In the example I was using, the analogy to Darla is right on -- it's a surprise that sets the tone for the rest, because it's not what you were expecting just from looking.
Lorne: My little prince. Oh…what did they do to you? Angel: Nina…tried to…eat me. Lorne: Oh, you're--medic! You're gonna make it Angel. Just don't stop fighting. Doctor! Is there a Gepetto in the house?
'Smile Time'
Buffista Movies 7: Brides for 7 Samurai
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.
Jesse - Sep 01, 2010 4:13:24 pm PDT #11079 of 30000
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
le nubian - Sep 01, 2010 4:57:50 pm PDT #11080 of 30000
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."
what movie sparked this discussion in the first place?
Jesse - Sep 01, 2010 4:59:05 pm PDT #11081 of 30000
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
I was keeping it a secret! It's The American. And what happens in the opening scene (apparently) is that George Clooney wakes up in bed with a woman, gets a phone call, and shoots her.
le nubian - Sep 01, 2010 5:15:40 pm PDT #11082 of 30000
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."
ha! sorry. I'm a secret buster, apparently. Well, thank you for sharing that. Given the plot of the movie, I'm not sure why that opening scene is a surprise. Going in, marginally knowing the plot (I don't really know much about the movie except the basic plot), I kind of expect something like that early in the film.
I heard the movie is boring, so I think I'm going to rent it.
Jesse - Sep 01, 2010 5:17:06 pm PDT #11083 of 30000
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
It's not boring! It's an art film! From what I read.
le nubian - Sep 01, 2010 5:29:08 pm PDT #11084 of 30000
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."
ha!
It's not boring, it's art!
Frankenbuddha - Sep 01, 2010 6:21:10 pm PDT #11085 of 30000
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
I knew there was a twist to be discovered, and early in the movie they focused on Jaye's fake nails. For some reason that tipped me off.
I know folks who figured it was Forrest Whitaker getting offed so suddenly the way he did that was the big twist, and so weren't expecting anything else.
megan walker - Sep 01, 2010 6:26:10 pm PDT #11086 of 30000
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
Speaking of art that's not boring, I just got back from Le Concert.
It was more lighthearted than you would think a Franco-Russian film would be. Basically, it was a sports movie, but about Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto. Plus, Mélanie Laurent.
Strega - Sep 01, 2010 7:29:08 pm PDT #11087 of 30000
I don't think "if it's surprising, you shouldn't mention it" is going to clarify anything, since that's just as subjective, if not more so.
Lots of people figured that Angel was a vampire, because duh, but that was supposed to be a surprise.
§ ita § - Sep 01, 2010 7:33:02 pm PDT #11088 of 30000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Well, again, going merely by the Darla example, that was surprising, happened earlier on, and is important to the tone, and absolutely can be left out in reviewing the episode.
Perhaps this reveal is different--maybe the review that didn't mention it sucked. Maybe the reviewer didn't think it was surprising. Maybe the director didn't think it was surprising, and there were no narrative, onscreen, or sound cues to that effect.
I think it's subjective that knowing Bruce was dead would ruin the movie experience--it certainly enhanced mine. But, damn, it was obvious the filmmaker wanted people to be startled by the reveal, so I let him have that revelation, and wouldn't spoil it myself.
It seems a pretty easy call.