LogFAQs > #979966593

Here are some of my thoughts on art:

- These topics are weird about "Art Films". I've previously participated in two animated film rankings where there was a group (Inviso, Ermine, Red, and sometimes Karo though he would deviate a lot from the other 3 on certain films) who seemed to me to have a very broad definition of what constitutes an "Art Film" and were very hostile to those films. When I think of "art films" I think of things like Jeanne Dielman (4 hours of watching a woman do chores to make a point about Feminism), or anything directed by Tarkovsky (Russians looking sadly into the middle distance for 10+ minutes at a time in between random conversations about philosophy), while in contrast I recall Inviso describing Cartoon Saloon movies like The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea as "Art Films" that get extra credit for being foreign. And while I can understand where that perspective comes from I think it's hard to deny that those movies are several tiers lower than the aforementioned in terms of being inaccessible for the sake of some kind of "artistic" purpose, so for me it was something of a culture shock seeing movies like Anomalisa or Boy & the World get lambasted on these lists. I often felt like films that were in any way challenging where getting unfairly criticized for using things like dialog-free storytelling or characters you aren't strictly supposed to relate to and it was very frustrating for me to see these films land below what I perceived as mediocre shlock like Abominable or Over the Moon. So I am surprised that the "Art Films" of this list (which I presume to mean Possession, Videodrome, and Henry) have yet to be eliminated. This does mean that compared to previous lists, "Art Films" are doing well this time, but that might even be because Red and Ermine didn't participate this time and the sample size among the voters is larger, so the "anti-art bias" of previous lists isn't being felt as much. I only think Possession is Art on this list. Videodrome is structurally a fairly standard Hollywood horror film that just refuses to explain certain aspects of its plot and Henry feels more like an attempt at gritty realism. Dumb fun movies are doing fine too, Le Prdateur, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Evil Dead II are all still in and Gremlins and Re-Animator at 13 and 12 is respectable on a carefully curated list.

- Tetsuo is kind of an oddball. I can see thinking of it as an "Art Film" and I get why one would be confused to see it ranked above certain other movies. I actually think an even more useful comparison than Basket Case for Tetsuo is Evil Dead II. Both are basically one shtick repeated nonstop with very little attempt at plot, characterization, or relief. There's a big gap between these two movies on my list too and I would explain this by saying that I enjoyed the shtick of Tetsuo and not that of Evil Dead II. I would definitely not try to defend Tetsuo by saying it has deep metaphors or anything like that, I just thought Tetsuo's unique brand of stupidity was refreshing after so many movies that were stupid in samey ways.

- I don't necessarily mind unpleasant things in my movies. Especially when criticizing I try to evaluate whether what the film does matches with what it's trying to achieve. So something like the opening scene with the man inserting metal bits into himself in Tetsuo doesn't really warrant criticism imo. Yes it's disturbing and made me cringe, but it's meant to and that suits the intended tone of the movie. I also don't necessarily mind if the characters are unlikable as long as I feel they're psychologically interesting which is why I think Anomalisa is a great movie even though I agree the main character is a piece of shit. Come and See is basically nothing but suffering and it's one of the greatest films of all time because of how raw its depiction of war is. This goes doubly when we're talking about horror movies, for me. Possession is definitely not my idea of a fun movie but it was an intense experience and I value that a lot more than something like The Dead Zone that was inoffensive and mildly entertaining throughout. I don't really recall being disgusted by Basket Case, I just remember it being dull - which for me is worse.

- I think Deadzone vs. Videodrome might encapsulate a lot of the difference in how Inviso and I think about movies. Both films where I left wishing for more narrative depth, but I value the story in Videodrome a lot more precisely because it leaves things unexplained. I think trying to create a deep metaphorical analysis of what Videodrome and the New Flesh are in the context of the film would probably be very tortured, but because it doesn't spell everything out for you the viewer is still able to come to interesting conclusions on their own: for example, is the "New Flesh" really a preferable alternative to what Videodrome is trying to accomplish, or is James Woods just getting pulled between two equally nefarious and manipulative agendas? Videodrome's ending is one of my favorite scenes in any movie on this project, I found it extremely haunting, but if the movie had gone on for five more minutes either to show you that James Woods does somehow ascend to "The New Flesh" or that he just winds up lying in a pool of his own blood that would've ruined it - and that's basically what The Dead Zone's ending does by showing you the flash of Martin Sheen's political career being ruined. I felt very disappointed by The Dead Zone's tendency to explain everything and make sure you know that Christopher Walken's actions are morally correct. For me, this made for a much shallower narrative than that of Videodrome. It's perfectly valid to see it the other way around and think that Videodrome is just begging empty questions to try and compensate for a lack of substance in its narrative, but I don't really like the assumption that anyone who doesn't think that way must just be giving the movie "a pass" because it seems artsy.

- I like fun movies, Fright Night is my #5 and The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales is one of my favorite movies we've done across all of these lists. They just have to actually be good :p