Requiem For A Dream and Donnie Darko

[Andio]

Right, ive searched this forum up and down and not found any discussions on two of my favourite films...

Requiem For A Dream : Anyone else believe that this is an amazing film potraying how easy it is for life to deteriorate into nothingness?

Donnie Darko : What a film, only recently watched it, but omfg its such an original classic. Did anyone actually understand wtf was going on first time round?

Andio

[Zens_7s]

Donnie Darko is one of my favorite movies also.

Did I understand what was going on at first? No way - but after the second viewing things really began to fall into place. If you have the DVD, listen to the commentary track with the Director and Jake G. They point out some clues I didn't catch.

If you enjoyed the movie that much you MUST check out the website for the movie. http://www.donniedarko.com/
The whole theme of the movie is carried through the site like a game. Instead of rehashing what you already know, they continue the story after the movie ends.

As for Requiem for a Dream, I nominate it for two awards in my personal collection:
1. Best score ever, ever, ever by the Kronos Quartet
2. Best proof that freaky things happen when you do enough drugs to kill a large horse

I have a friend who swears that it sucked because the whole point was drugs are bad. I don't see that at all. I viewed the movie as a great study in the deconstruction of hope. Who knows! Maybe neither of us are correct.

[Tuskinashi]

Note: Following post contains some spoilers. Read if you feel kinda funny.

I myself just recently saw Donnie Darko.

Why wasn't I notified of this great flick sooner? Honestly, God can go to hell with his channel if he can't direct me towards these flicks sooner.

Did I understand what was going on the first time around? Well, if you mean events in the story.. yea.. I understood most of it. Of course during the middle of the flick you can't really understand what the end of the world was. But towards the end I knew the end of the world would be the end of Donnie's life, the end of his world.

The time travel thing was a little off though. Even though it worked in the movie.. dunno.. just wasn't what I was expecting.

Did they ever explain what Grandma Death was looking for in the mail? That's the only part that still confuses me.

[Razorback]

"Donnie Darko" is so damn good that I get the giggles when I think about it. Man, what a twisted, cool, screwed up, interesting, freaky movie! I mean... wow. GENIUS!

"Requiem For A Dream" is also an extremely good movie. But it is no "Darko"!

RB

[Outer1]

Well I guess I'll be the first to stick my neck out on the block.

Donnie Darko: I saw this based soley on the comments of others not having known anything about it. It was ok. I don't quite understand why everyone raves about it so much, but it's still not a bad flick....on the other hand.

Requiem For A Dream: Is crap. I hate this movie, and then I hate it some more. The old lady's problem wasn't the diet pills....she was crazy long before then. Darren Aronofsky just needs to stop making movies and take up typing or shoe shining.

[Matt1]

I think "Requiem for a Dream" is probably the most sadistic movie I've ever seen. I liked it, but by the end I felt really torn up inside. Which is good.

Donnie Darko is a great movie. There's so much stuff going on, on so many levels. A coming of age, apocalyptic, time-travel, teen comedy, '80s movie, social satire, superhero movie is a rare, wonderful thing.

[Razorback]

Everyone needs a shitty opinion. /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

RB

[JIM]

Have'nt watched Requiem For A Dream yet. Soon.
I have seen Donnie Darko though. Really good movie! I "got it" the first time 'round. Kelly did a nice job on that one.
*Jimmy Stewart walks in... "MY GOD! Harvey! What the hell happened to ya!?" *
And Maggie Gyllenhaal's pretty... /forums/images/icons/blush.gif

[Razorback]

Is that a Rainbow 6 operative juggling frags? /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

RB

[jjcourtright]

I am going to have to stick my neck out with Outer. I have not seen Donnie Darko, but I hated Requiem for a Dream. It goes in my worst movies file. Never to be seen again.

[Razorback]

Not everyone can have good taste. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

RB

[Sean_Cauley]

Requiem was a tough watch. Effective, but not something I'm anxious to spin repeatedly.

I just saw Donnie Darko a couple months ago, and absolutely loved it. It's got a great tone throughout, and a terrific cast. Holmes Osbourne is great as Dad Darko, Jake & Maggie Gyllenhaal have a great brother/sister chemistry (naturally), Mary McDonnell is great, and Swayze's just the man here.

If you check out the DVD, watch with the director/Jake commentary just for Jake Gyllenhaal's impressive Chris Walken impression.

[Razorback]

I love Chris Walken impressions. /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif I'm sure that I will get tired of them some day but not yet.

RB

[jasonfitch]

I will never never never get tired of Walken impressions.
I loved Donnie Darko, its one of those movies you can watch over and over again and find new stuff, also it has one of the funniest exchanges in movie history: "What are feces? Baby mice, I think. Awwwww!" Now if one of the girls recited her lines as Christopher Walken...
I think Requiem for a Dream was a great movie too although I don't know if I'd watch it repeatedly.

[Razorback]

I wouldn't watch it (Requiem...) more than a few times. It is not one of those movies that one pops in for fun.

RB

[Shawnathan]

Walken impersonations will always be funny. Take the Simpsons for instance: "...the cow jumped over da moon. Children, scootch closer. You in the red, chop chop." With the kids cowering. Hoo.

