tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post6545182934669560660..comments2023-11-27T00:05:29.054-05:00Comments on Medfly Quarantine: Writing Politics: The Ghost WriterRyan Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054550377681273142noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-50809503421764893152011-11-21T09:08:57.023-05:002011-11-21T09:08:57.023-05:00Great review. After reading the finest detail abou...Great review. After reading the finest detail about this movie I am curious to watch this movie. I will look out for a DVD or search for this movie online to watch it soon. Thanks for this great write up.<br /><a href="http://www.film.fm/movie/the-ghost-writer-2010-8478" rel="nofollow">The Ghost Writer Online</a>Ameliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13421810816339571070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-82278332125406866842010-05-18T14:19:53.055-04:002010-05-18T14:19:53.055-04:00Seeing your comment made me realize "Oh, snap...Seeing your comment made me realize "Oh, snap, I have a blog! Where I write... stuff..." Thanks for the reminder!Ryan Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18054550377681273142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-91915642002633292302010-05-17T19:10:09.117-04:002010-05-17T19:10:09.117-04:00I'm tired of seeing this post. Put up a new o...I'm tired of seeing this post. Put up a new one. NOW!Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05730146625671701859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-82522721438399252342010-04-18T15:26:38.009-04:002010-04-18T15:26:38.009-04:00It is an interesting conundrum that a director who...It is an interesting conundrum that a director whose reputation is defined by the rape of a woman, and a young girl at that, puts forth an incredibly sensitive and nuanced portrait of women in his films. His portrait of women would be fascinating and dynamic divorced from his act, but it's hard for me to divorce that he did perhaps the most hateful and misogynist thing a man could do to a woman, yet has such an intimate understanding of them. <br /><br />It is very fitting that the ghost is never named, though I think McGregor fleshes out the character and makes him more than just an audience surrogate. And it makes his ultimate fate all the more fitting.Ryan Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18054550377681273142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-41647671770874776932010-04-18T09:53:51.208-04:002010-04-18T09:53:51.208-04:00I just caught this film yesterday, and I don't...I just caught this film yesterday, and I don't hesitate to call it the best film I've seen this year (which is not to damn it with faint praise). Olivia Williams really steals the picture, and Kim Catrall is not bad either which goes to show Polanski's acute regard for women and their sensibilities in all of his films (REPULSION is a great example).<br /><br />It took my reading your review to realize that the writer never is actually named, is he? That is especially appropriate considering the subtext and how it applies to Polanski's own life (which I intend to address in my own review later); and ironic considering how often we hear his late predecessor's name, Mike McAra.Tony Dayoubhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04632329277519635858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-47046889559765044092010-03-30T18:48:00.877-04:002010-03-30T18:48:00.877-04:00Adam, great call on the comparison to Lady Macbeth...Adam, great call on the comparison to Lady Macbeth! Though thankfully the film doesn't ram any Shakesperean evocations down your throat, which is not to say that they're not there.Ryan Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18054550377681273142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-24870828296102680862010-03-30T18:47:29.351-04:002010-03-30T18:47:29.351-04:00Marilyn, I honestly think the film offers some of ...Marilyn, I honestly think the film offers some of the only sane discourse on this subject that I've ever seen. With <i>The Ghost Writer</i> it's not so much fiction trumping reality as it is channeling reality into fiction.Ryan Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18054550377681273142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-76722609625238136972010-03-29T18:28:26.410-04:002010-03-29T18:28:26.410-04:00So glad you loved the film as much as I did, Ryan....So glad you loved the film as much as I did, Ryan. I'm just about talked-out concerning <i>The Ghost Writer</i> by now, but your exhaustive analysis is nothing short of a winner. Nice catch there on <i>The Killing</i>, too. The ending originally reminded me of Michael Douglas' typewriter pages flying all over the place in Curtis Hanson's <i>Wonder Boys</i>, but the comparison to Kubrick is far more appropriate indeed. So, probably, is the theme. The Ghost's death is just as unfortunate as Sterling Hayden's last words: "Ehh, what's the point?"<br /><br />Marilyn, I assure you that this movie is not a mishmash of tired political jargon. When I saw the trailers, I was worried at first- they made the film look like something out of a mediocre John Grisham treatment (can anyone guess that I'm not a Grisham fan?). But as the film rolls along, it becomes something so absorbing, so mystifying and... ghostly. I can't think of a better way to sum it up at the moment.