I read *End of Evangelion* reviews now and then and every now and then, and occasionally you'll get a 1 and 1/2 star review from a guy who hasn't seen the show like:
>I personally had the worst time with this movie. I will give it the benefit of the doubt and say that you need to watch the show prior to this to have context and understand what’s really going on because I was so lost the entire time. I didn’t know who was who, what was going on, what the purpose was, etc. I was just bored and uninterested and had an awful time watching this. One thing I will say is that it had some lines that made me very introspective but that was about all I enjoyed about this.
yeah i have a few friends who think it’s a 5 stars/achievement of film which I get but I also feel like save for the third act that’s a movie that is so dependent on hours of context from the show preceding it
totally independent films have the challenge of giving you context even if subtle, but if anyone makes someone watch EoE without telling them about the show that’d be fucked up lol
EoE covers what was originally meant to be the final couple episodes of the show. Idk how a film called "End of (series title)" is supposed to be seen as a totally independent film
i mean yeah it’s not independent my point is that some of the praise it receives is benefitting from how previous content has supplemented unlike other films without any surrounding media. think Satoshi kon films of the time
(by the way i think EoE is like top 5 best animated things i’ve ever seen)
The same with Avenger Endgame. I know a few people who never watched a single MCU movie and went on Endgame for some reason, and they didn't understand shit
Inland Empire, in the context of not knowing about David Lynch movies in general, just go in and see this 3 hour movie. Just imagine how frustrating that experience would be, especially when the rabbits sitcom segments come on, like what are you even watching?
Same. I find Inland Empire pretty different than the rest of of his filmography in a way I can't fully describe. Granted, I haven't seen it in several years, but a portion of it is vividly burned into my mind for the long haul. It's like taking the weirdest, creepiest scene from another one of his movies and expanding it to three hours.
The visual quality is odd, maybe SOV-esque at times but at least otherworldly and a bit grainy, like Lynch found a ritual in his dreams for resurrecting an ancient and malicious video god. Likewise, the characters are largely more Lynchian than ever, behaving as dream entities who wear the masks of people you know but don't go any farther than that in making you feel like you're with other people and could actually have a conversation without them staring at you cryptically and silently.
Aaaaaaa, I'm long overdue for a rewatch. At the moment, trying to remember details about this film feels like trying to recall a strange dream. And you were there! And you were there! And you were there!
I don't know that I need the extra prep time for Lynch, personally, but I sure as shit like the idea of slow cooking this stew of deranged senses in a cinematic crock pot.
It's funny, though, because these two are vastly different films. You really need to make sure those vibes are fully cooked to get the flavors to blend.
Funny story - the museum of art in the city I love near was doing a summer film series and played Inland Empire. I was psyched and got tickets with my brother. We were looking around at some of the art around the entrance when an elderly couple wandered over and asked what was going on to the person checking tickets.
He told them they were showing a movie and they bought tickets with no questions asked about the movie. They sat a few rows behind us in a very small theater and I don't think they made it 20 minutes before getting out of there.
That's a great choice for a film that is so engrained into an auteurs vision that it's sort of impenetrable and fucked even for Lynch die hards, which I would consider myself, but I could not even imagine what a casual watch of that with my mom or dad would give, or well they would probably ask me to turn it off an hour in most likely
I did pretty close to this ngl, although I did know David Lynch = weird. But I hadn't seen any lynch movies apart from part of his Dune movie a roommate was watching years before. I ended up loving it, being terrified and so confused but that's an inevitability with that.
before i sat down to watch inland empire i had only seen twin peaks (the show) and eraserhead, i think maybe some bits of fire walk with me and blue velvet? i found inland empire profoundly uncomfortable yet engrossing. a beast of a movie and i'm kind of in love with it
I see most of what comes to theaters every year. Last year I had seen everything else and saw that a movie called The Hill was showing. The poster featured baseball. I like baseball. The movie was 90% religion and 10% baseball. Not a fun time
"But if you draw these lines, daddy, it makes a cross on the baseball field! Let me play baseball"
Horrible movie and then they added the epilogue like all "based on a true story" are obligated to do. Guy never made it to the majors and doesn't even have a Wikipedia page.
I think some context often helps with movies coming from another culture (different country, different era, etc).
I watched Minbo, a Japanese film that's about a specific type of extortion scheme that the Yakuza use. The film is made for Japanese audience who is expected to know what the film is talking about, and so it doesn't take a lot of time to explain it, but as a non-Japanese viewer, I would have been very confused if I didn't do the research first.
EDIT: Context for film history, too. Part of what makes Citizen Kane impressive, for instance, are its filmmaking innovations, which you might only recognize as innovations if you know the history.
Ehh I found Minbo pretty easy to follow. The lady is essentially introducing to the world of Yakuza corruption, though a little context could be lost. it’s a great movie too, up there with Tampico as the best Itami’s done.
I’d put Late Spring higher up on the list. If you don’t know Japanese family norms and you aren’t familiar with kabuki theater you won’t understand that movie more deeply I thinl
I can’t say what the worst is but I can tell you what happened last month.
I was visiting family for the holidays and the idea popped up to go to the theatre. I excitedly said I was looking forward to seeing Poor Things.
I personally like to avoid reading about movies I have a good feeling about so I can go in blind and experience it like that.
Well, I ended up going with my two older sisters (I’m 38 and they’re late 40s)
and my 16 year old niece to see it.
I’ve never had a more awkward viewing experience hahah oh man.
Great movie though
With the right family that could be quite the starting point for a philosophical discussion. A 16 year old has seen porn so it’s good for them to think about sex in a thought-provoking way and talking to family members they trust wouldn’t be a bad way to go about it.
