Defend the Indefensible: "Reality Bites"

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
Not all messages are displayed: show all messages (389 of them)
But of course these observations go against the deep-seated prejudices of the movie, which are that anyone who shoots documentary video footage of friends is a genius; anyone who is pushing 30 and has a good job has sold out; and anyone who is simultaneously unemployed and hostile is a reservoir of truth.

gear (gear), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 23:25 (eighteen years ago) link

I never saw this movie. Now I'm wondering if I should, out of a duty to my *shudder* generation.

Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 22 February 2006 01:01 (eighteen years ago) link

haha "the outcome will be a surprise to anyone who has never seen a movie before."

Ebert's always good for pithy witticisms - in general I like him.

Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 22 February 2006 01:04 (eighteen years ago) link

the outcome will be a surprise to anyone who has never seen a movie before

Bah, xpost. But it is a perfect line.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 22 February 2006 01:05 (eighteen years ago) link

haha - I'm one step ahead of you today, Raggett!

Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 22 February 2006 01:06 (eighteen years ago) link

Why has nobody mentioned 200 cigarettes?, a movie even worse that Reality Bits if memory serves me correctly

Freud Junior (Freud Junior), Wednesday, 22 February 2006 01:45 (eighteen years ago) link

Miccio was right upthread: it's much better than other films of its ilk. Doesn't mean it's great though (Before Sunrise is the masterpiece and I'll spar with anyone who disagrees); but I'm still taken with Winona Ryder, at the peak of her beauty and intelligence.

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 22 February 2006 02:36 (eighteen years ago) link

That Ebert review is 100% spot-on, in my opinion.

Winona is hot as hell, though.

Andrew (enneff), Wednesday, 22 February 2006 02:40 (eighteen years ago) link

why has nobody mentioned 200 cigarettes?, a movie even worse that Reality Bits if memory serves me correctly

200 cigarettes was harmless and dumb though, unless I'm grossly mistaken

kyle (akmonday), Wednesday, 22 February 2006 04:13 (eighteen years ago) link

I actually think the Ebert review gives *too* little credit -- I mean I think it's at least possible that the movie doesn't really hold up Ryder as some kind of genius, and anyway her material is about as good as most of the lesser reality shows that have come along since.

Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Wednesday, 22 February 2006 04:37 (eighteen years ago) link

Which makes me think that it would be a much more interesting movie if it was about the characters coming to terms with the fact that they aren't as hot shit as they think they are.

Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Wednesday, 22 February 2006 04:39 (eighteen years ago) link

I must have been 20 when I saw this piece of crap at an empty cinema and when the lights came up all the other people there were 12 year old girls and one of them looked at me trying to sneak out unnoticed and her and her friends laughed and sneered at my corderoys and messy hair and my generation.

Good Dog (Good Dog), Wednesday, 22 February 2006 06:38 (eighteen years ago) link

if you grew up in houston it's OK to watch with the volume all the way down and good music on the stereo... sometimes you see places in houston you recognize.

fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Wednesday, 22 February 2006 07:54 (eighteen years ago) link

Ethan Hawke isn't the only person in SFW.
-- nickalicious (nza2342...), April 6th, 2004.

Cyanide isn't the only ingredient in that rat poison.
-- El Diablo Robotico (nicolew1...), April 6th, 2004.

I am CRYING.

Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 22 February 2006 08:31 (eighteen years ago) link

one month passes...
Hey this is on TV right now!

Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 24 March 2006 07:14 (eighteen years ago) link

I'm frightened.

Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 24 March 2006 07:18 (eighteen years ago) link

two months pass...
I finally watched SFW last night. I didn't even make it all the way through. God, what a steaming turd of a film. I couldn't stand it!

Andrew (enneff), Sunday, 4 June 2006 02:42 (seventeen years ago) link

a couple of years ago a friend of mine invited me to a party he was going to. he picked me up and we drove to a house in Silver Lake. We walked around back and into the back yard. There was a porch that required us to climb up some steps, to where we saw a handful of smokers outside chattering away. We reached the steps and we heard a guy say, "Coffee and smokes, man, that's all I need." A girl replied, "Reality Bites, right?" He replied, "Yes!" She said, "AWEsome..." Another guy chimed in, "Fuckin' great movie, dude." And all three said, "Yeah, seriously."

My friend and I looked at one another, shrugged, and turned around and left.

Ha, it's just like that Volkswagen Pink Moon commercial.

Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Sunday, 4 June 2006 02:54 (seventeen years ago) link

one year passes...

A-plus shinola

James Redd and the Blecchs, Saturday, 5 January 2008 06:22 (sixteen years ago) link

Can't wait for the 90s Revival...not!!

King Boy Pato, Saturday, 5 January 2008 07:56 (sixteen years ago) link

was winona ryder in even one good movie after "heathers"?

J.D., Saturday, 5 January 2008 08:10 (sixteen years ago) link

i have never seen this and never intend to.

BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Saturday, 5 January 2008 08:22 (sixteen years ago) link

I was getting ready to defend post-"Heathers" Winona but Alien: Resurrection really is the only good movie she's done since then. (Night On Earth is okayish, I haven't seen Mermaids and don't care about Edward Scissorhands either way.)

milo z, Saturday, 5 January 2008 08:25 (sixteen years ago) link

was winona ryder in even one good movie after "heathers"?

