Movies or scenes that you just don't get
06-26-05, 11:49 AM
#53
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Originally Posted by Crocker Jarmen
I remember seeing Ghostbusters at the theater when I was 5 years old, and I was totally baffled by the scene where the female ghost hovers over Dan Akroyd, undoes his bealt, and then they cut to Dan making some goofy face. I knew something was going on but I had no idea what.
Sadly, 20 years later, I still don't.
Sadly, 20 years later, I still don't.
06-26-05, 04:33 PM
#56
DVD Talk Limited Edition
The dance scene near the end of The Breakfast Club. I mean, throughout the movie, all the characters lay out all of their problems and start becaming friends... and then the first thing they do is dance?!?? I think this scene make no sense whatsoever.
06-26-05, 05:51 PM
#57
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Originally Posted by dhmac
The dance scene near the end of The Breakfast Club. I mean, throughout the movie, all the characters lay out all of their problems and start becaming friends... and then the first thing they do is dance?!?? I think this scene make no sense whatsoever.
06-27-05, 02:59 AM
#59
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Originally Posted by FinkPish
Everyone dances when they get high on the drugs. If you don't dance, you are on the wrong kind of drugs.
06-27-05, 04:15 AM
#60
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Pleasantville...The movie starts out showing how shitty our current time is then they switch to Pleasantville, which seems to be this wonderful place, and then the characters go back and proceed to fuck things up in much the same way our modern day is and then the movie asks us to believe that this is a good thing. I got so disgusted with the movie I switched the Director's Commentary to see what the hell the director was trying to do with this mess of a movie.
06-27-05, 01:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Giantrobo
Pleasantville...The movie starts out showing how shitty our current time is then they switch to Pleasantville, which seems to be this wonderful place, and then the characters go back and proceed to fuck things up in much the same way our modern day is and then the movie asks us to believe that this is a good thing. I got so disgusted with the movie I switched the Director's Commentary to see what the hell the director was trying to do with this mess of a movie.
06-27-05, 04:31 PM
#62
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Originally Posted by Dark_Sithlord
A couple of movies that have left me pondering:
Total Recall: This is one of my favourite Schwarzenegger movies. I've seen it a couple of dozen times, and to this day, I still have no idea whether everything in the movie actually happened, or a memory implant that he bought at Recall.
Total Recall: This is one of my favourite Schwarzenegger movies. I've seen it a couple of dozen times, and to this day, I still have no idea whether everything in the movie actually happened, or a memory implant that he bought at Recall.
I know exactly what you mean. I seem to watch bits and pieces of the movie every time it's on TBS, and I've watched my DVD a few times, and I still don't think I completely "get it."
06-27-05, 04:49 PM
#63
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Originally Posted by Dark_Sithlord
I've always thought this movie was a bit of a commentary on our society, that as bad as we think it is, things could be worse. Tobey's character realizes this when he ends up in Pleasantville, which seems like a quaint little town, but it's got its demons. It's devoid of any real emotion, and obviously, colour. And when Tobey tries to change things for the better, he faced resistance, and fear. When he saw that his reforms were reaching people, he probably realized he wasn't so bad off afterall back in the real world. I don't know if I would call it "fucking things up", but he made radical changes that made people confront who they really are as a community and as individuals.
Yeah thanks for that theory but I'm not buyin' it. The status quo was fine in Pleasantville. They didn't need to face anything because everything was fine until the troublemakers showed up. Anyway, I've had this discussion on dvdtalk many many times before and I'm sticking with my feelings on this film.
06-28-05, 11:49 AM
#64
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Originally Posted by Giantrobo
Pleasantville...The movie starts out showing how shitty our current time is then they switch to Pleasantville, which seems to be this wonderful place, and then the characters go back and proceed to fuck things up in much the same way our modern day is and then the movie asks us to believe that this is a good thing. I got so disgusted with the movie I switched the Director's Commentary to see what the hell the director was trying to do with this mess of a movie.
Boy in chaotic family structure longs for the family structure and society structure he sees on old 50's re-runs i.e. the grass is always greener ...
Once there, he realises that the 50's weren't that great with a homogenous framework and town structure, bigotry, people trying to fit into a tight framework etc.
One part Wizard of Oz, one part To Kill A Mockingbird, great cast, great script, all parts a terrific film.
