so, while it didn't quite clean up, it owned its weekend (I think)
IMDb's box office data puts it at about three. It was up against The Sweetest Thing, which made 17 million to its 4 million. I have yet to see Frailty, though I did hear good things.
Xander: I still don't get why we came here to get info about a killer snot monster. Giles: Because it's a killer snot monster from outer space. I did not say that.
'Never Leave Me'
Buffista Movies 3: Panned and Scanned
A place to talk about movies--Old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
Polter-Cow - Oct 30, 2004 7:59:46 am PDT #5316 of 10001
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Dana - Oct 30, 2004 9:08:44 am PDT #5317 of 10001
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.
We saw it in the theater and enjoyed it. It wasn't water-tight, but they actually put thought into it, which puts it way ahead of many movies.
Sean K - Oct 30, 2004 10:24:50 am PDT #5318 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
Out of, I don't know..... sickness, morbid curiosity.... Thomash and I just sat through about three minutes of From Justin to Kelly.
There was a dialog exchange that, while supposedly spoken in English, contained not a single phrase I could understand or parse.
I think I need to go bash my brains out now.
Ginger - Oct 30, 2004 10:31:25 am PDT #5319 of 10001
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
I think I need to go bash my brains out now.
It only has that effect on people who actually have brains.
§ ita § - Oct 30, 2004 1:22:14 pm PDT #5320 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
The writer of Frailty just called me a liar!
Okay, I don't think I got all the twists -- I missed Fenton is a demon. But I got all of the rest, simply by watching the movie as if everyone was telling the truth, and seeing what felt most interesting.
I don't count it against the movie -- in fact, I really liked that.
Still, he's a meanie.
Sean K - Oct 30, 2004 1:26:55 pm PDT #5321 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
I think the only scarier "reality" of the movie than that they (son and dad) were just psychotic was finding out that the son was telling the truth.
§ ita § - Oct 30, 2004 1:37:20 pm PDT #5322 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
I had it in a couple layers -- what if the victims were guilty. But then, what if the dad was really getting visions? And what if Adam was really seeing them too? And, dude, if they were from God, for true?
Not to mention the creepiness of the wrong brother sitting there, and it wasn't going to be just a narrated tale, but that the peril was continuing. And since they seemed to have been clear that he was the only surviving member of the family, how does he become a threat?
Sean K - Oct 30, 2004 1:43:12 pm PDT #5323 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
And such a great ending. It all worked for me, too.
tommyrot - Oct 30, 2004 2:59:19 pm PDT #5324 of 10001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
Anyone seen They? (It's on in few minutes.)
It stars Marc Blucas.
Nutty - Oct 30, 2004 4:56:45 pm PDT #5325 of 10001
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
Now see, I could respect the thought and effort that went into Frailty -- one of the few movies I've seen that showed, e.g., how frightening it is to be delusional (even if that does turn out not to be the case, it allowed the dad not to be a villain from the get-go). But I still got to the end and thought to myself, "Self, you know how much you hate it when the cool people get away with shitty behavior just because they're cool? That goes double when the cool person is God."
I thought it sort of undercut itself, by casting a young Fenton who was so convincing, and then throwing him away as an adult. I guess the movie didn't persuade me that his adult outcome would actually happen, and by setting up that adult outcome, the movie invalidated all of that painful thinking and hard work that had gone into his youthful outcome.
Not to spoil things too terribly.
So, I guess, a well-made film, based on a script I hated. If such a thing is possible.