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Happiness (the film)
 

offline DJ Xammax from not America on 2003-11-10 09:33 [#00943773]
Points: 11512 Status: Lurker



Anyone seen this? It's on tonight, I want to know if it's
worth staying up for.


 

offline JAroen from the pineal gland on 2003-11-10 09:37 [#00943784]
Points: 16065 Status: Regular



mm i dont like the title..

uh

oh yeah never seen it.. so i dunno
you could watch it if your really bored i guess...


 

offline Inverted Whale from United States Minor Outlying Islands on 2003-11-10 09:40 [#00943791]
Points: 3301 Status: Lurker



I've seen it. I liked it - but it's rather painful to watch
in places. The subject matter is kind of tough and the
director uses anxious tension to great advantage.

It took guts to make this film ... don't watch it if you
want some light viewing.


 

offline HedFire on 2003-11-10 09:43 [#00943792]
Points: 196 Status: Lurker



ohhhh yes definitely watch it. best line ever is towards the
end during the conv. with the father and son


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-11-10 09:45 [#00943793]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



it's incredibly transparent and pretentious.. I wasn't the
least bit affected by it. don't buy into it.. it's a joke


 

offline epohs from )C: on 2003-11-10 09:45 [#00943794]
Points: 17620 Status: Lurker



it's really 'enjoyable' to watch. very intense.

i've seen it twice, and i'll never watch it again.

but, prolly worth watching once.


 

offline epohs from )C: on 2003-11-10 09:46 [#00943795]
Points: 17620 Status: Lurker



it's really = it's not really


 

offline fleetmouse from Horny for Truth on 2003-11-10 09:47 [#00943797]
Points: 18042 Status: Lurker



It's a black depressing hell-pit of a movie with a core of
human misery, like a cyanide flavored tootsie pop with drano
crystals in the center.

I like it!

I understand Welcome to the Dollhouse is also very good.


 

offline fleetmouse from Horny for Truth on 2003-11-10 09:49 [#00943798]
Points: 18042 Status: Lurker | Followup to theo himself: #00943793



What, it wasn't authentic enough for you? Go watch some
Holocaust footage you zany nutbar.


 

offline BlatantEcho from All over (United States) on 2003-11-10 09:53 [#00943805]
Points: 7210 Status: Lurker



I loved it.


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-11-10 09:55 [#00943809]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



it was terrible. * 1/2 (out of *****)


 

offline qrter from the future, and it works (Netherlands, The) on 2003-11-10 09:55 [#00943810]
Points: 47414 Status: Moderator



it is good. you should watch it.

it's a funny film. not much more.

(so how you can say it's pretentious, I have no idea)


 

offline mimi on 2003-11-10 09:56 [#00943813]
Points: 5721 Status: Regular



i thought it was funny


 

offline qrter from the future, and it works (Netherlands, The) on 2003-11-10 09:56 [#00943814]
Points: 47414 Status: Moderator | Followup to theo himself: #00943809



yes, you already said that.

never really said why, though.


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-11-10 10:04 [#00943824]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



I don't really remember any specifics.. I just remember
being annoyed at a lot of stilted dialogue and an overt
attempt to be shocking.. that's all this movie was.. a big
"look at me" / "make me feel important, daddy!" cry.. so
fucking what some little boys got touched in your movie??
that's all it gets its undeserved attention for.. bloah blah
blah we've all heard the story of hidden decay behind the
happy suburban facade.. nothing new.. I wasn't shocked.. I
was annoyed .. esp. because I knew a lot of people were
going to buy its gimmick and laud it for all the reasons the
director, todd solonz, wanted everyone to. I take away
that 1/2 *.


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-11-10 10:07 [#00943827]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



if you're into shitty, stagey movies based entirely around
gimmicks (esp. those of the ultra-fallible variety), I
recommend any/everything m. night shamaylan (that's not his
real name by the way..) has done


 

offline qrter from the future, and it works (Netherlands, The) on 2003-11-10 10:14 [#00943834]
Points: 47414 Status: Moderator | Followup to theo himself: #00943824



I never saw it like that. I wasn't shocked by it at all.
seems to me like you're focusing much to much on all the
hype that surrounded the film.

how can you take it that seriously? it's so overtly over the
top! it's a big comic strip!

but I did think it was very funny - which is pretty good in
my mind.


 

offline viktor from Uppsala (Sweden) on 2003-11-10 10:15 [#00943836]
Points: 1129 Status: Lurker | Followup to DJ Xammax: #00943773



watch it! it's great, really funny if you're into that kind
of humour...


 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-11-10 10:38 [#00943858]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



hmm.. I might be missing some of the context.. I didn't see
the whole thing :/

am I thinking of "Storytelling"? or is that the one where he
tries to get people with the black professor that fucks a
white student and makes her call him nigger? that made me
gaassspp!!


