Spoilers!!!

[Mike T Guest Find all posts View Profile Close Mike T]

Obviously discussion of a specific movie would have to involve talk of certain plot points.

You would think that, wouldn't you? But some people seem to think saying anything about a film is a "spoiler". Remember my Lady Hermit review on HK Rewind? In a comment that never saw the light of day, by an anonymous reader who hadn't seen the film, I got railed for NOT putting a spoiler tag at the head of my review for giving away that Cheng Pei Pei's character is in fact the "Lady Hermit" of the title! I mean, c'mon, she's on the DVD cover and featured on the original poster as that very character!

[Toyboy like a hole in the head Find all posts View Profile Close Toyboy]

I guess it depends how specific we're getting with the term 'spoilers' - it's one thing to divulge a particular set piece from a movie (eg - Dude, you've gotta see Cannibal Holocaust because a chick gets impaled from her ass to her mouth and it's rad) and another thing to ruin the ending (Man, the ending is awesome, because you get to learn who the real cannibals are!).

Maybe what I'm talking about should be termed "subtle spoilers". I think what most people refer to as "spoilers" are, as you said, revelations of plot twists and endings, but that really just applies to films in which the enjoyment is predicated on not seeing those things coming. THE SIXTH SENSE is a prime example of that, and as someone who learned the twist prior to trying to watch the film I'd have to say that movie is pretty useless when you know what the big reveal is. In fact it's really fucking dumb in spots.

Or THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY - I saw that opening weekend without having read a thing about it and every one of the big gags just killed. I got home that night and there was a message on my answering machine from my mom telling me I had to go see the movie before anyone ruined it for me. It sucked that after the huge success the film had in its first few weeks the studio put out TV spots that showed most of the surprise moments from the film, like the cum on Ben Stiller's ear. The idea may have been to get people who'd already seen it back in the theater - "Remember how funny this part was?" - but anyone who hadn't seen it now had the impact of those parts lessened, or "spoiled".

Most of the profound and effective movie viewing experiences I've had came from going into it blind - PEEPING TOM, THE TENANT, IRREVERSIBLE, A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE, FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! - those were all films I saw with little to no knowledge of what they were. There was the time I was at a friend's house and he asked if I'd seen TURKISH STAR WARS. I didn't know there was such a thing and what I saw floored me. If I had seen stills, seen clips, or read a small review that detailed some of the crazier moments I would have gone into it with a map, and that's a journey best taken on your own.

So a subtle spoiler, for me, is one that sets you up with a guide on what to look for or suggests how to feel and react. I recall reading that VALHALLA RISING was slow and dull so I avoided it, feeling that it might be a chore to sit through. Having pretty much forgot about reading those comments years ago I finally watched it last week and was completely sucked in by the pacing, ambient music and limited dialogue. It was like seeing AGUIRRE: THE WRATH OF GOD, which I'm sure now others have compared it to, but I just happened to read the comments that implied it was boring. I had to wait until those subtle spoilers had exited my brain before I could take the film on its own merits and not worry what others thought of it.

[Mike T Guest Find all posts View Profile Close Mike T]

I recall reading that VALHALLA RISING was slow and dull so I avoided it, feeling that it might be a chore to sit through. Having pretty much forgot about reading those comments years ago I finally watched it last week and was completely sucked in by the pacing, ambient music and limited dialogue. It was like seeing AGUIRRE: THE WRATH OF GOD...

Thank you kindly for that recommendation! I have been tossing up (UP, Mr. Casey, UP - not "off") over this one for ages. Now that I read that I will be sure to investigate it sooner rather than later, once I can squeeze it into the budget... :)

You guys are doing well for my wallet today! Ian sold me on Clash of the Titans, and Matt with Valhalla Rising. Nice work! :up:

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

It's a fine line to walk - there's so much stuff to watch and so much of it is so easy to get that you don't want to waste time with something you know you're not going to like, so discussion of plot points and key scenes can definitely help there. But as Matt says, going in blind to something like Irreversible is absoultely the best way to see a movie like that.

[Toyboy like a hole in the head Find all posts View Profile Close Toyboy]

...going in blind to something like Irreversible is absoultely the best way to see a movie like that.

Adding to that, I realize that it's virtually impossible to not know something of importance about a film before seeing it. I didn't show up at the theater and pick IRREVERSIBLE at random and buy a ticket; the person I went with asked if I had heard of the movie and when I said that I had not his response was something along the lines of "It's told in reverse and it's supposed to be really violent and intense", so I knew that much. However, I didn't know who starred in it, what it was about, where it took place, what the runtime was, what the soundtrack would be like, etc...

I've mentioned this elsewhere but my dad used to go through the newspaper and make a calendar highlighting movies showing on TV and at the drive-in that sounded like stuff he'd like. If it had bikers, monsters, or hot rods in the title and/or ad art he'd give it a shot. He bought Famous Monsters every now and then but he wasn't a movie buff who read books on the subject and made lists like I do now, but he liked freaky fun shit and would go out of his way to see that kind of movie whenever he could. I would imagine he sat through a lot of stinkers at the drive-in and in our living room but I would also guess that a huge chunk of enjoyment came from parking and watching something without any idea of what he was about to see, and maybe finding something worthwhile in a shitty movie. Now, I spend hours clicking through pages on Netflix trying to figure out which of the thousands of titles available I should stream, and if something doesn't grab me within the first 10 minutes I move on, not really giving the films a chance. If I see something I'm not familiar with I Google it and can read multiple reviews from professionals and amateurs alike, or pull up clips and trailers on Youtube. I can grab any number of magazines and film books and prep myself for pretty much any viewing experience, and while there is a value to that I almost wish I didn't have that luxury at times.

[Barry M Super Fiend Find all posts View Profile Close Barry M]

I don't even much like spoiler-free reviews in advance: I dig that moment of radar contact, but other people's opinions bug me until I've seen something for myself, and I'm perverse enough to avoid a movie where the recommendation's been in my face. A quick google for orientation in the landscape of the noosphere, and that's about it for my interest in previews.

I've developed a sort of sidelong glance technique, where I register something as interesting, but avoid looking at it straight on, as that might reveal too much. Never make eye contact. It's probably rooted in adolescent mating. Not that I ever mated as an adolescent, of course. SPOILER!!!