Brick

[Pieface]

ask poului - he'll tell you

 

[citydreams]

..at the camper-limousine having a lamp-shade.

It even had those twisted bits of string at the bottom.

 

[Biddlybee]

Oh yeah

(tassles )

 

[citydreams]

I was close to guffawing at the bit with the black actress with the white make-up standing in a halo of broken mirror but I was too busy wondering why I was bothering to watch such a try-hard film.

 

[Pieface]

now you see I don't get why that bit would be even close to funny.

 

[citydreams]

now you see I don't get why that bit would be even close to funny.

you're beginning to see what Pouloui and I had to put up with.

what was the point of it then?

 

[Pieface]

of what? the film?

 

[citydreams]

of what? the film?

no, the still shot of the girl framed by the broken mirror.

 

[Pieface]

probably looked nice or something - the film was always going to be stylised - it was aping a stylised genre. Were you really surprised by that?

 

[Reno]

I didn't think Brick was terrible, but I couldn't see the point of it either. It was a gimmicky exercise in style that seemed to exist in a vacuum. Having contemporary High School students represent various Film Noir archetypes just struck me as contrived and didn't excite me very much. At times it reminded me of watching a school play. When the absurdity of the concept was played for laughs, as with the villains mother who offers orange juice during negotiations it worked, but for most of the time it did take itself far too seriously. If you've seen the films its based on you can tick of the references and I suppose it served its purpose as a Hollywood calling card for its director.

 

[citydreams]

probably looked nice or something - the film was always going to be stylised - it was aping a stylised genre. Were you really surprised by that?

yup. Not knowing much about the film I thought it had been shoe-horned into a category, I didn't realise it was copying one until the closing scene.

Anyway, get some sleep brainy, you done good.

 

[Pieface]

Anyway, get some sleep brainy, you done good.

you patronising bugger - I didn't love it - just found it quite interesting. I always find myself defending things I'm ambivalent about

 

[Hollis]

Jesus christ.. this thread reads like an edition of "Dinner with Portillo".. grim, grim stuff.

 

[jodal]

I liked it. Didn't think it was pretentious really, I mean, isn't that just a label people use when they don't understand something?

It was a gimmicky exercise in style that seemed to exist in a vacuum. Having contemporary High School students represent various Film Noir archetypes just struck me as contrived and didn't excite me very much. At times it reminded me of watching a school play. When the absurdity of the concept was played for laughs, as with the villains mother who offers orange juice during negotiations it worked, but for most of the time it did take itself far too seriously. If you've seen the films its based on you can tick of the references and I suppose it served its purpose as a Hollywood calling card for its director.

Its hard to please some people.

 

[poului]

Jesus christ.. this thread reads like an edition of "Dinner with Portillo".. grim, grim stuff.

Well, it has now you've shown up.

 

[Reno]

I liked it. Didn't think it was pretentious really, I mean, isn't that just a label people use when they don't understand something?

That reminds me of a Sarah Michelle Gellar quote I read recently: "Isn't that what makes something art, when you don't understand it?"

 

[poului]

3e4erfe

Yeah ok, fair play, me and CD didn't like Brick cos we didn't understand it.


God rot our feeble brains.

 

[Pieface]

I didn't understand lots of it - they talked too fast.

 

[jms]

Its hard to please some people.

exactly. bits of this thread read like fucking newsnight review, just criticising something for the sake of it.

I found bits of it funny, but i think arguing whether or not it was funny is pointless because the humour was just an extra, not the main part of the film..

I think parts of it were deliberately too fast, or deliberately impenetrable to listen to to deliberately make it a bit more confusing, just so you don't get whats happening straight away. which i thought was a good thing.

i thought it was great, anyway. not quirky or mannered, just right.

 

[Reno]

exactly. bits of this thread read like fucking newsnight review, just criticising something for the sake of it.

Generally people don't criticise for the sake of it, but because they find fault with something. This process is part of what is known as having a discussion.

There is no general consensus that Brick is a good film so get over yourself.

 

[jodal]

That reminds me of a Sarah Michelle Gellar quote I read recently: "Isn't that what makes something art, when you don't understand it?"

So this is where you come when you're not on Urban. It all makes so much sense.

 

[Reno]

So this is where you come when you're not on Urban. It all makes so much sense.

I live to worship at her altar.

 

[jodal]

This will come back to haunt you on many a film thread.

 

[jms]

Generally people don't criticise for the sake of it, but because they find fault with something. This process is part of what is known as having a discussion.

There is no general consensus that Brick is a good film so get over yourself.

Alright, alright, calm down