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Do you understand Donny Darko?

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Great.

The ONE film that I never, ever understood and have scratched a bald spot into my scalp, is being re-released as a Director's Cut.

I love the obscure.

I love the arcane.

So WHY, oh WHY, couldn't I figure out anything, or even muster up a rat's ass worth of caring about this film?

I've talked to friends who found it "brilliant, ground breaking, one of a kind."

I must have been knitting a wool jumper in my brain the day that I saw this.

Even sites such as Movie Review Query Engine can't agree about the film. Some rate it ONE star, some rate it 10.

If you've seen it, what was your impression?

― PsychoKitty (PsychoKitty), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:42 (twenty-one years ago)

It starts off by bringing you on a subjective trip through the delusions of a schizophrenic, but then it turns out that the delusions are real. this is an old trick.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:43 (twenty-one years ago)

what part of 'donnie darko' don't you understand?

― ENRQ (Enrique), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:44 (twenty-one years ago)

So WHY, oh WHY, couldn't I figure out anything, or even muster up a rat's ass worth of caring about this film?

becuz it sucks becuz it sucks becuz it sucks

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:45 (twenty-one years ago)

A dissenting opinion (that violently reaffirms mine)

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:46 (twenty-one years ago)

I think it's ambiguous whether or not the delusions are real. One possible reading is that the whole thing has been his halucination as he dies.

I certainly don't fully understand it, but I still love it as (unlike David Lynch, say) it has characters you can care about. It's also very funny in parts, extremely atmospheric, and looks stunning.

― Wooden (Wooden), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:47 (twenty-one years ago)

One of the things that really drew me the most into Monde Donnie Darko was the accompanying music:

pulling in "directors = game master" dorks with Interpol influences is like shooting fish in a barrel

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:47 (twenty-one years ago)

It is all explained in the extras on the DVD. Its do with time travel & alternative realities, nothing is delusions.

but there's not enough info in the film itself to enable anyone to work it out. which is a swizz I think.

― Bidfurd, Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:49 (twenty-one years ago)

what don't you like about Donnie Darko for fucks sake?! The direction for one is worth being confused for a couple of hours for a start!

― dog latin (dog latin), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, this movie pretty much blows. Best part: that Tears for Fears song. Other than that, it's a movie designed primarily to be clever, except that IT'S NOT FUCKING CLEVER! IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE! DON'T SHIT IN MY MOUTH AND CALL IT A SUNDAE!

― Kenan (kenan), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah I totally figured out the time travel shit when I saw the movie the first time. But hey, don't let that stop anybody from thinking a movie that is superficially liberal, teen angst-coddling, simple-minded, full of bad acting, nonsensical and knows about Joy Division is a groundbreaking work of genius.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:51 (twenty-one years ago)

btw I was finally tiring of being mean about this film but that recent Salon article really crossed the line.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:52 (twenty-one years ago)

That article is wank. Still love the film though.

― Wooden (Wooden), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:54 (twenty-one years ago)

full of bad acting? where are you getting this 'sweeping' generalisation from?

― Ste (Fuzzy), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:54 (twenty-one years ago)

superficially liberal, teen angst-coddling, simple-minded, full of bad acting, nonsensical and knows about Joy Division

uhh... please explain?

― dog latin (dog latin), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Drew Barrymore as allegedly good teacher who is allegedly fired for being TOO GOOD even though she's acting like Alicia Silverstone.

Jena Malone and the parents were a'ight actin'-wise.

I mean if people were enjoying it on some Breakfast Club camp level that'd be one thing but 9 page articles about how every detail adds up (AFTER the director's cut reveals that half the shit wasn't in his "original vision") is just YEEAARGHGHGH!!!

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:56 (twenty-one years ago)

I think I talked about some this on that old thread.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:57 (twenty-one years ago)

I watched this twice and it made sense to me, I guess I missed uh SOMETHING

― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:57 (twenty-one years ago)

oh and that Tears For Fears scene is murder. Film Speed fluctuations for an ENTIRE goddamn song and nothing else. F'in worthwhile and profound.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:59 (twenty-one years ago)

all conservatives (Except your parents) are actually psychotics and rapists, btw.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I go into detail on this thread from a while back.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I like the film. Like others, I don't really get it. I love the 'Head Over Heels' sequence. Why not?

― the bellefox, Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think that was being "superficially liberal" at all - it was just part of the plot. If anything DD was fairly apolitical in its thinking. Just because there are teenagers in it doesn't make it a teen-angst movie. I didn't notice any bad acting and I'd be tempted to say that many of the performances are extremely memorable. And anyway - who's to say all films have to make perfect sense the first time you watch them? Star Wars has had more read into it than Donnie Darko ever will - does that make it a bad movie?
Plus I don't remember Joy Division being referenced at all - what'chu on about?

― dog latin (dog latin), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:02 (twenty-one years ago)

The "Head Over Heels" bit is one of the greatest bits of popular cinema this century.

― dog latin (dog latin), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I watched this twice and it made sense to me, I guess I missed uh SOMETHING

it breaks down under scrutiny quickly and in ways that I find entirely unacceptable. it cheats, and it's all much thinner than it tries to appear. the more people love love love this movie, the more I hate it.

― Kenan (kenan), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:03 (twenty-one years ago)

all conservatives (Except your parents) are actually psychotics and rapists, btw.

Yes, there was a paedophile in the movie. What's your point?

― dog latin (dog latin), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:04 (twenty-one years ago)

btw folks, sometimes a movie is has plotholes and leaves out crucial pieces of information. It's not necessarily your fault, let alone something to be impressed by.


"Love Will Tear Us Apart" is in the party scene.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:05 (twenty-one years ago)

movies in not being realistic or able to withstand logic shocker.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:06 (twenty-one years ago)


"all conservatives (Except your parents) are actually psychotics and rapists, btw."

This is actually true though. They did a study. It is true of your parents too.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:06 (twenty-one years ago)

my point, Dog Latin, is just like The Breakfast Club's plot requires all adults to be teen-loathing and hateful, Donnie Darko requires everyone who isn't a friend of Jakey to be a conservative lunatic.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I have more of a problem with the logical lapses in Alias, actually. I mean how many friggin' times can you meet with an FBI agent in public without your super-secret spy organization catching on?!

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:08 (twenty-one years ago)

http://archive.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/2004/07/23/darko/

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:08 (twenty-one years ago)

i got the feeling that what's-his-name was worried that he might not get to make another film and just threw everything he wanted to say into one script. with that in mind, i gave up trying to make sense of the plot and enjoyed the atmosphere, the soundtrack, the supporting cast (with the exception of drew/noah), and jake's bambi eyes. that's more than enough good to cancel out the irritating bits. i agree that the whole cult of darko thing is ridiculous, but i'm not going to fault a movie for its fans.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:09 (twenty-one years ago)

an actual explanation of the movie exists, informed by the web site and the director's commentary. it's internally consistent but very convoluted. if you don't like the movie to begin with, don't waste your time. the explanation won't change your mind.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:09 (twenty-one years ago)

"donny"

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:09 (twenty-one years ago)

this movie is targetted at teenage girls who like bad music! When will this exploitation end!

― Typhoon is Coming!!! :O (ex machina), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:10 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, Lauren, if this was treated as a problematic but interesting debut with some nice qualities then I wouldn't bother getting so dramatic about it.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:10 (twenty-one years ago)

"requires all adults to be teen-loathing and hateful"

According to Health & Human Services statistics, 99.9% of all adults are teen-loathing and hateful. You can't fight those numbers.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:10 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm just glad that all this is making Drew Barrymore even more money. She should buy a pony.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:12 (twenty-one years ago)

scott you are the exception that proves the rule

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Is CeCe being emo about emo kids liking it?

