Movie genre?-disparate lives intersect thru random occurence

Tonto Yoder · « **on:** 13 Feb 2005, 11:21 am »

I just rented Robert Altman's "Short Cuts" and wonder about other representatives of this "mosaic" genre. I've recently seen "21 grams" and "Magnolia" which have similar traits---several lives depicted that seemingly are totally seperate, but eventually connections are revealed.
While I really liked "21 grams", I'm not so sure about the other two (critical blasphemy I know). Many of the vignettes in "Short Cuts" are absolutely brilliant and the acting is excellent, but I'm not sure the movie as a whole adds up to anything (and its encyclopedic style makes it a lengthy 3 hrs.).

As I remember, Lawrence Kasdan's "Grand Canyon" was also of the mosaic school. Any others????

PhilNYC · « **Reply #1 on:** 13 Feb 2005, 01:00 pm »

Two of my favorites are Pulp Fiction and Traffic...

Tonto Yoder · « **Reply #2 on:** 13 Feb 2005, 01:58 pm »

Phil,
I should have thought of "Pulp Fiction" which I also love. Maybe that's a key to why I didn't care for "Short Cuts" as much as "Pulp Fiction"---there's not enough actual plot in "Short Cuts" to hold my interest through the 3 hours, but with "Pulp Fiction" I was trying to figure out all the interconnections between characters/events.

jpsartre · « **Reply #3 on:** 13 Feb 2005, 04:09 pm »

Most episodes of Seinfeld

mcgsxr · « **Reply #4 on:** 14 Feb 2005, 12:23 am »

Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - if you even remotely liked Snatch, then THIS is the one for you!

PhilNYC · « **Reply #5 on:** 14 Feb 2005, 12:26 am »

Tonto...coincidentally, I happened to have rented 21 Grams and watched it Friday night. Thought it was great. BUT...in the first 3rd of the movie, the "mosaic" was all over the place, with most of the scenes being shown in pretty random chronological order. Wasn't sure if I appreciated any method to the randomness...it seemed artistic without purpose. Do you have any interpretation as to why the filmmaker ordered the scenes the way he did? I understood it in Pulp Fiction, but not so much here...

Tonto Yoder · « **Reply #6 on:** 14 Feb 2005, 12:54 am »

Phil,
I don't remember seeing any rationale behind how the scenes of "21 Grams" were presented, but it didn't bother me. Maybe I was just in the right mood for deciphering the puzzle that the scrambled scenes offered.

PeteG · « **Reply #7 on:** 14 Feb 2005, 12:57 am »

"Memento" is a fav.

Pete