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You've probaly seen many films in your lifetime. Some were probaly good, others, utter garbage. So discuss the films that you thought dared to be different, films that made you look differently on the perspective of the charcters and you yourself. I find that mostly all of Quentin Tarantino's strike such a mark.
I think that Crash was quite a "different" film, in that it took a topic that is overdone and overdiscussed, and put a totally different spin on it. The way it showed that people are fine with persecution so long as it is not happening to themselves and people like them, is so true and I have never seen a movie point such a thing out in as great a way.
Donnie Darko of course, smurfing weird movie. I've never seen anything quite like it.
Sin City is a movie that dared to be different. Black and white, mostly green screen done, lots of monolog thoughts from the characters, a near perfect comic book adapation straight from the pages. It did everything Hollywood would not have done and it was spectacular.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
True. Very true. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by edczxcvbnm
Eraserhead, by David Lynch. Easily one of the most disturbing and psychologically messed up movies ever made, and hard as hell to ever try to figure out. Yet, at the same time, a true work of art and abstract thought. A must for anyone, though I'll warn you that if you're squeamish you may not have the stomach for some of it.
Sin City and American Beauty.
Memento had a clever concept and a good story to match. The presentation really complemented the feel of the film rather than just being a gimmick. I really enjoyed it.
Oh, and The Big Lebowski changed cinematic history with The Jesus. Nobody smurfs with The Jesus.
How about ff7?
American Beauty was fantastic and something different, I think Amores Perros (sp) was a film that dared to be different and worked really well.
Crash hit me hard, striking a very deep chord within me, for it touched upon a subject that is either overdone or overlooked - it placed it in the perfectly terrible light that it has always hidden in.
The Terminal Man was an interesting movie as it looked into the mindstate of a severe insomniac. Confusing reality with fantasy and dreams and misconceptions of the real and illusionary world of the mind. Quite interesting.
And Sin City. As has been mentioned, the different style that the dialogue was done, having most of it be monologues of the characters' thoughts and premonitions. And the style was ultra contrast black and white, with only sparse uses of colour. This made the colour usage stand out, be symbolic, and subsequently stand for more than just a colour.
Since most of what I was going say was already said, I'm glad. However, I'd also like to mention Matrix.
How could I forget that one.
Oh wait, I know, because the name got so over-used (and tainted) with the sequels and games.
Well, FF7 isn't a movie, unless you mean Advent Children, which really wasn't all that different, since the style in which it had once been done had already been used for Spirits Within.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloudstrife4003
And I can't believe I forgot this, but I'd like to add "A Scanner Darkly". It wasn't as good as the book, but the style of the movie was incredible and original.
I've been wanting to see that. I don't even know if it's out here yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kefka_Almighty
If you are referring to its visual style (live-action covered by animation) you should check out "Waking Life" also by Linklater. It's about a guy who keeps waking up from a dream over and over. It addresses philosphical issues about existence and perception; I found it pretty interesting.
I haven't read "A Scanner Darkly" yet either, but I have read a lot of Phil K. Dick's stuff. He has obviously inspired a great many people as so many of his stories have been adapted for film.
What do you mean, TSW and AC has the same style? No, unless you count all CG animation as one style, which would be a huge mistake.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kefka_Almighty
Mighty Python
I <3 Huckabees
They used the same style as in super realism for a whole CG movie. I can't think of any other CG movies that attempted to look real.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirage
Having said that FFVII: Advent Children is still no where near original. CG movies? Been done. Realistic CG? Been done. Those fight scenes? Done to death. Broken story? Too many to name. The list of unoriginality goes on.
Roger Rabit. It preverted the world and coaxed adults back into beleiveing that thier imaginary friends could still exist! Well, it gave them some insight to what a pain in the ass they would be if they did.
The blend of live action and animation was a step forward in itself, but the fact that it was a cartoon comedy that demanded to be taken with a hint of seriousness, even from adults, was amazing.
The Matrix was pretty revolutionary for its time and place. I don't remember whether I <3 Huckabee's or Eternal Sunshine came first, but whichever one did was also a movie done well against the norm.
A Clockwork Orange. Of course it was based on a book, but either way, it was different.
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE!! ...but anything by Kubrik is worthy of mention.
NOTE: "A Clockwork Orange" not for your average conservative...
