Jedi Council Forums - "The Road" starring Viggo Mortensen

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Author	Topic: "The Road" starring Viggo Mortensen
Jabbadabbado Title: Senate Floor Manager Registered: Mar '99	Date Posted: 6/3/08 12:51pm Subject: "The Road" starring Viggo Mortensen - Date Edited: 5/12 12:16pm (4 edits total) Edited By: Jabbadabbado
	Cormac McCarthy is the last person I'd have ever expected to write a masterpiece of science fiction. "The Road" is hands down the finest end of the world novel I have ever read. I have read a lot of them. "The Road" has the emotional impact of "On the Beach" combined with the rhetorical genius of "All the Pretty Horses." It is scary, brilliant, moving, anchored by Cormac McCarthy's uncanny ability to write sentences that make grown men weep. If you haven't read it, the easiest way to describe it is Mad Max with all the optimism stripped away. The movie's out in December. -----signature----- "As a Chicago sports fan you get used to disappointment."
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 6/3/08 12:52pm Subject: RE: Viggo Mortensen and "The Road"
	I saw some stills from it, and they looked very interesting.
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Jabbadabbado Title: Senate Floor Manager Registered: Mar '99	Date Posted: 6/3/08 12:57pm Subject: RE: Viggo Mortensen and "The Road"
	Dozens of Pullitzer Prize-winning novels have been more or less completely forgotten. But "The Road" is a genre classic, although of course it completely defies all sense of genre. It's not the kind of book that will spend any time on the sci fi/fantasy shelf. The film adaptation may not be any good. Cormac has been hit or miss on film. "No Country for Old Men" is a gem for the ages. "All the Pretty Horses" was almost unwatchable. -----signature----- "As a Chicago sports fan you get used to disappointment."
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Reynar_Tedros Title: RPF Banner Designer Registered: Jul '06	Date Posted: 6/3/08 8:07pm Subject: RE: Viggo Mortensen and "The Road"
	I read a couple chapters of No Country. Cormac's style doesn't suit my tastes. The lack of quotation marks confuse me to no end.
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Hammurabi Registered: Jan '07	Date Posted: 6/3/08 8:55pm Subject: RE: Viggo Mortensen and "The Road"
	Cormac's writing can be a bit jarring at first, but you get used to it. After reading some of it, it actually starts to flow rather nicely. Anyways, the New York Times ran an article on the film. Supposedly, Kodi Smit-McPhee is very good. -----signature----- i never sleep, 'cause sleep is the cousin of death
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mrsvos Registered: Nov '05	Date Posted: 6/3/08 9:11pm Subject: RE: Viggo Mortensen and "The Road"
	This is gonna be awesome..... -----signature----- It's not so much emotional baggage, as it's a bunch of overstuffed black hefty bags in the trunk of my car.
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Jabbadabbado Title: Senate Floor Manager Registered: Mar '99	Date Posted: 6/5/08 2:06pm Subject: RE: Viggo Mortensen and "The Road"
	No Country for Old Men has been great for McCarthy. Filmmakers can see how visual his storytelling style can be - lots of potential. Now Ridley Scott is directing Blood Meridian. Gladiator meets revisionist Westerns. -----signature----- "As a Chicago sports fan you get used to disappointment."
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 6/17/08 7:51am Subject: RE: Viggo Mortensen and "The Road"
	A December release means a serious film, generally.
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JediTrilobite Registered: Nov '99	Date Posted: 6/18/08 8:55am Subject: RE: Viggo Mortensen and "The Road"
	Honestly, I'm not sure that I'd call this book SciFi - post apocolyptic things are certainly related to the genre, but there's nothing to really indicate Science Fiction here. That being said, I'm very interested to see how this one comes out. No Country for Old Men was fantastic. -----signature----- Ever wonder what happened during the clone wars? Visit: http://www.theclonewarz.net My Blogs: http://www.jeditrilobite.com , http://tk3220.wordpress.com TK-3220, NEG VT Rep
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Jabbadabbado Title: Senate Floor Manager Registered: Mar '99	Date Posted: 6/18/08 9:23am Subject: RE: Viggo Mortensen and "The Road"
	I agree it's not fair to call this science fiction. It fits only in the sense that it depicts a fantastical/future/alternate universe event. Post apocalyptic fiction can be considered its own subgenre, with many great novels. Some of my favorites: Children of Men War of the Worlds Lucifer's Hammer A Canticle for Liebowitz Alas, Babylon On the Beach The Stand -----signature----- "As a Chicago sports fan you get used to disappointment."
