Caught by the torrent of life

Ok, so... how should I start this...
Ever had the feeling you want to watch a movie, can't really decide on your pick, yet in the end you're kinda glad you got this one?
When I decided to see this one, I wasn't expecting much, mainly because it seemed just another teen/teenage/relationship movie, just that I didn't know any of the actors.
Can't really say this is an astonishing piece of art or the future winner of the Oscars (5.5 imdb), so why bother?


Well, I decided to recommend this movie because of the idea it deals with.
It's not something extremely new, I believe it's been hanging around during the last decade, as an emancipation of relationships, an emancipation of teenagers against unwritten old-fashioned rules of society.
Ok, maybe there's too many big words for a simple movie like this, so let's break it down:

The idea of the movie is about open relationships.
Yes, the kind of relationships where a couple, err... the individuals of a couple are "allowed" to see other people.
See other people, touch other people, kiss other people, fuck other people.
In few words, the action goes something like this: there's this couple (boy A and girl A), having an open relationship.
Girl A suddenly meets her ex-highschool-dorkish-boyfriend (boy C), who's got into real estates and is handsome enough to get her to bed.
Boy A is trying to hook up with girl D, whom he's known since like forever and who just turned "barely legal".
As an antithesis to couple A's open relationship, we've got couple B, who just got married, where: girls A and B are sisters, and girl D is boy B's sister.
Pretty soap-opera like, ain't it?

Halfway through the movie, couple A keeps claiming neither of them is bothered by the other one seeing (and fucking!) someone else.
Well, it all gets interesting when girl A finds out she's pregnant, and it's boy C's child, since girl A and boy A hadn't had sex in quite some time:
she was busy boning her ex, he was busy deflorating boy B's barely legal, virgin little sister.

Of course girl A tells everyone except boy A that she's pregnant (starting with boy C), and boy B kicks boy A's butt when he catches him with his younger sister (girl D, remember? are you following? 's not that complicated, is it?)
Well, to cut it short, couple A break up, he realises it wasn't her that needed him, but him that needed her, girl A ends up with boy C, while boy A ends up all alone.

Yeah, I know it's not a big deal of a movie, because that's pretty much it, but now here's the reason why I decided to post this...


And that's relationships. And the openness of relationships.
My point of view, and I'm kinda stuck with it, or better said, my way of relationshipping is rather the old-fashioned one.
I'm all for "openness" in a relationship, as long as things don't get out of control. Not my control, but the control of both people.
I used to "admire" (let's say) people who were having more girlfriends at a time, people who showed up all the time with a different girl,
people who were able to "party all week". Probably I was envious because I was never able to make out with more than one person at a time...
But nevermind that, that was a long time ago. The envy, I mean... I still can't be with more than one person at a time... :D

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not against open relationships, I know we're living "modern times", and having an "open" relationship is in vogue.
But what does it actually mean to have an open relationship?
How far would you go in the freedom an open relationship gives you?
How much would you take from the other person?
How much freedom would you give?

How would you feel not having seen your significant other 3 weekends in a row?
What do you do when you feel "home" is just a place you go to sleep?
This is actually for the cases when the couple share a roof - this was the case in the movie - and I think it's the most complicated one - when people are living together, because of this scene in the movie:
girl A was trying to sleep upstairs (but she couldn't, because she had just found out she was pregnant), boy A gets home drunk, girl D calls him and comes over.
Girl A keeps not-sleeping while boy A and girl D make out downstairs.
Girl A finally has it and rushes to boy C. The girls meet downstairs... and girl A says everything is ok...
Now that's fuckin awkward....



So, to conclude with, if you want to leave a comment, think about these:

• What does open relationship mean to you?


• How far would you go in your freedom?


• How far would you let the other one go in his/her freedom?


• Are you an open person or an old-fashioned one? - first point of view: movie (openness = having sex with other people); second point of view: yours if it's different than the one in the movie.

And yes, it's a good movie to watch once, when you need some time off your work and want to relax...
To be enjoyed with pizza and beer!


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Listening to: Vama Veche - Epilog
via FoxyTunes

Tocmai ce m-am intors de la cel mai lung film pe care l-am vazut vreodata (la cinema, pentru ca Pe Aripile Vantului l-am vazut in comfortul propriului barlog).
Ca sa incep cu concluzia, daca nu v-ati dat seama din titlu, filmul mi-a placut suficient de mult cat sa il recomand spre vizionare. La cinema, pentru coloana sonora, acasa pentru comfort.

Dupa cum ma informeaza QuickSilver, regizorul filmului este nimeni altul decat 300, adica Zack Snyder.
Trailer promitator, actori mai mult sau mai putin cunoscuti, povesti cu "vigilantes" (eu am o problema cu a-i numi pe oamenii astia eroi sau super-eroi), ce sa mai, se anunta un film destul de apropiat de gustul meu.

Ei bine, povestea (sau ma rog, povestile) se desfasoara in jurul unor "vigilantes" pe care cineva incearca sa ii faca sa dispara (si cu unii chiar reuseste). Am tot ezitat intre a-i numi eroi si a-i numi super-eroi, pentru ca nu mi se par nici una nici alta. Nu sunt oameni chiar obisnuiti, majoritatea par sa posede cel putin o forta (fizica) iesita din comun, dar nici mutanti gen X-Men nu sunt. Poate mai putin Dr. Manhattan, un simbol al obiectivitatii si impersonalitatii luciferice.

