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Napoleon Dynamite

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Spano

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As the saying goes, it is true: The meek shall inherit the Earth. The rest of us will go to the stars.

Is that how the Christian saying goes, or is that something you say. If it is something you say, congrats on conning a great saying. Do you mind if I use it?

If it's something the church says, that is very interesting and kinda cool.

Thanks either way,

Zak

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Is that how the Christian saying goes, or is that something you say. If it is something you say, congrats on conning a great saying. Do you mind if I use it?

"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." -- Matthew 5:5

The rest of it is his invention, and a very good saying if I do say so myself.

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I just saw this film tonight -- and I'm honestly not certain what to say about it. It made me chuckle occasionally. It made me cringe sometimes -- 'cause I identified with the peculiar characters. How sad is that?

But I think the characters were exceptionally well rendered -- their expressions, their conversations, their mannerisms -- all seemed perfectly in synch with people I knew. They felt real to me, living their peculiar little lives. And if they'd gotten together for a game of D&D, I swear I would've been right there with 'em, arguing over what I needed to hit an orc with my +2 cudgel of concussion.

I admit, it's rare to see characters so honestly depicted -- but it felt somehow like an anti-film, full of neither sound nor fury and yet trying to signify something. What, exactly, I can't say. Even Napolean seemed preoccupied with escaping the mind-numbing banality of his existence -- e.g., all those horrible drawings of fantasy creatures.

The show was critically acclaimed -- maybe because quirky, understated stories provide critics with blank screens upon which to project all their enlightened views. And me the average movie-goer is left at the end with a blank look on my face -- a perfect match for the protagonist's -- wondering why? Why invest so much time? Why spend $200K to say so very little?

Really, I suppose it boils down to what you expect from movies. Me... if I spend eight bucks to sit in a state-of-the-art theater with booming surround sound, I want SOUND. If it's a thirty-foot screen, I want characters who are, literally and figuratively, larger than life and full of FURY. And, if I sacrifice two hours to sit in the darkness and watch shadow puppets, I want it to signify SOMETHING.

And I wonder what Napolean Dynamite would say if he was forced to sit through his own movie. 'Gya! That was the dumbest video ever!"

Okay, 'Nuff babble :nuke:

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This was one of the dumbest movies I have ever seen. That being said, it was great! I admit that while I was watching it, I was constantly waiting for it to be funny, but it never really happened (except for when Napoleon threw the orange at the van and his uncle screamed - hilarious!! ;) )

It's one of those movies that royally sucks when I watch it but gets so much better when I talk about it with my friends. We pick out minute details and laugh the whole time. Viewed as a whole, it bites. Taken in tiny pieces, it's gold.

I think that some of you need to lighten up a bit. NEVER go to watch a comedy expecting a life-changing, deep experience. Comedies are supposed to be dumb and pointless. If they aren't, they should be filed under Comedy-drama. Pure comedies exist solely to amuse us. Expecting something like Napoleon Dynamite to be the next romantic masterpiece is like expecting George Bush to be the greatest president ever.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Okay, MentzerLivesOn, I think I can grant the following...

1. It's unreasonable ever to go to a SLAPSTICK comedy expecting it to say something insightful... about culture, the human condition, etc...

a. I'm arguing that Nape D. is a slapstick comedy because it principally endeavors to be funny through physical comedy and sight gags (and the whole time machine bit is painfully hilarious).

b. I have, honestly, seen and enjoyed dumber slapstick comedies -- Strange Brew still makes me smirk just by remembering scenes -- but I didn't find Napolean Dynamite anywhere near as funny. Whatever. To each his own.

2. But I think it's worth noting that slapstick comedies can manage to say something astute. Consider Brazil. It's packed full of absurdity and nonsense --and yet manages to offer a scathing condemnation of a police state, which, oddly enough, has bearing on our current political situation.

But, again, I agree: we shouldn't expect slapstick comedies to have high aspirations -- it's absurd to hold something deliberately absurd to a high standard.

I simply maintain that a sharp, witty, carefully-written slapstick comedy can manage to make profound comments. And I am, personally, disappointed that more of them don't try.

Okey doke -- hope you don't think I'm railing against you personally. Just trying to engage in some cerebral sparring.

Happy Movie-going :lol:

Edited by Mortimer
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I'm glad this is a topic. I too had heard this was the funniest movie of all time from lots of people. The wife and I rented it and about halfway through we looked at eachother stonefaced and I asked her if she thought it was funny. We both agreed. Not very funny. I got a few chuckles in after that but I still felt I had wasted 2 hours of my life after watching it. It was ok, but not something I'm going to ever watch again or recommend to someone. If I had seen it in the theater I would have been really pissed! :)

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A movie very similar to this, and almost just as depressing, is the European film Goodbye, Lenin

That film taught me to never judge a movie by it's name, or even the description on the back of the DVD case. I was expecting a well-made, pro-capitalist movie. It turned out to be so horrible that I couldn't sit through the whole thing.

