The Odyssey

[whelk]

Worth going to see. Musk slagging it off was a positive. Might even go and see it again despite there being no blacks in mythology.  

[hypochondriac]

28 minutes ago, whelk said:

Worth going to see. Musk slagging it off was a positive. Might even go and see it again despite there being no blacks in mythology.  

Was it actually good? Not sure I can be bothered to sit in the cinema for three hours.

[whelk]

Just now, hypochondriac said:

Was it actually good? Not sure I can be bothered to sit in the cinema for three hours.

Very good and time flies. At risk of sounding pretentious Nolan can pace a film. I loved it. My daughters who both know their Homer and Greek mythology generally don’t want to see it - sure they will come round. 

[whelk]

And cinema so comfy and air conditioned these days. I remember the ABC with fuck all leg room and everyone smoking

[Holmes_and_Watson]

13 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Was it actually good? Not sure I can be bothered to sit in the cinema for three hours.

It was good. I go to be entertained, rather than nit picking. It was as close to Homer as you could reasonably expect. Modern takes on some of it are well grounded in the original (again as much as you could expect), and acting and sequencing excellent.

[hypochondriac]

8 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

It was good. I go to be entertained, rather than nit picking. It was as close to Homer as you could reasonably expect. Modern takes on some of it are well grounded in the original (again as much as you could expect), and acting and sequencing excellent.

Cheers. I was worried about it being largely taken from a feminist retelling of the original which I assumed would be quite jarring along with some of the weird casting choices like Ellen page et al. Sounds like it's worth a go though.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 hour ago, hypochondriac said:

Cheers. I was worried about it being largely taken from a feminist retelling of the original which I assumed would be quite jarring along with some of the weird casting choices like Ellen page et al. Sounds like it's worth a go though.

Feminist take: I've certainly rolled my eyes on things that set out as a bandwagon. The guy who put together a war of the worlds remake saying it was commissioned only when he gave it a feminist makeover, for example. Certainly people have no shortage of bandwagons either.to have an opinion from Here, there's nothing touching that, that isn't part of the source works. Thought provoking, and adding to the depth, and not cheerleading a cause.

I had to look up Ellen, now Elliot, Page. A smaller, but quite key role without spoiling anything, and did really well. Cast is top notch throughout though. Everyone gets their turn to shine at some point too, even if it's not on their first scene.

[revolution saint]

Might go and see it later this week too but three hours?  Seems excessive.  I watched Oppenheimer and thought that was a bit of a mess and felt it jumped around too much without any real need to.  Also, Nolan films are shit for dialogue clarity.  So, better than Oppenheimer? 

[whelk]

6 hours ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Feminist take: I've certainly rolled my eyes on things that set out as a bandwagon. The guy who put together a war of the worlds remake saying it was commissioned only when he gave it a feminist makeover, for example. Certainly people have no shortage of bandwagons either.to have an opinion from Here, there's nothing touching that, that isn't part of the source works. Thought provoking, and adding to the depth, and not cheerleading a cause.

I had to look up Ellen, now Elliot, Page. A smaller, but quite key role without spoiling anything, and did really well. Cast is top notch throughout though. Everyone gets their turn to shine at some point too, even if it's not on their first scene.

TBH all I had heard was that Musk and other Maga snowflake types were outraged but didn’t know any specifics before I watched it. Sad people, just enjoy a good film. 

[whelk]

5 hours ago, revolution saint said:

Might go and see it later this week too but three hours?  Seems excessive.  I watched Oppenheimer and thought that was a bit of a mess and felt it jumped around too much without any real need to.  Also, Nolan films are shit for dialogue clarity.  So, better than Oppenheimer? 

I know you like your movies so would be surprised if you didn’t enjoy it. Many have said about 3 hour length but no issue for me  - nice to escape nd be away from the phone. Definitely one for cinema and preferably IMAX (apparently) though.

Edited 13 hours ago by whelk

[badgerx16]

1 hour ago, whelk said:

TBH all I had heard was that Musk and other Maga snowflake types were outraged but didn’t know any specifics before I watched it. Sad people, just enjoy a good film. 

