I just watched Into The Wild...

nepal

Just came back from the movietheatre. Liked the film, a few fords of criticism though; I think playing 'big hard sun' in the end was not a good idea, even silence would have fit better (of course you are not allowed to criticize that there were too much Vedder music on the movie, here at the pit) Also the scene where Chris wanders in the streets and see people spending a night out, I think everyone would have got the point when he looks the clean shaved guy without changing Chris to his position. Still, I think Mr. Penn had captured the essence of Chris McCandless.

jxchamb

I just saw the movie last week. Simply amazing and beautiful. I've been listening to the soundtrack nonstop since it was released but the film wasn't playing anywhere in Connecticut so I had for dvd. Very powerful and moving film.

DriftingByTheStorm

nepal wrote:

Just came back from the movietheatre. Liked the film, a few fords of criticism though; I think playing 'big hard sun' in the end was not a good idea, even silence would have fit better (of course you are not allowed to criticize that there were too much Vedder music on the movie, here at the pit) Also the scene where Chris wanders in the streets and see people spending a night out, I think everyone would have got the point when he looks the clean shaved guy without changing Chris to his position. Still, I think Mr. Penn had captured the essence of Chris McCandless.

I think hardsun was chosen for the end credits, probably because Penn wanted to avoid causing people to commit suicide themselves after watching this film. The song also seems to inspire a sort of reflection on the beauty of the human spirit, which helps to reaffirm that at the heart of this film is a message about life and love, not death and desolation.

The scene where Chris sees himself as the sharp dressed socialite in the cafe, i actualy saw that as one of the more profound scenes. It expresses visualy one of the first moments where he has already begun to have a shadow of a doubt about the path he has chosen. Certainly the discrepancy between the wealth and status is apparent, but further, the man in the cafe is actually happy and laughing ... not because of his success and status, but because of the relationships he is involved in. He is engaged in "a happiness shared".

So to me, at least, that was a very important moment in the movie, and i did not view the visual effect as a distraction or overembelishment.

SpinMeRoundRollMeOvr

As great as the movie was, read the book. It's a fast read and in my opinion, much better than the movie.

Don't get me wrong, the movie was great. I loved it. The difference with the book is that you are given a more balanced view of Chris's decisions as opposed to the movie where his actions were seen as great because he was "ridding himself of society". Little attention was given to the somewhat "reckless" decisions he made.

What they didn't tell you in the movie is that he planned on going back to work after his time in the wilderness. The movie also fails to mention that he didn't have a map with him. If he had had a map, he would have realized when he was trying to cross the river there was a crossing point of sorts approximately 1/2 mile down the river.

It is a truly sad story. I would recommend that all of you read the book. For me, I felt a stronger connection to Chris's journey that was portrayed in the film.

fanch75

Chris's desires to be in Alaska are understandable, because white people make you feel bad about not going outside.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/20/9-making-you-feel-bad-about-not-going-outside/

"Stuff White People Like"

#9 Making you feel bad about not going outside
January 20, 2008 by clander

As mentioned earlier, white people love to be outside. But not everyone knows that another thing they like to do is make people feel bad for wanting to watch sports on TV or play videogames. While it would be easy to get angry at white people for this, remember it is hard wired in their head that the greatest thing a person can do in their free time is to hike/walk/bike outdoors.

Usually, they will see that you are preparing to enjoy your life and they will say “hey, lets go for a hike in the park,” and most people will say “hey, thanks but I’ve been working all week and I’m really excited about watching this game,” and then they will respond “don’t be a lump on the couch, you’re wasting your life away, etc…” If you ignore them, they will eventually go away.

And much like most things with white people - they win both ways. If you decide to go with them, they feel good about getting someone off the couch and “into the fresh air,” and if you don’t decide to go, they can spend their entire time outdoors saying “boy, this is great, X doesn’t know what he/she is missing!” and running on a mix of self-satisfaction, Odwalla juice and muesli.

In My Dreams

yellowled24 wrote:

It is indeed a shame that he figured it all out just a little too late. To think he was searching for happiness, freedom etc and only at the end did he have that revelation. That would have to be what made it sad for me, was that he finally did find it but it was too late. But the journey to find it all was probably the most important thing, do you agree?

