I Almost Had A Heart Attack When I Saw The Chalkboard - Remember Me (2010) Discussion

[–] therewererumors 14 years ago

You should have been in the theatre! There was a huge collective gasp when they showed the chalkboard. I literally yelled, "Oh God, No!" So many things about the movie make you forget the time period. It bothers me when posters come on this board and say it was obvious the whole time. It shocked the hell out of me.

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[–] rrrrox 14 years ago

It bothers me when posters come on this board and say it was obvious the whole time. It shocked the hell out of me.

The truth is, there were signs throughout the movie (--> 1991 and then 10 years later, image of the city with the towers etc) but they were easy to miss because we don't pay attention to this kind of details. If you watch the movie for a 2nd time you'll notice all those little signs.

But don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly saying it was obvious cause I don't think it was! I never noticed those signs and I'm sure happy I didn't cause it would have ruined the movie for me.

Actually, the movie itself didn't intend to give away the ending! It was only obvious for those who unfortunately spotted those small hints about the time of the action or for those who knew what the movie was about before watching it and were thus prepared to look for signs!

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[–] therewererumors 14 years ago

Don't get me wrong, I completely agree with you. And the beauty of the movie to me was being able to sift through all those hints in my mind on the way home from the theatre. There were "red flags" throughout the movie (beyond the obvious "10 years later, and showing the towers at the beginning) that should have alerted everyone, but because, as you put it, "it happened on a normal day, without anything to prepare you for it" you overlook them. The fact that American Pie was playing in the theatre, Allie is listening to Ani DiFranco in her bedroom, her father is going to see Erin Brockovich, those "we are happy to serve you" coffee cups that were ubiquitous in NY...they stood out, but they almost seemed like supporting characters.

My take on it is, if you knew going into it there would be a twist or a shocking ending it was easier to figure out. If you saw it opening night, having read nothing, with no expectations whatsoever, the ending was like a punch to the gut.

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[–] oranges3 13 years ago

My gosh, you are so right! I thought it was weird that they were watching American Pie, but there's a theater here in St. Louis that plays old movies all the time. I thought nothing of it. Good Lord, I'm still shocked by that ending!

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[–] ER_LoveR 13 years ago

9/11 had always my interest even though I don't live in the USA.
I was 11 at the time and I was basicly glued to the television that day.
My mind still goed over the events of that day from time to time and I try to imagine how this could happen. Still 10 years after it's such a weird event I can't get my thoughts around it.
I was totally shocked about the ending of this movie. I didn't like the ending of the movie. It was too sudden and it moved me more than expected. Now I think this movie is brilliant in many ways!
I still think how could I miss those signs? I saw the 1991 in the begining and I thought it was weird. I saw the 10 years later and the WTC and still no bells were ringing. The movie made me forget about the fact it was set in 2001. The movie was so normal and the summary given by the theater had my mind in another state. When I went into the theater I thought I was going to see a love story which was troubled through the suicide of Taylers brother. I thought the suicide drove Taylers family apart and Tayler acted out because of his brothers suicide and the fact his family was falling apart. I thougth the love story ended sad because of this acting out. I was right for most of the movie and the movie makers did a good job in distracting me and giving me in what I thought I would see. I was expecting an hollywood love story with an arthouse edge. And I just learned in school hollywood romantic movies always have an happy ending. I got 98% of the time exactly what I was expecting only the beginning didn't make sense for a long time and the end was a big blow in the face.
I should've payed more attention to the facts :P

Proved the producers did a very good job by tricking me and then I didn't even say what I really thought about the ending which was superior! I really made me think. Better I still think about it from time to time.
I really caught me offguard and it gave the victims of 9/11 a face and a lifestory. They had lives, homes, family, children, animals, loved ones, joy and they were caught by something they didn't see coming and couldn't possibly escaped from.

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[–] shayg 13 years ago

Maybe you meant this by "red flags", but it's interesting how this aspect of the audience not seeing the clues and being blindsided by the ending parallels the CIA etc. not seeing the "red flags" before the actual event. Not judging them, just noting another parallel that not the movie has, but the audience's experience of the movie has. I find it interesting how this film's full "story" can only be understood by including the audience seeing it for the first time without knowing the ending.

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[–] tracygee 13 years ago

Interesting point. And yes, the "clues" seem quite obvious in hindsight, just like in real life. Harder to pick up at the moment, though.

