The Fountain (Aronofsky, 2006)

[X.]

The bad news is that you’re going to have to wait longer to bask in the glory that is Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain, the best movie of this year, hands down. The good news is that the film has been moved from a wasteland October release date to a prime November 22 – the movie is getting a Thanksgiving berth and is being placed in prime Oscar territory.

[kaytee]

Thats not bad news mate, thats good news. Shows that the studios think it is a good movie with good performances. The trailer was visually stunning.

[shariqq]

Has anyone seen Pi here? Thoughts...

[animatedude]

Has anyone seen Pi here? Thoughts...

i did.and it's one of the few great films that i wish if someone would remake with better special effects and better everything.it would be the best movie of all time.

[madali]

I loved Pi, but didn't like Requiem for a Dream at all, so I'm so-and-so on this.

[shariqq]

You didn't like Requiem for a Dream coz you didn't understand it, or don't want to pretend you understood it (like most of us), or because you actually understood it?

[ozzylogic]

I LOVED REQUIEM FOR A DREAM! (I sound like a groupie, sorry)

I so loved it. It was so touching. It was SO strong. It fucked my head up, and scared the shit outta me. Like Fizz said to me before I popped it in, it should be shown in colleges to discourage drug abuse. And my display, along with Clint Mansel's haunting music reminds me of the flick

[captainhowdy]

I loved Pi, but didn't like Requiem for a Dream at all, so I'm so-and-so on this.

My sentiments exactly. I didnt like REQUIEM either and I "don't want to pretend I understood it" either!

[madali]

I didn't like Requiem because it was manipulative garbage, dealing with the same drug problems,  but in a more hip, edgy way.

On the other hand, I loved Pi, because it was a visual/audio mania, focusing on fucking mysteries of pi! It's like a movie younger David Lynch would have done if he was a math nerd, and Jew.

[fizz]

Pi has interesting ideas lying somewhere, unexplored within its screenplay, which is more interested in exploring personal madness, when instead it sets up a stage shrouded in curiosity. I thought the whole thing was a bit 'off', especially the ending. Nothing like Requiem, a technical, cerebral mind job of a movie dealing with a wealth of emotions.

Contrary to what everyone says, RFAD is not about drugs. It is about addiction. Both are related, yes, but the film knows which trail to pursue and is all the better because of it.

[shariqq]

I didn't like Requiem because it was manipulative garbage, dealing with the same drug problems,  but in a more hip, edgy way.

hip, edgy way yes - but very original and hard-hitting in the way it's done.

Fizz: I never thought of it that way, it indeed is about addiction. Wonderful pin-point.

[shariqq]

Pi has interesting ideas lying somewhere, unexplored within its screenplay, which is more interested in exploring personal madness, when instead it sets up a stage shrouded in curiosity. I thought the whole thing was a bit 'off', especially the ending.

I loved Pi, because it was a visual/audio mania, focusing on fucking mysteries of pi! It's like a movie younger David Lynch would have done if he was a math nerd, and Jew.

Just got off this wreck-ride. Pi is good in the sense of havoc it creates in the viewer. I loved the way Aronofsky works the visuals of the movie. With more money, he made a far superior RfaD, but thankfully stuck to his 'style'. But I was a little bit dissapointed for the same reason fizz was. It should have explored more of the obsession & madness, or indulged more (if in fantasy) on the numericalization of the universe. The movie ends up doing less of both. And that is where RfaD succeeds - it follows the characters deterioration all through to their destructions.

I didn't understand the ending of Pi though. Unless I am supposed learn from Max (the protagonist) that "Once You Understand, It Is Better To Not". So maybe I do understand: I am not supposed to understand it at all!

Anticipation for The Fountain grows.

[X.]

I've finally got my hands on the rare, out-of-print hardcover of “The Fountain” graphic novel by Kent Williams.

[kaytee]

THE FOUNTAIN TO MAKE NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE AT TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

The Fountain, from Warner Bros. Pictures, will make its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Visionary director Darren Aronofsky’s (PI, Requiem for a Dream) sci-fi fantasy film will be screened as a special presentation on Tuesday, September, 12, 2006.

The Fountain stars Tony Award winner Hugh Jackman (the X-Men franchise, Broadway’s The Boy From Oz), and Academy Award winners Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener, The Mummy films) and Ellen Burstyn (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Requiem for a Dream) in an odyssey about one man’s eternal struggle to save the woman he loves. His epic journey begins in 16th-century Spain, where conquistador Tomas commences his search for the Fountain of Youth, the legendary entity believed to grant immortality. As modern-day scientist Tommy Creo, he desperately struggles to find a cure for the cancer that is killing his beloved wife, Isabel. Traveling through deep space as a 26th-century astronaut, Tom begins to grasp the mysteries that have consumed him for a millennium. The three stories converge into one truth, as the Thomas of all periods—warrior, scientist, and explorer—comes to terms with life, love, death and rebirth.

Warner Bros. Pictures and Regency Enterprises Present, a Protozoa Pictures / New Regency Production of a film by Darren Aronofsky; The Fountain, starring Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz and Ellen Burstyn.

The film is written and directed by Darren Aronofsky, from a story by Aronofsky & Ari Handel.

[cinemaster]

I'm going to see THE FOUNTAIN next week at a German festival, two days before it is shown at TIFF in a 'special presentation' (seems they didn't think it's  worth a 'gala presentation' with all the press hype and masses of fans ).

Anyway looking forward to this as I'm a big fan of Aronofsky's previous works, two remarkable films named before in this thread.

Anyway if you are interested in a first review NOW ... check this page ...