George Orr, a man whose dreams can change waking reality, tries to suppress this unpredictable gift with drugs. Dr. Haber, an assigned psychiatrist, discovers the gift to be real and hypnotically induces Mr. Orr to change reality for the benefit of mankind --- with bizarre and frightening results.
USA
USA
one of those treasures where low budget restrictions make the movie even better - not so great special effects enhance the dreamlike qualities, a scene in which three characters react to something that was probably too expensive to show is more heartbreaking because the audience is left to imagine what's reflected on their broken faces for themselves, etc. i was (/am) miserable because one of my heroes is now gone, so i stayed up way too late watching this in bed on my phone & trying to stay in the same world with her for a minute, which feels like the best way to do it.
Gonna be really autistic on main for just a second to start this out. I have precisely three autistic special interests- mazes/labyrinths, that part in Jack & Diane where John "The Coug" Mellencamp says "suckin' on a chili dog outside a Tastee Freez," and fountains/waterfalls/water features. Anyway, The Lathe of Heaven takes place in Portland, OR. The final scene of this movie (and don't worry, this is hardly a spoiler at all) features characters walking alongside a distinctive cascade. Now, Portland has plenty of fountains that could be featured in the exact same way, most notably the Ira Keller fountain and the Lovejoy fountain (although these are far from the only ones in the city that could serve the purpose), but…
1st David Loxon, 1st Fred Barzyk
"Clarity is Pleasurable"
This films holds a very specific place in my heart, not only because of the themes it explores, but because of the time in which I first watched it. I'll address that first. The first time I watched this little TV movie was the 5th of October, 2017, the day my Grandmother passed away. She'd been living at home with us for two years prior, and the last few months of her life coincided with perhaps the bleakest time in my life, where I had a string of job failures, I finished my first degree, I had no money and my first relationship broke up. We, as a family, watched my…
Before you go into this film after only having read all the positive reviews that have floated up to the top of the list like dead fish in a polluted lake, you should be aware that it is not a good movie.
What it is is a no-budget, made-for-TV, Twilight Zone-rip-off that makes extensive use of ancient stock footage and dialogue that sounds like it was pulled out of the trash can in The Bionic Woman’s writers’ room. It’s like watching the last scene of The Fly, only instead of Jeff Goldblum and a housefly getting garbled up with the teleporter, it’s the story of “The Monkey’s Paw” and an eighth-season episode of Three’s Company. Except in this case, the unholy…
56
Primarily focused on dream states and their implications - not what they show, but what we bring back with us. Features a great little climax of psychedelia.
The most desirable thing about movies based on literature works is that they are as loyal as possible to the original screenplay,however in some cases this is more harmful than advantageous,the changes made here are too subtle and uncreative,their concern to adapt the largest number of sequences of the book was also an obstacle due to an average length,almost all dialogues happened quickly without having an engaging development,its visual effects are weak,comprising a mistaken look of the aliens,just saying because being a TV movie,this point even make sense.Despite these frustrating features,its pacing seemed impressively befitting with the story written more than 50 years ago,the melancholic atmosphere is helpful as well.
I watched this in the middle of a sleepless night, awoken by vivid nightmares and cold sweat. I escaped to the living room, momentarily and irrationally scared of my own bed. I thought it would be a nice in-joke for myself to watch a film about dreams coming true as a transition back to reality. Hilarious.
The Lathe of Heaven is famously one of the few adaptations of the incredible Ursula K Le Guin she can actually stomach. For good reason: it's lovingly faithful and surprisingly intimate. She has always been an author that is able to attunely marry science fiction and politics with an unwavering emotional core. And that thankfully makes its way onto the screen here too. Meanwhile, its shoestring budget only adds to its endearing charm.
Features one of my favourite final shots/closing credit combos too. Gorgeous.
Made for tv, low budget, sci-fi has gotten lot of praise for the quality of film made with such a low budget. Along with great performances from Bruce Davison and Kevin Conway, and some interesting directorial choices, the film has not aged all to well.
From the narrow minded view on racism, to the confusing visually overblown borrowed from Kubrick's dream like artistry, the build up to the final climax didn't work for me, besides informing me that the film's story structure is attempting to deliver something surreal, when it could have respected the premises set up, rather than attempt to overwhelmingly psychedelic and abstract. Character's dialogue reflects what the audience knows rather than what the characters should know if…
Its pretty great that once the main character dreams a benevolent race of alien crawdad philosophers into existence, they just start showing up as shopkeepers and hot dog salesmen.
Did they...did they cross the incalculable darkness of space to work a hot dog cart?
