I'm not saying all Hollywood's crappy genre movies are any better, but people eat up anything that comes across as "thought-provoking and open-ended". Also, any movie that employs the "watch twice" gimmick (you have to see it more than once to understand what the hell's going on) irritates me. Memento was sucsessful because it was enjoyable the first time, and even better the second. What's NOT enjoyable is having no idea what the fuck is happening, then having everything confusingly explained at the end, so you have to go back and re-watch the whole thing to even be able to follow it. Also any movie that falls prey to the "They're both the same person" or "It's all in their mind" gimmick - horror films rely on these ploys for their ending "twists", which just make them suck worse. Donnie Darko - Very good but not "OMG it is SO amazing" good Pi - A bit interesting, watch it once Mahullen Drive - Fucking BORING. Employs the "watch twice" gimmick big time Primer - Interesting, but impossible to follow. Jacob's Ladder - Very creepy, good film. Fight Club - Good flick, started the whole "same person" routine Vanilla Sky - Pretty much sucked, the ending fell flat IMO Run Lola Run - Haven't seen it, sounds like it fits this list though Memento - Excellent. Helps to watch twice, but is still great the first time. There's also these "intellectual" movies everyone seems to love. Deep and meaningful and transcendant, and would probably have Death Cab for Cutie on the soundtrack (aka: FUCKING PRETENTIOUS) I heart Huckabees - Funny but that's about it, nothing too meaningful Coffee and Ciggerettes - Oooh experimental, with an odd assorment of celebrities!!! Waking Life - Prententious ("omg its so DEEP") and boring Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Interesting enough to see once, I guess I'm sure there's more, but there you have it. Don't argue because I'M RIGHT!!!
hmm, I disagree, i like most of the movies you have listed, and prefer to have to think about a film rather than the standard verse chorus verse of regular mainstream Hollywood films. I do understand where you are coming from to a point though...I love David Lynch, I liked Mullholland Dr, but sometimes he doesn't leave enough to even figure anything out...like Lost Highway, no sense can be made of it Didn't really like PI, most of the rest that you mentined though were not impossible to firgure out the first time. Don't you dare fuck with my man Jim Jarnusch either, i love all of his filsm, coffee and cigarettes was not his best, but i still liked it. I loved the story of Vanilla Sky, interesting concept, but it had Tom Cruise in it, i should really see Abre Los Ojos
I really liked Pi. Aronofski has a thing with circles, and if you think of the film in terms of the circular, it is a lot more interesting and more enjoyable. He really tried to go the meaningful route with his latest film, The Fountain, and I give him credit for trying to be original in this era of stagnation in American Cinema, but I think he ended up failing. Too bad. I was NOT a fan of I Heart Huckabees. It acted like it was trying to be about something, but I don't think it was really trying to be about anything. It felt like an exercise to see if they could get the critics to call it deep (they got about half of them, BTW). I haven't seen Primer yet. I've got it in my Netflix queue. I either really like or love the rest of the movies on your list.
i don't think it tried too be too deep. Philosophy was just a quirky medium by which it could show hilarity in these people's lives. What a great film. Totally off-beat, dry humor. I recently showed it to a girl i was sort of interested in as a test, and she didn't like it. If you can't appreciate films like this then I probably won't date you, unless you can recite every line of The Big Leboiski.
You're what? 15 years old? You got a lot of rage... Maybe dont complain? And dont see the movies? It's like when people bash horror movies, no one hates those as much as I do, but I dont watch them. It's called Mulholland Drive, Pi was good, Memento, I picked up what Nolan was doing right away (I was 14 when I saw that one) Jacobs Ladder was great, but there I HATED the ending. Fight Club did NOT start what you call 'the same person routine' You throw around the word pretentious too much that you lose all credibility. I agree its annoying when people use intelligent and deep to describe movies, esspecially when they seem forced to. And to the person talking about Lynchs movies, honestly, his movies arent really puzzles, theyre abstract images covering a very unlinear plot, watch it, dont solve it. Yes I'm aware there are theories as to what the movies meant, esspecially in Mulholland Drive when Lynch put the clues to decoding the movie, but I heard that those were just to further stump people.
Sir Isaac Newton wasn't all that smart; the Pyramid of Geza wasn't much of an accomplishment; and Jimi Hendrix was an overrated guitarist.
Platinum chill, I've got no rage, I can bash films in the movie forum...just venting, jeeze..and I'm not 15 (wtf?) I only said the word "prententious" twice, Mulholland drive was as boring as I'll get out, and Fight Club DID popularize the "same guy" trend, particularly for horror movies: Secret Window, Identity, High Tension to name a few...which reminds me! I wanna complain about High Tension - God did that movie ever suck. I was already bored, and then the "twist ending" what the holy fuck? How could it be the same person?! There was a CAR CHASE for chrissakes...maybe I'll start a thread on that. Another thing that annoys me: Some movies (sci-fi/action/horror) will have complicated plots with inconsistencies that make no sense. Most people just look over it, thinking "yah, well just a movie" but huge fanatics will fill up web pages with their theories, and eventually, lo and behold, the filmmakers will release some book or DVD-extra explaining the plot hole, which of course was actually completely intentional! I say bullshit. It's easy to come with something to please the nitpickers, if you can do it after the fact. To me it makes sense that, if your using film as a way of story telling, you should be able to follow the story by *gasp* WATCHING THE FILM...not having it explained to you afterward. BAH!
i like how you bash "pretentious" movies and yet you end by saying "Don't argue because I'M RIGHT!!!" this is a film forum, but forums are not a place for you to bash whatever you desire, everyone has opinions and you are entitled to yours but you could do it in a more positive way, or possibly a less offensive way... however that's just my opinion bash on my friend
From what I understand, High Tensions twist ending was thrown in last minute and Aja did not want that. PRE fightclub movies that have the 'same person twist ending' Angel Heart Primal Fear Nightmare on Elm Street 2 Sleepaway Camp Lost Highway The Machinist Dressed to Kill I dont see how you could find Mulholland Drive boring, I couldnt take my eyes off that movie, the Silencio scene, ive watched so many times.
There have been an absolute shit load of movies with the multiple-personality-paradigm-shift. But the truly great movies have been able to pull it off without it becoming a gimmick.
Just realised I said "Platinum chill" before, I meant Jedi. Ok, maybe I was wrong about Fight Club... LOL, what happens in Nightmare On Elm Street 2 (never seen it)? One of the kids getting stalked realises that HE'S Freddy?
Freddy used a boy to go killing. And fight club was based on a book. so blame that? oh and i cant believe i forgot to mention usual suspects.