A Clockwork Orange was fairly unique for it's time, but the opening sequence had actually been a homage, from what I've heard, to a movie by Andy Warhol. Though, again, that hardly keeps it from being unique. :P
And really, "A Clockwork Orange" is a movie not meant for a LOT of people, as it can, at times, be generally grueling to sit through.
And another movie I've always felt was fairly different, I will admit, was Ichi the Killer.
The Idiots, Dogville, Dancer In The Dark.... anything from Lars Von Trier
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, definitely.
Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke were all very unique and different.
Moulin Rouge was very bizarre the first time I watched it, so I'd count that as a film that dared to be different.
Dogville is *definitely* a very very different sorta film. Almost like a stage play that someone decided to videotape. Didn't love the movie, but still, it broke out from the norm.
Brokeback Mountain. Gay cowboys. C'mon, that's pretty unique.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Very different. Very awesome.
There's soooo many more but I'm too lazy to list. Also, it's interesting that people though Crash was a different innovative film when I thought that what the movie did best was reinforce certain stereotypes.
I'm trying to remember the opening... was that in the milk bar or in the sports car? And what do you mean grueling? It's not like it's boring (which is a connotation I connect with that word).Quote:
Originally Posted by Kefka_Almighty
I've seen Ichi the Killer on my cable guide, but haven't watched it yet. I became disappointed on learning that it wasn't about legendary Zatoichi: the blind swordsman, who has inspired many movies. I've watched all of them (as far as I know) and would like to see more. If anyone here likes non-typical "samurai type movies" then I highly suggest anything involving Zatoichi...especially starring Shintaro Katsu.
Pink Floyd The Wall. Awsome album becomes an awsome movie that combines live action with animation. So good :cool:
They were both the same style because both aimed for realism. Uhh... That'd be like saying all live actions are the same style because they all look equally realistic.Quote:
Originally Posted by edczxcvbnm
There's more to a movie than it's graphics. Labelling them solely based on how they look graphically is just silly.
I think AC has a completely different atmosphere, it's got a completely different story, different setting, the music isn't anything like what was in TSW either. In short, not the same style.
By the way, they didn't aim for total realism in AC, like they did in TSW.
Most of Stanley Kubrick's movies were well known for being pretty original and alternate.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was pretty good, yeah. Usually if the "difference" means "different from a generic Hollywood film, having great acting and a thoughtful story, and not relying on special effects too much", the difference is a good thing. Memento comes to my mind too, and maybe Garden State to some effect.
Mad City. (SPOILER)It's pretty rare that you'll find an entirely fictional film that has such an unhappy ending. At least, in my experience, anyway.
Down With Love definetly. :)
It's in the milk bar. And when I said grueling, I meant that some of the imagery is especially hard to take, if you're squeamish, which it really is. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by farplaner
And as for Ichi the Killer.......be forewarned, it's an especially violent and graphic movie.
The Sixth Sense
The first Matrix
Lady in White
Just remembered one that's a complete trip, and totally awesome; Dark City.
Requiem For A Dream
Eternal Sunshine
Naked Lunch
Eraserhead
Memento
Amelie
Blue Velvet
Donnie Darko
Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Life Aquatic
Fight Club
Punch Drunk Love
Darren Aronofsky, Richard Kelly, Wes Anderson, Stanley Kubrick, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Richard Linklater, David Lynch, David Cronenburg, PT Anderson, Michael Gondry. All very original and talented filmmakers.
Yep.Quote:
Originally Posted by GooeyToast
Palindromes was a REALLY strange movie (even the cover is!) but wasn't executed all that well.
I need to see that movie. Happiness is quite odd, and kinda disturbing (same director), but I enjoyed that movie regardless.Quote:
Originally Posted by aisle_s
Oh, and I think you'd like Memento. Check it out if you get the chance.
Every movie I was going to mention has already been mentioned, and I don't much care.
Memento. Whoa. It's so rare for a movie to get me to question everything. It was so craftfully done, although for some reason I was a little annoyed at how self-involved this guy was. Jeez, sometimes people just don't care. >.>
Moulin Rouge. Like Miriel said, it was incredibly bizarre the first time seeing, but with the massive popularity it's kind of easy to forget how unique it was.
Requiem for a Dream. And if whoever directed that does a horror film, I'm all over it.
The Hours. I actually don't this was mentioned yet, but yeah. I really liked the writer/charactor/liver idea, and how they all tied in together.
