Dirty Movie Club: Joe Versus the Volcano

[Strangelet]

The Movie
It was really really hard to pick a movie. After some thought I went with Joe Versus the Volcano. It came out in 1990 and stars tom hanks, meg ryan, and a bunch of other people.

The Synopsis
Yes its a romantic comedy starring tom hanks and meg ryan. it also happens to play on neitszchian existentialism, french new wave cinema, and fritz lang. or maybe not.


Why I Chose it
I was all set to drop the Igmar Bergman's Seventh Seal bomb or Truffaut's Jules And Jim or Easy Rider or some other movie that everyone agrees is pure genius but I figure the discussion that would follow would more or less involve everyone saying "wow! pure genius! ". Not that this wouldn't be fun. God knows I love those movies and would talk anyone's ear off about them.

No, this movie will definitely make for interesting discussion because half of y'all will love it , and half of y'all will want to kill me for your wasted two hours of life.


hopefully more of the former, not so many of the latter

[GreenPea]

Is saw this movie already, prolly need to rewatch it to refresh my memory. I remember it being okay... Glad you didn't chose The Seventh Seal as I own that one, you'll be making it too easy.

[matt]

this was on over christmas here - it's one of those films that i've definitely seen bits of but can't actually remember if i've ever watched the whole thing.

will definitely try & check it out.

and nice one for choosing an interesting film that probably will divide opinon rather than one everyone slavers over...

[ultradave]

I love this movie. Seen many moons ago and I also own the DVD. Meg Ryan plays 3 roles in this movie which is pretty cool - a brunette, a red head, and a blonde...


now playing: Waiting In Vain (Ambient Dub) - Bob Marley

[Tom]

Excellent choice. I'll rent this tonight and post thoughts over the weekend

[dubman]

yeah, i'll rent it tonight.
i need to get "rules of attraction" out of my head. movies based on bret easton ellis books, however much i like them, tend to deaden the nerves and make you feel ugly about an assortment of things.

[kid cue]

i finally finished watching this today. it took about 4 separate viewings because i kept falling asleep (not because i was bored, but because i've only been able to put it on at really late hours).

i really really liked it -- the first half hour was like Brazil meets Ikiru meets Sleepless In Seattle (or some other Tom Hanks romantic comedy). and i was impressed that the film kept up its wry/meta tone to the very end. it was the only thing that made the big mortality theme convincing, especially given the genre it was twisting up.

i loved the implications of the three Meg Ryans, as if there was nothing necessarily special about the blonde one--Joe could've easily fallen in love with someone else, if only he'd opened his eyes.

finally, i actually thought the island sequence clinched the preceding hour or so. when it came it was suddenly hurtling towards the end of the film, and even though we'd been expecting these scenes all along, they felt dreamlike, like an expressionistic portrayal of the shortness of life. i loved that the camera never dwelled on either the island weirdos or the burgenoning love b/n those two. it kept the focus on Joe's impending 'death' and made one question whether it (what we saw of his life & relationships in the film so far) had all been worth it.

oh, and i thought the part with the giant moon was pretty moving. anyway, thanks for the rec, what a strange & wonderful film.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

I have not been able to get a copy of ANY of the three up for viewing.

I am in hell.

Did you guys set this up like this on purpose? ;>)

[patrick]

i watched this one this past weekend, and like most others liked it...

i loved the start with the whole hating work thing. the visuals and whole gag with the flouresent lights are something most can relate to in terms of how we actually percieve work sometimes i bet. also get a new humurous take on living your life like you are going to die the next day...

then the end was super cheesy and i got a bit bored then, but still watchable because of the good parts (tom hanks on the raft the first time around )

[Tom]

I saw this a while ago now but forgot to post loller.

I actually enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. I dunno. I think it's meg ryan. The thought of watching a movie with her in it makes me groan, but once I'm watching, I kinda like her.

I agree with those saying the first half of the film was great. I could have watched more of the same for the duration of the film quite happily.