Sucker Punch shows the inherent problem with satire, in that the better a piece of satire is, the less likely it will be recognized for satire. Sort of like an inverse Poe's Law.
Sucker Punch shows the inherent problem with satire, in that the better a piece of satire is, the less likely it will be recognized for satire. Sort of like an inverse Poe's Law.
Not true, unless you're using a poor sense of the word "better".
A good piece of satire reveals the problems with something by pretending to agree with it in a fashion that exposes it's absurdity. The problem is that this runs exactly opposite of Poe's Law, which is, of course, that it is impossible to parody a sufficiently insane viewpoint in a manner that will not be mistaken for agreement without blatantly revealing your motivations. Satire is all the more cutting the closer it lies to the source while still revealing it's absurdity, but that paradoxically makes it harder to spot.
I don't think it's satire either - I think it's a bit more subtle than that. For example, name the character whose story it is - Most people will say Baby Doll, but it's actually Sweet Pea's story - everything is about getting her out.
I don't think it's satire either - I think it's a bit more subtle than that. For example, name the character whose story it is - Most people will say Baby Doll, but it's actually Sweet Pea's story - everything is about getting her out.
That's only the first level of it... if some reasoning is to be believed...
Regardless of any other element, the WW1 scene in that movie is one of my favourite pieces of cinema spectacle. It's just so unbelievably cool, and I'm not so snobbish as to say that everything has to have deeper meaning. Sometimes all you really need is steam-powered imperial german zombies.
I really want to play the video game or RPG that the Sucker Punch trailer was set in. Wish I had never seen the movie, though. Only movie I've walked out on.
It wasn't particularly good, but I've never grasped why people hate it more than, for example, the expendables.
Edit: Also just watched the movie Bob videos... and I picked up on all of that content myself as well. It doesn't make it a great movie. It doesn't even make it a good movie. But yeah, there's more to the movie than what people who only watched it on a surface level picked up on.
He also missed one additional minor layer of the nuance. The signal for the dancing was the music. The music was scene in the "asylum" level before any of the dancing. And it corresponded to girls acting out and screaming and making a tantrum. That, and the particular interactions of the antagonist Blue and the female doctor are other layers of the plot that are intended to tell some things about what was really happening on the Asylum level in the narrative, which tell us something else about the story, and the stories story it's trying to communicate.
Oy. I've typed way more on this movie than it deserves, but it's still just one of those things where I'm amazed at the spectrum of different levels of understanding people take away from watching a movie, especially a single time.
Sucker Punch: Not a very good movie with an excellent soundtrack.
The soundtrack was one of the worst things about it, imo. @_@; Why is Queen appearing on the radio in the 1950s setting? The retched cover of Search and Destroy?!
I don't think Sucker Punch is god awful, but it certainly isn't good. I like WWI and Orc cinematic scenes, but I stopped caring after Baby Doll fought the dragon. I don't think Zack Snyder was trying to make a satire and really thought he was making a geek feminist film and...failing. No issue with the critics who got a different experience from watching it though.
Sucker Punch: Not a very good movie with an excellent soundtrack.
The soundtrack was one of the worst things about it, imo. @_@; Why is Queen appearing on the radio in the 1950s setting? The retched cover of Search and Destroy?!
If this hasn't come up here before, I highly recommend Charlie Bartlett. It's a 2007 movie that seems to have flown under the radar. It's on Netflix/Amazon, though. It's about a rich kid thrown into public high school after his antics get him kicked out of his fancy private school. The kid is a really good actor and gives off a Ferris Beuler vibe. Robert Downey Jr. plays the principal, and the movie is filled with plenty of other entertaining characters.
Tonight I saw the one-night theatrical re-release of Lawrence of Arabia. Martin Scorsese's intro and the old-school 'making of' footage were both welcome additions, and the remastering job was gorgeous. There isn't much else to say; it's my favorite movie. If you haven't seen it then WTF, go watch it.
I THOUGHT I was going to watch Cowboys and Aliens on HBO GO tonight, but it turned out to only be a Sneak Preview. WTF? Why have sneak previews of already released movies on HBO?
Anyway, I ended up watching some quasi-indie film about time travel that REALLY, REALLY sucked.
This needs to become more of a thing. I had a great time taking Mr. Plinkett's Phantom Menace commentary to the theatre when Phantom Menace 3D came out, and it was indeed the only reason I went to go see that re-release. I think I just really like that concept of re-purposing a visit to the theatre like that. It felt neat thinking I was essentially watching a different movie from everyone else in the theatre (without the annoyance of watching that different movie on a little glowy screen that distracts people). So I'm really looking forward to watching Looper with this commentary, both to hear insights on the story and production and to get that feeling I got with the Phantom Menace again.
Does RiffTrax make tracks for movies that are still in theatres? If they don't, they should.
The Perks of Being A Wallflower was a brutally honest and truly lovely coming-of-age film. What happens when you take one of my all-time favorite books, make it into a movie directed by the original author? It becomes solid gold. The following things I say without hyperbole (which I am infamous for). It was masterfully told, directed, and acted. Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, and Ezra Miller are electric on the screen and give the characters souls and characters you can relate to...at least a little bit. The trailer does not sell the true core of the film, so don't be fooled by it. I honestly think that Watson and Lerman in particular deserve Oscar Nominations (if you care about that sort of thing) for their performances because they do so well to completely convince you of the characters they portray. If you've ever felt awkward or were a wallflower when in high school (like I was), this film will strike a chord with you. In my opinion, it stands up there with An Education and The Last Picture Show as one of the best coming-of-age films I've ever seen.
For god's sake, please see this movie everybody. If you don't, you will be missing out on one of the finest films of the year.
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Edit: Also just watched the movie Bob videos... and I picked up on all of that content myself as well. It doesn't make it a great movie. It doesn't even make it a good movie. But yeah, there's more to the movie than what people who only watched it on a surface level picked up on.
He also missed one additional minor layer of the nuance. The signal for the dancing was the music. The music was scene in the "asylum" level before any of the dancing. And it corresponded to girls acting out and screaming and making a tantrum. That, and the particular interactions of the antagonist Blue and the female doctor are other layers of the plot that are intended to tell some things about what was really happening on the Asylum level in the narrative, which tell us something else about the story, and the stories story it's trying to communicate.
Oy. I've typed way more on this movie than it deserves, but it's still just one of those things where I'm amazed at the spectrum of different levels of understanding people take away from watching a movie, especially a single time.
I don't think Sucker Punch is god awful, but it certainly isn't good. I like WWI and Orc cinematic scenes, but I stopped caring after Baby Doll fought the dragon. I don't think Zack Snyder was trying to make a satire and really thought he was making a geek feminist film and...failing. No issue with the critics who got a different experience from watching it though.
Anyway, I ended up watching some quasi-indie film about time travel that REALLY, REALLY sucked.
It was horrendous.
This needs to become more of a thing. I had a great time taking Mr. Plinkett's Phantom Menace commentary to the theatre when Phantom Menace 3D came out, and it was indeed the only reason I went to go see that re-release. I think I just really like that concept of re-purposing a visit to the theatre like that. It felt neat thinking I was essentially watching a different movie from everyone else in the theatre (without the annoyance of watching that different movie on a little glowy screen that distracts people). So I'm really looking forward to watching Looper with this commentary, both to hear insights on the story and production and to get that feeling I got with the Phantom Menace again.
Does RiffTrax make tracks for movies that are still in theatres? If they don't, they should.
For god's sake, please see this movie everybody. If you don't, you will be missing out on one of the finest films of the year.