Monday, August 10, 2015

The Film Emotion Blogathon


If you saw yesterday's post, you might remember that I found a great blogathon that I would love to be a part of. It is The Film Emotion Blogathon hosted by Conman of Conman at the Movies. It came about because he saw Inside Out and fell in love with it. I haven't seen it, yet, but hope to have a similar experience with that or any other movie. There are some specific emotions covered within that film and Conman decided to utilize this to help us cold-hearted bloggers get in touch with out inner selves. Here are the rules he put in place for us to follow:

1.) Pick five films to represent the five emotions in Inside Out. The criteria for choosing these films is listed below. I would be willing to allow a tie, if you couldn’t decide between two films to best represent one of the emotions.
2.) Write out five paragraphs, (one for each film) talking about the movies and why you chose them.
3.) Post them on your blog (or Tumblr or whatever).
4.) Send me the link by posting it here in the comments.

What I’m looking for are five movies that make YOU feel a certain emotion. Here’s what to look for;

Conman goes on to describe what he wants for each of the emotions. It's fairly self-explanatory, but if you want to see his full post, by all means, click here. Those emotions are joy, sadness, fear, anger, and disgust. Let's get started.


Joy
Coming to America
If there is one movie that gives me joy, one that always perks me up, it's this one. From the first time I saw it, as a teenager, in the theater way back on its opening weekend in 1988 through the dozens of viewings I've had since, including just a few weeks ago, I've always had a great time watching this film. Whatever problems I have melt away for the two hours that it's on. Even though I can recite just about the entire script and know every joke that's coming, I still laugh hysterically. Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall are flat out amazing here, making full use of their comedic talent. The story is a still-unique blend of raunchy R-rated comedy and fairy tale sensibilities that combine to make a winning formula. Whenever I'm feeling down, Prince Hakim and Semi know how to cheer me up. (Obviously, it's a Movie I Grew Up With)


Sadness
Calvary
By nature, I'm a skeptic. Some might say I'm a cynic. Even if that's true, I'm nowhere near as cynical as this movie. It goes beyond saying that humans are inherently flawed. It points out that we are our own worst enemy, we are doomed to destroy ourselves, and even faith is not enough to save us. I'm by no means religious, but I have respect for those that are. Whether or not any of us agree with the particulars of one religion or another, the idea that good will eventually triumph over evil is an admirable one. This movie suggests that this is not the case. It tells us we will inevitably succumb to innermost demons. I was left so shaken by the experience, I can't see myself watching this movie ever again. (click here for my full review)


Fear
Requiem for a Dream
Growing up in New York during the Reagan era meant the introduction of crack-cocaine as a viable and rapid means of income for the disenfranchised and/or those seeking a shortcut to wealth. Getting involved in that side of it means being in a cutthroat business competing for a self-destructive customer base. The booming of this business also meant there were far more addicts than ever before. The drug decimated families and whole communities. There was a proliferation of public service announcements about the dangers of drugs on TV, but the most ubiquitous effort at helping was also the most feeble: Nancy Reagan's Just Say No campaign. It served to do little more than further her image as a philanthropic figure without any real success to show for it. Drug addiction continued to grow and ravage cities from coast to coast. For me, personally, I saw friends and family members who were destroyed, or nearly destroyed by drug addiction. I learned a lesson from their plight. Drugs terrified me. That finally brings us to Requiem for a Dream. It's all about drug addiction and the effects of it, here, are spectacularly scary.


Anger
The Barbarian Invasions
This won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and I hated every minute of it. Stupidity was so rampant, I couldn't get past it to give a damn about what the movie was trying to tell me. I know, I haven't given any details on any other movie, but I have to on this one to illustrate my point. The plot revolves around Remy. He has a terminal form of cancer and just wants to be allowed to die. I'm good with this. The problems come from his son Sebastien. Reluctantly, at first, Sebastien sets out to make his dad's last days as comfortable as possible. And this is where the stupidity starts. He finds out there was once a program where pain in patients such as his dad were treated with heroin. It no longer exists. So where does Sebastien go to try and score his dad some smack? Right to the police station. Yup. Dude just marches in, asks to speak to an officer and tries to convince the cop to give him some heroin from their stash of confiscated drugs out of the goodness of their hearts to give to his dear old dying dad. Really? Who would think to do something so dumb as this? His decisions only get worse from there. It doesn't help that everything played out in as boring and pretentious a manner as possible. I was royally pissed watching this and I don't care who knows it.