Yes I do agree, it's the journey, not the destination.

In My Dreams

yellowled24 wrote:

Shouldnt have killed that damn moose!

Perhaps, but at least it didn't go to waste.

In My Dreams

writersu wrote:

I cried a lot when he died.......

I actually managed not to cry which is not normal for me. I think it's because I knew he was going to die and anticipated it. I thought the bear scene was interesting.

mookie10

Very intense movie, very carefully and thoughtfully done from all involved. I have a new found respect for Sean penn and for Emile Hirsch for how they portayed this story of Christopher Mccandless's life.

I have no opinion about whether what he did was admirable or selfish,etc. For me personally I really enjoyed his journey becuase it made me walk away with the feeling that I just got a huge kick in the ass. I kind of made me feel a little greedy for the way I live, always wanting more, etc. I really liked the example of the car when his dad tried to buy him a newer one. He just couldn't grasp why he needed a new car when his old one worked fine. I thought that was interesting because Im guilty of that - always wanting a newer something, when probably the old one was just fine.

I also recommend the book, a lot of untold adventures that just was not possible to sqeeze into the movie.

NOCODE#1

In My Dreams wrote:

I actually managed not to cry which is not normal for me. I think it's because I knew he was going to die and anticipated it. I thought the bear scene was interesting.

SAME BEAR FROM THE GREAT OUTDOORS 22 YEARS AGO.

THATS ONE OLD BEAR

nepal

NOCODE#1 wrote:

SAME BEAR FROM THE GREAT OUTDOORS 22 YEARS AGO.

THATS ONE OLD BEAR

http://imdb.com/name/nm1212069/

It says here Bart The Bear date of birth 2000

yellowled24

NOCODE#1 wrote:

SAME BEAR FROM THE GREAT OUTDOORS 22 YEARS AGO.

THATS ONE OLD BEAR

did the bear ever manage to grow back the hair on its arse???

dr teeth

nathanastin wrote:

I read the book after I saw it too and loved it; after I have thought more about it, I think ITW may be the best film of the year. Just saw No Country for Old Men and was kind of disappointed. Hal Holbrook was better than Javier Bardam.

it was good........didn't like how they kinda pointed a finger at the parents for his actions.......independence is independence.......hal was great but javier was the man.

NOCODE#1

nepal wrote:

http://imdb.com/name/nm1212069/

It says here Bart The Bear date of birth 2000

hmm. i was watching a special on trained animals in film and the bear trainer said he has had the same bear for 30 years. i guess i am wrong sorry

yellowled24

dr teeth wrote:

it was good........didn't like how they kinda pointed a finger at the parents for his actions.......independence is independence.......hal was great but javier was the man.

yea...i guess they are just trying to put across the fact that whatever the action there are consequences.
Life is like a big snowball...some incident that starts of so miniscule ends up rolling through, collecting momentum until its just one big frozen ball of water.

Geez...kinda got off the subject a bit eh?

writersu

In My Dreams wrote:

I actually managed not to cry which is not normal for me. I think it's because I knew he was going to die and anticipated it. I thought the bear scene was interesting.

yeah, my 17 year old son pointed out to me the reasoning behind it that I didn't get.....the fact that he was so skinny the bear didn't even eat him.

yellowled24

writersu wrote:

yeah, my 17 year old son pointed out to me the reasoning behind it that I didn't get.....the fact that he was so skinny the bear didn't even eat him.

that was REALLY full on!!!

catefrances

writersu wrote:

yeah, my 17 year old son pointed out to me the reasoning behind it that I didn't get.....the fact that he was so skinny the bear didn't even eat him.

my thinking was that he smelled of death. and what bear in its right mind would want to eat that?

writersu

yellowled24 wrote:

that was REALLY full on!!!

yeah, young people are pretty smart I find.......(but damn the 70's and 80's ruined me)

haha.......

writersu

catefrances wrote:

my thinking was that he smelled of death. and what bear in its right mind would want to eat that?

well, that sure could've been it too, cause of the poison, right?