The Official "gravida" reaction thread

[SoloAJ]

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Solo,

you gave me a Moline address

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I'll be getting it the end of this month then when my dad comes down to visit me at school. I didn't even think about the fact that I wouldn't be home for another month or so when I ordered. Looking forward to it though!

[pryor15]

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where the heck has Pryor been, anyway??

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festival submitting
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i was in a play
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some temp work
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writing next script
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new girlfriend
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less time on internets

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get your priorities straight, Dude.

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right. sorry about that

[SoloAJ]

All right, so I finally got Gravida this last weekend from my hometown. I got around to watching it for the first time tonight. I really can't stress how much I enjoyed Gravida on many levels. There's really probably not a good way to write out the next couple paragraphs without it seeming like I'm just being nice or something, but whatever.

As I said, the thing that I enjoyed the most about the film was the subtle (sometimes not subtle enough) elements to it. Things that I loved after watching the movie --and I realize some of these were discussed here, but I hadn't really read those posts until after watching the movie and forming my own thoughts...

--The cut out picture was really good. I made the connection and I thought that it was wonderfully done in the scene because she just conveniently glances over it (as if to not to have to start thinking about it at the moment). Yet, he really doesn't realize the implications of it until well after the film is over.

--From the second that she threw away(?) the delivery, the tone was set for me not to like her actions throughout the rest of the film. She does a lot of questionable things throughout, obviously!, and I wasn't too fond of her because of that.

That said, it made the character all the much more effective for me. It really showed her despair with her situation...that sort of hopelessness, "Oh, she's in a pretty bad spot to resort to this." I didn't like the character's choices, but I understand sort of where she was coming from because of the tone set in the opening sequences.

--I liked the not drinking the wine part. On some level it seemed sort of .too. obvious. I began to wonder if he realized what was going on (in terms of the wine). She was filling his glass like mad but she, presumably, never filled hers once. The male lead seemed relatively grounded so it surprised me that something like that would slip by him. I don't know why I thought about it, and it didn't really 'bother' me, but it was something of note.

--The bathroom scene wasn't shot in a way that made me particularly fond of it...but it worked really well for me (This seems like a paradox, I'm aware). I think that her pulling away and running to the bathroom was probably more effective than spilling some red wine on her shirt....

==Pryor, am I making a connection that isn't there? Or was that "Question of Motivation" thread somehow influential on this movie? If so, I am going to pretend that on some teeny tiny level I offered some inspiration for Gravida via that thread, since my post in that thread seems to somewhat parallel parts of Gravida [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Don't break my heart, tell me your idea from that thread led into this movie on some level???==

I thought both performances were good to great. They both were good enough, anyway, to engage me in the movie and I definitely understand what the one critic said about pulling you in and leaving you out at the same time. I think a lot of this was the performances given, not just our trust director's choices. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I, for one, really thought the crying part was powerful and not all that forced. Shrug.

I can elaborate on my thoughts more, as if this post isn't long enough. But I definitely am glad I got the chance to see this, and actually regret not having donated some money or something when it would have counted. I might buy one of your teeshirts more to serve as that donation, rather than buying it JUST to walk around with your name on my chest.

[pryor15]

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I really can't stress how much I enjoyed Gravida on many levels.

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sweet.

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--From the second that she threw away(?) the delivery, the tone was set for me not to like her actions throughout the rest of the film. She does a lot of questionable things throughout, obviously!, and I wasn't too fond of her because of that.

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yeah, the delivery is really a borderline evil, manipulative thing for her to do, almost like something out of a soap opera or a classic villain move or whatever. so, it's something of a clue, i guess, that not everything she does in the film will be something you can automatically get behind. the trick is doing that w/o making her a bad person.

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That said, it made the character all the much more effective for me. It really showed her despair with her situation...that sort of hopelessness, "Oh, she's in a pretty bad spot to resort to this." I didn't like the character's choices, but I understand sort of where she was coming from because of the tone set in the opening sequences.

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like that.

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--I liked the not drinking the wine part. On some level it seemed sort of .too. obvious. I began to wonder if he realized what was going on (in terms of the wine). She was filling his glass like mad but she, presumably, never filled hers once. The male lead seemed relatively grounded so it surprised me that something like that would slip by him.