Disgust
Gummo
This movie's director, Harmony Korine, is a polarizing figure. Normally, I'm one of the ones who hail his work as genius. I find the disturbing Kids, unsettling in all the right ways and the hyper-kinetic, super-stylistic Spring Breakers is brilliant. Gummo is one I can't wrap my head around. Not only is it bereft of plot, it makes no sense whatsoever. It just follows kids in their dilapidated town doing some of the most heinous things imaginable without rhyme or reason. Just for good measure, their parents get in on the act, too. It becomes a series of events designed to turn your stomach, and only engaging you on that physical level. Without a story to tell nor a statement to make, at least not one that I could discern, the entire film exists merely to disgust the viewer. With this viewer, it succeeds. (click here for my full review)




21 comments:

  1. Requiem For A Dream is a great choice for Fear. Calvary is an interesting choice for Sadness, though. Gummo is a perfect pick for Disgust. I forgot about that one. When I was thinking of a film for Disgust, if I thought of Gummo, I would've picked that one. Haven't seen the whole thing, but I have absolutely no desire to see it again. Like you said, what was the point in all that?

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  2. Well, I tried to post a comment and my computer froze, so...

    Gummo sounds a lot like Korine's Julien Donkey-Boy...which was awful.

    I remember fondly your Barbarians rant :-D

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    1. I saw part of Julien Donkey-Boy. What a shit-fest.

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    2. Matt - Thanks. I only went with all of my choices after mulling over several options, except for Gummo. I knew I was picking that one, right away.

      Drew/Stephanie - Haven't see Julien Donkey-Boy. Thankfully.

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  3. Why. Why, why, WHY did you have to remind me of Gummo?!? Every time I think I've effectively placed that disgusting, pretentious piece of shit masquerading as an art film provocation out of my mind, something comes up to remind me of its existence. Curse you, Dell!

    Requiem for a Dream is my Disgust - it's just so "life sucks and then you die.... violently, degradingly, and alone," that I can't ever watch it again. They should play that film in high schools so that every kid feels the same way.

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    1. Lol. Gummo is a painful memory for me, too. As for Requiem for a Dream I think it should be played in high schools, too, but for different reasons. I think this would be a way more effective PSA about the dangers of drug addiction than anything...ever.

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    2. Reading that back I'm realizing it sounds like I just want high schoolers to learn the hardest lessons of life early but I swear that's not so! Well, maybe a little, but mostly, I meant it should be shown in a "this is what happens when you do drugs" way. Even more effective than the egg "this is your brain on drugs" commercial.

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    3. Ok. That makes sense. And the egg is definitely the commercial I was thinking about.

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  4. LOL at what you said about The Barbarian Invasions. These are great picks, especially Requiem. I've heard of Gummo, but never seen in. That picture you chose looks disgusting by itself. Korine is a peculiar writer/film maker to say the least.

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    1. Don't be in a rush to see Gummo. Just don't see it, at all. That pic tells you need to know about it.

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  5. You liked Gummo? YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    1. Umm...no. I think you misread that one. Can't stand it.

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  6. I haven't seen all of these but the ones are have are very fitting.

    I like Coming to America but I haven't seen it since it came out for a very specific reason. I was managing a movie theatre when it premiered and since it was a big hit I can't even begin to count the number of times I've seen bits and pieces of it, especially the parts near the reel changes and by the time it left I was seriously fatigued with the film. It's not just that one, you'd have to tie me down to sit through Good Morning Vietnam or The Living Daylights again!

    I felt more sadness and disgust with Requiem but you make an excellent point for fear. That's one movie I'd never watch again and I'm mystified when I've had people tell me it's a favorite of theirs.

