Crash

[Drunk Monk]

Crash reminded me a lot of Short Cuts - a film that I didn't think much of when I first saw it, but it really stuck with me. I have fond memories of it now. We'll see if Crash sticks with me as long. Both are LA stories, which I could care less about (except DOOM south stories, of course). Both use the device of multiple overlapping short stories, characters that are both good and evil, with no ultimate conclusion or coming together of all the elements. Crash had more race issues, so there was sort of a statement at the end - racism is bad.

Still, I was very entertained by Crash. It had some really good stuff in it and was a very well-crafted film. Like Short Cuts, I probably wouldn't sit through it again (but there aren't many movies I'd see again nowadays, mostly because I don't have the time anymore). It won the Oscar but I didn't see enough of the other movies to say whether it deserved it or not. Part of me thinks that the multiple-overlapping-story-without-conclusions is a really lazy way to write, but another part of me thinks that if I ever write fiction, I'd totally cop that device. I'd recommend the film, but I wouldn't recommend going way out of your way for it.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I really enjoyed the film despite the Queen leaving the room half way through.

I thought it was very well written. All the stories wove together and touched on each other. It was brutally dark in some places and in others exceptionally funny (Who got all these diverse cultures together . . . . ) You hope racism doesn't exist to the extent portrayed in this film, and many argue that it doesn't, but I see it all the time. So, it was that exceptional to see it so brazenly.

God, did I hate and love Matt Dillon. The scene in the car was just terrible to watch. You could see the emotions on both Dillon and Thandie Newton's face. I loved that scene. And Ludacris dialouge against stereotypes as he prowls the streets of Westwood and then makes all the stereotypes true.

There have been a lot of articles in the LA Times decrying the fact that Crash won best picture Oscar over Brokeback mountain, including one by Annie Proulx. They put the fact down to homophobia or sexism on the part of the voting members. They could be right. But if they are, doesn't that just prove the point of Crash?

[King Bob]

I finally saw this, over two nights on cable. I must agree that I thought it was a good film with some good acting. However, there were some speeches specifically to get the message across that came off as ridiculously fake, e.g. Matt Dillon in the insurance office. If they had edited those out, the film would have been much better since I would have felt less bludgeoned by the message. It came out in everyone's actions anyway.