Hacker Cinema
What Dreams May Come
1998 · Film · 113 min
Directed by Vincent Ward
After Chris Nielsen dies in a car accident, he is guided through the afterlife by his spirit guide, Albert. His new world is beautiful and can be whatever Chris imagines. Even his children are there. But, when his wife, Annie, commits suicide and is sent to hell, Chris ignores Albert's warnings and journeys there to save her. Upon arrival, Chris finds that rescuing Annie will be more difficult than he'd imagined.
7 positive1 mixed4 neutralfrom 12 commenters
Where to watch
No streaming data for this title.
12 comments on Hacker News
Watched it with a few people who enjoy different movie genres, and nobody was bored, which is rare for the group I watch movies with frequently.
Would I watch it again? Probably not. Was it my favourite Gosling movie? Nope.
Tough to beat The Place Beyond the Pines.
Is it better than the (audio)book? I have no idea.
Ryan Gosling is one of those actors who make movies emotionally immersive, like Highlander wouldn’t be the same without Sean Connery or What Dreams May Come without Robin Williams. Glad he’s young and fit enough for me to enjoy his acting for a bit longer.
Maybe his acting career is aging like fine wine. Unlike you, Ryan Reynolds.
There are so many things that hit differently with age and stage of life.
I really liked What Dreams May Come back in high school. Dante's Inferno, kind of, trip to Hell, Robin Williams, trippy paint scene.
I watched it again as a married adult with children, and barely made it through intact. That movie, based around the sudden loss of both children without a chance to say goodbye, and then the sudden loss of a spouse, and the descent into a mental hell and cage of ones own making... I missed all of that watching it in high school. I knew it was there, but it meant nothing, I'd not experienced any of that. It was a radically different movie to me, 20 years later. And I've not watched it since.
Also really enjoyed What Dreams May Come despite its lack of success at the box office.
People are probably already aware of the fact, but it is based on a novel of the same name by Richard Matheson — who also wrote I Am Legend (which has had its own fair share of film adaptations).
What dreams may come is sublime, and sad and beautiful. I've rewatched and remain charmed.
Try 2006's The Fall for another special film that surprises your heart and gives a visual treat.
For me, anything based mostly on story or suspense is out, because I know what's going to happen. Even if they are some of my favorites. So usually it's for the visuals, music, or action.
Hardcore Henry I've probably watched the most. Such an absolutely wild action movie.
For visuals, I've watched What Dreams May Come(despite it being pretty heavy) and Tarsem Singh's "The Fall" probably five times each. The latter is hard to find, but definitely worth a watch if you come across it.
I have a disagreement with the article's premise.
>Pessimism sounds smart. Optimism sounds dumb. [...] There is an “optimism stigma” that is pervasive throughout society.
Does it? Is there? I am thinking you associate with and consume from the wrong circles.
To me this is not the case. I find full pessimism (nihilism?) disappointing, and often not thinking situations through. I have yet to find a situation where I had not been able to find some optimism (, and yes I had my share of horrors).
If I had a choice between a full pessimist and a full optimist, I would always take the optimist. I think the movie "What Dreams May Come" by Richard Matheson is fitting.
That is all about me. As for society (people I come in contact with), most, despite sometimes horrific situations (e.g. cancer, war, torture, starvation, near-death) they mostly have optimistic outlook from small to big pictures, their life situation, to getting that next meal. Even when they get into a pessimist thought, they abandon it.
I also do not think it is a binary choice, and realism is on this scale somewhere.
Off topic: Is this what the film What Dreams May Come was based off of?
> One way of describing it would be that I can close my eyes and tell you where everything is in my house, or map my way downtown.
I can do this, (also for simple 3d shapes needed to solve school geometry problems) without closing eyes, because i seem to do that independently from visualisation.
