The Official Movie Thread

[CiG]

Watching before work:



Edit: Wins the award for most axe/knife wounds in a single film? Holy shit.

Edit 2: Train to Busan was aight. The CGI was often goofy and the whole wave of infected toppling over itself World War Z thing was pretty cheesy, but I thought it was appropriate to watch this film as Asia drowns in its own body fluids, felt very prescient. Basically a loveletter to fathers.

 

[rms]

Spoiler

I’m not sure exactly what you mean or how the HR article contradicts the “Twitter dude.”

By “they advance the social hierarchy,” do you mean that the Kims ascend the social ladder? If so, it sounds like you think this means the stone does fulfill its symbolic promise of upward social mobility. I would disagree in the utmost. They ascend the social ladder through deception, lies, trickery, etc. In other words, their ascent is hollow—just like the rock. The tweet’s point is that their newfound status can’t last, since it’s founded on a hollow promise: the promise of guaranteed upward mobility within capitalism.

Spoiler

I'll first say, the idea in the tweet ( revealing that the rock is fake & hollow, thus the ascension is hollow and fake ) is just wrong and a symptom of forcing something to fit the narrative. The rock is clearly heavy, and not every headshot kills you. or if it did, it's more likely Bong wanted the ending that way, where the son survives, rather than adhering to physics and biology. Here's the evidence:

It's clearly heavy, and no one is being fooled by their weight. The more apt way to read this rock, is a critique of Korean society, thinking that rocks bring good fortune and then later being the tool used to kill and inflict significant violence onto others.

do you mean that the Kims ascend the social ladder? If so, it sounds like you think this means the stone does fulfill its symbolic promise of upward social mobility

They obviously do, the father talks about how much the salary of the son is going to impact their lives and make everything better. Does this mean the rock has mystical powers? No, I don't know why it's cause and effect for you, the rock was introduced but the tutor was also leaving. The rock didn't make this occur, the tutor went off to wherever (I forget). If you want to believe that the rock had powers, I don't know how one can justify this earnestly.

They ascend the social ladder through deception, lies, trickery, etc.

The family was already ascending without trickery, the tutor propped up the son because he wasn't worried about him banging the youngin'. They had even more success by hiring the daughter, which was trickery but obviously offered a service they thought they needed (and I think a legitimately hilarious point that wealthy people believe mumbo jumbo she spewed to act as if she was a qualified child psychologist).

One cannot ignore the climb that was happening with only the Son being hired, this was significant for the family, the problem was they got greedy and went too far. The idea of "I don't care about others as long as it benefits my own", parallels much of Mother, which again is prominent here. Bong clearly couples these together for a capitalistic society, or at least an asian/korean one, and is his critique of the ascension -- not that it is hollow or premature.

In other words, their ascent is hollow—just like the rock.

I would argue the film has no interest in depicting a hollow or non-hollow ascension story, and I'm not entirely clear why the film would be viewed this way.

The tweet’s point is that their newfound status can’t last, since it’s founded on a hollow promise: the promise of guaranteed upward mobility within capitalism.

If you think the tweet says this much, then it's directly going against the conclusion of the film, where this short experience is irrelevant to how the Son will rise again and return his father to this world. All while being based off an incorrect interpretation that the rock is hollow that isn't supported in the film.

 

[Einherjar86]

Spoiler

I'll first say, the idea in the tweet ( revealing that the rock is fake & hollow, thus the ascension is hollow and fake ) is just wrong and a symptom of forcing something to fit the narrative. The rock is clearly heavy, and not every headshot kills you. or if it did, it's more likely Bong wanted the ending that way, where the son survives, rather than adhering to physics and biology. Here's the evidence

It's clearly heavy, and no one is being fooled by their weight. The more apt way to read this rock, is a critique of Korean society, thinking that rocks bring good fortune and then later being the tool used to kill and inflict significant violence onto others.



They obviously do, the father talks about how much the salary of the son is going to impact their lives and make everything better. Does this mean the rock has mystical powers? No, I don't know why it's cause and effect for you, the rock was introduced but the tutor was also leaving. The rock didn't make this occur, the tutor went off to wherever (I forget). If you want to believe that the rock had powers, I don't know how one can justify this earnestly.



