ChrisFromAstoria Posted 26 July 2006 12:18 PM Hide Post Well most Hollywood movies could fall into this category.
A good example is the recent THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, which I actually liked quite a bit. However, the film wimps out at the end. It is actually a very insightful film based on a best selling roman a clef. There is a great deal of verisimilitude in the characterizations.
Basically Ann Hathaway is the ingenue who goes to work for Meryl Streep, her gorgon of a boss. The film is set in the world of high fashion and Hathaway eventually gets caught up in it all, with the free designer clothes, the fabulous parties and the travel to Paris.
In other words she gets exposed this new world and starts to change and that causes problems with her boyfriend who wants the old, frumpy, Anne back. Instead of handling the ending realistically -- people do change and are no longer compatible -- the film wimps out and Anne quits Meryl and gets back with her b-friend and goes to work for a left-wing, muck-raking publication to show she has integrity.
Well, Anne may have had integrity to walk away from Meryl and all the glamour, but the film lost whatever integrity it had by having the unrealistic, but "happy," ending.
I don't find the ending unrealistic but refreshingly enlightening because if one chooses to be cynical about the 1980s and the corruption, its important to have HOPE, a word that is used a number of times in the movie. Too many young people seem to have lost their personal integrity and it's important, vital to have movies that don't shy away from the easy out of the pursuit of power, money to feel some emptiness. The sacrifices aren't worth it. The money offers a balanced perspective of both worlds and it's up to the individual to select what path they want to pursue. The reality is in the eye of the beholder.
Posts: 959 | Location: Utah, United States | Registered: 22 July 2005
Funkymonk Posted 17 December 2006 11:37 AM Hide Post Blair Witch Project had a strange ending, to say the least. WTF! I defy anyone to explain what that was about.
Don't diss me if someone has already mentioned this one because this is a popular thread and to be blunt i can't be bothered to read through all the posts.
What's nice about the ending as with Lost in Translation is that reality doesn't always come in nicely, clarified, and detailed, black and white endings. Mysteries sometime remain mysteries like Picnic at Hanging Rock. Why do movies, particularly, horror, mystery movies have to have simpleton endings. Has The Sixth Sense has created a mandatory requirement that the best movies must have that brilliant twist?
Posts: 959 | Location: Utah, United States | Registered: 22 July 2005
I don't think Sixth Sense caused me to expect great twists at the end of every movie, but it certainly set me up to expect it at the end of every M. Night movie, which is why "Unbreakable" to me has the worst ending of any movie ever. Unlike Sixth Sense, which I liked throughout only to have the ending take me from like to love, I thought Unbreakable was nearly unwatchable, but I stuck it out in hopes that the ending would make it all worth it. Instead, it made me want to take a shower to clean off its stench. Yeah it was a twist, but what a vile and rediculous one. What a pointless movie with an ending that just rubbed in the fact that you will never be able to retrieve those two hours.
My more recent least favorite ending was War of the Worlds. Pretty good movie. Moronic ending.
And from the same director... Saving Private Ryan... great movie, with silly cheeseball bookends that added nothing and actually detracted from what came between.
Posts: 5 | Location: Los Angeles | Registered: 23 December 2006
Funkymonk Posted 17 December 2006 11:37 AM Hide Post Blair Witch Project had a strange ending, to say the least. WTF! I defy anyone to explain what that was about.
Don't diss me if someone has already mentioned this one because this is a popular thread and to be blunt i can't be bothered to read through all the posts.
What's nice about the ending as with Lost in Translation is that reality doesn't always come in nicely, clarified, and detailed, black and white endings. Mysteries sometime remain mysteries like Picnic at Hanging Rock. Why do movies, particularly, horror, mystery movies have to have simpleton endings. Has The Sixth Sense has created a mandatory requirement that the best movies must have that brilliant twist?
You do have a point. Sort of. I'm all for originality, mystery or endings that leave somthing to the imagination but i maintain that there was nothing thought provoking or even remotely entertaining about the Blair Which ending. It stinks of the director trying to be clever just for the sake of it and i'd prefer a "simpleton" ending to that.
Posts: 64 | Location: England | Registered: 07 November 2006
Funkymonk Participant Posted 29 December 2006 01:48 PM Hide Post quote: Originally posted by tabuno:
quote: Funkymonk Posted 17 December 2006 11:37 AM Hide Post Blair Witch Project had a strange ending, to say the least. WTF! I defy anyone to explain what that was about.
Don't diss me if someone has already mentioned this one because this is a popular thread and to be blunt i can't be bothered to read through all the posts.
What's nice about the ending as with Lost in Translation is that reality doesn't always come in nicely, clarified, and detailed, black and white endings. Mysteries sometime remain mysteries like Picnic at Hanging Rock. Why do movies, particularly, horror, mystery movies have to have simpleton endings. Has The Sixth Sense has created a mandatory requirement that the best movies must have that brilliant twist?