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:12 (twenty-one years ago)

She's adorable, you know. And a credit to the first family of american theatre.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:12 (twenty-one years ago)

DD is okay by me. I have the DVD but don't watch it that much.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:12 (twenty-one years ago)

haha kruschev was emo about the U.S., Jerry.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:13 (twenty-one years ago)

although the scene where drew barrymore goes outside and screams "fuck" is fist-eatingly awful.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Donnie Darko requires everyone who isn't a friend of Jakey to be a conservative lunatic.

true, but i don't see how it could be any other way.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:13 (twenty-one years ago)

jesus saw the moneylenders at the temple and got all emo about it

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:14 (twenty-one years ago)

drew barrymore looks like she showed up to the set of DD for one day of filming, and shat her performace out.

that scream she does in that one scene is so cringeworthy. eeek.

ha XPOST

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:14 (twenty-one years ago)

i liked donnie. they played echo & the bunnymen in it, you know. i used to listen to them when i was sad.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:14 (twenty-one years ago)

true, but i don't see how it could be any other way.

yes, you couldn't have your adolescent fantasy movie without simple-minded adolescent idiocies. See Breakfast Club comparison.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:14 (twenty-one years ago)

fuck all you donnie haters. i still get chills when the airplane engine falls and the volume is up real loud, and everything goes in REVERSE.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:15 (twenty-one years ago)

the more people love love love this movie, the more I hate it.

I actually like this movie, but the above holds true for me too. It's a good, enjoyable, but highly overrated movie.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:15 (twenty-one years ago)

fat emo chicks to thread

― Typhoon is Coming!!! :O (ex machina), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:16 (twenty-one years ago)

if they had played the 12 inch version of bedbugs & ballyhoo i would have eaten my own shorts and had a cow and then pooped. and i would be the director's love slave.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:16 (twenty-one years ago)

wait a minute... you hate the breakfast club, too, anthony?

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:16 (twenty-one years ago)

um, no, because Salon doesn't write 9 pages articles "explaining" it

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Here, CeCe, you'll love this:

http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,4120,1271738,00.html


― Wooden (Wooden), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:17 (twenty-one years ago)

page 9. Why do they all start dancing?

In scene one Emilio Estevez notes that...

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:18 (twenty-one years ago)

I am now strangely fascinated by the aesthetic of one Anthony Miccio, considering I would've figured this movie to be something he'd love.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:19 (twenty-one years ago)

for the record, I think it's an okay movie myself.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:19 (twenty-one years ago)

jake is a babe too. his sister on the udder hand is k-k-k-kreepy like k-k-k-cabbage and k-k-k-cucumber and i couldn't even watch that sub/dom movie she was in and i am even a spadermaniac from way back.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:19 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't like every form of incoherence and stupidity, hstencil.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:19 (twenty-one years ago)

I like his sister. She's got a sexy smile.

― Wooden (Wooden), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Anthony, did you hate Crocodile Tears with that fat kid who played the bagpipes (jennifer aniston watchers will know what i'm talking about.)

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:21 (twenty-one years ago)

CELLER DOOR

what does it all mean?????!??

― thorJESUHOY (Thor), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:21 (twenty-one years ago)

hahaha, fair enough Miccio. Consistency, hobgoblin, etc., etc.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I have no idea Scott but I'm all for fat kids playing bagpipes

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:22 (twenty-one years ago)

This movie is the artistic equivalent of Forrest Gump (except it's not as good-looking and more poorly-acted). The only difference is one of attitude.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I guess I've largely avoided the Cult of Darko, as I don't know anyone who worships the film. I liked it pretty well when I saw it, even though I had trouble understanding it. I liked trying to figure it out afterwards, and when I stumbled, I said, "Ah well, maybe it doesn't make much sense, that's cool."

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:22 (twenty-one years ago)

haha point out inconsistency please hstencil

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Anthony, did you ever see the movie The Baby.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:23 (twenty-one years ago)

the inconsistency is my conception of your tastes, Miccio, not anything you've done:

I am now strangely fascinated by the aesthetic of one Anthony Miccio, considering I would've figured this movie to be something he'd love.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:24 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm too lazy to link to the Salon article about Mulholland Drive, which prompted like 10 pages of theories from readers, incl. one Jaymc and one Kenan Hebert.

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

ps. who else likes movies where creatures from other planets speak English, combustion and sound happen in a vaccuum, etc.?

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

mulholland drive vs donnie darko

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Mulholland Drive is easy: All a dream. Cased closed. It works for every David Lynch movie.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:26 (twenty-one years ago)

haha the two films that have given me an aversion to watching any "cult hit" lest it mean another year of debates with pals

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:26 (twenty-one years ago)

hstencil -- not to mention instantaneous transmission of sound through a huge expanse of space

― Typhoon is Coming!!! :O (ex machina), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:27 (twenty-one years ago)

what about that weird guy behind the diner then? WHAT ABOUT HIM

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:27 (twenty-one years ago)

and then we have the mess that is lost highway.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:27 (twenty-one years ago)

More dreaming.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

faster than light travel is impossible, bros.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

hey scott, how 'bout The Straight Story?

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

STAR WARS ISN'T REAL?!?!?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Twin Peaks: Dream

Elephant Man: Dream

Dune: Dream

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

straight story: Nightmare!!! A never-ending one.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:29 (twenty-one years ago)

the straight story is a 17 year old girls dream induced by prom anxiety

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Neverending Story: Dream

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Limahl's hair-do: Dream

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Velvet Goldmine: harsh gritty reality

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:30 (twenty-one years ago)

The Princess Bride = Book

― Typhoon is Coming!!! :O (ex machina), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:30 (twenty-one years ago)

I liked trying to figure it out afterwards, and when I stumbled, I said, "Ah well, maybe it doesn't make much sense, that's cool."

Yeah, that'd be the healthy way to deal with it. But there is somthing very frustrating about expending energy trying to figure out a movie, and then realizing that there's no reward in it.

― Kenan (kenan), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:32 (twenty-one years ago)

which prompted like 10 pages of theories from readers, incl. one Jaymc and one Kenan Hebert.

Really? You're on there, too? That's too weird.

― Kenan (kenan), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:33 (twenty-one years ago)

But isn't the movie itself the reward? I mean, the reason why I expended the energy on both Donnie Darko and Mulholland Drive is because they were such compelling films on an aesthetic, pre-theoretical level.

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I read Ulysses "for fun."

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:35 (twenty-one years ago)

they were such compelling films on an aesthetic, pre-theoretical level.

I did like the titty scene.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:35 (twenty-one years ago)

OK OK

so in GREMLINS, what happens if Gizmo himself eats after midnight?

― Typhoon is Coming!!! :O (ex machina), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:36 (twenty-one years ago)

or, it's always after midnight.. always. everywhere.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:37 (twenty-one years ago)

(One of the things I like about Lynch, for instance, is that his films seem to work in this intuitive, non-rational manner; it's creepier when it's inexplicable.)

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:37 (twenty-one years ago)

I will admit I would have enjoyed every Lynch movie I see if it was the first Lynch movie I saw (and therefore didn't share Seward's it-was-all-a-dream cynicism). I still have high hopes for Eraserhead when I finally see it.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

and Dennis Hopper helps make Blue Velvet hella-rewarding

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

The director has done his movie a disservice with the director's cut and all the extras etc. He should have just kept schtumm like Lynch. I liked Donny Darko but I think Mulholland Drive is a much more interesting movie. (And the 'second half was a dream' theory entirely misses the point of the movie.)

― Jonathan Z. (Joanthan Z.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Eraserhead is cool.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:41 (twenty-one years ago)

um, Jonathan the point of the movie was to think up a quick way to wrap up an open-ended "Twin Peaks"-style pilot so that the French could sell it at as a movie.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:41 (twenty-one years ago)

and that way was (see all Seward posts)

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:42 (twenty-one years ago)

i'm sure the show would have ended as a dream too.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:44 (twenty-one years ago)

the cowboy in mulholland drive vs. the cowboy in innerspace

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Part of the process of the movie-making was thinking up a way to wrap-up a TV pilot. But that wasn't the point of the movie.

― Jonathan Z. (Joanthan Z.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:44 (twenty-one years ago)

The cool thing about Lost Highway is that he used a real murderer dressed up like Uncle Fester to play the dream-devil.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:45 (twenty-one years ago)

what about the big lebowski cowboy? he was a dream too.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:46 (twenty-one years ago)

How come Ferris Bueller talks to no one in particular?

