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Dark, Surreal movies (discussion and reccomendation)

Archive: 59 posts

i've been trying to remember the names of this movie for ages now, and its really getting on my nerves. I figured I might as well ask you guys, yeah?



first one was about this father dude who's two kids died. he himself dies and goes to heaven or something, and is with his kids. however, that his wife killed herself afterwards, and because of this, she went to hell. he then tries to go to hell to rescue her.

It wasn't even that good of a movie, but its just been bothering me, so yeah.




Also, if anyone knows of any really good abstract/surreal movies with interesting or disturbing imagery out there (eraserhead, muholland drive, mirrormask, etc.), i'd appreciate it. If you have any requests for similar movies as well, i'd be happy to offer some 		2009-10-26 10:02:00

Author:
brb_gymnastics
Posts: 32

"What Dreams May Come" ?? with Robin Williams?

A ridiculous movie, IMO. An interesting idea, poorly executed. The effects were decent, even effective... but Williams classic overacting ruined it for me.		2009-10-26 13:39:00

Author:
v0rtex
Posts: 1878

Definitely What Dreams May Come. Very, very interesting movie that is unfortunately quite the failure. Not just in the acting, but in a lot of the dialogue and constant flashbacks. this is a movie I've revisited on many occasions because it's such a unique and interesting story, with some very striking visuals and concepts. It's always a bit frustrating because you REALLY want the movie to be better than it is, but it's still got enough there to be worthwhile.

As for surreal, disturbing cinema... El Topo is definitely up there.

By the way, this post should actually go in the "general media" forum - just for future reference. 		2009-10-26 14:13:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

O_O
That sounds disturbing.		2009-10-29 14:08:00

Author:
TheMarvelousHat
Posts: 542

but Williams classic overacting ruined it for me.

http://dragonphysics.pbworks.com/f/1237556024/what%20dreams%20may%20come.jpg
Just look at this picture, you can almost smell the overacting in this shot.		2009-10-29 15:01:00

Author:
Zwollie
Posts: 2173

http://dragonphysics.pbworks.com/f/1237556024/what%20dreams%20may%20come.jpg
Just look at this picture, you can almost smell the overacting in this shot.

Hahaha!

Aww...I'll admit. I liked the film. It's very touching. I especially love film's version of heaven. I'll definitely say it was a wee bit over dramatic at times. But hey, it's a love story.		2009-10-29 15:18:00

Author:
pantspantspants
Posts: 189

I couldn't stand how unBELIEVABLY up-beat the ending was. It was SO unsatisfying... I mean this is a movie where the protagonist literally travels into the depths of HELL to find his wife, whose soul is entrenched in a hopeless, dark place. When it ends with sunshine and rainbows and smiles for all, it just plain feels dishonest to me.

And if we're going to talk about over-acting in this movie, don't leave out Cuba Gooding Jr! He actually chews on the screen more than Williams in this movie!		2009-10-29 23:12:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

And if we're going to talk about over-acting in this movie, don't leave out Cuba Gooding Jr! He actually chews on the screen more than Williams in this movie!

OMG - I'd actually forgotten about Cuba... You're right, he was unbearable (and I like Gooding, I really do).		2009-10-30 00:32:00

Author:
v0rtex
Posts: 1878

thank you for answering me, lol. i don't know why that was bothering me so much. I'm aware that it wasn't a good movie guys. i said that in the first post! i just forgot the name of it, and it was getting to me all day.

warning, nsfc (i talk about michael haneke, and refference a movie that no good person should ever watch. srsly, if you like THAT MOVIE, then you need to reconsider your morals @_@)
like I said, ima lookin for lynchian kind-of films: like eraserhead, or blue velvet. you know, surreal and dark, but without the whole michael haneke styled "oh look, small children being set on fire and raped by donkeys! I can show misery! aren't i clever?" vibe.

for example, Jacobs Ladder would fall under this category. Begotten, on the other hand would NOT.

whatever, if enough people want to talk about robin williams bad acting in this movie, then so be it lol.		2009-10-30 09:49:00

Author:
brb_gymnastics
Posts: 32

whatever, if enough people want to talk about robin williams bad acting in this movie, then so be it lol.

SWEET!

So, that scene where Robin Williams is underwater in the painted heaven sequence, and is talking through a bubbly underwater-voice? MAN!
And that scene where he decides to go to Hell and Cuba tries to talk him out of it! MAAAAN!!

Nah just kidding.


like I said, ima lookin for lynchian kind-of films: like eraserhead, or blue velvet. you know, surreal and dark, but without the whole michael haneke styled "oh look, small children being set on fire and raped by donkeys! I can show misery! aren't i clever?" vibe.

for example, Jacobs Ladder would fall under this category. Begotten, on the other hand would NOT.

You can always double-click the title of your thread in the thread-list to rename it if you want to make it more about that. I personally had forgotten about that part of the thread and because of the thread title just kept on about What Dreams!

Anyway - You might be interested in Jodorowski. He's most famous for El Topo, and I've seen this play as many midnight shows as Eraserhead.

I think I'm probably getting into stuff way too weird with this next one, but Matthew Barney's Cremaster series, if you can manage to hunt it down, is trippy as absolute hell. But there is at times little discerning it, it's strange way beyond Lynch's stuff. it's easily more watchable than Begotten though.

Lars Von Trier is interested in some similar themes as Lynch, only he's actually WAY darker, and stylistically a bit annoying at times. But there are some common threads between Von Trier and Lynch. Dancer in the Dark, Dogville, Breaking the Waves. I'd recommend AGAINST Antichrist unless they release an R-rated version (and I'm betting they will), because honestly, NOBODY - NOBODY needs to see the kind of grotesque awfulness he shows in explicit detail in this movie. I should also again caution that these are pretty dark - don't expect Lynch's happy endings with Von Trier.

There's a Czech filmmaker named Jan Svankmajer who does a lot of stop-motion you might want to look into. he's known for a dark, very trippy rendition of Alice in Wonderland. Seriously, if you haven't heard of this guy, do a google image search for "Jan Svankmajer" and just see what kind of trippy stuff comes up. Hell, do the same for Jodorowsky. I'm not going to post any of the images here because some of them are quite disturbing, but I think you might find what you're looking for with some of these guys.

EDIT: I realized I didn't include much of my own opinion of these last two guys compared to Von Trier, and that's because I've seen nearly everything Von Trier's done, and I haven't seen half of what these other two guys have done. From what I've seen of them, I far prefer Svankmajer. A hundred to one actually. Jodorowsky might be more pure surrealism, but it can be a bit annoying to me. El Topo has its moments, but I still kind of hated it (and I absolutely LOVE Eraserhead).		2009-10-30 10:57:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

thanks man, that stuff sounds really interesting! i'll have to look into it!

