A critical flop or failure is a thing. Saying it isn't doesn't change that.youji itami said:A film is only a failure if it doesn't make money that's why films that make money even if critically savaged still get sequels.
A critical flop or failure is a thing. Saying it isn't doesn't change that.youji itami said:A film is only a failure if it doesn't make money that's why films that make money even if critically savaged still get sequels.
A couple of nights ago, my brother & I were watching TV, and there were 3 ads for Purge:Anarchy in the same commercial break. I was like, "Jaysus! We get it! That still won't let me forget that the last one was made of arse!" There comes a point in movie advertising where the more they plug it, the less inclined you are to see it. It becomes "See our movie! See our movie! See our mo-" [BANG!]InsanityRequiem said:During your list of what people would more realistically do during a "Purge" type situation, all that came into my mind was being a nuclear terrorist. Create, distribute, and detonate nuclear explosives across a section of the country. Would create a definite dichotomy in how people would react. "Support the Purge? You support thermonuclear terrorism." "Enforce laws during the Purge? It's no longer the Purge." And add in all the international hate from it, the "New Founding Fathers of America" would be in big shit because of it. Of course it wouldn't happen.
But yeah, the annoyingly huge marketing showed me that P:A was definitely going to be better than the original. But still... Practically a commercial for P:A every minute. Was annoying.
I regret to say I never heard of Snowpiercer before now. I, too, miss absurd cartoonish versions of future dystopias. This one mixed absurd with gritty in a way that makes the resulting flavor taste worse than either of its ingredients.RA92 said:TheMemoman said:I liked Snowpiercer, but I don't get all the love for it. It was predictable, cheesy, cartoonish and it really had no subtlety whatsoever. Look at Tilda Swinton's character in Snowpiercer for subtlety.
It's a cool idea, but other than the feeding kart, the New Year indicator and the school kart, it's pretty much a by the numbers sci-fi B-movie.
I love Snowpiercer because it had a quite a lot of black humour and surrealism mixed into it. Most movies these days tend to play their post-apocalyptic worlds straight, grim and gritty, and I really miss the absurdist worlds portrayed in, say, Terry Gilliam's Brazil or Total Recall.
Not really, the similarities are either very superficial (evil people dressing up in weird clothes) or so incredibly broad they will apply to quite a lot of movies (breakdown of society). The stuff they are satirizing seems to be mostly different.Abyss said:The Purge seems to be a simplified variation of A Clockwork Orange. The similarities are there: a dystopia where gangs with unique costumes/masks being free to roam free and cause chaos by night. A Clockwork Orange (both the book and the film)is a much better satire than The Purge. I'm surprised that Bob didn't see the similarities.
This concerns me as well, and I wonder if it's touched on in the movie:LobsterFeng said:I want to see a dark comedy movie about the janitors and street cleaners that have to do their job the day after the purge.
The point is not to wipe out all of the poor people, its mostly to eliminate the undesirables in society like homeless people and people on government support. Its also about keeping the poor occupied with something other than overturning the upper class, while letting the upper class do what ever they want for a day.tdylan said:If the true point of the Purge is to eliminate all of the poor people from society while the rich prosper, what happens if the rich are successful and they've killed off all of the poor people ie the ones that service their cars, work in their factories, make their clothes, and farm their food? It can be argued that the rich need the poor a lot more than the poor need the rich.
Curse you and your word economy. Said most of what I wanted to say in half the lines. I bow my head in shame. ;_;LobsterFeng said:But wouldn't people be way too afraid to do anything on that laundry list of crime due to the fact that they can be killed and no one can do anything about it if they step outside?
Also I want to see a dark comedy movie about the janitors and street cleaners that have to do their job the day after the purge.
Because the sociological/political questions of the premise weren't relevant to the story that the first movie was trying to tell. In the context of the movie, the purpose of "The Purge" (as in: the event) was to provide an explanation for why the main character didn't just call the cops. No more, no less.tdylan said:I think one of the issues is that "the movie we got" was executed in such a way that we didn't need the "Purge" premise. They could have been a family at a remote cabin in the woods, and it would have amounted to nothing more than another check mark on the "yep! Home invasion movie" list. The movie we got gives us a premise like the purge, and then barely does so much as mention sociological/political questions that an event such as the purge raises.
I love Brazil! Total Recall is also quite fun a setting. You do make a valid point that they did go for a more fun, animated setting of a future. Maybe Snowpiercer is a case of me having my expectations set too high. Because it does look a bit cheap in parts, not purely because of cheap VFX, but because some aspects feel constrained in scope and execution. Maybe I'm being too harsh on the little movie that could.RA92 said:I love Snowpiercer because it had a quite a lot of black humour and surrealism mixed into it. Most movies these days tend to play their post-apocalyptic worlds straight, grim and gritty, and I really miss the absurdist worlds portrayed in, say, Terry Gilliam's Brazil or Total Recall.
Then you don't need the "intrigue" of an event like "The Purge" to set that up. Have "rich home in the mountains that doesn't get cell service, and the home invaders cut the phone line." Done. You don't need some hackneyed excuse of "nationwide killing spree" for what amounts to "this is why they don't call the cops." That's like using dynamite to kill an ant. There are plenty of other ways to go about "we're breaking into your home to kill you, and no cops are showing up."Uriel_Hayabusa said:Because the sociological/political questions of the premise weren't relevant to the story that the first movie was trying to tell. In the context of the movie, the purpose of "The Purge" (as in: the event) was to provide an explanation for why the main character didn't just call the cops. No more, no less.tdylan said:I think one of the issues is that "the movie we got" was executed in such a way that we didn't need the "Purge" premise. They could have been a family at a remote cabin in the woods, and it would have amounted to nothing more than another check mark on the "yep! Home invasion movie" list. The movie we got gives us a premise like the purge, and then barely does so much as mention sociological/political questions that an event such as the purge raises.
Not every movie needs to (purport to) be insightful, besides: "Rich people are a bunch of meanies!" ain't exactly my idea of biting sociopolitical commentary.