Sunday, December 10, 2006
♥ Sunday, December 10, 2006
AFGM, A Few Good Men, A Fantastic Gutsy Movie!
Jack Nicholson's the true personfication of evil in this court room drama, about a murdered army personnell in the training area. High intensity and witty exchanges.
Someone made a crude remark about my movies. And thats somehting i just cant get over. Ok, truth be told, it wasnt really crude la..she just said 'movies dont give you anything'.
That, i really beg to differ.
I believe movies offer more than what the average joe can possibly give. And in a world or society where mediocrity, moral relativisim and secularity are rampant, movies bring one more than sheer entertainment.
Well, lets touch on that, first. Whats wrong with entertainment? There's muttering about the hustles and bustles of life, and the need to relax, get out of whatever you're doing-entertainment does that. It stimulates excitement, fear, sadness, happiness, hope and despair; i would go so far as to say that movies, in general could be life in microcosm. Of course, i would agree that entertainment might also be a form of escape. But shall we touch on the idea of truth and reality and living in it? Because if we do, then we're talking ideals. And work and argue all u want, as u may, ideals might sadly be a figment of human imagination.
Imagination?? Paradoxically, movies provide and guide that very imagination, and actually give people a sense of hope, in the form of ideals. There's Batman, there's Superman if you want to consider comic characters. Lets not stretch the imagination to an absurd degree. How about Hotel Rwanda and Schindler's list? How about the Woodsman: a movie of a peadophile fighting against his very nature. Is that not a depiction of reality? Is that not a portrait of the truth? Note: Comment After Watching.
And lets consider the disintegrating family concept. Sheer B-grade movies like Click tells you how to treasure and why to treasure family. Korean movie Brotherhood weaves in the notion of sacrificial brotherly love. Movies like American Beauty speaks of what goes on behind the scenes of human love and struggle- a family torn apart by sexual fantasies, ambitions and the voids created by a lack of love. And the recent spy controversy that Russia so vehemently denied-the one about the ex KGB being posioned by radioactive chemicals..doesnt that sound like any of the spy movies? Say the Bourne series or James Bond. So, History makes the story in movies, and vice versa, movies reveal the stories in history.
Have you watched Last Samurai?
Have you watched Rocky? Have you watched Goal? Or something more recent...say, Remember the Titans? Coach Carter? Akeelah and the Bee? Million Dollar Baby?
Im sure amongst one of them, you must have remarked it 'nice'. Lets get psychoanalytical. It wouldnt be nice, unless it invoked certain emotions or euphoria by making certain sense. So, in other words...it 'spoke' to you, didnt it? The movie's story, or character and how it made its triumph provided a feeling or whats that....inspiration, hope,possiblities. Is that not what the world needs right now? Is that not what WE need, right now?
Now this is a rhetoric: what movie brought such controversy, as it did to a renewal of christian faith, jsut slightly over 2 years back? I give you a clue- the director's Mel Gibson.
Take it from me: movies offer alot more than what sheer living does. Whats today's notion of living? Let me guess, in all humble speculation.
You wake up, and go through your normal routine duties of brushing teeth and taking a shower.
There probably is breakfast on the table. Then, there's school. The lectures...did you understand them? Was it too....BORING? Yes, thats the banal flow of routines barking at ya.
Then there's lunch with a couple of friends. You talk about the things you probably talked about before, perhaps including certain trivial and minor details that you lacked.
Back to those lessons. This time, the lecturer or teacher's engaging. You listen intently.
School ends, you go back. Meet more friends, probably have some other commitments to certain activities..sailing, dancing, running, gyming, church-ing..whatever. Thats a tuesday.
Should i describe such a day to you, i think i can only expect a yawn. But, BUT, if i present to you the colours of imagination, the moving pictures that stimulate thought, reflection, if i can let your heart beat to the rythm and dance in the 'moulin rouge atmosphere', do you know what instead have you achieved??? LITERATURE. Yes, its literature that we begin appreciating the world and its vast mysteries. Its literature that we get to revel in the joy of 'meaninful things'. its literature, precisely that we begin understanding Beauty. And yes, its movies that we begin or continue understanding literature.
Of course, i do not study lit and can probably only give a shallow insight.
Nevertheless, i do make sense. And i approach this topic with much belligerence and bellicosity. There's nothing more painful than having your personal hobby assaulted by sheer ignorance. But, got to thank you also la. Without your invoking of such emotions, i probably couldnt come out with this masterpiece, haha.
So...'SHOW ME THE MOVIES'!!!
Have you watched Rocky? Have you watched Goal? Or something more recent...say, Remember the Titans? Coach Carter? Akeelah and the Bee? Million Dollar Baby?