When watching a movie, I cringe more at
@psychictides
People making love.
Like… why are they carrying on while I'm looking, are they into this sort of thing? Am I? 🤔
@m0xee Very yes. A little kisseyface is fine but once it drags on for too long it’s just weird! Unless the details of the act of sex is part of the plot, it’s not needed and a distraction. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@psychictides Exactly! I'm used to seeing people hugging and kissing. At a party with friends and they might get cuddly, but if they want more, they usually get a room, and I'm not used to walking around and peeking into others' bedrooms. Even when it's a part of the plot the immersion subsides for me in a way — maybe I should walk outside and let them have the room? Unless it's a VERY important plot point, a hint at this is enough, but especially in 90-ies movies these scenes are often too long
@m0xee Yes! If the kissing drags on for a moment too long, now I am wondering if the actors were into this, or was one into it but the other wasn’t and it was weird? Or what is going on here? (This is admittedly part of the fun of watching a movie like The Room.)
In porn you know they made it to be watched hornily so that’s one thing. But in a dramatic movie you’re never quite sure but you know one thing: Now your suspension of disbelief is over.
@m0xee Notable exceptions that come to mind are American Psycho and Showgirls — films in which character development happens as a part of the sex act.
@m0xee Also the movie Nymphomaniac. It kinda says it right in the title and it never feels weird because that’s what the story is about.
@psychictides I am yet to watch it. It was so hyped up when it was in the theaters that I refrained from watching it. I tend to expect the worst when this happens, I might not like the movie just because of that. Going in without prior expectations is always the best, so when I know about the movie beyond synopsis I usually postpone seeing it. Of course sometimes I have regrets that I didn't watch it in the cinema, no one's perfect.
Maybe now's the right time, thanks for reminding me of it.
@m0xee I mean, if you’re into Von Trier, you may love it. But.. it is a Lars Von Trier film called Nymphomaniac, so.. be aware. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@psychictides Von Trier is hit or miss for me — some of his movies I enjoy immensely, some I don't get. I've watched The Boss of It All without realizing it's Lars' movie, then one of my friends hints at that, just between the lines, and I'm like: "Are you for real?!"— I'd probably perceive it completely differently had I knew from the very beginning.
No, not to say anything, he's a great director of course and I've definitely seen weirder shit.
@psychictides Take Alex van Warmerdam's movies — if you just read the synopsis, you might find his stuff disturbing — and it is: some characters are always getting killed in a most ridiculous way, but what's going on is usually so absurd that you just sit and laugh like a madman: what the hell is going on here? 🤣 I've watched only 3-4 movies, but I might be a fan, really like his style.
Take Schneider vs. Bax for example, it's about serial killers — a scary premise, but it's actually funny.
@m0xee There is an interesting other discussion to be had about: Are hitmen serial killers? Are soldiers?
@psychictides Sure, let's have that some time later.
I kept thinking about it, I mean people getting intimate scenes, and I think boils down to bad writing or director doing poor job adapting the piece for the screen. I've read a book about how screenplays (and any literature really) are written and among other things it mentions how important it is to maintain a consistent point of view. You have to decide on that at inception, is narrator the protagonist himself, some other character or just an invisible witness watching from the sidelines. If it's the protagonist himself — great, but then you can't mention events that he could in no way see or experience. You can shoose the third person POV, but then you can't go into protagonist's stream of consciousness. You can of course switch the POV a couple of times to achieve interesting effects, but you can't do it all the time — it will just confuse the reader. That is precisely why it works even in porn — you associate yourself with the person in the video, you don't perceive it as if you were watching it from the sidelines. That is precisely why it worked in American Beauty because with that narrative you are the protagonist or another character (I think the storrytellers get switched throughout the movie, but I don't remember it too well), but it doesn't work in e.g. Devil's Advocate — if you choose the third person perspective, you can't watch the protagonist get intimate because how the fuck did you get into their bedroom, if you choose first person — you have to shoot dialogues differently, you can't watch the protagonist in the frame talk with someone else — that's confusing. There are exceptions of course and there are moments when we see ourselves from the third person perspective, but that is exactly what they are — exceptions.
@m0xee
@psychictides Oh, and sorry for replying from another account, but five hundred character limit makes this sort of conversations unbearable 😅
@m0xEE
@psychictides Sorry, not serial killers, main characters are hitmen — hired killers, anyway, not nice guys. But they are put in situations when nothing goes as expected, and instead of being violent they are doing things that just look stupid.
Well, I'm getting poor with words, looks like I'm tired — have to take a break from Fedi for today, maybe watch a movie 😅
Have a nice day or whatever you're having!