Bless This Mess

[Nurb]

I normally love crazy stuff like this and play the GTA games, but this trailer left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

The guy says: "Why bother having a civilization when no one is interested in being civilized"

Then it shows a young girl shooting a group of protestors exercising thier right to free speech from a stolen car and gunning down assholes in a theater for talking since his fatal tumor will keep him from experiencing the consequences of murdering people because he doesn't like them.

I really do hope Bobcat is aiming for irony about this stuff because all of that just seems "Off".

 

[Metalix Knightmare]

So, you like it because you agree with it?

Question: would you be similarly amused (or at least accepting) with a movie revolving around killing MSNBC hosts, NPR "reporters," Al Sharpton, fanatical atheists like Dan Savage, and everyone who wants to kill North Carolinans? What do you think the metascores for the two would be, all other things being equal - and is it even remotely acceptable if one side gets savaged when the other gets a free pass? I'm inclined to think not.

So, have you ever listened to NPR? I'm asking because it seems like anyone wants to hold something up as the liberal equivalent to Fox News they go to NPR without ever actually listening to it.

Eeeeyup. Although a more accurate counterpart would be MSNBC, as both seem determined to out-bias the other.

NPR is as follows: Democrat says something? "Let's bring him on and let him talk about it!" Republican says something? "But as Dina Temple-raston reports, that's not actually true. So we've brought on someone to discredit it."

I feel like you can't really compare that to Fox News's "Shout at anyone who I disagree with until their segment is over then pretend I won the argument" tactic.

Which is why my Fox comparison was with MSNBC. NPR was there mainly as a counterpart to "right-wing talk radio hosts" - again, not as strong, but what can I say? Republicans own talk radio.

The thing is, this movie isn't about bias in news but about people acting like assholes. The only left-wing figure I can think of that are on the same level as the right wing pundits is Bill Maher.

It's rather interesting that you think right-wing pundits in general are on the level of Bill Maher. We have our own share of asses, but no more frequently than the left. Any impression you may have otherwise is more than likely the result of your own perspective.
Examples to the contrary: Dan Savage (not a pundit, but a public speaker; had a rather impressive angry meltdown at an anti-bullying talk), MSNBC host Tim Carney, who (just today/yesterday) cut off someone who was trying to defend Romney vs. the "bullying" escapade. There's plenty more where they came from; it's just not quite as obvious when you're ostensibly on the same side.

Again, I don't see how cutting Tim Carney's mike after he attempted to steer the conversation in a different direction(which I do disagree with) compares to Bill O'Reily or Sean Hannity shouting down someone with a different viewpoint.

Or the fact that FOX news can legally lie about what they report. Kinda hard to compete with that really.

 

[Metalix Knightmare]

I normally love crazy stuff like this and play the GTA games, but this trailer left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

The guy says: "Why bother having a civilization when no one is interested in being civilized"

Then it shows a young girl shooting a group of protestors exercising thier right to free speech from a stolen car and gunning down assholes in a theater for talking since his fatal tumor will keep him from experiencing the consequences of murdering people because he doesn't like them.

I really do hope Bobcat is aiming for irony about this stuff because all of that just seems "Off".

Considering those protestors are a parody of the Westboro Baptist Church, I see no reason to get upset.

 

[Nurb]

I normally love crazy stuff like this and play the GTA games, but this trailer left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

The guy says: "Why bother having a civilization when no one is interested in being civilized"

Then it shows a young girl shooting a group of protestors exercising thier right to free speech from a stolen car and gunning down assholes in a theater for talking since his fatal tumor will keep him from experiencing the consequences of murdering people because he doesn't like them.

I really do hope Bobcat is aiming for irony about this stuff because all of that just seems "Off".

Considering those protestors are a parody of the Westboro Baptist Church, I see no reason to get upset.

Killing people for being offensive and stupid is a bad thing.

 

[AvsJoe]

William Hung came on the [Jimmy] Kimmel show when I was directing it, and [workers] were telling me 'Hung is such a pain in the ass, he's f***ing difficult!' I'm all 'What?' I was fascinated by that, there were things William Hung would or wouldn't do, it made me go 'Wow, everybody's corrupt.'

This just blows me away. Hung is incredibly bad but in on the joke so I assumed that he was a decent guy like other similar celebrities. I'm genuinely shocked.

 

[malestrithe]

God Bless America is the second best movie I've seen all year, Avengers being the first.
And yeah the thing is preachy as hell with its message, but its a message that NEEDS to be given in our "modern" world.

That is sad knowing you think the message is as important as the best comic book movie of all time.

 

[BrotherRool]

Imagination is an important part of the thinking process! Theory: If x^2 is even x is even. What if x was odd? Then it'd =2k+1 => x^2 =2(2k^2+2k)+1 = odd, so it doesn't exist so x is even.

