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Superrodan posted:
The film's finale frames Gloria as a force to be reckoned with in the same way that the kaiju are going as far as the framing her with an almost superhero like silhouette. If we take the kaiju being aspirational figures for scared children and then take the ending being Gloria being done with unimpressive men making her feel lesser than we can take that the Korean girl's doll did manifest in the park that day. It just didn't have to manifest into anything new because Gloria was already there.
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May 7, 2017 05:08
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Timeless Appeal posted:The whole point of the end is that Gloria actually is an impressive human being while Oscar can only feel good when he makes someone else feeling like poo poo. If she was to know with certainty that going to Korea would work then she's just winning by out-muscling him. She doesn't win because she's stronger than him. She wins because she's brave and takes a chance. You're on crack. Gloria was just as broken at the end as evidenced by the reaction to the beer in the close. It was beautiful with no one really learning anything except "keep running". Stop trying to jam it into your political narratives. 
SpeakSlow fucked around with this message at 17:25 on May 7, 2017 |
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May 7, 2017 17:21
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SpeakSlow posted:Stop trying to jam it into your political narratives. What
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May 7, 2017 17:27
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I didn't take her reaction at the end to mean they she's still the same, just that it's never easy to stay on track and even after she's overcome this major challenge, she still has the day to day challenge of not falling back on old habits whick would be all to easy. I mean after something like she just went through, anyone could use a drink but she knows it isn't that simple for her.
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May 7, 2017 17:30
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"Force to be reckoned with". I frigging hate anti-feminist MRA fucks as much as the next person, but seeing this type of poo poo shoehorned into a review misses the point like a polar opposite of the Rex Reed take. Leave my beautiful, broken toys alone, politics.
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May 7, 2017 17:33
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SpeakSlow posted:"Force to be reckoned with". I frigging hate anti-feminist MRA fucks as much as the next person, but seeing this type of poo poo shoehorned into a review misses the point like a polar opposite of the Rex Reed take. Leave my beautiful, broken toys alone, politics. gently caress off.
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May 7, 2017 17:36
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This movie is very much about the things that post says it's about and it's not even subtle about it. Like it's a film that uses Kaiju to explore self destructive behavior and the power dynamics in abusive relationships. . At the screening I went to the director showed up at the end and was not shy in confirming that stuff was intended.
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May 7, 2017 17:37
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SpeakSlow posted:"Force to be reckoned with". I frigging hate anti-feminist MRA fucks as much as the next person, but seeing this type of poo poo shoehorned into a review misses the point like a polar opposite of the Rex Reed take. Leave my beautiful, broken toys alone, politics. Yeah uh, sorry bud, not talking about that stuff isn't what this forum is about.
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May 7, 2017 18:11
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SpeakSlow posted:You're on crack. Gloria was just as broken at the end as evidenced by the reaction to the beer in the close. It was beautiful with no one really learning anything except "keep running". Stop trying to jam it into your political narratives. I don't really see how you would come to that conclusion. She absolutely had the opportunity to run back to her boyfriend and resume her life more or less as it was, and nobody would really blame her. But instead she specifically made the decision to stand up to Oscar for selfless reasons, and took a major risk by going to Seoul. The reaction to the offer of a drink at the end was basically "Yay a drink!" -> "Wait no, I can't have a drink because that's a really bad idea."