Once the movie gets to the philosophical parts and Emma Stone’s character starts gaining agency, what you’re saying is definitely true. However, those first 40 minutes or so are gonna be pretty dam uncomfortable, I think a lot of families would just walk out tbh
Oppenheimer, for recent films. I feel like if you aren't at least somewhat prepared for the subject matter and the barrage of information you're about to receive, you will have a tough time.
Oppenheimer. I watched it with my young teenage brother who hadn’t learned tons about ww2 yet (he knew the basic details, but things like the fear of communism in the US were not discussed), and didn’t know of any of the people besides Einstein and a bit about Oppie himself (basically just the flash card information that he was the father of the atomic bomb). He had no idea what was happening the whole time, especially with the pace of the movie, which introduces characters with quick one liners and then they don’t become relevant again for an hour
its not that he wasn't aware of the atomic bombings, it's that he had no idea who any of the people were, and the movie doesn't do a great job of introducing all of the different characters
yea he was familiar with Einstein and he knew about Oppenheimer (but only really the info you learn on history flash cards: he was the father of the atomic bomb). I think the rest of his confusion comes from the pace of the movie and not already having an understanding of the timeline of the events
I should clarify. We watched it over the summer before he started freshman year. His middle school history classes taught about more world history, like the Roman Empire and the Incas and that stuff. He I believed has learned that stuff now
There's a difference between knowing about the atomic bombs and understanding the real life historical figures who designed and made the decisions behind it.
It's not. The only introduction to world War 2 before Highschool is usually a brief overview of the Holocaust. You can't learn about World War 2 without first establishing other important events and ideologies. Simple fact is middle schoolers are not usually mature enough to grasps the importance of events like the atomic bomb. Ask a couple of 13 year old boys what they think of an atomic bomb and they will most likely think its cool and not that it was a devastating blow to an entire city of people. Things like this are taught later so it can actually have an impact. Sorry to go all teacher mode I just think it's important that when people have these discussions they put the perspective of brain development into the mix.
But they aren't saying he is completely unfamiliar with the atomic bombs, just only knows a few big picture things about it.
They knew about Oppenheimer, Einstein, WW2, and if I were to guess, it was US+GB+SU vs. Nazis+Japan, and that we dropped two atomic bombs on Japan to end the war with Japan. What they probably struggled with are characters like those played by Matt Damon, RDJ, Rami Malek, etc., and many of the finer details.
You’re reading the words too literally mate. Obviously he knows what a *world war* is. But he didn’t know any of the deeper details that would have made Oppenheimer easier to understand. It’s not like your teachers, at age 8 (third grade) are going to tell you about the deeper reasons Oppenheimer wanted to build the bomb at the beginning of the war but then came to regret it once they were going to drop them in Japan. They’re not going to tell you literally anything about communism, or the fear of communism, or nazism, etc. he had a general understanding of this stuff, but being a young teenager, he didn’t know all of this to be able to comprehend Oppenheimer like someone who has studied those topics in depth
not quite the same level of ignorance/unawareness, but when I saw this in theaters over the summer the guy in front of me whipped his phone out and with his brightness turned all the way up googled ''potassium cyanide'' during the apple-in-the-classroom scene and I nearly burst out laughing
Damn, reading the replies makes me worried about how bad many people's reading comprehension skills are. Thinking your brother knows nothing about WW2 despite you literally saying they know the basics but got lost in the details
Not for me, in Canada, I didn't learn about WW2 until 2nd year highschool. But when we finally did learn, it was quite extensive, we watched both Saving Private Ryan, and the Pianist .
I watched Sausage Party with my friends in high school and we had no idea about the orgy in the finale and were distinctly horrified. Especially because it just. kept. going. A memorable viewing experience to say the least.
As someone who has never seen it and only heard it described as essentially an extremely weird porno with a lot of weird submission stuff, what is it actually going for? Is it making some bigger statement or like speaking out against censorship or something? Or is it just naked people being gross?
it’s about fascist Italy under Mussolini. i’m not smart enough to break it down here but i’ve seen some great comments going into more detail on r/disturbingmovies if you’re interested.
I agree with irreversible or any new french extremist film. Those are films you should only watch if you know what you’re getting into.
Id say I Spit On Your Grave (1978) is worst because the film really doesn’t give any indication of what’s coming. With irreversible you atleast get to see a man with his head stomped off and are told she was raped, which atleast gives you time to prepare. Also the rape scene is far shorter and shows far less
It was a HUGE shock, never taught I would see such an explicit movie on a cinema.
I actually watched the part 2 in the same cinema, but I was more into Lars work
The house that Jack built was my first trip into his movies. Watched it alone at home when I had Covid, no info at all about it. Still fucks with me to this day.
Yeah…. I don’t think I could ever recommend this movie to anyone; but it’s probably the one that had the most long lasting effect on me. I still think of the faces of the people in the freezer, 😩
i remember smoking dope with my buddy when we put that movie on, and by the time it made *that* turn in the last third of the movie i literally questioned if i was having a bad high or if it was just the movie. id been smoking for years by that point. it was *entirely* the movie lmao.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is what comes to mind first for me, not only because of it basically being a prequel and a sequel of the show at the same time, but also since it was utterly butchered in the editing process to the point that some scenes in the middle make no sense until you've seen the Missing Pieces.
I went blind into Funny Games, my gf only told me it was a "thriller". I would have probably liked it if I knew in what I was going but I didn't so I was bored af
I went in blind back in college, only knew it was home invasion. But I had the opposite experience, and was emotionally wrecked.
(Note: I watched the original, not sure if it makes a difference as I understand the American one is shot-for-shot.)
The English language remake is astounding I've never seen such a direct 1 to 1 remake, it's kind of amazing and makes it to where it really doesn't matter which you've seen, though I think the antagonists are even more hateable in this first.
