21 May 2006

Darko!

So, I watched the movie Donnie Darko today, my first DVD from Netflix. It is truly this generation's Jacob's Ladder...

Actually, it wasn't a bad film, an interesting ride, but I kind of had the movie figured out in the first 10 minutes or so, and was hoping for a surprise. However, I was let down. I did watch the Director's Cut, so I was thinking that this would be more oblique than a suit's vision of what the movie should be to sell to a mass crowd. We all deal with disappointment in our lives...

But then, after viewing Donnie Darko, I watched the original King Kong. Stilted by today's standards, it's still a great film. I remember seeing it for the first time as a kid, on Channel 9 out of Secaucus, NJ, most likely on Thanksgiving. For some reason, King Kong was a Thanksgiving film. The dinosaurs were great to this kid's eyes, and I did get the sadness of Kong at the end, even as a youth.

In other news, we had a relatively quiet Green Key weekend here at Dartmouth. Nothing too exciting happened, from what I've heard, which at this point, is not much. I'll get a much more thorough update tomorrow at work. I did spend the time in this weekend getting some genealogy work done. It's always fun to get back into the family history, especially because I've taken some time away from it recently. This calendar year, I haven't done much at all with it. Now, I feel prepped to dive back into it.

That's about it for now...

NP: John McLaughlin - Django

5 comments:

cabinboy said...

I saw the original DONNIE release a couple times before watching the director's cut and hafta say I prefer the original. I dunno how it would play/feel after watching the director's cut, but if you've got some time to kill, I recommend checking it out. Perhaps you'll find it doesn't telegraph the "science" so much.

I love how it nails the 80s (kickass atmospheric soundtrack, and the covers are so perfect), and even 80s movies, in a meta-way. Donnie's dad is such a perfect 80s movie dad, donchathink? And casting Swayze... and Cagney... or was it Lacey? What could be more 80s?

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Best written dialogue on the SMURFS ever! On par I think with the GILLIGAN'S ISLAND bit from DAZED AND CONFUSED. =)

The original KONG seems incredibly ambitious to me, awe-inspiring. Also, it's full of some pretty clunky dialogue, but hey, DINOSAURS!

There's also a great line that girly gives Donnie about his being strange or weird. I'm sad I can't remember the words now, frack, because I do remember it being somehow perfectly wonderful in a hopeful geeky way...

Louie said...

You know, I've never seen this movie. And I don't know if I ever will. I can't get myself into a movie called "Donnie Darko." Especially a horror movie.

Daniel said...

Johnny Depp was in Donnie Brasco. So there. I'm over it.

zorknapp said...

It wasn't the science that really stuck out at me, I literally thought, when the world was going to end in 28 days, "I bet he's (Donnie's) gonna die." I did like the ride, but it wasn't fantastic.

It's funny, even though it was set in 88, I didn't really think of it as being an "80's movie." Nothing really jumped out at me in that respect.

I thought I had heard that smurfs bit, a *long* time ago, it didn't seem very original to me.

The Donnie Darko name is commented on in the film, with a character saying that it sounded like a superhero name.

There were some good character moments in there, and I found myself wanting more of those. The "horror" subplot really didn't add anything to the film for me.

Ah well, mileage varies...

Daniel, I'm glad you remembered the Johnny Depp movie you were trying to recall...

And yes, Kong is great... Amazing what they were able to do back in 1933...

cabinboy said...

Well, I hope the ride was enjoyable enough that you'll be curious enough to check out his the director's nxt flick - SOUTHLAND TALES. The Rock, Buffy, Stiffler, Silent Bob, too, I think...? I'm all over that.

Ah, the expiring bit was "the ending." Y'know, I almost forget that that might be a surprise for people. From the get-go that seemed inevitable. I never filed it under "horror." I don't know where it belongs, really. Is there a genre for teen-angsty Twilight Zone-ness?

Not 80s? Well, it doesn't hit you over the head with it, but it *feels* right to me, truthy. And, c'mon - Sparkle-Motion on Star Search?! =)

Hrmm... I wonder if I might have subjected you to that Smurf dialogue myself in the last couple years...