― Typhoon is Coming!!! :O (ex machina), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:47 (twenty-one years ago)

btw I apologize for being in children's-baloon-popping mode today. Blame Salon, the movie poster industry, auteurist theory, etc.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I think I get it, an engine drops on his bad and he dies.

― jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:49 (twenty-one years ago)

opps my bad, bed.

― jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I guess I've largely avoided the Cult of Darko, as I don't know anyone who worships the film. I liked it pretty well when I saw it, even though I had trouble understanding it. I liked trying to figure it out afterwards, and when I stumbled, I said, "Ah well, maybe it doesn't make much sense, that's cool."

-- jaymc (jmcunnin...), August 3rd, 2004.

Aw, you are wise, Grasshopper jaymc! That is the attitude I will now adopt when I am surrounded by Darko-loving 'tweens' that applaud it's virtues.

(And I thought my Master's Degree from the Theatre of the Absurb would allow me to understand this film...Oh, well, that's cool.")

― PsychoKitty (PsychoKitty), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I think it's ambiguous whether or not the delusions are real. One possible reading is that the whole thing has been his halucination as he dies.

this is another old trick.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:56 (twenty-one years ago)

(And the 'second half was a dream' theory entirely misses the point of the movie.)

That's exactly what John argued on Salon.

http://archive.salon.com/ent/letters/2001/10/26/mulholland_drive/index3.html

― Kenan (kenan), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:59 (twenty-one years ago)

The fact that there are all these competing theories about what the movie is about is sort of what it's about, I think. It looks like a puzzle movie, a mystery in which you are introduced to all these disparate elements and you can't immediately figure out how they go together. You assume they will somehow fit together at the end, as is the convention. But somehow, they don't. All sorts of theories are possible, but none is entirely satisfactory. It's in fact a fake mystery, a movie that's designed to look like a puzzle film but actually isn't one, like those insects that evolve to look like leaves or twigs.

― Jonathan Z. (Joanthan Z.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 16:10 (twenty-one years ago)

um, Jonathan the point of the movie was to think up a quick way to wrap up an open-ended "Twin Peaks"-style pilot so that the French could sell it at as a movie.

well, yeah. but you make it sound like this was done in an uninteresting way.

― ryan (ryan), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 16:12 (twenty-one years ago)

But, Jonathan, isn't that a cop-out for a director or author? I remember when Lynch was doing Twin Peaks; at first it was thought to be brilliant, but, when news came up that he was pulling the plot out of his ass, it lost favor....FAST!

Being ground-breaking, innovative and mystical is one thing. Just cobbling things together in an acid trip is just bad creativity.

― PsychoKitty (PsychoKitty), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 16:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, it's all subjective but I don't agree. I think the messing with the genre is one of the things that make it interesting. I like movies that start within the conventions of a genre and then sort of spin out into something else. And I like movies that derive their meaning from the way they're structured rather than from specific events or 'learning curves' within the storyline. All the plot threads in Mulholland Drive are essentially riffs on noir and neo-noir (in both parts of the movie - I don't find either part any more 'real' than the other).

― Jonathan Z. (Joanthan Z.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 16:18 (twenty-one years ago)

lynch's main inspiration is from his own dreams. they always factor heavily in his work.

you could call it "cobbling things together" and "bad creativity," but i disagree. i think dreams are very potent sources for creativity.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 16:21 (twenty-one years ago)

it's a natural breeding ground for the craziness in your own head. or lynch's head.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 16:22 (twenty-one years ago)

"St. Elsewhere" = autistic kid's snowglobe.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 16:28 (twenty-one years ago)

i thought the whole movie was explained in the book on the DD website?

― AaronK (AaronK), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

If I have to buy a book to understand a movie that I didn't like, I have waaaay too much money and time on my hands.

I'll go all research on something that peaks my interest; but the only reason why I 'care' about this film is that I'm embarrassed by not being able to 'get it' when Weed-Heads that I know and love groove on it.

Maybe THAT'S the key: a kilo of pot!

― PsychoKitty (PsychoKitty), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 16:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Most Donnie Darko superfans ignore one of the main reasons I personally LOVE LOVE LOVE it so - it is fucking FUNNY AS GOD DAMN at times.

"Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparklemotion."

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 16:37 (twenty-one years ago)

it's not a real book. you can't buy it.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 16:38 (twenty-one years ago)

stupid film

― Jaunty Alan (Alan), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 16:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Anyway, what is probably my favorite thing about DD and Mulholland Drive (in terms of "plot") is that they are both very emotionally specific but can be retranslated structurally on later viewings, they can be seen as something completely different than your most recent theory, yet still maintain emotional heft.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 16:43 (twenty-one years ago)

his sister on the udder hand is k-k-k-kreepy

Maggie G. is hot. Go suck a fuck. :-p

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 16:47 (twenty-one years ago)

How exactly does one suck a fuck?

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 16:50 (twenty-one years ago)

DUKAKIS

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 16:51 (twenty-one years ago)

do you want me to show you?
x-post

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 16:51 (twenty-one years ago)

the book is not a REAL book, it's a flash animation book on the movie website. it explains the whole thing. You could figure out everything that's important from what's in the movie anyway. The details are inconsequential. i dont see how rabid fans get off trying to explain away every details and see God in it or something...

― AaronK (AaronK), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 5:04 pm Post subject: the dangers of this
book

First off, I think House of Leaves is an amazing book - one of my favorites and
I haven't even finished reading it yet (am almost done, but taking breaks
because of how it can effect me).
I would like to address the effect this book could possibly have on people
who are emotionally unstable such as schizophrenics. I've heard accounts
online of people hallucinating or even going into institutions after reading this
book (and having read it myself, I can say this is understandable to me). I
would like to ask if Mark Danielewski is aware of the effect it could have on
people and if he has any thoughts on a warning system for those with more
advanced mental problems not to read it.

thank you,

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Really, doesn't the film just add up to Donnie Darko being used by interdimensional beings to realign misplaced time streams?

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:24 (twenty-one years ago)

interdimensional beings = god

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:25 (twenty-one years ago)

But, Jonathan, isn't that a cop-out for a director or author? I remember when Lynch was doing Twin Peaks; at first it was thought to be brilliant, but, when news came up that he was pulling the plot out of his ass, it lost favor....FAST!

Where did you think he was pulling the plot out of during the "brilliant" period of the show?!

― Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:40 (twenty-one years ago)

No way dude that whole bit about looking at a map of Tibet in the woods was clearly a matter of five years' research!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I found David Duchovny's character to be particularly not-pulled-out-of-the-ass.

― Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I had a hard time getting used to him as an actor *not* dressed in drag. Is he no longer famous?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:42 (twenty-one years ago)

He was the best thing in Zoolander, seriously.

― Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:42 (twenty-one years ago)

He was in some lame-ass looking movie with the one from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and the one from Muriel's Wedding.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:46 (twenty-one years ago)

The one where the women pretended to be drag queens to become famous, right? I forget what that was called. He was also in that weird movie with Minnie Driver where he received a heart transplant, and then he meets this girl and they get along, a while after his heart transplant, and they fall in love and then SHOCK GASP OMG it turns out that David Duchovny's transplant heart was the heart of Minnie Driver's DEAD HUSBAND and it was MEANT TO BE.

Maybe I have that backwards, it was almost as bad as Down With Love.

― Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:48 (twenty-one years ago)

"Return to Me"

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah! I liked David Duchovny better when he was doing bad soft porn, I think.

― Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Poor David Duchovny. He needs an HBO comedy or something.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:50 (twenty-one years ago)

poor david duchovny? homey is married to tea leoni!

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Like I said, poor David Duchovny.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:52 (twenty-one years ago)

The one where the women pretended to be drag queens to become famous, right?

Connie and Carla.

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:53 (twenty-one years ago)

The more interesting question here is what happened to Gillian Anderson.

― Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:55 (twenty-one years ago)

I was thinking that as well!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:56 (twenty-one years ago)

no, the more interesting question is why nick a. does not think tea leoni is a babe.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:57 (twenty-one years ago)

i'd like to...

oh never mind

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Gillian Anderson was recently in some stupid play about baseball that more than likely didn't utilize her absurd hottness.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Dude, I'm with Nick on that one. Tea Leoni reminds me of Ralph the Motorcycle Mouse. She's really not even like 1/4 as hot as Gillian Anderson.

― Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:59 (twenty-one years ago)

x-post (or x-file)

The more interesting question here is what happened to Gillian Anderson.
-- Allyzay Science Explosion (alk210...), August 3rd, 2004.

Ha! And y'all thought that alien abduction stuff in the show was 'fiction'...

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:59 (twenty-one years ago)

It looks like she's abducting the alien, actually.

― Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:01 (twenty-one years ago)

i never understood the gillian anderson attraction.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Tea Leoni is really fucking annoying. I only know her from Flirting With Disaster (which was ok but creepy), her lame shitty sitcom, and some action movie (Godzilla) which must have been awesome since I can't remember what it was. As far as her looks, she's just a generic "attractive movie star." There are 8 million women who look like her, and probably some of them aren't nearly as annoying.

I do find Gillian Anderson attractive though.

xpost, Cutty, are you Calum?

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think Tea Leoni looks like a generic attractive movie star. When I think of that I think more along the lines of, I dunno, Penelope Cruz and Heather Graham. Tea Leoni just looks like motorcycle mouse to me. It's quite odd.

Elizbeth Hurley on the other hand is fucking foxy.

― Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:04 (twenty-one years ago)

There was supposed to be a "?" after Godzilla, since I can't remember if that's the right movie.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:05 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost, Cutty, are you Calum?

please.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:06 (twenty-one years ago)

All I've ever seen you do is make pervy comments and insult people.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Dude, me and Jimmy the Mod ran into Matthew Broderick in Starbucks just the other day. He was all like dressed up in a softball uniform.

― Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:07 (twenty-one years ago)

i made pervy comments on the lindsay lohan thread, and it was all in good fun.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:07 (twenty-one years ago)

and the only person i insult is ameteur!st.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:08 (twenty-one years ago)

tea has a nice tush.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Dude, me and Jimmy the Mod ran into Matthew Broderick in Starbucks just the other day. He was all like dressed up in a softball uniform.
-- Allyzay Science Explosion (alk210...), August 3rd, 2004.

kinky...

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:10 (twenty-one years ago)

lauren, are you calum?

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:11 (twenty-one years ago)

btw I had no problem understanding Donnie Darko, so I'm just kind of ignoring the actual content of the thread.

Bruce Springsteen has a nice ass.

― Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:12 (twenty-one years ago)

All I've ever seen you do is insult people.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:12 (twenty-one years ago)

allyzay, are you calum?

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Me, are you I?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:15 (twenty-one years ago)

I love this movie, but I acknowledge it's not perfect; the gym teacher character is a bit too one dimensional.

I do dislike the "cult" of Donnie Darko though and anyone who thinks discussing the movie neccessetates info from the website.

It doesn't NEED to be explained and I wish Richard Kelly wouldn't insist on doing so since it ignores why the movie really works. The engine falling from the sky is a maguffin. It allows the character to make a choice which reveals he has found the love to overcome his existential fear of "dying alone." The director has basically told a funny, yet tragically beautiful coming of age story in a sci-fi universe. It's quite an original combination of moods and genre elements, which is really why the movie excites people (whether they realize it or not), in a time when most Hollywood and so called indie films are frustratingly/safely formulaic.

That last slight interaction between Donnie's Mom and Jenna Malone is one of the most mysteriously touching moments in modern movies.

― herbert hebert (herbert hebert), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:15 (twenty-one years ago)

which is interesting, cause on the full screen version of the film, the little kid waving gets cut off, which kind of subtractcs from the impact of that shot.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:18 (twenty-one years ago)

We're all Calum, in our hearts anyway.

― Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:19 (twenty-one years ago)

more like in our colons

― dyson (dyson), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Ally, please talk about who else looks like a motorcycle mouse so I can get this look down pat. Thx!

― Homosexual II (Homosexual II), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:29 (twenty-one years ago)

(1) when lynch came back in to shoot the last ep. of twin peaks, he basically said to hell with continuity (in more than one sense) and just made a really beautiful and involving 45 minutes of TV. the film, well, i like the film. the original script (which would have called for like a 5-hour movie) went right over the edge into tedious filling-in-plot-holes territory. the film is an interesting combination of an initial urge to explicate and lynch's second thoughts, which were mostly along the lines of "let's make this a self-standing film which DOESN'T resolve the tv show."

(2) people still read salon??

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:42 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.salon.com/ent/wire/2004/08/03/cruise/index.html

― Carey (Carey), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:50 (twenty-one years ago)

FWIW, I saw the LA premiere of the Donnie Darko director's cut and flows a heck of a lot better than the original cut despite being 20 minutes longer. Most of the cast and crew were there and Kelly reaffirmed what he's said before that Donnie is basically a "superhero" character that needs to relink up the split universes. I'm not a Darko cultist - I assumed that Donnie was killed in the initial jet engine strike and the events of the movie are just playing out in his head as his conscious tries to reconcile with being dead (or something).

Obligatory perv comment: in person Katherine Ross is pretty amazing looking for her age

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Thank you for that link, Carey.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:11 (twenty-one years ago)

i can't knock it, but i sort of wish director's wouldn't be so eager to provide explanations/interpretive grids for their own films.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:13 (twenty-one years ago)

I would say Patricia Arquette also resembles a motorcycle mouse.

― Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:16 (twenty-one years ago)

that's not fair, amateurist. if everybody's gonna treat these guys like wizards then they should be allowed to put on funny hats with stars on them and scream that they're wizards.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:16 (twenty-one years ago)

(2) people still read salon??


-- amateur!st (amateur!s...) (webmail), August 3rd, 2004 1:42 PM. (amateurist) (link)

HAHAHAHA

― dean? (deangulberry), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Dude, Anthony, seriously, you need to calm down.

― Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:18 (twenty-one years ago)


that's not fair, amateurist. if everybody's gonna treat these guys like wizards then they should be allowed to put on funny hats with stars on them and scream that they're wizards.

-- CeCe Peniston (anthonymicci...) (webmail), August 3rd, 2004 2:16 PM. (Anthony Miccio) (later) (link)

if they actually did that, i'd approve, obv.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:19 (twenty-one years ago)

ally, I'm just laughing, trust me.

http://www.psd70.ab.ca/broxton/Tutorial%20folder/Culture%20WebQuest/motorcycle.jpg

it's been far too long since i've read any Beverly Cleary

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Miccio is Brent D.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:22 (twenty-one years ago)

ok now I'm mad

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:23 (twenty-one years ago)

you and all that you hold dear is not safe until you take that back

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:24 (twenty-one years ago)

So hstence is allowed to say that Miccio is Brent D., but I can't say that cutty is Calum?

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:24 (twenty-one years ago)

All the plot threads in Mulholland Drive are essentially riffs on noir and neo-noir (in both parts of the movie - I don't find either part any more 'real' than the other).

Yeah. That movie is mostly a series of riffs on movies and how they create, distort and/or mime reality. The whole pretzel-plot thing is secondary -- or if it's primary, it's only by way of illustrating that theme of the subjective creation of reality and the interplay of art and life.

― spittle (spittle), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:26 (twenty-one years ago)

seriously, hstencil, why didn't you just call my mom a ho or something?

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:28 (twenty-one years ago)

dude you're the one who brought up wizard's caps.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:31 (twenty-one years ago)

what is your dad a wizard or something? I'm confused.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:31 (twenty-one years ago)

just please say I'm not Brent D so I can take this gun out of my mouth.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I think he's referring to Brent D's infamous "wizard caps" Radiohead review.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:32 (twenty-one years ago)

oh thank god.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:33 (twenty-one years ago)

i think I would have taken "Anthony, you're worse than Hitler" with more dignity.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Fuckin... how'd I miss this thread? Nickalicious I LURV YOU and the rest of you are anal, boring, bespectacaled twats who have no sense of humour, fun or emotion SO THERE RARGH.

Um.

I like Donnie Darko (DONNIE IT IS SPELT DONNIE FFS).

