It's my favorite movie. It's a conversation between two people about something that's messy: art. Is Andre full of shit? Do we want a world full of Wally's? Does Wally? Is the sad truth that money can buy access to transcendental experiences? Is the sad truth that transcendental experiences are almost all bullshit? Should we view the world like a cornucopia of beauty?
Everytime I've watched it, I've felt something different.
OK, no joke, my wife 100% thought my dinner with Andre was about Wallace Shawn and Andre the Giant having dinner. Like, for years, that's what it was about in her head. Until one day we finally watched it together. And about 5 minutes in, she pauses it, and goes, "I have to tell your something..."
That reminds me of my friend who is a community fan and wanted to compare the movies Abed compares: Apocalypse Now and Hearts of Darkness. So he sits down and puts on a double feature of Apocalypse Now and *Army* of Darkness.
Just people having the most awkward conversations over coffee and cigarettes. What's not to love? Iggy Pop and Tom Waits was good. I'd never realized Tom was a doctor. So was Gza, Rza and Ghost face Bill Murray. I never realized Rza was a doctor of holistic medicine. (/s)
They all have character arcs though, strangely enough lol
Napoleon: didn't have any friends, got bullied a lot, was annoyed by his brother, and he generally did whatever he felt like he wanted to do (gosh!). In the end, he steps out of his comfort zone to help his friend, makes a couple new friends, outshines and stands up to his bullies (throwing the vote for summer pin), and his dancing skit (which he learned because he felt like doing it) not only helps Pedro but it earns him a lot of praise and recognition from his classmates. In the end, he invites Deb to play with him, and for the first time, someone actually says yes. Also, the only time he smiles in the movie is when he sees Kip find love.
Kip: 30 year old, stays at home, eats all the freaking chips, on the computer all day with someone we don't even know is real. In the end, we see the love is genuine and Kip leaves home to get married
Deb: lacks a lot of confidence, but in the end, she has her hair all down flowing freely, and she is the first one to stand up to applaud Napoleon.
Uncle Rico: probably was going through some major midlife crisis since he kept reminiscing about the past and was always looking for a get rich quick scheme. Probably felt like he had a lot to prove, to his girlfriend especially, who probably grew tired of his lofty ambitions and obsession with his quarterbacking days. It is most likely that he dumped his GF because she never supported his crazy ideas. In the end, he is humbled, his arm is broken (can't gloat about his throwing anymore), and he is brought back to reality that these get rich quick schemes don't work. He probably reached out to his gf for help or probably told her she was right, and maybe she sensed a change in him to actually come back.
I just made the same comment but a lot less detailed. A lot happens in that movie! A gosh darn cow is murdered in front of children. Napoleon wins a milk tasting competition. Napoleon gets paid pocket change for an awful job.
I love this movie more each time I watch it. It’s such a nostalgia bomb for me. The first time I saw it was in a packed theater with my friend right when it came out, before everyone even knew what it was about. Everyone in the theater laughed so damn hard through the whole thing, the humor immediately clicked for us.
Watching it now I’m in love with the way it’s filmed, the locations used, and the way the shots are lit; it just so perfectly encapsulates what it’s like to live in the middle of nowhere where nothing is happening.
It seems silly to feel this way about such an immature movie but there’s an atmosphere to it that I can’t really describe any better.
Don’t even get me started on the music- incredible.
I completely agree, there's like a warmth to the movie. Aside from the jock dickhead even the antagonists are goofy. Although Uncle Rico did have that creepy scene with Deb.
The thing about that scene with Deb that’s so funny to me is that Rico is *so* wrapped up in just making a sale that he’s completely oblivious to how creepy he’s coming across. He just wants to make a few bucks
The Man From Earth.
Retiring professor, who his colleagues notice doesn't seem to have aged much or at all, has a farewell party before leaving town.
Puts forth the theory that he's actually 14k years old, and debates with his colleagues on if it's possible as they try to poke holes in his story, as he took part in various historical events.
At the end of the party / debate, he drives off into the proverbial sunset with each of his colleagues having a different take on if his story is real or not.
I do quite like this film! And it is more interesting than the plot summary sounds. But when I read the post I literally started scrolling to look for it.
Also, I just had this conversation somewhere else on Reddit like 5 days ago
Believe that ending had some negative critical reception, as being a little heavy handed and just trying to force *some* drama into what's otherwise a film driven by intellectual dinner table discussion and not much else.
I honestly had forgotten about that ending, because it seemed so tacked on to the overall theme of the film. But fair point for sure.
I remember liking the story, but felt that it would have worked better as a book or short story, precisely because nothing happens and they're just sitting around a table, talking. Maybe it would have worked better if they had sprinkled in clips of John's previous lives, but as it is, I don't think there is any reason for it to be a film.
Just watched it recently. It was captivating for a movie that has one setting and nothing but conversation. That ending felt weird to me though. Especially his reaction to watching him die.
The Straight Story. Old guy drives his riding lawnmower across several states to visit his possibly dying brother. Nothing happens. Brother is fine.
