Did I miss something?
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mariob74-1 — 19 years ago(August 22, 2006 11:45 PM)
yea when I saw the movie I expevted it to be dark ut at least funny, granted there were a few funny parts but for the most part it was just dark, which means tat you would have to be completely messed up to find the movie funny. And the end was one of the worst I have seen.
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Bay_Harbor_Butcher_Fan — 19 years ago(October 16, 2006 11:39 PM)
Also, with the whole Karma thing, the other 2 didn't die but got what they deserved for playing along in the whole thing, they get to live but with a few minor set-backs.
She wanted her damn picture perfect wedding and she got it but in the process a life oh so not as perfect.
Very Bad Things and Vulgar are probably the best dark comedies/karma-related movies to not be well recognized and although not light and happy and maybe a bit too dark for some tastes they still are pretty good. -
TwentyThree42 — 19 years ago(November 12, 2006 10:53 PM)
I agree with everone who's saying this movie isn't redeeming and is horrible. I expected it to be dark, sure. But it only had a few funny parts and even then they were bearly funny and you were very uneasy laughing at anything because the movie is so depraved and sick. You do have to be really messed up to actually enjoy this movie.
Exact same things go for movies like American Psycho and Clockwork Orange.
I know people wont like me saying that about a "classic" but it's true. There aren't enough redeeming points to make it a worthwhile movie. You have to have some sort of a great point or brilliant conclusion for a twisted movie to be great. And these films completely lack that. showing that bad things happen to people who do screwed up crap isn't enough to warrant putting people through hours of tourture watching it. -
camarokidss02 — 19 years ago(November 18, 2006 03:06 AM)
First of all: Very Bad Things is not really to be compared to American Psycho and a Clockwork Orange. They aren't the same type of movies. All three had comedic moments, but they fall into two very different classes of film.
Very Bad Things is a plain and simple black comedy. I can understand not finding it funny, though I though it was fantastic. It has all the classic elements of black comedy. Topics that are normally treated with respect are treated with humor and absurdity. Obviously in this case the accidental murder of a hooker resulting in to the suspicion and following mass slaughter of almost everyone in the movie is the intended satire. Is also includes the two other main elements in a good black comedy. Irony and fatalism. Both of these aspects are demonstrated in a wide variety by the various characters. Ultimately even the climax of the movie is filled with an overwhelming sense of irony. There is some social commentary, but not a great deal. It was really intended to be mass murder and depravity treated with absurdity. I can't tell anyone what they find funny, however I personally found it terribly amusing. The fact that it did include all the core elements of a black comedy however, is undeniable. You may or may not have liked it, that's a personal preference, but if you didn't enjoy it. Black Comedy is depraved and sick and if you didn't find Very Bad Things funny, you probably don't like black comedy. If that's the case, you really shouldn't be commenting on it's merits.
American Psycho also falls into the category of black comedy, however it has a slightly different twist then Very Bad Things. Rather then simply go for the over the top insanity that Very Bad Things did, American Psycho offers a deeper commentary, in addition to being absurdly amusing at times. It deals with two huge issues in contemporary society. The first being the stress of modern man being drive to succeed and 'be the best'. The second is the insulation of high society. Patrick Batemen is a typical narcissistic corporate man. His own narcissism and the drive to be 'the best' cause him to crack and develop this psychosis that drives him to do the things he does. The ending of the movie is largely irrelevant in the question of did or did he not do it, which seems to be the primary debate of the movie. Some say that the endings between the book and movie are different. Again, this is irrelevant. What IS important about the ending is what it shows. At it's conclusion, Bateman attempts to turn himself in. He confesses everything to his lawyer and tries desperate to find resolution for everything that he did. But he can't. Even when he practically throws himself at the authorities they deny that his murder of all these people is possible. Over the top? Of course. But I believe the director was trying to show the insulation of the people at the top. How they cannot possible be harmed by their behavior or actions even when they try desperately to be harmed in such a way. In addition to these two things, the director was obviously making a negative commentary as to the hollow and shallow life that seemed so common in the overtly materialistic 1980's (and indeed even now). To say it lacks merit, I believe is a shallow interpretation.