Saved for me was quite an interesting and different movie. As well as Donnie Darko and The Royal Tenenbaums. Funny how they're all dark comedies.
Wow! Every single time I have ever mentioned Naked Lunch to anyone, they think I'm talking about a porno picnic in the park or something. That movie is definantly out there. Very good examples here (despite some of them already being mentioned).Quote:
Originally Posted by GooeyToast
The Life Aquatic had an incredibaly unique feel. I loved the cheesy animation for the marine life, and the...I guess candid way in which the characters interacted.
Another one, not surprisingly also by Cronenburg, is Videodrome with James Woods. I just saw this movie a week or so ago. I awlays enjoy movies that fire up my paranoid imagination...I'm a little weird maybe?
One crazy scene is where Woods, while hallucinating, loses his pistol inside an opening in his abdomen!
Another: I think it's just called Bergeron (for the title character, Sean Astin). He lives in a world where people where neural inhibitors or accelerators based on their intleligence. If you're too smart; you get knocked down. Too dumb; knocked up...you know what I mean. The best grade in school is a "C." Bergeron rebels...and I won't ruin the rest of it, but if you happen to come across this one, I recommend it.
I'm amazed that Schindler's List hasn't benn mentioned yet, (if it has I'm sorry, but it is almost 3am) such a sad film, all shot in black and white except for the little girl's red dress. It made me cry so much.
Platoon, fear and loathing in las vegas. Those are the two films that really stand out to me. Quote from F&LILV:
"Look what god did to us man!"
"God didn't do it you did, your a smurfing narcotics agent!"
Hahahahaha, those lines have stayed with me a long time also
"Holy Jesus, what are these goddamn animals!?"
Bahahahahaha, Johnny Depp was a legend in that film.
That film was indeed awesome.
Oh hell yes, Videodrome (And pretty much anything by Cronenberg) is awesome.
And John Carpenter too. Okay, he's not that "out there", but The Thing and Escape From New York are pretty damned iconic.
Given the name and premise, that's based off Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron, which is a fantastic short story. Didn't know a version was filmed, I'll have to look into it.Quote:
Originally Posted by farplaner
Yes! That's it, Vonnegut! It was released as a TV movie (after some momentary research) in 1995; it retains Vonnegut's title.Quote:
Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF
I need to pick up some more of Vonnegut's work. Last time at the book store, I picked Breakfast of Champions basically at random. It was enjoyable for all of its "dismissiveness of social niceties" (if that makes any sense) like his picture, for example, that looks something like this *. I won't say what it's supposed to represent...
I vaguely remember seeing Slaughterhouse 5 & others...?
Another movie just came to mind: "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" (sp?) Awesome movie for fairy tale/adventure fans.
For the record, any of you people that keep talking about The Matrix as being original? Stop. Please cease. Give up any ideas you have about that movie being original, and go watch dark city. The matrix is the most UN EXPOSED ripoff i have ever seen. Honestly, i have no idea HOW there hasn't been a lawsuit. Whole scenes are shot near word for word, with the same lighting,props, and camera angles. it's insane.
Aside from that rant... Donnie Darko was Surreal, and ANYTHING by David Lynch is... incredible to say the least. Watch Lost Highway before a roadtrip, scariest thing ever... Also, Romeo + Juliet. Long before all the other "classic play, modern remake" films started popping out, there was Romeo + Juliet.
Uhhh... I've seen Dark City, and I've seen The Matrix. The only real similarities I recall are in the sets used, because... well, because the same sets were used.
The Matrix isn't original in story terms anyway, but in cinematic terms it did some crazy.
Matrix, despite terrible dialog, does deserve some credit for being innovative in the realm of technique.
Lost Highway is a good one, with an awesome soundtrack to boot.
Anybody seen Zardoz? It was made in the 70's and was a distant landscape for Sean Connery, coming from the world of James Bond.
--the wiZARD of OZ. :eek: :eek:
Ghost in the Shell, it made me think about being human.
Quote:
Originally Posted by starseeker
Uh huh, and what did it make you think about being human?
What makes him human, probably. That's what it made me think of. If our brains are just computers with programs running on them, what's the difference between us and them? Except that we're (still) a bit more advanced, and they're not made of flesh. If our consciousness is just data, why can't a machine have one?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirage
Right. When it comes down to it, what makes anyone human is that undefineable aspect. There are a million names for it: consciousness, soul, ego, "ghost," etc.; they can define the "what" and the "how" but never the "why" (although many believe otherwise). If that makes sense.
