donnie darko

[casmells]

anyone seen the movie donnie darko?
did anyone really understand it?

what were your feelings on the movie?

[Wes ManTooth]

This has been discussed before in OOT, many times

[Alobar]

it sucked. Lots of people go on and on about how its the greatest movie ever. I think roughyl half of those people only say this because they think if they talk about how great donnie darko is, it somehow makes them cool

[gorie]

i enjoyed it.

[flatline]

It was a good flick. I don't remember that much about it, but supposedly the Director's Cut spells out what is actually happening much more clearly; maybe you should check it out.

[JackWilson]

I've seen it. I didn't understand it (if there was anything to understand beyond the obvious). I think it sucked balls.

This movie was made by Jesuits and has programming triggers in it.

[istewart]

You're an awful gimmick account.

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You're an awful gimmick account.

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What are you talking about?

[Sightless]

It was way over the top, it tried to hard to be something it wasn't...too pseudo-deep

[smokingrobot]

its fantastic.

[oddjob]

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it sucked. Lots of people go on and on about how its the greatest movie ever. I think roughyl half of those people only say this because they think if they talk about how great donnie darko is, it somehow makes them cool

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i think most all people who bash on people who loved the movie, do it because they think it somehow makes them cool.

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it sucked. Lots of people go on and on about how its the greatest movie ever. I think roughyl half of those people only say this because they think if they talk about how great donnie darko is, it somehow makes them cool

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i think most all people who bash on people who loved the movie, do it because they think it somehow makes them cool.

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Oh no you did not just go there!

smurf sex talk

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its got a cool looking visual of a freaky-looking rabbit but absolutely no depth, creativity, or replay value, plus a grade-z science fiction explanation of what would otherwise be a completely retarded non-ending.

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fyp

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it sucked. Lots of people go on and on about how its the greatest movie ever. I think roughyl half of those people only say this because they think if they talk about how great donnie darko is, it somehow makes them cool

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i think most all people who bash on people who loved the movie, do it because they think it somehow makes them cool.

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really? you think that? i think the people you're describing could find much better sacred cows to knock. i think most all people who bash on people who loved Donnie Darko do it because they have eyes and a brain.

tangent universe, omfg, i hope he gets hit by a truck.

arrgh, that movie annoyed me soo much, unless your a fourteen year old gothic bitch, you are in no right 2 like this movie IT WAS HORRIBLE

[tdarko]

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it sucked. Lots of people go on and on about how its the greatest movie ever. I think roughyl half of those people only say this because they think if they talk about how great donnie darko is, it somehow makes them cool



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almost every thread i have read on it has been filled with, "it sucked, the only reason people like it is to feel cool."

i love how movie's that everyone hates become cult movies then because everyone then likes them thus ruining the culty part of it all, then everyone bashes people for liking it because it has then become pop or mainstream. [censored] that it's a movie and meant for opinion.

[tdarko]

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i think most all people who bash on people who loved the movie, do it because they think it somehow makes them cool.




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i was going to write this but now glad i didn't since i didn't read ahead.

[smokingrobot]

oh hey thanks, i forgot that i have absolutely no ability whatsoever in regard to distinction or judgement of a subjective work.

i really though the reasons for what you said though were amazing. im clearly flabbergasted as i have no retort whatsoever for the points you brought up in contention.

excellent response, you are truly a man of letters.

[smokingrobot]

hey following up on your brilliant post, i thought maybe you should consider writing your own movie! I bet it'd be full of intelligent criticism and social commentary. Dark and mysterious, a living, breathing contradiction!

[dibbs]

I remember liking it when I saw it, almost positive I didn't understand all of it. I sure as sick as hell of the hype this has been getting since as some serious "deep" sht, but maybe I need to see it again. I thought Enternal Sunshine felt too forced too though and people revel in the "intellect: of that one, perhaps I have poor taste.

[smokingrobot]

for those of us who arent handjobs who can only say "this movie sucks. or this isnt creative", there's another really interesting film called Primer dealing with time and the social & psychological issues of being able to excercise a level of control over time.

Its called Primer. i thought it was pretty interesting for an extremely low budget indie flick. the guy who made it pretty much handled almost all aspects of creating a movie.