(rant)
I don't know abut that Von Trier guy though; like i said, i'm more into the surrealism than the masochism. I'm not necessarily AGAINST disturbing images or dark subject matter - i just really despise movies that coast of the idea of depicting acts of cruelty towards the innocent.

take blue velvet for instance - that movie had a lot of sadistic material in it. however, it was justified in that it helped potray the entire theme and mood of the stoy, and added something that could not have been done without it. Plus in the end, everyrthing works out, and (character) is reunited with (x). on the other hand, movies like salo or caligula completely disgust me - there is zero gratification at the end of the movie, and it consists of nothing but cruelty.

Like i said, i like dark movies, and dark subject matter - especially if it has a lot of surreal elements. I guess its just a matter of the existence of justice for me. Anything that displays a gratuitous amount of cruelty towards the innocent, or a complete lack of justice or revenge in a movie just ****** me off. that, and any violence enacted towards children (well especially that). - those are just my taboos.

sorry for going off on a rant like that, i just don't want to end up watching a 'funny games' kind of movie, and being emotionally scarred.

EDIT: just watched the trailer for the cremaster cycle 1. THAT LOOKS FREAKING AWESOME 		2009-10-30 23:51:00

Author:
brb_gymnastics
Posts: 32

thanks man, that stuff sounds really interesting! i'll have to look into it!

(rant)
I don't know abut that Von Trier guy though; like i said, i'm more into the surrealism than the masochism. I'm not necessarily AGAINST disturbing images or dark subject matter - i just really despise movies that coast of the idea of depicting acts of cruelty towards the innocent.

take blue velvet for instance - that movie had a lot of sadistic material in it. however, it was justified in that it helped potray the entire theme and mood of the stoy, and added something that could not have been done without it. Plus in the end, everyrthing works out, and (character) is reunited with (x). on the other hand, movies like salo or caligula completely disgust me - there is zero gratification at the end of the movie, and it consists of nothing but cruelty.

Like i said, i like dark movies, and dark subject matter - especially if it has a lot of surreal elements. I guess its just a matter of the existence of justice for me. Anything that displays a gratuitous amount of cruelty towards the innocent, or a complete lack of justice or revenge in a movie just ****** me off. that, and any violence enacted towards children (well especially that). - those are just my taboos.

sorry for going off on a rant like that, i just don't want to end up watching a 'funny games' kind of movie, and being emotionally scarred.

EDIT: just watched the trailer for the cremaster cycle 1. THAT LOOKS FREAKING AWESOME

If you prefer your acts of unimaginable cruelty with a splash of ultra revenge, then I have a feeling you might dig Von Trier's Dogville. Talk about a movie that takes a few twists along the way. The movie this is at the end compared to the beginning - you actually laugh, they're such polar extremes.

the Cremaster movies are incredibly visually striking. They're not traditional films of any sort, they're art installations - and Barney intends to keep it that way, making them extraordinarily difficult to get a hold of. There's a preview of one of them... Cycle 3 perhaps? That's freely available on dvd. Otherwise you kind of have to catch an installation, or find a bootleg.

What I've seen of them, it's a bit of a mixed bag, but incredibly trippy and compared to other arty-pretentious crap, VERY watchable. There's actual filmmakng in them - I don't know if you can say that they tell a "story", but there is a dreamlike flow of events that just mesmerizes. You feel a few things: one is "what the HELL am I watching." You don't know WHAT to think about what you're seeing. And at the same time, you don't want to look away.

The thing is, the guy had money to do this stuff. Some real money. This isn't some obscure, grainy, ugly little art-house pseudo-movie. It's polished, high-production value stuff. So when you see some of the mind-blowingly weird images and sequences in the movie, it's actually all the more trippy that it looks as shiny and polished as any Hollywood movie.

EDIT: Also, I'd say that Von Trier is probably easier to watch than Haneke, simply because he's so much more stylized. Von Trier movies usually have almost a gimmick to them, they're so stylistically unique, as opposed to Haneke, who is obsessed with realism and putting the bleakest truth on film.		2009-10-31 00:11:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

Speaking of which, there an old movie that it's in the back of my head I can't name either.

The movie I'm thinking of has a scary judge, and when people are found guilty he plays a pipe-organ of some sort, and it drops people into a roller-coaster that kills them.

Does anyone know what this is?

EDIT: Nm, I eventually managed to find it via the internets.		2009-10-31 04:09:00

Author:
Jagrevi
Posts: 1154

that sounds familiar. Was it a weird comedy with John Candy and Chevy Chase called "Nothing But Trouble"?

It's been FOREVER since I've seen that movie. If that's the one you're talking about, holy crap you just gave me a blast from the past. I've got to hunt that thing down.		2009-10-31 05:02:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

Yeah, and Dan Akroyd and Demi Morre. That was a weird, fun movie.2009-10-31 05:10:00

Author:
v0rtex
Posts: 1878

haha, i just looked that movie up and it seems hilarious lol. I'll definitely have to check that one out!


btw, i saw that 'alice' movie by Jan Svankmajer today. it was just kinda ok imo. It was definitely the kind of thing i'm into, but the lack of 'actual' characters (or dialog for that matter) made it somewhat boring for me. I guess its just the fact that there isn't really even a story, ya know? Just continuous shots of what appears to be the same generic broken down house - over and over and over. That being said, the abstract elements were all very impressive, and i really appreciated the stop motion bits. I just really wish that there was something more to it than 'little girl wanders around, something awesome and surreal, narration, repeat'.


oh, and that Antichrist movie you mentioned - is it really worse than funny games? Is that even possible?! Funny games was like every horrible thing that could possibly be done to a human being, portrayed in the most sadistic, unsympathetic way possible. I can't imagine how you could possibly make a movie more vile and unwatchable than that, even if it was your goal to do so.

I mean really. when i saw the trailer for funny games as a kid, it seriously shattered any innocence left in me - for like a month all i pretty much thought about was how much i hated that director, and how i wanted him to die horribly. there is NO WAY that any movie could make me feel more upset than that - i refuse to believe it lol.		2009-10-31 08:05:00

Author:
brb_gymnastics
Posts: 32

haha, i just looked that movie up and it seems hilarious lol. I'll definitely have to check that one out!


btw, i saw that 'alice' movie by Jan Svankmajer today. it was just kinda ok imo. It was definitely the kind of thing i'm into, but the lack of 'actual' characters (or dialog for that matter) made it somewhat boring for me. I guess its just the fact that there isn't really even a story, ya know? Just continuous shots of what appears to be the same generic broken down house - over and over and over. That being said, the abstract elements were all very impressive, and i really appreciated the stop motion bits. I just really wish that there was something more to it than 'little girl wanders around, something awesome and surreal, narration, repeat'.

oh, and that Antichrist movie you mentioned - is it really worse than funny games? Is that even possible?! Funny games was like every horrible thing that could possibly be done to a human being, portrayed in the most sadistic, unsympathetic way possible. I can't imagine how you could possibly make a movie more vile and unwatchable than that, even if it was your goal to do so.

