The Future
2011 Directed by Miranda July
Synopsis
When a couple decides to adopt a stray cat their perspective on life changes radically, literally altering the course of time and space and testing their faith in each other and themselves.
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Whilst watching the latest quirky and oh so self-aware film from Miranda July, The Future, I unexpectedly put my foot through my television in a fit of uncontrollable rage. I feel it is irresponsible of Miss July not to provide an official notice with the film warning the audience that it may cause such unexpected reactions. I am now without a TV, nursing a sore foot and haunted by memories of her sickeningly smug movie.
No doubt she feels her work is clever, insightful, funny and full of profundity. However, I think she may have confused melancholic whimsy for deep insight or great universal truths. The film is narrated by a terminally ill cat. A fucking cat. If that in…
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I chose to watch this out of curiosity after having read plenty of scathing reviews and seeing the trailer, which looked exactly like something I would deeply hate. So yes, expectations were low, but I still was not prepared for just how putrid Miranda July's The Future is. It's smug, cliché-ridden, pretentious mental masturbation of the most detestable kind. About five minutes in I had to pause and take a deep breath and 25 minutes later I stopped entirely and decided to go to bed before this shit-heap ruined what was otherwise a good day. I woke up knowing I had to finish it and, begrudgingly, I just did. I have to say it's really, truly as ghastly as people…
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Tying a noose right now.
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Profound in the sense that it made me realise life's too short to finish every movie you start. No star rating as I turned this shit off when I checked my watch to see if it was nearly over, to discover I was only 30 minutes in.
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This film shows you how too much quirkiness can go oh so wrong. But I didn't hate it. In fact, I think the talking cat is the reason I carried on watching it rather than being put off straight away. There's a great meaning behind the film - that life is short and that we should make the most of it whilst we still have the time - but it was all just a little odd. I can't pick out anything that I particularly like about the film, but I didn't want to turn it off at any point so that's a plus.
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I was looking forward to Miranda July's second outing as a writer/director. People either seemed to love or hate Me and You and Everyone We Know. If you are one of the ones who hated it, then The Future is definitely not a movie to you. It seems like she tried to recapture the magic and quirkiness that made her first film so great, but fell flat with unlikeable characters and a lack of a compelling story line. I found myself not caring what happened to any of the characters.
I would liken this to a full length feature of July's story line in Me and You and Everyone We Know. As much as I liked her in that and…
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After the unexpected charms of the edgy 'Me and You and Everyone We Know,' Miranda July went off the deep end, employing too much 'magic' in her magical realism. Most of what makes 'The Future' a disappointment comes from knowing how much better her previous work was. One has to wonder if this was meant to be a direct sequel, July instead changing the details and tone because of how John Hawkes chose not to return because the script looked too pretentious even for him.
Whereas 'MaYaEWK' chronicled the hopes and concerns of many different interconnected characters, 'The Future' is suffocatingly focused on Sophie and Jason (July and her male twin Hamish Linklater). The couple seems pretty normal; it's only…
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The first seasons of the NBC version of The Office had a way of making you feel awkward, yet being funny.
The Future is funny, yet makes you feel awkward.
It's a bit unsettling, like sitting across from someone on the subway who won't stop staring at you. But that's bad. It's challenging. It instantly makes you look in your mirror and wonder why they were staring.
The Future is clever. The cat narrator is fun, but the cat's narration is sad. More staring.
To know that the director is also the star is touching. It's brave of her to put herself in the character. It would almost be sadistic to ask someone else to do it. It's not scandalous or anything, just challenging.
It's like Napoleon Dynamite, with a whole lot of contemplation.
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This was weird.
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What happened July? Existentiaism portraid in a shallow way & a strange side-story with a cat's annoying voice. Fail.
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Pretentious and self-indulgent but I kind of liked it...maybe it's appreciation of anyone trying to create something individual outside of the confines of the mainstream or maybe it was the fact it involved an animatronic cat with a creepy voice...
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I was looking forward to Miranda July's second outing as a writer/director. People either seemed to love or hate Me and You and Everyone We Know. If you are one of the ones who hated it, then The Future is definitely not a movie to you. It seems like she tried to recapture the magic and quirkiness that made her first film so great, but fell flat with unlikeable characters and a lack of a compelling story line. I found myself not caring what happened to any of the characters.
I would liken this to a full length feature of July's story line in Me and You and Everyone We Know. As much as I liked her in that and… -
Oh boy. Not many movies move me these days, but this one did the trick. Heartbreaking, touching, full of beautiful moments. Highly recommended.
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In a day/month/year/life gone to shit (kidding, mostly) this thing is little solace. But sometimes that's good. Time-stop moon convo scene is an atomic bomb of greatness. Choosing to take shelter in the fact that bad things happen to good people with good intentions in boring lives AKA normal lives and blah blah blah yakkety schmackety. *fart*
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One of those films where you can tell someone wrote, starred and directed it - Miranda July certainly had a vision.
There were scenes that I really loved... mostly felt fragmented and also really long - when infact it was only 91mins.
I liked what she tried to do - I dont think she pulled it off.