As for A Clockwork Orange, to even lump it in with Very Bad Things and American Psycho is false. It is hardly a black comedy in the strictest sense. It's intention was never to make anyone laugh, but rather to shock people. In this case, there is also a deeper social commentary to be found. The entire first section of the book and movie are to set the stage. They create a character so reprehensible and undesirable that at first the reader/watcher is to be filled with such a sense of loathing for him that no matter what punishment he receives after his arrest, they will not care. The parts of him in prison and then undergoing the Ludovico treatment emphasis this, but also being to allude that all is not as it should be. Finally, when Alex is sent out into the world and suffers untold horrors at the hands of everyone around him, the reader/watcher is intended to experience a sort of turn about of feelings. His own treatment becomes so reprehensible that the viewer is supposed to find them self feeling sorry for Alex, rather then loathing him. The social significance behind this is of course intended to show that no matter how horrible people are and no matter what vile things they enact on each other they cannot be 'made better'. No one has the right to fundamentally change another persons personality. As well, not only do they not have the right to do so, it will ultimately end it ruin. It's irrelevant to the discussion of the movie, but as well there is a further lesson to be learned by Alex in the UK version of A Clockwork Orange when even after the Ludovico treatment is reversed he realizes the error of his ways and cleans up his life. As I said, -
Andela — 19 years ago(January 14, 2007 10:52 PM)
You do have to be really messed up to actually enjoy this movie.
Anybody else ever get tired of hearing how if you enjoy something the poster doesn't there's something morally and/or intellectually wrong with you? Maybe there's something morally and/or intellectually wrong with people who can't understand how anyone could have a different opinion than theirs and still be a decent, intelligent, thoughtful human being.
As a fan of horror and dark stuff like Very Bad Things, I hear that quite a bit. I got a kick out of Very Bad Things because, unlike TwentyThree42, I'm not uneasy laughing at stuff that's depraved and sick. That's because I like things that are irreverent and iconoclastic and ironic. I agree that this movie doesn't have a lot of laugh out loud funny parts, it's the overall bad-to-worse wrongness that amuses me. I especially think anyone who's ever had to suffer through a friend turning into a bridezilla will appreciate Very Bad Things. I've dealt with that twice, once when I was the maid of honor, and I can tell you Cameron Diaz's character wasn't that much of an exaggeration. This movie's just insanely ridiculous from start to finish. Yes, I did get a kick out of it, and you know what? I'm not "really messed up." I'm married to a good guy, I love puppies and kitties, I say please and thank you, I wash my hands after I use the toilet, and I've never killed anyone nor wanted to (for long). I'm pretty damn normal, actually. Maybe the real difference between me and the "you have to be sick to like stuff like this" crowd is that I can tell the difference between a made up story on a movie screen and reality. Maybe the reason they think you have to be sick is because they don't really understand that it's all just pretend, and that the people on the screen aren't really being hurt. -
raynee_s — 19 years ago(October 17, 2006 05:12 PM)
I actually really enjoyed this movie when I was around 16, there are certain aspects of dark comedy I find funny (like this) and other movies that people love that I feel the way you do ben. Plus I love Jeremy Piven. The whole movie is just kind of ironic. I can understand why someone wouldn't like it though.
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sim7396 — 19 years ago(November 17, 2006 11:21 PM)
I also understand why. This kind of dark humor is not for everybody. I found the movie amusing. The yelling and loud overlapping dialogue was annoying to me, until I thought that that was probably the intent. OK, pretend you're one of the semi normal guys (like the two who survided), how would you react? I'm beginning to realize that I like this kind of movies.
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mr_grae — 19 years ago(December 10, 2006 07:52 PM)
Some of you people need to definitely remove the sticks from your asses and loosen the hell up. This movie is one of the hilarious things I've ever seen and it is mostly because it is one of the darkest films I've ever seen. If you can't laugh at this movie, then the reason is alot like some of the ones given by Boyd in the movie..its because of the conditioning that's been beat into you're head since day one. The fact that you're preventing yourselves from enjoying the movie because you find it wrong morally is ridicoulous. Its a movie..no one REALLY died. And not only is it just a movie, in no way is violence glorified, even if it is presented in a humorous way.
Seriously.get over yourselves
With signatures, I'm about as expert as a palsy victim doing brain surgery with a pipe wrench. -
BBTempler — 19 years ago(January 14, 2007 10:28 PM)
What people need to understand is dark comedy is not for everyone. Also dark comedies all have different flavors. most of the ones that I've watched were just plain crap. But this one I thought was great the most f'd up ending ever.
Mr. Goodkat: 'F##k, S##t, Jesus' is right. -
batgrlforever — 19 years ago(January 29, 2007 05:19 PM)
I just watched this movie for the first time this past weekend and I wish I wasn't under the influence of mary jane at the time. People I was with told me that it was funny and it was a dark humor kind of movie but I just wasn't prepared for the movie and I didn't like it at all. I mean the security guard begging to live?! Sick. I'm not saying people who thought it was funny are sickos, I just didn't enjoy it at all but I dislike Cameron Diaz so the ending wasn't bad.
"You're not paid to think"
Dianna Agron!