Ultra Mega Movie Discussion Thread Extravaganza x∞
Fiendish_Warrior
Member Posts: 309
SIAP, but I searched back through old threads all the way through 2013 filtering out movies in the title. There were a couple of movie threads (one "list favorites" and one "what are you watching"), but neither were exactly what I had in mind. This is a no restrictions movie discussion / analysis thread. Throw out movies that you've watched (whether current or otherwise) and tell us what you liked or hated about them or why they're worth watching or avoiding.
I wanted to start this because for a LONG time I've been anxiously desiring to watch the Pusher trilogy. Well, I finally took that step last night when a friend of mine was visiting and decided that we should watch a movie. First, Fear X came to mind (cat's out of the bag, I'm a Refn fanboy), but I had a lot of difficulty sourcing it through legal means (alignment: lawful good who roleplays evil characters for catharsis). I've watched Fear X before and was engaged. It clearly drew upon inspiration from David Lynch and playfully toyed with blurring the lines between appearance and reality, psychosis and sanity. John Turturro also reminded you of a character in a Hitchcock story, imprisoned by his paranoia to the point where it distorts his perception of things. The movie, unfortunately, was not well-received by American audiences because it built up this beautiful, copious amount of suspense, anxiously inviting the viewer to desire a release of this kinetic frenzy, but instead it teased and withdrew, leaving us in the same position as the lead character, lost, confused, and disoriented.
Any way, Pusher is a different beast altogether (NOT the remake). With Pusher, I seem to recall Refn remarking that he wanted to explore the Copenhagen criminal lifestyle, but unlike other movies that use similar themes and romanticize these lives, he wanted to capture them in such a way that they look more mundane, even exhausting. And indeed, he does this well. Every character foolishly elects short-term pleasure over long-term success, leading them to sometimes make very poor decisions even when the audience knows better (hello dramatic irony). As a result of these decisions, they forfeit every opportunity to resolve the situations in which they find themselves in an ideal manner, opening the door for an unforgiving Necessity to drive the plot forward and propel their existence into directions that they detest. The only miserable escape from this life is death, either by suicide (which a minor character does recognize and pursue) or by others. There are no friends, no refuges, no hope...except transiently. As for the criminals, they desire other lifestyles (one confesses that he would love to open a restaurant some day), exercise mercy until it is no longer an option, and hate that they have to make the decisions that they do. It was a fascinating analysis of humanity and far from depressing; instead, it was kind of like watching one long fail video where you know the outcome and wish it otherwise but recognize its inevitability.
I wanted to start this because for a LONG time I've been anxiously desiring to watch the Pusher trilogy. Well, I finally took that step last night when a friend of mine was visiting and decided that we should watch a movie. First, Fear X came to mind (cat's out of the bag, I'm a Refn fanboy), but I had a lot of difficulty sourcing it through legal means (alignment: lawful good who roleplays evil characters for catharsis). I've watched Fear X before and was engaged. It clearly drew upon inspiration from David Lynch and playfully toyed with blurring the lines between appearance and reality, psychosis and sanity. John Turturro also reminded you of a character in a Hitchcock story, imprisoned by his paranoia to the point where it distorts his perception of things. The movie, unfortunately, was not well-received by American audiences because it built up this beautiful, copious amount of suspense, anxiously inviting the viewer to desire a release of this kinetic frenzy, but instead it teased and withdrew, leaving us in the same position as the lead character, lost, confused, and disoriented.
Any way, Pusher is a different beast altogether (NOT the remake). With Pusher, I seem to recall Refn remarking that he wanted to explore the Copenhagen criminal lifestyle, but unlike other movies that use similar themes and romanticize these lives, he wanted to capture them in such a way that they look more mundane, even exhausting. And indeed, he does this well. Every character foolishly elects short-term pleasure over long-term success, leading them to sometimes make very poor decisions even when the audience knows better (hello dramatic irony). As a result of these decisions, they forfeit every opportunity to resolve the situations in which they find themselves in an ideal manner, opening the door for an unforgiving Necessity to drive the plot forward and propel their existence into directions that they detest. The only miserable escape from this life is death, either by suicide (which a minor character does recognize and pursue) or by others. There are no friends, no refuges, no hope...except transiently. As for the criminals, they desire other lifestyles (one confesses that he would love to open a restaurant some day), exercise mercy until it is no longer an option, and hate that they have to make the decisions that they do. It was a fascinating analysis of humanity and far from depressing; instead, it was kind of like watching one long fail video where you know the outcome and wish it otherwise but recognize its inevitability.
1