tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5591038.post3677988306292872621..comments2024-02-25T04:20:09.570-08:00Comments on When the Dead Walk the Earth: In the Valley of Elah (2007)Jeff McMahonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17455194268519396055noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5591038.post-59991220326255208452009-02-09T15:45:00.000-08:002009-02-09T15:45:00.000-08:00**spoilers up the yin yang**I want the time I wast...**spoilers up the yin yang**<BR/>I want the time I wasted watching this movie back. The 'statement' is decidedly anti, and not in a logical or even sensible way. Painfully vague, it settles for being anti-everything, nothing in particular, just everything. The support for this claim seems to be that pulling a tour in Iraq automatically results in being transformed into a ticking timebomb. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5591038.post-29687948596989857042007-10-20T14:46:00.000-07:002007-10-20T14:46:00.000-07:00Well, since Ang Lee _did_ win (Best Director), you...Well, since Ang Lee _did_ win (Best Director), your statement isn't completely correct, and I disagree that Lee is 'heavy handed' since his concerns are more about emotional impact on his characters than they are about using his films about platforms for political proclamations. While I am in favor of filmmakers making movies that reflect the modern world and have something on their minds, I alsoJeff McMahonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17455194268519396055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5591038.post-17928407216509511102007-10-20T07:33:00.000-07:002007-10-20T07:33:00.000-07:00no one would hate haggis if ang lee would have won...no one would hate haggis if ang lee would have won with brokeback mountain. but truth be told. that movie was worse in heavy handedness.<BR/>haggis is not the next great filmmaker. but he is making interesting smaller films about something. what's wrong with that? more filmmakers should try to make a movie about something instead of just being entertainment. disagree with his point of view, shawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03142294403953771198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5591038.post-75808125375410128322007-10-15T13:32:00.000-07:002007-10-15T13:32:00.000-07:00Jeff,I have not seen this and don't intend to beca...Jeff,<BR/><BR/>I have not seen this and don't intend to because, like you, I am still burning from Crash. Haggis is arrogant and heavy handed in his writing. You want it to feel real, but you feel manipulated and then you feel Haggis patting himself on the back for being so clever.PIPERhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13054305230216613759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5591038.post-25488707295408473382007-10-13T13:30:00.000-07:002007-10-13T13:30:00.000-07:00No, I still disagree. I think he was the kind of g...No, I still disagree. I think he was the kind of guy who would think to himself 'Boy, it sure sucks that my son is dead and all these other soldiers are murderers. I guess that's the price we pay for freedom'.Jeff McMahonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17455194268519396055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5591038.post-79357578762881009632007-10-13T11:29:00.000-07:002007-10-13T11:29:00.000-07:00No no no...the end scene IS something he would do ...No no no...the end scene IS something he would do because he's incapable of showing emotion or verbalizing how he feels. He communicates through symbol in that scene. Maybe it's a lame allegory for America always being the tough, stoic country, ever true to itself and itself only. <BR/><BR/>If TLJ would have...come home and grabbed Sarandon while crying and saying "What have we donnnnne!?!?!!" Don@PetalumaFilms.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05570900368693491772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5591038.post-32182400136609134332007-10-12T15:26:00.000-07:002007-10-12T15:26:00.000-07:00Perhaps if the detective bits had worked better fo...Perhaps if the detective bits had worked better for you you'd have felt a little more generous towards the film.<BR/><BR/>As it stands, I think we largely agree on the details.<BR/><BR/>And don't get me started on how retarded it was at the beginning that he'd pull over and lecture the foreigner on the proper treatment of the flag. Then to come back to it with this crazy capitulation of his core Craig Kennedyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00924813294666616097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5591038.post-72951744476061726042007-10-12T14:10:00.000-07:002007-10-12T14:10:00.000-07:00As a detective story I thought it was lacking, too...As a detective story I thought it was lacking, too. It was dumb for Haggis to have Tommy Lee Jones some kind of retired super-sleuth who could see things that all the active-duty cops couldn't, and it was dumb for the whole thing to turn on Charlize Theron suddenly doing her job and noticing that signatures didn't match.<BR/><BR/>And Don, it sounds like we all agre about TLJ's stoic conservatism,Jeff McMahonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17455194268519396055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5591038.post-11578193206911359672007-10-12T11:14:00.000-07:002007-10-12T11:14:00.000-07:00I disagree with your review, Jeff...yet I agree th...I disagree with your review, Jeff...yet I agree there's a certain heavyhandedness that's offputting. As I mentioned in my review at Film Threat, the same heavy handedness that was in CRASH is here as well...but I was more on board with the message this time around.<BR/><BR/>I also feel that the Jones character is so stoic and so fenced in that it would take alot to break him of his feelings if heDon@PetalumaFilms.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05570900368693491772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5591038.post-46766214391907152442007-10-12T09:37:00.000-07:002007-10-12T09:37:00.000-07:00***this comment is potentially spoilery***We saw t...***this comment is potentially spoilery***<BR/>We saw the same movie and were irritated by the same things for the same reasons, but I came away feeling a little more forgiving becaues I like TLJ so much.<BR/><BR/>As I've said elsewhere however, that spirit of good feeling and good will has worn off more and more by the day.<BR/><BR/>The biggest insult for me, and mind you I think I'm pretty wellCraig Kennedyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00924813294666616097noreply@blogger.com