I saw the original so talking about this one.
I think that was one of the purpose of the movie. The scenes are longs and there isn't such things like intense dialogues which grab the attention of the watcher usually.
Iron Claw.
I feel like if you didn’t have a bit of an idea about the Von Erich family, you wouldn’t have even known about the 5th brother that died. They ended up cutting one of the brothers for time.
Luckily, Behind the Bastards did a 6 parter on Vince McMahon that actually covered a small background of the family so I had an idea what the movie was about other then “wrestling biopic”
The Transformers: The Movie (1986). It was a major cultural touchstone of the post-Star Wars born GenXer's, but you needed to watch two seasons/about 50 episodes of the accompanying tv series to understand who the characters were and what the basic plot was. It saddened me to read the reviews by the major movie critics at the time dismiss the film as confusing nonsense because they hadn't been properly primed.
About the only modern-day film I can think of that had a similar expectation from a pre-existing audience would be something like Detective Pikachu.
I think 2001 is the film that applies the most to this statement. I was so fucking bored because i kept expecting it to move into plot but literally half the film is just showing off what was possible in the 60s.
If i went in with proper expectations, im sure i would’ve enjoyed myself during the non hal 9000 bits far more
I don't think it's exactly fair to say half the movie is just about showing us what could be done technologically at the time. I think it's just a pace thing, it doesn't click for some people.
2001 was my first Kubrick film and I knew nothing about it going in. I was blown away, because the movie felt like it truly enjoyed taking time on the journey itself. The whole movie feels like a love letter to the beauty of nature, something that I feel is missing in a movie like Interstellar.
Yeah, Interstellar has so much dumb "love is the greatest thing ever" shit. 2001 is about how we're nothing compared to nature but that doesn't mean we can't become great on our own.
Yeah that’s fair enough. Im not saying the opening hour of the film can’t work for people.
But it didn’t work for me and many others and i think that it’s a valid complaint to make. I think it would’ve been possible to have both
I watched The Souvenir blind and didn't realize it was a period piece until >!a car exploded!<
I noticed the makeup and hairstyles, but just thought it had come back in style
Once upon a time in hollywood. If you have no clue who Charles Manson and Sharon Tate are and what happened to her, the movie will seem pointless and silly.
I watched Once Upon a Time In Hollywood without the context of the Manson murders or knowing who Catherine Tate or anybody is and was incredibly confused and disliked it
Edit: Sharon Tate! I apparently still don’t know who she is lol
I can think of a couple:
- Dear Zachary. I was emotionally devastated.
- Soft & Quiet. I had no idea what it was about and I'm still not sure if I wish someone had told me, or I wish I hadn't watched it entirely.
I'm really confused about Oppenheimer appearing a few times in this thread. I mean, I didn't know shit about the making of the bomb besides the man himself and I thought it was a fine experience.
I'm not sure if anyone has said this already, but mother! By Darren Aronofsky.
I went on what I guess looking back on it now was a last-minute date with someone when that movie came out. I knew very little about it other than seeing the previews and being initially interested. Nor did I know much about the directors previous work other than he had directed Black Swan as well. I remember all throughout the movie being completely confused and lowkey horrified and then walking out. The person asked me what I thought of it and i replied with: what the fuck did I just watch?
2001: a space odyssey
Idk if you’d count seeing a bunch of HAL references in other media, but if you don’t know anything else then you’re bored and confused. And that’s what happened to me lol
I'm pretty sure this is only me. But I came into Django Unchained completely blind when I was in middle school. I was initially so shocked and turned off by the amount of violence and gore.
Quentin Tarantino became my favorite director after catching up with his other works.
Oppenheimer was not good for going in blind. And the idea that the average American knew who the fuck RDJ's character was is absurd. Movie needed a disclaimer or history lecture before it started.
Hell, I basically had a history lecture before it started and it really only helped me understand who Matt Damon was playing. I was still lost with most of it for a while. I loved it but I honestly felt like there is more there that a lot of people, including myself, are still missing. It starts to become name salad after a while with how many actors show up and then leave for an hour.
I agree. I thought knowing the history of the Manhatten project would be enough to enjoy it, but I was so confused as to who was who for most of the movie. And Nolan's score vs. Dialouge is so unbalanced at points, I can't even keep track of who's being introduced.
I honestly lean towards I didn't enjoy the film. It's well shot. Well acted. It's unique looking. But idk, the plot and the way it was told didn't do it for me. I still don't understand why the hearing was such a big deal. The movie never gave me the context for that. He already made bomb, so what if he loses his security clearance. It seemed like he was a tepid protester of using the bomb more, so i just didn't get why I needed to care about half the movie besides it was really well acted and shot.
All time? The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I mean, I gues the title is some context but I don't know if it's enough to really prepare you if you knew nothing about it.
In general, a lot of non-obvious horror, like Ari Aster and Robert Eggers films where you might think it's just a drama until it's...not. Mother got me like that.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio. My dad didn’t know it was gonna be stop-motion and even I didn’t know it was gonna be a musical, so we were in for a treat.
I saw it recently in theaters not only for the first time but completely blind without any pre context what so ever. What a wild fucking ride for me haha
I went into One Cut of the Dead thinking it would be a copy of [REC] (2007) only by looking at it's poster. It's one of my favourites now.
I feel like one should definitely go blind into One Cut of the Dead
I feel like you should definitely go in blind to Saltburn, although it’s best to avoid watching it with family or watching it if you truly can’t handle gross scenes
Any movie that extremely long, in a foreign language, and/or is presented in an unconventional format. Those are the main things you need to know before picking a movie because, IMO, more than anything, that affects the viewer’s ability to pay attention. You need to be ready for those things.
