Movie Arguments

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I got into a bizarrely heated argument with a stranger who overheard me express a middling opinion of Guardians of the Galaxy. The worst part is that my friends were agreeing with him and goading him on even though he looked like he was trying to get me to fight him or something. I was twice his size so there was no real threat to my safety, but still.


Irrefutable proof that Marvel stans are the ****ing worst.
The only thing worse than a Marvel Stan is a person named Rockatansky that has a middling opinion of Guardians of the Galaxy.



The only thing worse than a Marvel Stan is a person named Rockatansky that has a middling opinion of Guardians of the Galaxy.
Exhibit A.



Stop referring to yourself as evidence, Rock. It's almost as much a problem as your vitriolic opinions on Guardians.



Stop referring to yourself as evidence, Rock. It's almost as much a problem as your vitriolic opinions on Guardians.
Exhibit B.



Not even remotely true.
Rude is rude. Anyone who would talk through a preview is just as bad as people who talk during a movie. And I don't mean harmless comments like, "Ooh, that looks good" or "Pass", or "I just nerdgasmed!"


Well, maybe that last one.



Rude is rude. Anyone who would talk through a preview is just as bad as people who talk during a movie. And I don't mean harmless comments like, "Ooh, that looks good" or "Pass", or "I just nerdgasmed!"


Well, maybe that last one.
Maybe they were warning you so you could get out of the line of fire. That's the opposite of rude, Mr. Bissell.



Maybe they were warning you so you could get out of the line of fire. That's the opposite of rude, Mr. Bissell.
Uh-oh. You're gonna make me break out a dusty old anecdote about spending the night in a porno theatre in a seedy part of Los Angeles. No money for a hotel room so my older cousin and me stayed there till they turned off the movie in the middle and told everyone to get the hell out. Leaving everyone to stumble out at like 5:30 in the morning. Sky was lightening and there were street sweeping trucks going by. I went to Disneyland later and drank orange juice after orange juice to nurse a killer hangover. I kept waiting for someone to tap me on the shoulder and tell me I had to leave but that never happened.


God bless 'Murica!



Rude is rude. Anyone who would talk through a preview is just as bad as people who talk during a movie. And I don't mean harmless comments like, "Ooh, that looks good" or "Pass", or "I just nerdgasmed!"


Well, maybe that last one.
Nah. Talking through the movie people paid to see is clearly a ruder offense than talking during an advertisement easily found on YouTube, during which most patrons are still arriving and finding their seats with the lights still on.



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
I just had one.

I showed my girlfriend Dr Strangelove
__________________
Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.



Have you ever had an argument with someone over a movie?

(Who hasn't?)

I was tempted to just ask this on the "Is Die Hard a Xmas Movie?" thread, but then realized there could be arguments over any number of movies or movie-going situations!
Mentioned this before - was screamed at that showing someone (known to love Almodóvar!) The Skin I Live In amounted to torture. Was years ago but that one is still infamous.



Mentioned this before - was screamed at that showing someone (known to love Almodóvar!) The Skin I Live In amounted to torture. Was years ago but that one is still infamous.
WTF? That movie is awesome. Screaming person is crazy.



One silly argument I had was with a friend while on a bus trip to Canada that had movies playing on it.

One of the movies in the cue was Evita (1996). My friend described it to me as being almost totally done with song.

I said, "so it's an opera."

He said no, it wasn't an opera, but it was all done with song.
I said, well that's an opera.

He said it wasn't opera music and I replied that although there is a style of music people consider as classical opera, that the word can still describe any story told entirely with music and I cited Jesus Christ Superstar as a "Rock Opera."

He said that was different since Jesus Christ Superstar was a "Rock Opera."

I said it's still an opera, but it uses rock-style music thus they called it a "Rock Opera."

So he says Evita is not a rock opera or any kind of an opera because it's not opera music.

I said we just clarified that any type of music can be used and it can still be an opera - so if it's done almost entirely with song telling the story, no matter the style of music used, then it's an opera.

He said, "It's not an opera."

I have to admit I never did see it as we reached our destination before the movie could play, so I don't know if it was just a musical (music mixed with dialogue) and his description was incorrect that almost the entire thing was done in song or if it could actually fit the definition of an opera.

For the record, Captain Steel, I agree with you that Evita is an opera...just like Jesus Christ Superstar



Here's one, which was even addressed in an episode of Seinfeld:
Is it okay to talk during the previews in a movie theater?
When I went to see West Side Story, a lot of people were talking through the previews.



I have a very good friend who always looks to me for movie recommendations and my heart sank when he told me hated Goodfellas. No matter how staunchly I defended it, he wouldn't and still hasn't budged. He hated it and it's the ONLY film I've ever recommended to him that he didn't like.



Here's a question: is a movie a musical if it is only ABOUT music, but not one where characters spontaneously break out into musical numbers?

