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Speaking of plot twist "spoilers" and whatnot, this is something I've been thinking about lately; why is it that so many movie watchers feel that a movie has been ruined for them once a story detail has been revealed? Do most people feel that the only thing a movie is about is the basic outline of the major plot points? There have been times where a friend is watching a movie and invites me to join. The movie's been playing for fifteen or twenty minutes, and I say I don't want to watch it because I hate missing big chunks of any film. The friend insists that "you haven't missed anything. I'll fill you in on what happened." Is hearing a verbal recap the exact same as having seen the film? If that's the case why do we even sit down and watch them? If to know the plot is to know what the movie is about, then why not just read a short synopsis and save yourself the time and money? In my opinion, plot is one of the least essential film elements.
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Apr 19, 2011 16:05
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caiman posted:There have been times where a friend is watching a movie and invites me to join. The movie's been playing for fifteen or twenty minutes, and I say I don't want to watch it because I hate missing big chunks of any film. The friend insists that "you haven't missed anything. I'll fill you in on what happened." It's a social activity you're being invited to share. No, it won't be the same as watching the entire film but you'll still get 90% of the experience and it's easier than having everyone else rewatch the 15 minutes they've just seen. Same reason you don't need to bother pausing a film for everyone each time someone goes to the fridge or for a piss.
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Apr 19, 2011 16:18
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Cerv posted:Same reason you don't need to bother pausing a film for everyone each time someone goes to the fridge or for a piss. But I do that.
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Apr 19, 2011 16:21
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caiman posted:Speaking of plot twist "spoilers" and whatnot, this is something I've been thinking about lately; why is it that so many movie watchers feel that a movie has been ruined for them once a story detail has been revealed? Do most people feel that the only thing a movie is about is the basic outline of the major plot points? It depends on the movie. Going into a movie like The Crying Game or Dear Zachary cold results in a flat-out superior viewing experience to knowing the twist ahead of time. Watching The Sixth Sense knowing the twist results in a completely different viewing experience. Knowing who Luke's father is doesn't alter the experience of the Empire Strikes Back at all, it just eliminates the impact of one scene.
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Apr 19, 2011 16:21
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I watched The Twilight Zone movie yesterday. For the segment with the kid that makes wishes that come true, the lighting and camera work looked like something straight out of Creepshow. Is there some connection there?
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Apr 19, 2011 17:25
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SkunkDuster posted:I watched The Twilight Zone movie yesterday. For the segment with the kid that makes wishes that come true, the lighting and camera work looked like something straight out of Creepshow. Is there some connection there? Yeah. Both specifically depict a comic-book reality.
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Apr 19, 2011 18:00
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Joe Dante's just a huge fan of Looney Tunes.
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Apr 19, 2011 18:06
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Zwille posted:Didn't hurt my experience much, same as for Moon. But then again I was high as a kite while watching Black Swan. Whoa, someone else saw Bal. And while high? That must have made it seem downright glacial.
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Apr 19, 2011 19:17
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In regards to Black Swan, my girlfriend told me about the entire movie after she watched it knowing full well that I wanted to see it. I ended up watching it the next day and the movie wasn't ruined at all. The movie is ambiguous enough that someone telling you what they thought the ending was doesn't really hurt it. I don't think spoilers necessarily ruin a movie. I knew about the endings to Fight Club and The Sixth Sense way before I watched them and it was just fun to see how the twist could possibly fit into the movie. It's basically like rewatching a movie except you haven't seen it before so it's still exciting.
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Apr 19, 2011 20:03
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caiman posted:Speaking of plot twist "spoilers" and whatnot, this is something I've been thinking about lately; why is it that so many movie watchers feel that a movie has been ruined for them once a story detail has been revealed? Do most people feel that the only thing a movie is about is the basic outline of the major plot points? Who said it was "the only thing"?
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Apr 19, 2011 20:10
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It obviously varies quite a lot from film to film whether plot spoilers ruin your viewing experience so its pretty silly to talk about this as if there is some kind of general law of spoilers that applies to everything.
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Apr 19, 2011 20:17
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caiman posted:There have been times where a friend is watching a movie and invites me to join. The movie's been playing for fifteen or twenty minutes, and I say I don't want to watch it because I hate missing big chunks of any film. The friend insists that "you haven't missed anything. I'll fill you in on what happened."