[oddjob]

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it sucked. Lots of people go on and on about how its the greatest movie ever. I think roughyl half of those people only say this because they think if they talk about how great donnie darko is, it somehow makes them cool

[/ QUOTE ]

i think most all people who bash on people who loved the movie, do it because they think it somehow makes them cool.

[/ QUOTE ]

really? you think that? i think the people you're describing could find much better sacred cows to knock. i think most all people who bash on people who loved Donnie Darko do it because they have eyes and a brain.

tangent universe, omfg, i hope he gets hit by a truck.

[/ QUOTE ]

nah, you're wrong.

[smokingrobot]

i liked eternal sunshine for a lot of reaons, but im also a huge fan of Charlie Kauffman's ability to create a realistic scenario that spins off into the surreal.

i felt at its most basic level (and im just talking the script here) it was a very touching movie in terms of relationships, their failures or succeses and our propensity towad for possibilities even when confronted with the rational inevitable. i thought it was a very interesting statement.

[smokingrobot]

lmao.



(i too am sick of unsubstantial/unsupported critique.)

It made me like Tears For Fears for about a day.

[DasLeben]

I love this movie, but didn't understand much until I read the chapters of "The Philosophy of Time Travel" on the DVD. Now it makes just about perfect sense. Very cool.

Here: http://www.tonystuff.co.uk/darko-time.htm

By the way, I don't at all see this as a "deep" movie. I see it as an entertaining and complex storyline, but that's about it.

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i think most all people who bash on people who loved Donnie Darko do it because they have eyes and a brain

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Yeah, I'm stupid. Everyone who likes Donnie Darko is stupid. You're the man now dawg.

[tdarko]

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It made me like Tears For Fears for about a day.

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what a great mood for the film huh?

[lucas9000]

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its got a cool looking visual of a freaky-looking rabbit but absolutely no depth, creativity, or replay value, plus a grade-z science fiction explanation of what would otherwise be a completely retarded non-ending.

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fyp

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worst fyp ever.

[smokingrobot]

i really liked how the ending strayed from sticking with merely a sci-fi "scientific explanation and unfolding of events" and used the idea of redemtion and sacrifice for the main character (i.e. his choice to right the wrongs that were created within the parallel universe).

[RunDownHouse]

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Yeah, I'm stupid. Everyone who likes Donnie Darko is stupid. You're the man now dawg.

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Please see this (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=3206734&page=2&view=colla psed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=1) thread.

[DasLeben]

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Yeah, I'm stupid. Everyone who likes Donnie Darko is stupid. You're the man now dawg.

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Please see this (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=3206734&page=2&view=colla psed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=1) thread.

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"Dawg" just sounded funnier. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[-Skeme-]

I concur with the latter. I liked the movie, but idiots who claim it's the GOAT should be beaten with live crabs.

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lmao.



(i too am sick of unsubstantial/unsupported critique.)

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you mean unsubstantiated, unsupported critique that disagrees with you. anyway, look, not important. nobody's trying to undermine the fundamental subjectivity of art. reading your posts in this thread, it's very clear that you have educated and well thought out reasons for enjoying and appreciating this movie. i'm not being sarcastic. I've never heard anybody make a genuine case for the artistic merit of Donnie Darko before, and that's the truth. but rather than go back and forth with about how arrogant and dismissive we both are, let me try and make my case against it.

THIS IS GOING TO BE LONG AND SPOIL THE MOVIE.

First, I didn't hate Donnie Darko. Kelly's direction in a lot of spots is really impressive, especially the way he sets tone without having to interrupt the flow of the script. background music and photography can both do that, obviously, but in Donnie Darko, he manages to do it without being over-the-top (like a horror movie, for example), and with more subtle things like pacing. the montage when Donnie first goes to school, for example, or virtually the entire ending sequence from the party onward. besides the music and photography, I suspect there are a lot of little technical things I'm missing that helped create this sense of ominousness that drove the movie. even things that might otherwise keep someone from enjoying a movie, like unnatural dialogue or awkwardly framed photography, worked here because it was really successfully able to sell this growing sense that something was just a little off. I really loved Frank. just from a visual perspective, the image was so striking and so resonant, the way he was always framed and lit. at it's best, the movie is really philosophically deep, and tonally resonant.

my problems are strictly with the story itself. Donnie Darko really pissed me off. and usually discussing stuff like this, anybody who tries to be absolutist or emotionally invested in their opinion comes off sounding like a dumbass. but, really, this one really made me angry. it made me angry because I felt like the ending was so contrived and manipulative.

you said,

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i really liked how the ending strayed from sticking with merely a sci-fi "scientific explanation and unfolding of events" and used the idea of redemtion and sacrifice for the main character (i.e. his choice to right the wrongs that were created within the parallel universe).

