October 15, 2009
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someone suggested i add a few names to the Top 5 Endings list from yesterday. Shawshank is a worthy addition. it had a fairly strong and steady narrative that ended exactly how the audience hoped it would end. the bad guys got their just desserts, and the heroes hung out on the clear blue ocean for the rest of their days. and very importantly, Shawshank was a very good and entertaining film.
not so much for Life is Beautiful, Rudy or Braveheart. not to me, anyway.
i have major problems with Braveheart as a film, particularly the William Wallace character. as an aside, it’s also becoming clear that Mel Gibson has a fascination with the glorification of gruesome self-sacrifice. The Passion of the Christ might as well have been called Two Hours of the Execution of William Wallace. he’s kind of like Clint Eastwood in the way they both latch onto a theme about morality and repeat it through several films. for Eastwood it’s “hardened veteran is faced with the choice between bad and worse”, think Unforgiven, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, etc. and for Gibson it’s “heroic figure is unjustly (at least in the eyes of the film) imprisoned and executed in the most grotesque manner possible.”
anyway, i digress. personally i think Rudy is Rocky, except Rocky was done with far superior character development and therefore created better drama. and Life is Beautiful is nothing without that kid. i also have issues with how the film was a hyperactive sweetfest basically begging you to adore it, but that’s just me.
Comments (9)
First .. rudy is one of very few films that got me choked up. Rocky was good … but if you’re going to talk endings, rocky IV was better, no?
And braveheart … sure sure … gruesome, martyerism .. whatever you want to call it .. the ending was perfect. If he lived, the movie would have sucked. Had he died some joe shmoe death, it would have sucked. I love braveheart. =P poo poo to you for stinking on braveheart.
Life is beautiful … omg, that movie was ALL about the kid. humor, tragedy, love, in a nazi camp .. COME ON! Have a heart! Besides, in terms of endings, Guido dies, protects his son, son finds empty camp, reunites with mom. again, poo poo to you for stinking on life is beautiful.
what about amelie? did you like amelie’s ending? i’m almost afraid to ask
@aegie -
Rocky IV? in russia? his “if you can change, then we all can change” speech? william wallace yelling “freedom!” while he’s being gutted?
i’m beginning to sense a pattern here. do you watch a lot of korean dramas? hehehehe.
i don’t remember Amelie’s ending, to be honest, it’s been so long. one movie i would like to see, though, is the post-ten-year follow-up to Life is Beautiful called It Wasn’t Just a Game??? or Where The Hell Is My Father???
@MiracleMax - you made me laugh out loud despite painful throat pain… kudos to you.
Not a big kdrama fan. BUT I do enjoy an occasional korean movie now and then. But I do like the tudors and dexter. Maybe I just like grotesque killings?
one more suggestion: What dreams may come? or is that too melodramatic enough for you?
one of my favorite endings- eternal sunshine!
Did you just seriously compare motherfucking dirty harry to mel I hate jews gibson?
@aegie -
aegie… Rocky iv? Seriously? That was the single gayest moment in rocky history. Jesus, even the “one more round” bit in rocky v was better than the gayness of the “if I can change” speech. The ending to Rocky III… Now THAT’s an ending.
@supanamja - i know you have this obsession about how III is better than IV, but come on … Mr. T?
@aegie -
I pity the fool that doesn’t, Yo I’m happy for you and imma let you finish, but Rocky III was the best Rocky of all time! Of all time!
@supanamja - hahaha …. you got it kiddo, rocky III was the best of all time …