You do have a point. Sort of. I'm all for originality, mystery or endings that leave somthing to the imagination but i maintain that there was nothing thought provoking or even remotely entertaining about the Blair Which ending. It stinks of the director trying to be clever just for the sake of it and i'd prefer a "simpleton" ending to that.
In my assessment, the ending of The Blair Witch Project was not supposed to be entertaining, but mysterious and creepy. Personally, I found the ending appropriately disturbing, like a good book late at night, creepy. It is what one doesn't know for sure or have to speculate or use one's own imagination that creates the real fear and scary intensity of this movie. Usually, it is the fear of the unknown itself that is terrifying, not the known that a typical horror movie ending would have - the usual last terrifying, dumb, stupid scare at the end. Consistent with the entire flavor, emotive atmosphere of this movie, the ending captures that mysterious sense of foreboding - the audience knows something terrible happened and now the unknown remains waiting for the next victim. It's practically impossible to defend or prepare for something that is unresolved and unknown as the ending to this movie. What could be more terrifying?
Posts: 959 | Location: Utah, United States | Registered: 22 July 2005
Originally posted by Biggles: Without mentioning movies which are just poor, period (Signs being one example), I'd say that I found Return of the King's multiple "non-endings", so to speak, quite annoying.
Yeah, I actually had to go to the bathroom so, I left right at the fade to the map thinking that was it, I was shocked when I got out to the parking lot & noone had left the theater yet! I was hoping that they didn't show the destruction of the Shire, since they didn't have the death of Saruman & Wormtongue in the theatrical version. I would've hated to miss that on the big screen! As for WORST endings? The theatrical release of "The Butterfly Effect" was dumb. He threatens her & her family to stay away or he'll kill them? Then at the end he passes her on the street & decides to talk to her? I love time travel movies & this one was great until that. At least they gave a better ending on the Director's Cut. Oh, & "The Forgotten" had the worst ending EVER! It's like Julianne Moore's character FORGOT she had a husband!
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"I can't live the buttoned down life like all of you! I want it all: the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles! Sure, I might offend a few of the blue-noses with my cocky stride and musky odor - oh, I'll never be the darling of the so-called 'City Fathers' who cluck their tongues, stroke their beards, and talk about what's to be done with this Monkey_Boy?!"
Posts: 2560 | Location: Springfield, Oh! Hi ya, Maude! | Registered: 01 January 2007
On the otherhand "Dodgeball" - a movie that I liked - did the samething but acknowledged that fact. Right at the end when the team wins and they get all the money the treasure box has a little brass plate on the inside of the lid saying "deus ex machina". That I find witty and funny.
Actually in the uncut version or the planned version of dodgeball, it's totally different and just as funny. At the end of the movie between Vince and Ben, and when Vince is looking away and gets nailed, that's when the movie ends. The Cobras win and Ben celebrates and then the average Joe's just walk away. Roll Credits. That would've been the best ending ever, I thought it was funny but aparently during the screening people didn't like it.
To tell you the truth, I really don't think the SAD ENDING was ever going to play. Why would I think this? Do you remember when Rip Torn's character had Vince wear the blindfold? Where would the pay-off for that scene be?
"I can't live the buttoned down life like all of you! I want it all: the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles! Sure, I might offend a few of the blue-noses with my cocky stride and musky odor - oh, I'll never be the darling of the so-called 'City Fathers' who cluck their tongues, stroke their beards, and talk about what's to be done with this Monkey_Boy?!"
Posts: 2560 | Location: Springfield, Oh! Hi ya, Maude! | Registered: 01 January 2007
Originally posted by sethblink: My more recent least favorite ending was War of the Worlds. Pretty good movie. Moronic ending.
I'm actually confused why everyone seems surprised by the ending. That is how the story ALWAYS ended. They were killed by germs. Wiped out by the common cold! It's like when I was talking to a friend about "King Kong"(2005) & mentioned he died at the end & an eaves-dropping girl was shocked that I spoiled the ending for her! I asked her what she expected to happen, he climbs back down the Empire State Building & swims back home? I mean come on! These movies were REMAKES! Nothing new but, the effects!
"I can't live the buttoned down life like all of you! I want it all: the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles! Sure, I might offend a few of the blue-noses with my cocky stride and musky odor - oh, I'll never be the darling of the so-called 'City Fathers' who cluck their tongues, stroke their beards, and talk about what's to be done with this Monkey_Boy?!"
Posts: 2560 | Location: Springfield, Oh! Hi ya, Maude! | Registered: 01 January 2007
It's like when I was talking to a friend about "King Kong"(2005) & mentioned he died at the end & an eaves-dropping girl was shocked that I spoiled the ending for her! I asked her what she expected to happen, he climbs back down the Empire State Building & swims back home?
