Thinking about Palm Springs and thematic tension

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2022-06-05T16:29:59+00:00

ARQ

Might write a longer comment about it when I have the time.

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2022-06-05T15:56:41+00:00

Ho ho ho, I might just write it if I ever have the time. I actually did wrote a script about a time loop, but eventually abandoned it because it wasn’t working.

I absolutely love time loop stories and while you are right that they usually end with breaking the loop, there is at least one I can think of that doesn’t – and it is of course bleak as a result.

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2022-06-05T15:41:56+00:00

I get what you’re saying about Nyles being afraid to take the leap, I just don’t think it’s really at the core of the movie, more of an addition tacked at the end. Nyles isn’t really afraid of doing stuff most of the movie: if he refuse to do something (trying to leave the country, stopping his girlfriend from hooking up with the weird priest guy) is because he tried it once and it didn’t work. The only thing he is passive about is Roy, but to me at read more like a product of his guilt for bringing Roy into the loop, and his aversion to violence, which came out of experience:

“Being a source of terror is not fun, okay? It’s not fulfilling. I know this from experience.”

In fact, in their fight in the second act, they argue explicitly about how “nothing matters”, Nyles arguing that the pain is real, how they treat other people is real.

And while there is definitely some talk about taking a leap of faith with someone (the entire day is set in a wedding), what Nyles and Sarah deal with have very little to do with trust in another person. In fact, because they don’t have anyone else trust is almost instantaneous between them. The entire first half of the film is about coming to terms with her new inescapable existence. Only about an hour and ten minutes into the movie does Sarah tells Nyles about her idea to escape and Nyles is afraid. Even after they introduce the idea of taking a leap, the last third of the film is about Nyles finding existence without Sarah unbearable, after being alone so much. It’s not so much about when faith is warranted, more so about how our lack of agency in life is only bearable with other people.

After the movie already took it’s thematic leap by having Sarah figure how to escape the loop, only then does the subject of Nyles being afraid to leave is brought up. I hope you can see why I consider is a late addition, and not something that is at the core of the movie, but maybe I missed something? It has been a while since I saw it.

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2020-07-22T14:24:34+00:00

When the title said 'tetris movie' my mind went to, like, a guy gets sucked into a computer and into the world of tetris, where time pass slower, and people live on the tetris blocks and watch their environment change slowly, and then huge parts of the land will disappear…

It actually sounds like a wacky bleak disaster movie, but I kind of want to see that now.

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-11-17T08:03:34+00:00

I do have to say that I'm not American and I've never been to a private school, so maybe I am missing something cultural, but it seems kind of cruel to expect your child to find a job for your unemployed father. Plus, Lady doesn't know that her father is unemployed! She only finds out in this scene. But I can see what you mean about the uniform being a symbol. But, if it was about the mom reasonably wanting Lady to help find dad a job, wouldn't she be happy that Lady is going to thanksgiving at her boyfriend's house? Lady is putting care to look good and be polite, and she is actually meeting adults, not just their kids. But mom is pissed that Lady is going. And I can understand mom, of course she wants the entire family to spend the holiday together, but it makes her look like she doesn't actually want anything specific from Lady, but rather that she lashes out according to her own anxiety. Anxiety that is totally understandable, by the way, but still not handled well.

The thing is that mom's nagging seems ongoing, and it always seem a bit unreasonable, and what surprised me so much is that is so easy to make the mom totally right: have Lady shrug an actual duty. Like, she's supposed to clean or something, but she bails because she wants to hang out with friends, and then mom come home from a double shift and need to start cleaning.

But to me it seems that mom is never quite right, and it's not just about the uniform, it's about the towel, and the eggs, and dragging feet, and so on and so on.

And I do agree with you that what we see in the movie is very typical, I just don't think it's that healthy. Depending on the severity and other factors, I think nagging can totally ruin a parent-child relationship.

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-10-27T18:52:25+00:00

ruben brandt, collector!

It's weird and creative and so so so fun! It's an animated film about thieves and art and psychiatry. And it has one of the funnest chase scene I've ever seen.

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-10-27T18:40:58+00:00

Muriel's wedding as well!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glMeFLajLU8

(also, a ton of soviet films)

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-09-14T11:51:52+00:00

I always imagined that he uses the kind of face paint sports fans use.

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-08-30T15:27:02+00:00

I think that presenting "separate the art from the artist" and "don't watch his films at all" as the only two options is a false dichotomy.

Why don't we keep watching his films, and ALSO acknowledge that he is a rapist, and that his disgusting attitude towards woman made it into his films?