Ahem. Where was I. Yes, Drew acts badly in it. Sure, it had some overweening atmospherics. But it was funny, it has a gorgeous soundtrack (the Michael Andrews stuff, not the pop music), and FFS IT TOTALLY MADE SENSE TO ME ARE YOU ALL STUPID?

Erm... Hi. Nothing to see here.

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 05:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Also: yes, the website was part of working out the film. That was intentional, and part of the enjoyment of the film. Do you complain when you have to work out crosswords? I mean jesus. Its not trying to be "arteh", just interesting and layered.

His new film is going to be very interrwoven with its website, so I suggest all you hatas bugger off right now and not whine about it, as you've been warned.

― crankypants (trayce), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 05:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Erm... Hi. I said "DD is okay by me." upthread, so "the rest of you" isn't really fair.
and FFS IT TOTALLY MADE SENSE TO ME TOO AND SO DID MULHOLLAND DRIVE AND MEMENTO ARE YOU ALL STUPID?

Erm... yeah.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 05:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Now Memento is a movie that doesn't make sense??? WTF is wrong with people?

― Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 05:36 (twenty-one years ago)

No, at least I was saying I understood those three because I happened to read Salon articles "explaining" all three just today.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 05:39 (twenty-one years ago)

And their Mulholland Dr. explanation is pretty much word for word how I explained it to a friend who didn't get it last year, so...I didn't learn anything there.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 05:41 (twenty-one years ago)

What he said. Yeah I read the Salon article, but yeah, it didnt tell me anything new abt DD either.

Sorry, when I said "you all" I didnt mean to sweep everyone up in that. Its been a day.

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 05:54 (twenty-one years ago)

It's ok I got up real early this morning and I don't think I made my last couple posts all that clear either. Let me try once more:

I read those salon articles hoping they would tell me something I missed about those three movies and just got served a whole heap of shit I had already figured out by myself.
Phew!

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 06:08 (twenty-one years ago)

It's a dire film. The ultimate "it's AMAZING" indie flick.

― Ronan (Ronan), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 06:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Eh? I just thought it was fun to watch. It's not supposed to be the Godfather or anything.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 06:13 (twenty-one years ago)

I know why do people who bitch about it say "god it tried so hard to be Lynch" or "haha it was so stupid it made no sense!"

But meh. Each to their own. I thought "City of Lost CHildren" was arse, so there you go.

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 06:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh yeah Jeunet is overrated if anybody is.

I mean Delicatessen is ok, haven't seen Amelie. Alien Resurrection? ha.

Him and Baz Luhrmann both seem to be doing this obnoxious HEY LOOK IT'S LIKE A CARTOON WITH REAL PEOPLE BOING! BOING! BOING! thing that's an acquired taste I guess.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 06:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Tell it brotha. Amelie was ok but left me cold after so many people raved about it (since then Ive read just as many pan it, so there you go). Ditto Delicatessen being not too bad.

And props on the Lurhmann! Apart from R&J I find him really rather uninteresting.

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 06:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Luhrmann = BOING! BOING! *cut to extreme close-up of someone doing retarded facial expression for no reason* BOING BOING BOING!

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 06:27 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't be btohered with reading the second half of this thread. But suffice to say I really enjoyed DD, ESPECIALLY the fact that it didn't make sense, because it prompts all sorts of peopel to say shit like "but it HAS to mean something" when it doesn't at all, because it IS something and that is enough.

Also The Breakfast Club is the worst fucking film I have ever fucking seen in my entire fucking life, but then I'm British so it was bound not to appeal to me.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 06:55 (twenty-one years ago)

I like both! But yeah, you're OTM there Nick re meaning something.

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 06:56 (twenty-one years ago)

I understand DD in my own world and thats enought for me, what I don't understand is why this thread has turned into a 'do you like/hate DD/artey/indie films ?', do any of us really give a fuck what other peoples tastes are?

― Ste (Fuzzy), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 08:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Patricia Arquette does NOT look like a motorcycle mouse. Rosanna Arquette looks like a motorcycle mouse.

― scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 10:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, I mixed them up, you're right.

― Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 13:39 (twenty-one years ago)

delicatessen is way better than ok. comparing jeunet/caro to luhrmann is wrong, wrong, wrong.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 13:44 (twenty-one years ago)

This thread is an exercise in how many times different people can say the EXACT SAME THING over and over and over.
Oh wait, I'm thinking of ILX.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 13:47 (twenty-one years ago)

i enjoyed the film when i watched it - i don't remmeber any of it. i was kinda drunk i guess. don't remember that best bit of popular cinema at all. although i've seen about 10 films in my life.

― ken c (ken c), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 13:51 (twenty-one years ago)

That Princess Diaries girl sort of looks like a motorcycle mouse. In fact, she might be the most motorcycle mousey person I can think of!

― Homosexual II (Homosexual II), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 13:52 (twenty-one years ago)

The cult that was spawned by the movie Newsies is much more interesting.

― scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 13:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Extra! Extra! Get your Newsies fan fiction right here!:


http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Park/1190/fan-fiction/Other/stories.htm

― scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 13:59 (twenty-one years ago)

We watched 13 Going on 30 last night, and the girl who plays Jennifer Garner's supposedly best friend who is really a biyotch and who I recognized from a bunch of other movies but I can't remember which ones but oh yeah she plays the cross-eyed secretary/mistress on Arrested Development anyways that one TOTALLY looks like a motorcycle mouse.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 14:00 (twenty-one years ago)

although Donnie Darko DID inspire this:

The plane engine, soon to be nicknamed "Engine X" by the Air Council, crashed through Donnie Darko's bedroom roof. He stared at the wall and
laughed slightly, waiting for death to come and drag him off in exchange for the safety of the tangents universe. Metal flew everywhere, angels of
debris flying gently across his room. He kept laughing and laughing until one of those metal angels came and whisked him away to a land far far
away.

Well...That's not exactly how it happened...

That metal angel I spoke of? Well, it was actually the spiral cap off of the engine and that whisking was more like bonking on the head. Donnie passed
out on his bed, face smashed against his pillow.

And that's when the tangent universe REALLY collapsed.

Well...At least for Donnie...

::::

"Donnie..." The voice was faint. It was soft and somewhat familiar, but Donnie's head hurt too much to try to remember. He slowly came to, prying
his eyes open and looking around at his blank surroundings. The walls and floor were white and nothing more. He stood up, swaying gently from
side to side, trying to regain full consciousness. Now that he was standing up, he wondered if there really was a floor or walls. It just seemed like
bleak nothingness. "Donnie..." The voice again. He looked around quickly but saw nothing but that whiteness. "Donnie." This time it came from
behind him and was much thicker and grainy. He turned quickly and there was Frank, dressed in his usually bunny suit, his blank eyes staring straight
at him. It almost seemed like those little pieces of pplastic were looking right through him, burning into his soul, and then pulling his heart out and
squeezing it tightly. "Frank...Where am I?" He ignored Donnie's question. "The tangent universe has collapsed, Donnie. You have failed." He
clenched his hands together tightly, forming fists without even knowing it. He grit his teeth to resist from running to Frank and killing the man who
had ruined his life. "It's not my fault. The engine didn't hit me."

"That's where you're wrong. The engine did hit you, it just didn't kill you. So you have failed and the universe has collapsed."

Donnie looked to the white nothingness below him. "Why not? Why didn't it hit me?" Those black eyes seemed to back off slightly, loosening their
grip on his heart. "Fate has other plans for you."

"What plans? The universe has collapsed! There's nothing left!"

"Untrue," Donnie looked up, gasping slightly.

"The universe is still intact for the rest of the world. The only place it has collapsed is in your mind."

"M...my mind?" Frank's furry head nodded slowly. "What do you mean?"

He slowly raised a paw, his brown gloves pointing towards Donnie's chest. Donnie looked down at himself to find another liquid sphere escaping
from him. He watched silently as the sphere expanded, growing bigger and bigger until it created a wall, separating Donnie from Frank. "Frank?
Frank! What did you mean?! Frank!" He ran towards the liquid wall, banging on it, the water like essence rippling. Frank slowly faded away, the
liquid sphere still growing bigger and bigger. Eventually, it stopped growing, and then retracted back into Donnie, knocking him sharply to the
ground.

