Has this ever happened to you? Your watching a movie, and it does something with the intent of A: Scareing you, but your response is B.: Getting P.O'd. killing a character ya like, or just letting a real a-hole live, unpunished? I'm the type who says, "Screw Euro-realisim. i get enough unpunished evil in the six o;clock news....nail the creep!" Is it just me? "Vanished" is one example. "S. of the Lambs" is another. I don't get frightened....i get mad. Has this ever happened to you? When has a movie obviously intended you to react one way, but you refused to go that route? Does this question make sense?
I was very angry after I watched Terror Firmer...just because I waited the good part of a year to end up seeing a film that sucked.
There's a film called Dr. Minx with Edy Williams and William "Big Bill" Smith. I saw it at B-Fest years ago. Anyway, it features what is about the single most annoying character I've ever seen, who spends much of the movie doing a bad Columbo impression, raincoat and all. Most annoyingly, about everyone else in the film ends up dead, but he doesn't!
What p**sed you off about silence of the lambs?
If you're talking about Lector, I liked him. He's a true nutcase, but he's a clever nutcase.
I've run into this one a lot: Many times I've watched a slasher or serial killer flick and you see about a dozen total a-holes running around and you're thinking, "Well, at least they'll meet a gruesome end. Characters like that never live long in these movies". Then something happens that makes the majority of the potential victims leave the area (they go out on the town, get lost, etc.), leaving totally boring characters you neither like nor dislike behind to get slaughtered. What's the point of having douche bag characters for no reason? Maybe the actors are hams and play the parts like dorks, I dunno. Offending movies that sprout to mind: Friday The 13th Part 2, Scream, Final Destination, and countless others.
I have a problem with movies that will have a really cool character or even a couple. Just to kill them off so you have to root for some lame-o(or a-hole or b***h) that you want to see die. Nightmare On Elm Street Part 4 springs to mind.
The movie that p**sed me off more than anything was the Planet of the Apes remake, I'm so very bitter(especially since I though the part prior to getting to Ape City was allright).
BradLaGrange
Sounds kinda like how the WWF is run, Lee.
Battlefield Earth drove me insane. I wave my arms and yell at people when they ask me if it was really that bad. It's so incredibly stupid that I.... must... kill... John Travolta! The worst part is that I'm forcing myself to watch it again to write a review. Pity me, for I am lost.
I have a few movies that p**s me off on an I.Q. level (meaning these movie makers think that we have none)
Besides the obvious Batman and Robin and MKII Anihallation, there were:
Edward Scissorhands
Street Fighter (live action)
Both Power Rangers Movies
Black Knight
The A-list in elite movie entertainment (stop me if I'm still laughing)
The movie version of "The Power of One," just because of the sheer wasted potential. When I was reading the book in school, my exact thoughts were, "Wow, it would be really hard to make a bad movie out of this." Then we saw the movie.
Now, I can understand altering the story a bit for the screen (it is, after all, a 500-page book). However, not only did they take away any edge from the story, turning it into a mawkish "Karate Kid vs. racial prejudice" story... THEY TURNED IT INTO A FRIGGIN' LOVE STORY! Again, I can understand adding a love interest in order to keep a female audience, but it becomes THE MAIN STORY. I summed it up pretty nicely when a friend asked me what happens in the second half of the movie:
"Let me put it this way. Remember the character Maria?"
"No."
"Neither do I, but the rest of the movie's about her."
Ringneck nailed it: Planet of the Apes. Saw this one inflight. Couldn't leave, but could at least take off my earphones and close my eyes.
SPOILERS (Like you really care):
In the moments I did open my eyes, I found out that:
1) Someone who won't risk Marky Mark to save a monkey will endanger the entire crew of a big-ass space station to save Marky Mark.
2) Skyscraper-sized-and-shaped space stations are capable of atmospheric entries and ground landings, as are shuttlecraft with no control surfaces whatsoever. However, landings of stations and shuttlecraft fail miserably ninety-eight percent of the time.
3) It doesn't matter, though: not only will every single piece of equipment on board survive the impact, everything inside will be upright, even with the station laying on its side. Covered with sand and dust over enough time for apes to evolve into semi-human forms and learn to speak in conversation, all equipment will still function like new.
4) An ancient hunk of plexiglass that can hold a wild monkey with a machine gun couldn't keep out a monkey with a stick or a rock back when it was brand-new.
5) In the time it will take apes to learn to speak and have detailed conversions about things they have never conceived of ("Bring me the spaceman!!" "The whatman, sir?" "The SPACEman!" "What's 'space,' sir?" "Gyaaaaargh!!") , they will still not learn to do something as simple as swim.
6) There are chimp-women who are sexy. Sexier than dumb blondes, anyway. I know which one I would've given the tongue to.
7) Marky Mark can grow deeply attached to people who do absolutely nothing but get in his way and risk his hide and annoy his ass for three days.
