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March 29, 2024, 09:54:41 AM

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Lady Bird

Started by Mister Six, January 15, 2018, 11:01:03 PM

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popcorn

It's because she went to a Christian school. It shows that, even though she didn't give a shit about faith at school, it resonates with her suddenly, even if it's only as a connection to home. It's also a sort of spiritual cleansing after the previous night's bender.

lipsink

For some reason (maybe the trailer, and the opening car scene) I expected this to be a road movie. I also expected it to be about Lady Bird and her mother living together after the mother divorces her husband and moving somewhere to a new town and new school and driving each other crazy but at the end coming to an 'understanding'. Why did I think this?

Wet Blanket

I thought the trailer misrepresented the movie, and would have put me off seeing it if I didn't know more of the background. It makes it look like it's going to be a melodramatic "issues movie" and not the cool, funny and sweet film it actually is.

In particular it used a shot of Lady Bird in the street screaming, as if she's having some sort of emotional breakdown, when in actual fact that's a really uplifting scene where she's beyond happy and just letting out some raging hormones, just a pure WAAAAAHHHHHEEEEEEEY! the way you often feel like doing at that age.

In fact one of the things I loved about it was how low stakes the drama was. Just ordinary teen daftness and fumbling through ordinary teen stuff. The more I think about it the more I loved it. A top class coming-of-age comedy.

zomgmouse

Quote from: popcorn on March 08, 2018, 11:39:29 AM
It's because she went to a Christian school. It shows that, even though she didn't give a shit about faith at school, it resonates with her suddenly, even if it's only as a connection to home. It's also a sort of spiritual cleansing after the previous night's bender.

That's fair, thanks for that reading.

popcorn

You're welcome mate. You got anything else that needs reading I can do it if it's not too long, pizza menus etc.

Large Noise

I thought this had its moments but it was horribly over-egged. There was an emotional crescendo every 5 minutes. Like The Raid for nostalgia.

SPOILERS:

Any time there was meaningful conflict it was always beautifully wrapped up and everyone came out smelling of roses. Which is fine, I suppose. But if you're going to try and draw a tear out of me, have the bottle to put something sad in the film. Have her actually fall out with her mother when she refuses to see her off at the airport, rather than show her mother instantly regret it, then have her receive the letters, then call her. Have her actually fall out with her best friend if you expect me to feel some kind of way about it, don't just have them reconcile shortly after. Have her depressed father act like anything other than The World's Greatest Dad. Have her annoying brother and his frosty girlfriend be actually annoying and frosty, rather than utterly sweet and loving. Have the guy who betrays her and breaks her heart not be a flawlessly nice gay guy who's struggling with his sexuality, who literally ends up crying in her arms about it as she reassures him. Have her not get into the ideal university if this is a film about how class limits your options. Have it hurt her to lose the approval of the annoying richkid idiots she looks up to, instead of showing that she's not only made the right decision, but that she knows she did.

I mean, none of those moments are a problem in and of themselves, but piled on top of one another they just feel emotionally manipulative. You want me to cry then smile through the tears like 5 different times in one film. I don't know shit about editing scripts, but this really felt like it needed an editor. Someone to say 'when' and stop Gerwig pouring it on.

The theme of class (including the little nod to how resource scarcity causes racism) is something you don't see enough in popular films. Especially that working class, unspectacular, Malcolm in the Middle style suburban semi-poverty. But even then it's an over-qualified father with an advanced degree. And a brother who went to a prestigious university (and he's probably adopted, and they've taken his girlfriend in too even though they can't afford it, because they're fucking angels). And Lady Bird who'll do likewise. And the mother who's a nurse; the epitome of over-worked and under-paid/appreciated. It's not Hal selling cars and Lois working in a supermarket. The speech her mother gives about how "money isn't a report card on how you're doing at life", which Lady Bird pokes holes in, was the manifesto for the movie. Except by making the family so emphatically Undeserving Poor, it almost suggests that there's such a thing as the Deserving Poor. Even when the point is to put materially unexceptional middle-America on screen, it has to be a family of exceptional people.

The performances are good, especially Saoirse Ronan. There were a few laughs. But man, my eyes were rolling towards the end.

GMTV

Another standard Hollywood film where pretty much everyone's a cunt and I struggle to work out who I'm supposed to be cheering for.

Custard

Her dad was a cunt?

Her best mate was a cunt?

Mate.

Seriously though, I don't think anyone in it was a cunt. Just flawed humans, trying their bestest to get through life. LIKE US ALL REALLY, YUP YUP. *Strokes chin*

GMTV

Quote from: Shameless Custard on March 24, 2018, 08:28:32 AM
Her dad was a cunt?

Her best mate was a cunt?

Mate.

Seriously though, I don't think anyone in it was a cunt. Just flawed humans, trying their bestest to get through life. LIKE US ALL REALLY, YUP YUP. *Strokes chin*

Yeah you're right her dad seemed like a nice guy. And her mate seemed genuine.

Hardly watch any films, but when I do I find almost every character a self centred arsehole, and find it difficult to like any character, goodie or baddie.


Willing to admit I don't know what I'm talking about