 

offline viktor from Uppsala (Sweden) on 2003-11-10 10:41 [#00943860]
Points: 1129 Status: Lurker | Followup to theo himself: #00943858



that doesn't sound like 'Happiness'...


 

offline qrter from the future, and it works (Netherlands, The) on 2003-11-10 10:47 [#00943867]
Points: 47414 Status: Moderator | Followup to theo himself: #00943858



that's "Storytelling", yes.


 

offline aneurySm from Ypsilanti (United States) on 2003-11-10 10:50 [#00943871]
Points: 1701 Status: Lurker



dude
one of the funniest movies i had seen in a while... 'i
cummed' 'is yer pussy all, uh, wet, uahauh'
yeah...


 

offline HedFire on 2003-11-10 11:03 [#00943875]
Points: 196 Status: Lurker



i like the shock value i guess......

i still found it funny


 

offline Paco from Gothenburg (Sweden) on 2003-11-10 11:12 [#00943877]
Points: 2659 Status: Lurker



It's really funny eventhough the subject matter is very
serious. I love the scene where the father tells of his
dream where walks into a park with an M4 and mows people
down.

"What's different this time?"

"This time I didn't kill myself at the end."

or something..

It is worth seeing.


 

offline DJ Xammax from not America on 2003-11-10 12:48 [#00943995]
Points: 11512 Status: Lurker



Thanks.

I will watch it.


 

offline viktor from Uppsala (Sweden) on 2003-11-10 13:17 [#00944022]
Points: 1129 Status: Lurker | Followup to DJ Xammax: #00943995



good! tell us if you enjoyed it or not.


 

offline plaidzebra from so long, xlt on 2003-11-10 13:47 [#00944049]
Points: 5678 Status: Lurker



enter the lone dissenter.

i thought there was very little about this film that was
funny. i have difficulty understanding that people find
humor in what seems relentlessly uncomic and misanthropic.


there are a few (tragi-)comic moments (a lonely woman makes
a date with a lonely, socially inept crank caller who uses
remote humiliation and dirty talk as a sexual stimulus, then
when they meet, there is a long, awkward silence, and as the
crank caller edges towards the woman, she suddenly says
"this isn't working..."), but otherwise the film's obsession
with misery is like a two hour symphony in which the same
miserable chord repeats over and over.

at times the film is successful in revealing the hidden
depths of unfulfilled desires that fuel human unhappiness,
but it lingers on those depths with a self-absorbed
prurience and schadenfreude.


 

offline viktor from Uppsala (Sweden) on 2003-11-10 14:08 [#00944089]
Points: 1129 Status: Lurker



at times the film is successful in revealing the hidden
depths of unfulfilled desires that fuel human unhappiness,
but it lingers on those depths with a self-absorbed
prurience and schadenfreude.


didn't understand much of that mumbo-jumbo, but I think that
'Happiness' is a really funny picture! sure, it's tragic and
dark, but I still think it's meant to be funny. just watch
it, and allow yourself to laugh...


 

offline flea from depths of your mind (New Zealand) on 2003-11-10 14:09 [#00944092]
Points: 9083 Status: Regular



well worth staying up for and watching and recording to
watch again sometime..
it was one of the DVD's I bought..infact one of the things
to inspire us to buy a DVD player cuz it was not available
on VHS..
now I can't find Storytelling in any of the shops..
grrr...


 

offline flea from depths of your mind (New Zealand) on 2003-11-10 14:11 [#00944095]
Points: 9083 Status: Regular



and then go and track down and find
Welcome to the Doll's House...


 

offline TonyFish from the realm of our dreams on 2003-11-10 15:10 [#00944168]
Points: 3349 Status: Lurker



aw shit I was thinking of 'Storytelling' too.


 

offline qrter from the future, and it works (Netherlands, The) on 2003-11-10 15:34 [#00944198]
Points: 47414 Status: Moderator | Followup to plaidzebra: #00944049



again, seems to me a case of taking the film too seriously.

the film is ridiculous in how sad and lonely all the people
are, it's stylized.

that gives it breathingspace, which allows for a lot of
humour to creep in.

about the 'schadenfreude' - you could see it like that,
although that does seem to be a part of the film's message.
there you are laughing at all these sad people and suddenly
you see how it refers back to reality and probably your own
life.
in it's depiction for 'schadenfreude' you could say it's
being pretty honest - that's how the world works at times.


 

offline tolstoyed from the ocean on 2003-11-10 15:44 [#00944216]
Points: 50073 Status: Moderator



i loved it...i would love to see it in a cinema some time -
seems really appropriate for the big screen
and the actors - the best part of the film imo, but im sure
solondz had a lot to do with that as well


 

offline qrter from the future, and it works (Netherlands, The) on 2003-11-10 15:46 [#00944218]
Points: 47414 Status: Moderator | Followup to tolstoyed: #00944216



well, he did write and direct the film. :)

but it is an "actors film", yes, so it does work because of
the great cast.