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Apr 19, 2011 20:20
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Aorist posted:Whoa, someone else saw Bal. And while high? That must have made it seem downright glacial. It was very relaxing to say the least - and that's not even an euphemism for "boring" - it was really nice to just let your mind wander and the film really lent itself to being watched while stoned, surprisingly.
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Apr 19, 2011 20:21
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caiman posted:Speaking of plot twist "spoilers" and whatnot, this is something I've been thinking about lately; why is it that so many movie watchers feel that a movie has been ruined for them once a story detail has been revealed? Do most people feel that the only thing a movie is about is the basic outline of the major plot points?
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Apr 19, 2011 20:27
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Schweinhund posted:Who said it was "the only thing"? When you ask people "what was the movie about?" the vast majority will answer by describing the plot. Similarly, many people (including many that I know personally) will decide from reading a brief plot summary whether or not they want to see the movie. That sort of tells me that many people consider the plot to be the only thing that matters. It's not that the plot shouldn't be used to describe a movie, but it's only one of many, many elements that make a film what it's "about."
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Apr 19, 2011 20:49
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caiman posted:Is hearing a verbal recap the exact same as having seen the film? If that's the case why do we even sit down and watch them? If to know the plot is to know what the movie is about, then why not just read a short synopsis and save yourself the time and money? Depends on the movie. I'm pretty sure I've seen all of Wedding Crashers, but as it was in twenty-to-thirty minute non-chronological, overlapping segments that I only half paid attention to at friends' places, I'll never really know, because even if I haven't who really gives a poo poo about Wedding Crashers? On the other hand, someone once offered to "just bring me up to speed" halfway through The Godfather, before I'd seen it, and I wasn't particularly interested in that. It depends on whether you're watching a movie you're really interested in, or if it's just a social thing to gather around. As per spoilers, similarly, it depends on how much the movie trades on surprises for its enjoyment. Moon and Black Swan work just fine even if you know the outline of the story, while The Usual Suspects gets something out of the way the big revelation changes what the story means.
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Apr 19, 2011 20:50
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SubG posted:I'm of two minds on this. On the one hand I really don't think my enjoyment of a film is necessarily contingent on being surprised by it, so in that sense I don't stress out over spoilers. On the other hand I prefer when possible to watch a film cold---having not seen a trailer, a review, or anything like that. Ideally I prefer to know pretty much nothing about a film except perhaps the director or maybe some of the other cast and crew.
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Apr 19, 2011 20:51
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csidle posted:Speaking of spoilers, I had Black Swan somewhat spoiled for me, I think. I'm not sure though: I'd been waiting for this movie to come out quite some time, very excited, but before I had a chance to see it, a friend of mine - who had seen it - told me that the protagonist was delusional/had a split personality and that Nina wasn't real. I was really, really annoyed with being told this, but my friend claimed that you were supposed to know before seeing the movie. I don't recall hearing about that in the trailer though, so what, did I have the movie spoiled for me or was I supposed to know? What? No. That is not the "twist" at all. That movie doesn't even really have a twist. Everyone in the movie is real. Not everything you see in the movie is real but all the main characters are established as existing outside of Nina's mind at at least one point or another.
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Apr 19, 2011 21:01
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axleblaze posted:What? No. That is not the "twist" at all. That movie doesn't even really have a twist. Everyone in the movie is real. Not everything you see in the movie is real but all the main characters are established as existing outside of Nina's mind at at least one point or another. No way dude, she was totally incepted. Also, pay close attention when Nina(4) goes in the box, you can see Nina(6) in the background.
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Apr 19, 2011 21:11
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Yeah, Black Swan's plot becomes very apparent extremely early on (to me, the repeated image of her staring at herself in the subway window "gave it away") but it's still extremely effective and had my heart thumping most of the way through.