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May 7, 2017 19:02
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I will add though that I read the film as playing with indie comedy expectations with Gloria as much as they do with Oscar. The beginning of the film really paints Gloria as being similar to Marvis in Young Adult, and makes her boyfriend a pretty sympathetic figure. But as the film goes on, I think what we discover is that Gloria isn't someone who is stuck in childhood, she's someone who fell from grace. She was this really talented kid. She was a successful writer. And importantly, she did get out of that lovely town. I'm not trying to whitewash over her flaws as a character. It's more that I think the film is suspicious of indie comedy's one size-fits-all solution of "just grow up." And yeah, part of that is that the film feels that advice is disingenuous to give to ladies because it implies that there is no other force other than themselves holding them back. The fact is that the grow up metaphor of becoming a giant kaiju presents a lot of what people view as growing up to be more superficial than actual growth. The reveal in the hotel scene is that, yes, Gloria is a mess, but her boyfriend may not be that far removed from Oscar. He's not as outwardly abusive, but also keeps moving the goal posts for what he claims he actually wants her to be. The ending of the film for me isn't indicating that Gloria is still hosed up. It's just a rejection of the "You grew up, everything is fine" ending. Because being grown up isn't about just checking some boxes and feeling big like it is for Oscar. It's loving hard and stressful and takes work and is often not fun. Gloria is still an alcoholic at the end and has to actually face that without the drama of the giant monster fight. Timeless Appeal fucked around with this message at 19:13 on May 7, 2017 |
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May 7, 2017 19:10
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Riptor posted:how do we not see that her present sucks? She's unemployed, recently fired, and the movie begins with her boyfriend booting her out of their shared apartment because of her drinking problem No, it shows her throwing her present away, not that it sucks. You can claim she's a drunk because her present wasn't great, but the film shows a still well groom woman who had social engagements, lived in a nice place, and owned a home. She was maybe ashamed of her job, but that is a comment on her, and there was no indication that getting a job was difficult for her? That's why I found the 2nd half so jarring, like why? Addiction has barely destroyed her life. But someone earlier pointed out perhaps the old bf was also abusing and trapping her, so the 2nd half was her working all this out.
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May 7, 2017 19:49
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Her life isn't in total shambles, it's just heading there. She's set up as this type of small town success story where she moves to the big city, got a big writing job and moved in with a handsome boyfriend in a fancy apartment and at the beginning she just loses all of that and is forced back to a home town she doesn't really like to live in a house she not only has no fondness for but has all but been abandoned. Like just because she isn't at rock bottom doesn't mean she isn't headed there and in general a character doesn't need to hit rock bottom for them to need to turn their life around. In regards to the last part it's not that her Boyfriend is outright abusive, it's more that he still likes to be in a position of control in the relationship and gets very unnerved when he loses that control. He wanted Gloria to turn her life around but just to the extent that she isn't embarrassing, not to the degree where she doesn't need him and he can't feel superior to her
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May 7, 2017 20:27
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But my impression was the alcoholism was causing her to lose it all, not that it sucks and that she needed wholesale change. I originally read this as her life wasn't bad, just, she thought it should be great, and a visit to the past recalibrates her expectations. But i guess the theme was that she was stuck, and retreating only made it worse, so just move forward? That is pretty common message of these stories?
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May 7, 2017 20:50
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glam rock hamhock posted:I didn't take her reaction at the end to mean they she's still the same, just that it's never easy to stay on track and even after she's overcome this major challenge, she still has the day to day challenge of not falling back on old habits whick would be all to easy. I mean after something like she just went through, anyone could use a drink but she knows it isn't that simple for her. Yeah, alcoholism isn't just something you can conquer and leave in your past and it's done and over, the urge to lapse stays with you for years and even decades. Those demons aren't exorcised, they're just held at bay. There's a reason that former alcoholics celebrate '6 years sober' and '10 years sober' and so on.
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May 8, 2017 02:15
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My apologies then, let me explain myself: With the broken people flailing about, it's hard to ignore that alcoholism as the drumming back beat of this movie. It drives all of their worst moments. Makes them do things they wouldn't have done if they'd had an emotional presence that wasn't being actively medicated. The movie rides out on that bit. It's important. With that as preface, what we have are people behaving terribly to each other. Preying on one another. I think we've all had this experience, watching a series of car crashes in slow motion. If there's anything that is the underlying theme in their personal lives, it's that Oscar and Gloria refuse to take responsibility for themselves. Right to the bitter end. Of course it ended with her crushing him with a Kaiju. That's the only way it could end. You need to nuke that poo poo. Back to my point, that poo poo ain't something I'd raise my daughter to be. So I'd be a damned fool if I called it "empowerment" when I know those broken bastards in real life. Great movie. Sudekis is my new boyfriend.