8) Tim Burton is less intelligent than a chimp. Audiences are less intelligent than Tim Burton, because this hunk of ape poo made money.
I'll be honest. I've never seen the film, so i am going on what i've read, heard, and the little i've seen. So, you can take it with a grain of salt.but....its the sence i have that the film would be too...well....effective. Maby that nuts, but i've gotten a...i don't know...."Feeling" about films from what i learn of it, from trailers and word of mouth. Learning the ending, i realised it wouldem'n't frighten me, as much as rub my...sence of justice?....the wrong way. I know, i know, maby that don't seem logical...but, thats the only way i know how to express it.I don't think i'd have liked it, just been depressed at the ugly nature beneath it all.
And thats another part of my original idea. While i was talking about the basic idea of films that p**s you off by what they do in the story line, this is also part of the P.O.ing. Stupid plot tricks! God, in heaven, i hate inconsistancy! If a hunk of plxiglass can stop bullets, you better have an easily understood reason for it to CHANGE INHERENT PROPERTYS Bucko! Weakened by gunfire? Okey, i can buy that. But make it clear thats the reason. Deus Ex Machina realy honks my gourd because it changes the rules. Like when Gamera gets powers he need to smash the other monster, but we diden't see it comming. Look, show the monsters powers, then let it be clever useing them. Clever tatics beat raw power any day, in My book. Sheesh! Okey...rant over. Next?
Wow. Ok.
A question though. If you watch a movie where the antagonist is a criminal AND the only person on screen with half a brain would you still want to see him pay for his crime? I mean this in a pure 'movie' sense. In real life I think that the piper must be paid no matter how 'cool' a criminal might be. But do you feel the same rules apply in a movie?
I'm not necessarily talking about silence of the lambs....just any movie.
Back to Silence of the lambs tho. I don't think it was meant to be scary....more of a psychological thriller or something - I think.
How about "Pitch Black" where the bad guy was really vicious but also the coolest character and the good guys needed him to survive (and the ending broke a few "who will survive?" rules)
Ah yes! I forgot about that movie. I liked Vin Diesels character, but wound up disliking the movie. I liked the idea, but not the end product.
I was also hoping that the little 'boy' woulda been the first one munched.
Tho to be fair, Diesel's bad guy sort of attoned for his crimes by helping the others survive.
List, talk about plot holes, lets review the 4th Alien movie
1) Space pirates told to relinquish weapons when entering the Military/Industrial space craft because of a fragile hull that would be easily punctured by bullets. Rest of movie spent shooting bullets(space marines, soldiers) into said ship with no ill effects. Most bullets strike Aliens who bleed acid, which leads to the question why thier blood doesnt eat a hole in teh eggshell like hull? There is even the use of a grenade or two as well....
2) Ship is located "At the edge of Known(might have been called explored) Space" yet they recieve signals from teh Home Shopping Network
3) Ship(on the edge of known space, remember) is set on self destruct. The ship counts down to its destruction while the survivors race to the space pirates smaller ship. Countdown to self destruction wasnt for that long, no longer than a few hours, maybe as short as 15 minutes, yet the ship strikes earth before or as it explodes.
-----Now look at this objectivley, the edge of known space was only 15 minutes from earth. Had the evil captain spent a Sunday after noon piloting in a strait line he could have increased the boundaries of known space 100 fold.
BradLaGrange(who loved the first two Aliens and didnt mind #3)
What I hate about some Speilberg movies is how everyone with a gun MUST die. He doesnt like guns, thats fine, make movies with out guns, fine; insert anti-gun messages into your films, fine; make anti-gun commercials ect, fine; dont put people in survival situation and then kill off the guy with the gun to prove a lousy point ina psuedo-subliminal way! Just dont put in a character with a gun, or dont give the cannon/dino fodder a gun. Look at the second JP where all those guys with the guns get nice and eaten by raptors. Just a gripe.
BradLaGrange
Crack in the Floor. They killed the best looking woman and the only semi-interesting character first. While they let A.C friggin' Slater live until the end. Bastards.
Oh, and Batman and Robin. For obvious reasons.
Bloodsucking freaks p**sed me off like no other movie ever has ever.
And i was seriously going to turn it off after 10 minutes, but apparently there was an awesome surprise ending.........when i saw it i almost killed myself.
And during the movie i almost punched a hole in the wall it was p**sing me off so much, i cut my knuckles and all, and im usually a passive guy.
What I hate about some Speilberg movies is how everyone with a gun MUST die.
How about "Deep Blue Sea" where all the "smart scientists" get munched and the only survivors are the two less educated
Ah yes! I forgot about that movie. I liked Vin Diesels character, but wound up disliking the movie. I liked the idea, but not the end product.
I really liked tha movie. I loved the atmosphere and cinemotography. I also had two kittens when I first saw the movie. One was black and one was grey and the would slink around in the dark a *lot* like the baddies in the movie and it crepped me out a bit
I was also hoping that the little 'boy' woulda been the first one munched.
