Saturday 12 March 2011

A-Z #54 Crash

You can pick up hundreds of DVD's for a round-pound each - it doesn't matter. Its never about quantity, its about quality. A-Z is my way of going through my collection, from A-Z, and understanding why I own the films ... or you can tell me why I should sell 'em




#54 - Crash

Why did I buy it?
 
I had been desperate to see it ever since my younger brother Graham was raving about it - he had struck gold on one of his 'blind-cinema' viewings (he didn't wear a blindfold, he simply visited the cinema and randomly chooses a film he knows nothing about...). He constantly stated how incredible it is and when I saw the trailer I was especially interested - LA, ensemble-cast, socially relevant themes of racism and societal-problems... seemed especially good. It was inevitably that I, to paraphrase Cheadle, 'crash' into this film and see what it was all about.
 
Why do I still own it?

I won't lie - I am glad this won over Brokeback Mountain. Brokeback Mountain is a good film: it breaks boundaries in releasing such a mainstream film about such a contentious issue, it looked epic and sweeing in its romance and context. In fact, Brokeback Mountain is a great film. But Crash was not the favourite in the Oscars that year. Brokeback Mountain  was - and it was up against Spielberg's Munich, Clooney's Good Night and Good Luck, whilst the fifth nominee was Hoffman playing Capote. All the other films are much more Oscar-baiting (does that work?) than Crash. I like how it won and it beat all the odds. I like how a film with a Travis song on the closing credits won Best Picture. This is a film that is not a force to be reckoned with - its not 4-hours worth of Ben-Hur and Gone with the Wind. It is not the epic scale of Amadeus or Gandhi - so important because of who these people are in history. It is not huge-pans across large countries - New Zealand in The Return of the King or Texas in No Country for Old Men. Its not particularly profound - its just a bloody good film.

Should I sell it though?

Possibly on the basis that there is a better edition out ... should I upgrade is the proper question...

Large Association of Movie Blogs

4 comments:

  1. I had this one but sold it back in the summer for more shelf space.

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  2. Wow. Thats harsh. This is surely a keeper. Oscar winning and an easy-watch. Some incredible stuff here - I assume you don't like it!

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  3. Actually I do like it, but not enough to keep it while shelf space is at a premium. It was a combination of not *loving* it, and a low rewatchibility factor.

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  4. low rewatchablity??? I think its really easy-going. One of those crowd pleasers which may generate a little racism-discussion post-viewing.

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