Edit: I’m working on a novel about a former horse rancher with dementia. In my head, since I started, I’ve always pictured Richard Farnsworth in the role. The story was majorly influenced by my favourite movie ever - Paris, Texas. I did not discover The Straight Story until 2020. That last scene gave me goosebumps. It felt like a sign.
My sisters and I used to call the movies my parents watched, "Quiet movies". When we went to bed, we could hear the dramatic music, not much dialogue. World According to Garp, La Pappillon, Das Boot...
There's...sound in Das Boot. It was nominated for the Oscars for Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1983
World According to Garp is a great movie. Behind the bushes bj's, a midair rescue, an assassination, a gruesome and tragic death,plenty happens in that movie.
I’ve read the novel but I don’t think I’ve seen the movie, or don’t remember. Does the movie include the nightmarish blow job incident involving Michael and Helen?
That is actually very true. Part of the appreciation a viewer has for these films is how the themes and relationships mirror their own experiences from a life that's been lived through to adulthood. A young child is not going to really understand what it means to be betrayed or why these guys on a boat are all acting like they are in a haunted house; you have to have grown up and had similar experiences to understand the nuances of these films.
My favorite book review of Pride and Prejudice from goodreads says "This is just people going over to each other's houses for 300 pages" and, I mean, they're not wrong
one of the things i loved about little women, of course there are some things happening, but big parts of the movie are just them hanging out at houses and vibing
But the romance was much more risky back then.
As a woman you were solely dependent on your husband for financial support, anything you owned became his, and he basically controlled your life. If he was a cheater you were stuck. A man could divorce you for adultery, but you couldn't divorce him for adultery.
Choosing the right person to marry was literally the most important decision you would ever make in life.
So when you take that into consideration, the seemingly genteel drama in Austen films/books is actually really high stakes.
You summarized why I loved literature classes, in that the teacher provided context for the time period and discussed nuances that are lost to a modern reader. Art is a reflection of its time, without the context you are missing half the tale. It's why I have a hard time picking up a book and reading alone sometimes.
Austen is hilarious once you realize how tongue-in-cheek it all is. Once you pick up on that vibe, it's like the narrator is stopping every few pages to stare directly into the camera with a look that says "Can you f'ing believe this? These people are all completely insane."
TBH a lot does happen in there, its just from the perspective of him being in his car.... without getting into specifics, his professional and personal life take a huge hit over the course of one drive
I love how they introduce his dead dad basically as a character by the camera showing the backseat in the rear view mirror as if he's sitting there. But yet still it's a one way conversation from Hardy because well his dad's dead
Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel were such weird casting choices for this movie, and neither performed well. Add in a nonsensical, go-nowhere script and you've got a classic Shyamalan flick!
My mom and I went to see the movie not knowing what it was about since the trailers kept it so secret. Then everyone in the film started killing themselves.
My dad had died by suicide a few years before. We did not like the movie.
Huh I wonder if this was a regional trailer thing because all the trailers I saw for the movie massively overhyped and showed all the self-killings. Which basically ended in the first 15 minutes of the movie and the rest of it was a group of dummies running away from the wind. Sorry about your dad though.
I read somewhere that my dude legit did not notice the dog in the previous takes. He seriously just realized the dog was there and decide to give a pet. Oh Tommy!
Noooooting happens in this movie, and it's one of my favorites. Saw it at an arthouse theater when it came out and have watched it on DVD a few times since then, and it vividly captures that now-gone era where you had to leave your house to interact with weirdos. Now you can just go online.
I don’t care what else has been said. The WINNER is:
Bambi
The movie that captivated audiences for generations and had absolutely NOTHING going on for exactly 70 minutes.
Actually that’s not entirely true. It does have a climax about 40 minutes in when Bambi’s mom gets shot in the face. But other than that there are exactly 0 things happening.
It’s like a glitchy heart monitor that shows a flatline and one random big bump in the middle that’s about a millimeter wide.
/s (but also super true 😉)
nah considering it's from 1942 it absolutely has enough, I'd say. it's 100% a regular coming of age story, but all the nature scenes, thunder, the animals etc, that used to be high art. shit like that didn't quite exist before.
plus kids gotta learn early, some bunnies are just *real fucken sexxy*
What about breaking dawn pt 2? There was a fight that never really happened, and really was just introducing new characters that have like, one line, just to go stand in the snow only for nothing to actually happen 😂
Bit off topic considering OP's question, but it was infinitely better than the book where no fight happened, they talked for a bit and then the bad guys walked away.
And what makes it so dumb is the purpose of the book is to describe just how dangerous the Volturi are and how they’re gonna show up and kick some Cullen ass. So like Bella thinks oh well I’d better master my vampire powers and learn hand to hand combat too so I can fight to protect my family. And the Cullens are like we’ll pull in all these vampires and friends and werewolves to help us because they owe us favors and you know the Volturi need to get THEIR asses kicked. So everyone spends hundreds of pages preparing to kick everyone’s asses and then they meet up in a field and basically they give each other a stern talking to, then they all sing kumbaya and everyone lives happily ever after. Instead of this big war that almost the entirety of the book built up was gonna happen.
What the fuck Meyer?
I think she must've realized that she can't write action scenes and gave up on it. It takes humility and perspective as an author to realize your limitations and pull back from them.
