I could only watch 45 minutes of Crash. Was the point of the movie to try to jam as many storylines of objectionable people into a movie?
Blech. Should I finish this movie?
*** Update ***
I finished it, against my better judgement, and if that is the best Hollywood has to offer, I am ready to give the Oscar to Brokeback Mountain, which I have not seen yet (I hate love stories of any kind).
BTW- L4yer Cake was excellent. I kept wondering why it did not receive wider play in the US. Until I saw the ending, and then I knew why it did not play in US markets.
Par R
Ms. Sheehan has been quoted as having said it was her favorite movie of the year. You better finish it so that you can address her acolyte’s comments.
EdT
Yes. It’s a terrific film.
The Disenfranchised Voter
Ahhh Crash, saw it not that long ago.
You either love it or you hate it. Personally, I loved it. I think people mistakenly believe that the film is mainly about race and prejudice.
I would argue it is not. The movie’s main focus is on rage and how rage can blind us and cause us to make some really stupid decisions that we wouldn’t make if we logically thought about the situation we were in.
Mr Furious
It’s okay. Saw it in the theater when it came out. Some good performances, even one from Sandra Bullock, who I usually think is godawful.
Matt Dillon is very good, and so is Terrance Howard.
Go ahead and finish it, because everything intertwines back together, so you get some payoff for your investment.
That said, while some performances are top-notch, this movie is not Oscar material by any means. Personally, I could never stop thinking that this was a movie I was seeing 10 or 15 years ago. Everything about it just seems a bit outdated for some reason. It just seems like one of those “message-y” ensemble films about LA from the 90s that just got pulled from a shelf and dusted off.
Paul Wartenberg
I agree with Furious. It reminded me of that Kevin Kline movie awhile back… Grand Canyon? Odd title for an LA movie…
Otto Man
What Furious said. I thought it was mediocre, and like Furious, it reminded me of that crap boomer film “Grand Canyon.”
That said, you might as well finish it, since the threads do come back together. You’ll enjoy it a little more if you see it through.
Otto Man
Man, that’s scary.
cmh
Crash is one I had to think about. At first it feels very preachy, hit you over the head,race in your face 24/7. After a while, however, it begins to sink in. The expectations we have built around others and even ourselves due to the way we are perceived is very powerful indeed even when it is unconscious. Give it another try. You aren’t the only person I’ve heard about that had a bad reaction the first time but on a second viewing came to see it differently. I did.
Pooh
If it helps, imagine characters from BJ in the various roles.
Stormy is clearly the Sandy Bullock character, (wait, does that make the Senator the LA county DA?) and I’m sure at some point ppGaz will pull scs out of a burning car, and they will go back to quietly hating each other.
Gary Farber
I thought it was an interesting adaption of J. G. Ballard’s short story, and that James Spader, Holly Hunter, and Rosanna Arquette were among those who gave notable performances; I always find Cronenberg’s work interesting, although sometimes repellent. I probably wouldn’t recommend the film to anyone who wasn’t a Cronenberg fan, thoough.
Oh, you meant the other one, that reused the title. Haven’t seen it yet.
:-)
Gary Farber
Of course, I liked Grand Canyon. Damn all those baby boomers for not killing themselves. Oh, wait, I’m one of the hated breed. (Albeit on the tail end, born in November, 1958.)
“Odd title for an LA movie…”
Not if you actually bother to see the film.
Armand
No, skip it, save yourself and your time.
It features a couple of terrific performances (from Don Cheadle and Terrence Howard) and some other very good ones – but the script is horiificly banal. Those first 30 preachy seconds of the movie that are so overdone you can’t believe someone actually put them on screen – it’s like that throughout, but gets exponentially worse as the ridiculously contrived plot spins further and further into the land “oh of course – SURE this would happen” and by the time theyve broken out slow-motion for emotional effect I was ready to kill.
It’s a terribly insulting script (gosh America has race problems just in case you didn’t know) that thinks it’s wise. Instead it’s obvious and cliched at levels only Hollywood would aspire to reach.
MN Politics Guru
Yes, finish it. You think you have everybody pegged 45 minutes into it, but then as people interact with each other, your preconceptions take a hit.
I liked it more than I didn’t (I’m not an extremist either way). Yes, race is treated in a somewhat heavy-handed way in the film. Even so, it is an interesting handling of it.