Donnie Darko is an excellent movie. I never got to go see it in the theatres, but I bought the DVD as soon as it came out. Gyllenhal(sp?) had that perfect half glazed over look the entire film, that really made the character work. Plus Patrick Swayze? Man, that was just so weird. I loved it.

Didn't see Requiem. I take it I should at least give it a watch. As long as it doesn't depress me too much. I don't want to spend the rest of the day watching cartoons, crying, and eating those little chocolate mini-donuts.

[Razorback]

Why not? That sounds like fun!

RB

[Shawnathan]

It's all about scheduling, man. I need to fit in "Crying + Video games", "Crying + vacuuming", and the all important "Crying + destroying all those that oppose me". As lazy as I am, it's hard to fit all that shit into a day.

I wonder if we have donuts in the vending machines here...

No. Shit.

[Razorback]

Every now and then I just start crying... usually after sex or after I tell someone I love them. I wonder what that is all about. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

RB

[Shawnathan]

At least it's after sex, and not during. Then you might have problems.

Plus the clowns and the rest of the circus might think something is wrong with you.

And that would just be unliveable.

[Razorback]

Or unlivable.

RB

[Shawnathan]

Goddamnit. I argued with myself for like ten minutes about that. I'm such a bitch.

[Razorback]

If it looks wrong it probably is wrong. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

Anyway, I'm out.

RB

[Dave]

If Requiem is good for nothing else, it at least shows us Jen Connelly's bush. that is worth the $3 dvd rental. I'm not sure that that movie shows the degeneration of life into nothingness though, it's pretty clear from the start that these characters have no life. a great depressing flick, with kick ass editing, that eye crinkle needle shit was the bomb. and the slowmotion foreground spedup background.

[Omaru]

crying after you tell someone you love them, thats called scoring sympathy points, anywya I never cry, I have to resort to soap/pepper/aftershave (depending on location) to get the old waterworks a flowing.

[Razorback]

I sometimes cry when the wind blows.

RB

[crazysheet]

First one good, second one meh. Anyone could make something confusing and have some wannabe intellectuals recognize it's confusing and think that means its smart or good. No, it's just confusing.

[ozchick]

I haven't seen Requiem but I saw Donnie Darko a few months ago. I liked it - it was dark and bizaare - but I'm still trying to get it!! Let me clarify that without spoilers - I got the plot-line - but the actual individual scenes still have me stupified, intrigued and excited!!!

[Razorback]

I think you have it backwards... I think some stupid people might become confused by it and then attack it because they don't understand it or because it made them angry to have to experience something that is not moronic like the Matrix.

RB

[Michael_Crawford]

Darko is a great flick - very well constructed, and some great acting.

I haven't seen Requiem, but I did just see Aronofsky's earlier Pi. I enjoyed it, although not quite as much as some other folks. I did a recent review at my site:

http://www.mwctoys.com/MOVIES_PI_041003.htm

Anyone else watch it? I find it amusing that Aronofsky has gotten such major press with so little behind him - other than Requiem, he's got Pi, the God awful Protozoa, and a couple co-writing credits.

Michael
MWC

[Zens_7s]

I have Pi on DVD (a gift last year from a friend). Do I think it is worth seeing? yes Do I count it as a favorite? no

What becomes difficult to determine is whether we are seeing reality, or just Max's delusions. Are his Hasidic (sp?) and Wall Street "visitors" real, or simply delusions of persecution that often occur in mentally ill people? Max may have been a genius, but as the cliché says, there is a fine line between genius and insanity. I can't help but wonder if everything we are seeing is in Max's head.

Aronofsky's techno music and camera work give brilliant visual detail for the headaches. Maybe Max's headaches are not real either, but a way to demonstrate the cognitive dissonance between reality and delusional obsession.

In a strange parallel, my favorite novel Microserfs (Douglas Coupland) has a line that says "I learned a new word today: 'trepanation' - drilling a hole in the skull to relieve pressure on the brain". The character was dealing with mental stress of the work kind. Years later, while watching Pi, I was sickened because I realized what it meant to need such extreme measures. The trepanation sequence I fast forward...Once was enough.

Of course, this whole thing is just my take on the movie, and maybe I am the one who is totally wacked out! I am heading to read your review now, and looking forward to it...

[Razorback]

I like quirky shit so I dig Pi. I have never seen Protozoa though... what is so bad about it?

RB

[crazysheet]

I sat through Donnie Darko. It wasn't particularly painful, but I didn't particularly like it. What is it that makes it a great movie?

[Razorback]

What's not to like about it?

RB

[crazysheet]

Perhaps nothing, but what is to like about it?

[Jon_A]

Donnie Darko is probably my favourite film from last year (we had to wait a year for it to hit cinemas in the UK). Coming out of the dark cinema into sunlight felt like I was waking up from a really bizarre dream. In a good way.

I really enjoyed Requiem for a Dream, but plenty of people I know hate it with a passion. It's certainly not an easy film to watch, but I kind of like being assualted by films, rather that than some bland rom-com that makes you feel nothing. You've got to love the whole 'ass to ass' thang /forums/images/icons/shocked.gif

[jjcourtright]

What is a rom-com?

[crazysheet]

romantic comedy

[jjcourtright]

Gotcha, I thought that it was some crazy European term. Thanks.

[Razorback]

I have never heard anyone call it a "rom-com".

Ever.

In my line of work it sounds more like something that a CD player would do within the system bus.

RB