I mean really. when i saw the trailer for funny games as a kid, it seriously shattered any innocence left in me - for like a month all i pretty much thought about was how much i hated that director, and how i wanted him to die horribly. there is NO WAY that any movie could make me feel more upset than that - i refuse to believe it lol.

No, I'd say overall Funny Games is way more INTENSE than Antichrist.

What happens with Antichrist is, it's very stylistic and has moments of incredible eeriness and foreboding - a lot of this is quite over the top as well, not remotely realistic like Haneke tends to be obsessed with.

and then, all of a sudden, **** goes bananas. There's a point where the movie becomes ultra-violent, disgusting, and unbelievably explicit. Much moreso than Funny Games. Actually, I'd say pretty much worse than anything I've ever seen. In Antichrist, you can pretty much boil it down to 2 shots. 2 shots, take those out and I might have been able to recommend that movie. Those are images I really would have been quite happy to NEVER have to see for my ENTIRE LIFE.		2009-10-31 17:14:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

No, I'd say overall Funny Games is way more INTENSE than Antichrist.

What happens with Antichrist is, it's very stylistic and has moments of incredible eeriness and foreboding - a lot of this is quite over the top as well, not remotely realistic like Haneke tends to be obsessed with.

and then, all of a sudden, **** goes bananas. There's a point where the movie becomes ultra-violent, disgusting, and unbelievably explicit. Much moreso than Funny Games. Actually, I'd say pretty much worse than anything I've ever seen. In Antichrist, you can pretty much boil it down to 2 shots. 2 shots, take those out and I might have been able to recommend that movie. Those are images I really would have been quite happy to NEVER have to see for my ENTIRE LIFE.

just looked the movie up, and the very first thing that was mentioned were, indeed, those two shots. i'm assuming your talking about when she cuts of her 'you know what' with rusty succors, and the crushing scene right?

honestly, that doesn't even really bother me that much. its a different kind of violence; those shots are more of just a gory gross-out kind of thing - that doesn't bother me at all. violence in terms of cruelty towards inccocent people bothers me alot more; funny games doesn't actually show ANTHING, and yet it disgusts me much, much more. That being said, it is indeed a messed up thing to put on a movie screen, and was very uncalled for.

anyway, i rented eraserhead and muholland drive for my haloween party. no-one there has seen either of them, and we're planning on doing some activities that i probably shouldn't say in a kid-friendly environment before watching them, so this should be interesting lol. I'll have to tell you what eraserhead is like in such a state of mind


EDIT: wow, not as much of a difference seeing it in that state of mind as i thought it would be. I just kinda fell into my couch, and drowned in the fabric. I still slightly noticed the mood sort of, but it wasn't as noticeably disturbing. oh well lol.		2009-10-31 22:05:00

Author:
brb_gymnastics
Posts: 32

EDIT: wow, not as much of a difference seeing it in that state of mind as i thought it would be. I just kinda fell into my couch, and drowned in the fabric. I still slightly noticed the mood sort of, but it wasn't as noticeably disturbing. oh well lol.

Haha - You're talking about a couple of movies that normally take care of the "altered state" thing on their own. I've talked to a lot of people who have watched Eraserhead on something or another, and while some of them claim the hardest trips of their lives, others had similar experiences to yourself - "actually, it's not that different." if anything, that's probably a testament to David Lynch's filmmaking.


violence in terms of cruelty towards inccocent people bothers me alot more; funny games doesn't actually show ANTHING, and yet it disgusts me much, much more.

Then I should recommend you stay far, far away from Au Hasard Balthazar. While it's not brutal in the way that Funny Games is, it is bleak, drawn out, depressing stuff, with human cruelty to innocence as a centerpiece. It was definitely a powerful movie, but it's not something I think I feel like ever watching again.		2009-11-02 05:12:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

I just watched a trailer for Funny Games and it looks absolutely horrible. And yeah that does kind of make me want to watch it even more! xD

I still haven't got around to watching Eraserhead though, i can't believe i'm procrastinating watching films now 		2009-11-02 09:18:00

Author:
Dexiro
Posts: 2100

I just watched a trailer for Funny Games and it looks absolutely horrible. And yeah that does kind of make me want to watch it even more! xD

I still haven't got around to watching Eraserhead though, i can't believe i'm procrastinating watching films now

Procrastinating watching stuff like Eraserhead and Funny Games is more than understandable. I've found myself putting off tons of stuff! A lot of movies you hear the most about are dark, disturbing, or incredibly sad. You really have to be in the right mood to watch that kind of stuff, so it can be pretty easy to put it off. My lady never wants to watch most movies I have in my list because she never feels like sitting through some tragic, sad slice-of-life movie. She's more about the escapism stuff. It can be hard sometimes to find time to watch the really brutal, difficult, strange movies. So much easier to pop in sugary junk food for 90 minutes than something that might wrack your nerves/brain/guts/heart for the same amount of time.		2009-11-03 03:43:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

I just thought of an incredible little animated film which you may have seen. I don't know if you could classify it as all that "dark", as it is a bit of an old-fashioned sci fi adventure yarn, but it is extraordinarily strange, full of trippy imagery, and it's incredibly mesmerizing. Some of the acting is absolutely terrible, there are more than a few inadvertently funny sequences, but it's all part of the weird, entertaining journey that is:

Fantastic Planet.

The French animated film. It's a visual masterpiece - a very beautiful little film with a lot to say about human nature. And trippy as hell.

http://imgur.com/bCn1W.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u210/Belenger/PlanetSauvageStill012458.jpg		2009-11-03 13:06:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

Teeb is there seriously any film you haven't seen, you're like an expert xD

That fantastic planet thing looks really interesting, i find cartoons a lot easier to watch so i'm gonna check it out
It's on youtube in 8 parts if anyone wants to join me, i'm not entirely sure what to expect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys8AkwMRvgo		2009-11-03 13:53:00

Author:
Dexiro
Posts: 2100

I hope you enjoy it! You should go in with a bit of an open mind, allow yourself to really sink into the movie's world. Remember that it's okay to laugh as hard as you want at it, and definitely enjoy the AWESOME soundtrack, a classic.2009-11-03 14:41:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

I read up on Antrichrist, and, dear GOD, that sounds dreadful! I'm sorry, violence can go some way to carrying a message in a movie, but that just sounds OTT. Some of the things mentioned sound too demented to be anything more than a crazed directors docked-up fantasy, especially the crushing scene and the following ejaculation scene, that just sounds disgusting. I know some critics may say that it is a work of art, or what-have-you, but they need to take a moment to stop obsessing over their pretentious arty-farty personae and take a good look at what they're watching. It sounds sick, disgusting, and far too violent to be considered apt for carrying the message. That said, I haven't actually seen the film, so I can't pass a true judgement, but the description on wikipedia leaves little to the imagination. Unless the director is some masterful god at making things on screen look nothing like what they sound like written down and the film really is a happy-go-lucky family fun friendly film, or at least a lot less macabre than its description, then he should quit his job and seek medical assistance. I do not joke.2009-11-03 14:49:00

Author:
dawesbr
Posts: 3280

I hope you enjoy it! You should go in with a bit of an open mind, allow yourself to really sink into the movie's world. Remember that it's okay to laugh as hard as you want at it, and definitely enjoy the AWESOME soundtrack, a classic.

