![Glad I saw it in theaters [ToothyBj]](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/379450b7-73bc-4bda-bb42-55c65ab3ebf1.png){kind=link}
ToothyBj | Bluesky
Transcript
3 Panel Comic
Panel 1: James sits clutching a mug nervously as he listens to a conversation he’s afraid of. He stares at something off screen. Near by, a woman and smartly dressed man talk movies over their drinks. The woman nods along.
Man: I’d say probably the best filmmaking I’ve ever seen, has been ‘The Sacrifice’ by Tarkovsky
Woman: Mmhmm
Panel 2: James is pulled from whatever holds his attention as he’s dragged into the conversation.
Man: What about you James? What would you say is the best film you have ever seen?
James: Huh?
Panel 3: James turns back towards the window he’s been watching as he feeds the man an expected answer.
James: Ah! Uhm y’know… ‘Mulholland Drive’, maybe ‘Vertigo’
Outside the window, the movie ‘Step Brothers’ bangs on the glass demanding to be acknowledged. knock knock knock
I always give 2 movies.
Fifth Element as my personal favorite that everyone should see and holds up.
West by Northwest as my “Film” of choice.
That way I can still hold a conversation no matter what anyone wants to go on about. Plus it lets me push for someone to broaden their horizons no matter where they fall on the spectrum of movie nerd.
If they don’t respect The Fifth Element as the iconic masterpiece that it is, I don’t want to hold a conversation with them anyway.
The Fifth Element is a movie that in theory I should hate, but I actually love it. The title refers to love and the romance plot doesn’t work for me at all. They do an overly clever thing where the villain and the hero never meet (and kinda rub it in your face about it) and normally I hate it when movies are overly clever in that way. And Chris Tucker is annoying as hell.
But somehow that doesn’t matter because it’s so over the top about everything. The action, the costumes, the dialog, the visuals are all so over the top the stuff that normally would make me not like a movie doesn’t really matter.
The overall meaning works even if the execution on the romance plotline falls flat for me. Gary Oldman and Bruce Willis not having any kind of confrontation is fine, since it’s kinda how things work with billionaires. You oppose them without ever meeting them. Corbin Dallas is a man of action and Zorg is a man that’s all about money, so they’re from different worlds so it makes sense they never actually meet. And everything being weird as hell works because it’s the future, things should be weird and unfamiliar. Chris Tucker is somehow the same kind of annoying as social media influencers are today, so even that works.
So the Fifth Element is a movie that is terrible on paper, but somehow everything fits together so well that it’s actually great.
Here a weaponized film suggestion for “i need deep meaning” snobs. Dancer in the dark. It sucks the joy dry out of you and is a masterpiece.