--
Bubbles...
http://i42.tinypic.com/tagg1u.jpg

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[–] Ricky-Roma 13 years ago

I'll be honest and say that I did see it coming. The opening scenes being in 1991 and then moving to ten years later for the duration of the film as well as the movie being set in New York City made me think: "Unless 9/11 was somehow involved - why 2001?".

The fact that Charles Hawkins had a large office also made me think that would somehow be relevant as there was a possibility that it was in the World Trade Center. But it was mainly the afformentioned combination of the place and time. I think anybody who thinks of New York in 2001 will immediately think about 9/11.

Even though I got it that doesn't mean that it wasn't a good twist because it was as many people were shocked by it. It also reflects the many personal stories that all of the victims that day had and how all of their personal issues were rendered inconsequential by such a wide-scale tragedy.

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[–] Doc80 10 years ago

Oh, you mean like a memo saying Bin Laden was planning an attack on US soil? That kind of hint that we didn't see coming?

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[–] hovaoc149 9 years ago

It was american pie 2

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[–] ellaelise 14 years ago

Ah, see, I NEVER noticed the "1991/ten years later" thing, because I was only half-watching the movie. My mom was the one that wanted to see it, I was messing around online a lot. That would have been a dead giveaway, IMO!

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[–] SerpentMage 14 years ago

I would expand this to the human trait called hindsight basis...

We make up that we saw the "signs" because it fits our narrative. We as a human race don't like to be surprised. I myself watched the movie closely and did notice the date and time of things. Though I was wondering how they would tie it all together.

It reminds of how people "saw" that they avoided a plane due to divine intervention as it crashed, etc. This is an example of highsight bias. Fitting the events to the narrative.

Its like Fight Club, once you watch it AGAIN you see the signs, but watching the movie for the first time you don't see squat! The reason is very simple because as the story unfolds people are trying to relate to the movie and trying to fit their pieces into the movie. A good director will guide you along a plausible path only to sucker punch you in the gut.

Overall I think most people missed the overall intention of the movie, which could be said as follows: "s**t happens". Think about the quote of Gandi, you are insignificant in the overall scheme of things, but your actions have to be made. That quote was used over and over. I noticed it and thought why would they do that? Or the death of the mother? Why that? You could have just as easily had a divorce, or suicide? After all two people cross paths who were witnesses of suicides? One person takes one road, the other takes another road. Would make a good movie and completely enhance the movie.

No the movie is about life and how people deal with life and how things just happen!

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[–] Tedracat 14 years ago

I actually like being surprised. And I thought this film had guts.

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[–] xPhenomenusx 12 years ago

I forgot the time period until they showed them watching American Pie.

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[–] scottsuserid 11 years ago

I believe the ending of the movie was a real shocker, but the foreshadowing leading up to it had a bigger impact.

You see as viewers we were blind sided, because the small details that indicated the time this movie took place could be missed.

We become focused on the everyday life of the characters, and miss the bigger picture. In a sense the ending shows that our worlds as people truly are as small as the people we love. We get fixated on the past. A blind eye can be turned to the events that lead up to a climax, but what we do with our time in the present is more important then things we can't control that are long past.

This foreshadowing impact must really make us look at our lives. The movie is a tale of coping, and believing that no matter what we do we are always vulnerable.

Quite simply, make everyday count and trauma can be cope'd with. Nothing in life is predictable. However the one thing we do have is the present.

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[–] princeG 11 years ago

Astute observations, scotts, thanks for the new way of looking at the foreshadowing.

Just saw August: Osage County, another dysfunctional family making us think about our own relationships and the time we might be wasting.

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[–] waspfan33 10 years ago

IT DOESNT MATTER WHAT YOU THINK...

sorta like when you see the sixth sense the second time u catch all the hints about bruce willis being a ghost?

spectre can

suck it.

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[–] ellaelise 14 years ago

I knew something was up when they were watching American Pie 2 in the theater. I watched it with my mom, and I was like "Weird? I think American Pie 2 came out in 2000. I wonder why they made the movie take place then? It has to mean something." We actually got in a debate about it haha, she thought the date of the movie was meaningless. But I KNEW there was a reason for them setting the movie during that time. The only problem was that I was off about American Pie 2's release date ;) if I had known it came out in 2001, it would have been OBVIOUS why they decided to set the movie that year. Not that it would have been obvious that he as going to die, but just that Sept. 11 was going to play a role of some sort.

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[–] Iwishyouwell 14 years ago

But the movie starts out in 1991 and flat out says "10 years later".

Why would anyone think that the film was set in 2010?

