Napoleon Dynamite

Started by picolas, April 15, 2004, 12:52:45 AM

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grand theft sparrow

A friend of mine just recently referred to it as "Rushmore for the Red States."

I laughed.

UncleJoey

Quote from: Ravi
Quote from: analogzombie
as far as 'assholes loving it" i will say that when I went to get Shaun of the Dead last night there were a couple of chubby rednecks waiting for Napoleon Dynamite, standing around quoting lines from the film and talking about how awesome National Treasure is.

When I saw ND there were some asshole teenage girls quoting lines from the film.

I just think one should ignore the demographic that likes a film when composing ones own opinion of it. Bringing up the fact that people you don't like are quoting lines from a film while criticizing the film itself implies that you're more interested in distancing yourself from people you perceive as assholes than composing an unbiased opinion of the film. I'm not saying that that's necessarily the case with you guys, but when people do it I invariably value their opinion less.
Well, I've got news for you pal, you ain't leadin' but two things: Jack and shit . . . and Jack just left town.

Ravi

The whole "movies assholes love" thing is tongue-in-cheek.  I would never dislike a movie just because someone of a particular demographic likes it.

ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ

Quote from: RaviI couldn't stand how the film was just catchphrases, and that it was obviously meant to be that, as if Jarod Hess had no ambition other than to make a merely quotable movie.

That was my main problem with the movie as well.

Watching it, I noticed it lacked substance completely.

I like the idea of a movie you can relax to, I can understand that.  People need to wind down and laugh sometimes... but this movie was pure idiosyncrasies that went dry early on in the film.  I saw it once, found out I was the only person I knew who didn't like it, thought I was just a little pissed because I paid for it and didn't see a good movie.  (You spend about 7 bucks, you expect some fine cinema, right?)  Someone offered to take me, I figured seeing a movie for free should make the experience easier to enjoy, maybe I could relax.

Nope.

For some odd reason, I laugh my ass off at Anchorman, though.
"As a matter of fact I only work with the feeling of something magical, something seemingly significant. And to keep it magical I don't want to know the story involved, I just want the hypnotic effect of it somehow seeming significant without knowing why." - Len Lye

Myxo

What it lacks in substance it more than makes up for in some seriously brilliant sequences.

modage

Quote from: MyxomatosisWhat it lacks in substance it more than makes up for in some seriously brilliant sequences.
like?   a few minor chuckles dont come anywhere near being brilliant sequences.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

analogzombie

Quote from: UncleJoey
Quote from: Ravi
Quote from: analogzombie
as far as 'assholes loving it" i will say that when I went to get Shaun of the Dead last night there were a couple of chubby rednecks waiting for Napoleon Dynamite, standing around quoting lines from the film and talking about how awesome National Treasure is.

When I saw ND there were some asshole teenage girls quoting lines from the film.

I just think one should ignore the demographic that likes a film when composing ones own opinion of it. Bringing up the fact that people you don't like are quoting lines from a film while criticizing the film itself implies that you're more interested in distancing yourself from people you perceive as assholes than composing an unbiased opinion of the film. I'm not saying that that's necessarily the case with you guys, but when people do it I invariably value their opinion less.

oh well now see you're assuming a lot. first you're assuming that the people who like the film affect how i feel about it. and then you're assuming that my opinion is biased. and then you're assuming that i care if you value my opinion ;).

from strictly a film stand point i was bored. I felt it was a rehash of ideas and themes that have been conveyed by more talented directors/writers/actors, with a lack of nuance and quality. I felt I wasted my $7.

the comment about the guys I saw waiting for the dvd was in response to the assholes liking it comment. I'm not saying that I dislike the film b/c they do, I'm simply offering my own experience with its fans. take it how you will. douchebags like Napoleon Dynamite. That doesn't mean you're necessarily a douche for liking it, it's just saying that some douchey folk jam on it. Like Fight Club. I love that film. So do some jackasses. But we like it for different reasons.

In the end I just don't like the film, or a large portion of the audience who has embraced it. Those two can be, but aren't necesarrily mutually exclusive. I'll put it like this, I didn't like the film before, and after my encounter with its line qouting, fag bashing type fans the other night, I like it even less. But that doesn't diminish the validity of the feeling I had upon leaving the theater.
"I have love to give, I just don't know where to put it."

mutinyco

I saw it last night. There was absolutely nothing there. It's a series of unfunny scenes. If you can even call them scenes. Like a 1980s teen movie done by Wes Anderson imitating Terence Malick, but without the voice-over. The MTV spots were more interesting in their 30 seconds than the entire feature.
"I believe in this, and it's been tested by research: he who fucks nuns will later join the church."

