Sick of stupid, overtly pretentious, artsy-fartsy, indie, hipster movies

[Led Zeppelin]

So I just watched Away We Go (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1176740/) and felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. Yeah, I know what the writer and director were trying to make me feel, I know how they tried to make me feel it too, but they failed miserably over and over and over.... I could see these parts coming from a mile ahead.

Oh wow, the guy suddenly realizes that the future is uncertain?

He cries and asks his beloved; "What if I walk beside a construction yard and a brick falls down, hitting me on the head and messing up my frontal lobe whereby my personality changes and I leave you?!?! What then huh?!?! Can we still have this baby?!?!? huh?!??!"

Are you fucking kidding me with this pathetic shit? Yeah, we don't know whether a car is going to hit us when we leave the house the next day. Let's turn that into an existential question of significance for emotional effect. Get the fuck out of here with that shit.

Oh and you know what his beloved says to him as a response that? "Just make sure to be extra careful when you walk next to construction yards." Oh, how witty! Am I supposed to find this answer meaningful, or have some sort of emotional response to it besides utter boredom? Really?

I'm really sick of this bullshit. IMDB gives this crappy movie a 7.5 and I see these pretentious pricks buying the poster and hanging it up on their wall, as it it's some kind of cultural icon now. Haha, yeah, a cultural icon. This is the James Dean, the Casablanca, the Marlon Brando of today.

Here's the story in three sentences: There is a couple of which the female is pregnant. The parents of the male decide to move to Belgium, and since the couple originally moved to where his parents lived they decide to move away now too (there's the reference to the title). They go to Phoenix, Madison, Montreal and eventually end up in Miami.

The fucking end. Trash.

Oh, and the generic indie-folk songs that are put in between the scenes...ugh.

[Pogue]

haah best rant ever :lol:

[Stranger Than Paradise]

I suspected that film would be shit, never had a lot of respect for Sam Mendes.

[rednordman]

haah best rant ever :lol:Word, infact that rant made me want to watch the movie to see if its as bad as the OP says it is.

[Led Zeppelin]

I suspected that film would be shit, never had a lot of respect for Sam Mendes.

I actually thought American Beauty, Revolutionary Road and to a lesser extent Jarhead were pretty decent movies.

This, however...Probably the worst movie I've seen all year.

Another hilarious dialogue from the movie, hilarious in its superficial attempt at eliciting an emotional response:

At the end the woman and the male sit together on the porch of their new house, and the male says; "This place is perfect for us", short pause for effect, "don't you think?". Then the female says, after wiping away a tear; "I hope so. I really fucking hope so".

Ah, how modern! Put in the word "fucking" and you turn a tired old cliche into a new, hip, deep phrase.

Not.

[mykittyhasaboner]

Oh wow, the guy suddenly realizes that the future is uncertain?

He cries and asks his beloved; "What if I walk beside a construction yard and a brick falls down, hitting me on the head and messing up my frontal lobe whereby my personality changes and I leave you?!?! What then huh?!?! Can we still have this baby?!?!? huh?!??!"

Are you fucking kidding me with this pathetic shit? Yeah, we don't know whether a car is going to hit us when we leave the house the next day. Let's turn that into an existential question of significance for emotional effect. Get the fuck out of here with that shit.
:lol::lol::lol:





They go to Phoenix, Madison, Montreal and eventually end up in Miami.

The fucking end. Trash.

:closedeyes: Trash indeed. I typically avoid movies like this.

[Plagueround]

When I saw the title of this thread before opening it, I figured it would be about
"Where the Wild Things Are". :lol:

[Post-Something]

You really shouldnt see Juno.

[Comrade Anarchist]

it seems they think people will love any movie as long as you have a few good songs and some bullshit shits and giggles story about hope or what not.

[Bilan]

So much rage.
Though, Land of the Lost is still worse than this. I mean, this sounds really dull, but man, you have no fucking idea. Block busters are 2 hours of excruciating pain, special effects, an unhealthy dose of cheese, and a touch of Megan Fox (or some other braindead fuckwit) to top it all off.
Pain. Work at a big cinema. You will considering shooting yourself.