It thought it was really good but i'm not entirely sure what to say about it!

I didn't find it funny i just found it a bit weird and creepy - not that that's a bad thing though

The soundtrack was awesome too
I thought the use of sound in general was really good.		2009-11-03 15:18:00

Author:
Dexiro
Posts: 2100

I read up on Antrichrist, and, dear GOD, that sounds dreadful! I'm sorry, violence can go some way to carrying a message in a movie, but that just sounds OTT. Some of the things mentioned sound too demented to be anything more than a crazed directors docked-up fantasy, especially the crushing scene and the following ejaculation scene, that just sounds disgusting. I know some critics may say that it is a work of art, or what-have-you, but they need to take a moment to stop obsessing over their pretentious arty-farty personae and take a good look at what they're watching. It sounds sick, disgusting, and far too violent to be considered apt for carrying the message. That said, I haven't actually seen the film, so I can't pass a true judgement, but the description on wikipedia leaves little to the imagination. Unless the director is some masterful god at making things on screen look nothing like what they sound like written down and the film really is a happy-go-lucky family fun friendly film, or at least a lot less macabre than its description, then he should quit his job and seek medical assistance. I do not joke.

Believe me, the movie really IS that bad when it comes to the violent content. You're right about diluting the message with it as well. No matter how powerful the other filmmaking in the movie is, you come out really only remembering these few tiny sequences that are so awful, so explicitly violent and utterly wretched, that you cease to appreciate anything else in the movie. He's done violence against his own work by including these things.

there are some amazing images in the film, and a few sequences of intense creepiness that I was completely drawn into. There's a sequence where Willem Dafoe performs a type of hypnosis on his wife to help her cope with her fear of the woods. The film takes her perspective, and dives into this eerie, silent, dreamlike forest landscape, and it is utterly hypnotic and incredible.

I should also mention the opening though. I almost turned the movie off during the prologue. It's one of the single most obnoxious pieces of filmmaking I've ever seen in my entire life. It's an X-rated Calvin Klein for Men commercial. Absolutely and completely ridiculous and annoying.

So you get the good with the bad with that movie. And I should probably mention something about the movie's "message" as well.
The movie is essentially a horror movie - a bleak, depressing, grief-stricken horror movie, but a horror movie. Its premise basically, like all horror movies, is "wouldn't it be scary IF--". It takes grief, and guilt, and turns it into something scary - something that can make loved ones into horrors. It offers up the scary situation of your own loved one, your own significant other being transformed into a monster, a demon. Very similar to The Shining, but with the roles reversed - it's the wife that turns evil here.

And then Von Trier offers up an unbelievable misogynistic twist that you can only see coming if you're familiar with Von Trier as a filmmaker, because otherwise it's too ballsy and incredible to imagine anyone would put in their film. But he does it. And I think he has a lot of of dark misogynistic fantasy, because it's an undercurrent throughout his films. But here I tend to forgive him because it is just a horror movie asking the question "wouldn't it be scary IF"... and the answer is YES, OKAY? IT'D BE SCARY! NOW STOP SHOWING IT TO ME!

Again, this twist is sort of similar to The Shining. For much of that movie you can imagine that all of Jack Nicholson's ravings are the result of cabin fever, of his losing his mind being couped up. But then there's one point - in the locked pantry - where this becomes an impossibility, and you learn that indeed the ghosts are actually real. There's a similar twist in Antichrist, except it's horrificially misogynistic and nearly renders you speechless with the extremity of it.

It's not a movie I ever hope to see again. If it does come up that an R-rated version is released with the blaringly over-the-top sequences edited down, I might even find myself recommending it though.		2009-11-03 23:48:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

It's an X-rated Calvin Klein for Men commercial.

I saw this, and my eyes read X-men.

Also, I absolutely LOVED The Shining. The scene where you discover that he has been writing All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy the whole time is absolutely creepy, I was freaked out by it so bad, even though I knew it was coming. I loved that film.

I hate films that get so caught up with their own message that they end up portraying it themselves. Gah, what was that name of the film about a website that showed Live Snuff Films that caused the person to die when more people tuned in? Untraceable? It's message was that human nature is sick and attracted to violence, and that the people who make gornos/torture-porn are sick, whereas the film was nothing BUT a gorno/torture-porn.		2009-11-03 23:56:00

Author:
dawesbr
Posts: 3280

It thought it was really good but i'm not entirely sure what to say about it!

I didn't find it funny i just found it a bit weird and creepy - not that that's a bad thing though

The soundtrack was awesome too
I thought the use of sound in general was really good.

I remember having a big laugh at the RIDICULOUS costumes the Draags make the little Oms wear. Poor Terr.

From the very beginning with the giant blue finger poking and brutally toying with the terrified mother and her child, I knew I was going to love the movie. It's just absolutely packed with social commentary and full of these incredible images that paint a disturbing portrait of how we treat each other.		2009-11-03 23:58:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

On a slightly off topic note, T-bone, your avatar is preparing for lift-off! In another two months, is the rocket going to disappear?2009-11-04 00:02:00

Author:
dawesbr
Posts: 3280

I hate films that get so caught up with their own message that they end up portraying it themselves. Gah, what was that name of the film about a website that showed Live Snuff Films that caused the person to die when more people tuned in? Untraceable? It's message was that human nature is sick and attracted to violence, and that the people who make gornos/torture-porn are sick, whereas the film was nothing BUT a gorno/torture-porn.

That's absolutely ridiculous. I haven't seen the movie, I try to stay FAR away from torture porn (even Antichrist WAS one for about 20 minutes or so). I watched Hostel knowing I was going to hate it, but it was such a phenomenon I was curious to see what in the world all these people were buying tickets to and being exposed to. I found it a useless turd of a movie that shouldn't exist and wouldn't in a proper world.

But you gotta love the hypocritical irony of stupid filmmakers putting a wasted message into their movies.


On a slightly off topic note, T-bone, your avatar is preparing for lift-off! In another two months, is the rocket going to disappear?

You never know which crazy way it's going to go!

Maybe it'll appear on the right side, with the moon looking to the right of frame?

Maybe it'll go upside down!

maybe you'll see the moon's face appear INSIDE the rocket's window!

WHOOAOOoaoaoaoOAOoooaooooaoOAOOOOOAOAAHH!!		2009-11-04 00:02:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

Duuuuude. I just tripped out a little even THINKING about it.

Also, I would recommend not watching Untraceable, if that's what it was called. Highly unremarkable aside from the fact that it was as hypocritical as the pot.

Hostel was also bad. Very bad.

What do you think of the Saw movies? Bad? I've only seen I, II and IV, and only then because my brothers were watching them and we have one SkyBox between three rooms.		2009-11-04 00:17:00

Author:
dawesbr
Posts: 3280

The Saw movies are terrible.

