Eagle vs Shark (2007)
★★★★
This review may contain spoilers.
there is a line very late in the film where Lily is talking to Jarrod's dad where she says "Do you know what his favorite animal is" and his dad replies "No" and she says "It's an eagle..." and the first time I watched it, everything just clicked into place for me, it made sense why it was called eagle vs shark, despite having a lot of apple and apple symbolism, it made sense why it was important to know there favorite animal, the movie makes moments that should feel like nothing have such importance to the film and that is why I think this is one of my favorites, the way it blends these two tones seamlessly works so well in it's favor, we go from moments of extreme awkwardness to very funny moments to straight up depressing and sad moments, when Jarrod says I suffer from depression there is an inherent belief there, but it's so much more than that he is saying that to get the attention that he needs but he isn't just saying that to get the attention that he needs he is saying to gage how Lily would react, if that makes him enough for her, but more more than that he does actually suffer from depression, because like the apple from the animated segments he is a bit rotten and it's not his own fault, he grew to become that, and that is so deeply poetic and very profound, maybe this is me reading to much into the film as some pretentious guy but that is a great moment in film and that is why it is on my top 10 list, it says so much while doing very little.
I really like the acting in the film, one of the standouts for me, Lauren Taylor is doing such a great job in this movie, the subtilties in her performance are a knock out, the way she speaks, the way she interacts, the quiet precision of her character, how she deals with conflict, all these make the character truly stand out as a person, something that stood out to me on this second watch through was Jemaine Clement who I argue is maybe is the main protagonist as well as a stand out, while we learn about Lily and the things that trouble her, we learn so much about Jarrod's character while not being directly in his head and hearing his thoughts, we learn about his brother his relationship to his dad which prompts him to lie and prop up his life to make him sound cooler than he actually is, we learn about his mannerisms, we learn what troubles him, we learn that his mom is dead to him in a metaphorical sense, we learn his biases and how he treats woman, so much is said in such a short amount of time about this character that it is literally insane and my first go around I was praising Lauren Taylor because she is spectacular in this film it would be ashamed not to also mention Jemaine and everything that he is doing to make this larger than life character so much more grounded.
I really enjoy the soft rock indie vibe of a soundtrack, the electronic music as it bounces around is very nice as well.
and as previously mention I love the stop motion bit, the animated bits with the apple and the apple, what great animation quality hats off to that team.
notes below
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- like how simple the opening shot is.
- and these stop motion credits omg so cool.
- also Lauren is so good in this movie.
- Jemaine looks ridiculous in this movie and I love it.
- I will never not find him slowly slithering into the scene while making the noise funny.
- I like Lily's face as she is just destroying people in this game.
- I really like the musical composition here it's pretty great, the electronic vibe that it brings is pretty cool.
- the set design for Jarrod's room is pretty great, the tools being in the wrong spot, the candles the ninja swords and stars on the walls.
- "my mom died because she really missed him" "my mom died by a cow" this is why I like this film, the way it mixes the tones of serious and comedy are so great, Happy Sad cinema as one person put it.
- the subtle look that Lily gives him after they are done having sex was so good.
- the dinosaur teeth on the ground seem like such a hazard lol.
- this scene in the house is I think my favorite in the entire film, him hitting the tennis ball with his hand is so freaking funny dude and him being like I got depressed I suffer from depression is both very funny and tragic.
- the cut to Damen just sitting there.
- I like how Jarrod fabricates stories about his life, it says so much about him, how he wishes to be known.
- like the animated apple moving down stream.
- really like the harpsichord that plays here.
- I liked the sound effect on the light shutting off.
- this subplot with Gordan is very well done.
- these stop motion parts of the film are so good.
- I like that this music is diegetic.
- the fact that most of the party is wearing the suits lol.
- this ukulele and the moment of catharsis that follows that is so wonderful and then he beats the guy up.
- like the shot of the sleeping back opening and us peering through it.
- obviously there is just so much to say about the stop motion bits of the film, filled with such parallels and symbolism for our characters, the fact that the apple has to help the rotten one come to terms with rotten-ness at his core is so deeply powerful.