 

offline qrter from the future, and it works (Netherlands, The) on 2003-11-10 15:46 [#00944221]
Points: 47414 Status: Moderator | Followup to qrter: #00944218



directED.. sheesh..


 

offline Inverted Whale from United States Minor Outlying Islands on 2003-11-10 15:48 [#00944226]
Points: 3301 Status: Lurker | Followup to tolstoyed: #00944216



I did see it in the movie theatre and the scene near the
beginning with Jon Lovitz was the most excruciating bit of
cinema I've ever sat through. It's hard to explain, but I
was literally squirming in my seat...


 

offline tolstoyed from the ocean on 2003-11-10 15:52 [#00944236]
Points: 50073 Status: Moderator



i put it a bit wrong there - what i meant was that solondz
must've had quite some impact on actors...


 

offline tolstoyed from the ocean on 2003-11-10 15:53 [#00944239]
Points: 50073 Status: Moderator



ok, now i have to see it in a theatre :)


 

offline qrter from the future, and it works (Netherlands, The) on 2003-11-10 16:01 [#00944266]
Points: 47414 Status: Moderator



I saw it in the theatre too when it came out.

all film is essentially meant to be seen on the big screen
and this is no different.

well, some films really need to be seen in film
theatres - LoTR, Star Wars, etc. :)


 

offline tolstoyed from the ocean on 2003-11-10 16:12 [#00944305]
Points: 50073 Status: Moderator



"LoTR, Star Wars, etc"

havent seen none of those yet :)

dont go to movies much...the kind of movies i prefer comes
to our cinemas like once or twice per month...except when
it's a local film festival (like the one right now!!!) then
i get to see many i like :)


 

offline fleetmouse from Horny for Truth on 2003-11-10 16:23 [#00944342]
Points: 18042 Status: Lurker | Followup to qrter: #00944198



Well put sir qrter - I'll also add that the characters were
humanized by the brutality of their portrayal - a far cry
from the usual bulletproof stainproof humans in american
films - you never quite get under Kevin Spacey's skin in
American Beauty, or feel convinced by Jack Nicholson in
About Schmidt, to cite two films that are on a similar but
less extreme tangent -



 

offline bogala from NYC (United States) on 2003-11-10 16:31 [#00944363]
Points: 5125 Status: Regular



I especially liked the end where the kid masturbates and
cums on the balcony than the dog licks it up and then the
goody goody mom kisses the dog on the mouth at the dinner
table.... hilarious. Great film!
If you didn't find this movie funny then you must be a Jerry
Lewis fan.


 

offline bogala from NYC (United States) on 2003-11-10 16:40 [#00944379]
Points: 5125 Status: Regular



I thought the new star wars sucked compared to the old ones.
They are so digital looking and everyone is a kid. It's like
a disney movie with robots. The older ones were all models
done by ILM. So much more real than the polished digital
look. The robot vocals were better in the first, too. Better
analog ring mods. Again, no digital. The new ones look like
kiddie films.


 

offline plaidzebra from so long, xlt on 2003-11-10 17:02 [#00944413]
Points: 5678 Status: Lurker



qrter

true, i do take films seriously, but only when i think it is
warranted.

i find it difficult to believe that a film that depicts the
degree of pain and degradation that "happiness" does,
including the sexual exploitation of a child, *can* be taken
so lightly, as if it were all a smug in-joke. fleet, i
cannot agree that the "brutality of their portrayal" could
have "humanized" the characters, though the performances in
and of themselves were mostly stunning.

i am more than willing to agree to disagree, and i recognize
that there is no one here who agrees with my perspective,
nevertheless i stand by my comments and short critique of
the film.

next you'll be telling me that "kids" was hilarious. ; )




 

offline theo himself from +- on 2003-11-10 17:09 [#00944427]
Points: 3348 Status: Regular



now "kids" I loved.


 

offline tragedy from Gloucester (United States) on 2003-11-10 17:12 [#00944432]
Points: 4423 Status: Lurker



happiness is the most sick, fucked up movie i've ever seen.

yeah, definately check it out.


 

offline tolstoyed from the ocean on 2003-11-10 17:15 [#00944439]
Points: 50073 Status: Moderator



you havent seen many then eh? :)


 

offline qrter from the future, and it works (Netherlands, The) on 2003-11-10 18:56 [#00944503]
Points: 47414 Status: Moderator | Followup to plaidzebra: #00944413



ugh, "kids", now that I didn't like much.

if we're talking about films made for their shock-value..


 

offline r40f from qrters tea party on 2003-11-10 21:57 [#00944716]
Points: 14210 Status: Regular



happiness is a great film. it has one of the best opening
scenes ever (with john lovitz getting dumped)! storytelling
is also great.


 

offline Cokey Romano from Australia on 2003-11-10 22:26 [#00944746]
Points: 223 Status: Addict



I like Kids. Happiness, too, but I think it might be cut
some for television, depending. I finally ordered Ken Park
yesterday too.


 


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