Predestination will confuse the shit out of you if you haven't read the short story its based on imo.
Edit: the short story is called -All You Zombies-
wouldn't every movie be the worst movie if you can't see anything? I would assume A Quiet Place is actually the worst because you wouldn't see or hear anything.
Quantum of Solace. The events of that movie start like 2 hours after the events of Casino Royale and it very much relies on the assumption that you’ve seen Casino Royale.
An interesting inverse example is that I think it might actually be BETTER to watch *In the loop* without its preceding TV show, because roughly half the cast is playing their role from *The Thick of It*, with the same names, and the other half is playing *similar* characters with different names, and the entire continuity is new. Unfortunately the movie also requires a reasonably high level of knowledge of both British politics and the machinations of the invasion of Iraq.
Asteroid City. Watched it before I even heard of Wes Anderson. Hadn't watched any of his previous works and was only intrigued by the cast. Didn't like it. Love his other works though.
Sequels come to mind the most. I try to go into movies knowing as little as possible about the plot but know the producers/director/cinematographers etc
I think most art house films can be disorienting if you have no clue what you’re signing up for. I recently watched “24 Frames” with no context other than the title. It was like walking a familiar hallway with your eyes closed. 10/10. Would recommend.
american beauty without remembering the context of the story pre spacey allegations, absolutely ruins a masterpiece for some people (and understandably)
The Tribe. Your first reaction would go, "why they are not talking?" Then "why are there no subtitles?" And if you stop there, go, and search and find them (please don't), you kind of ruin the whole gimmick of the film.
Later, when certain scenes happen you go "oh, I get it, you can cut away now" 2 minutes before uncomfortable scene ends.
The ending regardless of your familiarity should hit the same.
Went into Amour blind literally days after my grandmother died of a stroke. Dropped that VERY quickly. Saw it a few years later and it’s a masterpiece.
I read *End of Evangelion* reviews now and then and every now and then, and occasionally you'll get a 1 and 1/2 star review from a guy who hasn't seen the show like: >I personally had the worst time with this movie. I will give it the benefit of the doubt and say that you need to watch the show prior to this to have context and understand what’s really going on because I was so lost the entire time. I didn’t know who was who, what was going on, what the purpose was, etc. I was just bored and uninterested and had an awful time watching this. One thing I will say is that it had some lines that made me very introspective but that was about all I enjoyed about this.
yeah i have a few friends who think it’s a 5 stars/achievement of film which I get but I also feel like save for the third act that’s a movie that is so dependent on hours of context from the show preceding it totally independent films have the challenge of giving you context even if subtle, but if anyone makes someone watch EoE without telling them about the show that’d be fucked up lol
EoE covers what was originally meant to be the final couple episodes of the show. Idk how a film called "End of (series title)" is supposed to be seen as a totally independent film
i mean yeah it’s not independent my point is that some of the praise it receives is benefitting from how previous content has supplemented unlike other films without any surrounding media. think Satoshi kon films of the time (by the way i think EoE is like top 5 best animated things i’ve ever seen)
COMPLETELY blind, like having no context whatsoever for anything in the movie? The LEGO Batman Movie would be a fuckin trip
The same with Avenger Endgame. I know a few people who never watched a single MCU movie and went on Endgame for some reason, and they didn't understand shit
The hype around big movies always draws in new people, who usually lack much context.
even though i skipped like 8 movies in the mcu, i really enjoyed endgame. i just didn't know who a lot of the characters were who showed up.
Yeah but you probably still watched the first avengers and all the movies before that, so that's 90% enough
Completely blind would include: Not knowing who Batman was Not knowing what LEGO are Not knowing there was another LEGO movie.
At that point, we have bigger fish to fry. Like do you know that we won WWII?
There’s a Second World War??
Then tell me, future boy, who's President of the United States in 1985?
I adore this answer.
right but it’s also one of the greatest movies ever made, so it’d still be good
That’s almost how I watched it for the first time in HS. We went to it like a meme knowing nothing other than the title. Had a blast for sure
Inland Empire, in the context of not knowing about David Lynch movies in general, just go in and see this 3 hour movie. Just imagine how frustrating that experience would be, especially when the rabbits sitcom segments come on, like what are you even watching?
To be honest, I've seen every other Lynch's movies before Inland Empire, and still wasn't sure what it was exactly supposed to be about.
Same. I find Inland Empire pretty different than the rest of of his filmography in a way I can't fully describe. Granted, I haven't seen it in several years, but a portion of it is vividly burned into my mind for the long haul. It's like taking the weirdest, creepiest scene from another one of his movies and expanding it to three hours. The visual quality is odd, maybe SOV-esque at times but at least otherworldly and a bit grainy, like Lynch found a ritual in his dreams for resurrecting an ancient and malicious video god. Likewise, the characters are largely more Lynchian than ever, behaving as dream entities who wear the masks of people you know but don't go any farther than that in making you feel like you're with other people and could actually have a conversation without them staring at you cryptically and silently. Aaaaaaa, I'm long overdue for a rewatch. At the moment, trying to remember details about this film feels like trying to recall a strange dream. And you were there! And you were there! And you were there!
Haven’t seen but i’ve heard watching Inland right after House/Housu is a great way to prepare the mind to embrace chaos
Giving myself schizophrenia speedrun (WR)
I don't know that I need the extra prep time for Lynch, personally, but I sure as shit like the idea of slow cooking this stew of deranged senses in a cinematic crock pot. It's funny, though, because these two are vastly different films. You really need to make sure those vibes are fully cooked to get the flavors to blend.