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Apr 19, 2011 21:15
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SubG posted:I'm of two minds on this. On the one hand I really don't think my enjoyment of a film is necessarily contingent on being surprised by it, so in that sense I don't stress out over spoilers. On the other hand I prefer when possible to watch a film cold---having not seen a trailer, a review, or anything like that. Ideally I prefer to know pretty much nothing about a film except perhaps the director or maybe some of the other cast and crew. I avoid all trailers for this very reason - seeing a movie cold is just a lot more fun! I love discovering awesome older films where I have no idea what to expect. On another note, I walked into The Game about 20 minutes late, so I missed all the significance of the anniversary of their father's suicide and the set-up at what a rich rear end in a top hat Michael Douglas is. If someone had given me that heads up, the rest of the movie would have made a lot more sense.
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Apr 19, 2011 21:19
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I used to keep movies playing while leaving momentarily, until I took a quick piss during one of the worst possible moments in Blood Simple- when the detective breaks into Abby's place and steals her gun. This made a large part of the whole rest of the movie pretty baffling. I need to watch that movie again, I didn't know what to think but knowing in retrospect what I missed I like it a lot more than I initially did.
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Apr 19, 2011 22:05
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I have a question about a song from the Dr. Strangelove soundtrack. It plays during the shots of the B-52 (filmed from the outside) and apparently it is some kind of classical american melody (heard it several times now in civil war documentaries etc) but, not beeing from the US, I have no idea what it is. Hope someone knows what tune I mean.
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Apr 21, 2011 00:21
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Popelmon posted:I have a question about a song from the Dr. Strangelove soundtrack. It plays during the shots of the B-52 (filmed from the outside) and apparently it is some kind of classical american melody (heard it several times now in civil war documentaries etc) but, not beeing from the US, I have no idea what it is. It's When Johnny Comes Marching Home.
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Apr 21, 2011 00:24
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Popelmon posted:I have a question about a song from the Dr. Strangelove soundtrack. It plays during the shots of the B-52 (filmed from the outside) and apparently it is some kind of classical american melody (heard it several times now in civil war documentaries etc) but, not beeing from the US, I have no idea what it is. Apparently it's "Try a Little Tenderness". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs7EikHQGlA Edit; oh, well...carry on.  VVVVVVVV Barometer fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Apr 21, 2011 |
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Apr 21, 2011 00:31
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Detective Thompson posted:It's When Johnny Comes Marching Home. That's the one! Thank you so much! Barometer: Argh, I forgot about the credits at the beginning. I meant the shots during the actual movie, but still thanks a lot!
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Apr 21, 2011 00:33
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Does anyone here know the reason the Sidney Lumet movie Child's Play has never been released on VHS or DVD? Rights issue?
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Apr 23, 2011 09:06
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codyclarke posted:Does anyone here know the reason the Sidney Lumet movie Child's Play has never been released on VHS or DVD? Rights issue? I don't have an answer for you (many, many Lumet movies from the period are AWOL though) but you just reminded me this was on Netflix and now it isn't anymore. 
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Apr 23, 2011 16:29
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Dancing Potato posted:I don't have an answer for you (many, many Lumet movies from the period are AWOL though) but you just reminded me this was on Netflix and now it isn't anymore. indeed. I didn't realize a bunch of his stuff was unavailable. Here's hoping they get off their rear end and release stuff now that he's dead.
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Apr 23, 2011 18:17
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FratBoyJesus posted:So I just got done watching Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and I think I got most of the confusing parts but one thing is still bugging me. Nah that wasn't the girlfriend, just another donor... she was under anesthesia for the surgery so why not "operate", I guess...
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Apr 23, 2011 18:31
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So Star Trek seems like great stuff, but I've never seen the show and want to know if the movies are worth watching by themselves. I've seen enough references in television and pop culture to think I have a fairly good grasp on the show. I don't really have the time and wouldn't even know where to begin if I wanted to watch the entire TV series, but I really enjoyed the latest movie and was wondering if it would be worth my interest to at least go through the other movies. I know there are quite a few and that they are not all exactly gold, but I was wondering if they stood up on their own without the shows.
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Apr 25, 2011 08:02
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JusCantST0PMe posted:So Star Trek seems like great stuff, but I've never seen the show and want to know if the movies are worth watching by themselves. If you're used to watching modern serial television, Deep Space 9 is the only Star Trek series worth watching. The others are just episodic tripe. It's weak at first, but really gets going in later seasons. Professor Clumsy did a watch of every single Star Trek movie, but it's archived now.
