The Criterion Collection

[thatguamguy]

Originally Posted by atlantajoseph

Uh oh, please don't tell me it's fashionable to hate on Donnie Darko.

I didn't watch Donnie Darko until it became kind of fashionable to hate it, at least among the contrarians I knew, and I wound up liking it, but of his three movies, it's definitely my least favorite to watch. It might just be that I'm not a big Gyllenhaal fan. I forget why I avoided watching it, but I know I only finally did watch it because of how much I enjoyed watching Southland Tales, so I was disappointed that it wasn't more batshit crazy and borderline nonsensical. (I realized that looks sarcastic, but that's sincerely what I like about S.T.)

[20th Century Boy]

Originally Posted by atlantajoseph

Uh oh, please don't tell me it's fashionable to hate on Donnie Darko.

The world is already surreal enough, thankyouverymuch.

I have friends who've hated it since release. And I personally don't really care one way or the other. To me it was fine. But I don't think it's in anyone cross hairs though. Def sealed cult classic status.

[Helikaon]

Still OT, but there is a big difference between the theatrical and director's cut of Donnie Darko, if I remember correctly. It's been a long time since I've seen either, so I'm not sure which version is which, but one of them is edited so it removes any ambiguity from the movie and really aims at an audience with no imaginative powers.

The other version I liked quite a bit.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by Helikaon

Still OT, but there is a big difference between the theatrical and director's cut of Donnie Darko, if I remember correctly. It's been a long time since I've seen either, so I'm not sure which version is which, but one of them is edited so it removes any ambiguity from the movie and really aims at an audience with no imaginative powers.

The other version I liked quite a bit.

Yeah he ruined it by releasing the Directors Cut, it spoon fed audiences changes the soundtrack and just made it feel like a nothing film.

The original is dark, mysterious, haunting - it didn't need new scenes added or music changed, and we definitely didn't need to be given ALL the information, the original requires multiple viewing and it lets you decipher the mystery - I think that is fun and interesting, music like Picnic At Hanging Rock or Primer.

Sometimes Directors shouldn't resist their older films, and just leave them be lol.

[Scottie]

It definitely has its merits, but as a whole, I never cared much for Donnie Darko.

[20th Century Boy]

Originally Posted by thatguamguy

I didn't watch Donnie Darko until it became kind of fashionable to hate it, at least among the contrarians I knew, and I wound up liking it, but of his three movies, it's definitely my least favorite to watch. It might just be that I'm not a big Gyllenhaal fan. I forget why I avoided watching it, but I know I only finally did watch it because of how much I enjoyed watching Southland Tales, so I was disappointed that it wasn't more batshit crazy and borderline nonsensical. (I realized that looks sarcastic, but that's sincerely what I like about S.T.)

There was def some overkill when it was released. It played in Brooklyn, NY in a theater (I forget which) everyday for a few years straight. For a minute it's all reviewers could/would talk about as if it was the only smart indie feature ever released. Some people were fatigued/put off by that.

[MassiveMovieBuff]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Yeah he ruined it by releasing the Directors Cut, it spoon fed audiences changes the soundtrack and just made it feel like a nothing film.

The original is dark, mysterious, haunting - it didn't need new scenes added or music changed, and we definitely didn't need to be given ALL the information, the original requires multiple viewing and it lets you decipher the mystery - I think that is fun and interesting, music like Picnic At Hanging Rock or Primer.

Sometimes Directors shouldn't resist their older films, and just leave them be lol.

There's already a thread for this but Im in the group that prefers the Director's Cut. I watched the Theatrical Cut once and it was still great but I missed the added footage (which still left it mysterious, ambiguous and dark) and I prefer the music much more in the Director's Cut. The music between the 2 versions is where the split seems to be mostly with fans.

[mja345]

I was a freshman in college in 2005-06 and the two films that every kid was going all apeshit over were "Donnie Darko" and, gulp, "The Boondock Saints". A high percentage of people I knew listed one of those two films on his or her Facebook profile under 'Favorite Movies' (very early days of Facebook). "Donnie Darko" holds up fairly well. I definitely liked it better when I was 19 or 20 than I do now, but it's an entertaining watch. But "The Boondock Saints" is just completely unwatchable now. I never really enjoyed the film, but this dude across the hall in my freshman dorm would always say, "Gonna get really baked and go watch the Saints."

[MassiveMovieBuff]

Originally Posted by mja345

I was a freshman in college in 2005-06 and the two films that every kid was going all apeshit over were "Donnie Darko" and, gulp, "The Boondock Saints". A high percentage of people I knew listed one of those two films on his or her Facebook profile under 'Favorite Movies' (very early days of Facebook). "Donnie Darko" holds up fairly well. I definitely liked it better when I was 19 or 20 than I do now, but it's an entertaining watch. But "The Boondock Saints" is just completely unwatchable now. I never really enjoyed the film, but this dude across the hall in my freshman dorm would always say, "Gonna get really baked and go watch the Saints."

