(no subject)

[andrewducker]

A cool rant from someone else on the Film Review board at work

Okay, I'm getting cross now. First up, Ichi the Killer - lovely film, last five minutes make no sense at all, and several major plot points end up completely unresolved.

Suicide Circle - lovely film - last 20 minutes make no sense at all, and several major plot points end up completely unresolved.

Ring - boring film, last 15 minutes make no sense at all, introduce a *massive* deus ex machina and several major plot points end up completely unresolved.

Dark Water - rubbish film, last 15 minutes make no sense at all, and several major plot points end up completely unresolved.

Yes, there's a lot of review sites out there that seem to say that this is how the japanese audiences like their films, but as a stylistic technique it gets real old real fast. Maybe western audiences like a little more 'closure' in their films, some kind of handle on whodunnit (or whatdunnit). All I know is that if I see one more film like this I swear I will stalk and slaughter the director, all the while screaming "It was ME! Do you see? ME! *I* did it! I'm the villain!"

Comments

bullshit

[josephgrossberg.livejournal.com]

Case in point: The Big Lebowski

SPOILER ALERT
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The Dude never gets his, or any other, carpet back (this is specifically noted in the Director's Commentary). Maude Lebowski may or may not have let her father get away with his embezzling once Bunny reappeared. Jackie Treehorn may or may not have gone after Bunny's debt and the teen car thief. Etc.

There is closure in the sense of getting a handle on "how we got here", but almost none in terms of "what happens now".
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SPOILERS OVER

The funny part is, I blamed my repeated intoxication while viewing for the fact I couldn't recall "the ending".

Re: bullshit

[andrewducker]

I always felt the The Big Lebowski was a satire on detective movies - I love the bit where The Dude picks up the pad and scribbles on the next page to see what clue was written there, to find nothing but an obscene drawing.

Re: bullshit

[josephgrossberg.livejournal.com]

LOL. That is my favorite part too. And then the cop finds that in his posession.

[theferrett.livejournal.com]

See, I liked the Ring. I don't find it to be a deus ex machina - yeah, there are a few weirdnesses, but for me it hung together well. If you're familiar with the genre, consider it a Call of Cthulhu adventure. It hits all the highlights of every good game.

If you'd care to debate, we can create a Wall of Spoilers elsewhere.

[andrewducker]

It was the way the curse was passed on that the person considered a Deus Ex Machina.

Personally I liked Ring. In a 'hiding behind the sofa and having nightmares' kind of way.

[theferrett.livejournal.com]

I found it to be precisely the opposite. If the ending had stopped where we all thought it did, THAT to me would have been a deux ex machina. I rather liked the interpretation of evil in this; it's not easily stopped by a hug, nor should it be.

[kurosau.livejournal.com]

Interesting. You should point them to synopsis (is that proper pluralization?) on Ringworld, where you get to find out exactly why the curse propagates in that way, and there's nothing Deus Ex Machina about it.

It's neat because only the first book is absolute horror, and by the third and last in the series, it's actually become quite a twisted little sci-fi tale.

[derumi.livejournal.com]

Eh, how do I get to argue against that viewpoint?