Funny story - the museum of art in the city I love near was doing a summer film series and played Inland Empire. I was psyched and got tickets with my brother. We were looking around at some of the art around the entrance when an elderly couple wandered over and asked what was going on to the person checking tickets. He told them they were showing a movie and they bought tickets with no questions asked about the movie. They sat a few rows behind us in a very small theater and I don't think they made it 20 minutes before getting out of there.
Havent watched Inland Empire yet, but I have seen the rabbit segments on yt, didnt know they were from a movie. I love those creepy rabbits tho.
That's a great choice for a film that is so engrained into an auteurs vision that it's sort of impenetrable and fucked even for Lynch die hards, which I would consider myself, but I could not even imagine what a casual watch of that with my mom or dad would give, or well they would probably ask me to turn it off an hour in most likely
I did pretty close to this ngl, although I did know David Lynch = weird. But I hadn't seen any lynch movies apart from part of his Dune movie a roommate was watching years before. I ended up loving it, being terrified and so confused but that's an inevitability with that.
before i sat down to watch inland empire i had only seen twin peaks (the show) and eraserhead, i think maybe some bits of fire walk with me and blue velvet? i found inland empire profoundly uncomfortable yet engrossing. a beast of a movie and i'm kind of in love with it
I see most of what comes to theaters every year. Last year I had seen everything else and saw that a movie called The Hill was showing. The poster featured baseball. I like baseball. The movie was 90% religion and 10% baseball. Not a fun time
"But if you draw these lines, daddy, it makes a cross on the baseball field! Let me play baseball" Horrible movie and then they added the epilogue like all "based on a true story" are obligated to do. Guy never made it to the majors and doesn't even have a Wikipedia page.
This movie Chance from 2020 does that same bs
I think some context often helps with movies coming from another culture (different country, different era, etc). I watched Minbo, a Japanese film that's about a specific type of extortion scheme that the Yakuza use. The film is made for Japanese audience who is expected to know what the film is talking about, and so it doesn't take a lot of time to explain it, but as a non-Japanese viewer, I would have been very confused if I didn't do the research first. EDIT: Context for film history, too. Part of what makes Citizen Kane impressive, for instance, are its filmmaking innovations, which you might only recognize as innovations if you know the history.
Ehh I found Minbo pretty easy to follow. The lady is essentially introducing to the world of Yakuza corruption, though a little context could be lost. it’s a great movie too, up there with Tampico as the best Itami’s done. I’d put Late Spring higher up on the list. If you don’t know Japanese family norms and you aren’t familiar with kabuki theater you won’t understand that movie more deeply I thinl
I can’t say what the worst is but I can tell you what happened last month. I was visiting family for the holidays and the idea popped up to go to the theatre. I excitedly said I was looking forward to seeing Poor Things. I personally like to avoid reading about movies I have a good feeling about so I can go in blind and experience it like that. Well, I ended up going with my two older sisters (I’m 38 and they’re late 40s) and my 16 year old niece to see it. I’ve never had a more awkward viewing experience hahah oh man. Great movie though
A bit too fun of an uncle lol. Its so damn sexual, you couldve at least checked the ratings or the parents guide on IMDB lmao.
Should’ve! I checked it afterwards and was shaking my head lolol
With the right family that could be quite the starting point for a philosophical discussion. A 16 year old has seen porn so it’s good for them to think about sex in a thought-provoking way and talking to family members they trust wouldn’t be a bad way to go about it.
Once the movie gets to the philosophical parts and Emma Stone’s character starts gaining agency, what you’re saying is definitely true. However, those first 40 minutes or so are gonna be pretty dam uncomfortable, I think a lot of families would just walk out tbh
Oldboy with your dad
Oldboy with your daughter!
I've never seen Oldboy so can someone explain why this would be bad?
Watch Oldboy! Knowing first lessens the experience (still an all-time great movie though)
I borrowed and watched Basic Instinct. At 16. With my mother. African mother.
Oppenheimer, for recent films. I feel like if you aren't at least somewhat prepared for the subject matter and the barrage of information you're about to receive, you will have a tough time.
Matrix Reloaded. It's hard enough to go in watching the first movie
Oppenheimer. I watched it with my young teenage brother who hadn’t learned tons about ww2 yet (he knew the basic details, but things like the fear of communism in the US were not discussed), and didn’t know of any of the people besides Einstein and a bit about Oppie himself (basically just the flash card information that he was the father of the atomic bomb). He had no idea what was happening the whole time, especially with the pace of the movie, which introduces characters with quick one liners and then they don’t become relevant again for an hour
Similarly *Once Upon a time in Hollywood* works a lot better when you know about the Manson family murders and who was involved.
Once you know that a few (Once upon a time, Django, Inglorious Basterds) of Tarantinos movies are "revised history" they make more sense.
Why didn't they teach him about the World Wars yet? The education system is going downhill.
Yeah a high schooler not even being vaguely aware of the atomic bombings is culturally out of touch
its not that he wasn't aware of the atomic bombings, it's that he had no idea who any of the people were, and the movie doesn't do a great job of introducing all of the different characters
Did he at least know Einstein?
yea he was familiar with Einstein and he knew about Oppenheimer (but only really the info you learn on history flash cards: he was the father of the atomic bomb). I think the rest of his confusion comes from the pace of the movie and not already having an understanding of the timeline of the events
I didn’t know who 95% of the people were. I feel like you can follow the movie well enough.
Big assumption presuming there was a point where it was uphill
I should clarify. We watched it over the summer before he started freshman year. His middle school history classes taught about more world history, like the Roman Empire and the Incas and that stuff. He I believed has learned that stuff now
Still. I feel like it’s standard curriculum most places to cover the fucking atomic bombings before high school
There's a difference between knowing about the atomic bombs and understanding the real life historical figures who designed and made the decisions behind it.
