August Rush

[fight4thefuture]

Has anyone here seen the movie August Rush?

I never really had a favorite movie before--not anything that compared to my adoration for The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged--until I saw this.

Synopsis:

There's music in the wind and sky. Can you hear it? And there's hope. Can you feel it? The boy called August Rush can. The music mysteriously draws him, penniless and alone, to New York City in a quest to find--somehow, someway--the parents separated from him years earlier. And along the way he may also find the musical genius hidden within him.

Experience the magic of this rhapsodic epic of the heart starring Freddie Highmore (as August), Keri Russel, Johnathan Rhys Meyers, Terrence Howard and Robin Williams. "I believe in music the way some people believe in fairy tales," August says. Open your heart and listen. You'll believe, too.

Edited May 2, 2008 by Julian

[Brant Gaede]

If you like this movie you might try an old James Cagney movie, City for (of?) Conquest. I don't know if it's available on DVD.

--Brant

[jordanz]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I, however, thought it was awful. I wrote about it here (http://jordanzimmerman.livejournal.com/9473.html) after I saw it.

[Brant Gaede]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I, however, thought it was awful. I wrote about it here (http://jordanzimmerman.livejournal.com/9473.html) after I saw it.

Couldn't find it. Do you have another link (and please set it off so I can click on it)? There are many movies I like that can be severely and legitimately critized because sometimes I focus on parts or aspects I like and ignore or suppress what I don't. In the case of the Cagney movie, which I assume you are referring to but ain't sure, I don't like where the Cagney character ended up at the end.

--Brant

[fight4thefuture]

Hey guys,

I checked the site and couldn't find it either. I would be interested in hearing what you have to say though, Jordan.

There are many movies I like that can be severely and legitimately criticized because sometimes I focus on parts or aspects I like and ignore or suppress what I don't.

I do this sometimes, too. For instance, I really liked Atonement. It may be tragic, but it had to be to show how destructive deceit is to human life. The author doesn't think having them die in the book would be uplifting, so she changes the ending to give them the justice and life together that they so desperately wanted and deserved.

[jordanz]

Hmm - I see it there. Anyway, here it is:

August Rush

What an awful confection. This was the movie equivalent of a vegan pastry. It looks pretty but when eaten causes violent indigestion. Rotten Tomatoes comes to the rescue with some choice reviews: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/august_rush/

• An aggressively bad movie.
  
• Cloying, annoying, and absurd. And that doesn't even include Robin Williams.
  
• Exuberantly bad and strenuously preposterous.
  
• If sentimentality were a cymbal, it'd be like having a percussionist standing right behind you and crashing every other beat.
  
• Pandering to the point of offensive.
  
• Saying August Rush is contrived is like saying that, in terms of continents, Asia is pretty big.
  

[Brant Gaede]

Hmm - I see it there. Anyway, here it is:

August Rush

What an awful confection. This was the movie equivalent of a vegan pastry. It looks pretty but when eaten causes violent indigestion. Rotten Tomatoes comes to the rescue with some choice reviews: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/august_rush/

• An aggressively bad movie.
  
• Cloying, annoying, and absurd. And that doesn't even include Robin Williams.
  
• Exuberantly bad and strenuously preposterous.
  
• If sentimentality were a cymbal, it'd be like having a percussionist standing right behind you and crashing every other beat.
  
• Pandering to the point of offensive.
  
• Saying August Rush is contrived is like saying that, in terms of continents, Asia is pretty big.

Did you like it?

--Brant

[Guyau]

Julian, thanks for the heads-up on August Rush.

We really enjoyed the following film. It is a fantasy in the combined level of talents it gives the boy, but that is all right—just go with it—most pleasing.

Vitus (2007)

Synopsis (from “Rotten Tomatoes”)

“In this engaging drama from Switzerland, a child prodigy finds a unique way of dealing with being different. Vitus is no normal child. With a 180 IQ, a voracious appetite for knowledge, and a preternatural gift at playing the piano, he finds it hard to fit in with his peers. Like many parents of exceptional children, his mother and father (Julika Jenkins and Urs Jucker) are overbearing, eager to see their child succeed. But as his parents push and fellow children jeer, Vitus's grandfather (Bruno Ganz, THE DOWNFALL) simply allows the boy to be himself. . . . As the 12-year-old Vitus, Teo Gheorghiu, himself a piano prodigy, heightens the sense of realism in the film. The classic music he plays is beautiful, and the actor's playing itself is remarkable. Audiences used to seeing hand doubles in films about musicians will be pleasantly surprised to see that there aren't any cuts, displaying Gheorghiu's incredible talent. Veteran actor Ganz has literally played everything from an angel to Hitler in his decades-long career, and he's wonderful here as Vitus's warm grandfather and best friend. As a result of great performances like these, it's easy to see why VITUS was the Swiss entry to the Oscars.”

[fight4thefuture]

What an awful confection. This was the movie equivalent of a vegan pastry. It looks pretty but when eaten causes violent indigestion. Rotten Tomatoes comes to the rescue with some choice reviews: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/august_rush/

• An aggressively bad movie.
  
• Cloying, annoying, and absurd. And that doesn't even include Robin Williams.
  
• Exuberantly bad and strenuously preposterous.
  
• If sentimentality were a cymbal, it'd be like having a percussionist standing right behind you and crashing every other beat.
  
• Pandering to the point of offensive.
  
• Saying August Rush is contrived is like saying that, in terms of continents, Asia is pretty big.
  

I am having trouble drawing specific criticisms from the generalizations you provided. Absurd in what respect? Pandering to whom?

I guess I should explain why I like it first before asking you to further elaborate. I particularly loved the movie's sense of life. It was the same sense of life I experienced while reading Rand's work. It was like an overture to joy. August Rush never doubts himself for one second, even when other people do. He does not understand why the other orphans hate him, and he does not really care. He has no perception of evil or suffering, which sometimes gets him into dangerous situations; this is only a matter of maturity though. Robin William's character tries to piggyback on August's talent for awhile, but August eventually realizes the danger he is in and escapes to perform an eye-opening symphony for the PhilHarmonic in Central Park. I know there is much more to a movie than just plot and characterization, but I am not an experienced art critic, and I would not know what I was talking about. I just know that I enjoyed the movie as a whole.

Did you have a problem with August's overriding goal to be reunited with his parents? I consider this to be the movie's greatest achievement. It ventures into waters Ayn Rand did not even attempt to cross. It presents an ideal family, one united not by blood, but by their love of music.

Edited May 10, 2008 by Julian

[Brant Gaede]

You tell him, Julian! You've made me interested enough in the movie to see it, but not in a theater.

--Brant