American Psycho

Okay, I read the thread and liked back and forth banter about the reality of the murders. So far, I'm most taken with The Silver Bullet's analysis. The satire everyone keeps referring to is the fact that Bateman gets away with murder or at least admits it. I remember ash is the gal saying at one point that even though Bateman is a sick, perverted psychopath, he is still able to admit to himself at the end of the film that he is---that is, make a confession---whereas none of the others are even capable of admitting this. I really like Ash's idea that Bateman ends up being the "hero" of sorts. As Bullet said, we are all already American psychos.

Also, in regards to the forum's current Deleuzian climate, I can now fully appreciate the the film and novel's use of murder as a metaphor for consumerism. This ultra-exaggerated display of parasitic destruction and consumption of human libido is just about the most brilliant satire of Capitalism I've ever seen.

If accurate, Harron's and Ellis's comments in this interview lend even more credence to this explanation of the narrative's intention.

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Also, thank you for spawning the endlessly amusing CHECK MA DUBZ meme.

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"Loves them? They need them, like they need the air."

I liked this movie, it shows how close all of us are to snapping. We enjoy violence when we feel self-rightous about it (vengeance movies, Mel Gibson exclaiming, "You killed my family. I"m coming to get you."). Only thing with Bateman is: he doesn't need a reason.

PS The major designer labels represented in the movie would let Bale wear their clothes, but only when he wasn't killing anyone. Hypocrites.

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Under-the-radar Movie Awesomeness.
http://earlsmoviepicks.blogspot.com/

I just want to point out that I really don't believe anyone else could EVER look so good in sneakers and a chainsaw.

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But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet, Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. W.B. Yeats

Maybe that's why he's a Hero. I just thought he was a Dick.

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

Looking forward to the stage musical.

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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

^ huh?

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/dai...o-musical.html

At first I was like: NO, NO, NOOOO!!!!

[your link]

Now I'm like: maybe...

My 2 cents:

It's been a while since I saw it. My impression of Bateman and the narrative reliability on one viewing was that he may have killed some but was also probably embellishing. Possibly insane but also a compulsive attention-seeker who gets attention by confessing (thereby puffing himself up), and the more outrageous the confession the better the attention. Even the fact that he's confessing might be unreliable (maybe he's just thinking about confessing and the entire narrative is solipsistic) but I'm not sure if that was an intentional implication and I'd need to watch it again to see how confident I can be about that interpretation.

It seemed to be very heavily influenced by Vladimir Nabokov's writing (unreliable narrator, self-conscious parody of the confessional literary genre) but more vulgar/accessible (less word-play, less-thoughtful structure, fewer and less-eclectic/abstruse references). At the time I saw it I though the pathetic insistence mixed with irony in the acting and story ("please watch me, I'm desperate"/"never-mind, I'm only acting pathetic and crazy to get you to watch me") in a somewhat blunt and annoying way but I can't describe my opinion of the film much more clearly than that at this point, just that I found it somewhat annoying. much more-so than Fight Club.

I couldn't help but lol when I saw that pic. That is the single greatest image I've seen on MoFo, except for Sexy Celebrity's recent Jake Gyllenhaal XMas avatar.

I might be back later with some thoughts on American Psycho, but can't be bothered right now. Studying for exams.

Just watched American Psycho last week. Christian Bale was great.

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"George, this is a little too much for me. Escaped convicts, fugitive sex... I've got a cockfight to focus on."

Imo, Christian Bale is one of the best actors of today. Now, I may be bias simply because I think he is absolutely gorgeous and is in Equilibrium, which is one of my favorite films of all time...but...

Bale was great in The Fighter.

I didn't see that one. (Plainview, I still love the avatar).

Great film. One of the best character-studies of the 21st century.

I love this movie...Christian Bale's brilliant performance should have earned an Oscar nomination and I don't know why, but I always find it a little unsettling to remember that this film was directed by a woman, considering the way Patrick Bateman treats all the female characters in the film.

^Maybe that's why it was so effective? Women surely have a better sense and experience of what a real bastard is, rather than a guy having to think about himself or other guys acting like that.

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Here, if you have a milkshake, and I have a milkshake, and I have a straw. There it is, that's a straw, you see? You watching?. And my straw reaches acroooooooss the room, and starts to drink your milkshake... I... drink... your... milkshake!
-Daniel, There Will Be Blood

This movie made me a fan of Christian Bale, but that fandom ended up dying out. This and The Machinist are bloody fantastic performances (and fantastic movies), personally not a huge fan otherwise. Couldn't put my finger on why.

Obvious film; not bad, but not that good either.

Which parts were obvious to you???