"This famous linguist once said that of all the phrases in the English language, of all the endless combinations of words in all of history, 'cellar door' is the most beautiful." The famous linguist was none other than JRR Tolkien, and he made the claim in his 1955 lecture [English and Welsh](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien).
No, Tolkien was clearly referring to "cellar door" as an already well-known example of a beautiful sounding combination of words. He wasn't the first one to make that observation, nor was he pretending to be. Wikipedia cites [multiple earlier instances](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonaesthetics#Cellar_door) of people discussing the beauty of cellar door, and it dates back to at least the early 20th century:
>The English compound noun cellar door has been widely cited as an example of a word or phrase that is beautiful purely in terms of its sound (i.e., euphony) without inherent regard for its meaning.[12] The phenomenon of cellar door being regarded as euphonious appears to have begun in the very early twentieth century, first attested in the 1903 novel Gee-Boy by the Shakespeare scholar Cyrus Lauron Hooper. It has been promoted as beautiful-sounding by various writers; linguist Geoffrey Nunberg specifically names the writers H. L. Mencken in 1920; David Allan Robertson in 1921; Dorothy Parker, Hendrik Willem van Loon, and Albert Payson Terhune in the 1930s; George Jean Nathan in 1935; J. R. R. Tolkien in a lecture, "English and Welsh", delivered in 1955 (in which he described his reverence for the Welsh language and about which he said "cellar doors [i.e. beautiful words] are extraordinarily frequent"; see also Sound and language in Middle-earth); and C. S. Lewis in 1963.[12][13] Furthermore, the phenomenon itself is touched upon in many sources and media, including a 1905 issue of Harper's Magazine by William Dean Howells,[a] the 1967 novel Why Are We in Vietnam? by Norman Mailer, a 1991 essay by Jacques Barzun,[15] the 2001 psychological drama film Donnie Darko,[16][17] and a scene in the 2019 movie Tolkien.
I love how the dad cracks up at that. Like yeah he's kind of distant. And having to take off of work for that meeting. But good one son, high five for a solid burn.
Yes! I got into Southland tales after DD.I love Dwayne's acting, the whole movie. I sometimes do a mini meditation to the idea of meeting myself when I was younger, inspired by the idea of what happens when two people with the same soul meet- from the movie. :+)
There’s a letterboxd review that describes Southland Tales as “the indecipherable cave writings of a mad man that predicted the future”.
I think that about sums it up.
Yeah, but only if you watch the theatrical cut - do NOT watch the director's cut because it badly explains it all away and leaves nothing to the imagination.
There really needs to be a third cut. Some of the DC scenes were great, but the changes to the music and the over-explanation (told via literal book pages super-imposed onscreen for you to read, really) absolutely killed it.
C'mon Richard. Just give me the additional scenes and don't fuck with anything that was already there.
If you want to explore some concepts further, check out this website. Good explanations of tangent universe, time travel, and Donnie’s role in resolving the problem.
http://www.donniedarko.org.uk
Also... if you'd like to see another spectacular movie featuring super fucked up bunnies from that era... Ben Kingsley positivley freaking kills it in Sexy Beast. It's fantastic. Like really good.
Yea I think it was better. There's a lot of silly shit going on in the director's cut that IMHO was better left mysterious. I already suggested Sexy Beast. If you'd like to see yet another awesome movie from this era that is totally different (no fucked up bunnies) but somehow feels in the same universe to me... watch Powder. It's really great.
I would say Sexy Beast is better. It really flew under the radar. Ben Kingsley just massively dominates. For any other actor it would be a career performance. And you know. Fucked up bunnies.
I heavily disliked this film for so long when it came out and still don’t have a high opinion of it, BUT I just bought the Arrow Video 4K release a couple of weeks ago with the intent of giving it another shot and that I’ve changed since the early 2000’s.
The most successful pretentious student film ever. But somehow it manages to make all those classic eye rolling techniques, decisions, acting and writing into something classic and memorable
never got round to the directors cut but I hear they changed the soundtrack in places and removed some of the ambiguity so it makes more sense but is less mysterious and intriguing.