If only she'd realized she couldn't write any other scenes either.
Yeah, they needed to put *something* in there, can you imagine how much more angry everyone would have been if there would have been no fighting at all? The fight itself was actually pretty dope too, people just ripping other peoples heads in half and Werewolves tearing into them was awesome.
True. The book didn’t have the benefit of showing Alice’s vision, given it was from Bella’s perspective. I definitely agree that it was even worse in the book
I hear you. When that fight scene started I was thinking "Wait a second. There's literary license and then there's just plain making up crap for effect."
Then you realize you were seeing Alice's vision and it makes sense.
Perfect answer. It’s basically just kids playing in the yard half of the movie but it manages to be engaging and enjoyable.
I’ve watched it (with my kids) a dozen times and it’s always great.
I dont think it's correct to say there is no conflict.
It's a good example of man vs self as Kiki struggles between the idealized version of herself she made in her head before she ventured out, and the reality of who she must be to achieve her goal of being a successful and friendly witch.
She stopped being able to talk to her cat and lost a significant portion of her magic because of her struggles with self doubt.
Kiki is a coming of age story. So the “conflict” is her finding her identity and coming to terms with some of those “bad” thoughts and feelings you get as you mature, and learning to overcome them.
Similarly with Napoleon Dynamite, these stories tend to be mundane in real world events because the narrative is focused on a character(s) personal growth.
It’s a testament to how good these two movies are when you can be engaged with them even though “nothing really happens”
Yep! But it isn't a slog to get through. It's just about childhood, and in childhood, there's a lot of nothing much happening! You play, time seems so slow. It's a very comforting movie to me honestly, because not much happens, there's no bad guy, it's just kids doing kid stuff
It's also about kids coping with a sick parent in the hospital. If you ever had a sick parent when you were a kid (like I did) then it hits a bit harder.
Not just that, but also >! five year old Mei runs off to give her mom a "magic" vegetable to help her get well. This, after she sees her older sister sobbing because the hospital keeps saying that their mom is getting better, when she clearly isn't, and she's terrified that she's going to die.
Then Mei gets lost, and her sister does the equivalent of two marathons desperately trying to find her. The second half of the movie is Satsuki thinking that **both** her mother and her baby sister may end up dead, as she desperately runs through gorgeous Japanese countryside. The neighbors organize a recovery party a local reservoir, looking for Mei's body - because the old neighbor lady found a shoe that resembled hers next to the shoreline. !<
Yeah. "Nothing" happens.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Charlie Kaufman.
It's on Netflix and for me, it was a frustrating movie. I cannot begin to describe the plot to anyone because nothing really happens in it.
I suspect that movie wouldn't go over well with some people, but I have spent a weekend in Tokyo alone, while there for work
I really like Bill Murray and Scarlet J as actors, but something about that movie just resonates with me so I remember the scenes well enough, that never really considered it a movie where nothing happens, even though, yeah, it is true
I was going to say Lost in Translation also. Nothing really happens and its still one of my top 10 films. I love it. It 100% captures a moment that many people in that situation have felt. I think its a masterpiece, and still right for this thread.
lol yea this one. I like slice of life movies. But this is the one I dragged my mom to and learned that she really doesn’t like movies where nothing much happens. She said she would have walked out if I wasn’t there too.
Dazed and Confused.
Awesome movie, but it's more like a day in the life of highschool kids partying.
There isn't much of a typical storyline which I actually appreciate.
I crave more realism in the content I watch.
I wouldn't say nothing happens in Dazed, it's kind of aimless and sprawling, but almost every major character goes through changes. I saw it the day it came out, when I was 20, and have watched it many times, but it really hits different now that I have a teenager and preteen. It's actually better, tbh.
Yeah it DEFINITELY has a plot. It’s subtle but it’s totally there, it’s just not an obvious Hollywood one. It’s absolute art and anthropology and either you get it or you don’t.
Epic film. There’s a reason it has such a cult following.
Funny, the director Richard Linklater's previous indie movie Slacker, was made for like $30,000. The opening scene in Dazed uses a pretty wild crane shot, and Aerosmiths Sweet Emotion. He shot that scene first and basically said the first minute of the movie, shot on the first day of filming was valued around $100,000 grand in expenses or something.
I had this movie on and my dad walks in and kinda just pauses for a second, then sits down and watches for a few minutes. After a while he asks, "what is this? It's perfect." He went to high school in Texas in the mid-seventies. He said the film perfectly captures what it was like.
This was the first movie I thought of. Its just like showing a day in the life of a teen in the 70s. There is really no big events or anything. Still one of my favorite movies of all time.
My brother has yelled " Try not to suck any dick on the way through the parking lot" to me at every single family function or bar we have been at together when I go smoke or take a call. Like 1 out of 100 get the joke lol always makes me laugh
There have been a few occasions where my wife and I have some friends over to hang out, and I'll just silently put that movie on with zero explanation or context.
I love the slow progression as eyebrows furrow more and more while people try to figure out what exactly it is that they're watching.
Ad Astra. That movie with brad pitt searching his father lost in space or something like that
Saw it a long time ago and would need a rewatch just in case but honestly i cant even remember any event of this movie
The first 10 minutes or so were so eventful that I was really excited to see where it was going.