John Cole
Don Cheadle is good in everything, so that is hardly an endorsement of a movie.
Let’s put it this way, I was underwhelmed by this movie.
Zifnab
I thought the acting across the board was good. The camera-work was excellent. The direction was solid. And the way in which they weaved the stories together felt seamless and succinct.
The plot wasn’t the strongest I’ve ever seen, but they had enough good comedic moments to keep me watching.
Overall, a good movie.
I only managed to catch the last 20 minutes of Brokeback Mountain, as I was movie-hopping off of Munich at the time. And I can safely say Chick Flick.
Honestly, if it’s between Gay Cowboys and an Ultra-Elite Squad of Jewish Assassins… is this even a competition? I mean, they’re Jewish Assassins! Like Ninjas. No! Ninjews! Altogether, a freak’n awesome movie. Two thumbs and one of those little asian suicide swords way up.
ppGaz
I hate flavored coffee.
I hate liver and onions.
I hate reality tv shows.
I hate spray bottles whose pumps quit spraying long before the contents are used up.
I hate people who park in handicapped spaces, but are not handicapped.
stickler
Yeah, but Mr. Gaz, admit it: you like V-8 pony cars. Mmmm. Just imagine the burbling exhaust from your Mustang.
And all is right with the world.
Midshipman Enfield
…while handicapped people make handicapped faces.
Joey
“I like football, and porno, and books about war…”
Dennis Leary is a genius.
HH
“I am ready to give the Oscar to Brokeback Mountain, which I have not seen yet (I hate love stories of any kind).”
Of course you realize this makes you a homophobe right?
HH
I liked Crash the first time I saw it… when it was called Magnolia (without the, er, race stuff).
ppGaz
I spend $100 a month on car magazines. I watch every car show on television, sometimes watching the same ones at the east coast time and then later at the west coast time.
So here’s the thing. The Shelby Mustang GT500 hits the showrooms some time this summer. It’s a beast. The photos do not do it justice. In person, it just scares the hell out of you. I’ll kill myself in it. I’ll go broke just paying for the insurance. My wife looks at the car (we’ve seen it up close) and just shakes her head and looks down at the ground.
Whaddya think? Red, or blue?
This is the red
Bob In Pacifica
Sorry, I don’t watch movies unless it involves British kids with broomsticks between their legs.
DougJ
I knew I’d hate Crash so I didn’t see it.
And you’re right: Don Cheadle is good in everything. Say what you will about Paul Anderson, but it seems to me he’s made an attempt to put Philip Seymour Hoffman and Don Cheadle in as many of his movies as possible — good taste has to count for something.
The Disenfranchised Voter
LMAO.
norbizness
SPOILER WARNING: At the end of L4yer Cake, he’s inducted into MI6 and made the new James Bond.
stickler
Red.
Why the hell not?
The new Mustang is just awesome.
stickler
Elaborating: I’ve been a Ford man since my grandpa gave me his 1970 Ranchero GT (Cleveland 351) to drive to high school. I drove a 1985 Mustang GT in college.
So when the new Mustang came out I about died. Finally an end to that crappy Fox platform and the shortcuts, half-measures, and mediocrity of Detroit iron. The looks alone on the new rig are spectacular.
The Shelby is a case of stupid overkill, but man if I had the money, I’d be all over it. And then, within about 48 hours, probably wrapped around a telephone pole. But it would be one hell of a 48 hours.
Greg
I liked Crash – IMNSHO the Oscar race is between it and Brokeback. Both are good. Both are less puzzling than other nominees…
CalDevil
Silly, but enjoyable movie, especially when you’re locked on 5 hour plane ride.
Nonetheless, the woefully stereotypical and cartoonish racism of just about every Angeleno to appear on the screen in the first 15 minutes alone, immediately brought to mind the one of my favorite Avenue Q songs, “Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist” (second only to that show’s “The Internet Is For Porn”). I almost expected Rodney King to appear and ask people to get along (although that would have been a rip-off of Spike Lee’s X).
Seen in that light, the film becomes quite a frolic. Throw in excellent performances (far more nuanced and authentic than the script) from Thandie Newton, Dillon, Howard, Cheadle and Ludacris (yes, Ludacris), and you’re over Kansas before you even know what’s hit you (or asleep on the couch if you’re watching at home).
