raybear | Half of the time we're gone but we don't know where

So, what was the big deal with the movie Napoleon Dynamite?

It struck me as just a rip-off of a Wes Anderson film. Or better yet, if Rushmore and Superstar had a baby, it would be this movie, except not in a good way. How about, if DNA merged from Rushmore and Superstar was cloned and it didn't quite turn out right, it would be this movie. I don't think I hated it as much as

dommeyourass did (I laughed sveral times, I don't think she laughed at all). But there wasn't much redeeming about any character -- it lacked a certain poignancy I think the subject-matter needed. And a plot.

When I got obsessed with The Postal Service last summer, I downloaded everything I could find. And one of my favorite songs was Such Great Heights. And I downloaded what I thought was just an acoustic version of the song, but it turned out to be a cover by the darling band Iron & Wine. Ok, cool, I can dig it. In the past few weeks, there have been references to this song ALL over livejournal. And now I know why. Garden State came out on DVD.

Today, as part-two of the hipster double feature, we watched this movie. I was a little hesitant at first, in part because so many people around me loved it and it got built up. Especially after the experience with Napoleon Dynamite (save for

mintwaster and

cocolola, who I believe left the theater before it ended?) Anyway, yeah, the soundtrack is good, but this is because the soundtrack is every song I'm already listening to, so this is pretty neutral fact for me. It almost made me NOT like the movie, actually. I know, I'm weird about music, if by weird I mean picky, and I guess I just hate when film directors use songs in lieu of actual dialogue, scenes, acting. [e.g. most any use of Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah in any television show ever.] In my opinion, Zach Braff kind of hovered near that line, never crossing it, or at least not for too long, but I was still overly aware for the music at all times. It didn't seem to be built into the narrative as tightly as I like, but then again, first time director and this has a hint of a vanity project. The movie wasn't "a film for my generation" or whatever the tagline is, and at times I found it to be contrived.

But damn, if I wasn't crying like a baby at the end. Ok, ok, you got me. Despite the flaws I just laid into, it was pretty well acted and written.

So in the end, neither film completely lived up to the hype, but at least I didn't want my money back with one of them.

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as for "garden state," i loved that movie, too! sheesh! and i do think it was, in a way, 'a film for our generation' if only for the fact that our generation is plagued by medicating our feelings. i like the message of facing feelings at whatever cost. i guess it could've gone further, but i liked it okay.

i will give this criticism (which nearly everyone i know has given): the ending totally sucked. had it ended five minutes earlier, it would've been a much much better film.

really? i didn't think the ending sucked. hmmm.

and i guess i'm always going to cringe at the phrase "for our generation" because when applied in the moment by the people who made it, it's pretentious. and when applied after the fact, it's presumptuous that an entire generation can be reduced to one type of experience (and it's usually the middle class white one at that).

hmmm. we have we have different movie taste today... so untwinlike.

ok, but that IS his generation (he's middle class white guy). and i have to applaud him for not trying to represent someone else's experience. so yeah, i guess it might be a matter of semantics. maybe they should have branded it "a film for zach braff's generation" or something.

and i have to applaud him for not trying to represent someone else's experience.

i need to put the equivalent of a livejournal post-it note on this, because i have so many thoughts around this issue lately.

OMG!!! i thought the same thing!! i loved the movie and i LOVED that they were going to end it in a realistic way of...let's see what happens...we've only known each other four days. then the ending brought it down a 1/2 star for me.

It completely ruined the movie for me.

i Loved Garden State! however the ending sucked! i was really disappointed but had been charmed by the entire movie that it almost slipped by me. i felt like he tied up the story in this pretty red bow -- "we'll live happily ever after as soon as i work my isht out..." ugh.

Half of the time we're gone but we don't know where

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