Tuesday Rant

You know what really burns my ass? Many big production American made movies (and TV shows to some part). Don't get me wrong, I love them, I own lots of them, but many don't require the viewer to think. It is insulting to the intelligence of the viewer to always need to be spoon fed everything to make sure that we get it. In addition, there are many Hollywood movies that are fantastic: Tarantino flicks, Wes Anderson movies...

A great example of a foreign movie that didn't spoon feed the audience was The Lives of Others, which takes place in USSR controlled East Germany. This movie played off the paranoia of people being wire tapped and conspiring with the West Germans. By the time the end of the movie occurred, we, the audience, were left to make up our own mind as to "what happened next," and not told that everything was going to be OK.

A great American movie that makes the person think and talk about was The Usual Suspects. For anybody who hasn't actually seen this movie, do so please. It is a fantastic movie. This movie made you think and wonder all the way through, right until the very last second of the movie. When it was done, I recall looking at my wife in shock as what we just witnessed for two hours. Only thing to say is Keyser Soze!

A great movie or TV show should leave the viewer wanting more, and allow the viewer to make their own choices as to why things occurred. If you leave a movie or finish watching a TV show and you talk with the person/people you were with about the story, about the ending, ask questions and make statements like "Maybe the character did this because of that." Or "Wasn't it great how this character said this, alluding to the big reveal." But, if you leave a movie and say "Wow, the special effects were pretty good," or "Man, the trailer for ___ looks great" usually doesn't make for a memorable movie experience.

I started thinking about this rant because of the many complaints I have read about the Lost finale, and how there were some many questions that remained unanswered. But in the end, did the answering of those questions really need to be told to complete the story, to make it full? No, they didn't. Little details are fun to know, but in character driven dramas, those little details and questions don't need to be answered.

-d