I know that not everyone agrees with me that Ang Lee made the better Hulk movie, but he did make the best Fantastic Four movie by a mile. It's called The Ice Storm. Ok, sure, it only uses the FF as a metaphor for the kind of family presented in the film, but still. FF fans take it where they can get it. If the metaphor works, it's in the idea that being adventuresome, when one is a parent, comes at a cost that one's kids may well have to pay. Set during Watergate, there's a sense that corruption in the White House is reflected in the family unit, and something unnatural in parents experimenting with sex and substance abuse, while their kids doing the same seems rather more natural. The title overstates the ice storm, but I suppose it acts both to "wash away" and "freeze the moment" (to take stock?) as the characters reach a crisis point in their lives. I've just piled one metaphor-driven interpretation on top of the other, and that's a problem from a critical point of view. Ang Lee may be layering too much, and it tends to flatten out his intent and turn the film into just an effective drama about families out of control. I say "just", but that's not a bad thing to be, especially when you have the cast to pull it off.
@devilsadvocado there is no way you can disguise a bad movie as a good one. You either like it or don't. If people find or feel something deep then that feeling is genuine. I feel your problem with the film originates from how pretentious aspects of the film feels. it does at times tend to feeling like an Oscar snob.
This was a bad film disguised poorly as a good film. It's the kind of affected rigmarole that tricks pseudo intellectuals into thinking its content is deep and meaningful.
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eoveikur
Sigourney Weaver looked amazing in this one.wetwillies
Maybe I'm just a sucker for these kinds of family dramas but I thought this was great.Siskoid
I know that not everyone agrees with me that Ang Lee made the better Hulk movie, but he did make the best Fantastic Four movie by a mile. It's called The Ice Storm. Ok, sure, it only uses the FF as a metaphor for the kind of family presented in the film, but still. FF fans take it where they can get it. If the metaphor works, it's in the idea that being adventuresome, when one is a parent, comes at a cost that one's kids may well have to pay. Set during Watergate, there's a sense that corruption in the White House is reflected in the family unit, and something unnatural in parents experimenting with sex and substance abuse, while their kids doing the same seems rather more natural. The title overstates the ice storm, but I suppose it acts both to "wash away" and "freeze the moment" (to take stock?) as the characters reach a crisis point in their lives. I've just piled one metaphor-driven interpretation on top of the other, and that's a problem from a critical point of view. Ang Lee may be layering too much, and it tends to flatten out his intent and turn the film into just an effective drama about families out of control. I say "just", but that's not a bad thing to be, especially when you have the cast to pull it off.NuclearPlanet
@devilsadvocado there is no way you can disguise a bad movie as a good one. You either like it or don't. If people find or feel something deep then that feeling is genuine. I feel your problem with the film originates from how pretentious aspects of the film feels. it does at times tend to feeling like an Oscar snob.nicolaskrizan
cerebral chillhttps://beyond1001movies.wordpress.com/2016/03/03/backtrack-the-ice-storm-1997-2/
devilsadvocado
This was a bad film disguised poorly as a good film. It's the kind of affected rigmarole that tricks pseudo intellectuals into thinking its content is deep and meaningful.