The family was already ascending without trickery, the tutor propped up the son because he wasn't worried about him banging the youngin'. They had even more success by hiring the daughter, which was trickery but obviously offered a service they thought they needed (and I think a legitimately hilarious point that wealthy people believe mumbo jumbo she spewed to act as if she was a qualified child psychologist).

One cannot ignore the climb that was happening with only the Son being hired, this was significant for the family, the problem was they got greedy and went too far. The idea of "I don't care about others as long as it benefits my own", parallels much of Mother, which again is prominent here. Bong clearly couples these together for a capitalistic society, or at least an asian/korean one, and is his critique of the ascension -- not that it is hollow or premature.


I would argue the film has no interest in depicting a hollow or non-hollow ascension story, and I'm not entirely clear why the film would be viewed this way.


If you think the tweet says this much, then it's directly going against the conclusion of the film, where this short experience is irrelevant to how the Son will rise again and return his father to this world. All while being based off an incorrect interpretation that the rock is hollow that isn't supported in the film.

Spoiler

You think the son is going to return and save his father? The ending of the film implies precisely the opposite of that: the son will never save his father, his father is trapped below the house. This is the point of the dream sequence in which the son imagines saving his father, only to have this revealed to the audience as a fantasy. It’s a fantasy because it will always be a fantasy within the capitalist structure; there’s no revolution or salvation there.

The rock isn’t clearly solid. It fucking floats. You’re trying to rationalize the fact of the rock floating (which is one of the most explicitly defined shots) with the fact that people hurl it at one another as a weapon. The reason people wield it is that they buy into its power, which is deceptive. The sole episode on which the rock appears as an agent in its own right is when it rises to the surface of the water, revealing its emptiness.

 

[no country for old wainds]

actually nm ill post in more depth on this when i’m not on my phone

 

[CiG]

Watching:



Edit:



A mate actually had this on DVD so I borrowed it, reminds me of Twin Peaks a bit so far.

 

[rms]

Spoiler

The rock isn’t clearly solid. It fucking floats. You’re trying to rationalize the fact of the rock floating (which is one of the most explicitly defined shots) with the fact that people hurl it at one another as a weapon. The reason people wield it is that they buy into its power, which is deceptive. The sole episode on which the rock appears as an agent in its own right is when it rises to the surface of the water, revealing its emptiness.

There's three fucking gifs in the film that support it being of a certain mass and not lighter than one would expect. If it was a hollow rock, it would've fallen apart in the stairwell. It's clearly something more and you're reaching for inconsistent and low-hanging fruit. You cannot grapple with the idea that this film isn't Western.

He even hints at the idea of the magical rock, which if you believe drove the story and is the rightful owner to the good fortune, is covered in blood.

At the beginning, it’s supposedly metaphorical, and then by the end, it’s a literal weapon used to smash in somebody’s head. I think the rock brings an extra layer to the story. It feels like this cursed object, and it ends up being covered in blood. It tells the whole story of all of these horrible events. I don’t remember why I thought of it at first, but that’s how it ended up.

https://www.polygon.com/2019/10/14/20906430/parasite-bong-joon-ho-interview-rock-peach-spoilers
Capitalism being covered in block? Legit. Hollow ascension? Fucking Korea is one of the greatest examples of a capitalist rise in human history, it would make less sense for him to critique capitalism as fake than it containing bloodshed.

EDIT: You're also fucking misremembering. It was sunk, but when the son returned, it floated to him.

You think the son is going to return and save his father? The ending of the film implies precisely the opposite of that: the son will never save his father, his father is trapped below the house. This is the point of the dream sequence in which the son imagines saving his father, only to have this revealed to the audience as a fantasy. It’s a fantasy because it will always be a fantasy within the capitalist structure; there’s no revolution or salvation there.

