MovieChat Forums > Wonder Boys (2000) Discussion > Great film and why I love Rain / Snow in...

Great film and why I love Rain / Snow in films

posted 15 years ago by scott0304
6 replies | jump to latest

(I apologize in advance for the length of the post AND the history, but I like to set things up a bit)

First, I have always been a huge Michael Douglas fan. I am a 33 yr old guy who grew up watching him in many films - Some of my favorites -

Wall Street
Romancing The Stone
Fatal Attraction
Black Rain
The Game
Perfect Murder
Wonder Boys

(I am forgetting some I'm sure)

Second, I first saw this movie about a year ago and didn't think too much. I liked it, but didn't love it.
Most great things in my life are slowly aqcuired. I am a songwriter / musician / artist / photographer, etc (just to give insight).
My favorite films and songs did NOT hit me that hard on first view / listen. They grew on me and in my opinion, that's the best stuff.
If a song is too catchy, it gets old by 3rd listen (a lot of the time, anyway)

Now, Wonder Boys is one of my top films of all time (after about the 5th viewing). It's one of those great films that the more you see it, the more you understand. Also, it's very simple at the same time as being somewhat...sophisticated.

I grew up in NY, living in PA for a bit.
A lot of people, including my own family, find it strange that rainy days actually make me feel happy, secure, and at peace with myself.
Sure, I do find clear sunny days very pretty, as I play golf. I am at my best when it rains (or snows).
I remember when I was child, I lived in a house with a big ingound pool. I would swim all day.
I cherish the memory of going to bed sunburned and tired out with a chlorine ambience. There was a secure feeling - also a feeling of well being, one that at 33 can easily be aqcuired with substance, but not naturaly felt.

When I watch films with rain / snow / snowing scenes / fall scenes with the sun at shallow angles, Christmas lights / themes, I get to feel that sort of security and peace all over again.
Maybe this is why I can watch these films over and over and over like a child.
I also notice a lot of people like films with rain and hopefully my explanation may shed some light for some that don't know why.
Films that come to mind (Please feel free to add yours) are:

Out of Sight (Ren Cen scene - snow falling outside the window)
Wall Street (Raqcuet club to Limo scene)
Eyes Wide Shut (Christmas lights - Winter - Cold)
Wonder Boys (scattered throughout)
French Connection I and II (I - cold fall-winter II - Rain)
Grumpy Old Men, Fargo, Simple Plan, Shining, and Out of Sight (Winter)
Se7en (Probably my favorite example of a Rain film that makes me feel secure, regardless of the content of the film!!!!! :)
Midnight Cowboy and Taxi Driver (Cold Weather)

[–] LaserDoug 15 years ago

"When I watch films with rain / snow / snowing scenes / fall scenes with the sun at shallow angles, Christmas lights / themes, I get to feel that sort of security and peace all over again.
Maybe this is why I can watch these films over and over and over like a child.
I also notice a lot of people like films with rain and hopefully my explanation may shed some light for some that don't know why.
Films that come to mind (Please feel free to add yours) are:

Out of Sight (Ren Cen scene - snow falling outside the window)"

I'm just blown away by that whole snow falling/seduction scene in the
hotel in "Out of Sight".. I'm a 50 mmmbbb old guy, and I just turn to
goo thinking about it! I would guess you've seen "A Christman Story",
the Jean Shepard one "You'll shoot your eye out!". That's a great winter
film as well as all the great stuff from being a kid. There's a few other
of his films where the weather is involved, "Ollie Hopnoodles Haven of
Bliss", the same family out for their summer cabin camping, and being
stuck in the rain. Another great film is "Indian Summer", where 70's
kids return as adults to their summer camp to reunite, and again spend
some time marching around in the rain, and hanging in the cabins. I
watch those films and I can literally smell those cabin's, tents, etc.
Something about old wet army surplus tents that will never leave you!!

d,

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Naughty-God 15 years ago

I grew up and live in Southern California, but I also like the winter aspects of this movie and feel that it gives it a genuine sense of place and temper that imbue the characters with their unique personalities. The cold of winter definitely gives you a sense of being alive and your sense of mortality is more honed in.

Here in SoCal the "good weather" is so overplayed by the local media that it becomes a real joke when the "threat" of rainfall (we're talking less than a 1/2 inch over 3 - 4 days) becomes a national emergency as thousands of residents decided to live along the foothills and river streams where flash floods are a given. It's laughable, and it's akin to someone in Pennsylvania building a home over a frozen lake and then crying for help after winter ends.

Anyways, my two cents.

(¯`i´¯)´·¸.)‹^›

[–] thormorgan 8 years ago

Just yesterday, I was just thinking about the zen garden battle sequence at the end of Kill Bill Vol. 1. Softly falling snow and a water fountain. It's pretty incredible.

Also love that scene in Outta Sight

[–] TheMouseShadow 8 years ago

Gotta love smoking dope in the rain

[–] BourbonKing (5778) 7 years ago

The Godfather 1 & 2 have some really nice snowfall/winter scenes with the confrontation scene in the boathouse between Michael and Fredo as he pleads his case and the cold snow/sleet falling against the window in the background.