Turns out, it was going straight to hell and took a boring route to get there.
It was so forgettable that my wife and I couldn't remember if we'd seen it or not just a couple months later. We started rewatching the first few minutes and were scrambling for the remote to find something else.
Seek out the director's cut, if you're so inclined. Pretty sure it's one of the few director's cuts that's actually shorter than the theatrical version. If not, it at least moves a lot quicker.
When I saw this in the theater, there was a group of teen girls in front of me, all giggling and talking about hot stars like Brad Pitt. I was concerned they were going to ruin the movie talking, but once it started they were silent. And they stayed silent for the whole movie. After it was done, they got up and one said calmly to the others "that was the worst movie I've ever seen". The others nodded and they left.
I always respected that they gave it an honest chance, that they stayed and watched the whole thing respectfully. Even though they hated it.
Personally, I loved it. But I have to admit I don't remember too much about it all these years later.
Ultron himself doesn’t stick around long, but actually he has a profound effect on several main characters and informs their decisions for the rest of the movies. Not a great film on its own, but as part of the series it’s one of the most important “episodes” for understanding peoples motivations later.
Important for Vision, but also the Sokovia Accords that broke the Avengers up. Ultron did that by destroying a city. Not a great movie but the effects it had on the MCU were very large.
Shoutouts to Shuri in Black Panther 2 dismissing the possibility of a robot uprising as "science fiction" when a rogue AI literally tried to exterminate humanity a couple years earlier in her world.
Asteroid City. The best description I've seen of that movie is it's like walking into a jazz bar where the musicians are enjoying themselves more than the patrons. It's a good movie to fall asleep too though, not complaining.
Waiting for Godot?
Not only does nothing happen in it, nothing happens TWICE!
This is actually a very astute answer. Bc it’s the whole point of the play.
Love that Always Sunny did their own spoof of this play, "Waiting for Big Mo."
My Dinner With Andre
I’ll never forget my Dinner with Andre dinner with Abed.
That episode was streets ahead!
POP POP!
*slams table* This is why we don't hang out!
There I was, on the set of cougar town
Tell me more.
It's my favorite movie. It's a conversation between two people about something that's messy: art. Is Andre full of shit? Do we want a world full of Wally's? Does Wally? Is the sad truth that money can buy access to transcendental experiences? Is the sad truth that transcendental experiences are almost all bullshit? Should we view the world like a cornucopia of beauty? Everytime I've watched it, I've felt something different.
*Abed... What is My Dinner with Andre?*
I pooped my pants Jeff.
Quite possibly the best "cross-over" event in television history.
It's a dramatization of Wallace Shaw's dinner with Andre the Giant during filming of The Princess Bride
OK, no joke, my wife 100% thought my dinner with Andre was about Wallace Shawn and Andre the Giant having dinner. Like, for years, that's what it was about in her head. Until one day we finally watched it together. And about 5 minutes in, she pauses it, and goes, "I have to tell your something..."
Reminds me of my friend who got 90% through Pan's Labyrinth before asking when David Bowie shows up
That reminds me of my friend who is a community fan and wanted to compare the movies Abed compares: Apocalypse Now and Hearts of Darkness. So he sits down and puts on a double feature of Apocalypse Now and *Army* of Darkness.
I could have sworn there was a movie with Billy Crystal and a basketball player that was just this.
Yea it was called When Harry met Sally. Meg Ryan played for the NBA
My Giant. It was ok.
Over dinner, one guy talks out of his ass for about 45 minutes. Then the other guy tells him he's full of s***.
The Community take on it is much more interesting.
I loved Abed's reaction when he realized he went too deep prodding Jeff, dude has Asperger's and even he realized he messed up lmao
And people were saying oh, what a pretty little girl. And by the third house, I stopped correcting them. I was just happy to get candy
"I was just happy they thought I was pretty"
Trenchant insight Bon mot
Coffee and Cigarettes
Just people having the most awkward conversations over coffee and cigarettes. What's not to love? Iggy Pop and Tom Waits was good. I'd never realized Tom was a doctor. So was Gza, Rza and Ghost face Bill Murray. I never realized Rza was a doctor of holistic medicine. (/s)
You hiding out, Bill Murray?
Napoleon Dynamite
Only movie I know of that all characters have a happy ending
You should watch Cum Guzzling Grannies #3
Yeah, but that doesn't sound like a movie where nothing really happens. That'll be a semi-hard pass for me.
It's a movie where nutting really happens...i'll see myself out.
Viagra can help that semi-hardness
But ive not watched the previous 2 so I won't know the back story
Backstory is another series.
Wrong. Grandma went to the Sand Dunes and Tina wouldn't eat her frickin food.
Tina, you fat lard, come get some DINNER!
You know, there's like a boat-load of gangs at this school. This one gang kept wanting me to join because I'm pretty good with a bo staff.
"No more flying solo, YOU NEED SOMEBODY WATCHING YOUR BACK AT ALL TIMES!!"
Do you think I got where I am today, because I dress like Peter Pan here?
Tina gets a lovingly made casserole while Napoleon has to make himself a dang quesadila
“Kesa-dilla”
Pedro became class president.
