That’s probably my least favorite Coen Brothers film, which means I could still like it quite a bit, which I did and I loved the ominous ending. I agree also that it was philosophical, but not in any way that really grabbed me. With the coen bros, there is always heavy irony and that makes it instantly unlike The Book of Job. But still…I was disappointed. Hard to be that good, as they are, that when you ‘only’ make a very good movie, it is disappointing.
I thought Winter’s Bone was great. What I loved was we essentially have a thriller, but instead of bombs and car chases and Bruce Willis or whoever we have a teenage girl. And much of the action is her daring to walk into rooms or knock on doors and ask people questions. What I like about that was that she managed to make it gripping AND that is what (much more like what) real life is like for most of us. We have to gear ourselves up to confront people or ask for things or ask questions. Yes, the performances were great.
Not sure if anyone mentioned it but THE THIN RED LINE is very philosophical and just plain great. There’s a reason the talented actors lined up to work with Malick for low pay. I would say that one level of philosophy in the film is a kind of neo-Buddhist philosophy, but there is also the way he portrays minds - with voice over internal monologues - that relates to a number of philosophical issues. There is also nature vs culture issues, human relation to nature. Morality and the nature of goodness. A kind of existentialism. A neo-Christian undertext that is left unresolved. Great film.
Others: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - mind issues
Minority Report - free will
Solaris - I prefer the Tarkovsky original - minds, the metaphysics of human relations, sanity, the problem of other minds, the nature of identity
Clockwork Orange - utopian thinking, morals, the nature of the self
13th floor - here we have virtual realities, which raises issues of self, what it is to be human or sentient or conscious, and also perhaps some nature of reality issues and of course we have a kind of brain in a vat situation.
Blade Runner - raises issues around, more or less, the Turing test for consciousness/intelligence/being alive
Groundhog day - certainly moral issues, but by twisting the rules of reality I would say it raises metaphysical issues also.
A set of films called the Decalogue, by Keislowski, which were actually made for Polish TV, but have the weight and cinematography of films - each of the ten films deals with one of the Ten Commandments, but given the modern setting - all set around the same set of projects - buildings with non-wealthy tenants - amd the lack of Biblical talk, it is more philosophical than religious. And great. If you like Red, White and Blue, or the Double Life of Veronique, try these if you can find them. The other films are also quite philosophical, though not directly.
I really liked Winter’s Bone as well.
I think I liked Detachment, I’m definitely interested in the genre, but there was something disappointing about it. I don’t know. I was doing mental comparisons between Detachment and Half Nelson and I liked them both, but as similar as they are I liked them both in different ways. Both of them disappointed me a little.
Interesting theme… Very good movies that are yet somehow disappointing.
Chronicle is that for me. As much as I loved the progression of the story and as much as I admire the production, they just included some stereotypes that disappointed me.
For the record, only superficial stereotypes that understand themselves as superficial are good (read: Quentin “the master of shallow” Tarantino).
On the other hand, you have shitty movies with extremely redeeming factors, like Equilibrium; just an all-around unoriginal movie that is made good by one simple, brilliant element: Gun Foo, the coolest goddamn martial art ever concieved, real or imaginary.
“Maybe you felt existentially uncomfortable, maybe you didn’t give it a shot, maybe this, maybe that…”
Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps I didn’t liked it because in my opinion it just plain sucked?
Get the fuck over it and move on. Jesus.
We don’t all have to like the same films.
Amazing film.
I’ll talk about A Serious Man if I want to.
A bit about the movie and the book of Job: Job’s wife and children die from horrible diseases. Larry’s wife just leaves him, and his children don’t really go through any kind of developpment arc.
Sure, there is a lot of the book of Job in the movie, but it revolves around the themes, not the other way around.
Stellar documentary available on Hulu about an artist from the 80s who had a rapid rise to fame and died (from drugs I think) only a few years later. Such a smart guy, such clever work, such a sad story. Check it.
Having seen that trailer I now want to see that. 
Philosophy pah, Cube and Hypercube realise some interesting points.
A Separation was really good.
The film is very humanizing. Amidst many conflicting characters, there is no clear good and bad and it is difficult not to empathize with each of them. I’d kind of like to see the whole drama played out in a “Western” version. No, I don’t want a Hollywood remake, this is a great movie - I’m just trying to imagine how people in other cultures would deal with the same issues.* Would some cultures resolve the film’s issues “better” than others? Would the issues even exist in other cultures? If not, is that good or bad or neither?
*[tab]Those issues being
…divorce
…male/female roles & customs
…state law and judicial workings
…etc.[/tab]
Yeah, whoever cut that trailer did a good job. I just hope the movie lives up to it.
It’s been awhile since I saw the Cube movies, but I remember the first one was okay.
Two good indie psychological thrillers with cool premises: Exam and Tape
I had already seen The Cube and the prequel, but yesterday I, um, legally acquired a copy of Hypercube.
What a good movie, those guys are badasses.
Yeah some people don’t like it but I loved it, the whole 4D thing was brilliant. And the ending I thought worked really well, I can’t say what the ending was but you know.
Yeah, the end is the least important part. What’s really mind blowing is the 4D.
Good point, you spent a lot of time trying to think in 4D, the most important thing was it made you think. The ending tries to explain why the prison exists, it does a good job of doing so, but it needs work.
Legally acquired copy of Hypercube, it isn’t well regarded so you could probably obtain it legally. Although even if you did obtain it illegally I doubt anyone would now care.
Yeah, and [tab]then it all ties together when the room starts converging in on itself. It’s like a lecture on physics for movie buffs.[/tab]
Well I like to think I know a bit about physics but I was struggling, so. It’s a film you do have to watch and think about carefully.