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May 9, 2017 02:38
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I think part of your original response was because some of the language I used sort of hinted at Gloria being a role model which wasn't really my intent. The film does purposefully film her like a superhero and provide audio and visual cues that make her comparable to the kaiju. I get and appreciate the experience you're bringing to the film, but I don't think you're read totally meshes up. I think outside of the kaiju stuff or even the gender politics, Colossal is a bait and switch on indie comedy cliches. It presents itself as a story about a woman stuck in childhood who needs to grow up, but that's not really true. Gloria was by all accounts successful and talented. Like I said, it's a fall from grace. One thing that I think that's mostly been ignored is that she is in the reality of the film really, really smart. The art project we see when she was a kid kind of indicates that her talents weren't just writing, but really how she navigates the plots portrays this tragedy of wasted genius. I mean the fact that she is able to catch him in the end with such precision is loving amazing. And it's not just fairy tale logic. We literally see her figure out insane proportional reasoning while facing off against a giant robot. For me, it's a story about reclaiming greatness. I think for you, your read on the film has Oscar and Gloria being two sides of the same coin, and I really can't agree with that.
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May 9, 2017 03:33
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While alcoholism is an undercurrent to the story, I thought they used it as a means of lowering everyone's inhibitions, "liquid confidence". There are less questions asked when the characters have their morales stripped away with booze. It definitely fuels the abuse, but some people stop at the alcohol theme and don't delve further with the abuse because they assume they're abusive because they're alcoholic, not abusive people who use alcohol to grease the wheels.
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May 9, 2017 03:46
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Timeless Appeal posted:I think part of your original response was because some of the language I used sort of hinted at Gloria being a role model which wasn't really my intent. The film does purposefully film her like a superhero and provide audio and visual cues that make her comparable to the kaiju. I get your point, however it's also explicit in the movie that she was leading him on by instinct from her party life. Relinquishing of responsibility in the haze of alcohol. Then the scene where she literally cemented her place, she undercuts her self by getting drunk and using that as an excuse to sleep with McHandsome. That's her thread. Oscar, however, is a completely different kind of broken. An emotional predator who uses a friendly demeanor to reel people in and then preys on other's weaknesses to thrive. True sociopath and I tend to agree with the reviews that point-out the emotional similarities to our friend Patrick Bateman. Bring the metaphor back towards Kaiju. Two massive, self-absorbed egos clashing, with the literal sound of whole world cheering in the background. Trauma through emotional terrorism, exemplified by a literal line in the sand moment. Then the lighting of the gigantic gently caress-all roman candle of doom in his own bar to show how much control he had over Gloria. Lines blur as the stakes get higher and higher. And it was only by running away that she allowed herself a win. And then there's the bottle and an "....eh, why not?" and we're going forward with a sequel. Romantic Kaiju Thriller, genres melted all together like a nice fondu. With chunks and alcoholism In conclusion, get the s'more dessert at the fondu restaurant. SpeakSlow fucked around with this message at 04:24 on May 9, 2017 |
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May 9, 2017 04:18
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I appreciate that Anne Hathaway's character was able to get over the trauma of killing hundreds of people... by specifically murdering her childhood bully.
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May 9, 2017 09:13
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MisterBibs posted:No, i think Gloria understands/appreciates that her drunken drama is loving poo poo up; from the first time she drunkenly falls down on she knows people are at risk. Thing is, Oscar doesn't care. That's because Oscar is a robot and she is a gluttonous, silly monster. Oscar is jealous of her enjoyment in things and wants to be able to live a monsterously large life,m stomping around with pals and getting hammered. I had a girlfriend that was a cool, drunk monster and Hathaway played that type of person to perfection I also like the hypothetical moral scenario this movie plays with. What if these petty power struggles within relationships actually had dire consequences? MOVIE MAJICK fucked around with this message at 03:43 on May 13, 2017 |
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May 13, 2017 03:35
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ruddiger posted:I appreciate that Anne Hathaway's character was able to get over the trauma of killing hundreds of people... by specifically murdering her childhood bully. I mean she was sobbing pretty hard there at the end, even if she managed to pull herself together for the bartender.
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May 19, 2017 06:40
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If anyone wants more Nacho in their lives be sure to check out his short film (8mins) from 2003 7:35 in the Morning, which is how I first heard about him.
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May 19, 2017 22:18
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Loving SpeakSlow's claim that Gloria was leading Oscar on. Yep, she totally friendzoned him!!! lol
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May 24, 2017 16:06
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Colossal rules, this is such a well done movie. Just one of those unique fun mixtures, something special.
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Jun 4, 2017 08:49
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I was going to skip this because the trailers I saw made it look like poo poo but I'm glad I saw it, it's excellent. Not a whole lot to say beyond what folks have already discussed though. I like everything about it.
