Rate the last movie you watched

Burque

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That's how things go. Something comes out and it is unique, original, important, timely, thought provoking. 40 years later it may not be any of those things (in one mans opinion), but it can still be appreciated for what it represented when it was made.

Despite what you may think of the "moral" of the film today, that has no impact on the fact that it is still a quality film regardless of the calendar.


Much like the soundtrack for Cool Hand Luke. I think most of the movie stands the test of time, but the soundtrack isn't good.
 

Xuder O'Clam

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Hmmmm Totally taking a stab here.

Memento
The Matrix
Shawshank


Please, tell me how each one of those had a moral that was original. And of course, you avoided my general point, to niggle.
 

Burque

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Please, tell me how each one of those had a moral that was original. And of course, you avoided my general point, to niggle.


All of those have a very similar moral. That someone is doing something wrong that is also right. I am sure that has been covered over and over historically in film. Thinking about that it certainly has.

So I guess I answered a question that you didn't ask. As I was thinking more of an original story. Even in that case I was taking a stab in the dark if I am honest.

Maybe a closer shot to answering your question would be Requiem for a Dream where there really isn't a moral other than personal satisfaction.
 

Granada

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That's how things go. Something comes out and it is unique, original, important, timely, thought provoking. 40 years later it may not be any of those things (in one mans opinion), but it can still be appreciated for what it represented when it was made.

Despite what you may think of the "moral" of the film today, that has no impact on the fact that it is still a quality film regardless of the calendar.

There's an argument to be made with your second paragraph I'd say. Film is like music -- it can age well, and it can age horribly.

Pink Floyd is a good example. Most of their early stuff with Barrett -- although fantastic and my favorite -- does not age well; same with most of early-post-Barrett stuff. But everything from about Meddle on, that music is timeless. If you've never heard of Floyd, you could never tell that Dark Side of the Moon was made 40+ years ago and not within the last 10 years. That doesn't mean that the stuff before isn't "quality," but there is a difference between being considered quality and aging well.
 

Granada

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What modern movie's moral is original?

Fight Club and American Beauty are two off the top of my head. The Squid and the Whale was also done well, with the coming-of-age realization that the person you idolized and modeled your own behavior on growing up is nothing like you had imagined. That moral is more original/nuanced than "if you never change, you will die." To me, anyway.
 

Viciousjay

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Fight Club and American Beauty are two off the top of my head. The Squid and the Whale was also done well, with the coming-of-age realization that the person you idolized and modeled your own behavior on growing up is nothing like you had imagined. That moral is more original/nuanced than "if you never change, you will die." To me, anyway.
Falling Down
 

Xuder O'Clam

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I guess I've watched more old movies. When speaking of the moral of a film, I don't really see the ones listed as being entirely original in that sense. The originality comes in the telling, and the characters. Magnolia comes to mind. I got a lot more from Midnight Cowboy than "if you never change, you will die."
 

Viciousjay

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I guess I've watched more old movies. When speaking of the moral of a film, I don't really see the ones listed as being entirely original in that sense. The originality comes in the telling, and the characters. Magnolia comes to mind. I got a lot more from Midnight Cowboy than "if you never change, you will die."
Is this the flick with Tom Cruise?
 

HeHateMe

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What modern movie's moral is original?
The Comedy (but obviously there is quite a bit of existential pessimism prior)

True Stories ?

Crouching tiger hidden dragon ?

Spirited Away

Idk I'm literally grasping at straws.

Everyone knows euripides, Shakespeare and dostoyevsky pretty much covered everything
 

Xuder O'Clam

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I'm jaded with film and literature to be honest. Not much seems new, except the telling and characters. But even there, I see a trend to be forced, and insistent, by playing with the narrative in clumsy ways, or being too self referential. One of the more memorable recent films I've seen is The Lighthouse. I wouldn't say its moral, or its themes are entirely original, or that the film making itself was.The combination worked though, and it stuck with me.

Films like Midnight Cowboy suffer, because it drowned its characters in a certain time and culture. And was presented in a shocking way for the time, but took away from the crux of the interest, for me at least. That makes it feel dated, unfortunately.
 

Granada

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I guess I've watched more old movies. When speaking of the moral of a film, I don't really see the ones listed as being entirely original in that sense. The originality comes in the telling, and the characters. Magnolia comes to mind. I got a lot more from Midnight Cowboy than "if you never change, you will die."

Feel free to elaborate, I could have missed something. That was the obvious one to me, considering the end when Ratzo and Cowboy are on the bus, and what happens to each character. I think that many good movies of this era tried to capture what was happening with the culture. The whole time I kept thinking about that Bob Dylan song "Like a Rolling Stone." That song and what the cowboy is doing is pretty much the same experience, and that was the experience of the time. A lot of young kids went out on their own with these visions of becoming these certain versions of themselves they had built up in their minds, only to fall flat on their face (broke) and wind up completely different -- in some cases, they wound up exactly as the person they were trying to avoid.
 
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Granada

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I'm jaded with film and literature to be honest. Not much seems new, except the telling and characters. But even there, I see a trend to be forced, and insistent, by playing with the narrative in clumsy ways, or being too self referential. One of the more memorable recent films I've seen is The Lighthouse. I wouldn't say its moral, or its themes are entirely original, or that the film making itself was.The combination worked though, and it stuck with me.

Films like Midnight Cowboy suffer, because it drowned its characters in a certain time and culture. And was presented in a shocking way for the time, but took away from the crux of the interest, for me at least. That makes it feel dated, unfortunately.

Well, right. Originality is next to impossible these days. Maybe I should have phrased it a little differently, but I still think you can make a moral "fresh" and sometimes, even if the movie is old, it can remain fresh and even relevant in today's time. Midnight Cowboy is a classic, but if falls short (for me) in this aspect. I'm not saying it doesn't deserve to be a classic though.

To answer your original question, I thought I Heart Huckabees did a fantastic job of being original in a lot of aspects, including the moral.
 

KittiesKorner

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I subscribe to the Samuel Beckett theory that there really are only 26 stories to be told, and yours ain’t the 27th. It’s how you tell it
 

Burque

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Watched the movie/doc about the guy that Solos up El Capitan. It was the second time I have seen it and it was still intriguing and quite terrifying at times.

If you haven't seen it I think it is worth a couple of hours, and it is on something with cable like Nat GEO or something so I am sure you could stream for free.
 

KoreanBear

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Zomboat on hulu is pretty good.
Season one is finished, but only is 6 episodes.
 

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