Donnie Darko

[rexallllsc]

Saw this movie last night after being told to check it ut for over a year. WOW. One of the best movies I've seen in a while.

Highly recommended.

[sachmo71]

Yes, it's a very good movie. I think there was a thread on it not too long ago...

[Abe Sargent]

Yup, thread recently. And an amazingly great movie. One of my Top Ten. But, some people just don't get it or like it. They'll probably be posting soon.

-Anxiety

[sterlingice]

Originally posted by Anxiety
Yup, thread recently. And an amazingly great movie. One of my Top Ten. But, some people just don't get it or like it. They'll probably be posting soon.

-Anxiety

And here I am. ;)

I dunno- if you've seen a lot of Sci-Fi (especially something like "Outer Limits" or "Twilight Zone"), it's standard fare and not very well done standard fare at that. I really kept getting the "I hated the popular people in high school so I'm going to take it out on my viewers" vibe the entire time. It's as if all the Outer Limits writers were suddenly all replaced by angsty 25 year olds or Chris Carter had been writing the X-Files in the back of a high school lit class after being given a swirlie 5 minutes earlier.

Bottom line: it's not original, the actors/acrtresses are annoying, and the angst overtones make this seem more like a student film than a legit movie.

SI

[rexallllsc]

Originally posted by sterlingice
And here I am. ;)

I dunno- if you've seen a lot of Sci-Fi (especially something like "Outer Limits" or "Twilight Zone"), it's standard fare and not very well done standard fare at that. I really kept getting the "I hated the popular people in high school so I'm going to take it out on my viewers" vibe the entire time. It's as if all the Outer Limits writers were suddenly all replaced by angsty 25 year olds or Chris Carter had been writing the X-Files in the back of a high school lit class after being given a swirlie 5 minutes earlier.

Bottom line: it's not original, the actors/acrtresses are annoying, and the angst overtones make this seem more like a student film than a legit movie.

SI

Wow. I didn't get that impression at all. I didn't think that Donnie was identified as popular or not popular...certainly not as tortured as I think you interpreted it/him.

Just my $.02

[Draft Dodger]

it's coming up on my Netflix queue

[Easy Mac]

Man, thats freaky. I just bought it on a whim yesterday and watched it for the first time last night and loved it. I was thinking about posting a thread on it. That and Boondock Saints, which I just picked up for $10. 2 very good movies for a combined $20, I'm happy.

[the_meanstrosity]

I really enjoyed Donnie Darko. Good story with great acting by a phenomenal cast.

Sterling, the great thing about this movie is that you got an entirely different take on it than myself. And many people who watched this movie interpreted it differently. There are so many different ways to 'see' this movie that it lets us interpret it the way we want. There is certainly some of the teenage angst, but there is also the entire religious debate as well.

It may not be for everyone, but I think movie as a whole does a great job of letting people draw their own conclusions and ideas from it. And to me...that's a great flick.

[MylesKnight]

Originally posted by sterlingice

I dunno- if you've seen a lot of Sci-Fi (especially something like "Twilight Zone")

Not to change the subject, but the old school Twilight Zone is arguably the Greatest Show on Television!

This is one of the very rare things I try to make sure I catch on TV anymore (it comes on daily at 11:30pm Eastern on Sci-Fi)...

....and they had a Marathon on the 4th of July on Sci-Fi... Absoulutely Outstanding..

Alright, back to Donnie Darko..

[Draft Dodger]

Originally posted by Easy Mac
Man, thats freaky. I just bought it on a whim yesterday and watched it for the first time last night and loved it. I was thinking about posting a thread on it. That and Boondock Saints, which I just picked up for $10. 2 very good movies for a combined $20, I'm happy.

and Boondock Saints I should have by the weekend. Looking forward to it after all the positive reviews here

[andy m]

i liked this film, but i am not quite sure why it became so much of a "cult" (for want of a better word) success. still, it's good fun and definitely one that should be watched so you can make up your own mind.

[Vince]

I watched this last night (albeit at 1 AM and pissed off because I had just lost 9 straight foosball games to my roommate), and was confused as all hell. I'm going to try to watch it again during normal awake time for me, but until then, I'm lost. I did think the acting was great, but oftentimes I felt that I was missing something because the scene was too dark (as in I should adjust the brightness on my TV). I didn't adjust, though, because the normal daylight scenes were fine...

[QuikSand]

Hmmm... whenever there's a movie that nine guys love and one guy hates - I'm always the one guy. I smell the same thing here - that I'd side with sterlingice.

[sterlingice]

Originally posted by MylesKnight
Not to change the subject, but the old school Twilight Zone is arguably the Greatest Show on Television!

This is one of the very rare things I try to make sure I catch on TV anymore (it comes on daily at 11:30pm Eastern on Sci-Fi)...

