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[plasmawave]

Darren Aronofsky looks like Steve Jobs.

I thought the movie was meh.

 

[Prince of Space]

Going to try and see this sometime this week; pretty excited, given the reactions posted so far.

Never seen a Jodorowsky film, but this movie feels like a descent into mad fever dream as It progresses

Watch El Topo

Follow it up with The Holy Mountain.


As to the Arronofsky/Kon connection, it's well known that Arronofsky bought the US remake rights to Perfect Blue specifially because he wanted to use shots that were 1:1 with that film for Requiem for a Dream:

Perfect Blue didn't "influence" either Requiem or Black Swan beyond a couple specific shots and thematic similarities, though. Not sure why anyone would try and argue otherwise.



Oh, and Bug is an amazing psychological thriller; watch it if you haven't seen it before!

 

[afternoon delight]

It's a movie that is going to evoke a response right away, and for mass audiences it's going to be bad. I think most actually understand it (or most of it) and what it's all about, it's just they don't like that.

My take for it is essentially that it's well-made but it loses the human element and connection it desperate wants to give us because it's more focused on an allegorical premise than a narrative one. It went too far in one direction for me and the balance that Aronofsky can find in most of his films becomes lost - he isn't just missing that layer but doesn't even bother with it all this time around.

Yeah it's not like it's super complicated, it's just lame and overought. Could have been so much more!

 

[Frankenstrat]

I thought it was pretty good! It was a bit like something I'd have watched in English class, and a bit heavy handed, but I still enjoyed it.

 

[Krev]

My take for it is essentially that it's well-made but it loses the human element and connection it desperate wants to give us because it's more focused on an allegorical premise than a narrative one. It went too far in one direction for me and the balance that Aronofsky can find in most of his films becomes lost - he isn't just missing that layer but doesn't even bother with it all this time around.

For the most part I agree, but I think it is there in a few moments where Aronofsky uses Bardem to comment

Spoiler

on the way artists treat their muses. The moment when the poet shows the mother his new work and she is moved but sees that he's going to leave her, and her ultimate realisation that he didn't love her but loved that she loved him and his work, struck a chord with me as a sometimes self-loathing artist. It rang very true and felt to me like it was drawn from actual break-up arguments, or at least the guilt that artists can feel in analysing their motivations and the cost of their pursuit of the muse on those who love them.

Outside of that it was largely a heavy handed intellectual exercise, but a tense and enjoyably ridiculous one. Still, his best since The Wrestler.

 

[Fevaweva]

One of my two least favorite directors on a personal level. Hope people turn on Nolan next

People won't turn on Nolan because he doesn't make films that elicit such responses.

 

[Krev]

People won't turn on Nolan because he doesn't make films that elicit such responses.

I feel the same way that I did when The Fountain came out - man, at least this guy goes out on a limb with his heart on his sleeve. Though it was equally absurd, I felt less so about Black Swan, because it was so derivative. mother! obviously has its inspirations too but I can feel the eagerness to make something fresh. Kudos to Paramount for taking the risk with him.

 

[CloudWolf]

Mother is great, currently probably up with Get Out as my favorite film of the year, but literally the first thing I said after walking out of the cinema was "Oh man, American audiences are not going to like this one". Turns out I was right. Yay!

 

[crisdecuba]

I fell out on the "nope, regardless of the allegory, it didn't work for me" side:

https://youtu.be/_-qpoL1lIjM

 

[gun_haver]

well i guess i'm gonna be seeing this

 

[More_Badass]

Mother is great, currently probably up with Get Out as my favorite film of the year, but literally the first thing I said after walking out of the cinema was "Oh man, American audiences are not going to like this one". Turns out I was right. Yay!

Yeah after the movie sticking with me for the last few days and going to see it again, I think I can say Mother is in my top 5 of 2017 so far. Which I sure wasn't expecting. I usually dislike movies that are all allegorical and symbolism

 

[jelly]

I wondered what this film was called because the TV ads had such Illegible font.

 

[tearsintherain]

The RLM/Half in the bag review is great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2oUaPFlbW8

They spent like a quarter of the review talking about the director. I was totally like Mike (guy on left?), I thought Arnofsky was some weird foreign auteur who's like Stanley Kubrik and makes weird movies and rarely talks to anyone, but I guess that illusion is now shattered.