Films that made you go "HUH?!"

EMINEM · Post by **EMINEM** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 7:18 am

This thread is devoted to clearing up some long-standing questions you may have about a certain film, new or old, which, either through deliberate pretention or sheer brilliance on the part of the director, still manages to escape your understanding. I'll start with a few;

Magnolia - has anyone seen this film? Tom Cruise was in it. Anyway, at the end of the film, it suddenly STARTS RAINING FROGS! That's right! It's a hail storm of the little suckers. I saw the movie in the theatre and rented again on video, but the meaning of this bizzare scene still manages eludes me. It may have something to do with the ten plagues of Egypt, but then again, Exodus never mention anything about frogs falling from the sky. I thought the film pretty good until then.

Bladerunner - Harrison Ford; is he or isn't he a Replicant?

Citizen Kane - What's the big deal about "Rosebud?" It's the brand name of a tobaggan, right? Is it supposed to signify something?

Apocalyspe Now - the entire film can is a big question mark. Coppola must have been on LSd when he wrote and directed it.

Any insight will be appreciated.

Tamerlane · Post by **Tamerlane** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 7:25 am

A few friends and I usually get together for a DVD night, gets quite amusing when you add the alcohol factor. Anyway we recently ie, Sunday saw The One.

What a sad movie, and to think I was going to spend money to see it at the cinema's.

EDIT- My problem with it is that why are people from other dimensions always more technologically advanced then us. Plus they also have a thing for black leather clothing.

Weasel · Post by **Weasel** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 7:26 am

Originally posted by EMINEM

Apocalyspe Now - the entire film can is a big question mark. Coppola must have been on LSd when he wrote and directed it.

I might be missing your meaning of "Huh?!"...this one is supposely told from the mind of a American soldier sent to kill another American Soldier who has gone nuts and set his self up as a Warlord in Cambodia.(I believe this is the right country)

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 7:26 am

Originally posted by EMINEM
Magnolia - has anyone seen this film? Tom Cruise was in it. Anyway, at the end of the film, it suddenly STARTS RAINING FROGS! That's right! It's a hail storm of the little suckers. I saw the movie in the theatre and rented again on video, but the meaning of this bizzare scene still manages eludes me. It may have something to do with the ten plagues of Egypt, but then again, Exodus never mention anything about frogs falling from the sky. I thought the film pretty good until then.

I think it references the Urban Legend theme at the start. I am not entirely sure, it was 1 am at that point

Bladerunner - Harrison Ford; is he or isn't he a Replicant?

Yep, well maybe

That is kind of the point of the movie though

Citizen Kane - What's the big deal about "Rosebud?" It's the brand name of a tobaggan, right? Is it supposed to signify something?

It is the name of his Sled from his youth. It is supposed to signify how being taken away from his childhood stunted his life in some ways, there are many different conclusions that can be derived, but they all refer to his youth. If you watch the fire you see the same sled at the start being thrown into the fire.

Timekeeper · Post by **Timekeeper** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 7:53 am

Apoc Now is just Conrad's Heart of Darkness, but set in Vietnam. Read Heart and you'll get a valuable understanding.

"The horror, the horror!"

Gruntboy · Post by **Gruntboy** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 7:55 am

This thread should say ***MOVIE SPOILERS***

Magnolia: sh*t happens, disparate people are linked by common events.

Blade Runner: what better way to hunt replicants than with a replicant?

Apocalypse Now: this doesn't confuse me. Messed up film about a suposedly messed up war.

Now what about these:

12 Monkeys - so the human race gets wiped out, right?!
Being John Malkovith - a big "WTF?!" all round basically.

2001 - the ending. Exactly.
The Abyss - the ending. Exactly.
American Beauty - so the Marine Colonel is gay?
American Psycho - he dreamed it all or was some of it real?
Se7en - how come he kills the pro when it is the customer who "lusts"???

Tamerlane · Post by **Tamerlane** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 7:59 am

Originally posted by Gruntboy
Now what about these:

12 Monkeys - so the human race gets wiped out, right?!

Yes, unless you find yourself living in a constant time loop. And not many people do that.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 8:15 am

Originally posted by Gruntboy
Being John Malkovith - a big "WTF?!" all round basically.

John Cusak ends up inside his own childs sub concious

American Beauty - so the Marine Colonel is gay?

