The Adjustment Bureau - March 4 2011
- Thread starter meta-agnostic
- Start date
Hey Puck, there is an existing thread on the movie: http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=22014.0
perhaps a mod could merge. Personally I liked Matt better as Bourne. This movie wasn't my cup of tea.
perhaps a mod could merge. Personally I liked Matt better as Bourne. This movie wasn't my cup of tea.
luke wilson
The Living Force
Well I just saw the movie and I mainly agree with Puck's review. This is an interesting movie to watch. It is not as good as the matrix or the bourne movies but nonetheless, it is wonderful entertainment and gets you thinking. I personally liked the love story, I liked the commitment he showed to her. I think it was admirable. However, one aspect that I didnt particularly like about the story between Elise and David was that the movie only portrayed it from David's point of view, not from her, however, it might be unresonable to expect a movie to go so much into depth.
Spoiler
This plus other aspects of the plot, where things arent explained perfectly make it an imperfect movie but all this put together doesnt take away from the main point of the movie. So because of that, I thought it was a very good watch. From a different angle, it could be propaganda to manipulate the audience into thinking that, organisations such as the adjustment bureau are good at heart etc etc To me, it portrayed aspects of 4D and atleast there powers compared to ours. How they can see us, see into our minds, see our life plans to some extent, control us, how easy it is to make you miss something, eg, simply by making you pour your cup of coffee. To me these were very interesting parts of the movie. Puts things into perspective. Also despite the power that the bureu possessed, they clearly didnt run the world. I mean, chance kept showing up every now and again to spoil things so to me this showed they were not God and Angels, in the sense of all-powerful beings. I have it that the chairman is just jehovah, the clown, in charge because we are STS and he happens to be king bee up there in 4D STS land incharge of planet earth and making sure the plan they have for us reaches its desired conclusion. That is what I took them to be.
I highly recommend it! Give it a solid 7/10.
Spoiler
This plus other aspects of the plot, where things arent explained perfectly make it an imperfect movie but all this put together doesnt take away from the main point of the movie. So because of that, I thought it was a very good watch. From a different angle, it could be propaganda to manipulate the audience into thinking that, organisations such as the adjustment bureau are good at heart etc etc To me, it portrayed aspects of 4D and atleast there powers compared to ours. How they can see us, see into our minds, see our life plans to some extent, control us, how easy it is to make you miss something, eg, simply by making you pour your cup of coffee. To me these were very interesting parts of the movie. Puts things into perspective. Also despite the power that the bureu possessed, they clearly didnt run the world. I mean, chance kept showing up every now and again to spoil things so to me this showed they were not God and Angels, in the sense of all-powerful beings. I have it that the chairman is just jehovah, the clown, in charge because we are STS and he happens to be king bee up there in 4D STS land incharge of planet earth and making sure the plan they have for us reaches its desired conclusion. That is what I took them to be.
I highly recommend it! Give it a solid 7/10.
meta-agnostic
Jedi Master
I still haven't seen this and after the reviews, not sure if I will bother to in the theater or not.
I read the short story called "Adjustment Team" recently. It was available online here _https://docs.google.com/View?id=dd7gqs2f_1v3g9vqgk a week or so ago but now when I go there it asks me to log in.
It's supposed to be in the public domain anyhow.
Like most PKD adaptations, it's a relatively brief core idea and the film seems to have extrapolated in all sorts of directions. I don't think the STS elements are a foregone conclusion based on the story. Probably as usual the Hollywood machine has added these elements.
I read the short story called "Adjustment Team" recently. It was available online here _https://docs.google.com/View?id=dd7gqs2f_1v3g9vqgk a week or so ago but now when I go there it asks me to log in.
It's supposed to be in the public domain anyhow.Like most PKD adaptations, it's a relatively brief core idea and the film seems to have extrapolated in all sorts of directions. I don't think the STS elements are a foregone conclusion based on the story. Probably as usual the Hollywood machine has added these elements.
Puck said:
Agreed, Puck. Nice review. I think the problem with some people is that they over-analyze the living hell out of everything. Can't you just see a movie for fun without thinking somebody is trying to corrupt you or brainwash you? What happened to just having fun and enjoying yourself? As far as the plot.....
......if you believe that the bureau are 'angels' and the chairman is 'god,' then you will definitely hate this movie. I, however, enjoyed the open plot and feel that many different scenarios could be taking place behind the scenes. The ambiguous references left the viewer to come to his/her own conclusion(s). I hate love stories in movies, but this one was watchable. Matt Damon is a great actor, and the girl who played Elise was just naturally beautiful and alluring. Definitely a bit odd and unconventional for a lead love-interest. If they would have cast Reece Witherspoon or Sandra Bullock I would have never watched this movie. As far as the ending, predictable, yes.......but a nice message without being mushy. I give it a thumbs-up and will buy it when it comes out on DVD.
