OT - Great Film .. but I won't watch it again.

[Actor]

Every so often I see a film which is well crafted, entertaining and deserving of every possible acolade that could be heaped upon it. I'm really glad they made it and that I got the opportunity to see it. But at the same time it is is so intense and disturbing that I cannot imagine ever wanting to see it again. Examples:

• Boys Don't Cry
• Million Dollar Baby
• Capote

It's not that I do not like these movies. On the contrary, I like them very much. It's as though the filmmakers have done their job too well. They have managed to reach my inner self and touch me in a way that is (for lack of a better word) negative, and I cannot bring myself to repeat the experience.

I trust I make myself obscure?

[MovieStuff]

I felt very betrayed by Million Dollar Baby because it lulled you into a sense of safety and then pulled the rug out at the end with her accident for no real reason other than shock value. Her laying there withering away isn't what I call entertainment, no matter how "real" the acting is or the skill on display. Million Dollar Baby wasn't a documentary where reality forces the dynamics and storyline. Everything in it was purposely devised and manipulated to jerk your emotions. Eastwood could have made a movie about the needless drowning of a family puppy after a happy day at the park and it would have had the same emotional effect and the same entertainment value, in my opinion.

I think that Eastwood is an okay director but should not direct himself. Ever. Someone in his crew needs to step up to the plate during production and tell him so but I am sure he's surrounded by yes-men that want to work again. He took over directorial reins on "Outlaw Josey Wales" back in the 70s from brilliant director Philip Kaufman after 90% of the movie had already been shot and Eastwood got director credit on the screen. That movie is wonderful, in my opinion, and Eastwood has been trying to prove he really can direct ever since.

Million Dollar Baby would have been much better with an ace like Jack Nicholson playing Eastwood's part. Considering how weak the script was, it really needed someone of that calibre. No one can make doing nothing entertaining like Jack can. Gene Hackman would have been interesting, too. Eastwood wasn't and isn't unless someone else is directing him, which hasn't happened in a long, long time.

But, to address your original post, there are some movies that I feel the same way about and some I will probably never see. "Shindlers List" is one of them. I am certain it is a well made movie and is important to a lot of people but I just can not force myself to watch that kind of misery, just for the sake of entertainment.

Roger

[al77]

i feel that way about most films i see, life's to short to watch the same movies over & over. i stopped buying dvds for that same reason, all they will do is sit there in the cases by the tv!

[Angus]

Roger,

When I watch something like Schindler's List I am doing so for more reasons than merely entertainment. The same could be said of "A World Apart", there are certain scenes I find difficult (and others I know of that were cut) but I'm not watching a film like that to just entertain myself.

As for Clint Eastwood, I'd love to see him again directed by somebody else. He's an adequate director and actor and probably writer...but somebody else could get better work out of him.

[MovieStuff]

When I watch something like Schindler's List I am doing so for more reasons than merely entertainment.

I understand but it doesn't make me feel any different when I watch it. I have actually tried to watch some of Shindlers List but couldn't continue. There are some movies that I know are outside my comfort zone, for whatever the reason.

As for Clint Eastwood, I'd love to see him again directed by somebody else. He's an adequate director and actor and probably writer...but somebody else could get better work out of him.

Certainly.

Roger

[Evan Kubota]

I agree that MDB is overrated, but the "twist" was not really the problem, IMO. Eastwood's handling of the "twist" was manipulative - I agree. However, I was never so engaged in the movie that I felt "betrayed" by the direction it took. Eastwood is a very workmanlike director, but there seems to be a perception that he's some kind of great talent behind the camera. Roger: can you imagine Jack Nicholson now playing Eastwood's role? Blech.

I personally will watch almost any movie, as long as it's good. Cannibal Holocaust, Africa Addio, La Bête, etc. Violence and atrocities do not bother me when depicted onscreen.

[drsanchez]

Million Dollar Baby would have been much better with an ace like Jack Nicholson playing Eastwood's part. Considering how weak the script was, it really needed someone of that calibre. No one can make doing nothing entertaining like Jack can. Gene Hackman would have been interesting, too.

As soon as you mentioned other people to play Eastwood's part I thought of Gene Hackman. Even in his (Hackman's) crappy movies I think he's great. He would have fit perfectly in this role.