-St. Joe

pete

I'm still baffled by people bringing up Wes Anderson or Todd Solondz when watching Napoleon Dynamite.  They're completely different movies.  They all star "nerds" I suppose.  But Napoleon Dynamite is really made to be a superhero, where the nerdiness is kinda like his power, and in the end, his power triumphs over the stupid girls, the jock, and wins the heart of that other nerdy girl.  There's no sense of whimsical sadness in Napoleon Dynamite.
Its comedy is not based on narrative gags, but rather, sight gags, there's no set up and pay off, but a series of gestures, accents, pratfalls, and funny catchphrases.  I thought when a guy pusheed him against the locker, and he got so mad he kicked the air (it's in the trailer) was very funny, as was when his uncle threw a steak at his face.  It's absurd comedy, man.  It's viceral, not only the performers were visceral, but the rest of the crew, too.  And that's the difference between that and most comedies.
I didn't think it was a holy grail of a film, I thought some of the actors weren't very funny and some sight gags were overdone, but I don't think a lot of people "got it", and that includes a lot of people who saw it five or six times but kept on going back just to laugh at the characters.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

mutinyco

Quote from: peteI'm still baffled by people bringing up Wes Anderson or Todd Solondz when watching Napoleon Dynamite.  They're completely different movies.  

It's not what they're about. It's how they're done.
"I believe in this, and it's been tested by research: he who fucks nuns will later join the church."

-St. Joe

pete

thanks Ebert.  Napoleon Dynamite doesn't play a scene that appears to be poking fun at its character and then doubles back on you to make you feel melancholy.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

mutinyco

I'm too skinny to be Ebert. We're not talking content. We're not talking emotion. We're not talking theme. We're talking style. Symmetrical wide angle compositions populated with with stylized caricatures delivering dialog in a modulated dead-pan tone. If a whole lotta people who've never met noticed the same thing, and you didn't, either you're the only correct person out there or your head is up your ass.

Your devotion to Wes Anderson betrays your lack of personal vision. Nobody who professes to be an artist should ever be sucking on the sphincter of another artist. You need to maintain a critical eye at all times. If you ever meet anybody you're a fan of, they will respect you only if you're honest with them.

I'm not necessarily a fan of yours. But I am being honest.
"I believe in this, and it's been tested by research: he who fucks nuns will later join the church."

-St. Joe

cine

pete and i met scorsese once and i was praising him for all his work.. and then pete goes 'dude what the FUCK was the color of money for? did you lose a bet!?'

so yeah..

pete

symmetrical dead pan delivery is way more superficial and way less insightful than, say, "superhero nerd movie" vs. "quirky coming of age movie".  Yeah, Napoleon Dynamite LOOKS like a Wes Anderson movie if you have not seen Stephen Chow or Coen Bros or even Tati, who are all symmetrical, wide, and deadpan.

and dude what's up with all the personal attacks man?  did my praising Wes Anderson make you that angry?  My defending Napoleon Dynamite all of a sudden made me a Wes Anderson hole hole muncher?  I think your equating my defense of Napoleon Dynamite to honey dipping Wes Anderson's dong betrays your lack of personal vision.  That you can't even tell apart which film I'm defending and which I'm barely referencing.
and what's up with the condescending advise on what to do when I meet a person I respect?  What are you, the river god who with the golden and silver axes?  
I saw my hero David Garza at a show he played last week and danced during his last song, and now we're pals because he was impressed by my sideways moonwalk and my split.  Was that "honest" enough for you?
this is also the second time I received a cheap shot about liking Wes Anderson.  I can tell you that I like Spike Lee, Jackie Chan, Tati, Christopher Doyle, David Gordon Green, whoever that guy is that's only directed one movie and that is Ping Pong, Bahman Ghobadi, the Maysles, Herzog, and Sergueï Paradjanov more than I like Wes.  Just to give you more of a variety next time you decide to take cheap shots, 'cause Samsong already did the whole Wes Anderson bitch thing.
Take me more seriously next time, why don't you.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

mutinyco

Quote from: peteTake me more seriously next time, why don't you.

Not after that post. You just proved my point.
"I believe in this, and it's been tested by research: he who fucks nuns will later join the church."

-St. Joe