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Saint
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Wed Feb 21st, 2007 02:32 am |
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Miracle Mile
Every so often, I come across a movie that I call, "tragically overlooked." These are my personal favorites. Films like "Near Dark" with lines in them like
"How old are you?"
"Let's put it this way, I fought for the South...we lost."
This is a movie that I guarantee will blindside you. You will literally be on the edge of your seat trying to figure out what will happen next. Here's what another reveiwer posted:
Miracle Mile is unforgettable and quietly devastatingEvery now and then a film will patiently spend time setting up characters, tone and a direction for the story, only to suddenly and brutally twist everything into a completely different genre.
Something which subverts the audience’s whole interpretation of what it is watching - a sudden Brechtian wrenching of perspective.
For example, Psycho (1960) moves startlingly from thriller to horror in the time it takes to pull back a shower curtain.
Theatre patrons in the 60s could not comprehend the sudden death of the main protagonist at the end of the first reel because it tore apart their preconceived notions of cinematic storytelling. In fact, many were convinced Janet Leigh would reappear unharmed later in the film and thought parts of the film were missing when she didn’t.
In its own way, Steve De Jarnatt's Miracle Mile also uses horror as a device to drag the audience away from its comfort zone, but where in Psycho the turning point is a shower, in Miracle Mile it is a wrong number.
The film starts where it ends, the Los Angeles tar pits. Lonely trombone-player Harry Washello (Anthony ‘ER’ Edwards) meets Julie (Mare Winningham), the woman of his dreams, and embarks on a tentative relationship – he meets her grandparents, she sees him play in his band. All seems to be going to plan.
After arranging a meeting for the end of her shift as a waitress at a diner, Harry goes home for a nap, oversleeps and arrives hours late to find his date has given up on him and gone home. Dejected, he buys a paper. Nearby, a payphone rings…
To give away more would be wrong – the film’s strength lies in its constant side-stepping of convention and expectation, and every detail known about the plot will lessen its overall effect.
However, if you can find a copy on DVD (at the moment it is only officially available in America, although there are usually a couple of copies dotted about on eBay), and if you can ignore the extraordinarily dubious 80s clothing and hairstyles, you will be in for an unforgettable and quietly devastating experience.
All of this, and a Tangerine Dream soundtrack! How can you go wrong?
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princess
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Posted: Sat Mar 17th, 2007 03:27 pm |
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| the title sounds interesting., haven't watched this and i wasn't even familiar with it
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labrev
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| Joined: | Fri Jan 5th, 2007 |
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Sun Mar 18th, 2007 05:57 pm |
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| This sounds like a very interesting movie and something that I would really enjoy watching, Im going to have to look this one up on netflix.
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Jess
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Posted: Wed Mar 21st, 2007 05:06 pm |
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| I will have to look into this film as well, most movies that are overlooked are some of the best films.
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Saint
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Tue Feb 19th, 2008 09:48 pm |
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I'm bumping this thread because if you haven't seen this yet, you are stil missing out on what I remember as the single most "Whoa! What the HELL was that?!!" movie I've ever seen.
I'll pump it up with a few more spoilers just to make sure you don't miss this one:
That telephone call? It's a guy in a silo wanting to say goodbye to his Dad because WWIII has just started and everyone only has hours to live.
Was it a prank? Was it real? What would you do? Tell people?
What happens next?!! I'm not telling...watch it. 
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Saint
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Posted: Tue Feb 19th, 2008 09:51 pm |
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It rocks.
Last edited on Tue Feb 19th, 2008 09:52 pm by Saint
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