[Bilan]

it seems they think people will love any movie as long as you have a few good songs and some bullshit shits and giggles story about hope or what not.

And they're right.
I wouldn't be surprised if the biggest selling movie of the year is Tranformers 2.
Megan Fox + Toys people grew up with + explosions = box office hit.

[Led Zeppelin]

When I saw the title of this thread before opening it, I figured it would be about
"Where the Wild Things Are". :lol:

I'm not even going to touch that one with a ten-foot pole.


You really shouldnt see Juno.

Haha, Juno. I saw that movie in the theater with my ex, and didn't really hate it. It was boring, sure, but at least it was somewhat watchable. This movie, however, not even close.

I'm really not kidding.


So much rage.
Though, Land of the Lost is still worse than this. I mean, this sounds really dull, but man, you have no fucking idea. Block busters are 2 hours of excruciating pain, special effects, an unhealthy dose of cheese, and a touch of Megan Fox (or some other braindead fuckwit) to top it all off.
Pain. Work at a big cinema. You will considering shooting yourself.

Land of the Lost? As with Where The Wild Things Are, I won't even touch these movies with a ten-foot pole.

However, I must confess, I did watch Transformers 2 and attempted (and failed) to watch G.I. Joe. Transformers 2 was watchable, barely, but G.I. Joe wasn't at all. I had to turn that off after about 10 minutes.

Oh, and by barely watchable I mean that I would give it a 2 or 3, while I gave Away We Go a 1. I'd give it a zero if I could.

[rednordman]

And they're right.
I wouldn't be surprised if the biggest selling movie of the year is Tranformers 2.
Megan Fox + Toys people grew up with + explosions = box office hit.I bet you are correct about the Transformers 2 movie being the biggest seller this year at the box office. The funny thing is that all of the many people i have spoken to who have seen it at the cinema, said it was shit. Really shit too.

[ZeroNowhere]

You really shouldnt see Juno.
Hey guys I know some old bands and shit and also I can have my characters make quips every five seconds which are slightly funnier than comedic geniuses like Dane Cook!

But yeah, the OP was a lovely break from the dull 'This film has some reactionary message!' reviews I am used to seeing here on Revleft.


The funny thing is that all of the many people i have spoken to who have seen it at the cinema, said it was shit. Really shit too.The first was. The second is more of the same for a bit longer, apparently. The first one gave me a headache (literally), so I'm not going to be checking, however. Though it did amuse me to see an article named, 'Good story important to Transformers director Michael Bay, Oscar-winner says'. Is it, now?


it seems they think people will love any movie as long as you have a few good songs and some bullshit shits and giggles story about hope or what not.And by 'good', one means 'repulsive'. Fanservice optional, but highly encouraged.

[Led Zeppelin]

But yeah, the OP was a lovely break from the dull 'This film has some reactionary message!' reviews I am used to here on Revleft.

Haha, yeah, I'm not really into using "the Marxist method" to analyze movies, or art in general.

No offense against those who do attempt to do so, of course.

[Plagueround]

Pain. Work at a big cinema. You will considering shooting yourself.

I worked at a theatre as my first job out of high school. I feel your pain.

[Bilan]

Land of the Lost? As with Where The Wild Things Are, I won't even touch these movies with a ten-foot pole.

The latter should be good. Don't be like that. Give it a chance.



However, I must confess, I did watch Transformers 2 and attempted (and failed) to watch G.I. Joe. Transformers 2 was watchable, barely, but G.I. Joe wasn't at all. I had to turn that off after about 10 minutes.

You disgust me.

[*Viva La Revolucion*]

Haha, good review. Never seen the film but I know exactly the type you're talking about.

