Dahmer was set in Milwaukee.Penelope wrote:Just once, I'd like to see a romantic comedy/drama that is NOT set in NY or LA! For all of its flaws, at least He's Just Not That Into You was set in Baltimore, which, given John Waters' oeuvre, isn't all that exotic cinematically, really. How about, oh, I don't know, Cleveland or Madison or Kansas City...?
(500) Days of Summer
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
Just once, I'd like to see a romantic comedy/drama that is NOT set in NY or LA! For all of its flaws, at least He's Just Not That Into You was set in Baltimore, which, given John Waters' oeuvre, isn't all that exotic cinematically, really. How about, oh, I don't know, Cleveland or Madison or Kansas City...?
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
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Mister Tee
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I had the precise same reaction. From the look of the building where Gordon-Levit worked -- and from the fact that he WALKED to his job -- I just assumed it was some part of NY, or, at least, Philly (though possibly with Toronto standing in). I was pretty much astonished when they identified it as LA.Sabin wrote:Sidenote: I had no idea this was in L.A. for half the movie. They bring the topic of Los Angeles up quite bit, but I almost shrugged it off in my head, like "Why the fuck are they talking about Los Angeles when they're in beautiful New York City?" This Los Angeles looks amazing. It exists for about a mile radius.
Sure.
At some point this year, I'd like to do a piece on the state of romance in film. Romcoms died this decade. We see movies about people who fall in love, but rare are the films about what it means to stay in love and struggle with it. I'd love to hear your choices, but for me in spite of what I perceive as flaws, (500) Days of Summer is pretty devastating.
What this movie gets more than any I can remember this generation-specific is how rampant partner idealization is. Tom is in love AT Summer and through shuffling back and forth the days, the film conveys the whirlwind of torment it is for those who fall in love too easily. The "Expectations/Reality" scene *gets* it. It's also an incredibly stylish film. Marc Webb is a music video that knows how to stage a scene and not coast on visual affectation. The script is good but Webb knows just how to play it all.
My chief problem with the film is how casually lets Tom off the hook for being a total fucking douchebag. He works at a greeting card company that exists in the same world all those bullshit magazine offices in Manhattan that aren't real. So, we're dealing with a lead character with a fake job who is confronted very directly with the truth about his relationship and he doesn't really seem to learn. One fixation appears to be traded in for another. This is a little problematic. He's a man who completely turns his life around after being dumped by a woman he wasn't really dating to begin with AND meets the most OTN counterpoint imaginable. I think a slightly sharper scalpel was needed.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel are interesting together. He's a very fine actor but he's far more in his league wondering where his dead girlfriend got that brick of heroin or where he's going to sleep on the streets of NYC. He's good here, but Zooey Deschanel is intentionally all-over-the-place. She's so incredibly beautiful but I think there's something about her that's off-putting to me. She's such a flighty, all-about-herself little tart...which is the point. There are no strong choices scene-to-scene though. It's difficult to get any kind of hold on her, and between Gordon-Levitt's ecstasy/meltdown contrast and her egocentric consistency, they seem like a couple that you don't want to see end up together. This is not eternal screen coupling, but rather a (n intentional) parable about falling too hard, too quickly. The difference between Falling in love WITH and Falling in love AT is the same as Rooting FOR and EH. AT LEAST SHE PUT OUT.
It's a very strong film, but I wish it was a little better.
Sidenote: I had no idea this was in L.A. for half the movie. They bring the topic of Los Angeles up quite bit, but I almost shrugged it off in my head, like "Why the fuck are they talking about Los Angeles when they're in beautiful New York City?" This Los Angeles looks amazing. It exists for about a mile radius.
Edited By Sabin on 1250655784
At some point this year, I'd like to do a piece on the state of romance in film. Romcoms died this decade. We see movies about people who fall in love, but rare are the films about what it means to stay in love and struggle with it. I'd love to hear your choices, but for me in spite of what I perceive as flaws, (500) Days of Summer is pretty devastating.
What this movie gets more than any I can remember this generation-specific is how rampant partner idealization is. Tom is in love AT Summer and through shuffling back and forth the days, the film conveys the whirlwind of torment it is for those who fall in love too easily. The "Expectations/Reality" scene *gets* it. It's also an incredibly stylish film. Marc Webb is a music video that knows how to stage a scene and not coast on visual affectation. The script is good but Webb knows just how to play it all.
My chief problem with the film is how casually lets Tom off the hook for being a total fucking douchebag. He works at a greeting card company that exists in the same world all those bullshit magazine offices in Manhattan that aren't real. So, we're dealing with a lead character with a fake job who is confronted very directly with the truth about his relationship and he doesn't really seem to learn. One fixation appears to be traded in for another. This is a little problematic. He's a man who completely turns his life around after being dumped by a woman he wasn't really dating to begin with AND meets the most OTN counterpoint imaginable. I think a slightly sharper scalpel was needed.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel are interesting together. He's a very fine actor but he's far more in his league wondering where his dead girlfriend got that brick of heroin or where he's going to sleep on the streets of NYC. He's good here, but Zooey Deschanel is intentionally all-over-the-place. She's so incredibly beautiful but I think there's something about her that's off-putting to me. She's such a flighty, all-about-herself little tart...which is the point. There are no strong choices scene-to-scene though. It's difficult to get any kind of hold on her, and between Gordon-Levitt's ecstasy/meltdown contrast and her egocentric consistency, they seem like a couple that you don't want to see end up together. This is not eternal screen coupling, but rather a (n intentional) parable about falling too hard, too quickly. The difference between Falling in love WITH and Falling in love AT is the same as Rooting FOR and EH. AT LEAST SHE PUT OUT.
It's a very strong film, but I wish it was a little better.
Sidenote: I had no idea this was in L.A. for half the movie. They bring the topic of Los Angeles up quite bit, but I almost shrugged it off in my head, like "Why the fuck are they talking about Los Angeles when they're in beautiful New York City?" This Los Angeles looks amazing. It exists for about a mile radius.
Edited By Sabin on 1250655784
"How's the despair?"