Reconstructed triple feature

[bironic]

What... if... I wrote a few lines about a bunch of movies all at once?

Naked (2017): A Marlon Wayans comedy that lured me in with this summary:

Rob's madly in love and about to be married. Unfortunately, he's also naked, stuck in an elevator and caught in a time loop.

It's not sci fi so much as one of those Groundhog Day magical realism narratives where the protag learns to get his life in shape. It didn't go anywhere unexpected, and I had a few quibbles stemming from Wayans having both written and starred in the movie and from his character parroting back what people said to him in previous loops rather than showing he truly internalized the sentiments, but I had a fun time anyway.

Gerald's Game (2017): How did I not know Netflix produced an S&M-themed Bruce Greenwood movie? A trailer popped up while I was visiting deelaundry last week, and I had downloaded the file by the time I got on the plane a few hours later. Conclusion: meh. More horror than was advertised. Worth it for Bruce Greenwood in undershorts dangling metal handcuffs while his character attempted noncon roleplay with his wife (played by Carla Gugino), but that only lasted a couple of minutes. Detracting from the viewing enjoyment was the fact that Gerald was a jerk and his wife was not into it, because apparently they had never discussed the details of their first-time experimentation, nor set up any safeguards, before beginning. Then the movie shifted into Stephen King Bingo, as it was based on a novel of his. (Uncanny dog! Psychological horror! Monster in the night! Trapped on a bed in a remote area! History of familial abuse! Desperate self-injury! etc.) With an odd plot twist involving Carel Struycken, a.k.a. Lurch, a.k.a. Lwaxana Troi's attendant Mr. Homm.

Pitch Black (2000): Holds up well on rewatch. I love its well-delineated structure and its leanness. It also benefits from having been made before Vin Diesel got famous and became an exaggeration of himself. My headcanon to prevent the whole scenario from having been a coincidence is that the gravitational shifts of the solar system lining up for its periodic triple eclipse are what knocked the Hunter-Gratzner off course as well as the ship that came before it.

...we interrupt this program to bring you a three-hour endeavor to thaw our frozen hot-water shower pipe. Now fixed! More summaries to come.

Comments

[sixbeforelunch]

I did not know Naked existed, but I just watched the trailer and it looks like it might be a fun lazy Sunday afternoon movie. Thanks for pointing it out! :)

[bironic]

Excellent! Hope you also find it overall enjoyable.

[sasha_feather]

I love Pitch Black! I think the kid (pictured) is some variety of queer.

[bironic]

Yes! I choose to disregard certain decisions made in the second movie for that reason. It seems many AO3 authors write Jack as trans or genderqueer as well, which is neat.

[minoanmiss]

I like your thoughts, especially on Gerald's Game, which book annoyed me greatly for the exact reasons you cite.

[bironic]

*sad high five*

[selki]

Huh, my reading of the beginning of the book was that they'd been playing that game, with her being less and less enthused, for a long time.

[minoanmiss]

Oh, definitely, but with less knowledge and fewer safeguards than the first time Teenage Me did anything kinky. I think I hadn't even done anything yet when I read the book and I just thought all the mistakes that set up the plot (real handcuffs, middle of nowhere, etc) were stupid, plus... I have never liked the Men Are Kinky And Evil, Women Are Vanilla And Good trope (or its parent Kink Is Evil), and I think Gerald's Game was one of the first times I consciously recognized it even if I couldn't've named it quite so precisely yet.

[selki]

I agree it's not evil, but [the book] wasn't far off in that there are a lot of people who try it based on nothing but the stereotypes they've heard about with MD/ws. Which is why I've taught a class or two myself, to subvert the dominant paradigm.

[bironic]

I didn't know you taught courses on those themes - neat!

>>there are a lot of people who try it based on nothing but the stereotypes they've heard about with MD/ws.

Ah, true. Ha, now I'm seeing the story as a lengthy PSA for why it's important to institute safeguards when doing roleplay like that. Too bad it's also easy to interpret it to mean that bondage play leads to physical and psychological harm.

[selki]

Oh, just presentations at alternate tracks at sfnal cons, not full-blown courses. E.g., at one in particular after wincing at some sessions with very stereotypical language in session names and descriptions, I had to Do Something for the next year (and so on). I'd already helped at 101/intro events in my local community, so I felt like I could step up at that con if no one else was. I always include safety and consent at the beginning, and have resource handouts.

[minoanmiss]

Hooray for acxtually getting knowledge out there! cheers

[bironic]

>>I have never liked the Men Are Kinky And Evil, Women Are Vanilla And Good trope (or its parent Kink Is Evil)

Sigh. Yeah, and I can't tell whether 1992 is an excuse for relying on those stereotypes or if people were as tired of them then as they are now. Or maybe it's less about the time and more about King's writing habits.

[marginaliana]

"Stephen King Bingo" made me laugh, because yes.

[bironic]

King Bingo: a subset of Kink Bingo!