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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 12 of 12. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by noa on April 5, 2003, at 23:58:36
I got out today--dinner and a movie with a friend. We saw "The Hours". Omigod, it was awful. Really dreadful. I usually like the slow artsy films that many others don't but this was just nearly intolerable.
The only thing, I hate to say it, was that it was successful in creating the experience of what it is like to live through all the 'hours' of life if you are stuck in the wrong life---I guess I felt like I was stuck in the wrong movie theatre!
I would like to think Virginia Wolfe actually had more personality. I mean, wasn't she supposed to be bipolar? I really would have liked to have seen some mania, because the morose, dullness of her depression went on and on and on, and she seemed to not have any personality otherwise.
Ok, so one more successful effect--the life of Meryl Streep's character seems like it would have been the dream of the Virginia Wolfe character (at least according to how this movie characterized her), only Meryl Streep--the hip, lesbian editor living well in New York, is trapped in her life, too--but not really--she is trapped by her own neurosis, not her life. She goes on and on longing for these imagined perfect moments in her life when she was young blah blah blah. Get over it. Yep, this is the reaction this movie stirred up in me!!
Claire Danes walks in and I thought, great! Someone who is actually alive! Help! Rescue us from this mortuary of a story!
And the 1950's story with Juliane Moore--how two dimensional can they draw that life?
There are exactly 3 moments in the film when I felt some engagement with it. One was the one I mentioned when Claire Danes enters as the only alive person on the scene. Another is one I don't want to give away. The third is when Ed Harris comes alive saying he took Xanax and Ritalin together--and he is rather animated by the combo, it seems! Seriously, it was both the amusment of the med combo that engaged me but also his sudden animation.
But other than these 3 moments, the rest of the movie was totally un-engaging. Slow, dreadfully creeping along. It was less than 2 hours this movie, but seemed like eternity.
OK, I hated it, but I gotta say one more positive thing. The set for where Ed Harris lived was artfully created--a kind of womb to hell, or womb to death. Touche, movie maker.
But it was awful to watch. Acting wise? Kidman was over-affected in her attempts to be this troubled, repressed character. Oh, and the voice--it didn't work for me at all--sounded like Kidman trying too hard to talk low. Streep was ok, but was also over-affected in her typical way, as were some of the folks she did scenes with. Harris was pretty good. Moore was dreadfully undersated--painfully so, which I guess was on purpose because of her repression within the 2-D world of the 50's.
Dreadful is the main word I'd use to describe this movie. And depressing. NOT recommended for anyone who is depressed!
Posted by Tabitha on April 6, 2003, at 1:02:34
In reply to The Hours--pretty dreadful, imho, posted by noa on April 5, 2003, at 23:58:36
don't you feel odd when you totally hate a movie and performances that are so lauded by critics?
Another bad Virginia Wolfe related film... Mrs Dalloway starring Vanessa Redgrave. Deadly dull.
But.. I loved Orlando.
Posted by Krissy P on April 6, 2003, at 1:36:52
In reply to The Hours--pretty dreadful, imho, posted by noa on April 5, 2003, at 23:58:36
Posted by Dinah on April 6, 2003, at 4:53:13
In reply to The Hours--pretty dreadful, imho, posted by noa on April 5, 2003, at 23:58:36
I almost never get to see non-animated films anymore. But the upside of that is that I have plenty of time to hear what the film is like.
Posted by noa on April 6, 2003, at 13:42:07
In reply to Re: Thanks for saving me a rental fee. » noa, posted by Dinah on April 6, 2003, at 4:53:13
I have a feeling the book ("The Hours" by Michael Cunningham) is probably good, so now I"m intrigued to read it.
It is too bad. I said to my friend, as we left the theater, "Seems like a good idea gone bad". As much as I did not like it, I'm still thinking about it. There were good ideas in it, so it's too bad it came out so awful.