Theory: I like this film because of it's quality, not because I agree with the ideals.
What if the ideals were anti-christian? Then I'd probably object so how I agree with the ideals must affect my enjoyment of the film.

The only case where it doesn't apply is if you think there isn't the possibility of the other film existing and that's rarely true. Even then you'd basically be saying 'I like this because it agrees with my beliefs, luckily my beliefs are correct so the film is correct'

You do realize that you make anything appear logical by using a jumbled series of words?

It would be one thing if the premise of your argument's premise is accurate. It is a flawed premise to think that anyone of us can divorce themselves entirely from their life experiences. Your statement # 2 does not exist in the real world; we all bring our own life experiences to everything we do. If you grew up in a place that has no religious background, how can you possible understand how a religious person feels?

It would be one thing to ask me to write a story, analyze a movie for strengths and weaknesses, compare various iterations of Transformers ideals, or to ask my opinion on certain writers. All of those things take effort and imagination to pull off. All of those I can do and that is where I focus my creative energies.

Like I've said many times, when the reverse movie is available for me to look at and see, I'll make my judgement call then. I cannot take offense to something that does not exist. Until that moment, it is a waste of our time, energy and imaginative efforts to deal with that scenario.

But you're not expected to get angry at it? The whole point is it demonstrates to a reasonable degree of accuracy how you actually film about the film exists in the now and then.

I know it's not perfect but no maths would be made (well not much of it proof by contrapositive is one of the fundamental proofs) and no books would be written or films were created if people didn't have the capacity to in some degree think about things that don't exist.

And it is perfectly logical. That would be exactly what you do to conduct a scientific experiment for anything. Like contrapositive is a thing and the opposite of 'Like this film not based on it's agreeable ideals' is 'Dislike this film based on its disagreeable ideals'

I mean there is almost nothing you can do if you unable to any extent to contemplate imaginary things. And this one is perfectly easy because the whole point is you don't even leave you personal experience, everyone has had experience of things and media disagreeing with their viewpoint and you just insert that viewpoint and if your feelings are still 'the acting was really good' then well done.

 

[Moeez]

I did love the movie. I can agree it was too preachy, but for me I loved the writing so much (the Diablo Cody joke is so sharp!), the rants, and the acting was so compelling that I didn't mind those rants stopped the movie dead in its tracks. It's a great black comedy, there are so many hilarious scenes with great timing like when he does kill the "Super Sweet 16" (this isn't a spoiler, it's in the trailer) he initially wants to do it with putting a flaming cloth in the fuel tank door and is doing the "cool guys don't look at explosions" walk but then realises the cloth fell off. The baby scene in the opening is so absurdly amazing. A scene where they kill off people who text and talk in the cinema. As a comedy, I enjoyed it a lot.

As a film with a message, the statements that stuck with me was about we don't have real conversations anymore but instead regurgitate what happened on TV or games last night to our friends:

"I mean, nobody talks about anything anymore. They just regurgitate everything they see on TV, or hear on the radio, or watch on the web. When was the last time you had a real conversation with someone without somebody texting, or looking at a screen or monitor over your head. You know, conversation about something that wasn't celebrities, gossip, sports, or pop politics. Something important, something personal."

If you take it seriously, it is messy, like how Roxy thinks she's oh so edgy while in fact she's just another stereotype of a young character who curses much like with Kick Ass or Super. It loses steam by the end, where the jokes and rants aren't as acerbic. The rants are just there not to further the plot but to go over again Frank's philosophies and pretty much what MovieBob wrote.

I was able to enjoy the movie despite it not being a great film. I can't wait for the other black comedies this year, like KILLER JOE, and EXCISION. Thanks for the interview, Bob and Bob!

 

[Kargathia]

It's rather interesting that you think right-wing pundits in general are on the level of Bill Maher. We have our own share of asses, but no more frequently than the left. Any impression you may have otherwise is more than likely the result of your own perspective.
Examples to the contrary: Dan Savage (not a pundit, but a public speaker; had a rather impressive angry meltdown at an anti-bullying talk), MSNBC host Tim Carney, who (just today/yesterday) cut off someone who was trying to defend Romney vs. the "bullying" escapade. There's plenty more where they came from; it's just not quite as obvious when you're ostensibly on the same side.

I don't doubt for a moment the douchebags are divided equally between left and right. The ones on the right just have more of that urge to shove it loudly and proudly in our faces - which explains the perception of them being more prevalent.

 

[Tipsy Giant]

I love the fight between who is worse for news, America is the worst for news /debate

 

[Amaror]

I'm confused, why does wikipedia state that this movie came out in 2011?
edit: Got it, the english wikipedia page states it right.