And yes- Napoleon Dynamite was a bad, unfunny movie. Even though I think that matters of linguistics make for the best comedies, this movie came up really short.

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I just watched this movie tonight and thought it was funny because the characters were off the wall and did such crazy things for no particular reason. And I did think it had sort of a good message in a weird sort of way. Basically it was be yourself even if your an idiot and relatively good things can still happen in your life. Napolean was definitely an individualist and the people on this thread don't cut him any slack for not having any purpose yet to his life. That's what made the movie so funny and there's not many 15 or 16 year old who do follow any purpose anyway. At least none that I ever met.

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That's what made the movie so funny and there's not many 15 or 16 year old who do follow any purpose anyway. At least none that I ever met.

Do you think it's the purpose of movies to reflect existence as it exists? To merely document reality?

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Do you think it's the purpose of movies to reflect existence as it exists? To merely document reality?

No, but I think the point of this film was to document some quirky people for the point of humor. And it worked for me and I usually don't like comedies.

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Do you think it's the purpose of movies to reflect existence as it exists? To merely document reality?

The purpose of a comedy is to ridicule the ridiculous. They are funny because they present man has he ought not be.

Napoleon Dynamite is not a depressing movie because it is a comedy. I'm not even sure if a comedy could be depressing. But if the exact same characters were presented from a serious point of view, it would be horrible.

If you want to see a depressing movie, go watch Mystic River.

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The purpose of a comedy is to ridicule the ridiculous.  They are funny because they present man has he ought not be. 

One of Rational_One's premises for his support of the movie was that it reflects the way that 15 and 16 year-olds really are. Using this as a premise for the support of an artwork is Naturalism, plain and simple.

Saying "This is the way people really are" and saying "This is the way people ought not to be" are different things.

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It was a great movie! :) all these kids @ my school go around and are like yessssssssssssss and god i do what i want u flippin idoit that movie was soooo funny like when he drew that pic 4 trischa and is like i spent 3 hours on the shading of your upper lip. and like the 10 minute dance scene was great now everyone is all like "your mom go to college" i think ppl who dont like it are just trying to look past the humor for its meaning well reality check people there is none! i hope you loved my entry even though u probably didnt bye now

love

a person

who loves you all

even though i dont know you

but ur still cool

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I thought it was one of the most depressing movies I've ever seen; in fact so much so that I had to get up and leave around the middle. I mean it's not "Fahrenheit 9/11" depressing, where you are faced with some arguments you don't like, and that are difficult to answer. Napoleon Dynamite doesn't even make any arguments, it just shows completely horrible characters, makes them "real" to me, and seems to ask in incredulity how anything else is possible.

A movie very similar to this, and almost just as depressing, is the European film Goodbye, Lenin.

i see what you mean how its depressing how its so bleak in their life i know it bothered me too but after i got around it.. the movie was really funny

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It was a great movie! :)  all these kids @ my school go around and are like yessssssssssssss and god i do what i want u flippin idoit that movie was soooo funny like when he drew that pic 4 trischa and is like i spent 3 hours on the shading of your upper lip. and like the 10 minute dance scene was great now everyone is all like "your mom go to college" i think ppl who dont like it are just trying to look past the humor for its meaning well reality check people there is none! i hope you loved my entry even though u probably didnt bye now

love

a person

who loves you all

even though i dont know you

but ur still cool

Was this intended to be a "text message" on a cell phone? Using a keyboard, it is very easy to use periods, capital letters, and commas.

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Queenbee, I would like to take this time to direct you to a very educational bit of media... Posting and You. And I can understand not liking this movie, even though you seem to have found it incomprehensible. Looking for a plotline is something you do in a piece of fictional media...Oh, the horror of there actually being a reason to make something.

Edited by Rosepetal
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That's what made the movie so funny and there's not many 15 or 16 year old who do follow any purpose anyway. At least none that I ever met.

:o That's really quite sad.

:( I hope you mean met as in physically, because Tommy Edison, non-contradictor, and I are purpose driven and at least attempt to be rational. Please do not make such sweeping generizations. :)

Zak

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:o  That's really quite sad.

:o  I hope you mean met as in physically, because Tommy Edison, non-contradictor, and I are purpose driven and at least attempt to be rational. Please do not make such sweeping generizations.  :)

Zak

You guys are exceptions :( How many people do you go to school with share your values, or could even honestly tell you what their values are? I know I didn't have a purpose when I was a teenager.

You are all fortunate to discover Objectivism at such a young age, I didn't know about Ayn Rand until I was almost 24. I guess I shouldn't say fortunate though, I could have discovered Objectivism when I was younger, I just wasn't looking :(

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