"Donnie...Oh god...Is he okay?" The voice of his sister, Elizabeth Darko, rang through his head. "He'll be fine. He's suffered a serious blow to the
head and now we think he'll be slightly retarded for the rest of his life." A new voice, unfamiliar to him, spoke gently. Retarded?! What was that?!
Who said that?!

"BERRIES!" Donnie sat up quickly in bed, looking around. He was sitting in a hospital bed, one of those flimsy hospital gowns covering him, with
his parents and sisters standing around him along with a doctor, white coat and clipboard fully included. "Donnie! Honey, lay down! You've been in a
serious accident." Rose Darko placed a hand on her son's chest, gently pushing him back down. "B...berries!" He screamed. "Berries? Doctor, what is
he saying?" Elizabeth placed her hands on her hips. The doctor stroked his chin, examining Donnie closely. "It seems that one of the last things he
remembered were berries and now it's likely he'll have an obsession with them." Elizabeth looked at her brother and shook her head. "I need some
coffee..."

There was a long silence in the hospital room. "Is Donnie a retard?" Little Samantha Darko spoke quietly from her seat in the corner of the room.
"Yes...Yes Samantha...he is..." Donnie's father, Eddie, said. "I AM NOT!! WHY..WHY YOU MAKE FUN OF ME!! I AM NOT...I IS NORMAL!!
I....I.....I...I...BERRIES!!!" Donnie fell asleep, mid-rant, snoring loudly. Eddie ushered his daughter out of the room. "Come on, honey. Let's go get
McDonalds." "YAY!"

― scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 14:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought "City of Lost CHildren" was arse, so there you go.

:-(

Though I agree Amelie is rough viewing.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 14:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Is Amelie the only Jeunet film Ron Perlman isn't in?

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 14:13 (twenty-one years ago)

I bought the dvd of Amelie at a yard sale for a dollar months and months ago and for some reason i can't bring myself to watch it.

― scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 14:17 (twenty-one years ago)

ron perlman is the MANG

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 14:19 (twenty-one years ago)

You know, sometimes I wonder why people who are so easily put off by hype and people telling them that something is good go around listening to it in the first place. I don't get this attitude of "oh, (insert semi-indie hit film here) was okay but I got put off it by all the hype.

I saw Amelie and Donnie Darko and stuff and I fucking loved them and I'll tell you why - because I don't spend my life reading the Guide or listening to arseholes. Anyway, even if they are arseholes, maybe they're right - maybe the film IS good. Can't you make your own opinions without worrying about how hyped up a film is?

that's all.

― dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 14:32 (twenty-one years ago)

the two main kids in city of lost children are way too attractive.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 14:33 (twenty-one years ago)

But they're also CREEPY looking!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 14:34 (twenty-one years ago)

if by creepy you mean absolutely stunning, then yes.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 14:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Because they are attractive. It's a creep film, oh yes, and utterly utterly intentionally so. Oh it's so good.

xpost

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 14:37 (twenty-one years ago)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know why do people who bitch about it say "god it tried so hard to be Lynch" or "haha it was so stupid it made no sense!"
But meh. Each to their own. I thought "City of Lost CHildren" was arse, so there you go.

-- Trayce (spamspanke...), August 4th, 2004.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh yeah Jeunet is overrated if anybody is.
I mean Delicatessen is ok, haven't seen Amelie. Alien Resurrection? ha.

Him and Baz Luhrmann both seem to be doing this obnoxious HEY LOOK IT'S LIKE A CARTOON WITH REAL PEOPLE BOING! BOING! BOING! thing that's an acquired taste I guess.

-- AaronHz (aaronh...), August 4th, 2004.

Thank You. Jeunet fucking ruined the Alien series more than Fincher ever could.

(Not to sound like LeBrain Boy or anything...)

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 14:50 (twenty-one years ago)

ANYWAY, I think the cult of Donnie Darko has made the film seem worse to some people than it is. It's no masterpiece, but it's not a bad film.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 14:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I blame people who say "this is great" when they actually mean "I really like this" because "this is great" does not exist.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 14:58 (twenty-one years ago)

btw, I forgot to mention that I totally wanted to love this film because the ad reminded me of robitussin.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 15:49 (twenty-one years ago)

-Donnie Darko is a goddam awesome movie.
-Amelie bored and disappointed me.
-What is bad about auterist theory. What is better than auterist theory.
-I think Donnie Darko made a mistake by using "CELLAR DOOR" to be the most beautiful phrase in the english langiuage. i think it should have been "DOLLAR STORE."

― Queen Electric Butt Prober BZZT!! BZZZZZT!! (Queen Electric Butt Prober BZZ), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 16:03 (twenty-one years ago)

"FREE BEER"

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 16:03 (twenty-one years ago)

haha

― Ste (Fuzzy), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 16:40 (twenty-one years ago)

delicatessen is way better than ok. comparing jeunet/caro to luhrmann is wrong, wrong, wrong.

-- lauren (warmleatherett...), August 4th, 2004 7:44 AM. (laurenp) (later)
-----------------------------------------------------
I blame people who say "this is great" when they actually mean "I really like this" because "this is great" does not exist.

-- Sick Mouthy (sickmouth...), August 4th, 2004 8:58 AM. (Nick Southall) (later)


See the thing is, the only two movie reviews you're likely to get from me are "it's ok", and "I hate that fucking piece of shit." Even The Godfather and The Rules of the Game and Citizen Kane are "ok" to me, meaning "I really like this".
Nick OTM re: "this is great" does not exist.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 18:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I'll add that the reason for "It's ok" from me comes from the fact that every single movie without exception that I had previously termed as "great" is eventually downgraded to "it's ok" in my mind once I've seen it a bajillion times and the magic has worn off.
So I'm cutting out the middle man, so to speak.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 18:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Delicatessen and Amelie are both great, City of the Lost Children is visually gorgeous but kinda hollow, and Alien 4 was a big disappoinment, though I guess that's more to do with the script (which wasn't by Jeunet). Ron Perlman isn't in Delicatessen either, by the way, but Dominique Pinon *is* in every Jeunet film, though Delicatessen is the only one where he's the star.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 18:39 (twenty-one years ago)

i actually read the joss whedon alien 4 screenplay before it came out, it was A LOT better than the movie (and made more sense). jeunet turned it into a campy, over-the-top mess. the other alien films (including 3, which i think was underrated) at least took themselves seriously, that's what elevated them above most sci-fi monster movies. jeunet's artistic sensibilities i think were just too whimsical for the alien series in my opinion.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 18:59 (twenty-one years ago)

(1) the character of the psychologist was terrible (most movie psychologists are terrible)

(2) why does jake gyllenhaal have such terrible posture in this film? i was worried about him.

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 01:59 (twenty-one years ago)

He was aping the body language of Richard Kelley, the writer/director. Watch an interview with Kelley and you'll totally see it.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 03:56 (twenty-one years ago)

(I know way too much about this bloody movie)

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 03:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Donnie Darko made me angry.

I love complex films. I love leaving and spending the next 45 minutes discussing it with friends, each of which has a theory about what was happening.

Donnie Darko was so deliberately opaque that we had nil idea what was going on. There was nothing to discuss, because far too few clues were provided in the film itself. We had to find some website that explained it. That is not a sign of clever filmmaking.

Hopefully this 'director's cut' [why didn't he make it his way in the first place?] is a bit more sensible.

― Dirty Muriel (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 04:13 (twenty-one years ago)

You needed the website to explain everything? Sure it explained some of the more out there ideas but After 3 or 4 watches I had it reasonably worked out anyway, as Ive said before.

The DC will add some stuff that you see in the DVD extras that *really* should not have been removed, one scene in particular with his shrink because it makes an ENTIRE plot axis clear (I wont say what to spoil it tho).

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 04:25 (twenty-one years ago)

He also had to cut it the way he did to keep it under 2 hours, as he was told by his producers (I think).

