The entire opening sequence is very restrained. The violence throughout the entire movie is brutal but it's swift and to the point. It doesn't linger for overt shock value. Have you seen TND yet? Drive will look pretty damn subtle after you do..
A lot of the violence was for shock value. That is why Joan gets her head blown up, a guy gets tortured in a strip club, and a guy is stomped to death in an elevator. Shock and a lack of nuance was what so many people loved about it; the main character is nameless and has a scorpion on his jacket. I have not seen the Neon Demon. I will probably not see it until the end of the year, but I came dangerously close today when the beach was too crowded to enjoy peace. I was going to be seven minutes late to the theater so I decided not to. I really wanted popcorn and of all the films available in my area it seemed like the Neon Demon would at least make me feel something. The shark movie was the original pick but a PG-13 shark movie is not really worth seeing.
I absolutely agree with you that the violence in Drive was for shock value but The Neon Demon takes that to deafening levels. When I say "subtlety and nuance," I mean how it pertains to the films of Nicolas Winding Refn... not generally speaking. I can't really explain any more until you see the movie for comparison. All of the violence and gruesomeness felt justified in Drive and the filmmaking itself was restrained in comparison to his latest movies. The marketing of The Shallows has been pretty damn good. The TV spots have me hooked every time they come on. It is a shame it's PG-13. I'll still probably check it out though
I loved it. It didn't really have a plot but, weirdly enough, that didn't bother me. I though it was beautiful & disturbing. Also I can't stop thinking about the ending
this movie really reminded me of Beyond The Black Rainbow which I really like, it was just such a beautiful thing to watch and that's what pulls you in even though it's really slow and none of the characters ever really blow you away or really even have an interesting conversation lol. Which is why I think it's pretty interesting that the movie gets harder to watch as it goes on, the movie seems like one idea expanding on itself until it's pushed to it's extreme. In that regard I guess I wished it got a little more extreme? It did in the subject matter of what was being shown but it showed it in the same way still? I don't know what I'm trying to say.
Yeah. It's one of those movies you can appreciate for being so bold and absolutely beautiful to look at. No doubt.
I feel like a lot of the criticism tossed at the last two Malick films are way more fitting from the last two Refn films. He's become style over substance more than ever, but I do think this is infinitely better than Only God Forgives. As an audio/visual experience it's aces. The last half hour is pretty much dialogue free, which helps. I'd really like Refn to try two things. First, I'd really like him to do straight up horror. He's flirted with the genre with the last two films, but I'd like him to go all or nothing sometime. I also would love to see him do a film that's dialogue free. I love the style of his films, but the hack dialogue is where he loses me a lot of the time. I seem negative, but I ended up really liking this by the end. Part of me wants to believe it's Showgirls level satire, because it honest to god has the same vibe to it, but I'm all but certain that satire is not in Refn's interest with this film.
the style is the substance for refn I feel, but can we really complain when we barely ever get movies this visually stunning? I would like to see a film without dialogue too, his scripts are kind of hard to love with the exception of Bronson and his storytelling is mostly visual anyway so I think it could work.
Watched this last night and I think I'm the only person in my showing that didn't hate it. It had my attention the entire time, and I wouldn't have minded if it had been a little longer.
The more I think about this movie, the more I like it, and I don't really like any of his other films that much.
Saw this last night. Completely indulgent for better and worse. Not recommended for the morally conscionable. I enjoyed this quite a bit, but haven't seen NWR's other films in a while so I can't compare really. EDIT: The soundtrack was fantastic. Need to look it up.
just watched, enjoyed. For those looking for another Drive, nope. For those disappointed by Only God Forgives, see this.
Trailer was so boring I couldn't even get through it. I really dislike Miles Teller. I might still give it a shot. Refn is WAY more miss than hit for me, but I do find him interesting.
The trailer didn't do anything for me and I'm not a fan of Miles Teller either, but I love Refn's style, so I'm sure I'll check it out.