Saturday, May 22, 2010

...and another THING...

I was right. I can watch it every day...then again - I am crazy, but it's just sooo good. The Thing is the type of film that I want to make. That's it...it's smart and consistent, with that flavor of character acting that I love - people that really feel like they're in those skins...Alien did it first, but this one is my favorite.
The whole film speaks in the voiced question of the original story...Who Goes There? ...at more than one turn we are left saying "Who was that? ..but who was that?" but like the book/screenplay of No Country for Old Men, The Thing is also remarkable for what isn't there: The men don't use words out of science fiction...they don't have the magic answer for us, so they feel real. Then there's the questions ..do they know if they've changed? Where is it from? The unanswered and unresolved compliment the story perfectly - no, they enhance it...I think this is what I despise most in a lot of the films of today...when they hand us not only ALL of the info we should have to discover ourselves, but usually even more than needed, making the experience not only stupid, but insulting...these "exposition scenes" I just can't stand...
Might be my favorite ending scene...no, Kane and Groundhog Day match it, but anyway, that ballsy ballsy ending is almost European in tone(and I still have no idea, much like Twelve Monkeys, what the truth is..) - I somehow doubt the upcoming remake will be so esoteric at it's edges...
Dean Cundey is a genius ...if genius means figuring out the absolute best look and feel to establish a tone for the story - it's pitch, if you will is perfect throughout, again more noticeable in films when it isn't. Though the story is messy the film is extraordinarily tidy - amazing.

So many cool posters for this film...
For three nights I've turned it on and turned away - used it as a radio show to go to sleep...awesome, with some freaky dreams to boot - I swear that score could hold up the whole film...simple, punchy, and creepy - there's a "dark inevitability" to it that unfailingly puts me in Antarctica, knowing I won't survive...or will I?
Had a discussion about "love" for film last night - love versus "like" or "really like" ...you film obsessos know what I mean...

I love The Thing, and like real love, it just keeps getting better.