[David M. Leugers]

One thing is for sure in my mind, Clint Eastwoon in Million Dollar Baby was a much better movie than any Gene Hackman made that year... Kinda like criticizing a Monet painting because the subject would have been better done by Picaso. It is not fact, it is someone's preference.

I just watched Million Dollar Baby this past weekend and saw it in the theatre when it came out. I love it. Great film. The whole issue with the white trash girl boxer who overcomes then meets a tragic fate is the redemption of the Clint Eastwood character. This is not the typical Hollywood twist just to manipulate the audience. There are very serious undertones played well by Eastwood chasing the demons of his guilt having practically abondoned his daughter while chasing after the boxing game. In the end he sticks with his damaged boxer until the end when he proves he would do anything for her, even let her go.

Eastwood will never be thought of as a great actor, but movies like Unforgiven, Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby is a pretty good resume for any director. Funny, Gene Hackman in Unforgiven is I think his best role of the past twenty years. The chemistry between Eastwood and Morgan Freeman is very good also. Being a good film maker is something more than just being a good director or a good actor. Years ago many people criticized actors like Gary Cooper, John Wayne and even Clark Gable as limited range actors. I don't think "High Noon" would have been better without Cooper, "The Searchers" without Wayne, or "Gone With the Wind" without Gable.



David M. Leugers

[Shion]

"Boys Don't Cry" is usually the first to pop into my mind when asked this question. I suppose "Million Dollar Baby" falls into this category as well, although I'd sooner revisit it than I would BDC.

"Wolf Creek" is a lesser movie, but still very good- however, it's second only to "The Passion of the Christ" (which I disliked) as the most disturbing thing I've ever seen.

"Leaving Las Vegas" springs to mind. I'm sure there's been others, but I can't think which right now.

There were plenty in this category at the Australian "Trasharama" short film festival I went to recently, but I don't expect any of you to be familiar with them, so I won't name them.

-Bon

[tlatosmd]

A film that I wouldn't like to see again due to it being too intense would be Requiem for a dream.

[Scotness]

Hey Roger - just wondering have you ever seen Life Is Beautiful - it's a holocaust film but in a totally different way - probably alot easier to watch than Schindler's List but perhaps more moving. I saw the two many years apart so couldn't accurately compare them now, but I was very moved by Life Is Beautiful - I think because I'd had kids by that stage and I kept putting myself in his shoes.

There are plenty of things I don't want to sit through again though - or albums I can't listen to anymore - mainly for emotional reasons - Sophies Choice really upset me when I saw it, and I spent way too long listening to Darklands by the Jesus and Mary Chain - but I think I could still sit through them all now to try and analyse them technically.

Scot

[Angus]

Schindler's List always reminds me of two things.

1) I had what I consider to be a fortunate opportunity to meet and talk with an Auschwitz survivor while I was at school. Some of the old man's memories still brought him to tears 40+ years after the experience.

2) That experience got me thinking that *somebody* should go and film interviews with all remaining, willing holocaust survivors before it's too late. Their words and faces tell more than any book can. I believe Spielberg more or less did this preparing Schindler's List.

There is one film I cannot watch for emotional reasons. Easter 2001 we visited family in Arkansas and Missouri including our nieces. I filmed a lot (on super 8) especially the nieces, their mother and step-father.

Shortly after we returned to England we learned their step-father had been abusing the kids....and I have not been able to watch the film in its entirity since. Fortunately things have ended up well with the girls adopted by their grandmother...and we saw them again about a year ago.

[tlatosmd]

Hey Roger - just wondering have you ever seen Life Is Beautiful - it's a holocaust film but in a totally different way - probably alot easier to watch than Schindler's List but perhaps more moving. I saw the two many years apart so couldn't accurately compare them now, but I was very moved by Life Is Beautiful - I think because I'd had kids by that stage and I kept putting myself in his shoes.

Oh yes, Roberto Benigni's Life is beautiful (La vita e bella) might be a far more suitable choice in case you can't stand Schindler's list.

[hassan]

British romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant...

[Scotness]

British romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant...

Agreed

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Scot