[/ QUOTE ]

but did he, really? you said "his choice." where was the choice? his alternative, in your mind, was to allow this tangent universe to collapse, thus killing everybody? the girl he was in love with had been killed and he had committed murder out of anger. all of these things had gone wrong, and in fixing them he had to sacrifice himself, but it wasn't as though there was some, less righteous alternative whereby he could allow everything to stay [censored] up and keep his life. the universe was about to collapse. point is, I don't see what you see in the story. there was no real choice, and in what way was Donnie redeemed? redeemed from what?

I called the ending manipulative earlier because I feel like, from the way it's painted, Kelly's trying to trick us into thinking that there's more meaning than there is. they cut to the inside of the plane that Donnie's mother and sister are on, and there's this flashback voiceover of Noah Wyle talking about the "metallic vessel" that would be needed for time travel, and it's almost like we're expected to have a moment of realization. because, "yes! we finally know where the jet engine came from!" but we don't! we know it came from the future, from this tangent universe, but what's the significance of it?

that's the biggest problem with Donnie Darko, in my mind. Richard Kelly cannot stand in every theater that ever shows it and explain that there was a tangent universe and that Frank was the manipulated dead and that Donnie was gaining telekinetic powers and all this stuff. if you don't know that, then you have know idea how Donnie ended up at home a month earlier, or how the plane came apart, or why Donnie's sister's boyfriend had been appearing to him in these visions. you need the director's cut and the commentary and the website and stuff to figure this crap out, and if that means that evaluating the movie on its own merits is wrong because you're missing half the puzzle, then fine, but the movie, on its own, did not make sense. please, nobody pretend it did.

I never really explained why the movie actually made me angry. what it was was this: Donnie Darko, tonally, is this slow build and you're really expecting a knockout punch at the ending. you don't get it. you get, like, all this stuff happens, but they never explain who Frank is or whatever. so I hop online and read all the explanations and stuff, and watch the deleted scenes and commentary, and when I finally got it, I had this moment of, like, "WTF?" all this stuff, that was in this woman's book (the time travel book)? it's all really dumb. that's what i meant by grade-z science fiction. I don't mean it's not realistic (that would be dumb to say about a fantasy), I just mean it doesn't make sense and it's really inconsistent and seems forced around the movie. at the end of the day (and I believe this from the bottom of my heart), the point of those vector arrows coming out of peoples' chests was, "Hey, let's stick in a cool CGI effect!!"

and, if you're arguing that i'm focusing too much on the science aspect and the technical details (like a Trekkie, I guess), then why don't you tell me what there is about the story to enjoy? I really liked watching it, because just from a stylistic and visual perspective, it was cool. the opening shot, for instance, i think is great. there are a lot of great shots. there are a lot of great moments of editing and cinematography. but if there's anything worth being interested in about this character, whose motivations still make zero sense to me, I must have missed it. he does what he does out of a lot of fear and supernatural influence, and then I guess love with the Saved chick, but I never was able to really see a conflict or definition. it just kind of seemed like a sloppily done story to me.

and, important note about that: I'm not a writer. so, I mean, the possibility that I'm missing some important dramatic point is there. if there were interesting relationships, or something or other that paralleled the technical story arc, I'd be able to let go of all the inconsistent pulp sci-fi. but, as it stands, I'm too annoyed.

and, finally, to anyone pissed off about the "eyes and a brain" comment, I'm sorry. I genuinely, honestly, had never met anybody who liked the movie and was able to give me a reason other than something that amounted to "It looked cool, and I'm pretty sure there was some important subtext, but I don't know what that is." and the impression I got was that, simply, smart people didn't like Donnie Darko. but that's clearly too dismissive and elitist or whatever, and art is inherently subjective and open to lots of different points of view. so i apologize for forgetting that.