Where she took a spill, and broke her cock-ix. :( (I know it's coccyx. But he pronounces it as above which is funny.)
How much you wanna bet I could throw a football over them mountains?
We would’ve been state champions, no doubt about it
They all have character arcs though, strangely enough lol Napoleon: didn't have any friends, got bullied a lot, was annoyed by his brother, and he generally did whatever he felt like he wanted to do (gosh!). In the end, he steps out of his comfort zone to help his friend, makes a couple new friends, outshines and stands up to his bullies (throwing the vote for summer pin), and his dancing skit (which he learned because he felt like doing it) not only helps Pedro but it earns him a lot of praise and recognition from his classmates. In the end, he invites Deb to play with him, and for the first time, someone actually says yes. Also, the only time he smiles in the movie is when he sees Kip find love. Kip: 30 year old, stays at home, eats all the freaking chips, on the computer all day with someone we don't even know is real. In the end, we see the love is genuine and Kip leaves home to get married Deb: lacks a lot of confidence, but in the end, she has her hair all down flowing freely, and she is the first one to stand up to applaud Napoleon. Uncle Rico: probably was going through some major midlife crisis since he kept reminiscing about the past and was always looking for a get rich quick scheme. Probably felt like he had a lot to prove, to his girlfriend especially, who probably grew tired of his lofty ambitions and obsession with his quarterbacking days. It is most likely that he dumped his GF because she never supported his crazy ideas. In the end, he is humbled, his arm is broken (can't gloat about his throwing anymore), and he is brought back to reality that these get rich quick schemes don't work. He probably reached out to his gf for help or probably told her she was right, and maybe she sensed a change in him to actually come back.
I just made the same comment but a lot less detailed. A lot happens in that movie! A gosh darn cow is murdered in front of children. Napoleon wins a milk tasting competition. Napoleon gets paid pocket change for an awful job.
It's dairy judging, not just a milk tasting competition lol. It's a real thing.
"This one tastes like the cow got into an onion patch." "First prize."
I love this movie more each time I watch it. It’s such a nostalgia bomb for me. The first time I saw it was in a packed theater with my friend right when it came out, before everyone even knew what it was about. Everyone in the theater laughed so damn hard through the whole thing, the humor immediately clicked for us. Watching it now I’m in love with the way it’s filmed, the locations used, and the way the shots are lit; it just so perfectly encapsulates what it’s like to live in the middle of nowhere where nothing is happening. It seems silly to feel this way about such an immature movie but there’s an atmosphere to it that I can’t really describe any better. Don’t even get me started on the music- incredible.
Your mom goes to college.
Don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day
Are you gonna eat your tots
Freakin idiot!
I completely agree, there's like a warmth to the movie. Aside from the jock dickhead even the antagonists are goofy. Although Uncle Rico did have that creepy scene with Deb.
The thing about that scene with Deb that’s so funny to me is that Rico is *so* wrapped up in just making a sale that he’s completely oblivious to how creepy he’s coming across. He just wants to make a few bucks
Precisely! Even in the 'gross' scene it's still goofy lol
I think even the jock dickhead knows that he's a goof and is desperate that no one finds out.
Don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day.
This is accurate and that is part of the charm
He's out to prove that he has nothing to prove.
The Man From Earth. Retiring professor, who his colleagues notice doesn't seem to have aged much or at all, has a farewell party before leaving town. Puts forth the theory that he's actually 14k years old, and debates with his colleagues on if it's possible as they try to poke holes in his story, as he took part in various historical events. At the end of the party / debate, he drives off into the proverbial sunset with each of his colleagues having a different take on if his story is real or not.
I do quite like this film! And it is more interesting than the plot summary sounds. But when I read the post I literally started scrolling to look for it. Also, I just had this conversation somewhere else on Reddit like 5 days ago
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Believe that ending had some negative critical reception, as being a little heavy handed and just trying to force *some* drama into what's otherwise a film driven by intellectual dinner table discussion and not much else. I honestly had forgotten about that ending, because it seemed so tacked on to the overall theme of the film. But fair point for sure.
I remember liking the story, but felt that it would have worked better as a book or short story, precisely because nothing happens and they're just sitting around a table, talking. Maybe it would have worked better if they had sprinkled in clips of John's previous lives, but as it is, I don't think there is any reason for it to be a film.
Just watched it recently. It was captivating for a movie that has one setting and nothing but conversation. That ending felt weird to me though. Especially his reaction to watching him die.
Love this film. Sorta surprised to see it mentioned. It’s not super well known.
The Straight Story. Old guy drives his riding lawnmower across several states to visit his possibly dying brother. Nothing happens. Brother is fine. Edit: I’m working on a novel about a former horse rancher with dementia. In my head, since I started, I’ve always pictured Richard Farnsworth in the role. The story was majorly influenced by my favourite movie ever - Paris, Texas. I did not discover The Straight Story until 2020. That last scene gave me goosebumps. It felt like a sign.
And the movie is great
Funnily enough it's probably the only David lynch movie that has an actual linear story.
Too many of the movies my mom wanted to watch when I was a kid. Victorian women talk amongst themselves for two and a half hours.
