movies assholes dig

Started by pete, October 24, 2004, 11:23:11 AM

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socketlevel

Quote from: Jeremy BlackmanYes... Kevin Smith fans are really the biggest thing that's turned me off from Kevin Smith movies. That and Clerks.

i think getting to know kevin smith a bit better (from interviews and whatever) has turned me off of his films.  he seems like a cocky fuck.

chasing amy is still the shit though.

-sl-
the one last hit that spent you...

socketlevel

Quote from: matt35mmENTER THE (lame, but sensible, last-five-minutes-of-Full-House-type) VOICE OF REASON

It's not that these people are "assholes;" it's that they're simple-minded towards movies.  They make a shallow connection with movies that we can understand on a deeper level (not to be conceded, but we DO know more about movies--we simply pay more attention to movies than most people do), whether that might be a level of love, hate, or indifference.

Take American Beauty.  Now, I can watch that and there's a connection that forms between me and the movie.  I can appreciate it on multiple, deeper levels.  But after that connection forms, it becomes personal.  It was an experience that I shared with that movie.  But then if I talk to someone who likes the movie for what I sense to be shallow reasons, I get upset.  Although Fight Club would be a better example, because many more people like that movie for many more shallow reasons.  Same goes for Donnie Darko (because it's "edgy, indie, gothy, etc."), even though I didn't like that movie that much.

Then you get movies like Garden State, which become popular with kids and you can see that it's because, well... the movie was made for kids.  It's cuz it has the same music that the kids listen to and young people dealing with young people situations in a young, "emo" way.  I don't think people over 40 generally make that much of a connection with that movie.  BUT, those reasons for liking a movie are somewhat shallow.  So all the kids around here love Garden State and I kinda wanna yell, "That's because you don't know what you're talking about, you emo 'tard.  It's a movie about people dealing with uninteresting problems who are just a bit too chic and they come to the final lazy conclusion that 'life is worth living, seize the moment, live life, don't be numb anymore, etc.'" (even though I thought the movie was good--but having all these kids like it makes me much more critical of it because those are shallow reasons to like a movie)

Now, for movies that I love, this is what it feels like:  It's like when you fall in love with some beautiful girl, but your friends are just talking about her "hot ass."  SOMETIMES this can ruin what you feel for the girl, and sometimes it can make you feel like you're one of the few that really understands or appreciates her.  It's similar with movies.

Okay I'm done talking.  I was gonna make some better comparisons but I ran out of time.

EDIT:
Okay, I remembered something I wanted to say:  Other people's shallow reasons for liking movies cheapens what we feel for movies.  And we're justifiably pissed off by that.  If you LOVE a movie, and so do some other jerkwads who like it because it's "edgy" or "gory" or "has a lot of cussing and quick camera work," it totally cheapens the purity of the connection that you've made with the movie.  It shouldn't--we should be able to rise above all that and simply enjoy what we're able to enjoy--but it does.  If a so-so movie is suddenly popular, it cheapens your superior opinion on the film.  And let's face that: we know more about movies than the average person.  We are movie nerds.  That's what we are.  So it's valid to say that we know more.  MOST people would say that movies are just a form of entertainment, something you do with your buddies on Friday night.  These people do not make the same kind of connections with movies that we do.  But you and I can't claim cinema as our territory.  Cinema is everyone's territory.  Everyone watches and has opinions on movies.  So when someone says something stupid, and no one else realizes that it's stupid, and there's no one to appreciate your superior knowledge (not necessarily superior opinion), it sucks.

And so we can come on boards like xixax and vent to other people who CAN appreciate that we know movies more than Joe Schmo.  Today I heard a couple of girls talking about how awesome Van Helsing is and gave each other high fives.  I mean, hey, they enjoyed it and there's no problem with that.  But I would've had nothing positive to say to them at that point, so I just kept my mouth shut.  And who the eff am I gonna talk to at my high school about Vera Drake?  I don't even bring it up, because you know as well as I do that I'm just gonna get a "Vera what?"

