The Explain Why You Like This Movie ('cause I don't understand) Thread

[TheCunningStunt]

Originally Posted by Janszoon

I'd recommend Dead Ringers or The Fly if you want to check out some great Cronenberg.

Are they considered his best then? I'll definitely watch them. He's one director that's always eluded me. I've seen AHOV and Eastern Promises. I liked Eastern Promises a lot more than AHOV.

What kind of style does Cronenberg have? A very dark Hitchcockian type style?

[Janszoon]

Originally Posted by TheCunningStunt

Are they considered his best then? I'll definitely watch them. He's one director that's always eluded me. I've seen AHOV and Eastern Promises. I liked Eastern Promises a lot more than AHOV.

I think they're considered among his best. I know I like them both a lot, though honestly I've only seen a handful of his movies.

Originally Posted by TheCunningStunt

What kind of style does Cronenberg have? A very dark Hitchcockian type style?

I wouldn't describe it a Hitchcockian but definitely very dark. This description from Wikipedia pegs his style pretty well:

He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the psychological is typically intertwined with the physical.

[dankrsta]

Originally Posted by TheCunningStunt

I've not seen a lot from Cronenberg, AHOV is one of the first ones I decided to watch and thought it was really underdeveloped. I'm gonna try 'Crash' or 'Spider' next.

See Videodrome and Naked Lunch if you like surreal horror/sci-fi or just surreal mind-fuck respectively. I liked Spider quite a bit, it's his most Lynchian film, I would say. And I like his older, weird horrors like The Brood and Rabid.

About A History of Violence - I remember that I enjoyed that film for its simplicity and atmosphere, but I don't remember enough for me to now go into great detail about it. I might watch it again.

[TheCunningStunt]

Originally Posted by dankrsta

See Videodrome and Naked Lunch if you like surreal horror/sci-fi or just surreal mind-fuck respectively. I liked Spider quite a bit, it's his most Lynchian film, I would say. And I like his older, weird horrors like The Brood and Rabid.

About A History of Violence - I remember that I enjoyed that film for its simplicity and atmosphere, but I don't remember enough for me to now go into great detail about it. I might watch it again.

I'm gonna go on a Cronenberg binge, because despite me really disliking AHOV, you can see that he actually has some directing talents.

Originally Posted by duga

But I guess if you have never had a relationship where things end up very bitter then it would be hard to relate to.

Even if you've never had a bitter ending relationship, I still think you can relate to that feeling where somebody is slipping away from you and you don't know what to do.

[dankrsta]

Originally Posted by TheCunningStunt

I'm gonna go on a Cronenberg binge, because despite me really disliking AHOV, you can see that he actually has some directing talents.

History of Violence and Eastern Promises are very different films to those he's most famous for. I certainly like them less than his older ones. When I think of Cronenberg those two films never come to my mind.

[glastonelle]

I know a lot of people on here really enjoyed this movie, but I dont see how. In my opinion, it was confusing, unrelatable and while it followed a quirky-but-good enough theme, it was hardly noticeable with the films strangeness. The acting was decent enough, and the plot had plesant enough twists, but then I see it on Top 10 romances of all time and I have no idea how it got there. What exactly do people see in this movie?

[TheCunningStunt]

Originally Posted by glastonelle

I know a lot of people on here really enjoyed this movie, but I dont see how. In my opinion, it was confusing

It wasn't... it was really easy to understand.

Originally Posted by glastonelle

unrelatable and while it followed a quirky-but-good enough theme, it was hardly noticeable with the films strangeness.

You can't relate to the whole 'would you erase someone from your memory of you could', and the whole feeling of someone slipping away from you and you don't know what to do?

Originally Posted by glastonelle

The acting was decent enough, and the plot had plesant enough twists, but then I see it on Top 10 romances of all time and I have no idea how it got there. What exactly do people see in this movie?

The acting was decent and the plot had pleasant twists.

So, you didn't enjoy it essentially because you couldn't relate to it and it was confusing?

I like so many think it's superb, one of the most beautiful stories put on the big screen.

[mr dave]

Originally Posted by glastonelle

I know a lot of people on here really enjoyed this movie, but I dont see how. In my opinion, it was confusing, unrelatable and while it followed a quirky-but-good enough theme, it was hardly noticeable with the films strangeness. The acting was decent enough, and the plot had plesant enough twists, but then I see it on Top 10 romances of all time and I have no idea how it got there. What exactly do people see in this movie?

i think this is one of the best films i've ever seen. though i don't think it's a romantic film. in fact i don't think romance really has ANYTHING to do with the film if you consider it beyond its surface at all. to me it's about self discovery and the individual acceptance of the self. everything about the film lends itself to this.

Jim Carrey's character is the only 'real' person in the film. everyone else is a figment of his psychological being. it's not the relationship that he's trying to get over, it's the person he used to be. his girlfriend in the film represents the wants of his youth, while he struggles with dealing with the needs of his unavoidable maturation.

i found it to be a very deep, fulfilling, and refreshing take on the challenges people face in relationships with themselves as a necessity for preparing themselves as individuals to have fully satisfying relationships with others.

[Dr.Seussicide]

Originally Posted by glastonelle

I know a lot of people on here really enjoyed this movie, but I dont see how. In my opinion, it was confusing, unrelatable and while it followed a quirky-but-good enough theme, it was hardly noticeable with the films strangeness. The acting was decent enough, and the plot had plesant enough twists, but then I see it on Top 10 romances of all time and I have no idea how it got there. What exactly do people see in this movie?

Wow, I loved this movie. I'm actually a bit surprised you didn't, but I really did enjoy it. Aside from the characters being extremely likable (Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet especially) I also found the story line to be quite relatable. The ability to erase someone from your mind if you could to save yourself from the pain of knowing that person, and realizing that despite the pain, to forget them would be a greater travesty. Maybe it didn't click for you at the time but I just found it to be a great film personally.

[boo boo]

I love that film and I never found it confusing. It's one of the best love stories I've seen. The acting is very good especially the two leads and it's a great concept about how memories are part of what define you and so on. I'm sure after a lot of relationships crumble people get the feeling that they wish it never happened but they don't really mean it.

The whole surreal element of the film was brilliantly done and I just loved the concept of trying to protect your memories from being erased.

It's a fascinating, thrilling and very touching movie and one of the best of the decade. Also I'm a Charlie Kaufman fan, and I actually think this is his grand achievement.