Just a list of "fun" ways to torture and kill people thought up by the film writers put loosely together into a film with a plot that noone can be bothered to understand.

Some people seem to think that a plot that you can't understand is just really clever and complex but it's probably just a badly written plot or just bad film making.
Surely it's the job of the film makers to make sure the plot is understandable to it's target audience (preferably everyone) - how many teenagers with a hunger for violence are going to understand whats going on because i suspect they're the only people who watch those films.		2009-11-04 00:55:00

Author:
Dexiro
Posts: 2100

I haven't seen any of the Saw films. Hostel seemed like the "purest" torture-porn, and it was a real phenomenon when it first came out, so that was the one I watched, and really the only one I have ever cared to bother with. I'm totally uninterested in Saw, and I wish people would stop going to see them. The box office numbers are dropping, but they're so low-budget they're still turning a profit, especially in the worldwide marketplace. So we're going to keep seeing them. Perhaps they'll start releasing them straight to video.

And honestly Dexiro, I think the filmmakers aren't really putting a lot of thought into the plots - they're probably inscrutable because not much time was spent on them. These things just get churned out like clockwork. The filmmakers know that the target audience doesn't really care about plot intricacies, they just want see more clever ways to torture people.

I'm pleased that we've seen a drop in the number of "movie" movies coming out. Meet the Spartans, all that ungodly wretched ****. Seltzer and Friedberg are now working on a 5th "Scary Movie" installment, and the Wayans recently came out with "Dance Flick", so it's not going to STOP, but it is slowing down.

congrats, idiots, you have killed the parody. This is the genre that Mel Brooks defined with some of the greatest movie parodies of all time, and these clowns have turned it into an overflowing cinematic portapotty.

I realize I'm a bit off-topic now. But Friedberg and Seltzer should seriously be held in Gitmo.		2009-11-04 01:08:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

Argh, I hate it when long posts get lost...

OK, here we go again:

I don't think saw ever had a story, I mean, it was called "Saw" originally, not "Saw I", I really don't think they had planned so many sequels, similar to Star Wars (though that wasn't a badseries).

I watched the first Scary Movie, and, yes, I laughed. However, I was only 7/8 at the time, and now I just can't laugh at any of the 4. I have not watched Superhero Movie/Epic Movie/Date Movie/Genre Movie/Meet the Spartans/Genre Movie Movie etc., but they all look...so...bad! I miss the old spoofs, with Liam Neeson. <- I can't believe I put that, I need sleep. I meant Leslie Nielson, of course. xD

Slightly more on-topic...um...Donnie Darko can be quite surreal, especially the scenes with Frank, though it is very westernised at points and can be quite American, and isn't really that "scary". 2001: A Space Odyssey was also VERY surreal, but again, not that scary, although I was freaked out by the hotel-room sequence.		2009-11-04 01:34:00

Author:
dawesbr
Posts: 3280

I got it. I can't believe I haven't thought of this yet.

Almost any David Cronenberg movie. But if I could recommend just one, it would be Videodrome. If you're looking for something dark and weird (but still strangely fun), look no further than Videodrome.

Check out Naked Lunch and The Fly and ExistenZ as well. I'm not a big fan of A History of Violence or Eastern Promises, but his older stuff is great. He's got a unique brand of "body horror".

Naked Lunch involves an explicit sex scene with a living typewriter and a giant beetle addicted to insecticide with a talking ******* on its back.

ExistenZ is about a future videogame system with a controller that's a living mass of organic pulsating fleshy tissue, with an umbilical cord you plug into a port hole that's surgically made on the base of your spine.

Videodrome features some imagery too over the top to even describe here, but at one point the main character's hand becomes a cancer gun.

Yes, this stuff is good times.

EDIT: Just thought of another one. I should point out that I did NOT like this movie. It's definitely dark, it's incredibly disturbing, but it's also surreal and incredibly visual. this would be Terry Gilliam's Tideland.

It's not for the faint of heart. It's a pretty awful little movie, jam-packed with horrors, and all involving an innocent little girl - there's very little "cruelty" in the movie, it's a different kind of horror altogether.

I thought it was just over the top and so unpleasant that it's hard to be emotionally invested in the experience. Instead I took in the filmmaking, the visuals, the fantasy sequences. Not so much the characters or story. but it is an exceedingly dark and strange and surreal film, so there may just be something there for you!		2009-11-04 05:43:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

I'm noticing a trend here: they all seem to have Compound names, formed of two nouns, one of which is innocuous and the other is unexpected. "Tide-land". "Eraser-head". "Video-drome", etc.2009-11-04 12:18:00

Author:
dawesbr
Posts: 3280

I'm noticing a trend here: they all seem to have Compound names, formed of two nouns, one of which is innocuous and the other is unexpected. "Tide-land". "Eraser-head". "Video-drome", etc.

Seems to make sense somehow. It's the juxtaposition of familiar things that don't fit that makes it instantly disturbing.


Also, I would recommend not watching Untraceable, if that's what it was called. Highly unremarkable aside from the fact that it was as hypocritical as the pot.

I hadn't really heard of this movie, so I looked it up and it sounds like the consensus is exactly that - that this is a ridiculous, hypocritical movie that dares to weasel an anti-voyeuristic-violence message while exploiting and engaging in the very thing it laughably condemns.

Certainly not the first movie to do that... It's a remarkably difficult message to make in film because inevitably a movie that makes the point is going to feature the content. This is one of the things that interests me about Funny Games. Because this is a movie that doesn't actually show ANY violence (as brb_gymnastics mentioned), with one exception, which is designed to get the audience to cheer and applaud the act of violence - and as soon as it happens, the filmmaker plays a joke on you and takes it right back. The actual "games" being played in this movie are all actually on the audience, by the filmmaker. While I didn't remotely enjoy this movie, I appreciate what it attempts to do. But I don't know if general movie-goers would really get that out of it, because in the end it's another go******** movie ABOUT MOVIES. I often think that filmmakers who do this stuff really need to get out more and step outside of this filmmaking-bubble a little bit. The upcoming 9 with Daniel Day Lewis appears to be similar to this. But Funny Games is seriously about MOVIES at its core, and I don't think that a lot of the audience is going to really get that from it, instead feeling jipped and depressed and unfulfilled, and many people when beaten over the head and chastised that what they're doing is wrong, don't tend to take it too well. But really it's an elaborate game of manipulation being played on the audience by the filmmaker as a way to chastise them - "No! Violence has real repercussions, and just look what movies have done to you! Do you see what you're fantasizing about while watching this??" And also, "How dare you watch this movie about horrible things! Shame on you!" (which is honestly ridiculous.)

