wellyousaythat©: August 2013

Saturday, 10 August 2013

WELLYOUSAYTHAT© IS AWAY

WELLYOUSAYTHAT©

is taking a break abroad (here are some clues) further outpourings will therefore be on hold.

Wednesday, 7 August 2013

As a counterpoint to my last post, and because I'm feeling a bit better, i have thought about happy endings. The Dream factory has thrived on positive denouements and even though most joyful conclusions are trite and favour the sickly sweet it is true to say that a good happy ending can be uplifting and leave you with a spring in your step. Some happy endings are ambiguous though, we are left to draw our own conclusions as to their meaning and some appear tragic but are ostensibly coated with dark humour.

Here are some of my favourites.

Oldboy

Blue Velvet

The Heartbreak Kid

American Graffiti

Happiness

The Jungle Book

Some Like It Hot

The Ladykillers

A Clockwork Orange

Fight Club

Monday, 5 August 2013

UNHAPPY ENDINGS

Vertigo

In the current British televisual climate there is a leaning towards the bleak and the edgy, with the likes of Scandinavian detective and police shows, Top Of The Lake, Broadchurch, The Fall and now Southcliffe offsetting the mountain of trivial offal that is available through

the cathode ray.

This trend shows that there doesn't always have to be a happy ending. In cinematic terms there have been many movies, even of a classic nature, that eschew a jolly outcome. Doomed lovers and criminal comeuppance were the stock in trade for Film Noir and horror has a default of dread, but other genres have surprised us with gloomy outcomes.

Here are a few of my favourite movies that leave us with the sour taste of a grim outcome, yet are extremely enjoyable.

In fact the movie currently rated as the greatest of all time has the ultimate 'down' finale.