Sonrisa
Jedi
I agree with Puck and Whovian- i found the movie very entertaining and thought-provoking. I also really liked the love story between David and Elise - it was heart-felt, even though the characters were not equally well-developed. I think the actions of the members of the adjustment bureau were definitely STS. But their actions were so blatantly evil/ manipulative (most of the time) that it really makes one think about events in our own lives. Was that "the adjustment bureau" that made my horse knock me down that day and break my arm, or was it chance? Very, very thought-provoking movie. I liked it!
Divide by Zero
The Living Force
Woodsman said:
Whovian,
I understand that the writers/director did not intend to brainwash with this movie. However, the C's did explain that there are higher manipulations of creativity which influence it's direction. The quoted session is in this post:
http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=11824.msg84425#msg84425
Also, society as it is influences all of us, including the writers. This manifests in media as a spin, in this case the biggest spin seems to be that these higher powers that control the world are doing it for "our good", even if it violates free will.
Are you asking people to enjoy absolutely anything, no matter how not enjoyable it is to them? You don't apply the same unreasonable standard to yourself - you said you "hate" love stories in movies, so why do you hate them, what happened to just "having fun and enjoying yourself"?whovian said:
As for over-analyzing, the argument could be easily reversed. Perhaps you're the one over-analyzing and trying to embellish the positives and ignore the blatant negatives. Maybe you're seeing an single edible banana in a pile of garbage and decide that it must not be a pile of garbage after all?
...What happened to just having fun and enjoying yourself? Why the double standard? You're expecting others to do this, while being so selective in your entertainment yourself. If you liked the movie, great, but making pathological arguments that those who didn't like it have something "wrong" with them, is just wrong.whovian said:
Masamune
Jedi Council Member
I just saw this movie tonight and I really liked it. I agree with others that some major things were off like the adjustment bureau doing these manipulations for the good of humanity but I think it did a good job in presenting some hidden aspects of our reality. It presents a good idea of how the general law works in people's lives to keep them in line with what they are "supposed" to do and when they deviate all types of high strangeness occurs. I liked the romance in the movie even if the female character was not highly developed. Its an interesting idea that bringing two polar beings together would be very dangerous to the control system because then they could no longer be manipulated by A influences like becoming the next president or the most popular dancer.
It did a good job of portraying humans as having no free will, acting mechanically to fulfill the wishes of their hyperdimensional controllers and that it takes super efforts to break free of the system and gain free will. I guess I can see how there could be some beneficial effects of these agents because it teaches humans how to develop into more conscious beings, gaining their own free will. When the lovers finally were united the level of attack fell off but of course in real life it would not end at that point.
I missed a few parts of the movie but overall I think it was pretty good and would recommend seeing it. It stimulated some interesting conversation with those I watched it with.
It did a good job of portraying humans as having no free will, acting mechanically to fulfill the wishes of their hyperdimensional controllers and that it takes super efforts to break free of the system and gain free will. I guess I can see how there could be some beneficial effects of these agents because it teaches humans how to develop into more conscious beings, gaining their own free will. When the lovers finally were united the level of attack fell off but of course in real life it would not end at that point.
I missed a few parts of the movie but overall I think it was pretty good and would recommend seeing it. It stimulated some interesting conversation with those I watched it with.
Zadius Sky
The Living Force
I watched this film yesterday (via rented).
I've enjoyed it. I think this film did an okay job in presenting our reality, dynamics of our lives, and an illusion of free will (and agree with previous comments). It was mainly interesting to see these MIH (Men-in-Hats) making sure that certain individuals are doing as according to "The Plan," especially the one who is a politician (thus gives a suggestive of politicians being puppets of higher powers, well duh, not the first movie on this).
The one scene that interests me was where David and Elise is at a restaurant and MIH guys were trying to make several changes to avoid having David and Elise to experience their "Kiss." I was half-expecting a sense of "Déjà vu" to show up in this scene (where a change in program occur) but what happened was these "obstacles" was placed on them, to instill an increased "sense of urgency" in both of them as a result of the changes, to "nudge" them to go to their "fixed" directions.
Like others, I'm not too crazy about the ending.
Indeed, the door thing was very cool.
I've enjoyed it. I think this film did an okay job in presenting our reality, dynamics of our lives, and an illusion of free will (and agree with previous comments). It was mainly interesting to see these MIH (Men-in-Hats) making sure that certain individuals are doing as according to "The Plan," especially the one who is a politician (thus gives a suggestive of politicians being puppets of higher powers, well duh, not the first movie on this).
The one scene that interests me was where David and Elise is at a restaurant and MIH guys were trying to make several changes to avoid having David and Elise to experience their "Kiss." I was half-expecting a sense of "Déjà vu" to show up in this scene (where a change in program occur) but what happened was these "obstacles" was placed on them, to instill an increased "sense of urgency" in both of them as a result of the changes, to "nudge" them to go to their "fixed" directions.
Like others, I'm not too crazy about the ending.
Indeed, the door thing was very cool.
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