So, is That Thing You Do a musical? Most would say yes because it's filled with musical numbers and is about the music industry, but all the numbers are performed as stage shows or "jams" - they are a resultant aspect of the plot that is supposed to be happening as depicted within the "reality" of the movie, but they are not necessarily a narrative for the plot.

(Whereas Gene Kelly "Singing in the Rain" could be construed as part of the narrative - is it really happening or is the music just an interpretation of his inner thoughts & feelings in that moment? And if it is really happening, then where is the orchestra out on the street on a rainy evening?)

Are movies like Amadeus or Mr. Holland's Opus "musicals" since they contain music and are about music? Or are musicals strictly those which contain "musical numbers" that are not presented as actually taking place as part of a performance within the reality of the story, but are a narration of character's thoughts or situations set to music that occurs spontaneously?



Here's a question: is a movie a musical if it is only ABOUT music, but not one where characters spontaneously break out into musical numbers?

So, is That Thing You Do a musical? Most would say yes because it's filled with musical numbers and is about the music industry, but all the numbers are performed as stage shows or "jams" - they are a resultant aspect of the plot that is supposed to be happening as depicted within the "reality" of the movie, but they are not necessarily a narrative for the plot.

(Whereas Gene Kelly "Singing in the Rain" could be construed as part of the narrative - is it really happening or is the music just an interpretation of his inner thoughts & feelings in that moment? And if it is really happening, then where is the orchestra out on the street on a rainy evening?)

Are movies like Amadeus or Mr. Holland's Opus "musicals" since they contain music and are about music? Or are musicals strictly those which contain "musical numbers" that are not presented as actually taking place as part of a performance within the reality of the story, but are a narration of character's thoughts or situations set to music that occurs spontaneously?
If music made films musicals, then any films with scores would be musicals.

A film can be about music and feature music without being a musical.

The looser we are with the definition of the category, the less meaningful the category becomes. If we are talking about a musical, we want to set it off from other films as a "musical" and not just "another movie," so we do need an exclusionary definition, one which will have some borderline cases that some will feel are on the "wrong" side. If you don't have some tough cases, then you almost certainly have an overly expansive (i.e., useless) definition. The tough cases, therefore, are not only the test of a category definition, but also proof, in themselves, that a prima facie requirement of such a category has even been met (i.e., to have some discriminating power, sorting this from that). In short, it is BOTH feature and bug to have tough cases.

In my book, it is not a musical if the actors do not sing dialogue and/or soliloquies as a "reality" (i.e., getting the depiction of the characters "really" talking to each other through song and/or expressing their inner thoughts spontaneously through song). Since this is not a feature of our lived experience, this means that musicals have, by a strong expectation (if not logical necessity), a significant unreality to them (i.e., talking and expressing through song, continually). A film that does not meet this minimal definition is not a musical.



Here's a question: is a movie a musical if it is only ABOUT music, but not one where characters spontaneously break out into musical numbers?

So, is That Thing You Do a musical? Most would say yes because it's filled with musical numbers and is about the music industry, but all the numbers are performed as stage shows or "jams" - they are a resultant aspect of the plot that is supposed to be happening as depicted within the "reality" of the movie, but they are not necessarily a narrative for the plot.

(Whereas Gene Kelly "Singing in the Rain" could be construed as part of the narrative - is it really happening or is the music just an interpretation of his inner thoughts & feelings in that moment? And if it is really happening, then where is the orchestra out on the street on a rainy evening?)

Are movies like Amadeus or Mr. Holland's Opus "musicals" since they contain music and are about music? Or are musicals strictly those which contain "musical numbers" that are not presented as actually taking place as part of a performance within the reality of the story, but are a narration of character's thoughts or situations set to music that occurs spontaneously?
JMO, but I don't think That Thing You Do, Amadeus, and Mr. Holland's Opus are musicals, because the music in those films are not part of the film's narrative. They don't advance story or flesh out characters, which is what musical numbers in musicals do. Even a number like the title song in Singin in the Rain, does advance the narrative of the story...it's a declaration in dance of Don's love for Kathy, which he can no longer deny but is able to express in dance.



I have to agree with the last 2 posts.
I kept thinking about Amadeus - if asked what kind of movie it is, no one would say "a musical."

Yet many still call That Thing You Do a musical mostly because the story is fictional, yet despite that fact, the music in is still presented just as it is in most bio-pics about real musicians or groups (as actual performances within the story as opposed to musical narratives).



I have a very good friend who always looks to me for movie recommendations and my heart sank when he told me hated Goodfellas. No matter how staunchly I defended it, he wouldn't and still hasn't budged. He hated it and it's the ONLY film I've ever recommended to him that he didn't like.
Just curious WHY your friend hated Goodfellas? (I, personally, love it!)

I'm asking because most people I've met who dislike it only do so because they feel some need to compare it to the Godfather films which are all dead serious, while Goodfellas (despite the violent subject matter) has a certaim air of entertaining frivolity to it.