Understanding Movies: Who Has This (Specific) Problem?
Understanding Movies: Who Has This (Specific) Problem?
#1Understanding Movies: Who Has This (Specific) Problem?
Posted: 11/21/07 at 4:44pm
Does anyone have a problem in which, if you don't know anything about a movie before going to see it, you don't understand the plot? I do, and I need some company.
(I went to see AMERICAN GANGSTER last weekend only knowing that Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington were in it. It was a bad experience.)
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
#2re: Understanding Movies: Who Has This (Specific) Problem?
Posted: 11/21/07 at 4:55pmIt depends on the film. If it is so ridiculously easy to follow (ie: "The Lion King"), then I don't have a problem. But if "Cats" was put on film and I had never seen "Cats" before, chances are high that I wouldn't have the foggiest idea what was going on.
#2re: Understanding Movies: Who Has This (Specific) Problem?
Posted: 11/21/07 at 5:07pmIf "Cats" was put on film, I wouldn't worry about understanding it, I'd just jump out of a very high window.
~Lina Lamont
My name wasn't, isn't, and will never be Scott.
#3re: Understanding Movies: Who Has This (Specific) Problem?
Posted: 11/21/07 at 5:20pm
I can't do Shakespeare without knowing the plot in advance. But easy films are no problem. ^_^
#4re: Understanding Movies: Who Has This (Specific) Problem?
Posted: 11/22/07 at 4:57pmI have that same problem with Shakespeare. When "The Merchant of Venice" came out, I read up on it before hand, watched the movie, and could barely understand what was going on. Jeremy Irons was fantastic in that movie, though.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#5re: Understanding Movies: Who Has This (Specific) Problem?
Posted: 11/22/07 at 10:24pm
I remember seeing Derek Jarman's "Blue" and I couldn't even tell who was whom.
The plot of Andy Warhol's "Empire" was just incomprehensible to me. And it seemed long.
#6re: Understanding Movies: Who Has This (Specific) Problem?
Posted: 11/22/07 at 10:29pm
That tends to happen to me with Terry Gilliam movies a lot - like Brazil or The Adventures of Baron Munchaussen. I enjoy them a lot more when I know what I'll be seeing.
Of course, there are many many movies that are simply bad...
#7understanding movies: who has this (specific) problem?
Posted: 11/22/07 at 10:34pmi totally wouldn't have been able to follow ghost rider had i not read one of the comic books first. same with 300. i mean some movies like that just make no cents, right?
...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty
pray to st. jude
i'm a sonic reducer
he was the gimmicky sort
fenchurch=mejusthavingfun=magwildwood=mmousefan=bkcollector=bradmajors=somethingtotalkabout: the fenchurch mpd collective
#8understanding movies: who has this (specific) problem?
Posted: 11/22/07 at 10:35pmI found American Gangster to be extremely easy to follow to the point of being predictable and dull, actually.
#9understanding movies: who has this (specific) problem?
Posted: 11/22/07 at 10:41pmi would find that statement very difficult to follow had i not read it before about other subjects.
...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty
pray to st. jude
i'm a sonic reducer
he was the gimmicky sort
fenchurch=mejusthavingfun=magwildwood=mmousefan=bkcollector=bradmajors=somethingtotalkabout: the fenchurch mpd collective
#10understanding movies: who has this (specific) problem?
Posted: 11/22/07 at 10:45pmWhat's that, papa? I'm not following what you're trying to convey, I don't think.
#11understanding movies: who has this (specific) problem?
Posted: 11/22/07 at 10:47pm
last. three. words.
...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty
pray to st. jude
i'm a sonic reducer
he was the gimmicky sort
fenchurch=mejusthavingfun=magwildwood=mmousefan=bkcollector=bradmajors=somethingtotalkabout: the fenchurch mpd collective
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#12understanding movies: who has this (specific) problem?
Posted: 11/22/07 at 11:35pm
Thanks, Namo, for bringing up BLUE. A very moving film. Is it on video anymore?
As for the thread itself, well, yeah, sometimes a movie can be a little hard to follow sometimes on a first viewing. Some movies need to be seen more than once to get to the bottom of them. Of course, most movies can be dispensed with after a single viewing.
So Bustopher, care to share any movies that confused you on a first viewing?
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