tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post5240713195064559575..comments2024-03-12T12:38:23.542-04:00Comments on The Kind of Face You Hate: Hear That Undertaker's Bellbill r.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-3692116450626581262012-05-24T19:41:36.555-04:002012-05-24T19:41:36.555-04:00I'm not trying to speak for Patrick at all, an...I'm not trying to speak for Patrick at all, and I hope this doesn't sound like I am:<br /><br />My theory is that some people who didn't like the film couldn't fully explain why, and the issue of wolf behavior was something tangible they could focus on.<br /><br />Personally, I think the dying dream and/or he's already dead and/or he's leading all those people through death metaphorical layers of the film were extremely subtle. They flowed with the "reality" layers of the film, but audiences are used to having some kind of trigger to let them know what's going on. Without something definite to point to, people had to go with what they DID see, which is weird wolf behavior, or not being able to see the final fight, etc.<br /><br />As I said, I'm not sure how I feel about the subtlety of some aspects of the film. I don't think films need to go all Hanna-Barbera and walk you step-by-step through every bit of plot, but I also think there was some clumsiness in <i>The Grey</i> where it tried to be both action-adventure and meditation on death and didn't quite succeed.<br /><br />It reminded me of <i>American Psycho</i> where Mary Harron once said that the moment the lead sees the ATM telling him to feed it a kitten is supposed to be the official psychotic break, but she didn't think she made that clear enough in the film for the audience to get it, and I think she's right.<br /><br />I've gone on far longer than you wanted, I'm sure, so I'll be off.Staciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05250238254417726987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-34522959193665991822012-05-24T12:22:10.058-04:002012-05-24T12:22:10.058-04:00Jeez, sorry I missed all this. Okay, first of all...Jeez, sorry I missed all this. Okay, first of all -- wolf behavior. My only response is that the shark in JAWS doesn't really behave like sharks do, does it? I think that's a little bit beside the point. Plus I don't personally know that no wolves have ever acted like that, so it didn't bug me. Anyway, Neeson's reaction is, as I remember, that this is sort of unusual. Can't wolves behave unusually sometimes?bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-17461477455553570712012-05-23T23:01:21.371-04:002012-05-23T23:01:21.371-04:00Thanks, Patrick. I'm in the midst of a blog mo...Thanks, Patrick. I'm in the midst of a blog move and the new digs won't be as pretty.Staciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05250238254417726987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-59960073785932696112012-05-23T10:11:51.610-04:002012-05-23T10:11:51.610-04:00I was expecting your conventional adventure story ...I was expecting your conventional adventure story when I went into this one, so I just kept finding things that didn't seem credible in their actions (why leave the plane? for one). <br /><br />Nice looking blog you run, I don't think I've seen it before, I'll have to bookmark it.Patricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-16563571066767189372012-05-23T08:11:02.380-04:002012-05-23T08:11:02.380-04:00Patrick, my husband had some very similar concerns...Patrick, my husband had some very similar concerns. When we were talking about it over post-movie burgers, he said the only way you could reconcile the "wolves do not work that way" element was to take the film entirely as metaphor. I still don't know quite how I feel about it, I'll definitely need to see this again.Staciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05250238254417726987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-42830190201409194612012-05-23T01:18:29.729-04:002012-05-23T01:18:29.729-04:00I didn't really like The Grey, I had problems ...I didn't really like The Grey, I had problems with it just from the literal point of view. I kept thinking that the men weren't making smart decisions regarding survival, and I had the idea that wolves just don't act that way, the writers only gave them those supposed behaviors for the purpose of moving the characters in a certain direction. I would have needed to accept that wolves really do these things and the actions of the men were a reasonable reaction before I could have gone along with the theme of the movie.Patricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-48839374352423429512012-05-21T23:57:43.136-04:002012-05-21T23:57:43.136-04:00I'm not sure how spoilery we can get here, so ...I'm not sure how spoilery we can get here, so I will just say that the metaphor(s) in <i>The Grey</i> seem to have gone over a lot of peoples' heads. I blame the marketing which, as someone else on another thread mentioned, framed the film as LIAM NEESON: WOLFPUNCHER.<br /><br />No one in the theater I was in got it as far as I could tell. The teenage ticket-taker told everyone to stay until the end, and I heard numerous conversations as credits rolled from people who were irked at the film, then the final brief scene and a loud "What the hell was that?!" and booing. After my husband and I left the restrooms, a largish group stopped us and demanded to know if we liked the film, and we both answered no because answering yes would have probably lead to fistfights.<br /><br />Similar comments have been made online, too, and I am genuinely confused about the reaction. Critics seem to like it, though -- that's why I saw it, so many of you crazy kids were praising the film on Twitter.<br /><br />You really need to start writing a novel about a man, a thresher, and blackberry vodka cocktails.Staciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05250238254417726987noreply@blogger.com