Ha ha, that's hillarious. How could you not know what happens at the end of King Kong? Even if you've never seen it, it's not like there's really any other possible ending once a giant gorilla is set loose on NYC.
Posts: 1376 | Location: Valparaiso, IN | Registered: 01 July 2006
Such a wonderful film except for the ending. The ending not only defies reason, one wonders if the director did not deliberately take a knife to the story out of sheer madness.
The ending cannot even serve as an object lesson for young writers and directors on how not to end a story, so wild and ridiculous is the mess made by Tom Tykwer.
Originally posted by sethblink: My more recent least favorite ending was War of the Worlds. Pretty good movie. Moronic ending.
I'm actually confused why everyone seems surprised by the ending. That is how the story ALWAYS ended. They were killed by germs. Wiped out by the common cold!
I don't have a problem with the end of WOTW. The way the story resolves anyway. However, in Spielberg's version, why oh why oh why have that ridiculous scene with the family all coming to the door in the only street on Earth untouched by the invasion, just so we can be reassured that his son hadn't really died. Total cop out, total schmaltz. Almost spoiled the film for me.
"I know that human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully"
Posts: 828 | Location: Glasgow | Registered: 21 December 2006
I think people, in general, are divided by the ending. If they belive Spielberg is Mr. Sentimental and/or Tom Cruise is insane, it sucks. If you don't care about personalities acting strangely, some directors being more successful financially than others, and actually know the source material, you might think better of it. There are no hard-and-fast rules. I've taken heat for being a Spielberg sycophant, and I guess I have no way of denying it, but I still claim, or pretend, at least, that I'm impartial.
I thought the movie was very intense and an extremely-suspenseful "family horror" flick. Whether Spielberg should have spent 10 more minutes explaining why he filmed a similar ending to the novel or just edited the ending out, I'm not gonna get into again. I, for one, think that after a billion people are killed and one specific one survives, that it's OK for people to actually breathe a sigh of relief. That's my rationale, plain-and-simple (and grovelling, if you disagree. )
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Posts: 12895 | Location: Behind the Orange Curtain | Registered: 14 May 2004
Originally posted by Carlito's Way: What movie could have a worse ending than The Descent?
When you ask yourself "Why did I just watch this movie?", it must've been pretty bad.
Are you referring to the American release or the U.K.? The American version was actually a shorter version of the U.K. ending because "Americans want a happy ending". The U.K. had a much darker ending. I actually liked it. If you haven't seen it, check it out. It's the 'Original Unrated Cut" on sale or for rent, now!
"I can't live the buttoned down life like all of you! I want it all: the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles! Sure, I might offend a few of the blue-noses with my cocky stride and musky odor - oh, I'll never be the darling of the so-called 'City Fathers' who cluck their tongues, stroke their beards, and talk about what's to be done with this Monkey_Boy?!"
Posts: 2560 | Location: Springfield, Oh! Hi ya, Maude! | Registered: 01 January 2007
Originally posted by d.zeleniouk: How Martin Scorsese chose to end The Departed was silly. The mood that the entire movie created--disregarding the last third--had breadth, but the climatic ending, distorted that mood. A nice Schoonmaker/Scorsese cut would be accepted on the DVD, because Scorsese is not foolish to lead the public into believing that the "rat" ending was what he truly wanted. Otherwise it appears that the rat of the movie was not any of the lead/supporting characters, but Scorsese himself.
The ending was un-necessary and it appeared that Scorsese wanted to please the audience(s) and studios, not end the film.
I don't understand what you're talking about. The ending makes perfect sense. The movie is basically about trust and distrust, the loss of the characters' identity.
SPOILER COMING UP: So I found it perfectly logical for the Matt damon Character to have trusted he got away with it, not realizing (too late) he left a loose end and had to paid for it
Posts: 5 | Location: Guatemala | Registered: 16 February 2007
Every Michael Moore film I've seen starts out great, develops a convincing argument and then nose-dives by showing his bias at the end. He didn't need to confront Charlton Heston at the end of 'Bowling for Columbine', or hug the devastated victims. He already proved the point. When he gets emotionally involved with the subject matter, it veers out of the realms of documentary and becomes the Michael Moore ego machine. A documentary should show the facts and leave us to draw our own conclusions, not patronise the audience.
Other bad endings -
Wayne's World 2 - What was all that about? There wasn't much of a great film to ruin anyway.
Star Wars - 'Revenge of the Sith'. When Darth goes 'NOOOOOO!!!!' I lost it. Pure comedy.
Charlton Heston is a gun-toting redneck. There's a fact.
Oh, could I feel as I have felt, or be what I have been, Or weep as I could once have wept, o'er many a vanished scene; As springs in deserts found seem sweet, all brackish though they be, So, midst the withered waste of life, those tears would flow to me.
Posts: 2233 | Location: The ever silent spaces of the East | Registered: 12 February 2007
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