Overall, I don't know how I feel about the movie, and that's extremely high praise in a way.
The original story and the TZ episode were koans -- simple and self-contained. This ends up feeling more like Invasion of the Body-Snatchers-meets-Let's Make A Deal. Some particular notes, though:
(a) NSA wasn't publicly admitted to exist until the mid-80s or so. That felt really awkwardly grafted on. There's also no indication why NSA would have anything to do with this sort of thing, beyond "magic aliens told us to do it."
(b) Richmond to Langley would be a bitch of a commute.
(c) The only thing more tragic than the wallpaper in the room next to the kitchen was continuing that onto the couch. On the other hand, Gillian Jacobs rocked those '70s-cut pants. This raises one of my perennial complaints: why don't they cut pants like that anymore? IMHO way hotter than this low-cut bullshit. #thebox
First of all, there is nothing wrong with a morality play. Most every Twilight Zone episode was one, and they were still great. Yes, women push the button, but I believe that is related to Eve and the apple (the religious stuff is touched on more below).
What were the other good episodes? Ones soaked in irony, where the characters think one thing while the opposite is true. I believe that is where The Box lies, and what is truly scary about it. They thought they had a choice, but perhaps they did not. Marsden not getting his promotion and Diaz losing her discount (as well as her being humiliated by a student) were all engineered by the aliens to make them more likely to press the button. Would they have entertained pressing the button if they had everything they wanted (and what was apparently coming to them)? I doubt it. At the end, Marsden doesn't shoot until the other couple pushes the button. This again suggests that events are out of their control.
Much like in Donnie Darko, there is an element of fate that we cannot escape. Only this time, that fate is not controlled by god but by god-like aliens. Perhaps the movie is a statement on god, that he expects us to do the right thing yet he is the one who controls our fates. Seems very hypocritical of god, and very hypocritical of the aliens.
In short, the interesting discussions of the movie will more likely center around fate than morality.
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
Glad to see someone else remembers the Twilight Zone version of this. To be honest it's one of the few that actually scared me. Right at the end when the guy takes the box away for its new owner to face the dilema... "someone you don't know".
@ThirzaDelita: I agree. That had a terrible import to it and you could practically see the target appear on Mare Winningham's character's forehead. #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
Is it weird that I totally got sidetracked by the fact that they filmed scenes inside the Boston Public Library? It always looked kind of eerily sci-fi to me all the years I lived there.
@kathryn.novy: I sympathize. I work in a very distinctive building and two major motion pictures have recently filmed scenes here. I suspect it's going to be a shock to actually see it when they are released. #thebox
@fraxs31: The Cthulhu Mythos is based on a series of pulp fiction tales published in trashy magazines. You don't have to create a masterpiece for it to fit into a mythos. #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
My friend suggested (and I agreed) that they are always the wives as a metaphor for Eve and the apple, given the other religious overtones in the film. I generally agree with the above review, there are certainly a lot of interesting characters and elements to the film, but they seem stuck within a limiting storyline. #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
Funfact - MST3K was filmed about 20 miles from where I live in Minnesota. I like that through out the years they continued to reference obscure local businesses and areas that no one outside of the twin cities would recognize. #thebox
I keep hearing radio ads for this movie and they leave me with 2 questions.
1. Do I have to pay taxes on the million?
2. Is there a limit on the # of presses?
I could see it being a moral quandary if a random person you actually know is killed, but a complete stranger? Feh, most people (admittedly myself included) would press it when noone was looking. #thebox
@Lassus: Six Billion+ people on the planet, and you're saying you really wouldn't think about it if given the chance?
I "like" people and all, but think about how many complete and utter wastes of human existence you think you know, and then think about the possibility of ONE of them never getting to breed again.
