We had a smaller group this time which meant amongst other things, more pizza for each of us! Also, a special congratulations to Beck! Thank you Paul for hosting the latest Moofie Club. We had an interesting course of events during the night; the odd noise, the odd burning smell, which led us to wonder if we weren’t having a visitation by Paul’s resident house-ghost. This inevitably led to discussions on horror and supernatural films & TV. I personally hope this leads to us reviewing one of them for a future meeting. It’s a long shot, but you never know!
We had two especially unique films for review this session. American Beauty was the 1999 Academy Award winner for Best Picture, as well as Best Director (Sam Mendes), Actor (Kevin Spacey), Screenplay and Cinematography. The second was Inception – our new release selection.
American Beauty (1999)
Our silly little existences. We want it so much. We planned for so long, and invested so much, and naturally we fear losing it all. So we play it safe and settle on a routine that works. We get married. We try to be nice. Learn to paint, or play the piano. We protest for causes that we’re meant to be passionate about. We donate to charities, try to care about politics. We promise to do this, or not do that, and keep up the facade of being on track and in control. With each decision, each commitment, we stop ourselves doing the other thing, and another door of possibility closes. These are the compromises we make, and this is the type of person we become before we die. What’s more we convince ourselves that we’re happy, that we chose all this. What else are we going to do? When I was sixteen and life was limitless, I never expected to become so utterly conventional. How did I stray so far from my dreams? When did I lose focus? Why did I give up so easily? Are we really in control? or are we are just like wilderbeest?
This is the headspace where I feel American Beauty begins it’s story. The key characters are in different stages of realisation. Carolyn (Annette Bening) is firmly in denial and burns herself out seeking professional success and social status. Jane (Thora Birch) is neglected by both her parents and craves recognition. She senses something and is drawn to Ricky (Wes Bentley), who finds solace in appreciating the small beauties of the every day. Meanwhile, Lester (Kevin Spacey) has finally awoken from his unsatisfactory American dream. Influenced by Ricky, he is moved to break free of the paralysis that was his life to this point.
American Beauty is an elusive, thoughtful film, melancholy but never dull. It’s not the kind of film I like to watch too regularly. It’s not that I didn’t like it. It’s too sad and too real. It’s getting harder to knock out quick Moofie Club reviews and it’s films like American Beauty that are the culprit. It deserves better words than I can give it. It’s too limiting to call it a satire and I can’t call it a comedy either although it was funny. I laughed but I didn’t feel like laughing. I felt like hiding in a mountain cave and not talking.
Scores
- Wendy 3.5
- Sylvia 4.5
- Andy 3.5
- Paul 5
- Clint 4
Memorable Quotes:
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Andy: I laughed out of recognition, recognition of the real life things. Let’s admit that guys wank every day
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Sylvia: it was so sad
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Clint: Allison Janney – all the life washed out of her. When the boy is leaving she wants to say so much, and all she can say is “wear a raincoat“.
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Clint: I thought the creepy guy [Ricky] was the most obvious manipulation on the part of the director. I mean, the bag thing swirling around in the wind and, “oh, the beauty!” … who says that?! “look at that leaf! Oh, look at that ant! It’s so beautiful! My heart wants to explode!“. If I was sitting next to a girl saying that, there’d be a voice in my head saying, “Oh shut up, you pretentious tosser!“
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Inception
Where do you start with a movie like this? It’s a Matryoshka doll, a Fibonacci series, it’s turtles all the way down! Here’s a diagram. Here’s several! – – – – – –
Dom Cobb and his colleagues are specialists in the art of extracting corporate secrets from people while they dream. Dom is a fugitive and is exiled from his children. He is wanted in the US for the death of his wife, Mal. The powerful Seito however offers him immunity and the chance to return to his old life in exchange for performing one last heist – an ‘inception’ on a corporate competitor.
The films killer hook was the intricate, hyper-real universe of the dreaming mind. Nolan could so easily have just fed us some ‘quantum space-time‘ shit for the first ten minutes, and then let the special effects bling take over. To have the audience actually fascinated and thinking right to the end despite the labyrinthine complexity was a real achievement. The story does feel like it was ten years in development.
The second hook that utterly floored me was Dom and Mal’s story. To live a lifetime together, to build their own utopia; then Mal’s break from reality; Dom’s addiction to her memory, the promise and the betrayal, the guilt, the vast emptiness and the loneliness – it was pure tragedy.
While most films like this go for just one paradox or plot twist to get us talking, this film went for the quadruple cheeseburger and nearly topped itself. By the time the van started hitting the water, and the mountain fort started to collapse, and Juno pushed whats-his-face off the balcony, you could imagine a few people in the audience starting to shift and roll their eyes. When the screen went to black with the spinning top, some would have muttered what Andy muttered (see quotes below). These were minor indiscretions however as it did ultimately hold together and left us at the end at just the right point – bursting to talk it out amongst ourselves as we exited the cinema.
As I write this, Inception is currently ranked IMDB’s #4 all-time best film and #1 sci-fi film. How it stands the test of time is still to be seen. For now however, Nolan really deserves to kick back and enjoy all the praise he gets for this exceptional film.
Scores
- Wendy 4.5
- Sylvia 3.5
- Andy 4.5
- Paul 4.5
- Clint 4.5
Memorable Quotes:
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Sylvia: I was not one bit confused about this film. I understood everything
…<a little later>
Sylvia: So the dream that…. oh wait… so the level is….. no…
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Wendy: I like how you can see how a character behaving within a dream, within a dream, and within a dream…
Sylvia: what?
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On the spinning top ending
Paul: I subscribe to the theory that it was all a dream now
Andy <muttering>: ..fucks sake!
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On Mal’s suicide
Sylvia: So does that mean Mal goes into the real world? and Dom is in the dream?
Andy: Aaaarrgh!!! <sigh>
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Wendy: Juno’s job here is to make it all seem real?
Andy: Yes, the first architect got the carpet wrong
Wendy: yeah, he got the carpet wrong
All: hmmm… he got the carpet wrong…. <shaking head>
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Wendy: you know the theory that the whole film was an inception.
Clint: Yeah, we’re in one right now. I’m just going to jump off the balcony
Sylvia: Just wait for the sugar coma first
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Paul: It’s so creative I wanted to shoot myself. Some guy thought of that and I could never think of it!
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Clint: Can you imagine pitching this to the studios?!
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That’s all for now. The two moofies for review next time are Mulholland Drive (2001) by David Lynch, and Oliver Stones’ Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) (with the 1987 original Wall Street thrown in for extra points). If the weather holds out, it will be the second time the Moofie Club goes on a boat!
Till then, all the best,
cj
Club Moofie 