I went and saw Loss of a Teardrop Diamond this afternoon, the movie made by Memphis local Jodie Markell from a lost and rediscovered Tennessee WIlliams play. Turns out an angsty Flapper-era period piece was just what I needed. Bryce Dallas Howard was great as the heroine, Fisher Willow. There was also a great performance by Ellen Burstyn, and Ann-Margret... was there too. And happily Chris Evans didn't embarrass himself while attempting a Mississippi accent.

The kids and I watched Persepolis tonight. I wasn't sure if CJ would get into it with the subtitles, but he was very attentive all the way through. We had to pause it a few times to talk about what was happening. I enjoyed it but was having a bit of a cognitive dissonance in that it is a French film, all the dialogue is in French, but the characters are mostly Persian and "should" be speaking Farsi. There was also an Iron Maiden call out. Made me happy.

So I just watched Oldboy.

I really had no clue what the movie was like. I only knew about the infamous hammer scene, so I assumed it was some sort of martial arts revenge flick with lots of punching and kicking, but, er, no, it was way cooler! It was suspenseful and mysterious and intriguing! Lots of stylistic flourishes I enjoyed.

I think it may be the most fucked-up movie I've ever seen, though. Holy shit. Like ita, I'm not sure I could actually watch it again, but I don't regret seeing it, because it was really good.

I loved that movie, Suzi.

K-Bug suggested it. I loved the annimation and expressiveness. Plus seeing the revolution and war from a different perspective was cool. We would pause the movie and talk about what the American perception of different events were and then what our family knew from straddling the American-Iranian line.

P-C--happy ending, or no? The person I saw it with swore up and down it was happy, but really?

I have rewatched the hammer scene a number of times, but it will be a while before I can watch enough that contributes to the impact of the ending again.

ita, it has a happy ending if you squint really hard. I can see why your friend might say that, but you need an incredibly superficial read to justify it.

I think one of the most fucked-up things about the movie is that in those final scenes, I actually started to sympathize with Woo-jin and, for a second, consider him the real protagonist of the movie. It completely screwed with my head.

I don't know how they're going to do an American remake. I'm sure it will be watered down and involve a government conspiracy.

you need an incredibly superficial read to justify it

Or one not tightly moored in moral values. Whichever.

The movie does jerk you around wrt points of view, but nobody gets off shiny clean.

Or one not tightly moored in moral values. Whichever.

Yeah, that too.

The movie does jerk you around wrt points of view, but nobody gets off shiny clean.

For sure. I was sleepy in the last half and I think I may have missed some scenes. Do we get a flashback to why Dae-su starting spreading the rumor in the first place?

You know, now that I think about it, this movie reminds me of Cache with the "I'm going to have vengeance on you now for something you did YEARS AND YEARS AGO but not tell you why," except it actually has a plot.

Everytime Oldboy is discussed I have to go look up parts of the plot. I swear my mind just blocks it after a while. Totally disturb-o-rama and in no way a happy ending. Still really good.