<br /><br />Also, not that it's one of Polanski's trademarks or anything, but I JUST NOW realized how similar Olivia Williams' character is to Lady Macbeth. Wow...Adam Zanziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-2660444649499637942010-03-29T16:05:52.135-04:002010-03-29T16:05:52.135-04:00It's not the airport novel thing. It's the...It's not the airport novel thing. It's the whole Faux News/image making/style over substance life the U.S. has descending into. Polanski has an outsider status, so he may be able to bring something new to the table, but really, can fiction trump reality -teabaggers, Tiller the Baby Killer, Sarah Palin/Tina Fey, etc.Marilynhttp://www.ferdyonfilms.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-71795712400818442062010-03-29T11:40:39.198-04:002010-03-29T11:40:39.198-04:00Marilyn, I cannot recommend the film enough. The o...Marilyn, I cannot recommend the film enough. The only negative reviews I've seen typically brought it up for being a too distanced from the characters aesthetically, but I don't think the film loses its power for it. Rather, I think it's a grand extrapolation of that scene in Rosemary's Baby where he places the camera just outside the room where she's on the phone (the shot that reportedly caused a test audience to lean in unison in an attempt to see around the corner). It's the distance that, perversely, draws us in, because it sparks curiosity and apprehension.Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078001374402400232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-8040844105176532472010-03-29T11:20:44.258-04:002010-03-29T11:20:44.258-04:00Marilyn, I forget where I read this, but someone w...Marilyn, I forget where I read this, but someone wrote that <i>The Ghost Writer</i> is "the best adaptation of an airport novel ever filmed", or something along those lines. That's about right, I think. So don't let the source material turn you off, because I think Polanski does something really special with it.Ryan Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18054550377681273142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-16695391874704827442010-03-29T11:19:55.187-04:002010-03-29T11:19:55.187-04:00Jake, there's always at least something notewo...Jake, there's always at least something noteworthy about Polanski's films, so yes, see more! I need to catch up on some of his earlier stuff, myself.<br /><br />I love the way you describe it as "captivating, funny, gently unsettling and thought provoking", because the most remarkable thing about the movie, to me, is the way it goes to such dark thematic places yet never feels oppressively dour or cynical (like <i>Michael Clayton</i> felt to me, though I do like that movie). It balances being dark and light-hearted with a perfect ease.<br /><br />And Rob, that took me a little out of the movie at first as well, but I think it's perfectly in line with the film's good natured spirit.Ryan Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18054550377681273142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-75049763256917076382010-03-29T10:55:44.955-04:002010-03-29T10:55:44.955-04:00Ryan, wonderful review of a film that has been get...Ryan, wonderful review of a film that has been getting a lot of mixed verdicts. I always think Polanski films are worth seeing - I don't think I've <i>ever</i> been disappointed. I have to admit that the subject matter of this one doesn't really interest me because I've been living the real thing for decades. But I'll most likely see it because of Polanski.Marilynhttp://www.ferdyonfilms.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-2367849481010161692010-03-29T02:11:27.787-04:002010-03-29T02:11:27.787-04:00Jake, I thought the film was awesomely bookended a...Jake, I thought the film was awesomely bookended as well. The manifestation of the title in the end struck me as a bit cheesy (I think a cut to black amidst all that fluttering would have been much more devastating), but the hold on that angle of the street is a kicker, and the opening image of that ship is among the more psychologically intimidating to grace the screen in some time (doesn't the screen just swell in those opening moments?). Awesome pic, Jake. Toshiro Mifune is the shit.rob humanickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03393593631883026810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-12904540608014607642010-03-29T00:13:36.203-04:002010-03-29T00:13:36.203-04:00I've been beating the drum for this film for t...I've been beating the drum for this film for two weeks now and I'll keep beating it until the damn skin bursts. It's reminded me that I need to really watch the rest of Polanski's films, because I consider all the ones I've seen to be at least near-masterpieces. I haven't seen such arresting bookend shots in quite some time, and everything in-between is just as captivating, funny, gently unsettling and thought-provoking. And here I've been these last two weeks wondering if I <i>under</i>rated it.Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078001374402400232noreply@blogger.com