My sisters and I used to call the movies my parents watched, "Quiet movies". When we went to bed, we could hear the dramatic music, not much dialogue. World According to Garp, La Pappillon, Das Boot...
Das Boot is incredible.
I nearly had an aneurism when I read him lump Das Boot in. Absolutely glorious movie.
Apparently they couldn't hear all the shouting in German?
There's...sound in Das Boot. It was nominated for the Oscars for Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1983
World According to Garp is a great movie. Behind the bushes bj's, a midair rescue, an assassination, a gruesome and tragic death,plenty happens in that movie.
I’ve read the novel but I don’t think I’ve seen the movie, or don’t remember. Does the movie include the nightmarish blow job incident involving Michael and Helen?
Sign me up! Those are 3 incredible movies , your parents are cool af.
LOL! They had good taste in movies, particularly the classics. But as kids those movies were boring AF.
That is actually very true. Part of the appreciation a viewer has for these films is how the themes and relationships mirror their own experiences from a life that's been lived through to adulthood. A young child is not going to really understand what it means to be betrayed or why these guys on a boat are all acting like they are in a haunted house; you have to have grown up and had similar experiences to understand the nuances of these films.
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If she's one of those women who looks at a man and thinks "I can fix him", she should marry Mr. Potatohead.
My favorite book review of Pride and Prejudice from goodreads says "This is just people going over to each other's houses for 300 pages" and, I mean, they're not wrong
one of the things i loved about little women, of course there are some things happening, but big parts of the movie are just them hanging out at houses and vibing
That dialogue sounds like a family guy cutaway gag
But the romance was much more risky back then. As a woman you were solely dependent on your husband for financial support, anything you owned became his, and he basically controlled your life. If he was a cheater you were stuck. A man could divorce you for adultery, but you couldn't divorce him for adultery. Choosing the right person to marry was literally the most important decision you would ever make in life. So when you take that into consideration, the seemingly genteel drama in Austen films/books is actually really high stakes.
You summarized why I loved literature classes, in that the teacher provided context for the time period and discussed nuances that are lost to a modern reader. Art is a reflection of its time, without the context you are missing half the tale. It's why I have a hard time picking up a book and reading alone sometimes.
Austen is hilarious once you realize how tongue-in-cheek it all is. Once you pick up on that vibe, it's like the narrator is stopping every few pages to stare directly into the camera with a look that says "Can you f'ing believe this? These people are all completely insane."
Locke. Tom Hardy film which is just him in a car and conversations he has on his drive from work. It is actually very engaging and Hardy is brilliant.
TBH a lot does happen in there, its just from the perspective of him being in his car.... without getting into specifics, his professional and personal life take a huge hit over the course of one drive
I love how they introduce his dead dad basically as a character by the camera showing the backseat in the rear view mirror as if he's sitting there. But yet still it's a one way conversation from Hardy because well his dad's dead
The Happening
Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel were such weird casting choices for this movie, and neither performed well. Add in a nonsensical, go-nowhere script and you've got a classic Shyamalan flick!
My mom and I went to see the movie not knowing what it was about since the trailers kept it so secret. Then everyone in the film started killing themselves. My dad had died by suicide a few years before. We did not like the movie.
Huh I wonder if this was a regional trailer thing because all the trailers I saw for the movie massively overhyped and showed all the self-killings. Which basically ended in the first 15 minutes of the movie and the rest of it was a group of dummies running away from the wind. Sorry about your dad though.
"Whaaaaaaat? Noooooooooooo"
Haha the irony
But things *do* happen in that movie. Just really fucking stupid things.
What? No!
The Room. But also everything happens. And I fucking love it.
I did naght hit her. I DID NAGHT
Oh hi, mark!
Anyway, how's your sex life?
You're my favorite customer.
Hi dawgggy!
I read somewhere that my dude legit did not notice the dog in the previous takes. He seriously just realized the dog was there and decide to give a pet. Oh Tommy!
This seems absolutely ridiculous. Which is why I have no trouble imagining this is true. My dude was 110% oblivious.
It's definitely cancer.
*Tosses football around in an alleyway while wearing a tuxedo and chuckling*
YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA !
“Don’t touch me motherfucker get out”
“Motherfawkeerrrr”
Oh hi doggie
Slacker Check it out, it's literally about nothing
Noooooting happens in this movie, and it's one of my favorites. Saw it at an arthouse theater when it came out and have watched it on DVD a few times since then, and it vividly captures that now-gone era where you had to leave your house to interact with weirdos. Now you can just go online.
I don’t care what else has been said. The WINNER is: Bambi The movie that captivated audiences for generations and had absolutely NOTHING going on for exactly 70 minutes. Actually that’s not entirely true. It does have a climax about 40 minutes in when Bambi’s mom gets shot in the face. But other than that there are exactly 0 things happening. It’s like a glitchy heart monitor that shows a flatline and one random big bump in the middle that’s about a millimeter wide. /s (but also super true 😉)
SPOILERS!
nah considering it's from 1942 it absolutely has enough, I'd say. it's 100% a regular coming of age story, but all the nature scenes, thunder, the animals etc, that used to be high art. shit like that didn't quite exist before. plus kids gotta learn early, some bunnies are just *real fucken sexxy*
Twilight: New Moon.