It's obviously open to interpretation, but it's a fantasy no matter what because it's fucking 20 some years down the line. No Korean can deny the social elevation brought up by capitalism, much like a Chinese or Japanese couldn't. Bong is more upset at the unravelling, not the impossibility o fit.

 

[no country for old wainds]

View attachment 23767

A mate actually had this on DVD so I borrowed it, reminds me of Twin Peaks a bit so far.

cats or death?

 

[Einherjar86]

Spoiler

There's three fucking gifs in the film that support it being of a certain mass and not lighter than one would expect. If it was a hollow rock, it would've fallen apart in the stairwell. It's clearly something more and you're reaching for inconsistent and low-hanging fruit. You cannot grapple with the idea that this film isn't Western.

Spoiler

I can appreciate that it's a non-Western film. I don't think you fully appreciate B-JH's comments about the film, about capitalism, and about the significance of the rock.

It can be hollow but still heavy; the point the tweet made was that it's not heavy enough to kill someone with multiple blows. There's also no certainty that it would have broken when falling down the stairs.

Okja, Snowpiercer, and Parasite are all critical accounts of class disparity under capitalism. Snowpiercer is basically a fable about overhauling and exploding the entire system, while Parasite is about how the poor are, on average, systematically prevented from social ascension. It is hardly a Korean love song to the possibilities of capitalism done right.

Spoiler

He even hints at the idea of the magical rock, which if you believe drove the story and is the rightful owner to the good fortune, is covered in blood.

At the beginning, it’s supposedly metaphorical, and then by the end, it’s a literal weapon used to smash in somebody’s head. I think the rock brings an extra layer to the story. It feels like this cursed object, and it ends up being covered in blood. It tells the whole story of all of these horrible events. I don’t remember why I thought of it at first, but that’s how it ended up.

https://www.polygon.com/2019/10/14/20906430/parasite-bong-joon-ho-interview-rock-peach-spoilers
Capitalism being covered in block? Legit. Hollow ascension? Fucking Korea is one of the greatest examples of a capitalist rise in human history, it would make less sense for him to critique capitalism as fake than it containing bloodshed.

EDIT: You're also fucking misremembering. It was sunk, but when the son returned, it floated to him.

It's obviously open to interpretation, but it's a fantasy no matter what because it's fucking 20 some years down the line. No Korean can deny the social elevation brought up by capitalism, much like a Chinese or Japanese couldn't. Bong is more upset at the unravelling, not the impossibility o fit.

Spoiler

I definitely think a Korean director can deny the ideology of social mobility under capitalism. You seem to think he's incapable of critiquing capitalism because he lives in a country that has benefited from support from a capitalist country; but I highly, highly doubt he perceives capitalism as the savior of South Korea.

And I'm not misremembering the detail; you're right, the rock floats to the son. It's a key detail and choice of framing, but it doesn't qualify a reading of the rock as actually possessing magical powers. It's metaphorically significant, and that can look magical to the characters; but it's not actually empowering the Kims. If anything, it signifies false hopes: it's a fetishized object on which the Kims project their faith in attaining a better life, but it actually doesn't bring that to them at all.

 

[no country for old wainds]

re: parasite

Spoiler

i mean i agree that it's also about capitalism creating its own monsters from the ghost in the basement to the predatory boy under the bed ("they're nice because they're rich") resulting in unavoidable bloodshed etc, but the running motif of the family's inability to erase their stink, and of course the eventual flood (as meanwhile the rich family complain about a bit of rain), speaks to how no amount of striving can allow them to escape their roots at the wrong end of a wide class divide, no? i hardly think 'getting greedy' is responsible for their downfall, it seemed inevitable from the very beginning--they're desperately swimming against the current until it predictably overwhelms them and carries them right back down into the literal shit they've never stopped smelling of. and yeah i'd like to see it again but i did think the epilogue was drenched in irony or, to quote snowpiercer, "the misplaced optimism of the doomed".