Didnt you watch At the Movies last week dude? ;P

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 04:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, but they said bugger-all about it being more coherent. :)

― Dirty Muriel (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 04:27 (twenty-one years ago)

It wont like, turn Lynch into Bruckheimer or anything if thats what you're getting at ;)

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 04:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Gah. I just want the odd clue, not a detailed exposition for bogans. :)

― Dirty Muriel (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 04:44 (twenty-one years ago)

There were loads though! Mind you now I *am* wondering which I gleaned from the DVD extras... so I better not be a spoileroiler.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 05:05 (twenty-one years ago)

the problem with the film is not opacity in itself, but the fact that it's opaque in relation to itself. the film is only about itself, it's an involuted riddle lacking referents outside the text, so for it to be opaque is having its cake and eating it.

― ENRQ (Enrique), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 14:06 (twenty-one years ago)

i thought it was ok, but i have to say there was nothing in it powerful enough to encourage me to seek out the hidden meanings in the asian girl's earmuffs or anything. i have the vague suspicion that these things were just sort of totems placed in the film so as to give a sense of intricacy without any real meaning or emotion produced thereby. twin peaks verged on this much of the time: "oh! look! another owl reference!"--although as often as not, there were definite if difficult-to-explain emotional resonances in the patterning. of course some web site might prove me wrong, and the patterning might turn out to be more meaningful and potentially more emotionally rich than i had suspected. but i'm not inclined to spend any time finding out. maybe i will see the "diretcor's cut." maybe that will show the pattern of symbols and allusions to be less cut-off from the emotional currents of the plot (which i found reasonably absorbing in themselves).

does that make sense?

― amateur!!!st, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 15:42 (twenty-one years ago)

also: jena malone is such a strange presence. i want to see more of her.

― amateur!!!st, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 15:44 (twenty-one years ago)

ok so yeah "cellar door"--did we ever get to know what they were searching for there, or why the old lady wasn't home, or what the toughs were doing there, or why they wanted to kill donnie darko, or anything?

also: unearned slo-mo "intense" shots of drew barrymore and noah wyle.... i don't think drew's performance was so bad, but the character was written poorly (the character should have been cut out in the editing actually).

― amateur!!!st, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 15:45 (twenty-one years ago)

: )

― cºzen (Cozen), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 16:05 (twenty-one years ago)

well what do you think, cozen?

― amateur!!!st, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 16:38 (twenty-one years ago)

do you think I was attacking you when I was being happy with what you were saying albeit obtusely expressed?

― cºzen (Cozen), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 16:40 (twenty-one years ago)

no, i was just wondering what you thought of donnie darko.

― amaeur!!!st, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 16:41 (twenty-one years ago)

can someone add a "[sic]" to this thread title?

― amateur!!!st, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 16:42 (twenty-one years ago)

esp. this: but i have to say there was nothing in it powerful enough to encourage me to seek out the hidden meanings in the asian girl's earmuffs or anything. i have the vague suspicion that these things were just sort of totems placed in the film so as to give a sense of intricacy without any real meaning or emotion produced thereby. twin peaks verged on this much of the time: "oh! look! another owl reference!"--although as often as not, there were definite if difficult-to-explain emotional resonances in the patterning. cs I'm always wary of approaching films or books with cartography's eyes and maths' head.

― cºzen (Cozen), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 16:42 (twenty-one years ago)

also: it's something levelled at the wakowski bros. this charge of lynchian which I always worry misses the essence or special or lynch's films (or some of them, it's lazy to generalise the way I'm doing): the 'spaces' (I've no better way to call this out) created by the direction (cf. some of his films' sheer volume (listen to 'lost highway' at 3 am in an empty house one night, how loud is it?!) almost filling up the screen with unconscious craft) & what I once naively called his 'liminema' or lynch's cinema of the limin: the eking out of a threshold space (related to point 1) where ppl move and talk differently and, yeah, your cartography doesn't work no more (cf. calling his films' apotheosis the 'eye of the duck' shot.) i.e. what I'm saying is that this calling out of um 'otherness' and weirdness in um other films doesn't 1:1 with lynch cs lynch takes you or the film or um the action to another space where + doesn't + and -, well, does it -? re: donnie darko: not a film I've given a great deal of thought too and as with many films that I haven't given much thought to, little things impress. also, I liked what you said about gyllenhaal's posture and I liked his performance. it reminded me a little of tim roth in meantime, I remember t hand giving me into trouble fr liking that one though. : /

― cºzen (Cozen), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 16:49 (twenty-one years ago)

"do you understand that post?"

― cºzen (Cozen), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 16:49 (twenty-one years ago)

the polish bros. not the wakowski bros. they're the matrix bros. right?

― cºzen (Cozen), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 16:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I mean, I can't be bothered understanding it when there are possibly more i. interesting & ii. heartbreaking things to be noticed / done / watched when taking the film in.

― cºzen (Cozen), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 16:53 (twenty-one years ago)

ok so yeah "cellar door"--did we ever get to know what they were searching for there, or why the old lady wasn't home, or what the toughs were doing there, or why they wanted to kill donnie darko, or anything?

My take - the cellar door comment, out of left field and nowhere as it was, was Drew's character being maniupulated into saying it, to make Donnie curious enough to seek it out (which he did).

Why were the toughs at Grandma Death's place? That was referenced at the start of the movie by Donnies mom and dad saying kids used to go up there and try and break in to steal jewels - "you know, shes loaded".

Also Cozen is OTM. Its not about every little thing MEANING something - its about the way all the elements weave together into a really moving, funny, interesting tale.

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 18 August 2004 01:10 (twenty-one years ago)

(btw if you dont understand by whom and why the toughs, or drew, or anyone else was being manipulated then you *are* missing a large chunk of the plot).

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 18 August 2004 01:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Darko II: Return of the Moebius

― the music mole (colin s barrow), Wednesday, 18 August 2004 01:52 (twenty-one years ago)

The film is good shit, but listening to the director's commentary made me doubt the complexity of the film. Yeah, it's pretty interesting and well done, but there's really not a whole lot there. Once you figure out the main thematical and plot devices, it loses a lot of mysetery. (but is still a great film)

― Andrew (enneff), Wednesday, 18 August 2004 02:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Thats just it. People seem to focus on the mysteriousness of the movie, accusing it of being sub-Lynchian, or teen-gothy, or even liking the enigma and not wanting to know what it all meant... I never saw it that way. The strange and sometimes obscure parts served as atmosphere, ambeince and beauty for me - like a wonderful strange dream would perhaps. But like a dream that seems to make no sense and has many bizarre icons, I was still able to see that it also had a fairly clear plot. I dont think thats a bad thing; and I *do* think a fairly clear (if somewhat veiled) storyline, AND elements of mystery and shadow and intrigue, can co-exist.

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 18 August 2004 03:07 (twenty-one years ago)

(btw if you dont understand by whom and why the toughs, or drew, or anyone else was being manipulated then you *are* missing a large chunk of the plot).
-- Trayce (spamspanke...), August 18th, 2004.


wait back up -- huh? i've seen the film twice and have no idea what you mean!! spoil me.

― ENRQ, Wednesday, 18 August 2004 07:42 (twenty-one years ago)

fate.

― cºzen (Cozen), Wednesday, 18 August 2004 13:27 (twenty-one years ago)

patrick swayze.

― cºzen (Cozen), Wednesday, 18 August 2004 13:27 (twenty-one years ago)

tastes, desires, motivations.

― cºzen (Cozen), Wednesday, 18 August 2004 13:28 (twenty-one years ago)

um.

― cºzen (Cozen), Wednesday, 18 August 2004 13:29 (twenty-one years ago)

(btw if you dont understand by whom and why the toughs, or drew, or anyone else was being manipulated then you *are* missing a large chunk of the plot).
-- Trayce (spamspanke...), August 18th, 2004.

i suspect this is the film's fault.

― amateur!!!st, Wednesday, 18 August 2004 16:05 (twenty-one years ago)

three weeks pass...
I just saw this film for the first time this evening (not the director's cut, but the DVD). I found it visually compelling and atmospheric, but.....like many others....I'm at a loss to explain it.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 13 September 2004 04:00 (twenty years ago)

i think the best scene was when they were talking about smurfs.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Monday, 13 September 2004 05:59 (twenty years ago)

"Dammit Donnie, why you always gotta get so smart on us??"

