Reading your review of Good Luck, Have Fun, I knew it would be right up my alley and I was looking forward to watching it when it came out on steaming, until you kept TALKING ABOUT IT, and REPEATING THE TITLE, and telling me I should go SEE IT IN THEATERS, and I decided to go do that and you know what, I just had a great evening with my friend on 6 dollar Tuesday (midwest pricing, woot!). Maybe not for everyone, but definitely the right movie for me. You're 3 for 3 (Companion, Eddington) when you've convinced me to go to the theater.
So I went to see "Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die," and I gotta say, it's the kind of movie where the more I think about it, the more pissed off that I spent actual American dollars to see it, and even bought popcorn and a drink.
SPOILER WARNING:
It played like several underdeveloped episodes of Black Mirror with a more interesting framing device holding them together, mostly unsuccessfully. The teacher section did what it needed to do, and the princess section was actually poignant. Insofar as the movie worked, it worked because of that section. But the clone section was, and I can't believe a confessed libertine is saying this, actually kind of offensive? You can make satire about school shootings. You can even make it vicious. But if you're going to do that, you have to make it in service to a well-constructed point, and it needs to make sense in the context of the world. This movie mines it for lazy jokes on the way to turning it into a plot device that really just makes the actions of almost everyone make no sense. Those people in the diner should be way too psychotic to even pay attention to the antics of a ranting guy who looks like he's trying to make viral content. I didn't come away from it thinking "these characters take school shootings lightly and that's terrible." I came away thinking "these filmmakers take school shootings lightly and that's worse." Especially since they could have cut the clones entirely, just developed the ear piece as the technology, and it would have made more sense. It felt like the filmmakers were too afraid of sincerity to let awful things be painful, and as a result they went so cynical that it was hard not to say "if you don't care enough to deal with it seriously, why should I care enough to emotionally invest in it?" By the time you get to the rare "unearned unhappy ending," I could only think "of course the plan didn't work; it was never going to work, because the writers are edgelords."
Yeah that school shooting segment is bound to be the one that winds up pushing the most buttons. I’ll just disagree that they don’t take it seriously; I think they’re trying to highlight how numbed we are to the insanity of it all.
Huh. Hadn't even heard about GL,HF,DD. Verbinski's skill as a talented, disturbing director was actually cemented in my head by "A Cure for Wellness" rather than the Pirates movies (which are great but get worse the deeper in you go).
And while of course Rockwell is good, he seems to thrive in high-concept weird sci fi. Anybody else see "Moon"? If not, GO SEE "MOON".
Right?!? It's like a diseased imagery artsy fever dream straight-to-VHS first-out-of-film-school feature from an indie horror fan, but slathered with so much sheer filmmaking talent I can't look away, much as I'd like to. Verbinski off the leash is a singular talent and, on reflection, we're probably lucky that's the case.
(Update: there is a 7 pm "early access" showing next Tuesday at my AMC north of Atlanta, and the entire middle section of the theatre is already sold out.)
Sam Rockwell’s monologue in White Lotus was a highlight of the last season. Excited to see the film! Hadn’t heard of it before this. Consider me aware now! Thanks, Sonny!
Went to see Iron Lung at a 1230 afternoon showing on Tuesday. I was surprised to see about 20 people in the theatre. Liked the movie a lot.. it’s a slow burn.
You’ve done as good a job of steering me towards movies I end up enjoying but was either unaware of or not sure were my taste since any film critic since Roger Ebert died.
If a movie features Sam Rockwell, it's probably entertaining. My wife dislikes him because of The Green Mile, which shows how good his performance was. I will always watch. He likes "numbered movies," Three Billboards, Seven Psychopaths.
'The Ring' is still one of the few scariest horror movies I've ever seen (out of A LOT of horror movies seen), and with a PG-13 rating, at that. That's a huge credit to Verbinksi, even if most of his filmography is not for me.
I was FF through commercials as usual, when something stopped me dead; was that Sam Rockwell???? I rewound and watched the chaos of whatever that was and can’t wait, because I’ll go on any journey Sam wants me to. And your article reinforces that I’m in for a special treat this time! All hail the brilliance that is Rockwell and his genius and I’m here for it.
Reading your review of Good Luck, Have Fun, I knew it would be right up my alley and I was looking forward to watching it when it came out on steaming, until you kept TALKING ABOUT IT, and REPEATING THE TITLE, and telling me I should go SEE IT IN THEATERS, and I decided to go do that and you know what, I just had a great evening with my friend on 6 dollar Tuesday (midwest pricing, woot!). Maybe not for everyone, but definitely the right movie for me. You're 3 for 3 (Companion, Eddington) when you've convinced me to go to the theater.
I’m just glad I can help!
So I went to see "Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die," and I gotta say, it's the kind of movie where the more I think about it, the more pissed off that I spent actual American dollars to see it, and even bought popcorn and a drink.