 

[Einherjar86]

re: parasite

Spoiler

i mean i agree that it's also about capitalism creating its own monsters from the ghost in the basement to the predatory boy under the bed ("they're nice because they're rich") resulting in unavoidable bloodshed etc, but the running motif of the family's inability to erase their stink, and of course the eventual flood (as meanwhile the rich family complain about a bit of rain), speaks to how no amount of striving can allow them to escape their roots at the wrong end of a wide class divide, no? i hardly think 'getting greedy' is responsible for their downfall, it seemed inevitable from the very beginning--they're desperately swimming against the current until it predictably overwhelms them and carries them right back down into the literal shit they've never stopped smelling of. and yeah i'd like to see it again but i did think the epilogue was drenched in irony or, to quote snowpiercer, "the misplaced optimism of the doomed".

Spoiler

I agree, the conclusion isn't punishment or something for them having done capitalism wrong. The moral isn't that social mobility is possible if only people seek it the right way; it's about how capitalism offers the illusion of social mobility as a means of sustaining itself. I think Snowpiercer's general attitude is that it's unsustainable, while Parasite strikes me as a bleaker narrative, albeit an absurdist one (i.e. it sustains itself via the perpetual impoverishment of an entire social class).

 

[CiG]

Has anybody seen Kathryn Bigelow's Detroit? Wondering if it's worth a watch.

cats or death?

That was like a Troma movie except filmed with a straight face.

Edit:



Another cheeky before work movie. Seen this already but I was so tired I don't really remember like the entire second half.

 

[TageRyche]

Watching:

View attachment 23766

I'm pretty sure I watched this when it first came out but I can't remember anything about the movie now.

 

[CiG]

I'm pretty sure I watched this when it first came out but I can't remember anything about the movie now.

Romeo & Juliet by way of Abel's love for sweaty claustrophobic city apartments, piss-soaked stairwells and sexually charged racial tensions. Kinda like if you took West Side Story and dragged it through the gutter. Fantastic adaption, I love it myself. Joey Chin is gangsta as fuck!

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

So it looks like they're making Peter Parker into a bisexual in the next Spider-Man movie. Ugh, hollywood .. smfh. Another example of how this state is ruining everything with their filthy agendas.

 

[RadicalThrasher]

So it looks like they're making Peter Parker into a bisexual in the next Spider-Man movie. Ugh, hollywood .. smfh. Another example of how this state is ruining everything with their filthy agendas.

Fucking worlds going to shit

Took my son to see this earlier

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

Fucking worlds going to shit

Took my son to see this earlier

yeah dude, i'll be boycotting marvel if they really go through with this. Really getting sick and tired of this bullshit.

How was Sonic, im thinking of rounding up the youngsters and taking them to see that one too. And shit, i'm a Sonic fan myself. Sonic 1 and 2 are some of my all time favorites!

 

[CiG]

I wonder how they'll slide that in. New origin story where Parker meets Mary Jane Watson and falls in love, turns out she's a tranny and then she flops out a big dick and Parker's deep-seated homosexuality explodes in an orgy of rainbow pride.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

I wonder how they'll slide that in. New origin story where Parker meets Mary Jane Watson and falls in love, turns out she's a tranny and then she flops out a big dick and Parker's deep-seated homosexuality explodes in an orgy of rainbow pride.

Spider-Man "versus" Doc Ock

 

[CiG]

...oh god!

 

[RadicalThrasher]

How was Sonic, im thinking of rounding up the youngsters and taking them to see that one too. And shit, i'm a Sonic fan myself. Sonic 1 and 2 are some of my all time favorites!

It was alright, not bad. My kid and his friend loved it, i was entertained. The guy who played cyclops in the oldschool x-men movies was in it. He's always in these kind of movies like hop or something with talking cgi creatures. But whatever he's pretty cool. He's a cop in the middle of nowhere montana and of course he has to be with a black chick. Nothing wrong with that on the surface. I think people should be free to do whatever they want. But just like you said with new spider man, I'm so tired of this kind of stuff being jammed in my face, can't take it anymore. Tolerance and diversity. 2 words I'm sick of. Your wrong if you disagree with it, or want to raise your kids normal. Don't like talking about it because then i get worked up. But yeah movie was good for kids.