| Entry: Of Life |  | = Official Comment |
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From Sean Stubblefield
Website: http://www.geocities.com/exastra/home.htm |
Bloody brilliant! Your review is everything I hoped and expected it would be: positive, clever and insightful. Now I'm even more excited and intrigued about Fountain.
You asked: "Do you see?"
Yes, I do. I also see that you "See", which gives me a warm fuzzy and a smiley face. Originality through context of the telling. Something I Knew, but oddly never defined so succinctly. As trite and cliche and flattering as it might sound, you should write a book on filmmaking and storytelling.
Or maybe TSL would serve the same purpose?
Strategies are changing? Please, Gods, I frakin' hope so.
As Jordan McDeer of Studio 60 said: make decisions as if you only had a year to live.
you said- "Which scared the shit out of me a little, frankly."
how so?
And since we're on the topic of good movies well told, Casino Royale deserves a plug. Not only the best Bond movie ever (or at least one of them), but the best Bond portrayal. I think this is an excellent example of updating mythologies. Insightfully depicts the essence of who and what Bond is. |
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From Dave Grant
Website: http://www.greatestblogeverwritten.blogspot.com/ |
Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Jess. It serves to reinforce my desire to see it. As much as I'd like to support it, though, it's sometimes hard to get out to the movies when confronted with new parenthood. :P
Seeing as you embrace the 'flaws' of films you like, are there any that you would say are 'flawless'? Is there such a beast? I suppose in the end it's still all relative to one's subjective assessment anyway. |
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From Curtis M Sawyer
Website: http://ussexcalibur.blogspot.com |
From: SCI FI Wire
Darren Aronofsky has added a small scene to The Fountain since its early screenings. Aronofsky, writer and director of the SF epic film, told SCI FI Wire that he added the key scene to the movie since it debuted to an audience at Comic-Con International in San Diego last July. |
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From Ron
Website: http://myspace.com/leftoutband |
Holy crap, Jess, I think you and I agree on a movie that's not LOTR. I liked this movie a lot. But I still think Donnie Darko sucks! 
Oh, I could have put my website on here, but I put my myspace page, just for you! |
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| From Jessica |
As trite and cliche and flattering as it might sound, you should write a book on filmmaking and storytelling.
As for writing a non-fiction book, I’d never write a straight, typical book on those topics (or any topic). I think it’s better, such as in filmmaking/screenwriting and life, to write about the experiences and let the sum of action say what words can’t so well. I suppose you could argue that this site is about filmmaking and storytelling (it is, when you sum it up), although it doesn’t have much technical information and probably never will. (The theory and technical information have all been written way, way before my time.) There is a book I want to create that’s a sort of visual guide, I suppose. I haven’t seen anything comparable. That’s one for futures. Not now.
Or maybe TSL would serve the same purpose?
Maybe. In context it certainly will say something. 
you said- "Which scared the shit out of me a little, frankly."
how so?
Anything even remotely similar scares one in that you fear someone will somehow think up the same ideas and/or execution that you have and distribute them before you can. It’s silly, but does scare me. Aronofsky and The Fountain are very different from TSL and the way I screenwrite, however the visual/parallels are also kindred. Fountain is the only thing that even comes close to the way my cinematic imagination works.
Seeing as you embrace the 'flaws' of films you like, are there any that you would say are 'flawless'?
No, but the ones that are great seem flawless in that they are as close to perfect as possible. Those films have flaws that you love, that become a part of the enjoyment of the work: Like the way you embrace the flaws of your beloved. Our favorite “great film” example LOTR has flaws, for instance, but they are so small and don’t ruin a thing. You have to aim and work to be flawless to get to that point. You have to be that particular. Overlook nothing and you will miss very little. Perfection would be boring, but near perfection with the right flaws is… well it’s ideal and awe-inspiring: Probably the actual definition of perfection.
BTW: I’m glad Aronofsky added that scene (as mentioned by Curt) before I saw the film. Smart choice.
Anyway, I still love Fountain’s flaws. Second go even more so. |
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| From Mal |
| So I saw it yesterday and didn't like it. I thought it was interesting and visually beautiful, but I didn't like the message that I got from it and as a whole did not enjoy the film. Does that make me one of the bad guys? |
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| From Sean Stubblefield |
Does that make you one of the bad guys? Yes. Yes, it does.
No, seriously.
Maybe. |
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| From Jessica |
Does that make me one of the bad guys?
Not at all. Like I said, I felt similar about Sideways. Just because a movie or book or play or show or painting or song is good, or even great, doesn't mean it's for you.
For anyone who likes Fountain on first go, I have to say that a second viewing is a must. |
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| From Sean Stubblefield |
| normally, i ignore and avoid movie reviews because i don't care what others think about a film; i like to make up my own mind. but out of curiousity, i read through a few for The Fountain, both professional and amateur. whether they "get" and appreciate it or not, they all have one thing in common: the inability to describe it much beyond a recap of the plot and structure. these reviews comment on the mechanics and presentation of the film, glossing over or omitting the philosophy and artistic divinity either because the reviewers were too dense or lazy to comprehend or they lacked the words to adequaty capture the magesty and magnificence. they try to define the intangible in tangible terms, and fail to describe it at all beyond vague impressions and opinions. The Fountain is ineffible. More intutitive than uniequivical, it is something that has to be seen and experienced to understand or believe. it is like a joke that you have to be there for, or else it isn't funny. |
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