SPOILER WARNING:
It played like several underdeveloped episodes of Black Mirror with a more interesting framing device holding them together, mostly unsuccessfully. The teacher section did what it needed to do, and the princess section was actually poignant. Insofar as the movie worked, it worked because of that section. But the clone section was, and I can't believe a confessed libertine is saying this, actually kind of offensive? You can make satire about school shootings. You can even make it vicious. But if you're going to do that, you have to make it in service to a well-constructed point, and it needs to make sense in the context of the world. This movie mines it for lazy jokes on the way to turning it into a plot device that really just makes the actions of almost everyone make no sense. Those people in the diner should be way too psychotic to even pay attention to the antics of a ranting guy who looks like he's trying to make viral content. I didn't come away from it thinking "these characters take school shootings lightly and that's terrible." I came away thinking "these filmmakers take school shootings lightly and that's worse." Especially since they could have cut the clones entirely, just developed the ear piece as the technology, and it would have made more sense. It felt like the filmmakers were too afraid of sincerity to let awful things be painful, and as a result they went so cynical that it was hard not to say "if you don't care enough to deal with it seriously, why should I care enough to emotionally invest in it?" By the time you get to the rare "unearned unhappy ending," I could only think "of course the plan didn't work; it was never going to work, because the writers are edgelords."
Yeah that school shooting segment is bound to be the one that winds up pushing the most buttons. I’ll just disagree that they don’t take it seriously; I think they’re trying to highlight how numbed we are to the insanity of it all.
Full disclosure, I'm connected to the production team, but Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie's been rocking audiences so far - the Letterboxd numbers exceed our wildest expectations: https://letterboxd.com/film/nirvanna-the-band-the-show-the-movie/
The movie plays incredibly well to a crowd, it's worth seeing in theatres if you can.
Update: I liked it! https://www.thebulwark.com/p/how-a-canadian-cult-hit-can-help
I’m excited to check it out, though I probably won’t be able to see it until next week. BLACKBERRY was one of my favorites the year it came out.
You know what have made you an even better promoter of the movie? Linking to the homepage https://www.goodluckhavefundontdiemovie.com.
Huh. Hadn't even heard about GL,HF,DD. Verbinski's skill as a talented, disturbing director was actually cemented in my head by "A Cure for Wellness" rather than the Pirates movies (which are great but get worse the deeper in you go).
And while of course Rockwell is good, he seems to thrive in high-concept weird sci fi. Anybody else see "Moon"? If not, GO SEE "MOON".
Thanks, Sonny!
A Cure for Wellness is a movie I don’t really like but am convinced will become a cult classic because it’s too stylish and insane to just disappear.
I dug the first third, but then it got to weird for me
Right?!? It's like a diseased imagery artsy fever dream straight-to-VHS first-out-of-film-school feature from an indie horror fan, but slathered with so much sheer filmmaking talent I can't look away, much as I'd like to. Verbinski off the leash is a singular talent and, on reflection, we're probably lucky that's the case.
I will never look at eels the same way again.
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die - sold! YSWIDT?
Thanks, Sonny!
(Update: there is a 7 pm "early access" showing next Tuesday at my AMC north of Atlanta, and the entire middle section of the theatre is already sold out.)
Sam Rockwell’s monologue in White Lotus was a highlight of the last season. Excited to see the film! Hadn’t heard of it before this. Consider me aware now! Thanks, Sonny!
I loved MOON.
Went to see Iron Lung at a 1230 afternoon showing on Tuesday. I was surprised to see about 20 people in the theatre. Liked the movie a lot.. it’s a slow burn.
You sold me on seeing Good Luck, despite it only playing on one screen 25 miles from my house the evening before I leave for a vacation.
See Sonny, your work is meaningful.
THAT IS A LOT OF PRESSURE
Very glad I saw it, but that third act really drags. Hope ATMI reviews it.
You’re also hilarious. I laughed through the paragraph demonstrating how one must repeat the name drops over and over again to create awareness.
I haven’t yet watched the interview, but I’m going to do that now and then go find a place I can see the movie. :)
You’ve done as good a job of steering me towards movies I end up enjoying but was either unaware of or not sure were my taste since any film critic since Roger Ebert died.
It js Send Help, not Get Help
Sure is, thanks for the heads up. I loved it, did you dig it? https://www.thebulwark.com/p/send-help-review
If a movie features Sam Rockwell, it's probably entertaining. My wife dislikes him because of The Green Mile, which shows how good his performance was. I will always watch. He likes "numbered movies," Three Billboards, Seven Psychopaths.
I'll assume you've seen Moon. If not, check it out.
So good.
'The Ring' is still one of the few scariest horror movies I've ever seen (out of A LOT of horror movies seen), and with a PG-13 rating, at that. That's a huge credit to Verbinksi, even if most of his filmography is not for me.
I was FF through commercials as usual, when something stopped me dead; was that Sam Rockwell???? I rewound and watched the chaos of whatever that was and can’t wait, because I’ll go on any journey Sam wants me to. And your article reinforces that I’m in for a special treat this time! All hail the brilliance that is Rockwell and his genius and I’m here for it.