Subj : Re: Usual Suspects
To   : alt.tv.farscape
From : RR
Date : Sun Sep 18 2005 03:31:58

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.farscape

Trouble wrote:

>>>> I am watching it now.
>
>>>> (Who is Keyser Soze?)
>
>>> KEYSER SOOOOOZZZZZZZEEEEEE!
>
>>> Great movie.
>
>> Vastly overrated nonsense. YMO*V.
>
> Overrated? If by that you mean when Hollywood makes a movie that feels
> the teensiest bit edgy, or original they want dissporportionately
> large gobs of credit for their achievement.

Jesus Paul - your posts are always the hardest to reply to. (I mean that in
a good way.)

I never considered TUS a "Hollywood" movie despite the cast. I think it's an
OK larger-than-average budgeted indie film worth a single viewing. But once
you go for round 2, you know the entire affair is an elaborate ruse and that
none of it went down the way we see it. Maybe this works for some or rather
some feel that what is shown is fun regardless, but for me it's a huge
cheat.


> It beat Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Momento all to the screen, and I
> think had a large part to do with them being made as projects.

Agree. It unleashed that whole wave of "Now I have to see it again"
filmmaking, which in general I do not like.

I don't need a huge twist to get me to watch a movie again. I see plenty of
flix repeatedly that do not have twist endings.

That said, there are certain films in the genre that I do enjoy. "Swimming
Pool" leaps to mind. I liked "Unbreakable" and think it's the best of
Shyamalan's work. "Vanilla Sky" is a huge fave of mine.

Even if you wanna go back in time I love "Sleuth" and also "Witness for the
Prosecution". Those last two knew how to deliver a twist without ruining
everything that came before. The same cannot be said for TUS. On the surface
it seems clever, but I really don't think that it is. Hated, HATED
"Memento". If you were to take the story that occurs in that film and watch
it in a linear fashion it would be a straight-to-video cop film starring Van
Damme or someone like him.

-- 
RR

"It's been my experience that every
  time I think I know 'where it's at,'
      it's really somewhere else."
      - William Holden - S.O.B.

.