@alexthompson88001: I don't think so. I'm just not that smart. The only way I can get up in the morning, face myself in the mirror, and not want to cut my own throat while shaving, is to adopt some dirt simple ethical principles that are so easy to remember that even a fat old stupid guy like me can do it. Complex moral ambiguity is just too much for my poor little brain. I'm still haunted by stupid decisions I made forty years ago in grade school. I don't need any more of that stuff cluttering my mind. "Do unto others..." and "Don't put up with people that don't" both work for me as first principles. #thebox
@alexthompson88001: I guess you'll have that opinion when one of your wastes of human existence loved ones theoretically drops dead because someone wants a better corvette.
I'm not sure how else to answer you otherwise. I know we're all not supposed to be judgmental of another's opinions and views, but yours here I would consider the great least common denominator of human existence. Just pathetic and gross. #thebox
11/13/09
The original story and the TZ episode were koans -- simple and self-contained. This ends up feeling more like Invasion of the Body-Snatchers-meets-Let's Make A Deal. Some particular notes, though:
(a) NSA wasn't publicly admitted to exist until the mid-80s or so. That felt really awkwardly grafted on. There's also no indication why NSA would have anything to do with this sort of thing, beyond "magic aliens told us to do it."
(b) Richmond to Langley would be a bitch of a commute.
(c) The only thing more tragic than the wallpaper in the room next to the kitchen was continuing that onto the couch. On the other hand, Gillian Jacobs rocked those '70s-cut pants. This raises one of my perennial complaints: why don't they cut pants like that anymore? IMHO way hotter than this low-cut bullshit. #thebox
11/09/09
What were the other good episodes? Ones soaked in irony, where the characters think one thing while the opposite is true. I believe that is where The Box lies, and what is truly scary about it. They thought they had a choice, but perhaps they did not. Marsden not getting his promotion and Diaz losing her discount (as well as her being humiliated by a student) were all engineered by the aliens to make them more likely to press the button. Would they have entertained pressing the button if they had everything they wanted (and what was apparently coming to them)? I doubt it. At the end, Marsden doesn't shoot until the other couple pushes the button. This again suggests that events are out of their control.
Much like in Donnie Darko, there is an element of fate that we cannot escape. Only this time, that fate is not controlled by god but by god-like aliens. Perhaps the movie is a statement on god, that he expects us to do the right thing yet he is the one who controls our fates. Seems very hypocritical of god, and very hypocritical of the aliens.
In short, the interesting discussions of the movie will more likely center around fate than morality.
11/09/09
11/08/09
[www.starwars.com] #thebox
11/07/09
11/07/09
Awesome goodness right there.
11/09/09
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
11/09/09
11/07/09
Listen to the Kelly's commentary on Darko and then tell me about his "mythos"
He readily admits he was out to make some cheeseball sci-fi movie and not some masterpiece as some have suggested.
11/07/09
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
11/13/09
11/06/09
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
11/06/09
11/07/09
Win.
Funfact - MST3K was filmed about 20 miles from where I live in Minnesota. I like that through out the years they continued to reference obscure local businesses and areas that no one outside of the twin cities would recognize. #thebox
11/06/09
1. Do I have to pay taxes on the million?
2. Is there a limit on the # of presses?
I could see it being a moral quandary if a random person you actually know is killed, but a complete stranger? Feh, most people (admittedly myself included) would press it when noone was looking. #thebox
11/06/09
11/06/09
11/06/09
Got it.
Yay, human race. #thebox
11/06/09
11/06/09
I "like" people and all, but think about how many complete and utter wastes of human existence you think you know, and then think about the possibility of ONE of them never getting to breed again.
I'd take a million for it.
11/07/09
11/07/09
I'm not sure how else to answer you otherwise. I know we're all not supposed to be judgmental of another's opinions and views, but yours here I would consider the great least common denominator of human existence. Just pathetic and gross. #thebox
11/07/09
Answer:
1. If it is income, then yes you do. I'm sure they give you the proper tax documentation when you receive the button.
2. Yes. When there are not enough people left to trade their services or goods for your money, you have pressed the button too many times.
Protip: If you are Kevin Bacon, you cannot press the button. #thebox