[Invincible Summer]

I hated Juno and Superbad - it seemed like they were trying wayyyy too hard to be funny and "hip"

[Bilan]

I hated Juno and Superbad - it seemed like they were trying wayyyy too hard to be funny and "hip"

Most comedies attempt to be funny. It is, after all, the basis of the genre.

[Invincible Summer]

Most comedies attempt to be funny. It is, after all, the basis of the genre.

My point is that I felt they were trying too hard to be funny, which is different that "they were trying to be funny but failed"

[Bilan]

Whatever. I'm not going to continue with this. Evidently, most comedians try pretty hard to make their films funny. But this is a side issue.
Superbad was funny in parts, and childish and stupid in others. The "dick" thing was fucking ridiculous. It was like watching three year olds on screen.
I'd say Superbad was the best comedy to come out of Seth Rogan and his fellow comedians. They are, by and large, vulgar, sexist and childish, and unbelievably dull. I couldn't finish Pineapple Express. That was just shit.

[Bilan]

Also, Led, have you seen The Science of Sleep?

[Bilan]

I bet you are correct about the Transformers 2 movie being the biggest seller this year at the box office. The funny thing is that all of the many people i have spoken to who have seen it at the cinema, said it was shit. Really shit too.

Eh, I checked with some of my co-workers who disagree. Up or Inglorious Basterds may well be the two. However, those films are awesome and I am fine with that.

[communard resolution]

I really hate meaningless, bland American 'slice of life' indie movies of the type the OP described.

[Bilan]

I love it when people use "indie" as a synonym for shit they don't like.

[communard resolution]

I love it when people use "indie" as a synonym for shit they don't like.

Sometimes they use it as a synonym for independent movies, i.e. movies that aren't produced by one of the major Hollywood production companies and tend to target an urbane, liberal middle-class demographic.

I love it when people try to be snarky at every opportunity.

[bcbm]

Also, Led, have you seen The Science of Sleep?

i like that movie.


I love it when people use "indie" as a synonym for shit they don't like.

pants too tight again?

[ZeroNowhere]

Most comedies attempt to be funny. It is, after all, the basis of the genre.
The quoted post x 1000 = Juno.

[Invader Zim]

I don't know, some films of this ilk are good. Well that is if i'm thinking of the correct type of film.

There is an arthouse cinema a few minutes walk from where I live, so naturally the cinema is a natural pass time for me. Unfortunately twice a month the cinema allows the local film society a slot, in which they invariably show aged foreign language movies. Case and point, this month they are showing the origional Solyaris. In fairness, Solyaris isn't a bad film, and neither is the US remake. Naturally Solyaris actually breaks the mold in many respects, it is by the standards of this film society exceptionally populist.

[Led Zeppelin]

Also, Led, have you seen The Science of Sleep?

Yeah, it was pretty good.

As for Where The Wild Things Are, I might watch it but I have about a hundred or so films queued up so it'll take a while.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Juno was fucking obnoxious. "Ew, look how hip and cool my references are! LOL, I just namedropped Herschell Gordon Lewis! How hip and kitschy!"

Diablo Cody can fuck off.

[Stranger Than Paradise]

Yes I agree with most of the things people have said in the thread. US Indie movies today are simply a generic brand of dull, meaningless cinema. Gone are the days of Indie pioneers like Cassavetes and Jarmusch.

[Bilan]

i like that movie.

Me too. :)




pants too tight again?

Man, they're so tight.

[Glenn Beck]

Jerry Bruckheimer, now there's an auteur

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

there's nothing remotely independent about this multi-million dollar production with an a-list cast
nor is there anything remotely artistic about it
unoriginal in every way
I would reword the topic title to say Sick of Hollywood

[communard resolution]

there's nothing remotely independent about this multi-million dollar production with an a-list cast
nor is there anything remotely artistic about it
unoriginal in every way
I would reword the topic title to say Sick of Hollywood

It was produced by Big Beach Films, Neal Street Productions, and Edward Saxon Productions - three independent (= non-major) film production companies. It's an indie movie.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

if indie cred is what matters to you, then I'm sorry to burst to your bubble

Neal Street and Big Beach films are both really big production companies
both have been involved in multi-million dollar productions
the producers of this movie have also produced movies for the likes of Sony Pictures, Columbia Pictures and Warned Bros
yeah, I looked them up

you just need to look at the cast of this movie to see that it's not independent

what really matters here, tho, is its total shitness

[communard resolution]

yeah, I looked them up

You wasted your time.