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[–] rrrrox 14 years ago

I feel you! That is what makes this movie so great! How unexpected the ending is. It's probably a parallel to reality, the ending of this movie came just the way it happened almost ten years ago: suddenly, on a normal day, without anything to prepare you for it. Except maybe the fact that in the movie there was the music that sort of spelled trouble :)

I too was shocked when I saw the date on the board.. my jaw fell and I was like "OMG OMG OMG" and I instantly got goose bumps..

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[–] squeen-948-633508 14 years ago

I had a suspicion it was coming, but it did not make it any less horrible for me. I was like, 'how could they do that!' I don't think I could watch it again still knowing what happens. I can watch movies with sad endings over and over again (i.e. A Walk to Remember) but I doubt I could sit through this again.

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[–] kikisette 14 years ago

Even more gut wrenching for me! Just watched this movie and I was on my laptop at the same time. I read the announcement that Osama bin Laden was just killed today when I was about halfway through watching it. Then I get to the ending. What a weird coincidence since I'd never heard prior how it ends. It really brought home the significance of OBL's death. I think the ending was well done. It was subtle and while not showing the visual of the planes or the collapse, it still managed to convey the full weight of that day. Gives you chills!

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[–] aLeipAholic 14 years ago

I missed the first 10-15 minutes and didn't see any of the 1991 (10 years later) thing. I had known nothing really about the movie except it was a love story between two college kids that had a bunch of issues. It wasnt hard for me to pick up what the issues as they state them like 50 zillion times. And when they went to see American Pie II I just assumed it was a free theatre (Manhattan has lots of free or $2 movie theatres that play random old movies). I started to get a feeling that it wasnt taking place in 2010, but it all seemed secondary to the plot of the movie. Then at the end when nothing special seems to be happening but you know the climax is coming due to the music cues, I'm thinking... what, are there going to be people in the Dad's office to take him away to boot camp or something? Is the Dad going to get into an accident on the way over? And I kept thinking, why are they still showing the little girl? Until the teacher moves away from the board and EVERYTHING comes together like HOLY $#!^!!!!!
I had no idea this movie even had anything to do with 9/11.

And PS- I hated Robert Pattinson in Water For Elephants, and hes BLA in the Twilight movies, but he is just phenomenal here. I give him WAY more credit

it's not an island.
it's a place where miracles happen

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[–] nicolo_san 14 years ago

Someone said it best when h/she said that watching the ending "punches you in the gut". All I was thinking was poor Tyler. HE deserved to live through his father finally coming around. I thought it was great that he saw that slideshow of pics on his Dad's work PC before the inevitable happened.

I had no idea that was coming and I think anyone who thinks otherwise is lying.

I know how to get lost in lust, not because you should but because you must.

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[–] thatblondgirl 14 years ago

I lost it when I saw that part. I haven't been that shocked and emotional over a movie ending in years. It was so heartbreaking.

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[–] lindseytweeters 14 years ago

I completely agree with you about the ending shocking you like no other movie recently. When it said 10 years later I kept wondering if 9/11 was going to be tied into the plot somehow. I couldn't believe the ending and I saw it 2 days ago and I'm still shook up from it. It just makes me think about all of the people who were killed and what stories and lives they had and how their relationships were with the people they knew and loved so much. This is definitely on my list of saddest endings ever!I want to watch again just because I couldn't hear some of it but then again I'm just too sad to have to watch the ending and to know that his character will never see tomorrow ever again!I know he's just a character but he's portraying someone who died that day and it's just so sad to think about their last breath and their last few minutes of life:(

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[–] invisible-automail 14 years ago

I saw this movie late last year while on holiday with my family. I had no idea when it was made, so the fact that it was set nearly a decade ago didn't seem that odd. I have to say, I didn't see the twist coming at all. At the end, when everything started going perfectly, I knew something was about to happen, but I figured the dad and Caroline would be in a traffic accident or something. When the teacher stepped away from the board my first thought was "are they learning about 9/11 or something?" and a microsecond later I realised, "no... it IS 9/11!"

It's like a reverse Deus Ex Machina. A new event swoops in at the last minute to destroy everything. It would be the worst kind of lame plot twist if it hadn't been so well foreshadowed throughout the film. The subtlety was genius, I have to watch this again so I can see everything!

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[–] ShawnaC123 13 years ago

The DVD case kind of ruined it for me because it said it was set in summer of 2001, and being in NYC I knew it was going to have something involving the 9/11 attacks.

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