But ultimately the movie is endlessly cruel to its characters, and while it acknowledges that the reason you're probably watching it is to get some sick pleasure out of this, should the movie get a free pass just because it doesn't actually SHOW the violence? I'm not so sure. While I haven't seen Untraceable, I don't doubt that Funny Games handles the material in a smarter way, but I'm really not convinced that Haneke figured out the formula for discussing this type of thing through cinema - Actually, I don't know if there really IS a formula. I think torture porn and exploitative violent movies need to STOP, but maybe movies that condemn this need to stop too, because most of them are full of the same schadenfreude-exploiting voyeurism. Although the trick with Funny Games is that while it lures you in with the promise of a thrilling horror-show, it ultimately takes that "pleasure" away from you. It's a movie that acknowledges its awfulness while never acknowledging its hypocrisy.		2009-11-05 02:12:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

You're right, there are loads of films with thinly veiled hypocrisy, but Untouchable was centred around FBI/CIA/OMG/WTF/BBQ agents who were trying to stop the guy, all the while going "this sick freak watching this etc. etc.," and lots of presidential addresses saying anyone watching it is a sick freak etc., etc., so that wasn't even veiled, instead, it more thrust its own hypocrisy in the viewer's face like a male stripper in a down-town club.

I haven't seen Funny Games, but I read on wikipedia (source of all sources) that the main character Breaks The Fourth Wall a lot. I'm not sure what my opinion is on this happening in general - if a director pulls it off well, maybe like how it was done in (gasp) Malcolm In The Middle, it could be OK, but on the whole I just get the impression that the director is just trying to make his film more "apparently" arty-farty and make it into, as you say, a film about films.

I really want to see a new film that really carries a strong message without trying too hard or being really hypocritical. Shawshank Redemption did this wonderfully, but I've never really found a comparable match. The new releases I've watched recently are 9 and Up, and both tried to carry a message - both were generic love will last forever messages. Of course love lasts forever - it wouldn't if film-makers hadn't been making films about it, FOREVER. Oh well.		2009-11-05 02:41:00

Author:
dawesbr
Posts: 3280

I kinda get what you are saying about funny games teebonsey, but i still have to say that that movie was filth. First, i disagree with the director, for as i have pointed out - violence has a different significance and a different level of moral corruptness based on context. I have no problem applauding a justified act of violence. People applauded the 'fat guy's' death in funny games because they were emotionally moved to do so: do you really think that the audience applauded because they enjoyed the death? it was because something inside them evoked a sence of resolution - the torturer deserved to die, and violence was in that case acceptable.

Michael Haneke's movie, to me, is more hypocritical than any other movie ever made. Worse yet, the point he tries so hard to make isn't valid - his movie is a COUNTER-ARGUMENT. there is not a single person who has seen that movie, that did not wish for the family to kill the torturers, or at least escape. furthermore, they wished it not out of entertainment, but out of justice - out of the fundemental goodness of every belief they have ever been compelled to hope for (which, at such a point, they have been forced to abandon.) I'll be honest - i haven't seen it beginning to end. I saw the trailer, was absolutely horrified, looked it up on wikipedia, and saw a few scenes on youtube just to confirm that this movie was, in fact, that bad. Had this been isolated to a straight-to-dvd release, i think it wouldn't have bothered me so much. Its just the fact that it was advertised and marketed, causing people who didn't, as haneke said "need to see the film" go and see it. The trailers forced people like myself, as well as my 7-year-old brother, to sit through a few minutes of it (which even in itself was imo a crime against human nature).

Ah, whatever, i'm going into a rant here. I just wanted to express my oppinion on the matter. I'll shut up now.		2009-11-05 04:29:00

Author:
brb_gymnastics
Posts: 32

I haven't seen Funny Games, but I read on wikipedia (source of all sources) that the main character Breaks The Fourth Wall a lot. I'm not sure what my opinion is on this happening in general - if a director pulls it off well, maybe like how it was done in (gasp) Malcolm In The Middle, it could be OK, but on the whole I just get the impression that the director is just trying to make his film more "apparently" arty-farty and make it into, as you say, a film about films.

He doesn't do it often, but there are about 3 or 4 instances of it. The filmmaker kind of eases you into it - at one point he SEEMS to turn to the camera and address the audience, but he doesn't look directly into the lens - and then he continues the conversation to his friend, so it seems that he was actually talking to HIM, and that TECHNICALLY, the fourth wall was intact.

And then later, he blatantly addresses the audience directly. "What do you think? Should we continue these games, or just kill them and get it over with?"

And then the biggest instance in the movie, guaranteed to rip you COMPLETELY out of the actual story as it's happening and FORCE you instead to focus on how you're watching the movie:

As things get intense and the family members are in real threat of being tortured and murdered, Naomi Watts lunges for a loaded shotgun, and blows a hole through one of the two psychopaths. It's a glorious bloodbath, he's BLASTED against the wall, and it's literally the first and only moment in the film where you actually witness first-hand a violent act that doesn't occur off-camera. The surviving psychopath freaks out - "Where's the remote? where's the remote control??" When he finds it, he hits the rewind button and actually rewinds the movie YOU'RE WATCHING, back before his friend gets killed. This time he makes sure she doesn't get the shotgun.

I would definitely describe this stuff as intellectualized arty-fartyness. It's more concerned with the relationship between filmmaker and audience than anything else. It's message-heavy, and that message happens to be about movies and how complicit we are in what we choose to watch. I agree with the message, I like what he's attempting to do - I just really don't think "Funny Games" makes a lot of sense as the best way to go about it.


I really want to see a new film that really carries a strong message without trying too hard or being really hypocritical. Shawshank Redemption did this wonderfully, but I've never really found a comparable match. The new releases I've watched recently are 9 and Up, and both tried to carry a message - both were generic love will last forever messages. Of course love lasts forever - it wouldn't if film-makers hadn't been making films about it, FOREVER. Oh well.

Most movies carry some kind of message, the ones that work are the ones that operate simply as commentary, rather than a treatise on how to live. Brazil. Dr Strangelove. Actually Kubrick's an interesting example, because A Clockwork Orange starts to fall into that grey zone. A lot of that movie is about desensitization, and it also happens to feature a first act that's full of glorious, heinous acts of violence.		2009-11-05 04:31:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

The Shining is pretty dark and surreal movie. I sort of like surreal stuff, such as Stephen King novels, Francis Bacon paintings and movies based on King's novels.2009-11-06 17:37:00

Author:
Oerjeke
Posts: 234

Anyone seen 8MM? That's gotta go on my list for dark and surreal movies. In fact, I wish I'd never seen it. Nasty & disturbing is an understatement. My advice is do the laundry, cook dinner, watch infomercials or do your taxes -- anything to keep those two hours for yourself.2009-11-06 19:48:00

Author:
SHENOA77
Posts: 184

Anyone seen 8MM? That's gotta go on my list for dark and surreal movies. In fact, I wish I'd never seen it. Nasty & disturbing is an understatement. My advice is do the laundry, cook dinner, watch infomercials or do your taxes -- anything to keep those two hours for yourself.

