What a fuckin awesome movie. Tom Cruise is a hero, sort of superman in my eyes. Strong, correct, logical, disturbed, intense --- strong. Little signs of Kubrick slip in, like that first hour of The Shining. The fade-away cuts after nearly-casual dialogues.... but there's always something almost wrong, almost wrong enough to be caught. Things are building, the man's aggression is building, he broke the universe's first attempt to catch him but he's on his way to a full-out submission. It doesn't feel like Kubrick, other than those small signals; it mostly just feels like a film. Somehow there are very few films that can provide an experience like this. I'm all-in -- not sexually, but I want to see how the characters evolve. This is terrific -- I find something amazing in the protagonist, so I am bound to experience the next hour and a half pretty intensely. This should be good; whether it continues tonight or picks up again tomorrow, it should be good.
Other thoughts.... :
As a matter of fact, I see some Jack Torrance mannerisms in Tom Cruise here. Is this intentional? The characters are obviously vastly different, but Kubrick is crafting some similar vibes, and Cruise is really buying in.
Yep, no mistake, it got upsetting. Dr. Bill's first tour through the mansion brought out the demons.
Does everything turn to shit the moment the nude woman speaks to Tom Cruise? I feel like she should not have spoken, for the sake of the quality of the movie.
Monday, 1/18/16:
I would say that this movie gets quite poor in its last half-hour. The best section is the first hour or hour-and-a-half. There are some tremendous elements to this filmmaking. Later, the direction flies off the rails, but not in any thrilling way. There are various meaningless plot twists, some poor drama, a horribly uncomfortable resolution... It twists my insides to hear the husband and wife try to move on past the night and resume a loving marriage -- it makes me cringe to hear the satirical final line of resolution. This film built up insane potential in its first hour--- Kubrick could have cashed in for the climax like he did with 2001, i.e. blow everybody's fucking mind.
All of the unfathomable intensities crafted in the first section begin to fall flat when the nude woman speaks to the male lead, as I expected. In fact, probably the peak of the filmmaking is before he even arrives at the house. It's the massive sexual darkness that's building... It's all behind-the-scenes at this point, just leaking out so dangerously. Once he arrives at the house the sexual element blows up and the focus goes to the drama, which is completely misdirected. From this point on the director doesn't know what he's doing with his script.
Nicole Kidman was fantastic, I thought. Perhaps an even more impressive performance than Tom Cruise. However, I see her as the fucking devil, which is partly why the call-it-even resolution sickens me so.
The movie had some incredible elements. Kubrick is certainly present, until the script is lost. The intensity of the first hour is unequaled by other films.
Monday, 1/18/16:
I would say that this movie gets quite poor in its last half-hour. The best section is the first hour or hour-and-a-half. There are some tremendous elements to this filmmaking. Later, the direction flies off the rails, but not in any thrilling way. There are various meaningless plot twists, some poor drama, a horribly uncomfortable resolution... It twists my insides to hear the husband and wife try to move on past the night and resume a loving marriage -- it makes me cringe to hear the satirical final line of resolution. This film built up insane potential in its first hour--- Kubrick could have cashed in for the climax like he did with 2001, i.e. blow everybody's fucking mind.
All of the unfathomable intensities crafted in the first section begin to fall flat when the nude woman speaks to the male lead, as I expected. In fact, probably the peak of the filmmaking is before he even arrives at the house. It's the massive sexual darkness that's building... It's all behind-the-scenes at this point, just leaking out so dangerously. Once he arrives at the house the sexual element blows up and the focus goes to the drama, which is completely misdirected. From this point on the director doesn't know what he's doing with his script.
Nicole Kidman was fantastic, I thought. Perhaps an even more impressive performance than Tom Cruise. However, I see her as the fucking devil, which is partly why the call-it-even resolution sickens me so.
The movie had some incredible elements. Kubrick is certainly present, until the script is lost. The intensity of the first hour is unequaled by other films.
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