Oh, and I have overheard several people busting out the high fives over Boondock Saints.  Soooo... yeah.

well said, i think i understand what you're talking about.

trust me, i'm not trying to be confrontational right now (or at least not just for the sake of it, more for clarification) but it just sounds like elitism to me.  the notion of having a thread that is the very essence of the site seems like beating it to death.

how come is it, based upon what you're saying, that almost all of the directors (and more notably, all the main directors with their own sub-sections on the site) happen to be American then?  how come the majority of the taste on this site is Hollywood manufactured?  it seems to me, if you were trying to disassociate yourselves with the "assholes" (or whatever new definition you gave) then you'd do this by liking film from all over the globe.  and before some of you pop your lid, all over the globe does actually include Hollywood and America, but at and equal percentage (and i know you guys like foreign films, but what percentage of the whole do they represent?).

am i writing a response saying how i hate America; NO.  what i'm showing you is that there is something fundamental in these films, which goes beyond this alleged philosophy and ideology that you love.  fight club has come up earlier on this thread (and in previous arguments) so i'll use it as an example.

are you trying telling me that edward norton and brad pitt staring in the film had nothing to do with you loving it so much?  after you take a breath and be honest by saying yes to that and admiting they are a major factor then you should know that these "assholes" think the same way.  do the violence and "cool" factor have no bearing on whether or not you'll like the film?  come on you know that's part of it, Fincher is a fucking music video director guys, the film is glossy as shit and you love it!  this is the guy that went through a fucking garbage can in this film looking at every piece of trash for no reason and it was cool as shit, and in his next film he went through a fucking coffee cup handle.  where's the subtext in that?  It's done for cool's sake, and you know what? these "assholes" feel the same way about this too.  this is not the end, I could keep going on talking about other things like the little flash frames of brad pitt and the non-foreshadowed ending of the film that makes no sense yet it is so fucking "cool."  Well believe it or not the "assholes" loved this as well.

There are a bunch of films made that have the same messages as these films you're talking about but you choose to like them more, the violent, "cool," American version.   (ie. vanilla sky over it's spanish counterpart) cause it's more digestible.  Why?  because on the other side of your personality, the non-film geek side, you love the same things as the "assholes" and you have that side as well.  I'm not putting my self above, i'm the same way when it's warrented.

I agree that "they" may only have the "asshole" side and you and I have both sides (the geek and the fanboy), but don't try and sell it like it's art cinema, cause i'm not buying it.  Fuck man, one of my favorite films of all time is "the Goonies."  that's pure fucking gloss-studio-made-garbage but i love it, and i'm not trying to say it's anything that it isn't.  so i guess by definition I'm an "asshole" for not liking a film based upon it's level of depth.  Why are you so flustered by this notion.  It's no surprise these "assholes" like all the films mentioned because the films are garnering their appeal.  that is evident in the film, because it's a moneymaker and they want to fill those fucking seats with all types of demographics to make as much capital as possible.  next time get mad at fincher or whomever the director is, and the studio for wanting all the cash out there.  Not just the cash from the nerd/snob side of you.  They're the ones getting those "assholes" to talk their shit and ruin your day.


EDIT IN REGARD TO THE GIRL:
truth is, part of the reason why you might like the girl in the first place is the fact she does in fact have a "hot ass" like your friends suggest.   who are you, exclusively mister romantic?  are you not turned on by such things?  I am.  and at the same time i can like the girl who has good taste and intellegence.  I don't start saying the girl with the "hot ass" is intellegent becuase she quotes some michael moore, it takes some chompsky for that to happen.  Get my drift how this ties into fight club?  It's nice when we can find the nice ass and the smart mind, but don't start confusing the ass with the mind.  when your buddy says she has a hot ass take it for what it is, a hot fucking ass.  cause if you can see it then i'm sure she knows it.

either that or get some new friends buddy, cause they sound like they suck serious fucking balls.

-sl-

I'll pull an Eminem right now and point out what i'm sure someone will eventually comment on after this, yes "I am Canadian." (cannuks will get that one)  and i'm not bashing American cinema, i'm just saying 99 percent of it sucks cause it's more about the spectacle and not the plot, characters and story.  it's made to make money, even those ones you hold in high regard.  I know i come across like a dick and you probably don't listen to a word i'm saying cause i'm opinionated.  so the only option i have left is to quote someone you probably respect:

On the subject of filmmaking, Quentin Tarantino once said in an interview with Charlie Rose, “That used to be the thing about Hollywood, that was the one thing we did better than anyone else in the world.  Tell a really good story…  We’re the worst at it now…  We don’t tell a story, we tell a situation in most of the films you see now a-days…  You pretty much know what you’re going to see within the first ten to twenty minutes.”  This comment was made a decade ago, shortly after the release of his film, Pulp Fiction.  He then said, “(However) enough good movies come out of the Hollywood system every year to justify its existence.”

fight club is not one of these.
the one last hit that spent you...