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Jun 5, 2017 21:12
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SuperMechagodzilla posted:Not only does every aspect of the film match the pun, they even make a point of Hathaway pronouncing "soul" the same way in one scene. Are you not supposed to? Koreans pronounce it a little different, but in English they're pronounced the same, and I've never had anyone confused by what I meant when saying it in all the years I've lived here.
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Jun 7, 2017 09:04
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Watched this again last night and it very well might be my favorite film of the year so far.
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Jul 5, 2017 20:57
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I love that she reflexively accepts a drink from the restaurant at the end but then second guesses herself.Charlz Guybon posted:Koreans pronounce it a little different, but in English they're pronounced the same, and I've never had anyone confused by what I meant when saying it in all the years I've lived here. SMG's "So-Crates" moment.
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Jul 5, 2017 22:38
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I have to give insane props to Sudeikas for such a gradual and believable slide from "well meaning small town hipster" to "literal sociopathic monster".
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Jul 6, 2017 03:02
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precision posted:I have to give insane props to Sudeikas for such a gradual and believable slide from "well meaning small town hipster" to "literal sociopathic monster". It's a role made for comedians
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Jul 6, 2017 07:42
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For an extra funny layer, the "I'm sorry" message in korean from giant monster- Anne is a verbatim quote from the former Spanish king, said after being caught in a media shitstorm due hunting elephants with public money. Biggest laugh in the whole movie from the local Madrid audience.
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Jul 12, 2017 00:02
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Watched this yesterday and really liked it. Also lol at the idea that anyone watching this or seeing the marketing would get it confused with a Godzilla movie.
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Aug 14, 2017 01:20
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Just watched this and holy poo poo this movie connects. It's depiction of drunk and petty people with the monster elements just works so well.
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Aug 14, 2017 02:27
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SunshineDanceParty posted:Just watched this and holy poo poo this movie connects. It's depiction of drunk and petty people with the monster elements just works so well. I was like "oh yeah, I remember my mid 20s, glad I don't see those people anymore..."
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Aug 14, 2017 02:30
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precision posted:I was like "oh yeah, I remember my mid 20s, glad I don't see those people anymore..." Absolutely. I think that's why it hit me so hard since just this week I met up with a lot of my old group from that time and it was a lot of "poo poo, so you never got over that huh? SunshineDanceParty fucked around with this message at 03:21 on Aug 14, 2017 |
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Aug 14, 2017 03:17
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Labes for days posted:Watched this yesterday and really liked it. Also lol at the idea that anyone watching this or seeing the marketing would get it confused with a Godzilla movie. I watched this alongside a family of kids, ranging from age 8-12, so I'd say the marketing succeeded on being misleading as hell. I think the family left halfway through when all the DV stuff started to pop out. Incidentally, saw that happen at Shin Godzilla too, except the kids were younger and completely asleep by then
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Aug 14, 2017 21:51
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Ignis posted:Incidentally, saw that happen at Shin Godzilla too, except the kids were younger and completely asleep by then Children shouldn't go to Shin Godzilla. Not because it's too bloody or scary or anything dumb like that, but because you have to understand politics to get the jokes.
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Aug 14, 2017 21:54
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ruddiger posted:I appreciate that Anne Hathaway's character was able to get over the trauma of killing hundreds of people... by specifically murdering her childhood bully. I thought it was going to end with her turning the tables and threatening to Oscar that she's staying in Seoul and if he ever rampages he'll kill her but talk about taking power back. I didn't expect the turn in plot at all and I enjoyed the message although the tone was confusing. The scenes of Oscar threatening Gloria that she'd never be able to leave right into a detailed, near-comical origin flashback was jarring.
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Nov 21, 2017 07:55
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I finally got round to watching this yesterday, been meaning to for a while. Really good stuff. Wasn't expecting it to go in the way it did and I think it worked really well. Some very funny bits in and amongst. Monster on invisible phone was very very good. And I love that giant monsters appearing in Seoul spawned a bunch of memes because that would totally happen. You just know somebody would have whipped up a Loss.
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Dec 8, 2017 17:26
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SuperMechagodzilla posted:Not actually; the film is based entirely on the bad "Soul" pun. I would have also settled for Glory at the Oscars: A Disaster Movie, starring Anne Hathaway. Ubik_Lives fucked around with this message at 00:20 on Dec 9, 2017 |
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Dec 9, 2017 00:17
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