Getting off topic a bit: Personally, I think it's inevitable (it might take a couple hundred years or more, but...) that autonomous machines with the ability to "think" and "learn" will someday be given rights alongside people. I probably sound like a crackpot, but robotic computers are already being taught how to learn and behave like humans. Given the exponential rate at which technology is advancing, it wouldn't surprise me to see the scenarios presented in so many sci-fi movies become reality.
Let's just hope writers like Frank Herbert, the "Matrix brothers" (can't spell their name), etc. aren't proven to be as prophetic as Jules Verne and H.G. Wells were.
I just saw the movie Elephant, yesterday and I thought the shots the director used were pretty unique in it's own right. Also, the fact that he hired a cast of non-actors and told them to improv most of the scenes was very unique.
Jaws also gets a noteable mention, because of the fact that it created a new type of shot all on it's on. Today, many directors try to copy that "Jaw effect" shot that is seen in the movie.
Office Space. Tell me, how many movies stress the red stapler? :)
Silly to you but enough people would easily disagree. And you can say that certain types of action movies are of the same style. You can easily point out a blow'em all up action movie from a martial arts movie. They are styles of action movies. Their styles of CG are very similar.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirage
From what you said about atmosphere...I can say any movie is completely different from any other movie because you could come up with at least enough aspects to say that. I could even say that about remakes if I really wanted to. The cinemtography is different, the music is different, the actors are different, the story isn't exactly the same. This makes it a completely different movie to the point where it isn't the same style? NO!
This battle is far from over...you made it personal :love:
I saw Elephant a few weeks ago. It has a slight documentary feel aside from using that technique of splicing together the same scenes from different perspectives at different points in the movie).Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiny
For some reason I really like the scene where the kid is walking across campus; it's a single shot with the famous first movement of Beethoven's "Moonlight" sonata playing from start to finish on the soundtrack- something kind of ghostly and foreboding about it.
You stole mine!Quote:
Originally Posted by Miriel
road trip for some reason
Michael Jacksons Moonwalker springs to mind.
Steven Speilburg's A.I.
Pay it forward. That one really made me think, and it was heartfelt, because when it came out, something similar had happened to a kid at a school near mine.
Survive Style 5+, So bloody awesome and unique.
Tarantino's work has always left me wanting more and I loved the whole messed up narrative. Instead of the begining, middle and end, he totally messed it up perfectly!
The Truman Show
Rock Star
Man On The Moon
eXistenZ
V For Vendetta
Hmm... There are a lot of movies that comes to mind, but in my humble opinion Quentin Tarantino is doing a great job making movies that’s the exact opposite of other movies. Therefore, in my mind, he makes only movies that dare to be different – here I am especially thinking about Kill Bill. Also, Sin City comes to mind. Wonderful.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Real Dark Messenger
Quick question, Is kill bill really that original or was it based on his love for kung fu movies, other movies before it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by RaebusQuote:
Originally Posted by The Real Dark Messenger
Quick question, Is kill bill really that original or was it based on his love for kung fu movies, other movies before it?
Well, it was actually based on old chinese martial art movies and spaghetti westerns, but the combination of those two, the overall style and the gory action was kinda different here in the western world. At least I thought it was different when I saw it for the first time, and I know many people who just think it's too different.
Ah, point taken.Quote:
Originally Posted by BreineQuote:
Originally Posted by RaebusQuote:
Originally Posted by The Real Dark Messenger
Quick question, Is kill bill really that original or was it based on his love for kung fu movies, other movies before it?
Well, it was actually based on old chinese martial art movies and spaghetti westerns, but the combination of those two, the overall style and the gory action was kinda different here in the western world. At least I thought it was different when I saw it for the first time, and I know many people who just think it's too different.
Anyway, I'll add Happiness of the katakuri's by Mike takashi. Anyone who's seen it would surely agree (if it hasnt already been mentioned).
The Great Train Robbery.
Eternal Sunshine, as has been mentioned before and before and yeah. I also quite like The Notebook as something quite different; perhaps for the same reasons as BoB mentioned? I thought Big Fish was slightly different from the norm.
These films are the reasons I've not lost faith in Hollywood completely. There's just too many to name, and pretty much all been listed from what I can tell. I'll have to check out several, like Eternal Sunshine.