Posted by WorryGirl on April 6, 2003, at 18:32:33
In reply to The Hours--pretty dreadful, imho, posted by noa on April 5, 2003, at 23:58:36
Noa,
Thanks for the info on the film. It's been one that I was dying to see when it finally came out on video. My husband was already groaning at the thought of watching it anyway. He was turned off by the publicity shots of her for the film. That made me even more determined to watch it, but it sounds pretty morose.
I really loved a Beautiful Mind.
Posted by noa on April 6, 2003, at 18:57:20
In reply to Re: The Hours--pretty dreadful, imho » noa, posted by WorryGirl on April 6, 2003, at 18:32:33
A Beautiful Mind, though much more of a "Hollywood" movie than "The Hours", was actually better. (I usually prefer the non-Hollywood type films.)
Good thing you are going to rent it, or at least see without your husband. Think of it this way. Many husbands hate that kind of film anyway. This was all that and unbearable on top of it, so you would never have lived that down!! The only thing in it that a lot of guys would like is 3 different lesbian kiss scenes--LOL!! If you had dragged him to see this one, you would have had to pay him back in Bruce-Willis-and-Steven-Segall-and-end-of-the-world-action-blow-em-up-computer-visual-effects kinds of movies for a few years to make up for his misery!!
Posted by WorryGirl on April 6, 2003, at 19:05:34
In reply to Re: The Hours--pretty dreadful, imho, posted by noa on April 6, 2003, at 18:57:20
Noa,
My husband, being the sicko that he is, won't mind it nearly as much if there are lesbian scenes.
At least now maybe I won't have to watch the string of action flicks.
I prefer the non-hollywood type of movies, too, but my husband is the opposite. He especially can't stand the subtitled ones, like "Like Water for Chocolate", etc. We always get to watch our favorites when he's out of town.
Posted by baracuda on April 7, 2003, at 14:13:22
In reply to The Hours--pretty dreadful, imho, posted by noa on April 5, 2003, at 23:58:36
thanks so much for the feedback - i felt similar to this when i read the book 'prozac nation' it was the most god -awful book i have ever read - with absolutely no hope - and made me feel even deeper into depression.
my dad on the other hand thought that the hours was a great movie - but he doesnt suffer from any severe mental ailments that would bring him down as severly as i do.
thanks again!
Posted by OddipusRex on April 7, 2003, at 17:48:40
In reply to Re: Thanks for saving me a rental fee., posted by noa on April 6, 2003, at 13:42:07
plus I thought the music was intrusive and unrelenting just like depression and Meryl Streep never managed to transcend her essential Streepishness.And that nose on Nicole Kidman! The only difference was I still liked the movie-a lot! Guess you never can tell. I read the book first and didn't expect to like the book at all but did. Maybe that's why I liked the movie I was waiting for it all to play out. It was like a puzzle and I was never drawn "into" the movie but my being there watching was another layer in the plot. I was really in a good mood when I saw it too so maybe that counteracted too much depression on the screen.
> I have a feeling the book ("The Hours" by Michael Cunningham) is probably good, so now I"m intrigued to read it.
>
> It is too bad. I said to my friend, as we left the theater, "Seems like a good idea gone bad". As much as I did not like it, I'm still thinking about it. There were good ideas in it, so it's too bad it came out so awful.
Posted by noa on April 7, 2003, at 20:09:09
In reply to I agreed with most of what you said » noa, posted by OddipusRex on April 7, 2003, at 17:48:40
Interesting, Rex. Maybe I should have read the book first.
Ever read or see Kazuo Ishiguro's "Remains of the Day"? I thought it was one of the best books I've ever read. I liked the movie, too, but have always wondered how much I would have liked it had I not read the book.
Posted by noa on April 7, 2003, at 20:10:45
In reply to I agreed with most of what you said » noa, posted by OddipusRex on April 7, 2003, at 17:48:40
oh, and yes, Rex, "intrusive" is a good word to describe the music.
Yes, and as much as I like Streep, she is always Streep. BTW, there was a moment at the end when she is listening intently to Laura Brown reflect on her decision, that all I could think about was Kramer vs. Kramer!!
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