Bad Education

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Has anyone seen it yet? I'm going tonight. What's the verdict?

― leigh (leigh), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 06:26 (twenty-two years ago)

what it is

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 06:29 (twenty-two years ago)

the new almodovar. which by most accounts is terrific--actually, all accounts that i've read.

it's opened in the uk already?

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 06:46 (twenty-two years ago)

oh ya whats it about?!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 06:47 (twenty-two years ago)

its a bit too much like an almodovar manifesto (without knowing very much about almodovar). or rather, it just has this feeling of him going "look! abusive priests! travsvestites! gay film directors! geddit!!!!!!!!!!!!!". a sort of amalgam of loads of his other films, but its layed on a bit strong. that said, it was in spanish and although i understood about 40/50%, i didnt get hardly any of the jokes for example, so that reduced my enjoyment a lot.

the plot is a bit too convoluted, again maybe thats my language problem contributing to that.
basically, its a lot like his other films, all mashed into one, but taken a bit far.

― ambrose (ambrose), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 06:58 (twenty-two years ago)

but i would probably see it in english and i would probably enjoy it a lot more. dont want to put anyone off seeing it!

― ambrose (ambrose), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 06:59 (twenty-two years ago)

"the plot is a bit too convoluted"

this is one thing i like about almodovar, stubbornly returning to his intricate soap-opera plots when most arthouse directors are paring down to the point of diminishing returns (twentynine palms, etc.) his obsessive doublings--the neatness of it all--bothers people but i think he does it with a rare panache.

i'm looking forward to this one.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 07:04 (twenty-two years ago)

nice poster:

http://216.168.37.61/posteritati/jpg/B4/BAD%20EDUCATION%20SP.jpg

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 07:30 (twenty-two years ago)

i kinda liked it. the plot wasn't so much convoluted as boring. not very much actually happens, it just happens in so many layers of flashback and films-within-films that it gets a bit messy. what i enjoyed most was slowly realising that it's basically his film noir! except it's gay. drag queens doing the blackmailing etc. and instead of being dark and moody, it's all bright pink and gold and in the sunshine the whole time.

― pete b. (pete b.), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 08:11 (twenty-two years ago)

it's good. it's not a masterpiece, but it's definitely worth seeing. i liked it more than any of his others that i've seen (= his previous 3 films).

― toby (tsg20), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 08:19 (twenty-two years ago)

the bit where the kid is singing in front of all the priests was pretty cool.

― ambrose (ambrose), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 08:39 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm off tonight, since it was sold out last week. Let you know.

― Pete (Pete), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 08:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Weird. I'm kind of surprised it's got such glowing reviews. Or maybe I was appreciating the wrong thing in his last few films. I don't mean that facetiously - I am really wondering it. The action was so sketchy and layered that I found it really hard to engage with. Part of it was just me being thick - I spent a lot of the time, esp. early on, working out which layer was being portrayed (it took me ages to just get into my head which character was which). Once the Juan revelation came, it was all a bit more straightforward, but still, it didn't affect me half as much as 'Live Flesh' or 'All About My Mother'. Maybe I just missed the women, though wow Juan was hot (not in a dress, really, just as he was).

The end 'this is what happened to them all' bits were a real "OK, I need some time for that to sink in" experience. I think I need to see it again.

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 27 May 2004 23:10 (twenty-two years ago)

is juan the guy who is dating natalie portman?

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 27 May 2004 23:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, proabably. I hate him.

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 27 May 2004 23:15 (twenty-two years ago)

He also looks like the guy out of Sons & Daughters, indie fans.

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 27 May 2004 23:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Father Evil was just terrific, incidentally.

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 27 May 2004 23:25 (twenty-two years ago)

why do you hate him?

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 27 May 2004 23:26 (twenty-two years ago)

It was just a flippant reply to the inevitability of finding out that he's going out with someone like Natalie Portman.

