Inherent Vice

[JectWon]

Just seent 2 nights ago. Definitely enjoyed the ride. I've read the book twice (the second read was in preparation for the movie).

Making a Pynchon book into a movie is a tall order and, because of that, I had my worries that this movie might suck. A lot of my concerns were put to ease quickly. Once I saw Sortilege as the narrator and heard Can's 'Vitamin C' as the intro tune to play in the movie title shot, I knew the book was in good hands.

I think the spirit of the book is pretty well executed in the film. I was bummed to not see Fritz and his ability to use ARPAnet to get info for Doc and I was also bummed to not see the trip to Vegas. I guess I'll hold off on too many specifics until I figure out if any strutters have actually watched the movie or read the book.

Who saw it, who read the book, thoughts, etc.

 

[meistromoco]

I have not read the book, but saw the movie last weekend. In short: I mostly really enjoyed it but wish they edited it down so it was 30 minutes shorter. I'm not sure it really matters at the end of the day, but the story is super complicated (I think?) and overall it could have benefited from some cuts in the editing room. Not only to simplify things slightly (again, not sure that actually matters) but just to slightly shorten the experience, which, by the end, just felt too long.

 

[JectWon]

meistromoco said:I have not read the book, but saw the movie last weekend. In short: I mostly really enjoyed it but wish they edited it down so it was 30 minutes shorter. I'm not sure it really matters at the end of the day, but the story is super complicated (I think?) and overall it could have benefited from some cuts in the editing room. Not only to simplify things slightly (again, not sure that actually matters) but just to slightly shorten the experience, which, by the end, just felt too long.




That's funny. I actually found myself wishing it was longer so they could have had a few more (in my opinion) key scenes from the book.





But I can't disagree on the length ultimately, because 99 times out of 100 I'm the one who HATES when a movie is pretentiously long. 'There Will Be Blood' seemed like it was 5 hours and I hated it. This one was roughly the same length and it felt like it was over quickly for me. I guess it's all relative...

 

[willie_fugal]

haven't read the book, but saw the movie last week and loved it! i thought the pacing was well done–i never felt bored. great visuals, good story, and i liked the sense of place (both geographic & temporal).

 

[Duderonomy]

Really looking forward to watching this. Some good films coming in 2015! New Avengers, Mad Max, Star Wars...

 

[toby.d]

I watched it and thought it was great. I'd really like to watch it again soon. Nice soundtrack and cool vibe to the whole thing - Joanna Newsom's character was good.





Since I saw the film I've tried to read Gravity's Rainbow and found it difficult, as far as I've read I do like it though. What I actually wanted was more dope smoking P.Is. Can anyone recommend it or others? I don't make much time to read but would like to know which are the hits.

 

[JectWon]

toby.d said:I watched it and thought it was great. I'd really like to watch it again soon. Nice soundtrack and cool vibe to the whole thing - Joanna Newsom's character was good.





Since I saw the film I've tried to read Gravity's Rainbow and found it difficult, as far as I've read I do like it though. What I actually wanted was more dope smoking P.Is. Can anyone recommend it or others? I don't make much time to read but would like to know which are the hits.




If you're looking for dope smoking PI's you gotta read the Inherent Vice book. There is a lot that isn't covered in the film...maybe give it a year and then read it, but I'm willing to wager that it would be worth reading right now. Also, Gravity's Rainbow and V are acclaimed but I'd suggest Crying of Lot 49 over them.

 

[Electrode]

I plan on seeing it some time this weekend. Haven't read the book and my mom told me she hated it, but I was sold at "set in LA during 1970". Peeped the soundtrack and noticed "Les Fleur" (of course, Maya - as a pregnant character, surprise). I'm anticipating a 'Long Goodbye' sort of deal.

 

[JectWon]

Electrode said:I'm anticipating a 'Long Goodbye' sort of deal.




Yeah, you can get that vibe a bit. IV has some more humor than Long Goodbye, in my opinion. It also has a little more action.





Long goodbye is one of the greats. I don't know if IV could be in [em]that[/em] echelon of PI flicks, or not.

 

[BallzDeep]

Didn't read the book, but saw the movie.


So... I was thinking of it as a PTA (one of my faves) film, not a Pynchon story.


And in that sense, the movie kinda sucked.


I love weird, but the weird in this I didn't find interesting. And not very funny.


That said, I kinda want to watch again.





In PTA's defense, I'm sure he was staying true to the source material, and like Pynchon books, there's an effort to make it through.





I was the only left in the theater by the end of the movie.

 

[toby.d]

Thanks for the book recommendations Jectwon, I had just gone for the most famous of his and am glad for a bit of direction.

 

[coolchris]

If I could give any advice to someone who wants to see this, it would be to completely abandon trying to understand the storyline early on and just enjoy the ride. Its a bit like Inside Llewyn Davis by the Cohen Bros. Not much story, but the attention to detail from the period, impeccable location set choices, great and unexpected character cameos, and the all around mood is so heavy that it kept me on board all the way. I thought it was excellent.

 

[ketan]

coolchris said:

If I could give any advice to someone who wants to see this, it would be to completely abandon trying to understand the storyline early on and just enjoy the ride. .



That's basically my take. I hadn't read the book but watched it twice when it came out. I kinda hated it the first time/was bored and just enjoyed the ride the second time. (Ganja, yes.) I think it's another in a long line of masterpieces by the man pta.

 

[foe]

are anybody internet suave enough to point me in the right direction to download this book to my smart phone. piratebay only gave me an audio book and that is way too slow for me. searching for it on my smart phone makes me feel insecure, feels like every link tries to hi jack my phone.

 

[JectWon]

foe said:

are anybody internet suave enough to point me in the right direction to download this book to my smart phone. piratebay only gave me an audio book and that is way too slow for me. searching for it on my smart phone makes me feel insecure, feels like every link tries to hi jack my phone.



I've tried to find ebooks for free and haven't had luck. BUT, check your library's website. You would be surprised what is available for free via eBook at your local library.

 

[foe]

my old library's website had it in every format but ebook. for some reason i doubt my new local library has it, english literature in english doesn't seem big here in spain.

before i found all the ebooks i wanted by searching torrent sides.

 

[Junior]

coolchris said:

If I could give any advice to someone who wants to see this, it would be to completely abandon trying to understand the storyline early on and just enjoy the ride. Its a bit like Inside Llewyn Davis by the Cohen Bros. Not much story, but the attention to detail from the period, impeccable location set choices, great and unexpected character cameos, and the all around mood is so heavy that it kept me on board all the way. I thought it was excellent.



Watched this at the cinema and felt that, after a really strong start, it slowly lost me as the film played out. I think it was around the time Owen Wilson turned up that I felt like I was thrown so far out of the story that I never really bought back in. From there the plot went sideways, the characters became more and more one dimensional and I just sort of zoned out.
I think a second viewing where I was more there for the ride, and less for the story, would be highly enjoyable, so this is a good reminder to visit it again.