....and they had a Marathon on the 4th of July on Sci-Fi... Absoulutely Outstanding..

Alright, back to Donnie Darko..

That was good fun. I watched a little of that marathon. They also have it on during the night at some point and I've caught a few there. I'm too young to have seen them originally but they're a blast, even with the dated film style (I sometimes find it hard to reconcile old movie styles and it takes away from my enjoyment- 60's as being very predictable, 70's very deliberate and plodding, etc).

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally posted by Draft Dodger
and Boondock Saints I should have by the weekend. Looking forward to it after all the positive reviews here

I haven't seen that at all and keep getting told I should check it out. Maybe this weekend.

SI

[Mantle2600]

Boondock Saints is one of my favorite movies.Frickin Awesome, and considering it has to do with religion, its really odd i bought it for $6.66.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally posted by QuikSand
Hmmm... whenever there's a movie that nine guys love and one guy hates - I'm always the one guy. I smell the same thing here - that I'd side with sterlingice.


Critics didn't like it though. Was not a favorite. They were all like "What is this about?" "I don't understand." "I want my mommy."

-Anxiety

[Bad-example]

Donnie Darko was a real stinker IMO. Sci fi lite. Seemed to be more of a masturbatory exercise than a movie.

[Bonegavel]

****Spoiler Alert - you are warned****

After reading this thread I went out and purchased it at the local Suncoast.

I watched it once straight through and immediately repeated with the writer/directors (Richard Kelly?) comments.

I thought there would be a whole bunch of mysterious meanings behind things and Kelly basically said it was just a simple sci-fi flick. IMHO, i don't think he left enough clues along the way to make sense of the whole thing without watching the directors comments.

For instance; did you know that an alternate timeline was created the moment Donnie first hears Frank's voice? There was no change in the style or anything, other than the fact that he was seeing a 6' rabbit. I thought it was just from the drugs, which, by the way, were placebos. They never mention this in the movie, but the director's comments mention this. That would have been nice to know at some point.

Also, the whole part about water and metal. Did you know that the barrier between Donnie and the rabbit was water? Also, the director mentions that when donnie stabbed the water with his knife he figured out the connection between water and metal and that this was the key. What? Where did that come into play?

I didn't hate the movie, but unlike other such flicks I was left with the feeling that I was cheated somehow. There were many opportunities for the Kelly to tie it all together nicely, or to at least make sense of some of the things and he didn't. I will say that if it weren't for the Director's comments, I would have probably had more respect for the movie, thinking that I just didn't understand the symbolism or something. Nope. Just a disjointed sci-fi flick.

I did like, however, the Smurf conversation and other such exchanges.

[Easy Mac]

Most of it is explained in the deleted scenes. I think the movie company made him take stuff out due to time constraints, but left the DVD the same length instead of an extended edition.

[Bonegavel]

Originally posted by Easy Mac
Most of it is explained in the deleted scenes. I think the movie company made him take stuff out due to time constraints, but left the DVD the same length instead of an extended edition.

Right, but if an important thing like the placebo pills is left out, that is just plain stupid. They will let them ramble about smurfs (very funny) which has no plot connection and leave out the placebo (very, very important)?

Also, the extended scene of Donnie talking to frank on the golf course was horrible. That was like watching an Original Star Trek episode where spock is explaining everything in detail when that should be left up to the movie.

I still want to know why Grandma Death was "rehearsing" standing in the middle of the road all those years, when none of this would have happened if she would have stayed out of the road? We find out that she had a revelation about time travel and "knew" something that others didn't. Then she was going to her mailbox all those years expressly for the purspose of getting his letter that night so that the girl gets run over? And then Donnie has to rip the engine off his mom's plane to fall in his bedroom to stop the girl from dying?

I don't even think the director knew what was going on and he wrote the thing. His comments are almost an apology.

[Draft Dodger]

well, just watched Boondock Saints (thanks Netflix).

I must say, I was a bit disappointed. It wasn't terrible, I guess, but it wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be.

maybe Darko will live up to expectations...

[Easy Mac]

Too bad, different strokes I guess. I'd say I found it far more interesting than 99% of the action movies of the past 4 years. I thought the action was great, especially the music during it. Sure, its all been done before, but I think the style of the scenes and the music made it more interesting than comparable movies. The acting was a little off at times (sometimes over-the-top by the italian dude, DeFoe and the dark haired brother). Plus, it allows for a shallow discussion about whether it is right to kill in the name of God. And mutherfuckin Ron Jeremy, I mean, come on.

[the_meanstrosity]

I watched Donnie Darko again last night. Damn good fliq. Here's a link to the Donnie Darko website where they give more clues out.

http://www.donniedarko.com/