Yep, closet Homosexual who can not express his desires so he acts violently.

American Psycho - he dreamed it all or was some of it real?

It was all real, what it is saying is that there are no individuals and modern society is the cause. This one is fairly open ended.

BTW all my opinoin, these films are pretty open ended

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 8:24 am

Happiness - Why did i watch this film?!?

Tamerlane · Post by **Tamerlane** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 8:29 am

Misleading on the part of the title.

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 8:34 am

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier: Who . . . the . . . hell . . . let . . . Bill Shatner . . . get . . . behind . . . the camera?

Highlander 2: The Quickening: Why ruin a good franchise with some crap about being aliens from Planet Zeist?

The 5th Element: Big-time WTF. Everything.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?: I addressed this on another thread, but basically I didn't get anything about this movie.

KidD01 · Post by **KidD01** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 8:48 am

John Carpenter's Vampires despite lots of bad language cursing by James Woods and some thrilling actions, why would Vatican forming this ragtag Vampire Hunter group ?

VoodooDali · Post by **VoodooDali** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 9:01 am

Geez, you guys have mentioned a lot of my favorite films. But I love ambiguous endings... The last thing I'm looking for in a movie is a cut & dried and they all lived happily ever after and the bad guys were punished kind of ending...

But my nomination for a WTF movie:
Ciao Manhattan - the movie about Edie Sedgwick. There's some kind of plot in this movie, and I've seen it a lot of times and never figured it out.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 9:06 am

@VDali, i agree, i have watched many of these films loads of tiems and i still love the fact that the endings don't necessarily tie up

@Tammerlane, i take it you have seen it

The award for the all time WTF ending should probably go to Barton Fink

fable · Post by **fable** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 9:08 am

Originally posted by HighLordDave
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier: Who . . . the . . . hell . . . let . . . Bill Shatner . . . get . . . behind . . . the camera?

Since @Sleep stole in and answered that one about Citizen Kane, I'll field this. Shatner had bigtime studio friends, who thought his popularity among the Trekkie cult would transfer into huge sales, even if he directed slag. He *did* direct slag, but nobody came to see it. One of Hollywood's many notable, incredibly bad decisions.

Tamerlane · Post by **Tamerlane** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 9:08 am

Originally posted by Mr Sleep
@Tamerlane, i take it you have seen it

No but I would of raised hell if I didn't feel even remotely happy afterwards.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 9:18 am

Originally posted by Tamerlane

No but I would of raised hell if I didn't feel even remotely happy afterwards.

Take my word for it (and Georgi will confirm it) this film does anything but make you feel happy. It is very scary and it's themes make one feel more than a little uncomfortable. It is well made and it very satirical, but i would avoid if possible

Tamerlane · Post by **Tamerlane** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 9:22 am

I tend to trust you guys so I'll place Happiness into my little black book. Figuratively speaking of course.

Ned Flanders · Post by **Ned Flanders** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 9:23 am

@HLD,

I remember the discussion about o brother. IMO, it is one the best movies I've seen in a long time but I guess you'd have to be a Coen brothers fan to make that statement. You can watch their movies through three sets of eyes:

1. Watch it and accept it for the story it is. This may leave one dissatisfied though.

2. Watch O Brother and try to parallel everything to the epic of Homer and which it is slightly based (Ulysses, main character; Goodman, the cyclops; the blind train cart driver, furies or muses?, etc etc etc

3. Watch the movie and appreciate the actors as the Coen bros. tend to stick the same ones in the supporting roles which really make their movies. Turturro, Goodman, Holly Hunter, and others. Being familiar with their style helps because they are definitely different and present some insider info in each of their movies. I don't think they really care if the viewer gets it or not.

My Huh?!?! movie would be pitch black. I still have nightmares that I paid for two full price tickets for this utter piece of crap. Horribly acted, lame story, cool critters. I just didn't get it.

Leonardo · Post by **Leonardo** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 9:48 am

The Usual Suspects: A typical PnP RPG party. They were put together by strange reasons and stumbled upon a mission they must complete together.

The Thin Red Line: Makes me go UHM because it´s bad. Why does nobody in the movie die quickly? Everyone is shot/exploded/whatever and have time to tell their whole lives to anyone near then. A great waste of talents.

Reservoir Dogs: Still my favorite Tarantino movie.

Strange Days: Great movie

About Highlander 2: There can be only one.