The Brutalist (Brady Corbet, 2024) • Page 5

I'll be seeing it within the next few days but I'm curious to see how much of the feeling thst the second half is inferior comes from the ability of the intermission to grapple with the first half.

 

What do you mean by that?

 

Typically we get the chance to think about a film when we are leaving the theater after seeing the whole thing. What changes when you are waiting around, thinking about the first half, especially in a film that is as long as two other films? I don't know if it changes perception positively or negatively, but I think it would break up the film in your memory, sort of like how TV episodes felt more distinct when you had to wait for them versus people binging very quickly.

 

I don’t know if I agree the second half isn’t as good.

I started listening to the big picture podcast on this and I did not like the critic they brought on. I agreed with some of his points but he seemed way up his own ass. I also had to stop listening when he started interviewing Corbet.

 

I don’t really think it makes sense to compare halves of a movie, especially this one. It’s the same movie, one story. One half wouldn’t exist without the other - they both contextualize each other. But I guess people are more drawn to seeing the rising action than they are to the consequences.

 

adam nayman?

 

Yes it’s mean pod guy

 

yeah, I’ve never listened to the big picture before so I don’t know if he’s always on it or what but I wasn’t a fan.

 

was just asking bc he’s a semi-regular on the pod. i don’t much care for him either but it’s nice to bring someone on occasionally that thinks about movies in a more academic way than sean and amanda who are just cruising on vibes

 

Yeah he’s on like once every couple of months it seems

 

Nayman is one of the best right now.

 

Man, this really came apart for me in the second act. As others have said, the rape felt like a narrative device being deployed to unambiguously settle any moral quandaries setup in the first act, rather than letting those things play out in a more intriguing, challenging way. Just found it lazy.

I feel similarly about the overdose, as well. Although I understand drug use/addiction was a thread throughout, in the end it just felt like its entire purpose was to provide a definitive resolution to Laszlo and Erzsébet's central conflict, which felt rather cheap/unearned.

Still, what a technical achievement.

 

i want to see this again

 

finally gonna catch this this afternoon.

 

Just watched A Real Pain and find it very confusing how Culkin is the frontrunner for the Oscar and not Pearce

 

Agreed

 

Culkin is fantastic and very natural in the role because he seems to just be playing himself.

 

I kind of hated this? Not what I wanted it to be, but still ultimately glad I saw it.

 

What did you dislike about it?

 

He is an acquired taste. I normally don’t agree with him, but sometimes you gotta have that guy with wild takes and a nerdy voice to shake things up.

 

Just got home from watching The Brutalist and fucking hell what an brilliant and epic film.. bonus points with the intermission though, any film over 3 hours should have an Intermission big time!

 

at the intermission, gonna get some mozzarella sticks

 

yum i got welch's fruit snacks at mine

 

I paid $6 for a white monster during mine

 

I got myself bottle of water during the intermission at my screening