haha, this looks like fun.
Polaris, I gotta tell you that I’m calling bullshit on that second stage Inception response. I don’t think it ever happened, you were stage three all along.
^Actually if you look up that discussion thread that Inception had right after it came out (I know there are multiple of them but this was when we were in the midst of its release), you can see me going from stage 1 to stage 2 in real time! It wasn’t even until after I stopped discussing it on here that I thought through and got frustrated again and went to stage 3.
—PolarisDiB
This is a cool thread, but I don’t think I’ve flip-flopped on a film this many times—none that come to mind, anyway.
Rules of the Game
1. Wtf? This is the third best film of all time? The plot is totally random and the behavior of the characters is ridiculous. Do French people really like characters who are obsessed with frivolous garbage?
2. I see, this is one of the earliest films with such an expansive cast, and the first successfully multilinear one, and the audience is supposed to think the characters are all ridiculous.
3. Yeah, that may be why the film works, but I’ve seen the upper class satired far more poignantly with more crisp plotting.
The first times I watched “the Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now”, I was like “eh”. The second times I watched them, I was like “Holy shit. What the fuck was I thinking the first time.”
Eyes Wide Shut
1. What the hell? I took a girl on a date to see this movie and it definitely did not work as intended. I think I might have liked it but I’m not sure what the hell was going on.
2. What a shame. Maybe Kubrick wasn’t really finished with it. I heard that Tom Cruise edited the thing. Yeah.
3. Okay, from the mirrored structure to the cinematography, the score, and even the casting (casting a self-centered egoist to play one, nice)—you know this might be his best film.
artgfgrgrshgrhgrhgh eyes wide shut
it’s only like within the past year — the past month, even — that i’ve opened my heart to it completely (after ten years of finding it kind of a bummer) and now i think it might be my favorite kubrick
anyway i’m trying hard but i can’t think of a movie i’ve double flip flopped on, usually when i see a movie 3 times it’s because i started out loving it and by time #3 my love has turned into a raging, irrepressible, totally socially unacceptable hard-on
Miller’s Crossing
1. It was Thanksgiving and i was home by myself, I rented Popcorn, LA Story and Miller’s Crossing. I wasn’t yet completely into film, but Popcorn was Bad, LA Story was okay, and while I had seen Raising Arizona, i didn’t really know who the Coens were, but my first reaction was, “Damn, that was really good film.”
2- I had seen the Godfather a number of times, and upon the second viewing of Miller’s Crossing, I thought, “Hey, that first scene was paying homage to The Godfather, and actually, the film was an homage to Gangster films in general.”
3- “God damn the dialogue is fantastic, this is a great fuckin’ film.”
Inception
1st: Wow, one of my new favorite movies. My mind is blown.
2nd: OHHHHHH now I see… Come here you, I love you more.
3rd: Yup, still awesome.
Babel
1st: Ouch… My soul hurts.
2nd: So beautiful.
3rd: Not perfect, but still a favorite from yesterdecade.
PolarisDiB
Oftentimes we speak of “Well the first time I saw ____, I thought _____, but when I rewatched it/reconsidered, my view changed to…” But what about when that happens again, as in first you like a movie, then dislike it upon further viewing, then grow to like it again (or unlike like unlike)? For instance:
Brazil
1st Stage: Wow this movie was incredible! Movies like this just don’t happen all that often, and look at all the crazy things Gilliam did in it! Amazing!
2nd Stage: To be fair, the ending is basically, “Well fuck, now he’s trapped and this isn’t meant to be a fun action movie so if we include those elements at all, let’s just blow shit up and have crazy things happen and it’s all in his head.” At least the ending as is isn’t as contrived as the Hollywood happy ending asked for, that was even worse. But really, does it matter?
3rd Stage: Nope. It makes sense. The whole movie is about how this guy desperately needs to escape into fantasy, and even his relationship with that woman is a fantasy, so actually it IS a happy ending because he DOES escape into fantasy and gets his fantasy woman, despite and because of the fact that real life just sucks. Good show, Terry Gilliam, good show.
Scarface
1st Stage: Wow what a dick. People actually admire this guy? This movie sucks.
2nd Stage: Well to be fair, DePalma never meant for him to be a hero, so good point DePalma.
3rd Stage: No. No. ‘Intentions’ aside this movie way overglorifies total douchebaggery. Fuck you DePalma, and your cholo fans.
Fight Club
1st Stage: Wow that was really inspirational and very surprising. I have to watch it again, that was a really good movie.
2nd Stage: Man, these people are hipster nihilists and the twist doesn’t make sense if you really break it down. Plus, people actually tried starting fight clubs because of this stupid thing. Fuck you, I will talk about fight club, I will talk about fight club.
3rd Stage: You know, you have to appreciate the fun and audacity of it all, plus the fact that it actually managed to get people to really reconsider their lives despite themselves. I can’t say it’s that bad, it’s actually really funny… just as long as you’re not stupid enough to try to start a fight club after watching it.
Inception
1st Stage: Jesus Christ almighty, Maya Deren did twenty times the effect with no dialog and in a third of the playlength. What the fuck, Nolan?
2nd Stage: To be fair, Nolan isn’t trying to make a Maya Deren movie. He’s trying to make a James Bond movie, inside dreams. So really, he technically succeeded, and quite brilliantly maintained the separate levels in a coherent and understandable way. I have to just admit I was expecting the wrong thing.
3rd Stage: NO. This is stupid. The movie spends an entire HOUR laying out the rules in the most expositional retardedly “Let’s instruct the audience because they’ll never know what’s going on otherwise!” way possible, and then subsequently breaks EVERY ONE OF THEM whenever Nolan writes himself into a goddamned corner. Apparently he’s had this script knocking around for years, you’d think he’d figure out more elegant ways of pulling it off without breaking his own rules.
Like that, guys. Have fun with this game.
—PolarisDiB