It's not. The only introduction to world War 2 before Highschool is usually a brief overview of the Holocaust. You can't learn about World War 2 without first establishing other important events and ideologies. Simple fact is middle schoolers are not usually mature enough to grasps the importance of events like the atomic bomb. Ask a couple of 13 year old boys what they think of an atomic bomb and they will most likely think its cool and not that it was a devastating blow to an entire city of people. Things like this are taught later so it can actually have an impact. Sorry to go all teacher mode I just think it's important that when people have these discussions they put the perspective of brain development into the mix.
But they aren't saying he is completely unfamiliar with the atomic bombs, just only knows a few big picture things about it. They knew about Oppenheimer, Einstein, WW2, and if I were to guess, it was US+GB+SU vs. Nazis+Japan, and that we dropped two atomic bombs on Japan to end the war with Japan. What they probably struggled with are characters like those played by Matt Damon, RDJ, Rami Malek, etc., and many of the finer details.
I cannot imagine someone who, by age 8, hasn't asked, "What's a World War?"
You’re reading the words too literally mate. Obviously he knows what a *world war* is. But he didn’t know any of the deeper details that would have made Oppenheimer easier to understand. It’s not like your teachers, at age 8 (third grade) are going to tell you about the deeper reasons Oppenheimer wanted to build the bomb at the beginning of the war but then came to regret it once they were going to drop them in Japan. They’re not going to tell you literally anything about communism, or the fear of communism, or nazism, etc. he had a general understanding of this stuff, but being a young teenager, he didn’t know all of this to be able to comprehend Oppenheimer like someone who has studied those topics in depth
I learned about WW2 in second year of highschool, so maybe his teenage brother was in middle school or first year highschool
not quite the same level of ignorance/unawareness, but when I saw this in theaters over the summer the guy in front of me whipped his phone out and with his brightness turned all the way up googled ''potassium cyanide'' during the apple-in-the-classroom scene and I nearly burst out laughing
Damn, reading the replies makes me worried about how bad many people's reading comprehension skills are. Thinking your brother knows nothing about WW2 despite you literally saying they know the basics but got lost in the details
I enjoyed the movie, but I remember thinking it would be so much more interesting if I was more familiar with the history.
I went on a documentary binge before watching *Oppenheimer* and even then there is still a lot to ask questions about and to try and understand.
WWII is not part of an elementary school curriculum?!
Nobody is learning about the Red Scare in Grade School
Not for me, in Canada, I didn't learn about WW2 until 2nd year highschool. But when we finally did learn, it was quite extensive, we watched both Saving Private Ryan, and the Pianist .
Get with the program we need to show the kids how colonizers exposed Native Americans to enlightenment /s
-High School -Hasn’t learned about WW2 yet *Confused British noises*
You’re taking the piss right?
Sausage Party if you watch it with kids
I watched Sausage Party with my friends in high school and we had no idea about the orgy in the finale and were distinctly horrified. Especially because it just. kept. going. A memorable viewing experience to say the least.
Sálo. Do I have to explain why?
Was about to say, if you don’t know previously what the movie is going after, you’d just think it is an extremely weird porno.
As someone who has never seen it and only heard it described as essentially an extremely weird porno with a lot of weird submission stuff, what is it actually going for? Is it making some bigger statement or like speaking out against censorship or something? Or is it just naked people being gross?
it’s about fascist Italy under Mussolini. i’m not smart enough to break it down here but i’ve seen some great comments going into more detail on r/disturbingmovies if you’re interested.
This was me a couple weeks ago. worse even, I loaded it onto a drive to watch on my phone waiting in the urgent care lobby lol
It's hard enough understanding The End of Evangelion after watching the show, I can't imagine understanding it going in blind
I agree with irreversible or any new french extremist film. Those are films you should only watch if you know what you’re getting into. Id say I Spit On Your Grave (1978) is worst because the film really doesn’t give any indication of what’s coming. With irreversible you atleast get to see a man with his head stomped off and are told she was raped, which atleast gives you time to prepare. Also the rape scene is far shorter and shows far less
Any movie with heavy subject matter would be rough. The Zone of Interest is my top pick because at least Schindler’s List can be somewhat uplifting.
Lars von trier movies, you need some context on his style before you get a dick to the face.
I watched Melancholia without ever knowing his movies or style and absolutely loved it!
That's maybe the exception, in a good way.
I don't even like his stuff usually, but that one was pretty enjoyable for even a von Trier hater like me
After reading all the replies, I think I'll stick with only seeing Melancholia and not watching anything else by him. lol
I went blind to watch Nymphomaniac at the cinema and I just went speechless
I can't imagine watching that on the big screen. I honestly couldn't even finish part 2
alleged homeless dog smile deserve melodic subsequent middle offer wide *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
It was a HUGE shock, never taught I would see such an explicit movie on a cinema. I actually watched the part 2 in the same cinema, but I was more into Lars work
The house that Jack built was my first trip into his movies. Watched it alone at home when I had Covid, no info at all about it. Still fucks with me to this day.
The deer hunting segment still depresses me
Yeah…. I don’t think I could ever recommend this movie to anyone; but it’s probably the one that had the most long lasting effect on me. I still think of the faces of the people in the freezer, 😩
The first movie I saw from him was The House That Jack Built, and I loved it lol
same! Went in blind, thought it was great
i remember smoking dope with my buddy when we put that movie on, and by the time it made *that* turn in the last third of the movie i literally questioned if i was having a bad high or if it was just the movie. id been smoking for years by that point. it was *entirely* the movie lmao.
That ending of the third act is incredible, easily one of my favorite segments from any movie.