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 27 May 2004 23:40 (twenty-two years ago)

i approve, it's like the natural order of the universe revealing itself. two impossibly beautiful people find each other, etc.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 27 May 2004 23:42 (twenty-two years ago)

According to a letter in today's Guardian Friday Review, Bradshaw mixed up the two lead characters all the way through his review last week..

― N. (nickdastoor), Friday, 28 May 2004 13:54 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought it was astonishing. This is the first AlmoDOvar (thanks RJG) film I've seen and now I'll wolf down the others.

― cozen (Cozen), Friday, 4 June 2004 15:50 (twenty-two years ago)

(no prob (thanks cathy)).

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 4 June 2004 17:26 (twenty-two years ago)

I walked up sauchiehall street practising it.

― cozen (Cozen), Friday, 4 June 2004 17:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm considering whether it would be proper to make the V a B, but I'm contenting myself with just getting the stress in the right place, for fear of sounding a ponce.

It's a good film, but I enjoyed Talk To Her and All About My Mother more. The first and last two minutes were my favourite bits. I just told my sister over the phone to go and see it, and she said "isn't it about bumming?"

― Cathy (Cathy), Friday, 4 June 2004 17:36 (twenty-two years ago)

he has a very inquisitive camera. everything which passes in front of it is treated with such curious attention that it's quite disarming for someone so judgemental (me); especially at a time when trying to eschew judgement in favour of unresting question (me).

― cozen (Cozen), Friday, 4 June 2004 17:41 (twenty-two years ago)

graceful ~~yet~~ and glossy.

― cozen (Cozen), Friday, 4 June 2004 17:41 (twenty-two years ago)

she has confused it with 'the adventures of baron munchausen'.

crosspost x2

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 4 June 2004 17:43 (twenty-two years ago)

and 'bumfights'.

― cozen (Cozen), Friday, 4 June 2004 17:45 (twenty-two years ago)

ally confused me, with 'bumfights'.

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 4 June 2004 17:46 (twenty-two years ago)

did you see it yet, amateur!st?

― cozen (Cozen), Friday, 4 June 2004 19:22 (twenty-two years ago)

no, it hasn't opened here yet.

AlmoDOvar (thanks RJG)

well, there should be an accent over the second "o," so the stress would be clear....

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 4 June 2004 19:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Unresting question is judgement, surely, because it demands continual answers and answers are always judged?

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Friday, 4 June 2004 19:34 (twenty-two years ago)

answers are for discussing.

― cozen (Cozen), Friday, 4 June 2004 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

That depends how the questions are phrased.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Friday, 4 June 2004 19:40 (twenty-two years ago)

('unresting question' = me discussing the world with the world.)

― cozen (Cozen), Friday, 4 June 2004 19:43 (twenty-two years ago)

(Ah. Very different then.)

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Friday, 4 June 2004 19:46 (twenty-two years ago)

uh.

― cozen (Cozen), Friday, 4 June 2004 19:58 (twenty-two years ago)

'Discussing' and 'questioning' being very different. Interrogation, innit.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Friday, 4 June 2004 20:07 (twenty-two years ago)

it was amazing, this movie!!!! i loved it!!!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 7 June 2004 15:08 (twenty-two years ago)

possibly the best-looking non-technicolor colour film i have ever seen!!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 7 June 2004 15:09 (twenty-two years ago)

i loved the 1001 nights-style plot-within-the-plot-within-the-plot stuff!! brilliant!!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 7 June 2004 15:09 (twenty-two years ago)

"bad education makes for good entertainin'1"

― gene shalixor (slutsky), Monday, 7 June 2004 15:10 (twenty-two years ago)

(where 1=!)

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 7 June 2004 15:10 (twenty-two years ago)

I haven't seen any of pedro's other films--does he rely/play, so heavily, on cliche, normally?

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 7 June 2004 15:12 (twenty-two years ago)

i do not like any of his films but haven't seen this one. They tend to be either cliche ridden or dull dull dull.