[flatline]

no one is going to read all that, unless it involves strippers or somesuch

1. I know, I just had to get it out of my system.

2. it's all for Smokingrobot's benefit anyway.

3. sorry for the spam, here's a peace offering http://www.uploadit.org/cultofthejedi/hot_chick.jpg

totally agree; once something requires a thesis to read in a forum, I am nearly always skipping it unless the author is known for his drunken adventures

[gorie]

[ QUOTE ]
1. I know, I just had to get it out of my system.

2. it's all for Smokingrobot's benefit anyway.

3. sorry for the spam, here's a peace offering http://www.uploadit.org/cultofthejedi/hot_chick.jpg

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sure, NOW you like a furry crotch.

[wonderwes]

The one reason I thought it was a good movie I thought it had a clever, unexpected, good ending.

[smokingrobot]

hey nice response.

i'm all about discussion when it comes to differences in views on something. i guess i was just sick of seeing a general trend in regard to the "this sucks that sucks" type responses. but i appreciate you taking the time to come back with what you felt was weak about the film.

there's a line that borges wrote in the beginning of one of his fiction collections (and if you want to read an opinion backed up by ridiculous statements, check out some stupid person's review of the penguin collection of his short stories @ amazon.com); he writes that a work of fiction is only halfway finished by the author, that the other half is the work of the reader, which brings up implications of another argument/line of thought entirely, but im sure the point is there. the allowance of multiple creations, so to speak, (wherein artist + work + viewers/reader/what have you) are what make discussions of such things so interesting. (im paraphrasing the quote btw)

i'll admit, my first response to the OPs question "what do you think of donny darko" was pretty lame, and the brief critique offered seemed originally to me like a cop out. anyone can say something sucks or something is good, but saying why behind it would make a thread like this so much better.

the only problem is people tend to take to heart disagreements in matters of opinion concerning something that allows for multiple views/opinions.

i guess not everyone is interested in why someone may think something is good or bad, but mainly concerned merely with the end result: consensus or disagreement.

thanks for the response btw, i'll definately read your thoughts on the film.

i dont think its one of the greatest ever made, but i did think it came together pretty well visually, there were some stunning shots to me at least, and as for the script and ideas, hey, i thought it was an interesting take on the age old "is time linear? yes? no?" sci-fi tip.

i would have replaced drew barrymore because she, surprise, plays her role not entirely different from her other characters.

but again thanks for taking the time out to write your thoughts though, i appreciate it at least.

[smokingrobot]

one thing i would ad is that i dont think the director's commentary nor the written out book on time travel was necessary to figure out what was going on, although it certainly isnt self evident immediately, and perhaps not after 1 viewing.

[Sightless]

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its got a cool looking visual of a freaky-looking rabbit but absolutely no depth, creativity, or replay value, plus a grade-z science fiction explanation of what would otherwise be a completely retarded non-ending.

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fyp

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best fyp ever.

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fyp

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its got a cool looking visual of a freaky-looking rabbit but absolutely no depth, creativity, or replay value, plus a grade-z science fiction explanation of what would otherwise be a completely retarded non-ending.

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fyp

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second best fyp ever.

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fyp

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best fyp ever

[TheCroShow]

donnie darko owns because there is some room for interpretation. some say donnie darko was a super hero because he saved the world! others say he is a modern day romeo or some [censored] because he sacrificed himself for the girl he loved.

for me it was fun watching it 2 or 3 times over to gain a better understanding of the movie. so what if most do not understand a movie during it's first viewing...take a look at fight club, or even the usual suspects. for some reason, some do not pick up on it right away, but once they do, MAN HOW COOL IS THAT?!??! same kinda deal with donnie darko.

[Dr. StrangeloveX]

There is a lot of raw emotion and humor and mystery and tragedy in DD that I like. I agree the philosophy of time travel stuff is pretty stupid, but I don't think it takes too much away from the movie.

And I don't think the fact that he basically must sacrifice himself diminishes the power of the ending.