Yeah, I watched 8MM (long time ago). Isn't it an old movie? I think Nic Cage still had hair then. NEways, I have to agree with you on this one. I should have just watched the Simpsons or something. I'll never look on old rich white dudes the same again after watching that film. Just nasty. Ick.		2009-11-07 19:31:00

Author:
NinjaAssassin26
Posts: 34

I kinda get what you are saying about funny games teebonsey, but i still have to say that that movie was filth. First, i disagree with the director, for as i have pointed out - violence has a different significance and a different level of moral corruptness based on context. I have no problem applauding a justified act of violence. People applauded the 'fat guy's' death in funny games because they were emotionally moved to do so: do you really think that the audience applauded because they enjoyed the death? it was because something inside them evoked a sence of resolution - the torturer deserved to die, and violence was in that case acceptable.

Michael Haneke's movie, to me, is more hypocritical than any other movie ever made. Worse yet, the point he tries so hard to make isn't valid - his movie is a COUNTER-ARGUMENT. there is not a single person who has seen that movie, that did not wish for the family to kill the torturers, or at least escape. furthermore, they wished it not out of entertainment, but out of justice - out of the fundemental goodness of every belief they have ever been compelled to hope for (which, at such a point, they have been forced to abandon.) I'll be honest - i haven't seen it beginning to end. I saw the trailer, was absolutely horrified, looked it up on wikipedia, and saw a few scenes on youtube just to confirm that this movie was, in fact, that bad. Had this been isolated to a straight-to-dvd release, i think it wouldn't have bothered me so much. Its just the fact that it was advertised and marketed, causing people who didn't, as haneke said "need to see the film" go and see it. The trailers forced people like myself, as well as my 7-year-old brother, to sit through a few minutes of it (which even in itself was imo a crime against human nature).

Ah, whatever, i'm going into a rant here. I just wanted to express my oppinion on the matter. I'll shut up now.

We must have posted around the same time, I totally missed your post!

The movie Haneke made with Funny Games kind of needed to be dishonestly marketed in a weird way. The type of audience it's made for is the type of audience that gets off on watching onscreen violence. The movie is made to make them rethink these reactions, but it's so CHASTISING that he's essentially made a movie that the core audience is bound to HATE!

But I can't help but enjoy that fact - that torture-porn-loving idiots would put in "funny games" expecting more of the same and might come out horribly disturbed by the experience.

But then what happens is exactly what you said - the rest of us have to sit through it too, and for God's sake, how do you make a movie like this and not acknowledge you're calling the kettle black? I'm beginning to really think it's an impossible statement to make in film!

And I think you're onto something by drawing a separation between our want of justice and the pleasure we find in violence. This line is never drawn in the movie, it's all the same to Haneke. Violence in ANY context in Funny Games is meant to be equally condemnable. He's making a point that there shouldn't be lines drawn where violence is concerned... But isn't that dishonest?
Who here wouldn't fight something evil to protect someone they love?
And who here would condemn that act?

@Shenoa - I did see 8mm back when it came out. For anyone who doesn't know, it's a movie about snuff films. It actually has a lot to do with the "Funny Games" discussion, but I couldn't say a whole lot about how 8mm handled the subject because I don't remember it so well. One memorable moment was when the sick, twisted s&m snuff monster is unmasked and you see the guy's face.
But unfortunately it's the only thing I really remember! I keep getting the rest of it confused with "Videodrome" in my head, which also deals with similar subject matter.		2009-11-07 23:50:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

I'm glad that you at least somewhat agree teebonsey; i was afraid that i'd be dismissed as as being overzealous.

I must admit, I am somewhat guilty of enjoying violence in some contexts - probably moreso than others. I love my artistic films - probably even more so than the average dude. that being said, i can still enjoy a senseless 'consumerism' type movie when i'm in the mood for it; again, its all about context. I loved kill bill: hell, I even loved doomsday; both movies were totally senseless and primitive in nature, and they lacked any philosophical value to even think of. That being said, they weren't even remotely comparable to the real world. on the other end of the spectrum, I can also appreciate a ridiculously cheesy 'happy' movie too, should it be somewhat visually creative. call me a hypocrite, call me arrogant; i don't deny it. I like my variety, and I like my extremity. I differentiate cruelty from violence, and violence from vengeance. Things in life are not black and white, and sometimes, the hues seem to fit together in more than one way; we must find for ourselves where where the colors match up, and accept the fact that sometimes our beliefs just don't make sense. The line i draw may be completely skewed, but i stand by it.


now, to completely break of from my little tangent and detract any and all meaning to it, i'd like to note that my friend is getting a copy of the cremaster cycle movies, and I am very excited to watch them 		2009-11-10 06:30:00

Author:
brb_gymnastics
Posts: 32

If you prefer your acts of unimaginable cruelty with a splash of ultra revenge, then I have a feeling you might dig Von Trier's Dogville. Talk about a movie that takes a few twists along the way. The movie this is at the end compared to the beginning - you actually laugh, they're such polar extremes.


Ahhhh!

I just watched the trailer for Dogville and i'm sure i saw it on tv once.
It was on really late at night and it looked a bit obscure so i figured it was some rubbishy low budget movie that wasn't worth putting on during the daytime. I ended up only watched the intro :/

Now that i look back on it i wish i'd watched it 		2009-11-10 15:39:00

Author:
Dexiro
Posts: 2100

I don't know if this really fits in the highest quality surreal films, but I like the visual aspect of the cell. It reminds me of the work of Max Ernst and Salvador Dali. Yeah, the story's not so great, but I mostly enjoy it because of D'Onofrio's acting and again the imagery.

Another one which I'm sure doesn't fit is Dawn of the Dead (the remake), I love the green "filter" over everything. It makes all of the survivors appear sallow and demoralized. Which of course anyone would be in such a situation.

Plus, Jake Weber... so adorable. After I saw the film on dvd he was my celebrity crush for like 6 months.

It's strange that I like the film too. I'm not a huge horror film fan. I've been kind of tainted because my Mom is the opposite, but I have kind of dove in to the genre in the last few years and this is one of my favorite horrors. I mostly enjoy sci-fi horrors however. My fave is the John Carpenter's "The Thing."		2009-11-10 23:33:00

Author:
pantspantspants
Posts: 189

I'm watching 9 at the moment and it's suprisingly dark xD

It's not a brilliant movie but i just love the robot designs, they're some of the creepiest things i've ever seen!		2009-11-13 18:46:00

Author:
Dexiro
Posts: 2100

I don't know if this really fits in the highest quality surreal films, but I like the visual aspect of the cell. It reminds me of the work of Max Ernst and Salvador Dali. Yeah, the story's not so great, but I mostly enjoy it because of D'Onofrio's acting and again the imagery.

Another one which I'm sure doesn't fit is Dawn of the Dead (the remake), I love the green "filter" over everything. It makes all of the survivors appear sallow and demoralized. Which of course anyone would be in such a situation.

Plus, Jake Weber... so adorable. After I saw the film on dvd he was my celebrity crush for like 6 months.