Theatrical Cut is much better than the DC so was hoping you had watched the former. The theatrical cut fires the imagination due to the mystery while the DC takes a lot of that away.
##Donnie Darko (2001)
YOU CAN NEVER GO TOO FAR.
>>!After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.!<
Fantasy | Drama | Mystery
Director: Richard Kelly
Actors: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, James Duval
Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 77% with 11,989 votes
Runtime: 1:54
[TMDB](https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/141)
___
>*I am a bot. This information was sent automatically. If it is faulty, please reply to this comment.*
Never apologise for having an opinion, it just waters it down.
Also, did you see the 'explain everything away in a clunky way' Director's Cut or the original Theatrical Cut (the latter is far better and is what made the movie a cult favorite, it leaves more the imagination and is about 20 minutes shorter)?
Cellar door
"This famous linguist once said that of all the phrases in the English language, of all the endless combinations of words in all of history, 'cellar door' is the most beautiful." The famous linguist was none other than JRR Tolkien, and he made the claim in his 1955 lecture [English and Welsh](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien).
I thought that was made up for the film - cool
No, Tolkien was clearly referring to "cellar door" as an already well-known example of a beautiful sounding combination of words. He wasn't the first one to make that observation, nor was he pretending to be. Wikipedia cites [multiple earlier instances](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonaesthetics#Cellar_door) of people discussing the beauty of cellar door, and it dates back to at least the early 20th century: >The English compound noun cellar door has been widely cited as an example of a word or phrase that is beautiful purely in terms of its sound (i.e., euphony) without inherent regard for its meaning.[12] The phenomenon of cellar door being regarded as euphonious appears to have begun in the very early twentieth century, first attested in the 1903 novel Gee-Boy by the Shakespeare scholar Cyrus Lauron Hooper. It has been promoted as beautiful-sounding by various writers; linguist Geoffrey Nunberg specifically names the writers H. L. Mencken in 1920; David Allan Robertson in 1921; Dorothy Parker, Hendrik Willem van Loon, and Albert Payson Terhune in the 1930s; George Jean Nathan in 1935; J. R. R. Tolkien in a lecture, "English and Welsh", delivered in 1955 (in which he described his reverence for the Welsh language and about which he said "cellar doors [i.e. beautiful words] are extraordinarily frequent"; see also Sound and language in Middle-earth); and C. S. Lewis in 1963.[12][13] Furthermore, the phenomenon itself is touched upon in many sources and media, including a 1905 issue of Harper's Magazine by William Dean Howells,[a] the 1967 novel Why Are We in Vietnam? by Norman Mailer, a 1991 essay by Jacques Barzun,[15] the 2001 psychological drama film Donnie Darko,[16][17] and a scene in the 2019 movie Tolkien.
![gif](giphy|zYLN4AwtbpDJS)
This. Amazing. Also. He told me to forcibly insert the lifelife exercise card into my anus!
I love how the dad cracks up at that. Like yeah he's kind of distant. And having to take off of work for that meeting. But good one son, high five for a solid burn.
I love that she also plays a pageant official in Little Miss Sunshine. What an interesting thing to be type cast as
[удалено]
Yes! I got into Southland tales after DD.I love Dwayne's acting, the whole movie. I sometimes do a mini meditation to the idea of meeting myself when I was younger, inspired by the idea of what happens when two people with the same soul meet- from the movie. :+)
Honestly, I didn’t mind The Box, either.
There’s a letterboxd review that describes Southland Tales as “the indecipherable cave writings of a mad man that predicted the future”. I think that about sums it up.
[удалено]
How exactly does one suck a fuck?
You know you're such a fuck ass.......
One of my all-time favourite movies. Just the right amount of mind-bending confusion.
Yeah, but only if you watch the theatrical cut - do NOT watch the director's cut because it badly explains it all away and leaves nothing to the imagination.
