Hacker Cinema
Joe Versus the Volcano
1990 · Film · 102 min
Directed by John Patrick Shanley
Hypochondriac Joe Banks finds out he has six months to live, quits his dead end job, musters the courage to ask his co-worker out on a date, and is then hired to jump into a volcano by a mysterious visitor.
3 positive1 neutralfrom 4 commenters
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5 comments on Hacker News
Wow, and it was actually heart disease that took him and not the radiation directly.
This story reminds me of a guy who was told by a fake doctor that he had a "brain cloud", so he jumped into a volcano, but true love saved him in the end. (Underrated comedy)
https://tubitv.com/movies/100001428/joe-versus-the-volcano
This is a pretty good analysis of the movie's themes: https://crossingthethemes.wordpress.com/2020/03/13/film-analysis-joe-versus-the-volcano/
I'm in that first group too. JVtV has been my all-time favorite movie for decades. I still quote it on a regular basis.
I couldn't find anything on Hanks distancing himself, what's the story there? I did find that Roger Ebert liked it: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/joe-versus-the-volcano-1990
It's a shame he distanced himself so completely from, arguably, one of his best movies: Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099892/)
Hanks: 'Rubicon No. 3, the critical reaction to it—which is a version of the vox populi. Someone is going to say, “I hated it.” Other people can say, “I think it’s brilliant.” Somewhere in between the two is what the movie actually is.'
JVtV is extremely polarizing: people either love it, or hate it. But there's no 'in-between' here - a lot of people just don't 'get it'. John Patrick Shanley made a very personal, quirky movie, full of metaphor and wisdom - and it's great!
Once (if) the other guy has ejected and is under canopy, then it’s important to be a good sport again- no shooting at him while he’s defenseless, and if you capture him then you have to treat him with dignity as a POW.
But what if the simulation is a Spielberg movie and if you let the AI go, later on he'll kill Tom Hanks?
It's like the Trolley Problem but weighted by how much you liked Joe Versus the Volcano.