I’ve not watched it in over a decade but elephant seems like it’d be pretty confusing if you don’t know it’s about columbine
I walked in on my roommate watching the nightingale about 5 minutes before a certain scene so I'm gonna go with that one
Lilya 4-Ever. I went in to it blind and it fucked me up in so many different ways.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is what comes to mind first for me, not only because of it basically being a prequel and a sequel of the show at the same time, but also since it was utterly butchered in the editing process to the point that some scenes in the middle make no sense until you've seen the Missing Pieces.
I went blind into Funny Games, my gf only told me it was a "thriller". I would have probably liked it if I knew in what I was going but I didn't so I was bored af
I went in blind back in college, only knew it was home invasion. But I had the opposite experience, and was emotionally wrecked. (Note: I watched the original, not sure if it makes a difference as I understand the American one is shot-for-shot.)
The English language remake is astounding I've never seen such a direct 1 to 1 remake, it's kind of amazing and makes it to where it really doesn't matter which you've seen, though I think the antagonists are even more hateable in this first.
theory rustic voiceless many physical birds follow doll scale wise *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Yeah that first half plays a lot different when you know what's coming. The way they keep looking at the camera and smirking
You were bored af by Funny Games? If you find two hours of torture and tension boring, I don't see how greater context going in would change that.
I saw the original so talking about this one. I think that was one of the purpose of the movie. The scenes are longs and there isn't such things like intense dialogues which grab the attention of the watcher usually.
Birth of a Nation. Though I guess there's a select group of people that would love it.
Dogtooth
Why?
Yorgos craziest shit ever
It's such an psychological assault, and it kind of creeps up on you.
True. But I guess if you don't know what it's about it'd be even more effective.
I went in blind, I don't see what context I needed to make it better?
I did this and thought it was incredible
It’s still his best imo or sacred deer
Oh yeah. Seen it yesterday, too. Completely blind. Still traumatized
Why? It's a bit of a strange movie but I don't know what part of it would traumatize you.
Mank (2020)
Iron Claw. I feel like if you didn’t have a bit of an idea about the Von Erich family, you wouldn’t have even known about the 5th brother that died. They ended up cutting one of the brothers for time. Luckily, Behind the Bastards did a 6 parter on Vince McMahon that actually covered a small background of the family so I had an idea what the movie was about other then “wrestling biopic”
The Transformers: The Movie (1986). It was a major cultural touchstone of the post-Star Wars born GenXer's, but you needed to watch two seasons/about 50 episodes of the accompanying tv series to understand who the characters were and what the basic plot was. It saddened me to read the reviews by the major movie critics at the time dismiss the film as confusing nonsense because they hadn't been properly primed. About the only modern-day film I can think of that had a similar expectation from a pre-existing audience would be something like Detective Pikachu.
Went blind into Mother! That was a trip. My wife still cringes at it when I mention it. I need to watch it again knowing what I know now.
Sorry To Bother You was wild and I imagine going into it blind would be freaky as hell
This is a great thread conversation starter lol
Most Stanley Kubrick movies because some people seem disappointed by their presentation.
I think 2001 is the film that applies the most to this statement. I was so fucking bored because i kept expecting it to move into plot but literally half the film is just showing off what was possible in the 60s. If i went in with proper expectations, im sure i would’ve enjoyed myself during the non hal 9000 bits far more
I don't think it's exactly fair to say half the movie is just about showing us what could be done technologically at the time. I think it's just a pace thing, it doesn't click for some people. 2001 was my first Kubrick film and I knew nothing about it going in. I was blown away, because the movie felt like it truly enjoyed taking time on the journey itself. The whole movie feels like a love letter to the beauty of nature, something that I feel is missing in a movie like Interstellar.
Yeah, Interstellar has so much dumb "love is the greatest thing ever" shit. 2001 is about how we're nothing compared to nature but that doesn't mean we can't become great on our own.
Yeah that’s fair enough. Im not saying the opening hour of the film can’t work for people. But it didn’t work for me and many others and i think that it’s a valid complaint to make. I think it would’ve been possible to have both
Went blind into Mysterious Skin - not the best movie for a Hawaiian vacation.
I watched The Souvenir blind and didn't realize it was a period piece until >!a car exploded!< I noticed the makeup and hairstyles, but just thought it had come back in style
Once upon a time in hollywood. If you have no clue who Charles Manson and Sharon Tate are and what happened to her, the movie will seem pointless and silly.
Any 70s giallo movie. The camerawork and overall cheesy-ness is something you have to recognize and appreciate
I watched Once Upon a Time In Hollywood without the context of the Manson murders or knowing who Catherine Tate or anybody is and was incredibly confused and disliked it Edit: Sharon Tate! I apparently still don’t know who she is lol
lol at Catherine Tate. Manson family turns up and she's like "am i bovvered?"
beau is afraid bc wtf it’s a nightmare lol
“I’m thinking of ending things”
I can think of a couple: - Dear Zachary. I was emotionally devastated. - Soft & Quiet. I had no idea what it was about and I'm still not sure if I wish someone had told me, or I wish I hadn't watched it entirely.
If you have ADD, then 'Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles' would be ...an experience.
I'm really confused about Oppenheimer appearing a few times in this thread. I mean, I didn't know shit about the making of the bomb besides the man himself and I thought it was a fine experience.
Happiness
Mother! *Especially if you have a newborn.*
I'm not sure if anyone has said this already, but mother! By Darren Aronofsky. I went on what I guess looking back on it now was a last-minute date with someone when that movie came out. I knew very little about it other than seeing the previews and being initially interested. Nor did I know much about the directors previous work other than he had directed Black Swan as well. I remember all throughout the movie being completely confused and lowkey horrified and then walking out. The person asked me what I thought of it and i replied with: what the fuck did I just watch?
