I had three movie nights for this class, and I watched Arranged, The Gods Must Be Crazy, and Not One Less. Here are my reactions to them: ARRANGEDI watched the movie Arranged last night. I really quite liked it. The cinematography is beautiful and the music is great, and the cast was great. One of the first things I noticed was that the other teachers at Nasira and Rochel's school seem incredibly wild and strange compared to them. Also, the principal is a cringey mess who needs to learn when to stop talking. Nasira and Rochel's families seem so lovely. Both women are clearly in very loving families. Poor Rochel however appears to be quite uncomfortable with the idea of meeting with the matchmaker, and then young men. I can't blame her at all; she looks to be rather young and she's just started a new job. This isn't the time to have the distraction of looking for a husband thrown in your face. I must say that as someone coming from a completely different upbringing and a feminist, Rochel's mother telling her "you'll make some young man very happy" is very strange. It seems to me that the happiness of both people ought to be given equal consideration when making a match. To each their own, of course. I have only this to say about the principal: She is an absolutely terrible person. I wanted to scrub my eyes and ears with soap after every word she said. Rochel's first date is so incredibly awkward he almost comes off as arrogant. There are so many wonderfully cringey characters in this movie. Eddie is a sweet kid. THE OTHER KIDS THOUGH GOOD HEAVENS THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE THIS IS WHY THE WORLD IS FALLING APART KIDS AREN'T TAUGHT NUANCES THEY'RE TAUGHT EXTREMES. I think the world needs a unity circle. Rochel's family, her mother especially, seem to be sliding into cringe territory. They were so concerned with Rochel's reputation that they made her throw Nasira out of the house, without letting her make her own choice about her reputation, and Rochel's siblings were taciturn and reluctant to play with Nasira's niece and nephew. In contrast, Nasira's niece and nephew seemed to have no problems playing with Rochel's siblings, and her while parents were uncomfortable with Rochel's presence, they were nonetheless gracious to her. It's an interesting dynamic. Well this is a procession of terrible dates Rochel is having. And now her mother is telling her she can't have cake because it might ruin her figure or her complexion? People should be allowed to eat what they want. If that cake was kosher, and Rochel wanted some, she ought to have been able to have some. There was nothing really wrong with Nasira's father's friend, but there wasn't a lot going for him either. This other guy is much nicer. Oh man the guilt tripping is off the charts. Parties are a terrible idea always all the time in movies. Nothing ever goes at all well, under any definition of well. CRUSH ON BEST FRIEND'S BROTHER'S STUDY BUDDY TWELVE O'CLOCK MAN THE BATTLEMENTS Nasira is my stalker hero. Eddie is a good kid and the principal is terrible. Okay Rochel's date with Gideon is still a little awkward, but he is nice. Welp now Samira and Jamil are engaged. They do look happy, and they're adorable next to each other. WEDDING MONTAGE SO MUCH WHITE FABRIC Aww now they're mothers themselves. And speaking as an older sister to three boys, they're perfectly right about boys/men with older sisters being better for it. That was awfully good. 10/10 for good and cringe THE GODS MUST BE CRAZYHere we have it: The second of three responses to a movie.
I just typed out my thoughts as I watched the movie, and now here they are: my thoughts and real time response to The Gods Must be Crazy (IMDb page here) This is like an anthropology documentary, British narrator and all. Cool. Is the narrator supposed to be a parody of Richard Attenborough or something? So many butts. Didn’t expect that from a movie made in 1980. ‘civilized man’ it says and then it shows a lot of the most tedious parts of society. Niiiiiiiice That line about being sentenced to 12-15 hours of education though This is like an alien anthropology professor explaining humanity to a lot of confused students Sweetness and light even if it bores the pants off them who cares about the handicapped kids Sweetness and light oh gosh. Talk about gender stereotypes and sexism in media Go kate. You quit the page of sweetness and light and you go be a teacher in Botswana A glass coke bottle oh my gosh This is like Terry Pratchett meets anthropology. Of course the kids start hitting each other over the head with it. This is ridiculous. This can’t end well. Where’s the prime directive when you need it? That 80s incidental music though. The action scenes feel weirdly fast. Never mind, the action scenes are definitely weirdly fast. This whole movie feels like a bad, tacky joke somehow. A guy even just slipped on a banana peel. I wish I could reason with baboons like that. I wish I could reason with anyone like that. "I don’t want to talk about it" appears to be the main phrase of the movie Can we talk though about how this movie made in 1980 has about four white characters out of loads of characters??? And also about there are so many women shown in various states of undress, but none of it is sexual??? I mean, I don’t much like that they use bumbling violations of personal boundaries (i.e., the majority of Steyn and Ms. Thompson’s interactions) as vehicles for comedy, but WOWWW I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie that combines both a cast that is almost entirely people of color and a lot of nonsexual, noncomedic nudity. Okay, Xi is precious. This movie is weird and all, but I do like that they addressed British colonialism. Those Brits sticking their noses in everywhere. You know, I’ve never really thought about it but the British empire is the only major empire in history I can think of that didn’t actually fall, unlike the Roman empire and the Persian empire. It just kind of shrank. It got a lot of countries really fast, and then they just kind of started drifting away. I wish they’d define what it is exactly that Sam Boga the bad guy kidnapping the kids is wanted for, besides opening fire on the cabinet. He was clearly known before that as a Dangerous Person, but we aren’t really told why. All we know is that he wants to get to Motambe, he’s using the kids as leverage to get there, and he’s got a fairly new, or at least inexperienced, crew. There’s something about Steyn that I don’t like. I can’t put my finger on it, but I don’t like him all that much. He comes off as really stilted, and it’s not entirely how awkward and stilted all his scenes with Kate are. Same with Kate. She’s not the most thrilling character and there is nothing about her that is especially memorable. There's something I DEFINITELY don't like about Hind. He's just ego half way down. Like turtles all the way down, but ego, and it only goes halfway. Like??? his egotism isn't consistent??? We're given to understand that he's an egotistical jerk but he shows an apparently genuine concern for Steyn and everyone??? I don't even know. All in all, weird but good movie. Lot of butts. Xi and Mpudi are precious. Steyn’s jeep is my aesthetic and frequent mood. something out of ten. There are just too many varying things in this movie to decide on a rating that is, in any case, completely arbitrary in the grand scheme of existence. It's a good movie.
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