quote:Jake Gyllenhaal plays a delusional high-school student visited by a demonic rabbit with eerie visions of the past and deadly predictions for the future.
posted
I would say "demonic-looking" rabbit, as the so-called "rabbit" isn't actually demonic in nature.
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***Spoilers for people who still haven't seen Donnie Darko*** *
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It's not a rabbit at all. It's a crazy dude who had some fixation with drawing creepy things, like demonic-looking rabbits. So he dresses up as a rabbit on halloween, and kills Donnie's girlfriend with his car. Donnie then kills rabbit-fixation dude in a fit of rage. Rabbit-dude travels back in time, from some nether region of death, and gives the Donnie of the past a chance to set things right in the world. The crazy dude comes back dressed up like that creepy rabbit.
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I thought this was a "Butterflies are Free" thread. Little Donnie Dark is the alter ego/children's book character of Goldie Hawn's blind boyfriend in the play/movie.
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Isn't it a neat little movie? I think the R was mostly for language. The sexual content was light compared to the average WB show, so it must have been the language.
*takes credit for introducing it to Hobbes*
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I'm trying to decide whether or not to put on the netflix list. On the pro side: recomended by many trustworthy sources. On the con side: rated R (not a death blow but a serious consideration), and...a demonic rabbit?
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*gives Celia credit* Which reminds me, I also got season one of Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
Kat, sexual content isn't very strong, at least in imagery, though there is.. most specific refrence to non-healthy sexual behavior shall we say. Not really a lot of violence, mostly I think it got the 'R' for language and for just plain being a dark story (as opposed to say, Disney movies).
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I think Hobbes should make an ISO (or many?) of that Aqua Teen Hunger Force season one, then send it to me. Cuz that would be nice of him. >_>
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Kat, you should definately watch it. It's great. And after you watch it you should go to www.donniedarko.comPosts: 739 | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
No, I was thinking more along the lines of what was found behind the wall in a certain person's house... though I suppose the Smurf conversation would count...
This movie is about the end of the world (collapse of the Tangent Universe), forshadowing of that end, sacrifice of a once selfish boy to save those he loves, and divine intervention. [edit for spelling]
[ June 03, 2004, 12:24 PM: Message edited by: Telperion the Silver ]
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. . . . Fitz, I don't think Frank goes back to let Donnie sets things right. I think he's back there to make sure Donnie doesn't mess things up.
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kat, I suggest you rent the thing. The rabbit is creepy, but turns out to be a fairly beneficent character. What actually happens in the story is debatable.
S P O I L E R
Fitz described it as giving Donnie a chance to make things right, but OSC described the interlude between the falling jet engines as giving Donnie a chance to experience positive things (like falling in love) and make a moral choices.
It's kind of an Ink-Blot movie, as most people see something different in it.
Edit: It was FITZ not HOBBES (the difference in spelling has been noted)
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Hey! When did I "see it" as anything? I'm not so foolish as to try and explain the movie at a place where so many smart people have seen it. I can't even succsefully explain it to me.
quote: Fitz, I don't think Frank goes back to let Donnie sets things right. I think he's back there to make sure Donnie doesn't mess things up.
You could be right. I was thinking more along the lines of making things "right" in a universal sense, not with Donnie himself. I would get deeper into the discussion, but it's been awhile since I've seen it, and I wouldn't want to say something stupid.
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But maybe the rabbit really IS demonic... he gets Donnie to vandalise the school (and do that superhuman bit of smashing the statue with the axe)... what's the good of that, when it comes to saving the world?
Then later there's the arson bit... it exposes the psychobabble guy as a child pornographer, but doesn't have much to do with saving the world... hmm... OK, but it does get his mom on the plane, since she has to go out to LA as a chaperone... but his sister would've been on the plane anyway...
Maybe the vandalism and arson is Frank's way of saying, OK, you're gonna die in order to save the world, but you'll get to enjoy some of your darker urges first (as well as some of your better urges, like love).
(The bit about Donnie needing to die to save the world comes from the director's commentary on the DVD. I haven't listened to the whole commentary, but what I did listen to was way interesting... If you haven't already, listen to the commentary track -- the director's take on what's really going on is both enlightening and confusing...)
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posted
Hey, that was weird, I got the muzak version of "It's not easy being green" and a forum maintenance announcement when I tried posting the last message... then tried again a minute later and I was able to post OK... anyone else notice that blip??
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posted
They are re-releasing this movie in theaters with like 22 minutes of extra footage or something this summer. then a special DVD will be released.
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quote: he gets Donnie to vandalise the school (and do that superhuman bit of smashing the statue with the axe)... what's the good of that, when it comes to saving the world?
If I remember correctly, the flooding causes school to be cancelled that day. As Donnie is walking home, he runs into the two pricks from school, harassing Gretchen. This event allows Gretchen and Donnie to make a connection.
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I think the movie works best with, as noted above, the Ink Blot take on things. Don't listen to the commentary unless you want to know what REALLY happened. I liked the movie better with having my own ideas of what Donnie was doing, what Frank was, etc. Great flick, especially for a first-time director and the barely known Jake Gyllenhal. That family has some acting chops!
I just saw the movie, and what I don't understand is why Frank's face healed at the end. I know with Donnie dying they never would meet, but where did he get that scar from?
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posted
Oh yeah..that actually makes sense now...I haven't seen too much info on whats different in the directors cut and everything, anyone know if its only gonna be in select theaters?
Posts: 68 | Registered: Jan 2004
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Wow some of you got it completley wrong...no offense
Ok first of all Donnie Darko is my favorite movie...ever
Frank (the "weird guy who draws strange things) Is Frank the bunny, he was drawing the bunny so that he could make a costume of it so that Donnie will recognize him and kill him so that he can become one of the "Manipulated Dead" and help Donnie return the object (the turbine) to the primary universe (which does eventually kill him in order to save everything from destruction). And Frank dosen't make Donnie do strange things to 'satisfy his dark urges' he does it so that Donnie will set everything in order, for example if Frank hadn't had Donnie set fire to Jim Cunninham's (the self help guru) so they found the kiddy porn dungeon and and then Ms. Farmer had to stay behind so his mother and sister had to go on the plane so it would encounter the time-portal to send the turbine back. All these strange things Donnie does helps set the events in order so that he can keep the world from destruction.
Sorry, but I really love this movie
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posted
Seems like it would have been a lot less complicated for Frank just to tell Donnie about stuff.
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I think that's a case of what I like to call 'Narrative Necessity'. If things happened in stories the way they'd happen in real life, there wouldn't be very many stories that a) made sense and b) had a fulfilling end point. Sort of like real life. Who wants to read about that?
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You know, Tom, it's because of cynical posts like the above that sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
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I put it on the netflix list, got it, put it in on a night when I wasn't doing anything else, sat down to watch it, and...turned it off within about twenty minutes. Taal can tell you why. Maybe it's like Monty Python - only good when watching it with friends.
[ January 20, 2005, 11:32 AM: Message edited by: Lady Jane ]
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