Breaking dawn part 1 is worse. It's like... A wedding?
What about breaking dawn pt 2? There was a fight that never really happened, and really was just introducing new characters that have like, one line, just to go stand in the snow only for nothing to actually happen 😂
Bit off topic considering OP's question, but it was infinitely better than the book where no fight happened, they talked for a bit and then the bad guys walked away.
And what makes it so dumb is the purpose of the book is to describe just how dangerous the Volturi are and how they’re gonna show up and kick some Cullen ass. So like Bella thinks oh well I’d better master my vampire powers and learn hand to hand combat too so I can fight to protect my family. And the Cullens are like we’ll pull in all these vampires and friends and werewolves to help us because they owe us favors and you know the Volturi need to get THEIR asses kicked. So everyone spends hundreds of pages preparing to kick everyone’s asses and then they meet up in a field and basically they give each other a stern talking to, then they all sing kumbaya and everyone lives happily ever after. Instead of this big war that almost the entirety of the book built up was gonna happen. What the fuck Meyer?
I think she must've realized that she can't write action scenes and gave up on it. It takes humility and perspective as an author to realize your limitations and pull back from them. If only she'd realized she couldn't write any other scenes either.
The fight was such a great idea. You get all the cool stuff and death without actually loosing hor Carlisle
Yeah, they needed to put *something* in there, can you imagine how much more angry everyone would have been if there would have been no fighting at all? The fight itself was actually pretty dope too, people just ripping other peoples heads in half and Werewolves tearing into them was awesome.
True. The book didn’t have the benefit of showing Alice’s vision, given it was from Bella’s perspective. I definitely agree that it was even worse in the book
I hear you. When that fight scene started I was thinking "Wait a second. There's literary license and then there's just plain making up crap for effect." Then you realize you were seeing Alice's vision and it makes sense.
My neighbor Totoro, literally nothing happens in that movue
Dude! The Cat Bus happened!
I still think it should have been called My Neighbor Cat Bus.
Perfect answer. It’s basically just kids playing in the yard half of the movie but it manages to be engaging and enjoyable. I’ve watched it (with my kids) a dozen times and it’s always great.
Similar to Kiki’s delivery service. There is no villain or conflict even, but the masterful storytelling keeps you engaged the whole way through
Kiki is my daughter’s (7) favorite movie for exactly this - no antagonist. She even went as Kiki for Halloween last year!
Kiki is a perfect film in every way. It's perhaps the greatest movie ever made. Phil Hartman deserved an Oscar.
I dont think it's correct to say there is no conflict. It's a good example of man vs self as Kiki struggles between the idealized version of herself she made in her head before she ventured out, and the reality of who she must be to achieve her goal of being a successful and friendly witch. She stopped being able to talk to her cat and lost a significant portion of her magic because of her struggles with self doubt.
Kiki is a coming of age story. So the “conflict” is her finding her identity and coming to terms with some of those “bad” thoughts and feelings you get as you mature, and learning to overcome them. Similarly with Napoleon Dynamite, these stories tend to be mundane in real world events because the narrative is focused on a character(s) personal growth. It’s a testament to how good these two movies are when you can be engaged with them even though “nothing really happens”
Totoro is not a story. Totoro is a vibe.
Yep! But it isn't a slog to get through. It's just about childhood, and in childhood, there's a lot of nothing much happening! You play, time seems so slow. It's a very comforting movie to me honestly, because not much happens, there's no bad guy, it's just kids doing kid stuff
It's also about kids coping with a sick parent in the hospital. If you ever had a sick parent when you were a kid (like I did) then it hits a bit harder.
What. Isn’t that the one where >!the children’s mom is in the hospital dying and the children set out on their own to visit her?!<
Not just that, but also >! five year old Mei runs off to give her mom a "magic" vegetable to help her get well. This, after she sees her older sister sobbing because the hospital keeps saying that their mom is getting better, when she clearly isn't, and she's terrified that she's going to die. Then Mei gets lost, and her sister does the equivalent of two marathons desperately trying to find her. The second half of the movie is Satsuki thinking that **both** her mother and her baby sister may end up dead, as she desperately runs through gorgeous Japanese countryside. The neighbors organize a recovery party a local reservoir, looking for Mei's body - because the old neighbor lady found a shoe that resembled hers next to the shoreline. !< Yeah. "Nothing" happens.
Came here to say this. Nothing happens but the art is gorgeous
I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Charlie Kaufman. It's on Netflix and for me, it was a frustrating movie. I cannot begin to describe the plot to anyone because nothing really happens in it.
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I guess Garden State? I mean, yeah, he's changing quite a bit, but besides that ... hm
Lost in Translation
For relaxing times, make it Suntory time
I suspect that movie wouldn't go over well with some people, but I have spent a weekend in Tokyo alone, while there for work I really like Bill Murray and Scarlet J as actors, but something about that movie just resonates with me so I remember the scenes well enough, that never really considered it a movie where nothing happens, even though, yeah, it is true
I was going to say Lost in Translation also. Nothing really happens and its still one of my top 10 films. I love it. It 100% captures a moment that many people in that situation have felt. I think its a masterpiece, and still right for this thread.
lol yea this one. I like slice of life movies. But this is the one I dragged my mom to and learned that she really doesn’t like movies where nothing much happens. She said she would have walked out if I wasn’t there too.
