The Year of the 365 Movies: Take 2

Day 6 + 7: About Schmidt and One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest

95322404.jpg

Oh my God I am soooo late. I'm so sorry guys! D:

About Schmidt was a chilling movie about the America Dream.

The movie's message? The American Dream is a big fat lie. Let's think about it: the American Dream says that if you want to happy, just get a decent job, get a wife, have some kids, save your money for retirement, then relax and die.

Schmidt got a decent job, but he still wasn't happy. He found a wife, but he became very much separated from her. "Who is this old woman that lives inside my house?" He had a daughter, but it seemed that she could care less if he lived or died as long as he funded her wedding. He had more than enough money for retirement, but he was bored as hell.

He didn't die, but even Schmidt estimates he is just seven years away.

I find the movie chilling because I am in college, and although I am still a little baffled as to what I need to do with my life, my parents are constantly saying I need to decide on a comfortable job. Is that really the way to happiness? Being comfortable?

I'm not really all that sure.

ofotcn.jpg

One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest is probably the one film that will always be relevant to our culture, or at least in America. America, despite it being a democracy (aka a society run by the mob), seems to be one about conformity, structure, rigidness. It doesn't like those that go out of line. Druggies, artists, philosophers, gays, geeks, they are weird, abnormal.

Cuckoo Nest suggests the possibility that it is the weirdoes that are normal, and everyone else, those that conform, are the ones that are screwed up. Their inability to express themselves as human beings is more weird than those that go out of line.

Or at least that's what I think. After all, I may be biased since I am a geek, I like philosophy, and adhere to abnormal political and religious ideas.

Day 8: The Road

I like apocalyptic movies a whole lot. The world after it dies, the brutal necessities people take to survive, mutants, zombies. It's pretty cool stuff that any self respecting geek will goggle over.

Now, most of the time post apocalyptic stories tend to be rather over the top. Fallout, Mad Max for example. But then we have stories like The Road that really make us wonder "Is this the future?"

According to The Road, the future is not a place we want to live to see. The land is grey, it constantly rains ash, and almost all wildlife has become extinct. In their desperation the majority of humanity has turned to cannibalism.

The Road is a good film because it plainly shows how hard it is for a man to hold onto his morality when the rest of the world has abandoned it. You could almost see it as a parable of our times, when so much of the current generation has forsaken morals in favor of amusement.
 
Day 8: The Road

I like apocalyptic movies a whole lot. The world after it dies, the brutal necessities people take to survive, mutants, zombies. It's pretty cool stuff that any self respecting geek will goggle over.

Now, most of the time post apocalyptic stories tend to be rather over the top. Fallout, Mad Max for example. But then we have stories like The Road that really make us wonder "Is this the future?"

According to The Road, the future is not a place we want to live to see. The land is grey, it constantly rains ash, and almost all wildlife has become extinct. In their desperation the majority of humanity has turned to cannibalism.

The Road is a good film because it plainly shows how hard it is for a man to hold onto his morality when the rest of the world has abandoned it. You could almost see it as a parable of our times, when so much of the current generation has forsaken morals in favor of amusement.

66755150.jpg


Day 9: Falling Down

A movie about a man's psychosis breaking apart, his very soul, integrity, and understanding of the American dream rendered made useless as he sees one after another the things that are wrong with the society of America.

It is also a movie about his wife as she struggles with her maniac husband arriving home. At first he was in an office suit. Now he is coming home dressed like a soldier.

Lastly it is about a kind, not aggressive, police officer that attempts to solve the strong of crimes on his last day in office. We think he will be killed for his commitment to the uniform. He survives.

It was a very good film.
 
Day 5: Inglourious Basterds

It would be defined as a war film because it takes place in France during the Nazi occupation, but it is in truth a Spaghetti Western with World War II imagery. The arrival of the strangers in a hostile environment, the woman that takes charge, the larger than life villain...