An independent film, or indie film, is a film (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feature_film) that is produced mostly outside of a major film studio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_film_studios). The term is also refers to art films (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_films) which differ markedly from most mass marketed films. In addition to being produced by independent production companies, independent films are often produced and/or distributed by subsidiaries of major studios. In order to be considered independent, less than half a film's financing should come from a major studio. Independent films are sometimes distinguishable by their content and style and the way in which the filmmakers' personal artistic vision is realized. Usually, but not always, independent films are made with considerably lower budgets than major studio films. Generally, the marketing of independent films is characterized by limited release (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited) designed to build word-of-mouth or to reach small specialty audiences.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_film

Happy weekend.

[Stranger Than Paradise]

And I get the impression from bourgeois hipster types I know that they like stuff like Juno which is completely unoriginal, but will call anything remotely avant-garde or surreal and ultimately original; pretentious. Blind idiots.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

It carries none of the characteristics of an independent film
except the most meaningless one: the lesser-known name of the production company
like I said, the people themselves who produced this are major film producers
it's not an "art film"
it is distrubuted and marketed by universal
its budget was enorous

it's only "indie" by some totally meaningless and highly questionable technicality
wikipedia is bullshit, anyways
we all know that

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

it's laughable to see people call multi-million dollar Hollywood productions starring more A-list celebrity actors than most other major studio movies an independent movie
as though the millionaires who financed this thing were in it for the art

it may have been made independently of a major studio, but it was not made independently of a 10 million dollar budget and a major studio cast and crew

[which doctor]

And I get the impression from bourgeois hipster types I know that they like stuff like Juno which is completely unoriginal, but will call anything remotely avant-garde or surreal and ultimately original; pretentious. Blind idiots.
I don't think you know any hipsters...

[Bilan]

And I get the impression from bourgeois hipster types I know that they like stuff like Juno which is completely unoriginal, but will call anything remotely avant-garde or surreal and ultimately original; pretentious. Blind idiots.

I highly doubt everything you just said, and everything it was based upon, and everything you intended to prove by saying it.

[Stranger Than Paradise]

I don't think you know any hipsters...

They think themselves as hipsters. I do not know how you would define a hipster, but I don't know why you can make such a broad statement as to say I don't know any.

Let's look a a definition:

Hipster is a slang term that first appeared in the 1940s, and was revived in the 1990s and 2000s often to describe types of young, recently-settled urban middle class adults and older teenagers with interests in non-mainstream fashion and culture, particularly alternative music, independent rock, independent film, magazines such as Vice and Clash, and websites like Pitchfork Media. In some contexts, hipsters are also referred to as scenesters.

And the people I was referring to definitely fit this definition. And have a loathing for anything which does not fit their fairly mainstream indie image of good. They are very close minded.

[Raúl Duke]

So I just watched Away We Go (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1176740/) and felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. Yeah, I know what the writer and director were trying to make me feel, I know how they tried to make me feel it too, but they failed miserably over and over and over.... I could see these parts coming from a mile ahead.

Oh wow, the guy suddenly realizes that the future is uncertain?

He cries and asks his beloved; "What if I walk beside a construction yard and a brick falls down, hitting me on the head and messing up my frontal lobe whereby my personality changes and I leave you?!?! What then huh?!?! Can we still have this baby?!?!? huh?!??!"

Are you fucking kidding me with this pathetic shit? Yeah, we don't know whether a car is going to hit us when we leave the house the next day. Let's turn that into an existential question of significance for emotional effect. Get the fuck out of here with that shit.