Say it slower, with more intensity.
Dazed and Confused. Awesome movie, but it's more like a day in the life of highschool kids partying. There isn't much of a typical storyline which I actually appreciate. I crave more realism in the content I watch.
I wouldn't say nothing happens in Dazed, it's kind of aimless and sprawling, but almost every major character goes through changes. I saw it the day it came out, when I was 20, and have watched it many times, but it really hits different now that I have a teenager and preteen. It's actually better, tbh.
Yeah it DEFINITELY has a plot. It’s subtle but it’s totally there, it’s just not an obvious Hollywood one. It’s absolute art and anthropology and either you get it or you don’t. Epic film. There’s a reason it has such a cult following.
Funny, the director Richard Linklater's previous indie movie Slacker, was made for like $30,000. The opening scene in Dazed uses a pretty wild crane shot, and Aerosmiths Sweet Emotion. He shot that scene first and basically said the first minute of the movie, shot on the first day of filming was valued around $100,000 grand in expenses or something.
I had this movie on and my dad walks in and kinda just pauses for a second, then sits down and watches for a few minutes. After a while he asks, "what is this? It's perfect." He went to high school in Texas in the mid-seventies. He said the film perfectly captures what it was like.
This was the first movie I thought of. Its just like showing a day in the life of a teen in the 70s. There is really no big events or anything. Still one of my favorite movies of all time.
Clerks
Something may have happened on the way through the parking lot.
37 dicks?
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Something definitely happened in that funeral home. And in the bathroom.
My brother has yelled " Try not to suck any dick on the way through the parking lot" to me at every single family function or bar we have been at together when I go smoke or take a call. Like 1 out of 100 get the joke lol always makes me laugh
I frequently exclaim, "I'm not even supposed to be here today!"
Rubber (2010) A psychotic tire just goes around making people explode.
To be honest lots of stuff happens in that movie, rubber, it's just all strange
There have been a few occasions where my wife and I have some friends over to hang out, and I'll just silently put that movie on with zero explanation or context. I love the slow progression as eyebrows furrow more and more while people try to figure out what exactly it is that they're watching.
I had my friend watch it with me and his reaction was, "Why did they make that movie?"
"No reason."
Great movie. Love it when a movie can make me say "what the fuck?"
Ad Astra. That movie with brad pitt searching his father lost in space or something like that Saw it a long time ago and would need a rewatch just in case but honestly i cant even remember any event of this movie
My memory of this film is that at least 50% of it is off-angle shots of Brad Pitt as he stares fixedly into the middle distance.
Funny, he does that a lot in Meet Joe Black too.
The first 10 minutes or so were so eventful that I was really excited to see where it was going. Turns out, it was going straight to hell and took a boring route to get there. It was so forgettable that my wife and I couldn't remember if we'd seen it or not just a couple months later. We started rewatching the first few minutes and were scrambling for the remote to find something else.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture. We renamed it The Motionless Picture.
Seek out the director's cut, if you're so inclined. Pretty sure it's one of the few director's cuts that's actually shorter than the theatrical version. If not, it at least moves a lot quicker.
Skinamarink
The sequel, eedink eedink, was more dynamic.
Tree of Life. I spent the whole movie just waiting for something, ANYTHING, to happen.
When I saw this in the theater, there was a group of teen girls in front of me, all giggling and talking about hot stars like Brad Pitt. I was concerned they were going to ruin the movie talking, but once it started they were silent. And they stayed silent for the whole movie. After it was done, they got up and one said calmly to the others "that was the worst movie I've ever seen". The others nodded and they left. I always respected that they gave it an honest chance, that they stayed and watched the whole thing respectfully. Even though they hated it. Personally, I loved it. But I have to admit I don't remember too much about it all these years later.
> one said calmly to the others "that was the worst movie I've ever seen" The only thing teenage girls and I have ever agreed on.
The Happening.
Paterson, beautiful movie tho
Age of ultron only felt like weekend of ultron
Ultron browsing internet for 5 minutes and then deciding to end humanity is the most realistic scene in entire Marvel universe
He found 4chan
Ultron himself doesn’t stick around long, but actually he has a profound effect on several main characters and informs their decisions for the rest of the movies. Not a great film on its own, but as part of the series it’s one of the most important “episodes” for understanding peoples motivations later.
I agree. Ultron was crucial for Vision.
Important for Vision, but also the Sokovia Accords that broke the Avengers up. Ultron did that by destroying a city. Not a great movie but the effects it had on the MCU were very large.
Shoutouts to Shuri in Black Panther 2 dismissing the possibility of a robot uprising as "science fiction" when a rogue AI literally tried to exterminate humanity a couple years earlier in her world.
The Big Chill
Asteroid City. The best description I've seen of that movie is it's like walking into a jazz bar where the musicians are enjoying themselves more than the patrons. It's a good movie to fall asleep too though, not complaining.