That's Kevin with his friend Clara at school.
And by that I mean, a movie like MEMENTO, RUN LOLA, RUN. 3D, or SPEED that uses something other than a traditional narrative to tell its story. A movie where the normal story-telling is disrupted by a concept that drives the plot. Or a gimmick. Sometimes they work for me, other times (BLAIR WITCH PROJECT-where a supposed documentary is being made) not so much. CATFISH worked better.
I loved MEMENTO.
What worked for you.
27 comments:
Patti - Hmmm....interesting! OK, the "rockumentary" format of This Is Spinal Tap really worked very well for me. I thoroughly enjoyed that movie.
Great question. I also really liked Spinal Tap. In fact, I'm a big fan of the mockumentary genre. There's a kind of movie-industry version of Spinal Tap called And God Spoke about some b-movie guys trying to film the bible because they found out it's still a bestseller and it's in the public domain.
Loved BEST IN SHOW too. That's a new one for me, John. Sounds great. Of course the documentary approach is now a staple of US television. THE OFFICE, MODERN FAMILY, PARKS AND RECREATION.
Got to be Westworld (though Best in Show is one of my favorite movies.) Westworld has gimmicks galore and that's what keeps it twisting and moving. Great story of yours in Beat To a Pulp, Patti. Really enjoyed it.
And yours too, Ed! I have read about half and nary a stinker in the bunch. David did a great job, didn't he. Such versatility and quality.
Westworld was so much fun. And wasn't there another one, too.
I didn't think of Westworld as an example until Ed Gorman mentioned it but I'd definitely go with that one. Great movie.
FUTUREWORLD, that was it.
"The Player" certainly ended on a gimmicky note. I found it frustrating at the time but think it's cleverly frustrating.
Of course "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction" are full of sequencing gimmicks but they really hold up through multiple viewings.
Dan Luft
I didn't think I'd like MEMENTO, but I did. A lot.
I don't know if you'd consider this to be a gimmick, but I'd put THE USUAL SUSPECTS at the top of my list, how they used the ultimate unreliable narrator to tell the story. At the end, you're still not sure how much was true, except for "who is Keyser Soze?"
Some good examples. I have held off rewatching both of them, afraid that the gimmick could only work once.
Same with SIXTH SENSE and THE CRYING GAME. Although I guess TCG does not really depend on its gimmick, does it?
I'm torn between whether Memento is a gimick or just very clever and excellent storytelling. Would Pulp Fiction be a gimmick with it's circular storytelling? Anyway, Memento (and Pulp Fiction) are great movies.
Westworld is a great movie, but is it a gimmick or just a great idea? And was Yul Brynner ever better?
I'll go with Six Sense, because it is truly gimmick in the way it has to hide that Bruce Willis is dead for the payoff. Still, very rewarding movie.
My husband and I went round and round over which movies used a gimmick as its main engine and where was it just an element of the film. Definitely SIXTH SENSE because without that, what do you have? Definitely the running woman in RUN LOLA RUN. But there are murky movies that almost but not quite fall into the category.
I'm thinking of two, but I'm not sure if they meet the criteria: DAVID AND LISA, with the odd repetitious, rhyming way they spoke, and THX 1138, with the stark while sets the whole way through and how it contrasts to the final scene.
Oh, my. DAVID AND LISA. What a memory you have. I remember the movie but not the gimmick. I've never seen the other THX1138 although Phil will probably tell me I have.
Several good examples I would have used have already been mentioned(Spinal Tap, Westworld, and THX1138. So let me add, Groundhog Day with constant repeating of the same day. I've seen that used on other things, it's a well known staple in SF stories, but it may have been the first film. Probably not.
Another I've heard of that might qualify, but never seen was Kutcher's The Butterfly Effect. I'm just disposed to avoid anything he's in.
I cannot overemphasize how much I love GROUNDHOG DAY. And I am not a Murray fan. How novel to have someone learn how to be a better person in a movie. It may be on my top five.
How about "Lady in the Lake" (47) and "The Singing Detective" (03)?
GROUNDHOG DAY for me, but you beat me to it.
What was the film where everything was from the POV of a man you never saw?
Although SWIMMING TO CAMBODIA was not a gimmicky movie but simply a filmed monologue, I include it here because I got completely lost in the movie within five minutes. When the movie was over, I was astounded that I'd just watched a man sitting at a table for two hours and yet what he talked about was so vivid in my mind, it was as if I'd seen everything he discussed.
Such a shame that Spalding Grey eventually committed suicide.
He was pretty amazing even playing the stage manager in OUR TOWN.
Oh, GROUNDHOG DAY is such a great movie. The 'gimmick' never wears thin for me. LADY IN THE LAKE, for sure. I'd also add MY DINNER WITH ANDRE - two men sitting in a restaurant talking for two hours. Didn't think I'd like it, but I did.
I don't know if this qualifies but THE MAN FROM EARTH is one of those wierd, low-budget gimmicky movies that is mostly talk and very little action. It's sci-fi without gadgets or special effects. (I suppose that's part of the gimmick.) A bunch of college professors sit around at a log cabin in the woods. It's a going away party for one of the younger professors who's decided to move on and can give no real reason why, just that it's time. Finally he begins to reveal his tale. He is immortal. A cave man who can never die and so is required to move on before anyone around him notices that he doesn't age. All this is revealed just in talk. Nobody believes him except one young woman. (Seriously miscast since she looks more like a fashion model than someone who'd work in a college - this would have been a great film with a stronger cast.) Anyway, after awhile he sees he's getting nowhere with them, especially once he reveals he was, in effect, the actual Christ and is therefore NOT God. One of the older professors, a devout religious woman almost collapses at this revelation, so the man back pedals and tells everyone he was just joking. Okay, long story short: the professors laugh it all off and say goodnight. But as they're leaving, one of the older guys who was most disbelieving of the story, overhears the man telling the young woman of all the names he's had to assume over the years. Turns out one of the names (and professions) was this old guy's father who disappeared one day and never came back. The old guy has a heart attack as he realizes the truth.
Okay, I see I've gone on long enough. But it is a movie no one's ever heard of and the more I think on it, the more I see it fits your criteria. The ending, I admit, is kind of lame. But it's still a movie worth taking a look at. Netlix has it.
Wow, that one is new to me. Funny how some movies skirt our attentions and others not.
OK, I'm back. A little late to comment on this but let me second you on MEMENTO, which I loved. Also SPINAL TAP and BEST IN SHOW.
But I'd have to agree with you and put GROUNDHOG DAY first because I can watch that over and over and over and... I once counted how many "days" there were, but I forget the total. I guess I'll have to do it again.
Jeff M.
Did you have fun?
I just like the morality of it. That a person learns to be a better one--and not just to fake out the girl. How often does that happen in a movie?
Hada good time, even with my parents.
;)
We saw Cirque du Soleil's LOVE in Vegas with the Beatles songs and it was a lot of fun.
Jeff M.
Can't go wrong with the Beatles. I enjoyed NOWHERE BOY.
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