Pooh
So John, did the ending revelation of L4yer Cake even occur to you before hand?
Mike Quinlivan
Layercake- Fun movie, nothing special
End of layercake-suck donkey nuts.
Sieanna Miller-doesn’t suck at all.
End of fragment sentances? Yes…
Patrick Lightbody
Better not see Syriana then. Though, I wish it had been nominated instead of Crash. Both it and Good Night and Good Luck were excellent.
me
the oscar for this?????
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfODSPIYwpQ
Slide
Crash was an absolutely great movie in my opinion. And to those that think it is “preachy” I couldn’t disagree with you more. Fantastic writng that makes you actually think when you leave the theather. Now I know some don’t like to think when seeing a movie they just want to be entertained, which is fine, but this movie did both for me.
MMM
what about love stories about a man and his dog?
a man and his football team?
I thought Brian Song was one of the best love stories ever.
Da Bears.
Jim Allen
Re: “Sorry, I don’t watch movies unless it involves British kids with broomsticks between their legs.”
That’s a pretty restrictive category of porn, isn’t it?
JBD
John, I agree wholeheartedly on “L4yer Cake,” I thought it was excellent. I liked “Crash” too though, I thought it was very well done and has much to offer.
Marcus Wellby
I got through about half of Crash — I had a sense that they were just trying to hard to be “serious and topical” — not that there is anything wrong with serious or topical, but when it is forced it just doesn’t work.
I feel the same about love stories of any kind.
Movies suck lately, at least compared to good television. I don’t even remember the last “good” time I had at the movies. In the last few years I have not seen anything in a theater that matches the quality of Lost (f*ing rocks! get on DVD if you haven’t watched), any HBO series, Battlestar Galactica, or several BBC America cop shows.
The Disenfranchised Voter
As odd as it may seem, I didn’t like Syriana. Probably because I had the misguided notion that the movie was closely based of Baer’s book. When I found out it was only loosely based on it, it kind of ruined the movie for me.
I really do want to see GN&GL though. That looked very good, just never got around to seeing it.
ppGaz
Oh, absolutely. It’s in the “toy” category. But then, so are all automobiles that retail for more than $35k. Once you get to that price level, you are piling on something … luxury, performance, cachet …. that you don’t need and that doesn’t add any actual value. I mean, if I were stinko rich, I’d already be driving a Ford GT like Jay Leno and Phil Mickelson. I’ve seen that car up close and all I can say is, if I had the money, I’d be typing this post while sitting in the car right now.
Krista
Loved Layer Cake. Loved it, loved it, loved it. At first I was very dubious about Daniel Craig as the new Bond, but I think he’ll bring an edgy darkness to it.
Mind you, I now can’t watch reruns of Star Trek: TNG, without waiting for Colm Meaney to start crackin’ skulls and cursing. It’s like not being able to see Tim Russ’s character on Voyager without waiting for him to bellow out, “We ain’t found SHIT!”
Joel
2005 was a pretty underwhelming year for film. “Grizzly Man” is the only film I saw that was truely memorable. Good to see it was snubbed by the Oscars. Pretty much par for the course for documentary wing of the Academy.
AkaDad
I hope your right Krista.
I’m a big fan of the Bond movies, and I was hoping Clive Owen would be the next Bond.
At least he should be better than Timothy Dalton…
richard
In the absence of an open thread: current ravings from Powerline to add to Jonah Goldberg’s Kulturkampf on Kanye West and rap music in general, currently on NRO’s Corner.
I suppose the ‘truthiness’ of the story below is more important than pesky facts, but since when have Billy Zane and Gary Busey been ‘Major Hollywood stars’? 1985?
______________
Billy Zane and Gary Busey are starring in a Turkish film that tells the following story:
American soldiers in Iraq crash a wedding and pump a little boy full of lead in front of his mother. They kill dozens of innocent people with random machine gun fire, shoot the groom in the head, and drag those left alive to Abu Ghraib prison where a Jewish doctor cuts out their organs, which he sells to rich people in New York, London and Tel Aviv.