Vile5

Quote from: Stefen
Quote from: MacGuffinTeam America
Dogville
Tin Drum
Shaun Of The Dead
Mulholland Drive
Un Chien Andalou
Run Lola Run
Almost Famous
Withnail & I
Bride of Frankenstein
Purple Rain
Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey
Amadeus
Shock Corridor
Underground
Out Of The Past
Hedwig and The Angry Inch

haha, you got that list by just looking at avatars. xixax is a criterion collection of assholes.
ha ha ha ha...the smartest post of this thread
"Wars have never hurt anybody except the people who die." - Salvador Dalí

cowboykurtis

boon
Quote from: cowboykurtisdock
Quote from: cowboykurtissaints
...your excuses are your own...

pete

re: all those two people that hate this thread for the self-righteous (And, [gasp!] WRONG) reasons.
this started out to be a fun thread, obviously, when the topic is "movies assholes dig" it's already in a pejorative context, because, asshole, by any context, is referring to someone unfavorable that you'd probably put beneath you (unless you've got low self-esteem).  and obviously everyone's definition of asshole is different, that's what makes it a fun thread.  but then we've got suckysuckylevel coming out saying "who are you to call them assholes?"  which is entirely not the point of this thread.  in the topic, and for most of the people who didn't try re-defining ever so simple and snobby subject, it's already tongue in cheeky fun and already assumes that people who post are talking about, D-FUCKING-UH, "assholes"; not jocks/ fake film buffs/ macguffin/ the iranians/ whoever YOU decided to label as "assholes" and to penalize everyone else in the thread for belittling (which makes as much sense as A.I.)  

for the two of you to be challenging the "word" asshole because you don't think it's fair to call "those people" (read: assholes) "assholes" is really dumb.

so to summarize:
me: movies assholes like?
suckitatthemostbasicfilmschoolstudentlevel: who are you assholes to call these assholes "assholes", asshole?
matt696969: blah blah blah blah blah.

oh yeah, suckmelevel, if you were around earlier this summer when I posted some videos, then you'd know that I stick it to assholes, strangers, in public places and call them all sorts of racial slurs (actually just "honky").

btw, suckit, I think I saw you tossing an elephant salad so hard, that you climbed into its ass.  then you found out it was a pregnant elephant and started fucking the baby elephant in its elephant womb.  then the elephant sneezed and gave birth to the virgin-no-more baby while you were projected out of its ass like bill clinton's semen when the secret services performed the heimlech manuever on monica, causing your anus to land squarely on a tree branch.  then one republican on the side was like "now that's what I call a tree hugger." while the other republican goes "that's what I call rip him a new asshole".  then a third republican says "you know what you guys?  you're both right!"  then the first republican says "yay!  who wants to go to Friendly's?"  the third one says "only if we all give nancy reagan the cunnilingus first!"  then they all hi-fived each other and walked away.
yeah I witnessed all of that.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

socketlevel

Quote from: petebtw, suckit, I think I saw you tossing an elephant salad so hard, that you climbed into its ass.  then you found out it was a pregnant elephant and started fucking the baby elephant in its elephant womb.  then the elephant sneezed and gave birth to the virgin-no-more baby while you were projected out of its ass like bill clinton's semen when the secret services performed the heimlech manuever on monica, causing your anus to land squarely on a tree branch.  then one republican on the side was like "now that's what I call a tree hugger." while the other republican goes "that's what I call rip him a new asshole".  then a third republican says "you know what you guys?  you're both right!"  then the first republican says "yay!  who wants to go to Friendly's?"  the third one says "only if we all give nancy reagan the cunnilingus first!"  then they all hi-fived each other and walked away.
yeah I witnessed all of that.

i did my best to hide that, how the fuck did you get privy to that information.  Were you really there?

-sl-

too bad it's apparent that no one takes you seriously.  though you are good for a laugh or two.  you know, when it's all said and done, that's what could be written on your epitaph, "He was good for a laugh or two."
the one last hit that spent you...

cine

Quote from: socketlevelhow the fuck did you get privy to that information.  
C'mon socketlevel.. you KNOW Canadians don't say "privy." Don't pretend we do. Because we never have and we never will.

RegularKarate

I think the problem is that Socketlevel is afraid he's an asshole.  He likes films for different reasons (different reasons from me at least) and now he's like "wait... I'm not an asshole, you guys are assholes!"

I guess what I'm saying, SL is that I saw that elephant shit too and I dont' think you're canadian either.

pete

haha dude you're like a cross from the fat dude who owns the comicbook shop and a young republican, with a dash of National Honors Society.  I bet you half-snort when you're by yourself, reading these words.

Quote from: socketlevel
i did my best to hide that, how the fuck did you get privy to that information.  Were you really there?