It's strange that I like the film too. I'm not a huge horror film fan. I've been kind of tainted because my Mom is the opposite, but I have kind of dove in to the genre in the last few years and this is one of my favorite horrors. I mostly enjoy sci-fi horrors however. My fave is the John Carpenter's "The Thing."

The Cell has some amazing images. It's a shame the movie falls so flat otherwise - the characters and story are shockingly dull next to the surprising images that are holding them up. Sometimes the movie feels more like walking through a modern art gallery than watching a movie, but the images are always surprising and unique. One thing I really liked that they did was open up with a peek inside a disturbed child's mind. It's quite frightening and very eerie - and you learn that it's only the mind of a little child. So later in the movie, when Jennifer Lopez is tasked with going into the mind of a sick, dangerous, incredibly twisted serial killer - you know you're going to be in for some crazy weird stuff.

As for Carpenter's The Thing, easily one of my favorite horror flicks of all time. I'm not a fan of horror movies generally speaking, but I LOVE The Thing.		2009-11-13 23:39:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

The Cell has some amazing images. It's a shame the movie falls so flat otherwise - the characters and story are shockingly dull next to the surprising images that are holding them up. Sometimes the movie feels more like walking through a modern art gallery than watching a movie, but the images are always surprising and unique. One thing I really liked that they did was open up with a peek inside a disturbed child's mind. It's quite frightening and very eerie - and you learn that it's only the mind of a little child. So later in the movie, when Jennifer Lopez is tasked with going into the mind of a sick, dangerous, incredibly twisted serial killer - you know you're going to be in for some crazy weird stuff.

As for Carpenter's The Thing, easily one of my favorite horror flicks of all time. I'm not a fan of horror movies generally speaking, but I LOVE The Thing.


Well, I'm glad it was a good suggestion. I haven't seen too many obscure surreal films. Only the ones that are likely to be recommended in lists like "100 Films you must see before you die..." and the like. lol!


Yes, the cell was an excellent representation of the fluid mind of a child.

Another Carpenter "The Thing" fan, huh? Awesome. I saw it two years ago and thought this is really a brilliant movie....little did I know it already had a well established following and is considered a perennial classic.

The special effects for as old as the film is, are outstanding. For people who haven't seen the film I won't ruin it for ya, no worries.


I'm surprised you're not a horror fan. I vaguely remember a topic where you went to an Evil Dead play. Ash was with chainsaw and all lol!		2009-11-14 00:28:00

Author:
pantspantspants
Posts: 189

This is "The Thing" with the chest-opening-forming-teeth-while-using-defibrillator scene, right? I love that film!2009-11-14 01:00:00

Author:
dawesbr
Posts: 3280

David Lynch is the obvious choice for dark, surreal movies...Mullholland Drive, Lost Highway, Blue Velvet, Fire Walk With Me, Eraserhead and Inland Empire are probably darker and weirder than anything else out there.

Here's a few more that are worth checking out...

Pan's Labyrinth
Chasing Sleep
Jacob's Ladder
The Reflecting Skin
Carnival of Souls (1962)
A Zed And Two Noughts
The Tin Drum		2009-11-14 11:50:00

Author:
Ungreth
Posts: 2130

I'm curious to know what people think about the movie Apacalypto.. And also if anyone went to see 2012 yesterday how it was? I have been waiting for it to come out for awhile now.. I liked the viral campaigning for it although the hype they created was nowhere near like the guys at Bad Robot did for Cloverfield..
Also speaking of viral campaign's is anyone familiar with the short film whats in the box? On youtube? And the website whatsinthebox.nl and the millions of other things that are hidden in the script and the thousands of theories about the guy behind it all Tim Smit? I am really curious what other people think about it all..Heres the link to it in case i sound like a crazy person and you are like what is she talking about? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU_reTt7Hj4

If you havnt seen it i recommend checking out the website, there is another small movie if you click the upper part of the ring.. I never would of stumbled on it if it wasn't for lbp.. Just one more reason why this game ROCKS!!		2009-11-14 15:11:00

Author:
Unknown User

Ungreth:
I'm gonna check out your list since you recommended some movies I've seen and liked.

Loved Jacob's Ladder, liked Pan's Labyrinth, like Lynch films in general; Mulholland Drive is probably my favorite of them.

If you don't mind being spooked and disturbed (which I guess you wouldn't if you are reading this thread) I can't recommend Audition highly enough. Yeah, the one by Miike with the famous torture scene, but that isn't even the most disturbing part. Great use of surrealism to create terror.		2009-11-15 05:35:00

Author:
zabel99
Posts: 179

Ungreth:
I'm gonna check out your list since you recommended some movies I've seen and liked.

Loved Jacob's Ladder, liked Pan's Labyrinth, like Lynch films in general; Mulholland Drive is probably my favorite of them.

If you don't mind being spooked and disturbed (which I guess you wouldn't if you are reading this thread) I can't recommend Audition highly enough. Yeah, the one by Miike with the famous torture scene, but that isn't even the most disturbing part. Great use of surrealism to create terror.

Audition was great...very creepy. If you like Asian horror films, you should also check out these classics -

Acacia
Marebito
A Tale Of Two Sisters
Kairo (Pulse)
The Eye Trilogy
Three Extremes		2009-11-15 10:16:00

Author:
Ungreth
Posts: 2130

Sorry, but I just had to post this:

Family Guy clip on Hulu (http://www.hulu.com/watch/105846/family-guy-brians-got-a-brand-new-bag?c=92:107)

from a recent episode of Family Guy. Made me think of this thread - or at least the OP and subsequent discussion. tee hee		2009-11-23 00:39:00

Author:
v0rtex
Posts: 1878

Most of the movies being brought up at this point don't really have any relevancy with the original topic. Miike's films, although extremely violent and disturbing, could hardly be considered similar to some of the films mentioned on the first page. I recommend looking at the first few pages before posting any suggestions- just to give some perspective.

I must admit though, that I am a huge fan of Jacobs Ladder, and it has been one of my favorite movies ever since I was a little kid. I would go so far as to say it was *the* film that drew me into that particular branch of cinema.


Now for something completely off topic: Since someone brought up 2012, I'd like to point out something really awesome...
Very early in the the film (just when they are beggining to show some of the cracks in the earths surface) there is one shot that shows a group of houses up against the coastline, with a wide strand that runs paralell below. that one house right in the middle of that shot IS MY HOUSE!!!11!!! I was so surprised to see it in the theater that i actually shouted out loud when I saw it.

I know it wasn't that great of a movie- possibly entertaining if your in the mood for mindless action- but I'll probably always see it through rose colored glasses just because of that shot.		2009-11-23 03:02:00

Author:
brb_gymnastics
Posts: 32

Yeah, I'm aware that the discussion has long since moved past this movie, I just was reminded of the OP when I saw that FG episode, and it made me laugh, so I thought I'd share.

Awesome story about your house though - that's really cool.		2009-11-23 04:33:00

Author:
v0rtex
Posts: 1878


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