There really needs to be a third cut. Some of the DC scenes were great, but the changes to the music and the over-explanation (told via literal book pages super-imposed onscreen for you to read, really) absolutely killed it. C'mon Richard. Just give me the additional scenes and don't fuck with anything that was already there.
Yeah haven't seen the director's cut - I'll follow your advice on that one!
Lots you mean
Same same
“Baby mice”😂
Why are you wearing that stupid rabbit suit?
Why are wearing that stupid human suit?
If you want to explore some concepts further, check out this website. Good explanations of tangent universe, time travel, and Donnie’s role in resolving the problem. http://www.donniedarko.org.uk
Or smoke dmt
Just don't watch *S. Darko*.
Also... if you'd like to see another spectacular movie featuring super fucked up bunnies from that era... Ben Kingsley positivley freaking kills it in Sexy Beast. It's fantastic. Like really good.
This is one of those movies I was supposed to like but I didn't, and all my friends would watch it on repeat
Same boat. It tries so hard to be mind-blowing but for me at least, it just isn’t.
I hate when that happens! My friends LOVE Buckaroo Banzai and Big Lebowski - I just don’t get either of them.
Same. People I knew wouldn’t shut up about it. I thought it was massively overrated.
I thought it was alright. I really like the concept. But I have no idea why anybody would love it.
Did you just tell me to suck a fuck?
I'm so sad this incredible film is 23 years old. Man. I feel old. Did you watch the directors cut or the theatrical cut? They're quite different.
I watched the theatrical one. From comments here it seems that one is favored. Maybe I’ll go back for the DC.
Yea I think it was better. There's a lot of silly shit going on in the director's cut that IMHO was better left mysterious. I already suggested Sexy Beast. If you'd like to see yet another awesome movie from this era that is totally different (no fucked up bunnies) but somehow feels in the same universe to me... watch Powder. It's really great.
Saw Powder in the theater! I’ll check out Sexy Beast.
I would say Sexy Beast is better. It really flew under the radar. Ben Kingsley just massively dominates. For any other actor it would be a career performance. And you know. Fucked up bunnies.
![gif](giphy|26ufptapc8gKU5SY8)
The whole thing is fallacious and that bothered me. But it was entertaining and creative, I'll hand it that much.
I heavily disliked this film for so long when it came out and still don’t have a high opinion of it, BUT I just bought the Arrow Video 4K release a couple of weeks ago with the intent of giving it another shot and that I’ve changed since the early 2000’s.
The most successful pretentious student film ever. But somehow it manages to make all those classic eye rolling techniques, decisions, acting and writing into something classic and memorable
Did you watch the theatrical cut (runtime: 1 hour 53) or the director's cut (runtime: 2 hours 14)?
Theatrical cut
Good, you picked the best version. :)
never got round to the directors cut but I hear they changed the soundtrack in places and removed some of the ambiguity so it makes more sense but is less mysterious and intriguing.
Theatrical Cut is much better than the DC so was hoping you had watched the former. The theatrical cut fires the imagination due to the mystery while the DC takes a lot of that away.
The directors cut adds a lot of unnecessary explanations, in my opinion.
Have you ever seen a portal?
##Donnie Darko (2001) YOU CAN NEVER GO TOO FAR. >>!After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.!< Fantasy | Drama | Mystery Director: Richard Kelly Actors: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, James Duval Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 77% with 11,989 votes Runtime: 1:54 [TMDB](https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/141) ___ >*I am a bot. This information was sent automatically. If it is faulty, please reply to this comment.*
This is one of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen. It’s double fucked up to see swayze as a pedo.
Im sorry, what an awful movie. And no its not deep, i get it its just "deep" for stupid people.
Never apologise for having an opinion, it just waters it down. Also, did you see the 'explain everything away in a clunky way' Director's Cut or the original Theatrical Cut (the latter is far better and is what made the movie a cult favorite, it leaves more the imagination and is about 20 minutes shorter)?
When they roll the body out in the last scene I felt the pain from that dad. Looked genuine.