this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2025
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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

the irishman

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (6 children)

Mad Max: Fury Road. I thought that was dumbest, most caveman pleasing trash that has ever received that much acclaim. Truly, the entire movie is designed to make a caveman go, "OOhhhH!.... WwAaHh!... FFIIRE!.... DwWoOah!..... HaHhh!..... OOhhhH! LaDy!!...HhaHh!... MAD!!.....WoOoHhh!"

[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I enjoyed it. Great cinematography and practical effects. My wife? Not so much. She broke it down as.. "oh look! They drove away! Then the drove back! The end! That was the whole movie!"

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (5 children)

I don't really get the hype for Citizen Kane.

Though, I kinda think it might be because growing up, this movie was spoiled in almost every cartoon I ever saw ("Rosebud" was the punchline of so many jokes) and maybe not knowing the ending would have made it better. 🤷🏻‍♂️

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago (3 children)

This thread is crazy, so many hot takes in here!

One of the worst I've ever seen is the Korean film 'Stray Dogs' (2014). There is so much unnecessary sexual violence towards women in this film and almost none of it has any relevance to the story. It's not like a rape revenge thing either where the victim eventually comes out on top - in this film the victim is a blind woman who cannot even defend herself with a knife she is given. The supposed protagonist of the film rapes his wife at the beginning and then engages in voyeurism for much of the film while this poor blind woman is raped every single night by the entire town. When he finally decides to do something about it he is absolutely fucking hopeless, as are the townspeople attempting to stop him. It is so misogynistic and poorly written, I have no idea why anyone agreed to be in it. Anyone who enjoyed this film should go on some kind of watch list.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

I was trying to think of one and was thinking I haven't really experienced intensely hating a movie that other people loved. Then I saw someone comment Avatar... that was one of the most overhyped events I've ever experienced. I don't care about the entire Marvel franchise, but I'm sure someone could convince me of their merits. No one's going to make me see Avatar as anything but rehashing an old story with annoying 3D gimmicky visuals.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Event Horizon.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (3 children)

More of a genre than a particular movie, but any and all video game movies that aren't the 90s shitshow M•rio movie or the 3 live action Sonic films. I'm talking live action because there have clearly been good video games based animated films like... well I can't think of any right off hand, but they surely exist.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

I really liked the newest DnD film. It was fun and got a lot right

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

I am not an irritable person, but the ending of the whale Made me get up from my seat and yell "OH COME ON!" To the screen; Frustrating, corny , manipulative misery porn.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

Yes! It’s just cowboys vs Indians over valuable rocks in the ground on a alien planet.

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[–] [email protected] -2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Princess Bride. The narrative framework of some shitkid not appreciating that his grandpa is Columbo ruins the whole thing. Those two characters should be cut out and then it can be good. ...Okay, Peter Falk can stay.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Remove Savage and all the other characters, and just have Falk tell the audience the story without any kind of "imaginary" scenes. It's just Peter Falk talking into a camera. Preferably wearing Columbo's signature trench coat.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 34 points 2 months ago

Were you not entertained?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (4 children)

No Country For Old Men.

I was actually really enjoying the whole cat and mouse thing until the main fucking character died off-screen.

How does nobody ever talk about how shitty that "plot twist" is? It's not clever. It's not entertaining. It's just bad storytelling. They don't even show you a good shot of him to convey what actually happened. My girlfriend and I had to rewind it twice because it was so fucking stupid and made so little sense.

That's actually how I feel about most of the Coen Brothers' movies. The classical narrative structure exists for a reason. It's a good framework for telling a story that makes sense.

Sometimes there's a good artistic reason for diverting from that and telling the story in an unconventional way. Other times it's just pretentious auteur garbage.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 months ago (1 children)

This might come off as pretensions, but you should trust the writers more. The movie, and book, are very well written, and if something doesn't make sense, you should consider that you missed something.

I'll say this, Llewelyn Moss is not the main character. The movie doesn't start or end on him. He doesn't change or evolve as a character. How he died isn't the point.

It helps to focus on what Anton Chigurh said about rules, and what the Sheriff says about what he is willing to die for.