I'll stand up for A Scanner Darkly

Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 5 January 2008 08:46 (sixteen years ago) link

I was about to say Night on Earth, but her segment is the least entertaining in the whole film.

Johnny Fever, Saturday, 5 January 2008 09:13 (sixteen years ago) link

i haven't seen Reality Bites, but it's got to be a better "LOL 90'S" movie than Empire Records

latebloomer, Saturday, 5 January 2008 10:20 (sixteen years ago) link

empire records didn't take itself nearly so seriously, did it?

BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Saturday, 5 January 2008 10:30 (sixteen years ago) link

i dunno i just remembering hating hating hating hating it and all the stupid people who liked it. also, the soundtrack.

latebloomer, Saturday, 5 January 2008 10:35 (sixteen years ago) link

i pretty much loved most of the 90s gen-x films, no matter how crap they were.

Rubyredd, Saturday, 5 January 2008 10:37 (sixteen years ago) link

was clueless a gen-x film or were the characters too young?

get bent, Saturday, 5 January 2008 10:40 (sixteen years ago) link

too young and not at all gen-x anyway! like as if.

That one guy that hit it and quit it, Saturday, 5 January 2008 10:49 (sixteen years ago) link

prescient "gen-y" (ugh) film?

BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Saturday, 5 January 2008 10:58 (sixteen years ago) link

"film"

BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Saturday, 5 January 2008 10:59 (sixteen years ago) link

ehhh... it's just a really good teen movie.

That one guy that hit it and quit it, Saturday, 5 January 2008 11:00 (sixteen years ago) link

i'm just thinking the ubiquity of cell phones (a rarer thing among teens in the mid-90s, but all over this flick) and the reliance on constant contact.

BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Saturday, 5 January 2008 11:02 (sixteen years ago) link

is that a gen-y thing?

That one guy that hit it and quit it, Saturday, 5 January 2008 11:11 (sixteen years ago) link

purely antecdotal, but every coworker/extended family member/sibling of mine that's under the age of 19 prefers texting to calling and always has a phone in their hands.

BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Saturday, 5 January 2008 11:38 (sixteen years ago) link

Why did I dig up this thread last night? Oh yeah, the Heidegger thread.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Saturday, 5 January 2008 15:04 (sixteen years ago) link

Defense: this movie remains a glimpse into the alternate reality where Janeane Garofalo has a steady sarcastic-friend gig in romantic comedies, and that would be a good reality.

Guayaquil (eephus!), Saturday, 5 January 2008 15:47 (sixteen years ago) link

was winona ryder in even one good movie after "heathers"?

MR. DEEDS

J, Saturday, 5 January 2008 17:44 (sixteen years ago) link

(alright, I'm joking!)

J, Saturday, 5 January 2008 17:45 (sixteen years ago) link

Uncool, but Little Women.

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 5 January 2008 17:47 (sixteen years ago) link

You know it occurs to me after reading this thread that there is actually one good scene in this movie--the dialogue-free montage scene where Ryder runs around paying for for other people's fillups on her gas card in exchange for cash. It's about a minute long, I think.

J, Saturday, 5 January 2008 17:49 (sixteen years ago) link

Defense: this movie remains a glimpse into the alternate reality where Janeane Garofalo has a steady sarcastic-friend gig in romantic comedies, and that would be a good reality.

-- Guayaquil (eephus!), Saturday, January 5, 2008 3:47 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Link

http://hitparade.ch/cdimg/c_c_music_factory_feat_freedom_williams-things_that_make_you_go_hmmm_s.jpg

That one guy that hit it and quit it, Saturday, 5 January 2008 17:52 (sixteen years ago) link

four years pass...

Also, lol at sean for the movie was like the visual equivalent of Jeff Gomez' Our Noise

Only the RONG Survive (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 12 February 2012 19:56 (twelve years ago) link

oh man: "ambitious showbiz brat who would end up giving the world banal blockbusters like Zoolander and Tropic Thunder". this is some nplusone^2 level missing-the-point.

s.clover, Sunday, 12 February 2012 19:58 (twelve years ago) link

which i suppose is n^2 + 2n + 1

s.clover, Sunday, 12 February 2012 19:58 (twelve years ago) link


Jelle_1979 3 weeks ago
Say what you will, Reality Bites had a terrific soundtrack with Lisa Loeb and her breakthru hit 'Stay', Crowded House, U2, The Knack, World Party, Squeeze, The Posies, Dinosaur Jr, Lenny Kravitz and Big Mountain with their version of 'Baby I love your way'.

lol i dont remember the sndtrk but that sounds like torture

RudolfHitlerFtw (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, 12 February 2012 20:30 (twelve years ago) link

That jerk left out the real highlight which was clearly Ethan Hawke doing "Add it Up" or his original effort "I'm Nothing". lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=socgqxp0Uxs&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbO1qC7EsVI

wolf kabob (ENBB), Sunday, 12 February 2012 21:30 (twelve years ago) link


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.