-sl-

too bad it's apparent that no one takes you seriously.  though you are good for a laugh or two.  you know, when it's all said and done, that's what could be written on your epitaph, "He was good for a laugh or two."
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

Slick Shoes

I had an idea to update the ol' asshole on the elbow line to fit this thread, but failed to bring it to fruition.

meatball

Quote from: Stefen
Quote from: MacGuffinTeam America
Dogville
Tin Drum
Shaun Of The Dead
Mulholland Drive
Un Chien Andalou
Run Lola Run
Almost Famous
Withnail & I
Bride of Frankenstein
Purple Rain
Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey
Amadeus
Shock Corridor
Underground
Out Of The Past
Hedwig and The Angry Inch

haha, you got that list by just looking at avatars. xixax is a criterion collection of assholes.

i'm not included in that collection. couldn't figure mine out huh?

socketlevel, when you call "the others" elitist, you didn't include yourself. Why is that?

MacGuffin

Quote from: meatballi'm not included in that collection. couldn't figure mine out huh?

Who are you?
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

socketlevel

Quote from: petehaha dude you're like a cross from the fat dude who owns the comicbook shop and a young republican, with a dash of National Honors Society.  I bet you half-snort when you're by yourself, reading these words.

Quote from: socketlevel
i did my best to hide that, how the fuck did you get privy to that information.  Were you really there?

-sl-

too bad it's apparent that no one takes you seriously.  though you are good for a laugh or two.  you know, when it's all said and done, that's what could be written on your epitaph, "He was good for a laugh or two."

does denis miller know you're stealing his bit?
the one last hit that spent you...

socketlevel

Quote from: CinephileC'mon socketlevel.. you KNOW Canadians don't say "privy." Don't pretend we do. Because we never have and we never will.

Truth is i don't know why i said it, it was the first thing that came to mind.  the joke was a little post modern so i thought i'd go with it.  I guess it's kind of cold in my igloo so i'm not thinking straight these days.


Quote from: regularkarateI think the problem is that Socketlevel is afraid he's an asshole. He likes films for different reasons (different reasons from me at least) and now he's like "wait... I'm not an asshole, you guys are assholes!

I guess what I'm saying, SL is that I saw that elephant shit too and I dont' think you're canadian either.

look buddy, i know i can be an asshole (by the definition you guys gave and the fact that i simply know i can be an asshole), i'm not afraid of your perception of me, or even worse the perception i have of myself.  what i was trying to do was entirely different.

ok, i'll tell you the truth.  you wanna know what i am afraid of?  France, in the 60s, all the great French filmmakers (like trufaut and godard) were first critics of cinema.  Their venue was a magazine called "Cashiers du cinema,"  they would discuss and argue the context of film and various other relevant topics.  This was the most fundamental reason why the French New Wave (which has inspired so many filmmakers since that time, like tarantino for example)  came to be.  people told them that they should stop analyzing film and go make it, which they did.  

I guess i kind of thought this internet site could be the contemporary form of such discussion.   I'm a film student, and this interests me.  I have come across others on this site that seem to be in the same frame of mind.  for instance, recently i discussed "the village" with some posters and we tried to enlighten each other on the rhetoric of the film.  I know this sounds cheesy, but it was kind of cool.  

So it's sad that it's degraded to the point of "assholes who like movies for the wrong reasons."  This seems to be the majority of the postings.  It's an online version of a jackass skit, mediocrity, and all that comes from it is top ten lists of the movies that xixax posters like and how they like the same films for better reasons then other people so they can feel good about themselves.  This is a safe way to tackle the topics.  Still no reason is given why you like fight club for example, just that it is deep and i should take your word on it.  i don't think so, it's just "cool" (now quickly, people send me the forward to that discussion where someone actually did give the reason, we're so afraid of overlap on this site arn't we)

I'm sure i seem hypocritical when i mention i also like fluff movies, which i do.  I just look at them in a different light.  but i don't confuse those two different ways of looking at films.  I think in the end you and i like films for the same reasons, just different films.

Quote from: meatball"socketlevel, when you call "the others" elitist, you didn't include yourself. Why is that?"

I don't know if this is said rhetorically or not, in the case that it's not then i'd have to say because i'm not bashing anyone else's taste for my own satisfaction.  If you have seen that i have done so in the past, then I guess i was elitist.  i'll work harder not being so in the future.  i try and only do so when i'm proving a point about how someone else is being an idiot, you know try and reverse it on them.  I only want to bash the films and the filmmakers, not the audience.  It's up to the producers to send out good messages to the audience, and when they don't, that really pisses me off.

The thing i found really funny about all of this is that you guys don't think i'm Canadian.  That boggles my mind.  If it's a joke then it's pretty funny, and i just didn't get it.  if not, then you have the wrong perception of Canadians or you're really paranoid.  Or I'm more American then I think.  Any-which-way I love it.

-sl-

mac, you didn't get mine either.
the one last hit that spent you...

Jeremy Blackman

[quote="author"]what they said[/quote]