Musk wants to use GROK AI to make an "historically accurate" version, but I'm not sure there will be much of an audience for a film where the dialogue is delivered entirely in Homeric Greek.

[whelk]

26 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

Musk wants to use GROK AI to make an "historically accurate" version, but I'm not sure there will be much of an audience for a film where the dialogue is delivered entirely in Homeric Greek.

Grok v Nolan, I wonder what will be more the fulfilling experience? Hopefully they won’t cast any black fella as Cyclops and be ‘true to the myth’ and find an authentic Greek bloke who is 20ft tall and has one eye…and better not be trans

[edprice1984]

Went to see last night with my daughter and her friend. Both of them are very much into Greek myth. 

If Nolan wanted it to be a 100% faithful recreation of the original poem and story, we would probably still be at the cinema. It's an impressive film, with excellent performances and very well shot. There are a few minor points where I would have like to have seen a bit more attention paid to the source material, particularly around the Cyclops, but I understand for pacing Nolan clearly made a decision. 

You don't need to know the story to enjoy it, but it probably helps a bit. 

Artistic interpretation of Agamemnon, the ships, the costumes etc although clearly not 'accurate' to the time, is all about the audience understanding tropes. No-one really cares if the boats used are more Viking than Greek. Robert Pattinson very good, expect to him to be in the conversations for Supporting Actor awards.

The soundscape is genuinely remarkable.

[benjii]

1 hour ago, edprice1984 said:

Went to see last night with my daughter and her friend. Both of them are very much into Greek myth. 

If Nolan wanted it to be a 100% faithful recreation of the original poem and story, we would probably still be at the cinema. It's an impressive film, with excellent performances and very well shot. There are a few minor points where I would have like to have seen a bit more attention paid to the source material, particularly around the Cyclops, but I understand for pacing Nolan clearly made a decision. 

You don't need to know the story to enjoy it, but it probably helps a bit. 

Artistic interpretation of Agamemnon, the ships, the costumes etc although clearly not 'accurate' to the time, is all about the audience understanding tropes. No-one really cares if the boats used are more Viking than Greek. Robert Pattinson very good, expect to him to be in the conversations for Supporting Actor awards.

The soundscape is genuinely remarkable.

Cheers Barry!

[Sheaf Saint]

9 hours ago, whelk said:

TBH all I had heard was that Musk and other Maga snowflake types were outraged but didn’t know any specifics before I watched it. Sad people, just enjoy a good film. 

They were losing their shit over the fact that a black actress had been cast to play Helen of Troy, with some even going to great lengths to share how HoT was described in literature to prove people who argued that nobody knows what she really looked like were wrong. She's not even a major part in the film and is only on screen for about two minutes in total.

I note that none of the people who were so triggered about this blatant piece of historical inaccuracy seemed the slightest bit bothered that Odysseus himself would have looked nothing like the blond-haired, blue-eyed Matt Damon.

Funny that.

[Sheaf Saint]

6 hours ago, edprice1984 said:

The soundscape is genuinely remarkable.

It really is. Draws you in completely - especially during the epic final scene. If that doesn't win the Oscar for best sound I'll be staggered.

[badgerx16]

20 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

They were losing their shit over the fact that a black actress had been cast to play Helen of Troy, with some even going to great lengths to share how HoT was described in literature to prove people who argued that nobody knows what she really looked like were wrong. She's not even a major part in the film and is only on screen for about two minutes in total.

I note that none of the people who were so triggered about this blatant piece of historical inaccuracy seemed the slightest bit bothered that Odysseus himself would have looked nothing like the blond-haired, blue-eyed Matt Damon.

Funny that.

Plus, of course, Helen's sister Clytemnestra, played by the same actress, and no mention of the Korean crew mate either.

Helen of Troy's father was a swan, and she hatched from an egg, yet Elon is fussing over her skin colour being inaccurate.