If you want me to just spell out the theme, I can do that to, but I think you would enjoy it more if you trust the movie.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)

Yeah, I've heard that before, about how Llewelyn isn't the main character. Not trying to be rude to you, but that sounds like bullshit. He's the character I'm rooting for. If the main character isn't the character I'm rooting for, then that doesn't sound like an enjoyable movie.

If you're saying Chigurh is the main character: he doesn't grow either.

If you're saying Tommy Lee Jones is the main character (which I've heard before), then I'm going to strain my eyes from rolling them so hard. He doesn't at any point interact with the plot. That's not good writing.

I get the Coens are doing it differently. They're not following the rules for how stories should be told. But different isn't the same as good, and the way they told the story was needlessly confusing and pretentious.

I always find it useful to use food as a metaphor to describe how I feel about movies. If No Country For Old Men were a meal, it would be expertly seasoned and cooked, with one extra ingredient that doesn't belong there and detracts from the whole thing, like if you made a perfect steak and drenched it in liquorice sauce.

And it would be served on a scrap of driftwood, or in a fishbowl, or on literally anything other than a plate. Everyone around me would be raving about the side dishes while I'm wondering why my meat tastes like shit.

You can include themes in a movie and still tell a coherent story. Try this: remove the theme. Is the movie any good? Is the plot entertaining, and does it make sense? No, it'd be really awful, and the inclusion of a theme doesn't excuse that.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (5 children)

It is obvious that the themes of the movie were lost on you, and that is ok. It takes time to understand a movie, then you might not get it completely. I had to watch the film 3 times before I got it. You are far to confident in your judgement. If you did understand the film, you wouldn't be say the Sheriff was disconnected from the plot. Everything in the movie was done with intent, and you didn't pick up on that, which, again is ok. Just please DO NOT say that it wasn't without purpose. You just failed to get it, and that happens all the time, especially to me. I hate to think about all the times I complain about a book or movie only for friends and colleagues to point out the obvious details I missed.

Not trying to be rude to you, but that sounds like bullshit.

In film, you can tell who the driving character is by seeing which character believes a lie and how they are forced change because of it. The Sheriff is the only character with an arc.

He’s the character I’m rooting for

I believe that this movie's theme attacks you personally, and is having the intended effect. Once he dies, that should tip you off to the movie was about something else, and give you more context to the events of the film.

He doesn’t at any point interact with the plot

The Sheriff is the only character who changes.

They’re not following the rules for how stories should be told.

They DO follow the standard story structure.

and the way they told the story was needlessly confusing and pretentious.

It was confusing, because they challenge your assumptions and established predictable cliche. They do follow a normal story structure, just not normal cliche.

You can include themes in a movie and still tell a coherent story. Try this: remove the theme. Is the movie any good? Is the plot entertaining, and does it make sense? No, it’d be really awful, and the inclusion of a theme doesn’t excuse that.

I don't know what you're trying to say here, but theme is the most important element.

In short, you should be more open minded. You didn't get the movie, that's ok. I don't think most video essays on youtube or reviewers get it either. But frankly, it's extremely well written, and it would be a measure of bad judgement if you dismissed it as senseless. I'll be clear, you didn't get it. The movie is amazing, and it will take thought to understand it, and not everyone is in a position in their life to get it. But some day, I hope you will, and the first step is to believe it is possible that you didn't get it, and to have trust in other people.

So often I hate mainstream movies, but this isn't it. This movie doesn't waste a single shot.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

If the main character isn’t the character I’m rooting for, then that doesn’t sound like an enjoyable movie.

Main character as the bad guy is very common and many great stories are told this way. If you can't find a way to enjoy any of them then idk what to tell you, restrict your viewing habits to marvel movies I guess

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Do you not like any movies or shows where the main character is the bad guy? The Sopranos is my all time favorite show but I've never rooted for Tony. Breaking bad is great too but I still never rooted for Walter White.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You really never rooted for Walt? You didn't hope that he'd make the right decision? You didn't find a little guilty pleasure in the satisfaction of a bad deed done well?

If not, then why did you even watch the show?

I'm fine with rooting for a bad guy. But no, I don't enjoy stories that only have irredeemable characters that I can't root for.

Besides, Javier Bardem won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, which doesn't usually go to main characters.

But ok, even if Llewelyn wasn't the main character, he's the central character of the plot. His death resolves the main storyline in the movie, and it happens off screen. That's not good storytelling.

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