Adoration (Egoyan, 2008)

[Boner M]

New Egoyan.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809936116/video/10758616

Heard mixed things so far. Still have high hopes.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Trailer (http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/adoration/)

Looks much more like Ararat than Where the Truth Lies, which is a very, very good thing as far as I'm concerned.

[Boner M]

Psst. (http://match-cut.org/showthread.php?t=1463)

[Winston*]

Psst. (http://match-cut.org/showthread.php?t=1463)

KF's thread has more replies than yours.

[Boner M]

Ouch, Winston*.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Ouch, Winston*.

Yeah, you're totally merging with mine so it looks like I posted it first.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Wow. Totally fucked that up. Thank god everyone polices themselves, as my mod skills are obviously lacking.

[Winston*]

Forum law states that you now have to resign your moederatorship to boner. Sorry KF, I'm sure your children will be crushed.

[Lasse]

Sorry KF, I'm sure your children will be crushed.

Nah, they'll be alright. I won't tell them a thing until they're 18.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Forum law states that you now have to resign your moederatorship to boner. Sorry KF, I'm sure your children will be crushed.

It's the right thing to do. But funny enough, I'm not keen enough on how this mod things work to pass it on to someone else.


Nah, they'll be alright. I won't tell them a thing until they're 18.

I appreciate that. You're a good father Lasse.

[number8]

Just saw it. Very powerful, packed (nearly overwhelming) with thematic ideas. I approve.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Saw this a while ago, and loved the hell out of it.

[number8]

I'm reading reviews, and it seems like many are disliking it for substituting the drama for philosophical speeches. But... that's kind of what makes the central idea of the Internet's ability to connect so compelling. It piles on argument after argument to counter each other, as if the truth cannot be found anymore once the ability to broadcast is democratized.

Loved the hell out of it, too.

[Grouchy]

Forum law states that you now have to resign your moederatorship to boner. Sorry KF, I'm sure your children will be crushed.
They're better off with Christopher Nolan anyway.

[Boner M]

Didn't quite love the hell out of this, but it's damn good and the cool critical reception is pretty surprising. I'm sure it'd benefit from a second viewing, since the plot's pretty convoluted even by Egoyan standards. Probably the most Egoyan film Egoyan's made yet. Scott Speedman's performance is basically a sustained Bruce Greenwood impression. Not a bad thing.

Egoyan.

[Boner M]

I'm reading reviews, and it seems like many are disliking it for substituting the drama for philosophical speeches. But... that's kind of what makes the central idea of the Internet's ability to connect so compelling. It piles on argument after argument to counter each other, as if the truth cannot be found anymore once the ability to broadcast is democratized.
And the film is specifically about ideas of martyrdom & sacrificing one's humanity for an ideal, and ethical issues behind whether certain ideas need a human face put on them. The theme-vessel approach to charactisation fits the film like a glove in this case.

[Raiders]

I WANT TO SEE THIS MOVIE DAMMIT

[Spaceman Spiff]

I WANT TO SEE THIS MOVIE DAMMIT

You should have lived in Canada (or more specifically Toronto when this was playing at all the art-house dealies).

You're the resident Egoyan fanboy, are you not?

[Ezee E]

DVD in September.

[NickGlass]

Didn't quite love the hell out of this, but it's damn good and the cool critical reception is pretty surprising. I'm sure it'd benefit from a second viewing, since the plot's pretty convoluted even by Egoyan standards. Probably the most Egoyan film Egoyan's made yet. Scott Speedman's performance is basically a sustained Bruce Greenwood impression. Not a bad thing.

Egoyan.

I share your excitement for "Egoyan being Egoyan again" with this film, but Egoyan focuses too much on what made him special rather than what made him an unparalleled filmmaker. Perhaps I'm unfairly holding him up to the lofty standards I've created for him, but he has lost a lot of grace as a filmmaker (sustained trauma from the sleazy Where the Truth Lies?). He continues to drive fascinating idea after fascinating idea into this film, but his structure is disappointingly sloppy.

In Adoration, the themes don't flow together, and they don't lead to an overwhelming conclusion--they butt heads and fall to shambles (interesting shambles, but shambles nonetheless). I wanted to feel the inspired catharsis, not find it mangled within the wreckage.

[Pop Trash]

You're the resident Egoyan fanboy, are you not?

I could be considered this. The Sweet Hereafter is in my top five of all time. Egoyan is also exactly 20 years older than me to the day. The only problem is that I merely like, not love, most of his pre Exotica and post TSH work. I still really want to see this.

[Raiders]

You're the resident Egoyan fanboy, are you not?

This would be me, yes. Though I think I go more by my Haynes and Demme devotion these days.

[Sven]

This would be me, yes. Though I think I go more by my Haynes and Demme devotion these days.

Haynes? Psh. He's so last year. I'll always think of you as a Demme man.

[baby doll]

Regarding the idea that this is a case of "Egoyan being Egoyan again," while that's definitely the case up to a point, no other film he's made has been as powerfully engaged with the contemporary world, and I was glad to see him make at least one film entirely free of sexual hang-ups. Or does loving your mother automatically count as one?

Furthermore, in which film is he not being Egoyan? Even in an ostensibly commercial project like Where the Truth Lies, his favorite hang-ups (for instance, video and the creation of identity) and stylistic tics (near constant camera movement, non-linear storytelling) all get a healthy work-out. If anything, his decision to start adapting books into movies, beginning with The Sweet Hereafter, has simply allowed him to rework his favorite obsessions again and again while giving the impression of having made a distribution-friendly, big-star prestige film.

[ledfloyd]

this connected with me in a way Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter did not. some of the webcam bits seemed a bit preachy but it's really really strong filmmaking. thematically rich, i'm going to have to mull it over a bit more. but i really dug it, good stuff.

[Boner M]

this connected with me in a way Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter did not.
Well, that's strange. Glad you liked it, though.

[chrisnu]

I enjoyed it a lot. How the past is often re-shaped to fit our current viewpoint is fascinating to me. There's also the concept of soul-searching and self-examination through abstract means, through art, which rang very true with me. Very throught-provoking film, and that's mostly what I'm looking for. I should watch it again.

[Ezee E]

There's some great stuff in this movie, and its almost always happening when away from some of the overlong rants on the webcam. Scott Speedman, who knew? I had no idea it was him, and when I saw on the netflix sleeve, I was quite surprised. Fantastic ensemble.