Avalon: what a dog!
09-14-04 | 02:20 PM
#26
DVD Talk Hero
Dunno about him, but I was joking. 
09-14-04 | 07:33 PM
#28
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From: At the 2.20 Aspect Ratio
This movie is over-rated mainly because it's essentially live-action anime. And still functions with the storytelling cunudrums that anime has -- like an amorphous final 10 minutes.
My problem with this film is the same problem I had with Ghost In The Shell -- so much promise in the first 15 minutes, and then its time to delve into material that is supposed to be a profound examination of the human condition, but explored with a pace that would make von Stroheim's Greed seem like a quick jaunt.
Visually this movie is impressive, as it's a vision that one normally doesn't see in filmed entertainment, but a little repetitve in motif. The action scenes are straight out of an Xbox Game (which sadly is what's happend to all action scenes - except for Bourne Identity), not that that's bad...
The whole use of technology and gaming worlds as means for humans to learn who they truly are or are not is such a tired theme in Japanese cinema I wish someone like Soderberg was doing this kind of film.
My problem with this film is the same problem I had with Ghost In The Shell -- so much promise in the first 15 minutes, and then its time to delve into material that is supposed to be a profound examination of the human condition, but explored with a pace that would make von Stroheim's Greed seem like a quick jaunt.
Visually this movie is impressive, as it's a vision that one normally doesn't see in filmed entertainment, but a little repetitve in motif. The action scenes are straight out of an Xbox Game (which sadly is what's happend to all action scenes - except for Bourne Identity), not that that's bad...
The whole use of technology and gaming worlds as means for humans to learn who they truly are or are not is such a tired theme in Japanese cinema I wish someone like Soderberg was doing this kind of film.
09-15-04 | 11:21 AM
#29
DVD Talk Gold Edition
The whole use of technology and gaming worlds as means for humans to learn who they truly are or are not is such a tired theme in Japanese cinema I wish someone like Soderberg was doing this kind of film.
"eXistenZ" is one of the many "Avalon"-type films I was thinking about, and one of the better ones IMO (though it seems to get about as much criticism as "Avalon"). "Videodrome" preceded the whole gaming "alternate reality" phenomena, but is pretty much focused on the same issues.
