Thought and Memory

Tag: film

  • What kind of mind dreams up a complete inversion of reality?

    I watched a movie last night—a typical horror flick where a yuppie couple ventures into a rural area, encounters hillbillies, and ends up hunted, tortured, and murdered. The only twist was that this one took place in the UK.

    Are movies and media a complete inversion of reality? In real life, a yuppie couple might visit the countryside, enjoy a few nice meals, take in the scenery, and return to their urban lives after a refreshing getaway. The worst they might face could be a minor irritation like a local asking, ‘Here to see the sights?’ They’d then head back to their concrete jungle, where their diet consists of soy and high fructose corn syrup.

    Why don’t they ever make a horror movie about a nice rural family visiting the city to see the bright lights and museums, only to find themselves hunted through a grim urban landscape like Detroit or Chiraq? In reality, a movie about country folk in the city would probably end within 15 minutes: ‘Family goes to the city, takes mass transit, wife and children are pushed in front of an incoming train by a homeless man,’ or ‘Dad drives into the city and gets shot at a random intersection for no reason’… roll credits. The film would be over in 10 minutes.

    I suppose it’s at least a subtle acknowledgment that Hollywood imagines country folk as having the agency to set up a brutal cat-and-mouse game with city dwellers.

    The only movie I can think of where suburban or rural people encounter horror in the city is when a group of hockey fans takes a shortcut to a Red Wings game and gets hunted down by a gang led by none other than Denis Leary. Detroit gang leader, Denis Leary.

    What kind of mind dreams up such a complete inversion of reality? I have to say, I’m not fond of whoever concocts these movie ideas.

  • LEAVE NO TRACE

  • Its coming up on 50 years since Deliverance was filmed.

    I watched Deliverance recently. I’ll not link to the movies trailer. I’m jaded and callous toward most mass media knowing what to expect but this one takes the cake. Its not only because of its questionable scenes but also because its a clear attack on Southerner and Appalachian via bigoted stereotypes. In fact, this movie and its few scenes are pretty much the gold standard on bigotry towards Southerners and Appalachians.

    I checked out its Wikipedia page after watching it and was just as disgusted to read “In 2008, Deliverance was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” I would like to say I’m shocked but I’m not.

    “Deliverance was well received by critics and is widely regarded as one of the best films of 1972.”

    Disdain definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary

    I found this part interesting – Following the film’s release, Governor Jimmy Carter established a state film commission to encourage television and movie production in Georgia. The state has “become one of the top five production destinations in the U.S”.[26] Tourism increased to Rabun County by the tens of thousands after the film’s release. By 2012, tourism was the largest source of revenue in the county.[26]

    This was Hollywood telling Georgia to do its bit in a humiliation ritual and they’ll be famous.

    Disgusting. Do not recommend.

  • These final hours

    You know how the story is going to end, its the getting there that matters. Very good movie, some violence and lots of nudity at different parts. I recommend it.

  • Very Muddy, Very Bloody and Very Good.

    2018’s Outlaw King may not be the most historically accurate movie but its a very very good movie.

  • Prisoners (2013) might be one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while.

    We need more movies like this.

  • The Finest Hours

    The Finest Hours was a surprisingly good movie. I would recommend.

    A heroic action-thriller, “The Finest Hours” is the remarkable true story of the greatest small boat rescue in Coast Guard history.

    Real story behind ‘The Finest Hours’: How the movie compares via navytimes https://www.navytimes.com/story/entertainment/2016/02/13/real-story-behind-finest-hours-how-movie-compares/80173446/

  • Hacksaw Ridge. Desmond Doss, conscientious cooperator.

    I’ve recently re-watched what I think is one of the best movies in recent years. It wasn’t about some fictional hidden kingdom on another continent,  a plucky gang of thieves and their spaceship or a gang of mutants who live in hills.

    It was  film based on the true story about a fella named Desmond Doss. Doss,  an American from the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Lynchburg, Virginia.  Doss would not kill but would certainly would save.   He didn’t see himself as a conscientious objector but rather a conscientious cooperator.

    Desmond Thomas Doss (February 7, 1919 – March 23, 2006) was a United States Army corporal who served as a combat medic with an infantry company in World War II. He was twice awarded the Bronze Star Medal for actions in Guam and the Philippines. Doss further distinguished himself in the Battle of Okinawa by saving 75 men, becoming the only conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Second World War. His life has been the subject of books, the documentary The Conscientious Objector, and the critically acclaimed 2016 film Hacksaw Ridge. via Wikipedia

  • I liked Star Wars the first time I saw it, when it was called The Dam Busters.