    Calvary is one that just popped up as a recommendation for me the other day on Netflix but after reading the description I wasn't sure I really was interested. With your take on it now I'm sure it's not.

    I remember reading about your complete disdain for Barbarian Invasions which is good enough for me to steer clear and I never heard of Gummo but now if I happen upon a reference I'll know better than to follow up on it. Thanks!!

    I haven't seen Inside Out, and honestly I won't but I love the idea of this blogathon so these are mine:

    Joy-Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)-From the moment the gaudy, spangled red curtain opens to reveal the equally red spangled and sequined Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell singing about their quest for rich men to its Technicolor finish this fun musical is a simple joy. Marilyn and Jane share such a captivating and easy chemistry and the musical numbers are so fun and iconic how can you not feel better after watching?

    Sadness-They Shoot Horses, Don’t They (1969)-Now I’m not a crier so I picked something that made me feel sorry for the whole stinking world. This incredibly powerful study in nihilism is enough to drain any joy you might have felt for several days on end. To know that it’s based on an event, marathon dances that were a real occurrence and traded on people’s desperation makes it even more tragic. I think it’s fair to say that it’s a film that has such a bleak outlook it’s too sad to make you cry.

    Fear-When a Stranger Calls (1979)-My cousin and I went into this without a lot of foreknowledge of the plot. She was heavily pregnant at the time and desperate to get out of the house and see a movie and this one was starting the soonest so in we walked, lambs to the slaughter as it were. The movie is flabby in the middle but to me has the most tension filled first and last 15 minutes of any one I can think of, so intense that in a particularly taut moment my cousin was so scared that the baby jumped and made her scream! For weeks after I couldn’t go to sleep at night until I had checked that all the closets were empty and the doors firmly shut.

    Anger-Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss (1998)-I don’t like to be cheated or deceived at any time, who does, but when watching a movie it makes my blood boil! This so called romantic comedy spends almost the entire movie leading the audience down the garden path that its two leads are headed to a great realization that they belong together only to have the rug pulled out from under them in the last few minutes and have the pair go off with characters we’ve never seen before!! A dirty cheat of a film, I was spitting nails when I left the theatre and too this day when I think about the film I feel my bile rising. GGGRRRRRRRRRR

    Disgust-Sophie’s Choice (1982)-I think everybody knows what the choice is by now and the film is a grindingly sad study of man’s inhumanity to man. Perhaps because when I saw the film I had determinedly remained as uninformed as possible it hit me especially hard. I felt depleted at the end, full of disgust for all the world.

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    1. Requiem for a Dream is one of my favorites precisely because of all those things it does. I view it as one of the best horror movies I've seen. Calvary is very well done with a magnificent performance by Brendan Gleeson. It may make my top 10 of 2014 (still working on that). It's just happens to be a downer of a film. Great story about Coming to America. Also love what you wrote about When a Stranger Calls and Sophie's Choice.

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  7. Oh my god, I hate blogger!
    Okay, third and last attempt to post:
    Great picks. I was more profuse in my previous attempts ;)
    Particular warm fuzzies for the Eddie Murphy throwback.

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    1. Glad it went through this time! And Coming to America always gives me the warm and fuzzies.

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  8. LOVE Coming to America, you made me want to rewatch it now! I'll avoid the last three picks you have here but I've been curious about Calvary for some time and I'm even more intrigued now.

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    1. Anytime is a good time for Coming to America. Calvary is really a good movie...just disheartening.

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  9. I love these picks, bro! Love. I still need to see Cavalry, but I'm right with you on these picks, for the most part. I didn't hate The Barbarian Invasions nearly as much as you. Really dig that you went with Requiem for a Dream for Fear. That movie is truly horrific...in a powerful way. Haven't seen it in years. Too hard. Coming to America is pure joy.

    Gummo though. I was unable to pass judgment. I still have no idea what I was watching. I will say that there are some unforgettable moments in that film. Truly. And the scene with Roy Orbison's "Crying" on the soundtrack. So amazing! Some of it is just so hard to stomach.

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    1. I have no idea what I watched with Gummo either. I just know all of it was a major turnoff for me.

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