If I Could Get Away Without Seeing Ads...

[bcholmes]

I watched Little Children tonight. I knew nothing about the film, and the description on the box made it sound like I'd hate it. But I watch so many DVDs, I often rent films that I question whether or not I'll enjoy.

I liked it. There were lots of little elements of the story I liked. Kate Winslet uses the 'f' word (feminist) in an approving manner (with no time given to anti-straw-feminist positions). The weird and conflicting set of emotions that we end up feeling over the character with the unhealthy interest in children. The whole sequence where the reading group discusses Madame Bovary, and the way it's interweaved with scenes of an affair between two characters.

Lots of excellent moments. I had just mentioned to the_siobhan (when she was over Wednesday night) that I expected to hate it, and although I can't say that I loved it, I'm glad to have seen it.

I think I've realized that I'm most pleasantly surprised by films I know nothing about. Some of the films that just blew me away, I knew almost nothing about before seeing: Solaris, The Hours, and Crash are ones that stand out to me. So, perhaps I just shouldn't watch any ads for any movies, ever.

Comments

[cigfran-lwyd.livejournal.com]

when you mention "crash", are you referring to the recent paul haggis movie, or to the film of the jg ballard novel?

re: soderbergh. have you seen "the limey"? he seems to alternate good/indifferent films. this is, i think, one of the good ones.

[bcholmes.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I mean the Paul Haggis film. I liked it. I know that so many people started to hate it after it beat out Brokeback Mountain at the Oscars.

By contrast, by the time I finally saw Brokeback Mountain, I was hugely disappointed because everyone had told me how incredible it was.