Man I'm completely with you on The Boondock Saints. I never got what it was with that movie. Literally everyone, and I mean everyone, raved about it but it wasn't my thing. I felt like I was the only person in the world who didn't like it.

[Scottie]

The Boondock Saints is simply cheesy entertainment.

I've never viewed it as a good movie, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't entertained by Willem Dafoe's character.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by iScottie

The Boondock Saints is simply cheesy entertainment.

I've never viewed it as a good movie, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't entertained by Willem Dafoe's character.

One of the films I actively turned off halfway through, along with Neon Demon, Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained. I will usually finish any film to give it the benefit of the doubt, but in those cases I just couldn't stomach any more.

[mja345]

Originally Posted by iScottie

The Boondock Saints is simply cheesy entertainment.

I've never viewed it as a good movie, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't entertained by Willem Dafoe's character.

Dafoe is so over the top that it's entertaining, but man the rest of that film is hard to watch now. Troy Duffy is such a hack and apparently one of the world's biggest a-holes. Nearly every line of that film plays like an 18 year old guy's concept of what sounds cool.

[SammyJankis]

The Boondock Saints is derivative of a filmmaker that is a concoction of influence and rip-off. It doesn't work on any level, at all.

On an unrelated note, I watched Personal Shopper, and while I've wrestled with it ever since, particularly with its extended denouement, it's stayed with me unlike any other Assayas, and it's the first time that I felt Stewart deserves her status. She makes it work in a way that it shouldn't.

[MassiveMovieBuff]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

One of the films I actively turned off halfway through, along with Neon Demon, Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained. I will usually finish any film to give it the benefit of the doubt, but in those cases I just couldn't stomach any more.

Inglorious Basterds is a film where I felt like I was one of the only people who loved it oddly. I've known a lot of people who couldn't finish it too. I don't know. Maybe it's the subtitles. I think it rivals Pulp Fiction for Tarantino's masterpiece. A lot of the people I know that couldn't finish it are the type who love the fast quick cut action films of today though too. There's also a lot of people that I don't know except for the forums who aren't Tarantino fans as well as it was recently discussed on this thread.

Neon Demon isn't for everyone and while I do love Django I can understand why it may not be for everyone as well. That film does take patience to watch.

[Helikaon]

Originally Posted by MassiveMovieBuff

Inglorious Basterds is a film where I felt like I was one of the only people who loved it oddly. I've known a lot of people who couldn't finish it too. I don't know. Maybe it's the subtitles. I think it rivals Pulp Fiction for Tarantino's masterpiece. A lot of the people I know that couldn't finish it are the type who love the fast quick cut action films of today though too. There's also a lot of people that I don't know except for the forums who aren't Tarantino fans as well as it was recently discussed on this thread.

Neon Demon isn't for everyone and while I do love Django I can understand why it may not be for everyone as well. That film does take patience to watch.

Patience? The Turin Horse requires patience.

[thatguamguy]

Originally Posted by mja345

Dafoe is so over the top that it's entertaining, but man the rest of that film is hard to watch now. Troy Duffy is such a hack and apparently one of the world's biggest a-holes. Nearly every line of that film plays like an 18 year old guy's concept of what sounds cool.

I can't consider "Boondock Saints" a total loss, without it we wouldn't have "Overnight" to enjoy watching Troy Duffy self-destruct.

[Ray Jackson]

I have a serious question and if anyone here can give me an answer that actually makes sense, I'll give you my pet rooster Jean Claude.

...he's the most important thing in the world to me.

Why hasn't the 1973 classic, The Baby, never been released by Criterion?

Not even on dvd.

That's embarrassing to me.

...the most criminally underrated film of the 70s imo.

[Show spoiler]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAb3J7WONhE

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I have a serious question and if anyone here can give me an answer that actually makes sense, I'll give you my pet rooster Jean Claude.

...he's the most important thing in the world to me.

Why hasn't the 1973 classic, The Baby, never been released by Criterion?

Not even on dvd.

That's embarrassing to me.

...the most criminally underrated film of the 70s imo.

[Show spoiler]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAb3J7WONhE

Because they're too busy releasing Wes Anderson and preparing for Sixteen Candles.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Helikaon

Patience? The Turin Horse requires patience.

I can agree with that. I think The Turin Horse is also an acquired taste. And not many of those people are out there.

[nitin]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I have a serious question and if anyone here can give me an answer that actually makes sense, I'll give you my pet rooster Jean Claude.

...he's the most important thing in the world to me.

Why hasn't the 1973 classic, The Baby, never been released by Criterion?

Not even on dvd.

That's embarrassing to me.

...the most criminally underrated film of the 70s imo.

[Show spoiler]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAb3J7WONhE

Just for you Ray, I believe rumour is that Arrow now have the rights to this.