So Friday, the guys and I went over 2009 movie The Road, starring Vigo Mortensen and the color grey.
The actual discussion starts at 27:20 and when it cuts to the Hangouts graphic, you can skip to the next one. We've still got a few things to work out. The first thing you see on them should be the bit where we talk about the movie, but we're still kind of desperate for the Google Hangouts On Air thing to work so we're taking what we can get. It's an ongoing process. I'm sending out the invitations early this week so that maybe it'll be easier for the guys to get into the hangout and we can do just that.
Derek eventually called me out on both liking the movie and damning it for its lack of focus, message, character arc, and structured narrative elements. The best I could figure is that it's less a traditional story and more like The Hobbit (with the lack of message, endearing characters, focused plot, and character arcs). The Road comes across as more of a roleplaying supplement that showcases a fantasy world than a traditional story.
I'd be interested in playing a game in this world or telling a story in it. I'm not interested in two hours of watching people slowly die in this world.
Judging from the second map shot, you can deduce they're just north of Corpus Christi. I'm not sure if there's a boardwalk in Corpus Christi though. Texas also has a series of barrier islands which means you can't really follow the coast south to Mexico easily.
Josh also mentioned prions and he and Derek both brought up how two characters didn't have any thumbs.
The prion thing is a replicating, misfolded protein that can travel between organisms. It's not a virus or a bacteria or a cancer; it's a communicable, physical defect. They're cool as hell and scary as fuck. However, like most diseases only some people have them, so someone infected or with a latent version of the defect would have to be eaten or have some other contact with the new victim. It's suspected that in Papua New Guinea, it was spread to those preparing a body for burial.
In terms of the thumbs, opinion was split on that. The book said a few things about communes, so a few people implied that they were signs that those folks mutilated themselves or were mutilated to leave a commune. Some suggested that they escaped from manacles they were put in by cannibals. Others suggested that they were so hungry that they ate their own thumbs.
I'm believing that since the movie doesn't provide that context, the only use of the thumbs is to link the thief (a pretty good guy) with "the soldier" who takes in the boy at the end. That makes me think the ending is good. I was 70/30 on that before it began, but I'm coming in at 95/5 now that the guys pointed it out to me.
I'm eager to watch The Last Stand this week because The Road, partially because of its flaws, is really something I could turn over forever with the possibilities implied by its vagueness. I believe Arnold can cleanse my movie palette and I'm eager for him to do so.
The link for Friday's Hangout on Google+ is right here.
Or, you can watch it live below.
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