It's hard to bring Hunter to life in a movie. It's actually impossible. I would love to see a really good movie about the hells Angels, but I just don't think it could be done. Gilliam did what he could with this, but he has a directing style that make all his work look like a Terry Gillian movie. 12 monkeys looked like Brazil. This movie looks like Brazil. The other thing is that Johnny Depp should not be allowed to play anybody that he admires. He should never play. Keith Richards, for example. Likes it too much. His Hunter was too much for me. It reminded me of Matt Dylan playing bukowski in Factotum. Hell some of it reminded me of Mickey Roarke playing Hank in barfly. The meat of the story was about the juxtaposition of the weird things they were doing with the extraordinarily conservative atmosphere of the convention. But enough of my grumbling. I'm always happy to see someone take the time to do a thorough review.
Johnny Depp definitely admired Hunter S. Thompson, and apparently paid for his $3 million funeral, which included firing his ashes from a cannon. Physically Depp did a lot to mimic Hunter's speech patterns and mannerisms, and it's all very impressive.
It's pretty difficult to see a movie based on a book that you've already read. The movie is not likely to live up to the images or the voice that gets created while reading. That's why I prefer to watch the movie first, then read the book. These are the one's I've loved so far:
J, I know what you mean about Depp's portrayal of Hunter. But equally, I don't think I can imagine anyone else playing him either. Maybe Christian Bale or Gary Oldman, because they're such great character actors, but that's all I got, haha. Thanks for your comments!
Oh this is great. Never seen the movie, but read the book. I really like Art A. mentioning "Thompson describes Gonzo Journalism as “a style of ‘reporting’ based on William Faulkner’s idea that the best fiction is far more true than any kind of journalism." ...love this! And your conclusion: "...you have to take personal responsibility for yourself." If only more people....
One day I'll watch Dead Poet's and write that review!
Thanks Patrick! Re: William Faulkner—Yes, it makes sense that when someone feels free to express themselves fully, as when writing fiction, some real truths will be revealed. And obviously journalism is always biased reporting, so it naturally limits and constrains the truth to some extent. What's your most truthful OUTCASTING post? 😉 Leave a link below:
Hey thanks! Ohhhhhh that's a tough question as I like to copy what my English professor said Vladimir Nabokov did in Lolita: create an untrustworthy narrator. (And this professor definitely had to explain it to me, I didn't pick up on it at the time.) So lots of the stuff I do attempts to mix enough fabrications in with the truth as to create lots of (hopefully helpful) questions. Kind of like the X-Files! All Lies Lead to the Truth. Anyway, for real truth, it would be this one (and seasonally appropriate!):
That's a great, funny post from OUTCASTING! Thanks for sharing your experience with holiday novelty towels 🤗.
"All Lies Lead to the Truth" certainly rings true, since one simply has to flip a lie to see its opposite, which is probably something closer to the truth. And when it comes to government and politicians, there is a very high chance that whatever they are saying is false. So that's a bit of a guide.
But to be fair, it's probably hard for anyone to share the "real truth." We even lie to ourselves! This was the thesis from one of the Guest Writers on "moviewise," Andrew Heard from TV's Moral Philosophy, who wrote about it in reference to my favorite movie of all time, "Back to the Future":
It's hard to bring Hunter to life in a movie. It's actually impossible. I would love to see a really good movie about the hells Angels, but I just don't think it could be done. Gilliam did what he could with this, but he has a directing style that make all his work look like a Terry Gillian movie. 12 monkeys looked like Brazil. This movie looks like Brazil. The other thing is that Johnny Depp should not be allowed to play anybody that he admires. He should never play. Keith Richards, for example. Likes it too much. His Hunter was too much for me. It reminded me of Matt Dylan playing bukowski in Factotum. Hell some of it reminded me of Mickey Roarke playing Hank in barfly. The meat of the story was about the juxtaposition of the weird things they were doing with the extraordinarily conservative atmosphere of the convention. But enough of my grumbling. I'm always happy to see someone take the time to do a thorough review.
Johnny Depp definitely admired Hunter S. Thompson, and apparently paid for his $3 million funeral, which included firing his ashes from a cannon. Physically Depp did a lot to mimic Hunter's speech patterns and mannerisms, and it's all very impressive.
It's pretty difficult to see a movie based on a book that you've already read. The movie is not likely to live up to the images or the voice that gets created while reading. That's why I prefer to watch the movie first, then read the book. These are the one's I've loved so far:
https://moviewise.substack.com/p/great-movies-based-on-books
J, I know what you mean about Depp's portrayal of Hunter. But equally, I don't think I can imagine anyone else playing him either. Maybe Christian Bale or Gary Oldman, because they're such great character actors, but that's all I got, haha. Thanks for your comments!
Oh this is great. Never seen the movie, but read the book. I really like Art A. mentioning "Thompson describes Gonzo Journalism as “a style of ‘reporting’ based on William Faulkner’s idea that the best fiction is far more true than any kind of journalism." ...love this! And your conclusion: "...you have to take personal responsibility for yourself." If only more people....
One day I'll watch Dead Poet's and write that review!
Thanks Patrick! Re: William Faulkner—Yes, it makes sense that when someone feels free to express themselves fully, as when writing fiction, some real truths will be revealed. And obviously journalism is always biased reporting, so it naturally limits and constrains the truth to some extent. What's your most truthful OUTCASTING post? 😉 Leave a link below:
Hey thanks! Ohhhhhh that's a tough question as I like to copy what my English professor said Vladimir Nabokov did in Lolita: create an untrustworthy narrator. (And this professor definitely had to explain it to me, I didn't pick up on it at the time.) So lots of the stuff I do attempts to mix enough fabrications in with the truth as to create lots of (hopefully helpful) questions. Kind of like the X-Files! All Lies Lead to the Truth. Anyway, for real truth, it would be this one (and seasonally appropriate!):
https://outcasting.substack.com/p/third-party-candidates
That's a great, funny post from OUTCASTING! Thanks for sharing your experience with holiday novelty towels 🤗.
"All Lies Lead to the Truth" certainly rings true, since one simply has to flip a lie to see its opposite, which is probably something closer to the truth. And when it comes to government and politicians, there is a very high chance that whatever they are saying is false. So that's a bit of a guide.
But to be fair, it's probably hard for anyone to share the "real truth." We even lie to ourselves! This was the thesis from one of the Guest Writers on "moviewise," Andrew Heard from TV's Moral Philosophy, who wrote about it in reference to my favorite movie of all time, "Back to the Future":
https://moviewise.substack.com/p/the-best-time-traveling-movie-of
Thanks Patrick, appreciate your kind words!
Well-done. Well-said. Wise. Kudos.
Thank you so much Mary 🤗