Hard Candy

[buckaroo]

Has anyone seen this movie? It stars Oscar nominee Ellen Page as a 14 year old who has been chatting on line with a 32 year old photographer who could be a pedophile. I've been reading the forums at IMDB about this movie and am amazed at the ideas that it has brewed. The movie itself is gory, but in the end, most people, if they didn't exactly like the ending, probably agreed that it was justified. But for sure, it makes one think.

But it all brings me to the idea I had for bringing this thread. How do you look at the movies you watch, in terms of what is your interest? Do you watch a movie and then critique it from a stand point of realism, or can you take the movie as it is intended, as intertainment...that is if it's not a documentation? Do you anylize the movie from your stand point or from what you think the author meant? And can you watch a movie and though you know that it's fictional, do you feel the need to see what's in front of you represented as true as possible, i.e. does it bother you that, oh let's see, in a military movie, what if they use a US military jet made to look like a Russian jet, or a white man or woman playing a black person? I learned a long time ago that movies are there for my own enjoyment and that what I see in front of me doesn't have to be exactly what it's said to be in order for things to work. If I look at it as though it's a play, presented on a stage, I can understand that props are just props. But it can go much further than that. Ideas are just ideas of the author and the more they make you think, but better it is. The movie Hard Candy really makes you think. First off, it is as has been described, very gory, but yet, you, as the audience, never see anything that is graphicaly gorey. It's all in the mind, so the director accomplished that. As to whether or not things happened with the charactors, is not made perfectly clear, but again, the author puts the idea into the audience's head and makes them think. Some will believe that a charactor did this or that, while others might think that this charactor didn't, or that it might be a figment of their imagination. I love movies like this because they provoke thought and discussions. Entertaining, maybe not, but that all depends on what is the definition of "is" is.

 

[barelypure]

It depends on the movie. If they present the movie as being "real" then yeah I'll see what they missed or changed. If its something fanciful then I can enjoy that without criticism.
What does bother me the most is when the continuity department screws up. Different shirt from scene to scene. A hubcap flies off and then is back on again. etc. They need to pay attention as to what happens between takes.

 

[Benevolent One]

It really depends on the movie I guess. I like the Die Hard movies, but you definitely have to suspend reality when he starts taking down helicopters with a car. The Rocky movies have a serious credibility problem too, but I loved every one of them. And of course, comedies like Caddyshack, Airplane!, Animal House and the Blues Brothers are even funnier directly because of the unbelievability of the actions therein.

Certain movies are great directly because of how realistic they seem. First Blood (the original Rambo of course) was gripping because of how you could see it really happening up until they decided to have him pretty much blow up the entire town at the end. Sling Blade was the same way.

Realism is much more important in crime dramas and the like because everything seems so intense and you are watching every little thing that happens searching for clues as to who did what.

Incidently one thing that drives me absolutely nuts is when someone confesses to a crime for no apparent reason other than to wrap up the show nice and neatly. I really like shows like Without A Trace and Cold Case, but it bugs me to death when the person confesses as some sort of 'soul cleansing' ritual. It happens in CSI and other shows too. I understand the need to wrap up the show without going to trial, but it still seems like a rather trite way of doing so.

 

[buckaroo]

I think that the way we watch movies these days is based on the technology that has evolved in Hollywood. I used to look at it as though what I saw had to be absolutely correct, or it would take something away for me. For instance, when I left the Air Force, I knew what certain jets looked like from just about every angle. When I would watch a movie that would have military aircraft in it, I would be very critical of the movie because they didn't actually use the type of aircraft that they said they were. They might use an F-5 jet and call it a Mig of some sort. Later, I came to the conclusion that the movie makers can't always use what is needed in the movie and therefore, I could accept the faults and enjoy the movie.

I love a movie that makes you use your brain to try and understand what is going on, much better than something that is just pure eye candy. The movie Blair Witch Project was very unique in that way in that you never saw anything, but they made it clear that it was there. The same with this movie, Hard Candy. In one scene, this girl had the guy tied down on a table and was really torturing him and telling him that she was going to castrate him. She made it clear that no matter what he did or say, she was going to do it. The emotions that this man showed ran the gamut and she took her time in torturing him. The audience never saw her make a cut, or snip, but...if you are going to watch this movie, don't scroll down for I will be spoiling it for you.
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The audience was sure, as was the man, that the girl did indeed castrate the man. However, she didn't and he later was very relieved to find out that he was still whole. But the whole scene was very dramatic and as a man, I could really feel for the guy, even if he was a rotten dirty SOB.

 

[muggle not]

Blair Witch was a very good movie. Well thought out and constructed. I am familiar with the area where the movie was shot and know a little of the background of the kids that made the movie, being that I had a close association with the school where they attended.