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 13 September 2004 06:13 (twenty years ago)

of course the best line from donnie darko is 'i'm starting to doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion!"

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Monday, 13 September 2004 06:54 (twenty years ago)

I now kinda understand everything except for what donnie is actually doing after gretchen dies, up on the hill and stuff.

― Dead Man, Monday, 13 September 2004 08:17 (twenty years ago)

I like how the director's cut clears up about two thirds of the ambiguity, and then makes *more* ambiguity (eg. the psych). I think I enjoyed both equally, though there'd be no point watching the original version after the director's cut I imagine.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 13 September 2004 13:06 (twenty years ago)

I've seen most of it, but still slightly confused at points. The rabbit scared me anyway, so I have no interest in seeing it again!

― PinXor (Pinkpanther), Monday, 13 September 2004 13:07 (twenty years ago)

ugh the director's cut is a fucking disaster, greedo shooting first over and over again

― cinniblount (James Blount), Monday, 13 September 2004 13:18 (twenty years ago)

Richard Kelly doesn't know what 'deus ex machina' means. It's a fact. Yet he put those very words in his movie. Trying to igure it by listening to the commentary and shit has led me deceisively to believe that it's best not to know the director's intentions because the film becomes a bad joke if you do. Kelly, like Lucas before him, has heard of the 'Hero With Many Faces' thing, and so every character in the film is there to guide DD to... whatever it is he does to save the world. Also it's better if you DON'T think he's using placebos.

― Dead Man, Monday, 13 September 2004 13:25 (twenty years ago)

I just want to remind everyone that I think Donnie Darko is a much better Anakin/Vader origin story than the fucking Lucas prequels.

― TOMBOT, Monday, 13 September 2004 13:37 (twenty years ago)

yeah i tried to think of a single change or addition that improved or added to the film at all, and all i could think of was having the abyss chestbubble not turn into a hand going 'c'mere, follow me' was a good idea. o and there was a shot of drew barrymore that wasn't in it before where she looked really good. still the pacing got thrown, jokes that were quick and funny before were lenghthened out for less funny punchlines, the added footage either was redundant or poorly overexplained any ambiguity (which when dealing with the ridiculous is a plus) - midichlorians all over the place, and somehow the scene i never really liked before in the first place ("maaaaad worrrrld") became even worse when i have a fucking graphic come on screen beforehand to tell me 'here's the significane of the next scene. before - with the sparrow book and 'clues' dispersed puzzlelike on the web/dvd - worked ninemillion times better than just stuffing it on the screen, before it was fun multimedia hypertext 'play at home!', now it's 'everybody stop and let me EXPLAIN this to you' (people for whom this made no sense before - did this really really bother you? would you prefer that a movie about how adolescent angst can feel like the end of the world and adolescent love can feel like the only possible reason to save the world with goth and horror touches cuz for those feelings and at that moment - late 80s/late hughes - NOTHING could be more appropriate (the movie could've almost been ducky darko in the one scene in pretty in pink ducky's remotely sympathetic) instead became a movie about how a boy saved the universe thru some convoluted time travel and we should all be very very thankful and wake up in the middle night cuz we have some trace of the memory of the parallel universe wherein he didn't give his only begotten life blah blah blah chapter seven the manipulated mcfly?) ugh ugh ugh - just hearing 'originally there was gonna be some stuff about watership down' would've added more than what it the stuff about watership down turns out to be (more "GET THE POINT YET???" stuff)(first harbinger of this 'awwww fuck' for me: the scene with the parents in the hotel bed talking about how their son could've been 'doomed' but instead he had been spared, 'almost as if fate had other plans for him', fucking hell). i did find it very amusing that he still couldn't get the rights to 'just like heaven'.

― cinniblount (James Blount), Monday, 13 September 2004 13:49 (twenty years ago)

(the movie could've almost been ducky darko in the one scene in pretty in pink ducky's remotely sympathetic)

hahaha

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 13 September 2004 13:56 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...
Watched the Director's Cut yesterday and I partly agre with Cinniblount here. I really disliked some of the cheesy graphics - namely the eye-close-up, the pictures of the sea and the horrible PS2-style grid thing. After being confounded by the original these bits seemed like lazy after-thoughts thrown in because he'd got so much schtick about people not understanding it.
There were some excellent bits yes, and I think I know the bit Blount mentioned about Drew Barrymore (is Donnie's gaze lingering on her a bit too long?).
Still I don't think the film merited a director's cut all the same.
Oh - and what the fuck happened to "The Killing Moon" at the beginning of the movie being replaced by "Never Tear Us Apart"? That was a very weird decision.

― dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 06:59 (twenty years ago)

four months pass...
just saw the director's cut. obv the more oblique original is far better for all the reasons already stated.

still, Kelly has an interesting eye, and a flair for really haunting and beautiful images (and im not including the really obvious surreal stuff in the director'c cut and original, but more throwaway stuff). i look forward to a film from him which uses his great visual style without the diminishing returns of an film which presents itself as a solvable puzzle.

― ryan (ryan), Monday, 7 March 2005 01:03 (twenty years ago)

I understand that it blows huge monkey asses.

― yaydrian (PUNXSUTAWNEY PENIS), Monday, 7 March 2005 01:06 (twenty years ago)

Oh - and what the fuck happened to "The Killing Moon" at the beginning of the movie being replaced by "Never Tear Us Apart"? That was a very weird decision.

Thats actually how Kelly wanted it in the first place but for reasons I'm not sure about, he wasn't able to get permission, so went with Killing Moon instead.

So they put INXS back in the dc? Ugh. Considering I know most of whats in the dc as I take it that was all in the DVD extras anyway, I'm not sure I need to see it, not to pay to anyway.

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 7 March 2005 01:18 (twenty years ago)

i never particularly loved the original, but goddamnit the director's cut is a travesty.

― latebloomer: my cats are wobderful (latebloomer), Monday, 7 March 2005 01:37 (twenty years ago)

I've only seen the director's cut and really love the movie. I like how there's an echo effect whenever you see the bunnyman...

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 7 March 2005 03:55 (twenty years ago)

How would one go about blowing a huge monkey ass, anyway?

― sunburned and snowblind (kenan), Monday, 7 March 2005 06:29 (twenty years ago)

Spencer, you might have been joking, but OTM anyway. Things like "The Killing Moon" at the beginning of the original make so much more sense of using Echo and the Bunnymen on the soundtrack, considering the overall creepiness that is Frank and everything.

There are a great many movies that are more imagistic and symbolic and intuitive (such as Lynch) than logical, and that are actually ruined by attempts at a left brain linear deconstruction.

Anyway, there's no more reason to take the director's explanation as "the truth" than the projectionists or the popcorn vendor's or one audience member who has a schizophrenic daughter or another who is a theoretical physicist or the street person with bunnyphobia who is barred from the movie theatre...

― David A. (Davant), Monday, 7 March 2005 07:28 (twenty years ago)

Spencer, you might have been joking, but OTM anyway.

I wasn't joking at all!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 7 March 2005 08:09 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...
'Kay, Director's Cut vs Theatrical Release: FITE.

I wonder if this is a function of which you saw first. I saw DC first and then found TR to be sorely lacking when I saw it afterwards. Tonight I made my roommate (who'd only seen, and loves, the TR) watch it and he though it was corny in comparison since they spell out more and leave less to the imagination. At the least, I just like the DC for the more fleshed-out scene of Cunningham's visit to the school and the Watership Down debate where Gretchen puts Donnie in his place, possibly my two favourite scenes in the movie. Also for the "I think we should buy him a moped" conversation. Plus, I much prefer "Never Tear Us Apart" as a first song to "The Killing Moon." I also like that the drugs are just placebos for the confirmation that it's not all just in his head.

― Sundar (sundar), Wednesday, 24 January 2007 07:23 (eighteen years ago)

I can see why someone might prefer to have the time travel stuff left more unexplained since the "philosophy of time travel" stuff seems more or less like bullshit anyway but I dunno, maybe I just like the movie more for the little things like those scenes above? I don't think it detracts at all from the atmosphere or the sense of the urgency and importance of the teen love.

― Sundar (sundar), Wednesday, 24 January 2007 07:25 (eighteen years ago)


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