by Penn. Van Sant has made his indie Malcolm X with this film, and it's his best work since Drugstore Cowboy, which I saw a lot his filmic techniques from that film brought in to this project. The small audience I saw it with got a kick out of the Orange County references since we were in the next city over from Fullerton, and the whole issue of Prop 6 hit home in relation to the recent Prop 8 gay marriage issue. It was a great blend of recreation and use of news footage that gave the film a true docu-drama (in a good way) feel that made the story "real" as opposed to a point-by-point biopic.

[private witt]

BUT he wasn't COMPLETELY irrational.  The film makes this point.
  That's brave.  I really think it is.  It's at least beyond conventional, which is what everyone seems happy calling it.  I just now pin-pointed for myself what I thought was brave about it, and hopefully or maybe some of you thought that too and just realized it or didn't discuss it prior. 

Couldn't agree more.  Brolin's Dan White struggles to make in roads with Harvey, but politics is a messy game.  The scene with Brolin sitting half naked sprawled all over the couch while looking out the window at the world, childlike, followed by him suddenly dressed in his suit while sitting totally rigid sums up everything about his character perfectly.  It's a perfect exclamation point on his character arc right before the tragic ending.

[private witt]

The beginning is an impromptu press conference directly following his assassination, and there's this horrified official on the podium, flash bulbs are going off and the atmosphere is palpably catastrophic, and she's announcing the murders, and then there's these gasps. . .it's genuinely chilling. 

The woman you speak of was then president of the board of supervisors and current US Senator Diane Feinstein, who also acted as speaker of the inaugural ceremonies of President Barack Obama.  Upon Milk's assassination, as pres. of the San Francisco BOS, Feinstein was automatically appointed to mayor and served for ten years in this role.

[picolas]

yeah. i don't like how people tend to speak about the assassination as though it was based on homophobia, making milk a 'martyr for gay rights'. the trailer does this. of course this isn't to say milk wasn't an amazing/visionary guy, it's just a mischaracterization of why he died. like 'heath died because the joker messed him up'. it's an easier narrative, so people believe it.

[private witt]

I didn't think the trailer doesn't connect Dan White to Milk's assassination at all (though I may not have seen all the trailers), it only alludes to the numerous death threats he received for being a homosexual in power.  I think the irony that he wasn't killed for this reason is very obvious in the film itself, though I think it's still not been noticed by many people I've talked to. 

[picolas]

the trailer doesn't show his assassination, true. but knowing brolin would be the assassin, his motivations in the trailer are pretty narrow. granted it's a trailer, but it still does its best to show him as a straight up bigot. i think it contributes to that idea.

[SiliasRuby]

They should have gotten Will Ferrel to play Dan White
Observe:

[picolas]

someone needs to re-up that video with your title.