Pretentious arthouse bulldoodoo.

[sethsez]

The problem with Altered States is that it DOES have a promising premise, and it really could have been something great, but even the screenwriter (who was also the author of the novel) wanted his name taken off the finished product once he saw it. Even the dialog isn't as bad as a lot of movies I've accepted, but the delivery is totally off. The basis for the story is ridiculous, but most of the blame still falls on the director far having no clue what to do with it.

Oh, and...

low angles, bombastic and self-important tones

There's plenty of this, too.

Don't get me wrong, though. I still highly recommend seeing it, since even a bad film like this is still generally interesting. It's no Tetsuo, though... that was in a class of its own.

[StriderKyo]

Don't get me wrong, though. I still highly recommend seeing it, since even a bad film like this is still generally interesting. It's no Tetsuo, though... that was in a class of its own.

What the heck did Tetsuo teach us about life, other than that women should stay away from guys with power drills for penises? I saw that movie (actually, I think I might have seen the sequel) at the provincial art gallery and for the life of me I couldn't figure out what was highbrow about it.

[Gymkata]

Yeah....take a good look at this kind of movie. Its the polar oposite of movies like catwoman. And most likely, you want to stay away from either.

[sethsez]

What the heck did Tetsuo teach us about life

Not a damn thing. Like I said, I find it highly entertaining, but not for the reasons it was intended to be. The fact that whoever made Tetsuo thought a stop-motion battle between two telekinetic men made of metal objects somehow conveyed a deep and insightful message is hilarious to me. At least with Catwoman you know nobody ever thought they were making high art.

[The_Meach]

stoner white-boy mysticism

Heh. I like it.

Now all I need is a euphemism for anime.

[Gymkata]

Hey...you got your good anime, and then theres the bargain bin stuff that compromises so much of the industry. Its like saying that live action movies are crap cause you saw...well....Gymkata (the movie)

[arjue]

Heh. I like it.

Now all I need is a euphemism for anime.

how about "Shit and gay"?

[Drewbacca]

Analyzing movies rarely moves beyond looking at symbolism, foreshadowing, and vague metaphors ("Well, I think the red tinting of the screen represents Vietnam, and the fact that's he cutting himself with a razor is about how we're all killing ourselves over threre!"). Not worth it. I admit that I used to watch a lot of movies under that ridculous pretense ("Oh, a Swedish movie...this'll tell me how to live my life" or "Well, this is a movie by Tarkovsky, so it's okay if I don't know what the fuck is going on.").

Analyzing movies is fun. Sometimes there's deeper messages (not the answers to life) about the movie and story you watched. Also, it's also fun to look at how the director used cinematography to evoke in a scene. It's not pretentious, nobody is saying you have to do this in order to be smart or "hip". It's just something some people like to do.

[Gymkata]

What gets me is the fact that sometimes things can be so open ended. A symbol for one thing can be used for nigh infinitely many things.

[sethsez]

What gets me is the fact that sometimes things can be so open ended. A symbol for one thing can be used for nigh infinitely many things.

The best example of this I can think of is The Holy Mountain by Alejandro Jodorowsky. It's so over-the-top that I honestly can't tell if it's bullshit or brilliance, but either way I have no idea what the hell is going on in the movie.

The same could apply to Salo, although that movie is about as blunt as you can get.