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i know whenever i'm drinking lots of wine, i tend not to notice how much the other person drinks, which is probably where that comes from. whether or not it's a "mistake", well...maybe

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--The bathroom scene wasn't shot in a way that made me particularly fond of it...but it worked really well for me (This seems like a paradox, I'm aware). I think that her pulling away and running to the bathroom was probably more effective than spilling some red wine on her shirt....

==Pryor, am I making a connection that isn't there? Or was that "Question of Motivation" thread somehow influential on this movie? If so, I am going to pretend that on some teeny tiny level I offered some inspiration for Gravida via that thread, since my post in that thread seems to somewhat parallel parts of Gravida [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Don't break my heart, tell me your idea from that thread led into this movie on some level???==

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yeah, you're totally right. that earlier thread came from an early draft of gravida where it was a red wine stain on a shirt.

the whole film is built around that shot from behind of her topless and the big question was how to get someone in a highly emotional state in that situation. there were a ton of versions of the plot before we got to that one

but, yeah, your input in that thread was pretty valuable in the early stages.

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But I definitely am glad I got the chance to see this, and actually regret not having donated some money or something when it would have counted. I might buy one of your teeshirts more to serve as that donation, rather than buying it JUST to walk around with your name on my chest.

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the tshirts are way cool and very comfortable. and a bargain too!

[SoloAJ]

I'm going to have some people I know watch it, and probably try to pry something out of them. Maybe they can give you some of that negative feedback you seem to be lacking [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

I wouldn't expect so though.

[Enrique]

I just ordered it, I'll give you my thoughts when I get the movie.

[pryor15]

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I just ordered it, I'll give you my thoughts when I get the movie.

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awesome. i'll get it shipped to you by the end of the week

merci

[pryor15]

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I'm going to have some people I know watch it, and probably try to pry something out of them. Maybe they can give you some of that negative feedback you seem to be lacking [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

I wouldn't expect so though.

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cool, i'd be interested to hear their thoughts on it.

[SoloAJ]

I had my father and stepmother watch it around midnight Friday night. My stepmother is notorious for falling asleep during movies. Her only comment of the entire film was at the end when she was sniffling....my stepmother jostled and then said, "Is she crying because she lost the baby?" Haha...uhhh no.

My dad said that he wasn't really entertained by it. I discussed with him the things I liked and he kept a good dialogue going about noticing those things. He seems to have seen the same movie as me, but he just much prefers entertaining comedy/action/drama more than something you sit there and think about later.

I much prefer the "come away with something from the film" approach. He said that he liked the writing and some of the devices used in the movie, but wasn't fond of the acting. He said that if the intro wasn't there and it had started in the office, it had a "porno feel" to it.

His favorite shot in the movie was them sitting on the couch with the two wine glasses placed in front of them. When he mentioned that it reminded me of my favorite shot, the opening sequence hallway shot. So white and desolate. It looks like an entirely different apartment later in the film when the guy comes over.

Re: My dad being weird, don't shoot the messenger. I loved your damn film.

[pryor15]

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My dad said that he wasn't really entertained by it. I discussed with him the things I liked and he kept a good dialogue going about noticing those things. He seems to have seen the same movie as me, but he just much prefers entertaining comedy/action/drama more than something you sit there and think about later.

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yeah, i imagine that's the audience member we'll have the most trouble with, the kind who's looking more for entertainment from their cinema than something "artsy".

i don't know that everyone will find it entertaining, but my greater hope is that they find it interesting.
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He said that he liked the writing and some of the devices used in the movie, but wasn't fond of the acting. He said that if the intro wasn't there and it had started in the office, it had a "porno feel" to it.

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he's not the first person to make the porn connection with the office scene, and i don't disagree with him. that's by far my least favorite part of the film. i'd like to rationalize it away by saying we didn't have enough time or money or whatever, but bottom line it could be better. (but it's a lot better than the first edit of it...yikes)
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His favorite shot in the movie was them sitting on the couch with the two wine glasses placed in front of them. When he mentioned that it reminded me of my favorite shot, the opening sequence hallway shot. So white and desolate. It looks like an entirely different apartment later in the film when the guy comes over.

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it's funny that you're not the first person to really respond to that shot. it took forever to get and i was never sure during filming that it was even going to work (and i'm pretty sure the crew thought it was a bad idea). hell, i almost cut it at one point in editing.

i wanted the cat to just sit there, but they weren't feeling that, so i had to find a point where they weren't moving all that much and slow it way down.

that candle light does wonders for a place, huh?

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Re: My dad being weird, don't shoot the messenger. I loved your damn film.

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awesome