The Wild Bunch

[maggie2]

I've started a project of watching all of the films on the AFI top 100 list, because I'm the weird sort of person who loves ticking off items on a list.  Sometimes it's labor.  Sometimes it's a lot of fun.  My last effort -- The Wild Bunch, a violent western by Sam Peckinpah -- was mostly labor.  Until the last half hour when it was smashingly brilliant and made the whole thing worthwhile.   I once dated a very brilliant guy whose policy is to decide within the first ten minutes if it's worth staying for a movie, and leaving if the answer is no.   There are many times when that's the right policy. Maybe even most of the time.   But you do miss some spectacular stuff doing things that way, and I guess for me it's worth paying the price of sitting through some unredeemable schlock to not miss those pieces.that only come together in a mad audacious rush at the end.  

Comments

[local-max.livejournal.com]

A post after my own heart. This might be sad, but I've seen 99 of the AFI's 100 (their recent list)--I still haven't convinced myself to try Intolerance.

I remember really enjoying The Wild Bunch, but I was about 14 at the time. But yes, that ending. Holy smokes.

And I agree about the season eight connection. And I think there's a LOT of Whedonian precedent for "those pieces.that only come together in a mad audacious rush at the end"--like "Innocence" for season two, or "Man on the Street" for season one of Dollhouse (or, for a lesser example the "blood" montage at the end of "The Gift").

[angearia.livejournal.com]

I think that's a good policy with movies, but a bad policy with a television season that has self-contained arcs all building towards a bigger picture.

I think that's a good idea for a short story, but a bad idea for an epic novel.

I think that's a good enough idea for a short comic arc (4 issues perhaps), but a bad idea for a comic spanning 4 years.

My stance: it's a flawed concept for this medium and style of story, its flaws further compounded by Joss-is-busy-in-Hollywood syndrome.

I know, I'm negative. I'll go squee about the church scene in Beneath You. When Joss is present, he's on fire. When he's not there to juggle all the balls, the balls fall down.

Here's the thing: I'm the person who has never walked out of a movie. So I'd disagree with the ex who decided in 10 minutes to walk out. One of my favorite movies of all time is Gone With The Wind. Looong. I love classic movies, too. Hell, I just love movies period. From slapstick to classic to historical period pieces.

This isn't about impatience. Impatience means I would have stopped reading early on. So I disagree with the analogy that that's what I in particular am doing. Nor am I walking out. But Season 8 isn't a movie, it's a season of comic-television with episodes. And a season with a lot of messed up episodes and plot holes and confusion isn't good.

I hesitated in even posting this because I feel like I'm harshing your intellectually patient squee.

[norwie2010.livejournal.com]

Anecdote time: i just remembered the first time i saw "the wild bunch" on italian cable tv (in a shoddy hotel room, many years ago) - and the italian translation was really an adaption, including new and cheesy music, slow motion and brand new, sappy dialogues. I remember thinking "that was the worst western i ever watched".

Some time later i watched the original and was, just like you, blown away! Some simple changes and the end of an otherwise great work was awful!

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

My Wild Bunch story:

My little brother and I went to the local theater one Saturday for the usual Disney matinee. We were primed for The Over the Hill Gang, starring Walter Brennan. Um, whoops? Needless to say, we didn't even make it through the opening massacre. I still don't understand how we were let into the theater. This was in the days before multiplexes, understand, so it was the only movie playing.

My only point is that expectations have a big effect on how you see things. Oh, and ratings are there for a reason.