I believe this is the kind of movie that can be interpreted in many different fashions, but the mere fact that it makes you reflect on your choices means that "it lifts the lid off our numbness"as you rightly put it, Lula...
You know what? I think Nic is a moralist in his own way... his choice of subject matter in the movies heīs produced is telling. And I bet KNOWING, even though he didnīt produce it, it very close to his heart too.
I'm glad you got to have the full Knowing cinema experience Jenn..it must be all the more powerful on the big screen. I think I have a pretty good idea of how this story unfolds...but nothing will substitute the whole experiencing of it washing over me when I finally have the pleasure of seeing the dvd...I like it that it raises issues that make people question their own beliefs, that makes it a great film. Sounds like it maybe lifts the lid off of our numbness to what truly matters in life for a minute... And maybe makes you realize what is important? Can't wait. Feeling moved already.
__________________
Holy plasma balls ~ Blake the Master Sorcerer ~ Magic in his hands
Glad you got to see KNOWING, Jenny! Itīs a great movie isnīt it? In a couple of weekīs time we could assume most everybodyīs seen it and begin discussing it in depth, thereīs so many interpretations of both the storyline and the symbolism as there are members of the audience I guess!
I already told you I donīt agree with the ending... But if, according to Plato, learning is remembering, for me watching this movie was being remembered of what I already knew... not by any God-given intelligence, but by simply connecting the dots: some documentaries will tell you exactly in what direction weīre supposedly headed. That little inconvenient truth? Luckily for us, we were born at the end of the good times! Thatīs just my humble opinion. And the events depicted in the movie are just hypothetical... relative, subjective, a mere convention. You can choose what to believe and never be proved either right or wrong...
-- Edited by mara on Wednesday 6th of May 2009 02:10:18 PM
KNOWING is indeed one of those rare movies that actually makes ya THINK and continue thinking once you leave the theater. Even if I don't care for a movie itself, just the fact that it has resulted in making me think makes it a good movie in my opinion. In the case of KNOWING.......I did like the movie thru and thru!
__________________
"Hell begins on the day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts which we have wasted, of all that we might have done which we did not do" ~~Gian Carlo Menotti~~
I saw kowing too. Yesterday night. Not sure about my feelings with respect to this movie. Nic was excellent. But this movie gave me a lot of questions with no answer available at this time................very sad feeilng about the last several scenes.is this the direction we are going ................all of us? how to separate from child, in spite to know HE WILL BE SAVED?
oh, I have to think about it, but definitely .perfect movie, and hey mara, I am with girls - perfect movie recension
and I am with you again - LULA - your KNOWING is really amazing, you know that dearie?
please, not higher just different! i'm spiritual but if I were completely aligned with the highest truths I wonder would I watch film at all? I do think so actually, because film is the ultimate media for affecting change, its so completely powerful, you can be totally mainstream and address radical ideas at the same time and... all sorts !
Just meant, in my last post, we all wear shades.
Yes, I completely agree mara, Nic's got balls ....!
__________________
Holy plasma balls ~ Blake the Master Sorcerer ~ Magic in his hands
Changing the subject (please) I wonder if this kind of feedback, the fansī reviews, is of any strict value to our man or not, because... well, letīs face it, weīre totally biased, hehehe... What do yas think? That Nic only wants to see us drooling about everything he does, or that heīd rather have the blunt truth form us fans? I dontīlike feeling like a brown-noser, LOL!
I personally think he can take the truth... up to a point. Reportedly heīs very smart and quite humble, but itīs a star weīre talking about. He must have been surrounded by yes-sayers for entire decades by now. Itīs very difficult not to loose your perspective and your contact with reality in those conditions. JMHO of course, and I could be so wrong!
And, Randy? I bought some pink tinted glasses some years ago and love to wear them so I commend you on your good taste!
-- Edited by mara on Monday 20th of April 2009 04:28:08 PM
I think Nic would be doing us a disservice if he didn't recognize that we are intelligent, discerning women and men with impeccable taste!! seriously though...it takes more than having the hots for an actor for him to keep you interested in his work for over 2 decades as I have been! Yes, there is this sense of fan loyalty, but I'm really very particular in my tastes in most things and Mr Cage keeps me intrigued, entertained, magnetized and most of all, moved.
The term kung fu means to have worked really really hard and applied yourself to your craft for a long time to have reached the very top of your profession. I think Nic has acting Kung fu, but he hasn't drawn a ceiling and just keeps going through it. Maybe it pisses people off that he won't stay in his box.
As for this mysterious holy grail of objectivity...does it really exist? Don't we all see everything through our own filters? Should a Nic cage fans opinion be taken with a pinch of salt because we are his fans or taken more seriously because we have an insight into his career?
What I find more ....manipulative, yes I will use that word, I hesitated because it's a strong word...is those who stand under the banner of objectivity, loud and proud, claimin to have more of a grip on the 'real world' perhaps because they're a critic, or in the business, but all it actually means is they are coming at things from within the culture they've helped to perpetuate...so they've got their filters and blinkers on too.... and it seems almost like fashionable paradigms doesn't it, the let's diss Nic Cage phase (which does seem like its been stuck on a loop for ages) which the ever expanding media world with blog proliferation perpetuates and I think that has sweet f a to do with objectivity...it's to do with going along with a fashionable mentality because somehow it would be really uncool not to. People just love jumping on the bandwagon. I know there's a huge difference between and amongst critics and bloggers, but doesn't it seem like the review is already written by some critics? You could say the same for fans as well but we're not claiming to be the voice piece of objectivity. I guess what I mean is the whole world is wearing shades right, rose coloured or whatever!
