Do you like dumb movies with a terrible, nonsensical plot? Do you like wooden acting? Do you like watching cars go vroom? Well sir/ma’am, you’re in luck because Getaway is now in theaters and I went to the very first showing just for you.
Do you like dumb movies with a terrible, nonsensical plot? Do you like wooden acting? Do you like watching cars go vroom? Well sir/ma’am, you’re in luck because Getaway is now in theaters and I went to the very first showing just for you.
The term “Lynchian” is thrown around a lot, usually to describe how weird a film is. For instance, Last Year at Marienbad, a famous French surrealist film from 1961 has been called Lynchian more often than once due to its incomprehensible nature and fractured narrative. While Last Year at Marienbad is a great film, it’s not particularly Lynchian. After Twin Peaks, a number of shows were labeled as being Lynchian in nature, The X-Files included. The X-Files is hands down one of my favorite shows but there’s nothing about it that’s Lynchian. Lynchian being misapplied is annoying but gets even more annoying when the film or television show it’s applied to isn’t particularly good. We still see this today when there’s a poor horror film; someone will invariably call it a David Lynch knock off. It’s frustrating because this means the commenter is completely misunderstanding what makes a film Lynchian.
Over the course of four days, I will participate in 4 fantasy football drafts. Last year I was also in 4 leagues, and 3 the year before that. I have been an avid fantasy football fan for a decade. Yet in all this time, despite playing over 20 ‘seasons’ via all the different leagues, I have only taken first place twice and I have never taken top 3 in any of the money leagues I’ve participated in.
Dazed and Confused was the first Richard Linklater film I saw. I was 12. It’s next to impossible to not get completely wrapped up in the time and place Linklater sets the film in. Every character contributes. Every single scene matters. I felt then, as I do now, that the only real problem with Dazed and Confused is that it has to end.
The problem with sequels is that sometimes you miss the mark. That’s really all there is to it. Maybe it came too late and the audience has already forgotten about the first film. Maybe there was a miscalculation and where the audience wanted more of A, Hollywood thought they wanted more of B. These things happen, and unfortunately they happened to Kick-Ass 2.
David Lynch is best known as a director but his original dream was to become a painter. You can see it in his first film, Six Figures Getting Sick, which is more akin to watching moving paintings than a live action film. It’s also a great representation of a common Lynch theme: the feeling of being trapped. If you didn’t make it to the end of the film (I understand) then allow me to clue you in: the men don’t stop throwing up. They’re caught in a loop in which they constantly vomit, pause, and then vomit again. There’s no escape for these guys. It’s a cynical vision—perhaps Lynch’s most cynical film—but it’s interesting to see this theme, so central to his voice, present in his work from the start.
Elysium is one of those film that, on paper, I should really enjoy. It has sci-fi elements, well-known actors who have a history of disappearing into their roles and a writer/director who is currently a Hollywood golden boy.
Sometimes all you need is star power to draw people to your movie. Even if the film isn’t very good you may still be able to snag a profit should people be drawn in by the actors. I call this the Brad Pitt effect. Or if you’re a hateful person, the Adam Sandler money-making-cycle-of-douche.
My plan was to write about the supposed theatrical failure of Pacific Rim, and although that subject could easily be an article unto itself, I’m still going to touch on it here.
But not before I at least say something, about the loss of yet another exceptional actor.