Starbuck1975
Lifer
So I was in the video store last night looking to rent Wedding Crashers, but of course all the copies were gone...I happened to come across Monsters Ball, and after having heard so many great things about it, I figured what the hell.
Big mistake. SPOILER ALERT
Why is this movie so critically acclaimed? It is filled with cliche after cliche. Black people oppressed in backwoods Georgia town...check...overbearing, racist father who actually has a thing for black women...check...weak son that father doesn't approve of, who later commits suicide...check...poor black woman oppressed by society, with adorable but awkward overweight son...check...death row inmate who actually has a heart of gold and artistic talent, making him seem like the victim...check...lost soul who finds redemption after a series of unlikely but cinematically convenient deaths and other unfortunate events...check.
That, and the actual story could probably actually be told in a one hour made for television movie...the rest is filler...artistic, sweeping camera pans, funky camera angle shots that we have all seen a million times before in infinitely better movies, and the actors doing not much of anything, but doing enough of nothing such that it might be Oscar worthy.
The whole point of the movie is basically to lead up to Halle Barry and Billy Bob Thorton hooking up...and the sex scene wasn't all that great, although we do get to see multiple shots of Barry's boobies.
And the ending...I was like, WTF...at first I thought, ok cool maybe the director went for the ambiguous ending on purpose...but after listening to the director's commentary, instead it became apparent that the director couldn't decide on an ending, but didn't want the sappy Hollywood happy ending...so instead went for the, hey we'll make it an ambiguous ending because this is an independent film, and it will score Oscar gold.
I like a good drama or artistic film from time to time...but sometimes, I just don't get why Hollywood gets all excited by a particular independent film...Monsters Ball wasn't all that.
Big mistake. SPOILER ALERT
Why is this movie so critically acclaimed? It is filled with cliche after cliche. Black people oppressed in backwoods Georgia town...check...overbearing, racist father who actually has a thing for black women...check...weak son that father doesn't approve of, who later commits suicide...check...poor black woman oppressed by society, with adorable but awkward overweight son...check...death row inmate who actually has a heart of gold and artistic talent, making him seem like the victim...check...lost soul who finds redemption after a series of unlikely but cinematically convenient deaths and other unfortunate events...check.
That, and the actual story could probably actually be told in a one hour made for television movie...the rest is filler...artistic, sweeping camera pans, funky camera angle shots that we have all seen a million times before in infinitely better movies, and the actors doing not much of anything, but doing enough of nothing such that it might be Oscar worthy.
The whole point of the movie is basically to lead up to Halle Barry and Billy Bob Thorton hooking up...and the sex scene wasn't all that great, although we do get to see multiple shots of Barry's boobies.
And the ending...I was like, WTF...at first I thought, ok cool maybe the director went for the ambiguous ending on purpose...but after listening to the director's commentary, instead it became apparent that the director couldn't decide on an ending, but didn't want the sappy Hollywood happy ending...so instead went for the, hey we'll make it an ambiguous ending because this is an independent film, and it will score Oscar gold.
I like a good drama or artistic film from time to time...but sometimes, I just don't get why Hollywood gets all excited by a particular independent film...Monsters Ball wasn't all that.
