Talk About Movies: Part 4

I think "impacted my life" would be more accurate. Many books and movies both have impacted my life in the way I think about things. Not sure changed is the right word. Impacted, influenced, enhanced, disallusioned would be more accurate in a nuanced way.

I was thinking of a famous essay by James Baldwin where he recounts being a teenager in Harlem reading Dostoevsky and thinking, "Holy ****! There's another person who thinks like I do," and what the discovery that he wasn't alone meant to him. I've had moments like that.

I guess people toss off some phrases without thinking, and I know the changed my life thing is hyperbole. Some think everything happens for a reason. Really?

But I could only think of people who changed my life, and those would be few. Many have made my life better and continue to do so.

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Is anybody working on that MacArthur Genius Grant for Schlitzy's YouTube posts that I ordered? Haven't heard anything...

This. I think it comes down to defining exactly what signifies "changed my life"... For someone who once was seeking the absolute truth through devouring books decades back (and studying in literature), I can clearly assess that quite a few books/movies significantly impacted my life, but none were truly life changing. In fact, the only genuine life changing experiences in my life where one remains forever driven afterwards

it seems many people associate the phrase 'Life Changing' with some form of massive 180º change in direction when it can in fact be something as small as a 'greater appreciation of' or perhaps an 'enlightening'.

Or maybe "inspired me to do something/go somewhere I wouldn't have."

OTOH, I went to the Field of Dreams this summer. While there's pretty close to zero percent chance I would've went to Dyersville otherwise, I wouldn't call that movie life-changing.

I would call it sleep-inducing.

Induction complete.

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I've gone to a few places to see where movies were filmed.

Vertigo
Zabriske Point
Moonstruck
When Harry Met Sally
Star Wars
My Architect

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Yeah, I kind of like doing that. Not as a point of the trip, but if I'm in the neighborhood. Just before Field of Dreams last summer, I pulled off at Joliet and saw the prison from the opening scene of The Blues Brothers, for example.

Next time I'm visiting my cousin in Marin, I'm going to Bodega Bay. I think the schoolhouse from The Birds is still there.

I visited a couple other places from Vertigo but can't find the pictures.

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I've been to where the shot most of Water World...

I recognize that place.

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I just thought it was funny because I actually just watched Waterworld all the way thru for the first time today.

Surely I had seen parts before and felt it was reasonably decent, minus the mind numbing action sequences, but after watching it in its entirety I felt it has somehow changed me :p

Poor Things I wanted to think about this one a bit before I posted anything. I generally like these sort of offbeat movies and I guess I liked this one but it didn't really grab me. Acting was fine, story was fine, creative. That was it for me - just ok. I think some here would really like it, though.

I did like the ruffalo character when he went off the rails.

Richard Linklater has a new documentary on Max called "Hometown Prison" which I thought was phenomenal. It's part of a 3-part series of documentary films called "God Bless Texas". Really well done and treats a difficult subject with the humanity and grace I'd expect from Linklater. Just happened to click on it by accident and I'm glad I did. So much streaming stuff out there now, lots of it garbage, that you really have to seek out the great stuff like this.

It doesn’t help that the Max app is a ****ing dumpster fire.

Wheat from the Chaff...

Monster - great film with many layers. What initially seems like a story about a child being abused by his teacher, and the school that doesn't want to deal with it, morphs into something else. It's a meditation on motherhood, friendship and how truth can be just a matter of perspective.

Looking forward to this one. Kore-eda is one of the finest directors working today.

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I saw it mostly because of Emma Stone but I was lukewarm with my expectations going in.

Poor Things starts off the way I thought it would (sort of meh) but the story unfolds completely differently than I expected. And the ending was perfect imo. I did enjoy it.

i told a mod he didn't have the right temperament to be a good mod and he proved my point by banning me for a week

not exaggerating, literally happened

It wasn't me.

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