For me, I guess the last decade of my life has been one continuous reality check, gradually letting go of the layers of the world that don't really matter, it's very truthful in the sense that suffering and pain can give you that gift of clarity about what really matters. so when I see a film, I'm comin at it from quite a different place I guess from a lot of people, definitely not from being immersed in the culture so deep i can't see above the water. And what I pick up is on like a soul level..and that's the quality Nic has without trying. I don't think he can help it.
That's probably why I, in the end, refrain from doing review type things. Because way hey in my world just to be able to see and hear is a miracle, so the intensity of the experience is alot. There's so many things I could say about Ghost Rider for example, and the level I experienced it at, but I'm well aware of the subjective layers within that...but does that make my experience any less valid than a jaded critic?I guess some critics are quite honest and do begin by saying 'I've never been a fan of Nic Cage', lol!
So I don't think it's brown nosing when we are being truthful, we're not being dishonest to our experience and I think that's what Nic wants to hear. Our experience and how his films make us feel. Luckily for me there are no films I dislike maybe some I love less than others but it's an extremely hard call for me to place even a top 20. Blah... just my very own Monday night rambles and rumbling old thoughts.
__________________
Holy plasma balls ~ Blake the Master Sorcerer ~ Magic in his hands
I donīt know if I should blush first, or duck under the table first... But I want to disappear LOL! You overrate me tremendously guys, but I appreciate the warmth. I do not have any cinematic training whatsoever, what I wrote is just my opinion just as you all have written your opinions which are equally valid and equally enjoyable to read...
Changing the subject (please) I wonder if this kind of feedback, the fansī reviews, is of any strict value to our man or not, because... well, letīs face it, weīre totally biased, hehehe... What do yas think? That Nic only wants to see us drooling about everything he does, or that heīd rather have the blunt truth form us fans? I dontīlike feeling like a brown-noser, LOL!
I personally think he can take the truth... up to a point. Reportedly heīs very smart and quite humble, but itīs a star weīre talking about. He must have been surrounded by yes-sayers for entire decades by now. Itīs very difficult not to loose your perspective and your contact with reality in those conditions. JMHO of course, and I could be so wrong!
And, Randy? I bought some pink tinted glasses some years ago and love to wear them so I commend you on your good taste!
-- Edited by mara on Monday 20th of April 2009 04:28:08 PM
ditto, ditto, ditto. it is now official, mara the movie critic. i like it! you really do have a gift for it, dear. i have come to the conclusion that the critics use nic as the standard bad review, because he is such an easy target. that got me thinking about why. i have decided it is because he is so prolific. if we had to wait years between movies, he would probably be a hollywood darling. but he is so visible, it makes him an easy target. i believe the same holds true for authors as well. yes, it is likely that i am looking at this thru rose colored glasses, but i like 'em, so i'm gonna wear them! :)
__________________
"never explain. your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe it anyway" - IHOP sugar packet -
who gives a flying fig about the critics guild! seriously mara you have written some superb reviews! Why shouldn't your intelligent discerning passionate voice be heard? If only they could all be gathered together and highlighted in some way!
__________________
Holy plasma balls ~ Blake the Master Sorcerer ~ Magic in his hands
Great review mara! Completely agree with B, you could seriously give being a film critic a shot! Would redress the imbalance in existing critics who seem to have some kind of anti Nic paradigm going on!
This film sounds so up my alley...anyone know when the dvd comes out in the Uk?
__________________
Holy plasma balls ~ Blake the Master Sorcerer ~ Magic in his hands
My country is really somewhere in the ICE AGE, or better STONE AGE, because I have jus seen Bangkok Dangerous this weekend....................I am so late..........
BTW, I am glad mara that you had enjoy it............
I keep telling ya Mara....your true calling is as a movie critic! You should give it a try!
__________________
"Hell begins on the day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts which we have wasted, of all that we might have done which we did not do" ~~Gian Carlo Menotti~~
I thought the day would never come, but finally I saw KNOWING Ą!! Great stuff, loved it.
Nicīs scenes with his son were so touching, you can tell the deepness of that love. And the arch of the character is beautiful, from his initial disbelief to his final acknowledgement of the unfeasible. Like he was shell-shocked and fighting his inner conflict, but he was still trying to take action to save his offsrping, and with him a part of himself. I think Nicīs performance was spot-on, with just the right amount of angst and despair, but also believability to ground it on the context.
And what a context! The movie strikes me as first class entertainment with a grain of food for thought. I donīt know how to put it without sounding too solemn here, but this movie approaches that unspeakable issue, the little inconvenient truth of our fate, with pathos but also equanimity.
In all fairness, I think the ending was great from a fictional point of view, I mean it made sense within the movie and it was a great twist but I couldnīt disagree more with the turn of events. But, thatīs just the opinion of an unrepentant agnostic like me. I happen to believe thereīs no Grand Design behind it all. I think these lines from Macbeth define the Theory of Chaos much better than Professor Koestler does in the movie (sorry, Nic):
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
At least, thatīs what transpires from the final scenes, when Nic is returning home and drives amid chaos and anarchy, to the funeral sounds of 2nd movement of Beethovenīs 7th symphony (that was Nicīs choice, and itīs an AMAZING moment!). I shed a tear in that sequence for our beloved planet. But Nicīs character of course knows better than that crowd gone insane by panic. And then the vision of the white tree in the background makes for a powerful image! Thatīs a fitting feel-good ending for the movie.
-- Edited by mara on Friday 10th of April 2009 05:01:03 PM
i'm spiritual but if I were completely aligned with the highest truths I wonder would I watch film at all? I do think so actually, because film is the ultimate media for affecting change, its so completely powerful, you can be totally mainstream and address radical ideas at the same time and... all sorts ! 