Oh and you know what his beloved says to him as a response that? "Just make sure to be extra careful when you walk next to construction yards." Oh, how witty! Am I supposed to find this answer meaningful, or have some sort of emotional response to it besides utter boredom? Really?

I'm really sick of this bullshit. IMDB gives this crappy movie a 7.5 and I see these pretentious pricks buying the poster and hanging it up on their wall, as it it's some kind of cultural icon now. Haha, yeah, a cultural icon. This is the James Dean, the Casablanca, the Marlon Brando of today.

Here's the story in three sentences: There is a couple of which the female is pregnant. The parents of the male decide to move to Belgium, and since the couple originally moved to where his parents lived they decide to move away now too (there's the reference to the title). They go to Phoenix, Madison, Montreal and eventually end up in Miami.

The fucking end. Trash.

Oh, and the generic indie-folk songs that are put in between the scenes...ugh.

:lol:

While (if this movie is made by Sam Mendes) I liked American Beauty a bit, this movie you describe sounds (plot-wise) like utter crap.


When I saw the title of this thread before opening it, I figured it would be about
"Where the Wild Things Are":lol:

I thought exactly the same thing
In fact, when I heard about the movie (and this feeling only became more confirmed after I watched the trailers on tv) I was like "WTF is this, this movie doesn't seem to me like anything that appeals exactly to children or kids but more to a bunch of hipster-lite kids in high school or the first years of college"


You really shouldnt see Juno.:D QFT


Superbad-Pineapple Express Why I agree with Bilan on Superbad, I actually somewhat liked Pineapple Express although I understand where you are coming from.


Also, Led, have you seen The Science of Sleep?hahaha I liked (a bit) that movie too
That movie is crazy I didn't understand the first time I saw it, then somewhat understood (or came to grips that the movie, or parts of the plot/story, is just crazy and let it go; people should do this concerning the movie "Donnie Darko" and just realize that they are wasting there time analyzing it and realize they are probably falling into the, whether intentionla or not, director's trap of analyzing something that is pure fantasy), and now I think next time I see it I should be stoned/etc out of my mind and see how that goes.

[berlitz23]

Isn't Indie an oxymoron? What is exactly independent from external influences or forces these days?

[Jimmie Higgins]

I hated "American Beauty" - oh poor you with your big house and car - wow, a bag floating in the air, how unique just like you - what self-indulgent crap. I actually liked parts of "Revolutionary Road" but the conclusion and the contrived "crazy" character ruined it.

I have no interest in "Away we go". "Where the Wild things are" was good though - the kid makes the movie and it goes through the fantasy vs. reality stuff in a much more interesting and thought-provoking way than most movies that take on similar themes.

I was in high school in the early 90s and so, growing up, I thought rock always had to be self-produced on a tape-deck, rap had to be explicitly political, and "good" movies were always made on 16 mm and had a bunch of new yorkers smoking and swearing constantly. I wasn't snobby about it because I liked mainstream stuff too - I just thought that early 90s "independent" was a cultural norm. I felt naive and caught off guard when that cultural era faded and left us with the real status quo of American pop: Roland Emmerich and Fred Durst. And after that I got to be the old man saying: "you call this indie! Let me tell you about indie - I once saw a 3 hour movie with no dialogue or characters that took place inside a sensory deprivation booth!"

I like it when movies have good politics, but that's secondary to me - the most important thing is that it isn't safe, the same, or boring and is worth the $8 bucks.

[which doctor]

They think themselves as hipsters. I do not know how you would define a hipster, but I don't know why you can make such a broad statement as to say I don't know any.
If they think of themselves as hipsters, that's the first sign they probably aren't...

If you have to appeal to wikipedia for your definition of hipster, than just give up, that article is terrible by the way.

[Bilan]

8 bucks?! That's cheaper than our cheap day! Minimum standard price here is $16!

[Bilan]

If they think of themselves as hipsters, that's the first sign they probably aren't...


