/m/ - media

Good thread. Can someone explain to me why David Lynch is held in such a high regard? I've seen a couple of his movies and I always felt like there is no deep meaning/symbolism in them, he just makes them strange for the sake of making them strange

>>116475
Lynch is not about meaning, it’s about feeling. There is no symbolism in broad sense, but more subtle, subconscious or cosmic meaning. It’s about how you can connect with the movie as it was your own dream - or nightmare -. You won’t find an explanation to anything, but your own experience with the movie, what strikes your chords and what not (yet). I always watch Lynch as “self discovery”

Can anyone explain to me why people liked Rocky Horror Picture Show in the first place? I understand that now it's mostly about the fan culture and screenings, but I don't get why this movie became a cult classic. I tried watching it a few years back and turned it off like 30 minutes in. I don't get it, and I adore tacky shit and The Room.

I think Kung Pow is underrated and a cult classic. Kung Fu Hustle is good, but I feel like it is too on-point comedic. Hard to describe.

Mother!" was a fantastic film that completely immersed me in its anxiety and terror. Total emotional manipulation. I really loved it and think people had extremely strange criticisms of it like
>it tries to be deep but I get it so it sucks
I really don't understand why people have this tendency to think a film is trying to trick them into not comprehending it and get all sorts of upset about it. They think it's trying to be cryptic and they didn't see meaning there? Trash. They think it's trying to be cryptic and they did find some meaning in it? Also trash. Some films really can't win with people and I find that sad. It must be exhausting to judge everything through this extremely sensitive anti-intellectual lens that you deem even a non-complicated film as pretentious just because it shows an ounce of contemplation on a pretty relatable topic.

There was nothing overly cryptic or overly pretentious about "Mother!". People need to stop worrying about things being too high brow and start trying to engage media without that sort of flimsy loathing.

I will say the trailer did it dirty by mismarketing the film as a straightforward horror story which it definitely was not


Another film I'd like to recommend that largely went unnoticed was "Vox Lux" (2018). It's the story of a victim who is shown in a different light than most narratives tend to. I thought it stood out as a complicated character study of someone who had legitimate traumas but is not put on a "brave survivor uwu" pedestal by the narrative itself though other characters in the film do so. It's actually about how that pedestal ends up being a problem for the survivors and those around them. That is how I saw it anyway, obviously someone else watching it will likely find other things that stayed with them.

>>116513
Oh also If you've only seen Natalie Portman play soft ingenues "Vox Lux" is gonna be a wild ride for you.

>>116513
>>116514
I thought Portman was one of the few good things about Vox Lux. The aspect of the film that felt like it was bludgeoning me over the head was "pop music bad." The soundtrack full of rejected Sia demos only reinforced that.

>>116587
Hmm I didn't really see it that way. The theme that stayed with me was definitely more about a victim who is an abuser herself and how those dynamics are tricky to navigate. I'm not denying that the film is critical of pop music but the character dynamics were what really attracted my attention the most. And the music not being exceptional, sort of banal further reinforces that Celeste is someone who achieved fame because of a tragedy that happened to her and because society can't just leave victims nor perpetrators alone, she continues to gain unwarranted relevance and her narcissism mounts. Which results in a severely emotionally abused sister.

Especially in the current times where victimhood tends to create a strangely untouchable persona, I found the film refreshing for daring to show a grittier side of that outlook.

>>116610
>>116587
>>116513
>>116514
My God, was I hyped for Vox Lux after the trailers dropped. When I finally saw the movie, I ended up being disappointed as fuck. I mean, it was fine… but not amazing. I remember being annoyed by bits of narrative regarding the pseudoColumbine not making sense, though I am not sure what exactly triggered me (and I'm unwilling to revisit the movie just to find out). The songs were weak as fuck too, which was a huge problem in my opinion. The movie tried to sell Natalie Portman's character as this big sensation, and it was hard to buy it when the songs were so bad. The only lowkey memorable one was the 'dirty love' song.
I also hated how anachronistic the aesthetics of the music videos were. It was really immersion breaking to see some proto Lady Gaga style shit in early 00's.
The movie could have been amazing, but it needed more care and attention to detail tbh.

>>116618
the whole point was that she was not actually a talented and exceptional musician… Are you retarded.

Dr.Caligari 1989

>>116641
Look, Britney Spears also isn't a brilliant musician. Her pop songs were hits for a reason though! Hard for me to believe Natalie's character would have more than one hit single with such shitty songs.
She would not be able to have a career beyond that tearjerker song and maybe one single past that.
I will not argue further since I have forgotten most of the movie by now.

Had the pleasure of seeing this movie in a midnight showing once. very obvious who had seen it and who hadnt lmao. John waters overall has some fun cult movies imo.

Could john carpenter's the thing be considered cult?

>>116643
The director, Steven Sayadian, did a bunch of adult films under the name Rinse Dream. Can't really recommend them but one, Café Flesh, is a cult fave just for how purposefully unsexy it turned out.

>>116646
>Could john carpenter's the thing be considered cult?

I would like to think so. When most people hear The Thing, they immediately think of the 1980s version by Carpenter and not the original Thing from another planet. (1930s, i think?) I think The Thing (1980s) can be considered a pioneer of sci fi, body horror.

>>116513
Mother is Jennifer Lawrence's best film, imo. I saw it after the Hunger Games movies and enjoyed her here much more than her role as Katniss. I thought it was a film with a lot of interesting ways to think of it. Also, the imagery was great. I went in with zero knowledge prior and recommend everyone does that.

>>116494
I think the one of the reason why it's so beloved it time period. I dont know how old you are, but i'm in my 30s and grew up with that movie. I think a lot of it is experience. Going to an actual physical movie theater and getting to experence the toilet paper throwing, the lighters, the water guns, etc etc. Not to mention having live actors act out scenes in front of you. It's a cult classic for me because it's really unique and the songs are fun and catchy. I love the visuals as well. It was a product of it's time and when you are see it with a big crowd as well, it becomes extra enjoyable.