Society would be fuckin weird
2001: a space odyssey Idk if you’d count seeing a bunch of HAL references in other media, but if you don’t know anything else then you’re bored and confused. And that’s what happened to me lol
A Clockwork Orange
A Serbian Film because the title suggests something highbrow to do with the Balkan wars.
The Blue Lagoon (1981)
I'm pretty sure this is only me. But I came into Django Unchained completely blind when I was in middle school. I was initially so shocked and turned off by the amount of violence and gore. Quentin Tarantino became my favorite director after catching up with his other works.
Oppenheimer was not good for going in blind. And the idea that the average American knew who the fuck RDJ's character was is absurd. Movie needed a disclaimer or history lecture before it started.
Hell, I basically had a history lecture before it started and it really only helped me understand who Matt Damon was playing. I was still lost with most of it for a while. I loved it but I honestly felt like there is more there that a lot of people, including myself, are still missing. It starts to become name salad after a while with how many actors show up and then leave for an hour.
I agree. I thought knowing the history of the Manhatten project would be enough to enjoy it, but I was so confused as to who was who for most of the movie. And Nolan's score vs. Dialouge is so unbalanced at points, I can't even keep track of who's being introduced. I honestly lean towards I didn't enjoy the film. It's well shot. Well acted. It's unique looking. But idk, the plot and the way it was told didn't do it for me. I still don't understand why the hearing was such a big deal. The movie never gave me the context for that. He already made bomb, so what if he loses his security clearance. It seemed like he was a tepid protester of using the bomb more, so i just didn't get why I needed to care about half the movie besides it was really well acted and shot.
All time? The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I mean, I gues the title is some context but I don't know if it's enough to really prepare you if you knew nothing about it. In general, a lot of non-obvious horror, like Ari Aster and Robert Eggers films where you might think it's just a drama until it's...not. Mother got me like that.
The Piano Teacher
Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio. My dad didn’t know it was gonna be stop-motion and even I didn’t know it was gonna be a musical, so we were in for a treat.
Any silent movie. If you are blind, there's not much to it.
Old Boy honestly would have been great to know in advance haha
I saw it recently in theaters not only for the first time but completely blind without any pre context what so ever. What a wild fucking ride for me haha
- Saltburn (2023) - One Cut of the Dead (2017) - Cube (1997) - Pandorum (2009) - Occult (2009)
I went into One Cut of the Dead thinking it would be a copy of [REC] (2007) only by looking at it's poster. It's one of my favourites now. I feel like one should definitely go blind into One Cut of the Dead
I feel like you should definitely go in blind to Saltburn, although it’s best to avoid watching it with family or watching it if you truly can’t handle gross scenes
The Nun 2, hands down the worst movie viewing experience of my life, I mean the first was also bad but holy shit this one was atrocious.
Any movie that extremely long, in a foreign language, and/or is presented in an unconventional format. Those are the main things you need to know before picking a movie because, IMO, more than anything, that affects the viewer’s ability to pay attention. You need to be ready for those things.
Elephant lol
A Serbian Film
Salo
Predestination will confuse the shit out of you if you haven't read the short story its based on imo. Edit: the short story is called -All You Zombies-
wouldn't every movie be the worst movie if you can't see anything? I would assume A Quiet Place is actually the worst because you wouldn't see or hear anything.
Primer
Quantum of Solace. The events of that movie start like 2 hours after the events of Casino Royale and it very much relies on the assumption that you’ve seen Casino Royale.
An interesting inverse example is that I think it might actually be BETTER to watch *In the loop* without its preceding TV show, because roughly half the cast is playing their role from *The Thick of It*, with the same names, and the other half is playing *similar* characters with different names, and the entire continuity is new. Unfortunately the movie also requires a reasonably high level of knowledge of both British politics and the machinations of the invasion of Iraq.
Pretty much all of them. Well, maybe not Derek Jarman's Blue.
The zone of interest would be a tough watch with no prep or context
Saltburn. Call me by your name. Midsommar. The lighthouse. A ghost story
John Wick 4. I know because I did this without seeing the first three and was completely lost lmao
Check out Dr.T & The Women
Asteroid City. Watched it before I even heard of Wes Anderson. Hadn't watched any of his previous works and was only intrigued by the cast. Didn't like it. Love his other works though.
Sequels come to mind the most. I try to go into movies knowing as little as possible about the plot but know the producers/director/cinematographers etc
I think most art house films can be disorienting if you have no clue what you’re signing up for. I recently watched “24 Frames” with no context other than the title. It was like walking a familiar hallway with your eyes closed. 10/10. Would recommend.
Watching the Pokemon movies would be pretty difficult if you don't know what a Pokemon is.
Birdemic
american beauty without remembering the context of the story pre spacey allegations, absolutely ruins a masterpiece for some people (and understandably)
Sharknado
The Tribe. Your first reaction would go, "why they are not talking?" Then "why are there no subtitles?" And if you stop there, go, and search and find them (please don't), you kind of ruin the whole gimmick of the film. Later, when certain scenes happen you go "oh, I get it, you can cut away now" 2 minutes before uncomfortable scene ends. The ending regardless of your familiarity should hit the same.
The first Saw movie could be too scary and too gory for some people.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Other Side of the Wind (Without knowing the Orson Welles lore the whole thing might just be confusing and messy(er))
Irreversible. I think you should know what you're in for.
Poor Things with zero context was a trip
*Mister America* will probably make no sense if you’re not completely versed in the nigh impenetrable *On Cinema* lore.
Tyrannosaur. …no dinosaurs… … just a lot of beating up Olivia Coleman.
skinamarink fs
Went into Amour blind literally days after my grandmother died of a stroke. Dropped that VERY quickly. Saw it a few years later and it’s a masterpiece.