― jed_ (jed), Monday, 7 June 2004 15:14 (twenty-two years ago)

what do you mean rjg, like the camp/melodrama stuff?

(if so then yes)

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 7 June 2004 15:15 (twenty-two years ago)

i thought they way the movie went noir was pretty fucking excellent

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 7 June 2004 15:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I can't really remember, now, what I want to mean but I recall coming out of the film, almost with a list of cliches or riffs on cliches. I always forget to take a pen, with me.

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 7 June 2004 15:19 (twenty-two years ago)

got to see this

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 7 June 2004 17:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh I never came back to this. A fantastic diversion, plenty fun - not a heart wrenching as the last two which is probably a good thing after considering it. Me likee a lot.

― Pete (Pete), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 08:55 (twenty-two years ago)

five months pass...

(one of the) best film(s) released this year?

― adam... (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 20:36 (twenty-one years ago)

whatever

― adam... (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 20:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Looking back, it wasn't really very good.

― Cathy (Cathy), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 21:33 (twenty-one years ago)

No, it was brilliant.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 21:37 (twenty-one years ago)

It reminded me a bit of Happiness, in that I didn't really like them both in the same way.

I don't think Bad Education had enough jokes.

― Cathy (Cathy), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 21:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Do you dislike humanity?

― adam... (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 21:44 (twenty-one years ago)

i wish i had seen this just so i could hate it.

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 21:47 (twenty-one years ago)

oh go away you

― adam... (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 21:47 (twenty-one years ago)

It was great. I think more people responded to "Talk to Her" because of the "high art" thrust that the Pina Bausch component put in, and because that film was less ferociously gay than this one. But this is one is still excellent. It's weird to me how carefully balanced he is able to make his soap opera plots: he can take you somewhere that looks pretty much like a totally self-indulgent porn fantasy (the tranny gets the hottest guy in the room, etc.) and then can flip the valence of why that happened plot-wise in a way that is pretty darkly critical of certain strands of gay sexuality (the exploitive director who blatantly enforces casting couch fucking, the open question of whether abuse happened or not etc.).

― Drew Daniel (Drew Daniel), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 21:48 (twenty-one years ago)

the poster is good, yeah.

― RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I still think it was good, yes.

― cºzen (Cozen), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:07 (twenty-one years ago)

This is out in SF already? ... Oh, I get it now.

― Sanjay McDougal (jaymc), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:09 (twenty-one years ago)

I saw it on a plane between London and San Francisco. That and Tokyo Godfathers and Grand Theft Parsons.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:17 (twenty-one years ago)

You're kidding -- they played it on a plane?!

― Sanjay McDougal (jaymc), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:19 (twenty-one years ago)

(Drew saw it, too, so I figured it must be in the area.)

― Sanjay McDougal (jaymc), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Drew is a jetsetter, like me. I once saw him, on the stage of a grand London theatre, playing that game where you pull the straws out of a box.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:24 (twenty-one years ago)

And yes - they played it on a plane!

― adam... (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:24 (twenty-one years ago)

I saw him in Chicago once. Banging on some sort of cage.

― Sanjay McDougal (jaymc), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe that wasn't him.

― Sanjay McDougal (jaymc), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:27 (twenty-one years ago)

To read our anecdotes, you'd think he was a bit mental...

― adam... (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:27 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought they were good. Notoriously, my wife did not enjoy it.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:29 (twenty-one years ago)

I did see it on a plane. And it was kinda awkward as it gets way raunchy. And there was some glitchy problem with the DVD cable so the film (which is visually so lush and gorgeous) kept dissolving into nasty blocky digi-garbage from time to time. I sure do hate those digital glitches, yknow . . .

― Drew Daniel (Drew Daniel), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I didn't know who they were at the time. They were opening for someone else. I will continue speaking of him as if he didn't just post.

