I interviewed Richard Kelly over at Starwars.com more about The Box, his music choices, NASA and of course his recent trip to Skywalker Ranch here if any of you want to read it:
Intriguing how this is setup as a "test", and at the end of the trailer, there's Charlie Clouser's "Hello Zepp" theme as featured in the SAW movies. It has the same dramatic momentum as Clint Mansell's "Lux Aeterna", and relates well here. #thebox
Why do I get the feeling that the people saying Kelly's a subpar writer and Donnie Darko was pedantic and shallow are the same ones who prefer Ratner's vision of X-Men over Singer's?
Fellahs, just because you don't "get" a genre film doesn't mean there's nothing there to be had. #thebox
When the Twilight Zone adapted this same story in 1986 they kept it simple. Their version was about poor people facing the moral dilemma of killing a random stranger for 200,000 dollars.
The original short story went further and ended with the death of the husband...his wife didn't truly know him. #thebox
"We also discover that the button is always pushed by wives, which suggests that women are the culprits holding humanity back from achieving the level of moral goodness that the aliens require in order to spare us from annihilation."
Now, I haven't seen the movie yet but perhaps this is too simplistic of an explanation.
Perhaps what it's saying is that women are willing to do anything for the good of the family whilst the husband is too caught up in their own prideful findings. This statement reminds me of how women are more willing to sign up for welfare, food stamps, etc whilst men find it shameful and proclaim they won't accept charity. Like in Angela's Ashes when Frank McCourt talks about how his father would never do it but his mother was more than willing to go down and grab the scraps of bread being handed out to the poor.
More often women are willing to sacrifice their own personal morals, principles and particularly pride when it is their family at stake than men are.
Granted, this is a very generalized statement but one that I feel has some credence.
Granted, this might have come across better if the family was actually on hard times and not just trying to maintain some haughty lifestyle but, then, I haven't seen the movie yet so this is all conjecture. #thebox
It's hard to read reviews that have spoilers in them for me, I have to scan for the stuff that might appeal to me without ruining the film.
Anyway, this is one I may get out to the theater to see, I love the premise and I just love the idea of recreating the 70s but in a sincere, straightforward way. I'd be willing to see it just because of the production design.
Plus, that Darko movie is a classic. Are there 70s proto-alt songs in the soundtrack? #thebox
@ifsogirl81: I'm well aware of that dear. However, one could make a case that it be included in the 'Mythos' (and of course they would be wrong) even though it added nothing, and if anything, made it feel even more muddled. #thebox
@schrodingers-katana: why include it in a mythos created by kelly when he had nothing to do with it? and how is it cashing in for anyone? i'm sure no one really got any money from it. it was made by a fan who thought he understood kelly so of course it felt muddled....dear. #thebox
@ifsogirl81: Well, obviously I don't condone including it, but there super OCD completist types that might feel compelled to do such a thing. Pop culture history is full of unsuccessful cash-in attempts, just because it didn't take doesn't mean it wasn't a cash-in. The fact is, the studio had a built-in customer base (albeit not a huge one, it is dedicated) that would feel compelled to see anything related to the material even if they feared/knew it would be inferior to the original. While it was a risky gambit which failed to work, I see no reason why it wouldn't be considered a cash-in.
Sorry for the somewhat demeaning 'dear' by the way, but it was a bit condescending of you to assume I wasn't aware of Kelly's lack of involvement with S. Darko and was a bit annoyed by it.
Hmmm. I think it's a stretch to call this a "mythos."
I never got around to seeing Darko until last year. I still managed to go in rather blind, but even then, it didn't floor me. I can see how it would appeal to a disgruntled teenager, but as a movie, it was merely okay.
That said, I loved the cameos (especially Swayze), and until they go ahead and ruin it with taking the head off, the evil rabbit costume was one of the creepiest things on film in a long time.
@schrodingers-katana: That's a good way to look at it, although I don't really buy into it. In Darko, Frank was already dead, so the loss of the eye is small change, relatively speaking. In Soutland Tales, I don't think the twin who lost his eye was the one who actually understood what was happening at the end. Not like either of them really seemed to understand. Heck, not like the audience understood what the heck was going on at that point. #thebox
05:52 AM
11/08/09
[www.starwars.com] #thebox
11/07/09
11/07/09
Fellahs, just because you don't "get" a genre film doesn't mean there's nothing there to be had. #thebox
11/07/09
The original short story went further and ended with the death of the husband...his wife didn't truly know him. #thebox
11/06/09
11/06/09
Now, I haven't seen the movie yet but perhaps this is too simplistic of an explanation.
Perhaps what it's saying is that women are willing to do anything for the good of the family whilst the husband is too caught up in their own prideful findings. This statement reminds me of how women are more willing to sign up for welfare, food stamps, etc whilst men find it shameful and proclaim they won't accept charity. Like in Angela's Ashes when Frank McCourt talks about how his father would never do it but his mother was more than willing to go down and grab the scraps of bread being handed out to the poor.
More often women are willing to sacrifice their own personal morals, principles and particularly pride when it is their family at stake than men are.
Granted, this is a very generalized statement but one that I feel has some credence.
Granted, this might have come across better if the family was actually on hard times and not just trying to maintain some haughty lifestyle but, then, I haven't seen the movie yet so this is all conjecture. #thebox
11/06/09
Anyway, this is one I may get out to the theater to see, I love the premise and I just love the idea of recreating the 70s but in a sincere, straightforward way. I'd be willing to see it just because of the production design.
Plus, that Darko movie is a classic. Are there 70s proto-alt songs in the soundtrack? #thebox
11/06/09
11/06/09
[www.funnyordie.com] #thebox
11/06/09
Pain. #thebox
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11/08/09
11/08/09
Sorry for the somewhat demeaning 'dear' by the way, but it was a bit condescending of you to assume I wasn't aware of Kelly's lack of involvement with S. Darko and was a bit annoyed by it.
11/06/09
I never got around to seeing Darko until last year. I still managed to go in rather blind, but even then, it didn't floor me. I can see how it would appeal to a disgruntled teenager, but as a movie, it was merely okay.
That said, I loved the cameos (especially Swayze), and until they go ahead and ruin it with taking the head off, the evil rabbit costume was one of the creepiest things on film in a long time.
Evil rabbits are evil.
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