 

[AkaDad]

So, you like it because you agree with it?

Question: would you be similarly amused (or at least accepting) with a movie revolving around killing MSNBC hosts, NPR "reporters," Al Sharpton, fanatical atheists like Dan Savage, and everyone who wants to kill North Carolinans? What do you think the metascores for the two would be, all other things being equal - and is it even remotely acceptable if one side gets savaged when the other gets a free pass? I'm inclined to think not.

So, have you ever listened to NPR? I'm asking because it seems like anyone wants to hold something up as the liberal equivalent to Fox News they go to NPR without ever actually listening to it.

Eeeeyup. Although a more accurate counterpart would be MSNBC, as both seem determined to out-bias the other.

NPR is as follows: Democrat says something? "Let's bring him on and let him talk about it!" Republican says something? "But as Dina Temple-raston reports, that's not actually true. So we've brought on someone to discredit it."

I feel like you can't really compare that to Fox News's "Shout at anyone who I disagree with until their segment is over then pretend I won the argument" tactic.

Which is why my Fox comparison was with MSNBC. NPR was there mainly as a counterpart to "right-wing talk radio hosts" - again, not as strong, but what can I say? Republicans own talk radio.

The thing is, this movie isn't about bias in news but about people acting like assholes. The only left-wing figure I can think of that are on the same level as the right wing pundits is Bill Maher.

It's rather interesting that you think right-wing pundits in general are on the level of Bill Maher. We have our own share of asses, but no more frequently than the left. Any impression you may have otherwise is more than likely the result of your own perspective.
Examples to the contrary: Dan Savage (not a pundit, but a public speaker; had a rather impressive angry meltdown at an anti-bullying talk), MSNBC host Tim Carney, who (just today/yesterday) cut off someone who was trying to defend Romney vs. the "bullying" escapade. There's plenty more where they came from; it's just not quite as obvious when you're ostensibly on the same side.

Dan Savage had an angry meltdown? What on earth are you talking about? The only people who came close to melting down there were the people who got up and walked out because Savage was criticizing their religion.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

God Bless America is the second best movie I've seen all year, Avengers being the first.
And yeah the thing is preachy as hell with its message, but its a message that NEEDS to be given in our "modern" world.

Why did you put quotes around the word modern? Unless you have some kind of time travelling matrix theory, the modernity of the world isn't in question.

 

[Missing SHODAN]

fanatical atheists like Dan Savage

Lulz. Truly, that Dan Savage, a fanatic. Remember that time when a bunch of atheists in his fanatical organization crashed airplanes into the WTC? Or when he gathered a bunch of atheists to protest at the funerals of our soldiers? When he sanctioned the torturing Christians and executing ones who refused to denounce Christianity and proclaim themselves atheists? When he called for atheists lead a series of Crusades on Italy to recapture the pasta land? When atheists in his organization burst into a hotel in India and committed a grotesque massacre of civilians in the name of their lack of a god?

Yeah, I don't remember any of those times either. Funny that.

So what makes Mr. Savage a fanatic? Do you think that maybe fanatic might be a bit overkill? Or do you just label anyone who doesn't agree with your religion a fanatic? Are you comfortable with people calling you a religious fanatic, equating you with the Taliban, just because they don't agree with your religion?

If not, maybe we could turn the rhetoric down a notch. Maybe call him just an 'asshole atheist', so that we still have a few words left that we can use to distinguish between someone who is in a Taliban equivalent and someone who attends (or perhaps doesn't) a religious service on occasion.

One of my pet peeves aside...

This movie doesn't sound like my kind of thing. I agree with the basic message that the major media outlets have become little more than highly partisan scream boxes, and I'm not a big fan of reality TV, but I'm kind of thinking that "MURDER EVERYONE" might not be an appropriate response. "I see you're crazy and raise your crazy" is a pretty fucking childish response, like going "Well if you're not going to act like an adult, then I'm just going to shit myself." It's not constructive and it's not helping, it's just escalating. So, boo on that. What we need is for both sides to come down and be reasonable, not to push the rhetoric to maximum crazy.

Hrm, guess the movie is also in the same box of my pet peeves after all.

TL;DR. Not impressed with the movie (at least, based on the review), nor impressed with the idea that it's in any way 'helping', and lulz to you, "fanatical atheist" declaring guy.

 

[Marik2]

Can someone help me out here?

I thought this movie was suppose to have a national release by May 11th and yet no theater in my city has it....

 

[hooksashands]

<3 this movie.

It is a giant middle finger to redundant North American culture.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Wow. This thread... might just be the most interesting thing I have read all week. Really makes me think. And not for the reasons you might think.