Nu stau prea mult sa descriu actiunea, nu vreau sa stric vreo surpriza, in afara de aceea (daca mai e surpriza) ca filmul se termina "cu bine" - adica mor suficient de multi "bad guys" si suficient de putini "good guys". Ce nu mi-a placut, totusi, la filmul asta, e ca povestea se lungeste parca fara sens in unele locuri. Si cand zic se lungeste, daca e vorba de o retrospectiva din viata unuia din personaje, apai nu frate, stam 15-20-30 de minute si prezentam calumea, sa inteleaga tot boborul care-i schema. Si de cel putin cateva ori aceste retrospective lungi sunt folosite pentru a explica ... aaaaam... aproape nimic. De cel putin cateva ori m-am intrebat "si cu ce ma ajuta chestia asta sa inteleg actiunea filmului??"

Efectele speciale sunt multe. Filmul nu aduce neaparat ceva nou, scene de bataie ca la carte (de genul Batman - neaparat cu un sidekick), scene ploioase filmate de undeva de sus, si mult slow-motion. Prea mult, as zice eu, si de cateva ori fara rost. De exemplu mi s-a parut total inadecvata alaturarea de slow-motion cu "Ride of the Valkyries" a lui Wagner, pentru ca... ei bine, muzica aia numai slow nu-mi induce. O fi incercat el regizorul sa scoata ceva nou dintr-o astfel de alaturare, dar, din punctul meu de vedere, nu i-a reusit...

Raguseala outcast-ului Rorschah a fost de efect la inceput, si inteleg ca el e cel care povesteste, dar... la un moment dat am inceput sa rad. Pe infundate, sa nu imi sara ceilalti in cap...

Pe de alta parte, am reusit sa ma identific cu majoritatea personajelor. Cu Rorschah, pentru ca de multe ori multi dintre noi au pornirile lui, sa crape teasta unuia pentru ce a facut, sa pedepseasca tot felul de criminali sau lepre ale societatii... E genul de om care a uitat ce inseamna umanitatea, nu, pardon, e genul de om care a fost facut sa uite acest lucru, este cel determinat in actiuni, e cel care "It's not me locked in here with you, it's all of you locked in here with me".
Dr. Manhattan am vrut de multe ori sa fiu. Sa devin atemporal. Sa fiu cel rece, echidistant, sa nu iau asupra mea toate durerile lumii... Sa ma izolez undeva, sa creez, sa... Dar sa nu uit de cea de langa mine.
Cu NiteOwl cred ca m-am identificat cel mai mult. Pentru ca port ochelari, si pentru ca sunt timid... In fine, suficient de timid...

Ideea filmului m-a lasat putin rece (dar ganditor), pentru ca este vorba de sacrificiul milioanelor pentru bunastarea miliardelor. Adica o utopie. Inca nu mi-am dat seama de care parte sa fiu. Rorschah e total impotriva (emotional si rational), NiteOwl e rational pro dar emotional contra, iar Manhattan, well, fiind aproape prin definitie ratiunea pura, accepta mai usor aspectul rational al intregii idei.

In mai putine cuvinte, comics-urile dupa care a fost facut filmul nu sunt doar simple benzi desenate, sunt mult mai profunde. Si asta imi place. Filmul a avut atat actiune de genul celei din 300, idei metafizice (!) tocmai bune de rumegat, dar nah, e american. Deci trebuie explicat, iar asta le-a luat regizorului si scenaristilor vreo 163 de minute. Care se simt, in special in ultimele 40-50. Poate daca ar fi fost filmat in alb-negru, cu cateva culori pe ici pe colo (asa, cam ca in Sin City), ar fi placut si mai mult.

Asa cum spuneam, soundtrackul este demn de ascultat in cinema, melodiile sunt din aproape intregul spectru audio, desi melodia celor 99 de baloane nu prea s-a potrivit cu actiunea, ca si "Ride of the Valkyries". Vocea lui Leonard Cohen, pe de alta parte, s-a nimerit la tanc, cu toate ca spectatorii incepusera deja sa reactioneze in purul spirit romanesc la scenele de sex derulate pe "Halelluja", iar "Sound of Silence" a ramas la fel de puternica precum o stiam.


All in all, sex, sange, vigilante, puteri supra-omenesti, intrebari metafizice, utopie, pin-ups, noir, ink-blots si un soundtrack mai mult decat placut ma fac sa recomand filmul, in ciuda celor 163 de minute...


Later edit:
Watchmen (FilmBlog.ro Review)


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Listening to: SIMON & GARFUNKEL - "The Sound of Silence"; [1989 - Collection]
via FoxyTunes

So, next year we're gonna find out more on Wolverine's Origins.
Don't know about you guys, but since I've grown up with Batman, Transformers and X-Men, this will definitely be a "must see".

Until then, enjoy the trailer...

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Listening to: Dire Straits - "Romeo and Juliet"; [1985 - Best Of]