But sometimes i see very vivid images just by closing eyes, after having some intense new visual experience
- as a child when i was playing checkers the whole day i would see the game board
- after the first time being in a forest i could see forest any time i would close my eyes for several days
-after seeing the "What Dreams May Come" movie i could see images in the painting style (and it was the only case when i could control the images).
- after playing a new computer game the whole day i can see images from that
But the intensity of the effect have declined over time, presumably because it is harder and harder to find new visual experiences.
> I recall the images that night were dark and foreboding
could this be related to fever? I remember as a child i was seeing really chaotic images when having 40 temperature.
I wonder if there is aphantasia for sound too. Several times i was able to listen music as if played by a real orchester, but simply noticing it, was making the music stop leaving only an outline.
My Gods, please accept my condolences.
When your husband, Robin Williams passed away, I mourned for him. I was only someone who greatly appreciated his humor and drama. As a personal mourning for someone whom affected me as a viewer, I watched "What Dreams May come"....
It is one of his saddest and yet most beautiful movies. I live with, and am married to someone with Bipolar disease. I am grateful and happy she accepted me, yet I know she has it. It's OK, as I shall be aside her. But I know she has had similar beliefs and impulses. And please, do not believe I'm comparing us two; I am not.
I can guarantee one thing; He won't be forgotten. I know how much he affected my life, in the humor, and the great joy of his films and comedies. His comedy was infections, in the most joyous way possible! I nary could stop laughing on his 2011 comedy he gave that was recorded by HBO! We had to stop the recording for a half-hour for us(not we-us!) to catch our breath! And eventually, we continued the insanely-funny comedy!
He was such a wonderful and amazing reporter... And yet when he passed, I mourned. I have only mourned for very few.... and yet when I didn't think I would mourn for someone whom I only knew through their acting, I did.
We lost someone very special to all of us. Whether it was through their comedy, their hilarity, through their drama, or through their serious drama; he was special to so many of us.
I do hope you not only survive, but greatly thrive! One of the things you can do is be yourself ! Don't forget that! You can also continue his legacy; do what you're doing right now and continue bringing the thought and reminder of this disease. It's not common yet, and still needs further advocacy. You're in a perfect area to bring this area of genetic/prion disease to light.
And, please don't forget yourself! Yes, Master Robin Williams (yes, a master, in the arts of Comedy, Drama, and Acting)was a great person who brought his laughter and commedia to all, but don't forget yourself.. You succeed him. Do the best you can do, in his name. It may not be commedia. If may not be acting. But that's OK. Do what you do the best!
May the deities he and you believe in bless you.
Reminds me a lot of "What Dreams May Come"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120889/
the happy colorful world and dark dreary world were well presented in the Robin Williams movie, What Dreams May Come.
The idea has been used elsewhere, old fifties horror films would go dark. Certain colors have been used in many movies to effect mood if not an unreal location; green in Matrix movies was a great use of color to distinguish one reality from another
My condolences to his family and friends.
A good example of the Werther effect is the string of copycat suicides in South Korea after an actress, Lee Eun-Ju, took her own life in 2005. After her death, the suicide rate of the general population in Korea spiked with notable celebrities also taking their own lives. Here's a frightening statistic from the LA Times "In South Korea, 15,413 took their lives that year [2009], or 28.4 for every 100,000 residents."
As an individual who has overcome manic depression and dealt with suicide personally and amongst friends, it is a difficult issue to approach and conquer, especially because when caught in a downward spiral everything seems to perpetuate it and nothing seems to help. It is not enough to simply ask if a friend is doing alright or has harmful intentions but it takes a person (family or friend) who can weather the storm with them. I feel that it is almost equally difficult for the person helping because they have to be willing to listen to and be understanding of the irrational thoughts that plague a suicidal mind. From an outside perspective, the burden of the troubled is vastly greater than the burden upon a helping hand but I think the cumulative process of helping someone can be equally detrimental and taxing. I hate to make a movie reference but the movie What Dreams May Come paints a good metaphor of the risks involved with trying to pull someone out of their sorrow, although not quite as dramatic.