That's a great point. It is a spaghetti western with WW2 imagery. I love the film.

95322404.jpg

Oh my God I am soooo late. I'm so sorry guys! D:

About Schmidt was a chilling movie about the America Dream.

The movie's message? The American Dream is a big fat lie. Let's think about it: the American Dream says that if you want to happy, just get a decent job, get a wife, have some kids, save your money for retirement, then relax and die.

Schmidt got a decent job, but he still wasn't happy. He found a wife, but he became very much separated from her. "Who is this old woman that lives inside my house?" He had a daughter, but it seemed that she could care less if he lived or died as long as he funded her wedding. He had more than enough money for retirement, but he was bored as hell.

He didn't die, but even Schmidt estimates he is just seven years away.

I find the movie chilling because I am in college, and although I am still a little baffled as to what I need to do with my life, my parents are constantly saying I need to decide on a comfortable job. Is that really the way to happiness? Being comfortable?

I'm not really all that sure.

Um... I think you missed the point about this movie. Firstly, it's not about the American Dream at all. Primarily because the American Dream isn't getting a family but rather, pursuing your dreams. This movie is about Schmidt's struggle to find meaning in his life. He is retired, so his life is no longer about his job, something he's not even proud of anymore. His wife dies, his daughter marries someone he detests, his best friend betrayed him and he ultimately feels like a shell of a man, who does not matter. Except, at the very end, in a letter he receives, he does find meaning, in the smallest act of kindness.

Make no mistake, this is an up-ending movie about existential crisis. It is not about the American Dream, nor is it a downer. Just look at how the movie ends. Tears of joy.

This is a beautiful story.

Day 9: Falling Down

A movie about a man's psychosis breaking apart, his very soul, integrity, and understanding of the American dream rendered made useless as he sees one after another the things that are wrong with the society of America.

It is also a movie about his wife as she struggles with her maniac husband arriving home. At first he was in an office suit. Now he is coming home dressed like a soldier.

Lastly it is about a kind, not aggressive, police officer that attempts to solve the strong of crimes on his last day in office. We think he will be killed for his commitment to the uniform. He survives.

It was a very good film.

This is Joel Schumacher's best film, to my knowledge. It's wonderful. I also have to disagree with your notion that this is about D-Fens' wife. She's a supporting character much like Prendergast's partner, and certainly not a major character in an empathic sense. This movie is really a dual-protagonist story; one is a Disillusionment plot, the other an Education plot, mirroring one another around a detective story. It's really quite a brilliantly structured movie, slowly building the two stories together.
 
That's a great point. It is a spaghetti western with WW2 imagery. I love the film.



Um... I think you missed the point about this movie. Firstly, it's not about the American Dream at all. Primarily because the American Dream isn't getting a family but rather, pursuing your dreams. This movie is about Schmidt's struggle to find meaning in his life. He is retired, so his life is no longer about his job, something he's not even proud of anymore. His wife dies, his daughter marries someone he detests, his best friend betrayed him and he ultimately feels like a shell of a man, who does not matter. Except, at the very end, in a letter he receives, he does find meaning, in the smallest act of kindness.

Actually the American dream isn't pursuing your own dream. It's more along the line of the promise of happiness, that you can find a job and work your way up, provide for your family, and live happily. A car in every garage and a chicken in every pot, white picket fences and all that. So Doublehex's statement is pretty on the money, whether that's what the movie is about I'm not sure.
 
Oh, and guys, I just have to let you know that I am way behind update wise. I have, like, 4 or 5 movies I need to write for that I have already seen. Jeez.
 
....
Actually the American dream isn't pursuing your own dream. It's more along the line of the promise of happiness, that you can find a job and work your way up, provide for your family, and live happily. A car in every garage and a chicken in every pot, white picket fences and all that. So Doublehex's statement is pretty on the money, whether that's what the movie is about I'm not sure.

blarghq7hb4.jpg
 

Latest posts

Back
Top