thefonz on 21/5/2006 at 10:44
Alright i'm definately going to watch this; if only to participate in the always-fun talk of how confusing and mindjumbling it is.
The new Donnie Darko? Yes/No
Spitter on 21/5/2006 at 11:15
Unlike Donnie Darko, this movie is actually good instead of just being a pop icon for the more eccentric emos.
Uncia on 21/5/2006 at 11:25
Yee-ouch.
There needs to be a bite-on-fist smiley. Instead of any of the red ones. ;)
Para?noid on 21/5/2006 at 13:25
Saying "the new Donnie Darko?" is like saying "the new Back To The Future III?". I suppose Lord Of The Rings is the new The Thing because it's both got monsters in it. I suppose Eurotrip is the new La Haine because it's both got France in it? Are you some kind of a cunt? Is that what you are? A cunt? ARE YOU SOME KIND OF A CUNT? CUNT.
Scots Taffer on 21/5/2006 at 13:27
HAHAHA.
No, but seriously, shut the fuck up. Both are indie films that deal with time travel in a fairly non-standard, quirky and interesting way both with a thriller/mystery twist.
Aerothorn on 21/5/2006 at 15:35
As noted above, the scenes may not be particularly clear WITH improved audio.
First question: Do you have a surround-sound system or just normal TV speakers? I know before I got surround sound I couldn't tell what folks were saying in any crowd scene in any movie, as the music and sound effects and voices all blurred eachother out.
Still, if you do plan on rewatching it, you can turn on subtitles - that should help.
OnionBob on 21/5/2006 at 15:48
Quote Posted by Aerothorn
As noted above, the scenes may not be particularly clear WITH improved audio.
First question: Do you have a surround-sound system or just normal TV speakers? I know before I got surround sound I couldn't tell what folks were saying in any crowd scene in any movie, as the music and sound effects and voices all blurred eachother out.
Still, if you do plan on rewatching it, you can turn on subtitles - that should help.
The dialogue is
deliberately obfuscated by the style in which it is delivered. It's never meant to be entirely clear what they are saying, and simultaneously I'd venture that the enjoyment in watching this film is not to be gotten from a clear, definitive understanding of what is going on, but rather a certain kind of "feeling" that watching it generates - a feeling of the dizzying excitement felt by pioneers of something amazing and important, or just of the intoxicating nature of such great potential power and impunity associated with timetravel, albeit gravely misunderstood. The key to enjoying the film, like Joyce's
Ulysses, is
not to try too hard to understand it, and to enjoy the experience as it happens and for what it is.
It is probably not even that the film is saying
anything in particular beneath those layers of obtuseness, and indeed there are parts where the plot destratifies completely. Rather, the main purpose of the film is a particularly immersive sense of versimilitude, generated by a smart, tight, inventive script that knows when to give out the precious chunks of information needed to piece something together, and when to mumble over certain details in a way that makes you clench your knuckles in frustration.
I've watched this film 5 or 6 times now, and I enjoy it more and more every time. It doesn't get boring because it's more like a great album than a great film: even if I know what's happening or what's coming (and I still don't, for a lot of it) I enjoy the unique sense of feverish, heady excitement that the movie generates, which is a deeply complex and rare aesthetic with many films today, and especially science fiction ones. And at 80 minutes, it's not a nightmare to find the time to give it a spin, either.
Aerothorn on 21/5/2006 at 20:32
Thanks to Bob for saying that in a way that I couldn't. You English majors and your persuasive arguements :mad:
But yeah, basically it's a Rubik's cube. There's no point to it and it has no real conclusion, you just mess with it as a fun mental exercise.
TheGreatGodPan on 21/5/2006 at 21:23
Quote Posted by Aerothorn
But yeah, basically it's a Rubik's cube. There's no point to it and it has no real conclusion, you just mess with it as a fun mental exercise.
I think the the conclusion of messing with a Rubiks cube is supposed to be getting each side to be one color.
Scots Taffer on 21/5/2006 at 21:53
Well, Bobbo. I'll definitely give it a spin in the future, and I agree for all the sound is clearly mushed, it does give you an immediate audience (I'm there) perspective.