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 7/2/08 12:50pm Subject: RE: Viggo Mortensen and "The Road"
	I'm looking forward to it...
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Jabbadabbado Title: Senate Floor Manager Registered: Mar '99	Date Posted: 5/12 12:19pm Subject: "The Road" starring Viggo Mortensen
	Finally, this movie has a new release date in October. AICN linked to an Esquire review which I can say without reservations is one of the best movie reviews I have ever read - it suggests the movie is everything I hoped it could be. http://www.esquire.com/features/movies/the-road-movie-review-0609 Don't see it just because you loved the book. The movie stands alone. Go see it because it's two small people set against the ugly backdrop of the world undone. A story without guarantees. In every moment — even the last one — you'll want to know what happens next, even if you can hardly stand to look. Because The Road is a story about the persistence of love between a father and a son, and in that way it's more like a remake of The Godfather than some echo of I Am Legend. -----signature----- "As a Chicago sports fan you get used to disappointment."
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Darth Dark Helmet Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Dec '99	Date Posted: 5/12 2:04pm Subject: "The Road" starring Viggo Mortensen
	Reynar_Tedros posted: I read a couple chapters of No Country. Cormac's style doesn't suit my tastes. The lack of quotation marks confuse me to no end. It took me about half of No Country for Old Men to used to the style, but once I did, I really enjoyed that book, and The Road. -----signature----- When dealing with genocide, you must ask yourself, "What would Hitler do?" And then, you know, do the opposite.
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darth_frared Registered: Jun '05	Date Posted: 5/12 2:35pm Subject: "The Road" starring Viggo Mortensen
	Zaz posted: A December release means a serious film, generally. it's an amazing amazing book. i would expect the film to be just as deep as it is. it's like the whole apocalyptic drama being taken serious. like 'the day after tomorrow' but well done and with understanding. -----signature----- are you out of your vulcan mind?
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jediknightleia Registered: Aug '02	Date Posted: 5/12 9:44pm Subject: "The Road" starring Viggo Mortensen
	I loved the book and I can't wait for the movie, hopefully it won't disappoint. -----signature----- Second Class Citizen www.postsecret.com SSDD
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Leto II Registered: Jan '00	Date Posted: 5/12 10:48pm Subject: "The Road" starring Viggo Mortensen - Date Edited: 5/12 10:52pm (3 edits total) Edited By: Leto II
	Read that Esquire review, and it'll take a brave filmmaker to retain the feel of this book intact. Hopefully Hillcoat is that guy. Matching up this material with his direction and Nick Cave's music was a golden idea. It was the first book in years that stuck with me for days. Cold, depressing, bleak, gets worse in every chapter...I loved it. Sparse dialogue and a bleak palette, punctuated with shocking action. Inescapable ending. You think the Joker was crazy, nihilistic, and evil? Wait till you meet the Judge. But I will say why McCarthy's books worked for me. Many of his characters seem to fit a more symbolic nature, representing and personifying certain beliefs and ideas: Anton Chigurh representing a kind of Darwinian Evil; the Judge representing the evil nature of humankind as a gestalt; the Kid from Blood Meridian representing a young America with a moral code, but still very violent; Sheriff Ed Tom Bell representing a nostalgia and a belief in a code that never existed; the boy and his father in The Road representing the civilized family-unit, etc. Because of this, McCarthy's endings are not so much based on plot as they are about the eternal nature of those personifications. Anton Chigurh lives because the evil he represents is still with us, and will always be with us; Ed Tom Bell never captures Chigurh because civilization cannot destroy his type of evil, and it's an illusion to think that it can; the father dies, but his son lives on because, despite everyone's worst fears, there still is a little civilization and compassion left in the world; and Judge Holden kills the kid in the outhouse and goes back to dancing, because the dance of violence will always continue. These characters and the books represent larger themes than just "the bad guy looking for money" or "Western white men versus Indians." Also, I can't see Blood Meridian getting made as written -- it's just too brutal and nihilistic. And a compromised adaptation of McCarthy only leads to the theatrical cut of All the Pretty Horses. -----signature----- "If there's one thing I hate, it's losing. If there's TWO things I hate, it's losing and getting cancer." - Kenny Powers
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