Igby Goes Down (1 Viewer)

[Jimmy Magee]

I don't recall where I got the idea that this was good from...but from having watched it, I can confirm that it most definitely is not. Trying to be clever tripe dialogue does *not* impress me, I can assure.



Disclaimer: this analysis is based on the execrable first half or so, so please let us not have people informing me that it gets way better from there on, or that the first half was ironic or something.

 

[nlgbbbblth]

I don't recall where I got the idea that this was good from...but from having watched it, I can confirm that it most definitely is not. Trying to be clever tripe dialogue does *not* impress me, I can assure.



Disclaimer: this analysis is based on the execrable first half or so, so please let us not have people informing me that it gets way better from there on, or that the first half was ironic or something.

I think it's very good. clever coming of age stuff, I think they call it
compared to Catcher In The Rye a lot

 

[MDR]

Catcher in the Rye is ain't. Thought it was a bit contrived.

 

[krystal]

You beat me to it - was just about to say I enjoyed it but it was extremely contrived.

There you go so.

13 is by far the worst of the recent batch of 'amazing indie films' we're all supposed to be wowed by - fuckin shockin.

 

[roxy]

13 is by far the worst of the recent batch of 'amazing indie films' we're all supposed to be wowed by - fuckin shockin.

I though Evan Rachel Wood (the blonde one) was very good in Thirteen. I've got hii-gh hopes for her.

 

[snakybus]

igby - acting good, feel good, story bad, characterisation (especially igby himself) bad. I was delighted when Jeff Goldblum beat igby up. holden caulfield woulda kicked his arse and all

overall - meh

13 I thought was all right

 

[Catwoman]

You beat me to it - was just about to say I enjoyed it but it was extremely contrived.

There you go so.

13 is by far the worst of the recent batch of 'amazing indie films' we're all supposed to be wowed by - fuckin shockin.

See also Gus Van Sant's Elephant.

 

[ddmurph]

i liked elephant. igby goes down on the other hand was bollox. i've to add a disclaimer too though cos i was suffering from a brutal hangover when i saw it.

 

[eoinbox]

i liked elephant. igby goes down on the other hand was bollox. i've to add a disclaimer too though cos i was suffering from a brutal hangover when i saw it.

jesus i thought elephanty was a load of bollox. i mean i liked the whole thing of none of them being actors and stuff, i thought the main dude with the black hair was good, but i think we're getting to a point where we're being thrown this indie lark in lieu of substanstantial plots and jazz.

 

[ddmurph]

jesus i thought elephanty was a load of bollox. i mean i liked the whole thing of none of them being actors and stuff, i thought the main dude with the black hair was good, but i think we're getting to a point where we're being thrown this indie lark in lieu of substanstantial plots and jazz.

i liked the pace of it (which i know pissed a lot of people off) and thought it was well shot. when the shit started happening in the school i thought it worked really well i.e. when the first shot was fired it still managed to be fairly disturbing even though you obviously knew it was coming. also, that shit with the bulimic chicks was pretty fucked up. the stuff about none of em being actors i wasn't too sure of. thought the main guy was good alright and it's a good idea but some of em were fairly brutal. thought the blond guy (the token sensitive type feen) was brutal and came across really contrived. i didn't think it was a great film by any means but thought it had a lot of interesting sides to it at the same time. and it had kawabata makoto on the soundtrack which is always a good thing in my books. having said all that, i heard somewhere today that gus van sant's new film is about kurt cobain's last few days. i can only imagine how horrific (in a bad way) that'll be. so if elephant had any part in leading him to that then i retract everything positive i said about it! (nah, only messing obviously)

 

[Nehamkin]

I enjoy all the bad mouthing of Igby on this page. I have housemates of the teenage college mentality who think that Igby is 'deep'! Elephant I think is a grand movie. My only issue with it was, why did they make the killers gay? Not that homosexuals are less likely to do something more random than hetrosexuals but why tell the audience so late into the film that these two blokes are gay? It kind of implied that their gayness is also a rebellion, or that their shower scene was a completely unorthodox act just like their shooting actions... or, I don't know... I'm not expressing what I mean clearly enough --- probably 'cause I'm drunk... Maybe it was a socilogical point highlighting the aceptance threshold of the teenage culture which is aparently more liberal than the pervious generation. However, I could argue both ways for a long time but I will still say that the knowlege of the killers sexual preference was delayed for a purpose, a purpose which I'm not too certain of.

I'd be interested to hear what others think on this matter........... Is the

 

[ddmurph]

there is the whole thing of whether they were actually gay or not. the reason it was left til so late in the film was cos that was the first time either of em had kissed anyone (i think). maybe that's more what he was getting at (i.e. neither of em ever had a girlfriend and were more or less complete outcasts). not quite sure it added a whole lot to the film though. also, maybe he was getting at something completely different.

 

[steveamanakick]

I got the impression it was just put in to accentuate the motive-lessness of the killing. The black haired guy killed nerds, teachers, blacks, asians, jocks and gays. Wasn't it the blond guy who got into the shower with him, thus making the first move? it might have been unrequited, so he shot him? Like, another string to his bow kinda. Basically he killed everyone who wasn't the "same" as him. Maybe that is a motive actually, better go watch it again...

 

[ddmurph]

Basically he killed everyone who wasn't the "same" as him.

and killed himself! sure had a grudge on his shoulder.

 

[THRILLHO]

Someone I spoke to suggested it was in there deliberately to confuse idiots. "You really think them being gay had anything to do with them killing people? Then you're an idiot. Think their playing violent video games had anything to do with them killing people? Then you're an idiot". I don't know if I subscribe to his theory - this kind of subversion would be understandable from Paul Verhoeven or something, but Gus Van Sant?

 

[eoinbox]

Someone I spoke to suggested it was in there deliberately to confuse idiots. "You really think them being gay had anything to do with them killing people? Then you're an idiot. Think their playing violent video games had anything to do with them killing people? Then you're an idiot". I don't know if I subscribe to his theory - this kind of subversion would be understandable from Paul Verhoeven or something, but Gus Van Sant?

that sounds like it could be on the mark, but i dunno. regardless, its a little bit clichéd, like van sant sticks in the guys being gay as ultimate alienation, presumably on the premise that being gay in high school, lumped in with all the rest of their social dysfunction, leads them to this. when they kiss, its a solidarity thing, but because theyve gone so far, the union is basically void.

eoin

 

[Nehamkin]

Someone I spoke to suggested it was in there deliberately to confuse idiots. "You really think them being gay had anything to do with them killing people? Then you're an idiot. Think their playing violent video games had anything to do with them killing people? Then you're an idiot".

That is silly. I highly doubt a director would point his/her finger at an audience and say, 'think this about the bit in my movie that I failed to explain very well and you're a idiot. But I am not an idiot because I know what they really were thinking because I'm the all powerful, all seeing, all knowing director'
..... nope, nope, nope - I'm not buying that one. I think it will be marked as an unclear point in the narrative. Which is always good because it will have people like us talking about it in pubs, in forums etc. trying to make head or tail out of it.