In a Hipsterfied world, the true is a moment of the false. The hipster identity is constructed externally: the Sartrean key hole is how the hipster is defined. The hipster is in denial of everything, including himself. The realisation of one self as a hipster immediately separates one from them self. One is no longer a hipster once one knows they are a hipster.

[Jimmie Higgins]

8 bucks?! That's cheaper than our cheap day! Minimum standard price here is $16!


Actually now it's a little cheap here too. Old man me: we use to see double features for 3 bucks when I was a kid and then we'd sneak into 2 more shows!

But wow, $16! I thought the exchange rate was basically $1 to $1 - if that's still true that's really steep. If concessions are as overpriced as in the US, you must be paying $43 for a soda.

Do most theaters sell alcohol there? There was only one in Oakland that sold beer, but it went out of business:(. Capitalism even ruins the capitalist things I like.

[Bilan]

At my cinema, we have two separate bars. With one, you can take alcohol in - 4 special licensed cinemas, known as "Gold Class". Hella bourgie. It's outrageous.
It's $38 for a ticket, and that includes nothing but a seat.
We have a separate bar, however, down stairs. Still expensive, but you can't take the alcohol into the cinema.
But a lot of cinemas here sell alcohol.

And nay, nay, $1 =/= $1Aus.

[BurnTheOliveTree]

I really liked Juno.

I watched 500 days of summer the other day though, and felt a bit bored by it. Nothing particularly seemed to happen, and the characters were stylised to the point of being really vacuous. No one has a personality like the people in these films.

But Juno was excellent, and you can fuck off if you don't think so. =p

-Alex

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

At my cinema, we have two separate bars.


you have a cinema?

[Bilan]

I say my, but I mean I work at a cinema. I don't own it. haha

[Stranger Than Paradise]

I really liked Juno.

I watched 500 days of summer the other day though, and felt a bit bored by it. Nothing particularly seemed to happen, and the characters were stylised to the point of being really vacuous. No one has a personality like the people in these films.

But Juno was excellent, and you can fuck off if you don't think so. =p

-Alex

I'll get my coat...

[Led Zeppelin]

If anyone want to see a good movie check out Goya's Ghost (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455957/).

Saw it yesterday and enjoyed it very much. :)

[Bilan]

Go see Blessed. Awesome movie.

[ZeroNowhere]

Isn't Indie an oxymoron? What is exactly independent from external influences or forces these days?
No, it's a single word. Perhaps you mean 'inaccurate'.

[communard resolution]

It carries none of the characteristics of an independent film

Yes, it does - the fact that it was produced by none of the major film production companies. As is normally the case with indie movies, it was then distributed by a major company.

This is all it takes to define a film as independent.


its budget was enorousThis does not prevent a film (or to draw a parellel with the rock world, a well-earning band that is signed to a big indie label such as Sub Pop or Rough Trade) from being an independent movie.


it's only "indie" by some totally meaningless and highly questionable technicalityNo, this technicality is all that matters. Independent is an objective film industry term used to describe the circumstances I outlined above. It is not the same as "underground", "punk", "art" or "cool", which are subective terms.


wikipedia is bullshit, anyways
we all know thatIf you think that Dr. Rosenpenis of revleft knows better than everybody who works in the film industry what defines an independent film, please send your suggestions to edit the entry to wikipedia.

[Rusty Shackleford]

funny thing. i was reading this while i was letting Coffee and Cigarettes (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379217/)load. wasnt that good. all it made me want to do was have a cup of coffee and have a damn cigarette.

[Decolonize The Left]

LZ, I'm sorry you suffered through Away We Go. I highly recommend, to recoup your sense of senselessness, that you watch Pierrot Le Fou (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059592/) immediately.

- August

[Black Star]

'Indie flicks', while not the best medium of film, is a notable improvement from the big-action/romantic-comedy moves that have dominated the scene in my opinion.

[Angry Young Man]

After reading this thread, I decided to not watch this, but I did read about it on wikipedia. Seems really boring and pretty conservative somehow.