Whiplash and neglect of plausibility in modern films (epic rant)

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by The Goon

Is one allowed to refer to one's own rant as "epic"?

I assumed epic simply denoted length, not quality. Consider me educated on the currant usage of the word.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Anyway, I kind of enjoyed the OP. But picking Whiplash as the movie that breaks your back on plausibility is quite the choice.

Haven't seen Whiplash, but I can recognize the feeling.

IMO we should be talking about setting up expectations and then failing them (or not). Clearly Whiplash set up wrong expectations for at least the OP.

Nobody expects anything in Avengers 2 to be plausible other than the basic character motivations. In fact the audience expects that implausible things will happen and will be disappointed if it doesn't.

Setting up the right expectations is for example a reason to start a movie with a fight scene. It sets up the expectation that "The fights are the thing that I'm supposed to be paying attention to. Turn off brain, chew popcorn, be entertained. Got it." Audience is told what's the right mode for this film.

For me probably the worst case of failing to properly set up expectations is Sunshine.

The movie starts as a story about people facing incredible pressure. Literally all of mankind could be doomed if someone makes a simple error. The basic functions of the ship is presented in a way that makes it clear that someone has actually given thought to what the ship would be like. The crew actually resemble people you would send on a journey to save all mankind. There's extra flavoring over everything, but for the first part of the movie even the plot revolves around what is the sensible thing to do. The extremity of the situation also only really hits you when you think about it. For the first part of the film, thinking about the film is how you're entertained the most. (In this mode the first part was actually very edge-of-the-seat stuff for me at least.)

Then in the second part of the film you're expected to completely switch off the logical part of your brain as the movie turns into action horror. I can't change into that mode halfway through the film.

So the second part of the movie, the one with with "action and stuff" ends up being terrible, because the audience has their thinking caps on and are constantly going "oh come on this is so stupid". Which of course it is, because action horror is almost by definition a pretty stupid genre.

[Coach]

^^^ I love Sunshine and I approve of this post.

So much potential in that first half, and so many ways they could have introduced the same problem(s) without the use of horror part. Still, one of the better sci-fi movies in the past few years.

[Strange Brew]

Yeah, plausibility can get destroyed in any movie in different ways. I am sure it is very unique to the viewer.

One of my personal memories is Charlize Theron running away from the giant rolling Cheeerio in a straight line during Prometheus.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

One of my personal memories is Charlize Theron running away from the giant rolling Cheeerio in a straight line during Prometheus.

That whole movie is a great example of neglecting plausibility. It was almost like every decision they made when making the movie they went with the illogical one.

[Northendzone]

I always found that scene from the second Indiana Jones ridiculous....who build a track in a mine shaft that is like a roller coaster?

And how in horror movies, the scantily dressed young coed always gets it?

[Dion]

But that's a film about war, and Whiplash is about art. The audience spends the whole film wincing at Fletcher's tactics. Despite Fletcher’s claims that his abuse is in the name of making Andrew a great jazz artist like Charlie Parker, his hypocrisy is apparent. In the final concert scene, Fletcher is not trying to get Andrew to rise to his challenge—he just wants to humiliate him. When Andrew shakes off the nightmare of being given the wrong music and playing out of sync with the band, it surprises Fletcher as much as anyone.

But that bravura ending—a hyper-masculine celebration of punishing dedication and success in a great battle of wills—is impossible to shake. As much as we've regarded Fletcher with horror throughout the movie, Andrew's ultimate achievement is that he finally impresses him, without caveat. Andrew is tragically wasting his effort on this sociopathic void of a man, but you can't help but be stirred by his superhuman effort all the same. Whiplash treads that uncomfortable line as tightly as possible and leaves the audience feeling a little queasy for admiring Andrew's victory, no matter how Pyrrhic it might be.

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertain...iplash/381636/

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

I always found that scene from the second Indiana Jones ridiculous....who build a track in a mine shaft that is like a roller coaster?

totally, I was 100% engaged with Temple of Doom through the chilled monkey brain/snake surprise banquet, the giant bug cave leading into the extremely slow spike trap, non-fatal extraction of beating hearts, and voodoo mind control. but that mine cart chase, you could almost say that's when the movie just flew off the rails.

[Strange Brew]

Or the time the Fonz jumped the shark. A category of its own.