Give credit where do, the survivor list at then end was probably not what you would've predicted given standard formulas.
Hummmm....well...how about "Shawshank Redemption"? Oh, wait, the hero was innocent,wasen't he? Though you question does still seem to fit. I loved seeing the warden and the head guard getting what they deserved. As a Christian, i don't like seeing hypocrits get away with anything. hummm....i guess it does depend on what limets the Criminal sets for himself. See what you make of this. "The Limey" was a great "Sunshine Noir".And i could emotionaly get behind his need for revenge. However, to do that, the film has to justify this by creating , not so much "Bad" guys, as it needs "Worse" guys.....if that makes any sense. Same with "Payback", and the Lee Marvin flick that inspired it. Maby it is a case of the limets on how bad the anti-hero is willing to act. Go too far, and then you feel discusted at the character. Thats my feeling about Lector and Buffalo Bill. I've always felt anger at psychos and other heartless people. Does this make sense to ya'?
Its so illogical, realy. The ONLY means of compensating for the muscle/reflex superiority of the raptors and such is the gun. It reaches out and touches the monster before it has a chance to eat the human. If it gets in close and cuts down reaction time for the shooter, fine. But with out guns, or at least spears and swords, i ain't buying it. It just don't make sense.!
Yeah, yeah, gotta give ya' that one, Humongous. He seemed to have develouped a heart after his experiance. Hummm...more food for thought....
I was 'only' rooting for Lector, not Buffalo Bill. Which now that I think of it is completely backward, but that's just the way I'm biased I guess.
Lector to me is like a monster movie baddie that is kept in a cage and poked with sticks. The ones doing the poking are always confident in their obvious superiority to this dumb creature they keep as a pet. Until, of course, it shows them just how wrong they were by outwitting them at every turn and munching the lot of 'em.
SIDENOTE: Actor's faces and voices always seem to stick with me. Every time I watch a movie I'll see some bit actor and have to go through my memory and think about all the other roles they've have. When I can partially recognize the face, but not remember who the hell it was it REALLY bugs me.
I watched Evolution the other night( fairly crappy, but fun to watch with a gang o buddies) and when the big bad general came on the screen I KNEW I had heard his voice before but for some reason just couldn't place it at first. It took me 10 minutes before I realized it was General Buffalo Bill. That dude's voice is messed up.
I could have loved that movie, but there were too many plot points that relied on 'Deus ex Stupida'. The scene where they devise that sled with a generator for power and wrap themselves in light pipe almost cost me a TV set. When Pompus Prissy Dude drops something(I forget what, it's been a while since I've seen it) then freaks and trashes their light setup I tried to jump into the screen so I STRANGLE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM!!!!
I'd like to think that in a life or death situation I'd have enough of a survival instinct to sit down with Pompus Prissy Dude and calmly discuss the fact the he is obviously going to get everyone killed and will have to be sacrificed for the good of the group. I would also like to think that I would have the sense to have this discussion with him BEFORE he starts handing out bibs to the baddies and asking them if they'd prefer red wine or maybe a nice Chablis to go with their dinner. GRRR!!
I liked the premise of the movie and thought it was well filmed. Now that I think of it, the reason why I didn't like this movie was BECAUSE I liked Diesel's character so much. I just had to sympathize with him every time he looked back at the rest of his little group.....the look on his face screaming, "Good God! I have to save you morons AGAIN?!?!?"
Hmm. I guess that's why they killed the hispanic chick earlier in the film. To show that at first Diesel's character would save his own skin instead of risking his ass to save someone else. Hmmm. That sounds like a good plan....he shoulda stuck with it. :)
What Hispanic Chick?
You mean the girl that gets pulled in half? That's Claudia Black from "Farscape", just about the only good sci-fi show on TV today. She's Australian
I agree about the Deus Ex Stupida, though. You really had to suspend disbelief at the coincidences, both good and bad, for anything to work
Yeah, that's one. I just remember she had black hair and was short and sassy.
I know this is just small detail but, case in point, The Mummy Returns. The setting of the film is in the 1920, right? OK, that said, why is there such a thing as a deridgeable going at mach 2.5? I don't think jet fuel was even invented yet. It was still a propeller world. Believing the unbelievable, even in movie standards.
And MK II: Annilation (I know I mentioned it before but, hear me out) why mention names of characters if they are not being shown in the movie (Striker & Kabal)? You think, that a mention of a name would mean that you'll see even a glimse of that character.
Oh! One more thing (damned Jackie Chan cartoon), actors, great actors in stupid movies. Case in point, Raul Julia (God rest his soul) and that god awful, live action Street Fighter. Before he died, Julia should have killed his agent.
"Deus Ex Stupida". Love it! A finder way to say "Idiot plot." How about the guy who, senceing something underground...in a hole...on an alien planet...where they have no idea what lives there....reaches his hand down into the hole. El Stupido!