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Apr 25, 2011 08:19
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JusCantST0PMe posted:So Star Trek seems like great stuff, but I've never seen the show and want to know if the movies are worth watching by themselves. All the Shatner movies stand up well enough and some of them are really great. The Next Generation movies, on the other hand, require prior knowledge of the show and are generally quite bad.
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Apr 25, 2011 10:50
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JusCantST0PMe posted:So Star Trek seems like great stuff, but I've never seen the show and want to know if the movies are worth watching by themselves. Personally I think Star Trek I is also a great flick. Star Trek III is OK, IV isn't particularly great and V is vastly underrated (appreciate it in the same way you would a Firefly episode and don't take anything too seriously). If you watch the ones featuring the original cast in order you don't need any real knowledge from the TV show. Star Trek II makes a direct reference to an episode but I've yet to see it and have no problems following along. All the TNG movies aren't very good. It's actually kind of strange. I much prefer The Next Generation TV show to The Original Series but gently caress me TOS movies are, far, far better than the TNG ones. doctor 7 fucked around with this message at 11:32 on Apr 25, 2011 |
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Apr 25, 2011 11:11
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The first 20 minutes of Generations is good, but that's because for those 20 minutes it's a TOS movie. The rest of it is horrible poo poo though. First Contact is watchable. The others are loving awful.
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Apr 25, 2011 13:31
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Gobbeldygook posted:If you're used to watching modern serial television, Deep Space 9 is the only Star Trek series worth watching. The others are just episodic tripe. It's weak at first, but really gets going in later seasons. there is nothing inherently better about serial television versus episodic television. Was "M*A*S*H" also "episodic tripe"? How about "The Twilight Zone"? I don't want to get up in your face like this, but I keep hearing things like this w/r/t TV, and it simply isn't true. They are two different formats suited to different things.
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Apr 25, 2011 15:06
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Fag Boy Jim posted:there is nothing inherently better about serial television versus episodic television. Was "M*A*S*H" also "episodic tripe"? How about "The Twilight Zone"? I'm simply not willing to waste my time with purely episodic television. The only difference between two episodes of a TV show and a movie is that the TV show has much lower production values and its scenes are cut much short based on the need for commercials if it's not HBO/Showtime/etc. So I only watch television if it actually takes advantage of the biggest strength of its medium which is that the writers get a lot of time to play with. If it doesn't, I'm just going to spend that time watching a movie instead. I'm pretty flexible on this point. Even something like Community has enough continuity for me to feel its taking advantage of the format. Conversely, I watched the first season of Burn Notice. It's a very well-made show. It also assumes you have never seen a single episode before. It gets very tiring when the show freeze frames and has a characters name and job pop up for the fourth time. edit: As for your specific examples, I don't know if I've ever seen an episode of M*A*S*H in my life. The Twilight Zone/The Outer Limits are pretty much the only shows I can think of off-hand that truly take advantage of the nature of episodic television, that is they can tell a completely new story every week and kill off the entire cast in every episode. Gobbeldygook fucked around with this message at 16:44 on Apr 25, 2011 |
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Apr 25, 2011 16:42
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The Trek movies can be watched without seeing the show, but you pretty much gotta see the second through sixth movies in order. There's an arc goin' on there. A lot of people get it in their heads that the movies are way better than the shows - I guess from the production values - but it's not really true. It's worth watching the shows. At least the good ones. The original series is still the best - it's a whole lot of fun and doesn't have to be watched in order, so you can just sorta watch a few when you want, which seems like it would work for ya. Most people say Next Generation is the cream of the crop but I think it's pretty loving dull. Deep Space Nine is great, but like the dude with bad taste in TV said, it's serialized. That kind of makes it a bad place to start - you gotta get through a really lovely first season and all. If you want to check out a few episodes to see if you like it, I recommend "The Doomsday Machine," "Balance of Terror," or "The City on the Edge of Forever." They're all streaming online at CBS's site.
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Apr 25, 2011 19:28
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And because he didn't touch on it, it's important to warn everyone not to watch Voyager or Enterprise, at all.
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Apr 25, 2011 19:31
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haveblue posted:And because he didn't touch on it, it's important to warn everyone not to watch Voyager or Enterprise, at all. I didn't mention them because, like the KGB might, I'm trying to erase them from history.
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Apr 25, 2011 19:36
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