I wonder if the MTV generation even gets half of what made that movie funny to begin with: the whole throwback to the 80's vibe it gives. My wife also hates that movie, but teens seem to love it. I'd say it's almost similar to how popular Austin Powers became with the younger crowd.
I'm 50 and I really enjoyed Napolean Dynamite. I like it because I enjoyed the risks that the filmmakers took at not just giving us another coming-of-age film. The pacing is very slow allowing the reality of Napolean's life to come through. Plus some very funny dialogue.
To me Austin Powers is the Blazing Saddles of its decade, not as witty, but a funny send-up to the Bond films. Take off some toilet humor and it would be terrific.
Back on topic, to me there is a difference between a film like Mulholland Dr. and something like Panic Room. The latter just has major plot holes while the former is deliberately open-ended ... allowing the viewer to come up with their own ideas.
06-28-05, 12:08 PM
#65
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Originally Posted by ctyankee
. . . one part To Kill A Mockingbird . . .
The whole segregation angle is like a mirror held in front of the audience. The filmmakers then take that mirror and smash it over our heads, just to be certain we got it.
06-28-05, 12:48 PM
#66
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Originally Posted by sundog
oh come on! any film featuring Don Knotts and a scene showing a woman's orgasm setting fire to a tree does not get to lay claim to a modicum of the dour earnestness that fills To Kill a Mockingbird.
The whole segregation angle is like a mirror held in front of the audience. The filmmakers then take that mirror and smash it over our heads, just to be certain we got it.
The whole segregation angle is like a mirror held in front of the audience. The filmmakers then take that mirror and smash it over our heads, just to be certain we got it.
06-28-05, 12:57 PM
#67
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Originally Posted by ctyankee
To each his own ... but what is hard to get?
Boy in chaotic family structure longs for the family structure and society structure he sees on old 50's re-runs i.e. the grass is always greener ...
Once there, he realises that the 50's weren't that great with a homogenous framework and town structure, bigotry, people trying to fit into a tight framework etc.
One part Wizard of Oz, one part To Kill A Mockingbird, great cast, great script, all parts a terrific film.
Boy in chaotic family structure longs for the family structure and society structure he sees on old 50's re-runs i.e. the grass is always greener ...
Once there, he realises that the 50's weren't that great with a homogenous framework and town structure, bigotry, people trying to fit into a tight framework etc.
One part Wizard of Oz, one part To Kill A Mockingbird, great cast, great script, all parts a terrific film.
Whatever. Like you said...to each his own.
06-28-05, 01:20 PM
#68
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
My take on Pleasantville:
The film was not even about the 1950's. The film was not commenting on the way it really was back then or even about those TV shows.
The film was taking to task the attitude that exists today, or did around the time the film was made, that things were much better in the 1950's. These are claims you always hear from politicians and the Religious Right. That things were safer and happier. The kind of view that always talk about the past with nostalgia as if everything was perfect back then.
The film is taking those views to task and saying "yeah it was nice, for white males. It was not so nice if you were not white or were a woman." It's simply saying that things were not perfect back then and things are not perfect today. But at least we have color today. It's simply trying to say that things are not as bad today as people think. We are more free to think and feel what we want.
Just take a look at the Tobey Mcguire character. He idolized the show not because he thought it depeicted reality, but because he was disenchanted with the state of the world and his life in the present. He idolized the past, thinking it was better back then.
The film was not even about the 1950's. The film was not commenting on the way it really was back then or even about those TV shows.
The film was taking to task the attitude that exists today, or did around the time the film was made, that things were much better in the 1950's. These are claims you always hear from politicians and the Religious Right. That things were safer and happier. The kind of view that always talk about the past with nostalgia as if everything was perfect back then.
The film is taking those views to task and saying "yeah it was nice, for white males. It was not so nice if you were not white or were a woman." It's simply saying that things were not perfect back then and things are not perfect today. But at least we have color today. It's simply trying to say that things are not as bad today as people think. We are more free to think and feel what we want.
Just take a look at the Tobey Mcguire character. He idolized the show not because he thought it depeicted reality, but because he was disenchanted with the state of the world and his life in the present. He idolized the past, thinking it was better back then.
06-28-05, 01:22 PM
#69
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Originally Posted by ctyankee
It wasn't "dour earnestness" that I was referring to. I see To Kill A Mockingbird as a mirrow into our society (and like Pleasantville) not a bit subtle at that.