― Sanjay McDougal (jaymc), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I think he heard you that time.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Minneapolis is getting this one really really late in the game, it would seem. I don't see it opening before the turn of the year. Damned Landmark Theaters and their devotion to What the Bleep Do We Know?!?!

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Haha! That has been playing in Berkeley for EVER. What IS it?!

― adam... (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:43 (twenty-one years ago)

It's been exposed as new-age propaganda, anyway!

― Sanjay McDougal (jaymc), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:44 (twenty-one years ago)

That would explain the whole Berkeley street-teamer thing.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:45 (twenty-one years ago)

It's My Big Fat Humanities Term Paper, best I can tell.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:48 (twenty-one years ago)

it's a cult-funded new age hijack of multiple, mutually incompatible paraphrases of scientific ideas smothered in trippy CGI graphics and Scientology info-mercial-esque "enactments"

― Drew Daniel (Drew Daniel), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Sounds dreadful.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 23:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I've been told by people who hate it that it's the type of film that's impossible to describe without inadvertantly making it sound far better than it really is. (So bad it's good, et al.)

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 00:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Fuck platform release patterns (especially those hunting for Oscar buzz)! This movie won't be opening in Minneapolis until January fucking 21st! I can't believe I'll have seen Tropical Malady over two months earlier than Bad Education.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Thursday, 2 December 2004 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Positive Education Always Corrects Error.

Undeniably.

― Rumpy Pumpkin (rumpypumpkin), Thursday, 2 December 2004 16:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't even find info on when it's being released in Chicago.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 2 December 2004 16:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Cathy is right.

The trailer is brilliant.

You know the bit at the end - 'and he just carried on making films with the same passion' - is it a quotation from something else?

Another quite disappointing one is Law of Desire.

― Puddin'Head Miller (PJ Miller), Thursday, 2 December 2004 22:25 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not the biggest PA fan, but I liked this a LOT more than Talk To Her (maybe cuz of the Vertigo vibe). And I didn't mind mostly figuring out who did what to Ignacio early, cuz it wasn't the point.

"Moon River" moment, awesome. And I hope the DVD has 90 extra mins of Bernal doing push-ups.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 2 December 2004 22:33 (twenty-one years ago)

amazing movie. best of the year.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 2 December 2004 22:40 (twenty-one years ago)

I think I agree!

― adam... (nordicskilla), Thursday, 2 December 2004 22:49 (twenty-one years ago)

possible contender: the incredibles (i liked it so much!)

(i like colourful movies, i guess)

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 2 December 2004 22:50 (twenty-one years ago)

if its got push ups in it i might check it out.

― jed_ (jed), Thursday, 2 December 2004 22:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Jed, how many of his films have you seen and hated?

― adam... (nordicskilla), Thursday, 2 December 2004 22:53 (twenty-one years ago)

hated-matador, high heels, women on verge.
bored by - Live flesh

thats it.

― jed_ (jed), Thursday, 2 December 2004 22:55 (twenty-one years ago)

and one with that guy who went out with melanie griffifths for a bit - he was a rapist in it.

― jed_ (jed), Thursday, 2 December 2004 22:57 (twenty-one years ago)

that was rubbish.

― jed_ (jed), Thursday, 2 December 2004 22:57 (twenty-one years ago)

three weeks pass...

I liked it but not nearly as much as I was hoping to. I am going to let it settle now. I still don't understand why people think that Diego Luna is hotter than Gael Garcia Bernal, wow.

― jaymc (jaymc), Sunday, 26 December 2004 23:27 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm starting to like the title a lot too. bad education! haha!

― cºzen (Cozen), Sunday, 26 December 2004 23:34 (twenty-one years ago)

four weeks pass...

good, not great. liked his last two a lot more. the relationships felt kinda crudely articulate, somehow.

― m. (mitchlnw), Sunday, 23 January 2005 21:02 (twenty-one years ago)

articulated.

― m. (mitchlnw), Sunday, 23 January 2005 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.