OT: Interesting. I had originally planned on checking this movie out someday, but it was certainly interesting to see a professional reviewers take on it. Even if it turns out crap, I appreciate that it is taking chances and risks in the modern, risk-averse film industry.

 

[BreakfastMan]

This is what happens when you give a director a small pile of money and say "make something you feel like making..."

To be fair, Inception is what we got when a director was given a metric fuck-tonne of money and told "make something you feel like making". And Inception makes my willy go standy-uppy.

More like what happens when you give a good directer a pile of cash to remake one of his favorite anime films. /ohsnap

 

[LGC Pominator]

I watched this film a few weeks ago, If it makes it to the cinemas over here in the UK I am definitely going to see it again there!

I loved it from start to finish, pretty much everything that happened in it had me either laughing my head off like a crazy person or genuinely pissed off that I knew my fair share of the sort of people that were being dispatched.

Something that was overlooked (I think) was just how well the movie went into the process of deconstructing Frank and Roxy as not being your basic Ubermensch who is completely right 100% of the time (as seen in other films with this sort of nature), Frank is literally one of lifes losers who seems to legitimately struggle to get any happiness out of the daily rigmaroll (and seems to be enjoying his murdering a bit more than the average psycopath). Roxy also gets pretty well called out as being just as attention seeking and, ultimately, self absorbed as the sort of people she hates, however this is slightly more forgivable due to her childish nature.

When watching it with a friend of mine who is on the other side of the political spectrum, his biggest complaint was that he percieved the movie as being leftist propaganda, and noted that no so called "lefty liberal arseholes" got what was coming to them, which amused me to no end when I asked him to name one person in the public eye who makes as much noise as the tea party and the westboro guys, or anyone as well known and as vitriolic as Bill O whatsisface who actually advocates violence and hatred against people who disagree with their message... the answer, that he eventually reached was "the guy who made this film clearly!" Methinks the point was lost on the fellow

Anyway, yeah I had never heard of Bobcat Goldthwait before (I always thought bobcat was the name of one of the pickup trucks from GTA III, didn't think it was an actual person name), but Imma be keeping my eye on this one from now on, I loved this film and I think it should certainly be more widely known about.

 

[Cheesepower5]

The same question was posed to Roger Ebert when Outfoxed was released. He gave it a positive review and every political pundit asked him, "would you do the same thing for an anti MSNBC documentary?" After a week of hearing this, his response was simple and elegant: At this point I don't know because I have not seen it yet. Make the movie, let me watch it, and let me get back to you." The next year three anti- MSNBC documentaries came out and, long after any controversy was forgotten, he gave them all positive reviews. Was not to cover his ass, but because he enjoyed the movies.

I'm inclined to think that Bob would say the same thing and to think anything else is only meant to look for a fight.

I think that might be true of Bob, but read this

HEY NOW! Kim Kardashian uses her ass for FAR nobler ends than "Rev" Phelps ever used a bible.
Hell I could use a bible to wipe my ass and I'd STILL be going more good with it than Phelps ever could. Did I mention I REEEEAAAALLLLLLLLLLLYYYYY like the premise of this film?

and this

My first thought when I saw the trailer was "Wow. Americans are finally catching on to how stupid their own poular culture is." I NEED to see this movie, if only to see totally-not-Miley-Cirus get blown away.

and this

I thought the movie was awesome. I agree with Frank's sentiment too, "Why can't you just be nice?". The American, hell the WESTERN world is too obsessed with other people's business, and each new reality show has to be even more outrageous than the last. Remember when eating bugs on Fear Factor was shocking? That is nothing now, and all it does is breed idiots.

I think the movie IS wish fulfillment, just not the director's.

and this

A two-man war against every douchey asshole in America.......... this interest me.

And that's just a page worth of comments before your or mine in this thread alone, and I think it's safe to say that some people would not be saying this if the film was about stuff that they like or hold dear.

If Jack Thompson decided to shoot a bunch of people who play violent-video games for instance. I don't think we'd get past the message to judge the movie on quality alone (Bob may or may not, his reviews of the Fast and Furious and American Pie have been negative just because they are designed to be liked by the sort of people he doesn't like) so I wouldn't say I've known him to not less bias get in the way.

Roger Ebert on the otherhand is a genius who brings such a delightful sentiment to every review and it's no disrespect to say that Bob has not yet reached those heights. But even Roger Ebert flinched a bit at this films message.

I wanna see the Jack Thompson revenge film made. If it's not actually outwardly satisfying in seeing the people who get violent and profane in games to make up for weakness in real life, or to just tack on to their already douche-baggy lifestyle or not, it still has a good chance of being fracking hilarious.