[Closed] Recent Viewing Part III

I have this weird (or wonderful, depending how you look at it) tendency whenever I watch a film to always put myself in the frame of mind like how I watched it the first time. So a movie that scared the crap out of me when I was 10 will still do that. At least I let myself be terrified for the duration of the film, not so much that I'm having nightmares afterwards or having to keep the lights on, goodness no!!

I like to relive the experience again and again if you know what I mean. And only the ones that had the most impact on me when I was a kid still manage to do that.

Poltergeist is one of those that still works tremendously on the imagination, you know, the basic elements of fear of what you can't see or don't know about. The clown, the tree, the kidnapping, it still is horrifying stuff. It is also one of the most emotional horror films I've ever seen. There aren't too many that can claim scary and emotionally gripping like Poltergeist can. Spielberg clearly made this one, I'm convinced of that.

Whaaaat??? For real?

But you switched the links at first glance.

Just finished with CAPTAIN AMERICA. Boy, it was dreadful. Now I know why Alan Silvestri's score was so dull! I read somewhere that Joe Johnston wanted to model the film after Indiana Jones.... but did he mean only Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?

-Erik-

I was very young when I saw Psycho which did scare me.
Tom

Frozen Planet

The first episode of the new BBC documentary series from the Planet Earth team. Absolutely stunning. I won't spend a more satisfying hour with any entertainment medium this year. Spectacular highlights throughout and just when I thought it couldn't get better, along comes a long sequence about killer whales hunting together, with remarkable behaviour (including literally making waves in order to wash seals off icebergs). No matter how many of these things I see, there's always so much I learn. George Fenton's music was exactly as expected, which is to say exquisite and spectacular, but sadly there's no word of an album.

Everything that you said there James.

Absolutely astounding.

I'd be interested in how you thought the music -a little disappointing on CD, if I understand everyone correctly- works in film?

I think it's likely children will be far more disturbed by eerie moods (music, incongruent settings): basically things that really upset what they have constructed or have been taught is a safe surrounding. I would *tend* to think that things like gruesome murders or weird violence is taken much more like cartoon violence: it's SO far rem,oved from anything connected to their reality that it won't have a major impact.

Julian going upstairs when he was done is an excellent example! He didn't seem really disturbed. Just annoyed and uncomfortable. And he very clearly indicated his own boundaries. And I think it's a massive credit to YOU as a parent that he is able to do that!

Obviously there is no one clear indication.
It's also so very much dependent on the character, (hyper)active imagination of the child, its sensibilities, (in)securities.... heck, I had a near breakdown at age 6 because of a fairly politically correct, modern fairy tale radio play I heard.
Completely harmless in intent and form, just some of the music, choice of words and my own fantastic imagination turned it into something I found MANY years later was VERY reminiscent of Lovecraftian horror...

I most CERTAINLY do.
It was called "Het Oinkbeest" (The Oink Beast), and was recorded in 1972 by a very left wing couple of artists (listening back, it was chocfull of hippy and left wing ideas and ideals. A little bit too politically pushy for comfort, really, I guess at age six that really didn't register).

Interestingly that same couple became born again Christians ten years later and are now singing the joys of abstinence and the evil of abortion and all that.

Anyway, it was about a creature that fell from the moon, being lovingly caught up by a group of gnomes.
However the creatures offspring was kidnapped by nameless, formless things that lived in a land without colour...
(Seriously, I'm getting goose pimples even writing that! You can SEE the Lovecraftian implications, can't you? God, this thing really scarred me for life).

I still have a copy. Digital even.
Listened to it once, a few years back. Vowed never to subject any future offspring of mine to it.

Hotel Rwanda

Very powerful movie. Difficult to sit through, but rewarding in the end.

Rating: 8


Paul

Twas ok. Exactly what you'd expect from the trailer.

Rating: 6


Drag me to hell

I love it! It contained many of the unique, outrageous horror-comedy elements found in the Evil dead trilogy, and it's suprising that Sam Raimi still seem to have it in him after all this time, especially considering that his previous movie was the exceptionally bad Spider-man 3.

Rating: 8


Captain America

Meh. Found it rather dull. It seemed more like a war movie than a superhero movie. Captain America's superpowers just seem to be that he's stronger and faster than normal people and he has a shield that he throws. Yawn fest. Oh, and Hugo Weaving has such a cool look about him, so it annoyed me when he suddenly turned into Skeletor.

Rating: 4


28 days later

One of my favourite zombie apocalypse movies. Fell a bit apart in the last third of the movie, but overall it's a great flick.

Rating: 7

Peter

I find this all very interesting. Thanks for sharing! I don't think you should allow your children to watch things that disturb you now simply because you watched things like that when you were a kid. If you don't feel comfortable with them watching something, don't let them watch! The fact that you used to watch stuff like that, but don't anymore should be all the MORE reason for them NOT to watch. You've been there, but are now older and wiser.

I also think that some kids are much less disturbed by things than other kids. You were clearly not easily disturbed as a child. Quinn is obviously not either. But Julian is. He's clearly more sensitive to that kind of stuff. I personally avoided scary movies like the plague when I was a kid. I remember being absolutely terrified by a film as a child, but then seeing it years later and realizing that it was actually a comedy for children slighty older than myself Some kids have a much lower tolerance for that kind of stuff.

There are many studies that have shown that children, because their minds are not completely developed, have a harder time separating what they see on TV from reality. I can't link you to any of those studies right now, but I read several of them during my master's studies. This is a bigger deal at ages 3-6 than 10 and 11, but there is still some of that there.

My advice: if something makes you uncomfortable as a parent, don't let your own childhood experiences hold your present parenting hostage. Your kids are old enough that if you explain to them why you don't want them doing / watching something, they will understand at least to a certain point.

Chris

never heard it

I highly recommend another film about the same subject, SHOOTING DOGS. Again not easy viewing, an incredibly powerful film and again with superb performances, amongst them the always great John Hurt. It's a painful film and yet uplifting at times, I urge you to watch it.

Many of the makers in this film are themselves Rwandan survivors and I deny anyone not to be moved by the closing credits.

Oh, and last but not least, Dario Marianelli's score is superb.

Oh yes, I DO SEE the Lovecraftian implications, I think that would have totally creeped me out and given me nightmares at a young age, it's hard to imagine how I'd take it now, I looked it up on youtube but none of it is in English.