We shouldn’t be surprised that two major Hollywood actors have associated themselves with this production. The story is not out of line with the way the Hollywood left views this country and its military. If this is the story Hollywood was afraid to tell (as the ads for stories that Hollywood did tell used to say), it’s not because Hollywood finds it implausible.
aop
Or, is it possible that the combo of simplistic racial/racist stereotypes and wholly unbelievable plot contrivances that Crash smugly presents as “realism” put some people off? That Paul “Tough Ain’t Enough, Girly” Haggis is a complete fucking hack?
Nah, must be that people hate thinking.
“Crash” should’ve been called “Racistville.”
kl
Apparently Layer Cake is making almost 10 times as much on DVD as it did in theaters.
t. jasper parnell
Mr Cole,
Some “love stories” worth watching: To Have and Have Not; Casablanca; Bringing Up Baby; The Philadelphia Story; Groundhog Day; Lost in Translation; In the Mood for Love and so on. In a bit of a stretch someone once described the plot of all Marx Brothers’ movies, even the worst of which is worth a glimpse, as the being a love story about the gal and guy nobody cares about ending up happy, although I don’t think this works for Duck Soup.
yrs
Mike in SLO
“Crash” is way over-rated with some wonderful acting. The script just gets too ridiculous in tying everyone together. And while I liked the way it truthfully displayed people’s racial attitudes in the beginning, in the end everyone has their own “epiphiny” moment that was just smaltzy.
“Brokeback” was a major dissapointment as well. I’m gay, so I should love this movie, but I found it very s-l-o-w and very boring. I didn’t see any chemistry or love between the guys, and I felt soooooo bad for the wife that I was throroughly depressed by the time it (finally) finished. I think Ang Lee is way overrated.
“Syriana” was another boring, confusing mess. On the other hand, I thought “Munich” was great and topical and had a great message, good acting, and refreshing that it wasn’t the same old Hollywood stars on screen. Saturday night I’m seeing “Good Night Good Luck” and I have high hopes for that film.
But really I think the best movies of the year are “Match Point” and “Batman Begins”. Both were great screenplays with outstanding acting and excellent direction. Both clipped along at a good pace, both appealed to wide audiences. If you don’t like Woody Allen, don’t let it stop you from seeing “Match Point”. It’s much more like Hitchcock then Allen. Finally “Constant Gardner” & “Cinderalla Man” are both worth checking out if you haven’t already done so. The acting in both films is subperb. Can you tell I love the Oscars? Wouldn’t I be kicked out of the gay club if I didn’t??
Krista
Mike: you probably wouldn’t be kicked out, unless you also hated the Tonys, is my guess. :)
Darrell
I agree with Furious… the dots get connected in an interesting fashion as the movie goes along. Really good movie
Darrell
It just occurred to me why JC didn’t like the movie (it’s been a while since I’ve seen Crash).. the characters seem quite stereotyped in the beginning.. I thought the same thing when I saw, but the movie later does an interesting job of revealing different dimensions of each character in ways you might not expect. Watch the whole thing and see if you don’t agree
Pooh
Very well said, Darrell.
Po Dawg
Yeah…Crash royally blew. Offensive in its obviousness, irrittating in its preachiness, it is living proof you can come up with implausibly laughable plotlines and turn them into predictable mush.
Terrible. An Oscar for this? Shameful.
wanker
Yeah…Crash royally blew. Offensive in its obviousness, irrittating in its preachiness, it is living proof you can come up with implausibly laughable plotlines and turn them into predictable mush.
Terrible. An Oscar for this? Shameful.
Yes! someone sees the light!
Mike
The Academy has finally written its irrelevance in stone with this one. “Crash” for Best Picture and (more insultingly) Best Screenplay? Thankfully, I didn’t tune into the show at all, because I was pretty sure that voters were once again going to prove how out-dated they are. Sure enough, they shied away from a truly raw touching movie because it showed gay guys kissing (ewww!) and instead go for the schmaltziest piece of drivel since Patch Adams.
When I saw “Crash” back in June in New York (where people really know what race relations are about), the vast majority of the theatre was laughing out loud for a good portion of the movie. I remember turning to my friend and saying, “We all know this movie sucks, but I guarantee the rest of America is going to love it and it’ll win all the awards.” Crash wasn’t fooling anyone from places with actual racial mixing — the people that embraced this film as saying something “new” or “important” were those can count the number of black people they’ve met on 1 hand.