As Ridley Scott would put it ; " Were you there ? No ? Fuck off then."

Edited 3 hours ago by badgerx16

[Holmes_and_Watson]

8 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

They were losing their shit over the fact that a black actress had been cast to play Helen of Troy, with some even going to great lengths to share how HoT was described in literature to prove people who argued that nobody knows what she really looked like were wrong. She's not even a major part in the film and is only on screen for about two minutes in total.

I note that none of the people who were so triggered about this blatant piece of historical inaccuracy seemed the slightest bit bothered that Odysseus himself would have looked nothing like the blond-haired, blue-eyed Matt Damon.

Funny that.

Wow. people have lots of time on their hands to trace the genetic heritage of actors to see if their ancestors were around in the right spot for the Trojan War. Or gosh, let them act.

Nyong'o is another cast member I'm not familiar with. Again, she gets scenes to shine. Really impressive. There was a lot of emotion to express in a short time. If Nolan was working away on a Helen of Troy follow up, I'd be quite happy. 

[bpsaint]

Very much on my want to watch list, love a Nolan.

A lot of the furore around the casting choices seems to stem from the fact you have to have representation from certain demographics to be eligible for Best Picture at the Oscars these days, rather than choosing the best person for the job.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

2 hours ago, bpsaint said:

Very much on my want to watch list, love a Nolan.

A lot of the furore around the casting choices seems to stem from the fact you have to have representation from certain demographics to be eligible for Best Picture at the Oscars these days, rather than choosing the best person for the job.

The awards things would be about the last thing on my mind. But it would be naive to think that there's not an immediate and long lasting campaign to boost a film's chances of receiving awards. And that would include ensuring various diversity check boxes are ticked, and more.

At the same time I'd like to think that the roles weren't selected on such a level. "Oh, we should have a black Helen of Troy" or "we must give that prominent soldier's role to a trans person." That does a heck of a disservice to the ability shown in this film.

[hypochondriac]

What sounds like a fair review here. Think I will go and watch it after all:

 

[hypochondriac]

19 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

The awards things would be about the last thing on my mind. But it would be naive to think that there's not an immediate and long lasting campaign to boost a film's chances of receiving awards. And that would include ensuring various diversity check boxes are ticked, and more.

At the same time I'd like to think that the roles weren't selected on such a level. "Oh, we should have a black Helen of Troy" or "we must give that prominent soldier's role to a trans person." That does a heck of a disservice to the ability shown in this film.

I'm pretty sure those are fairly large considerations unfortunately but like you say that's now a requirement to be eligible for the awards. It does sound like these actors are decent though from what people are saying and if nothing is made of their identities in the form if social commentary, I'm generally alright with it. If it's not detrimental to the storyline and immersion then it's not really a problem.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

39 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

What sounds like a fair review here. Think I will go and watch it after all:

 

What?! Our opinions weren't good enough?! 
Let the 10 year seige of your house commence! And the wooden housecat left outside is not a trap. At all.

 

 

Edited 12 minutes ago by Holmes_and_Watson

[Sheaf Saint]

20 hours ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

I had to look up Ellen, now Elliot, Page. A smaller, but quite key role without spoiling anything, and did really well. Cast is top notch throughout though. Everyone gets their turn to shine at some point too, even if it's not on their first scene.

I had to as well, and was very surprised to learn he played the lead in Juno when he was a she. 

I thought he played his part brilliantly and would never have even guessed he was trans. The usual suspects criticising him (like that utter weapon Ben Shapiro) had obviously made their minds up ahead of watching the film and/or judged him against what they thought the character should be like, rather than in the context of the version of the story Nolan chose to tell.

[Sheaf Saint]

31 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

I'm pretty sure those are fairly large considerations unfortunately but like you say that's now a requirement to be eligible for the awards. It does sound like these actors are decent though from what people are saying and if nothing is made of their identities in the form if social commentary, I'm generally alright with it. If it's not detrimental to the storyline and immersion then it's not really a problem.

It's not. Not in the slightest.