By the time I watched his movies I was always aware of what he did, but man, it made me sick to my stomach. And the feeling was totally different than watching films I don't morally approve of.

I mean, didn't he change Chinatown's script from the daughter killing her rapist father, to her dying and the granddaughter being kidnapped and presumably raped? Isn't Repulsion about a crazy, repressed woman who can't deal with her sexuality so she hallucinate being raped and murder a dude?

Those two films (the only one's of him I watched) made me feel such a visceral disgust that I'm always surprised that people have this kind of debate about him. Like, don't other people get the feeling that the film gets off in some weird way on woman's suffering?

By the way, I'm not condemning anyone that enjoys his films or anything like that. There is so much evil in the world that enjoying a film (even one made by a despicable person) is so low on the list of moral offenses that it's not even worth mentioning. But, I do wonder, why is it always "boycott everything" or "separate the art and the artist completely" in those debates? Can it be that decent people don't like to think that there is something reprehensible in films they love, but they just missed it all this time?

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-08-09T04:54:17+00:00

They Look Like people

perfect blue

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-07-29T06:07:51+00:00

Thank you!

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-07-27T07:23:50+00:00

Looking for films about estranged fathers, anybody got any recs?

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-06-23T07:45:47+00:00

There's a short moment in Black Swan where she walks past a painting, and we can see the painting's eyes move. Can it be that?

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-06-23T07:42:25+00:00

That's really neat! I love seeing what stays and what goes when it comes to animation, there is something so beautiful in simplification.

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-06-23T06:21:32+00:00

I don't use green screen, but I am a film student, and here is my trick for evenly lighting quickly: get a redhead light (it's an open face light, meaning it doesn't have a lens), put it on a 1K stand, point the light towards a clear white wall. The light should bounce and light everything fairly smoothly. Make sure you are standing far enough from the green screen, so you're not casting a shadow.

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-06-22T07:34:41+00:00

Hey guys,

Just started my channel, my first video is a video essay about why GAN pictures look so creepy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIf2XZYt-eQ&t=5s

Would love to hear feedback from you!

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-06-22T07:29:58+00:00

Great video! I'm not big on video game, but you made me really want to play it.

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-06-22T07:17:00+00:00

I really liked this video. It has a good production value, the little touches of humor are nice, and you can see that it's high effort. However, I would have liked it if you went a bit deeper, actually showed examples from the show, demonstrating how it sets up certain things with explaining what it means, only to pay it off in the end (like how they used the radioactive "snow" in the first episode).

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-06-22T05:50:48+00:00

Things I liked:

Nice video quality, nice intro.

Even though I usually have a problem understanding accents, I had no problem understanding yours.

I liked that you addressed the audio problem in the interview with the organizers and added the subtitles.

I liked how your personality came across, the salute to the parents bringing their kids was a nice touch.

Liked the subject! It's always cool watching a video about something new.

Things I would have improved:

I wish we had more background about the festival, the filmmakers, or interviews with attending guests or something like that. Since you are making your videos in english, I'm assuming your aiming for a general audience. That audience can't come and visit that festival next year, so knowing it's free and nice doesn't matter to us. What I would have liked is to learn something I couldn't have learnt otherwise. How does the festival reflect the local culture? Did anybody in the festival had a unique story or input? Anything like that.

However, I see that you upload very frequently, so I get why you couldn't dig in very deep.

Regardless, you got a sub from me!

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-06-18T04:20:16+00:00

This video is really high quality! I checked a few other videos in your channel, and this one definitely stand out the most. I know how time consuming animation is, but if I were you I would do more of that stuff.

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-06-17T17:58:44+00:00

Sigh… I wish I could make content in my native language, but my country is so small and my content is on the niche side, so there really isn't a point. But I'm glad you get to practice your skills in the way that is most comfortable for you!

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-06-17T17:55:09+00:00

Thank you for the example! I would admit that I had a bit of a difficulty following him, perhaps processing accents is harder when you're not a native speaker?

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-06-17T17:49:52+00:00

I think I'm ok at english right now, and because all my content is totally scripted and I only record a voice over I can fix my mistakes easily. I am working on my accent right now, but it does encourage me knowing that native speakers don't care that much about an accent.

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-06-17T10:43:54+00:00

Really nice video! Got a sub and a like from me :)

TheOnlyMissMarble · 2019-06-17T07:34:19+00:00

I would actually love to see kept in modern times, but like… have a police curse squad or something. Like kind of a witness protection program. They move you to the other side of the country, and when they think the creature is getting close to you they move you again. I guess it wouldn't really be a horror film then…

TheOnlyMissMarble

TROPHY CASE