[QUOTE=Ethilrist]
A non-native farm worker is harvesting some plants when he is separated from the rest of his crew by a scheduling mishap. Since he wasn’t properly vaccinated before entering the U.S., he begins to fall ill and is unable to properly contribute to society. He is eventually captured by the INS and some children break him free, which doesn’t make the INS look too good. He is eventually able to join back up with his group and returns to his country of origin.
I knew that.
So, Close Encounters. An unemployed line worker uncovers a plot by foreign pilots to kidnap American citizens for reasons unknown. On his journey to uncover this plot, he discovers a group of American military and some scientists who are trying to work with the foreign agents, and, eventually, joins the foreigners and becomes one of them.
[QUOTE=Ludovic]
I could never figure out what Snakes on a Plane was all about.
[/QUOTE]
You idiot! The “snakes” are a metaphor for “the man” and by “the man”, I mean “the government”. So Sam Jackson is fighting the US government on a “plane”, which is a metaphor for a “plain”, which is to say Sam Jackson has the government on even ground to defeat them.
[QUOTE=Troy McClure SF] The Day After Tomorrow- What hell was the father going to do once he reached his kid?
[/QUOTE]
That plot isnt incomprehensible - merely stupid. There’s a difference.
I’ve seen Basic Instinct several times and I still haven’t worked out whether Sharon Stone was guilty or innocent. first she seemed guilty, then it seemed pretty clear that she was framed by the cops ex, then that final shot did that mean she was guilty all along?
Tim Burton’s “Batman” movies. I just watched part of the second one (the Penguin / Catwoman outing) the other night and couldn’t help thinking - what in the world was either villain actually trying to do? In fact, that single film has TWO seperate and equally incomprehensible storylines. The first film with the Joker was just as bad - a lot of running around for no clear reason.
[QUOTE=aldiboronti]
I’m eagerly awaiting the projected sequel, Planes on a Snake, in which a snake on a runway gets flattened by several 747s in succession.
[/QUOTE]
Excellent!
For me, you could name almost any movie and it would qualify for this thread. I have something akin to ‘plot blindness’, and have difficulty following movies even if the plotting is (generally considered) pretty straigthforward. Am I alone in this? Or am I just not very bright?
Anyway, even allowing for my own mental inadequcies, I think the movie adaptation of Catch-22 must surely warrant a mention in this thread. Okay, so getting a movie from this book was always going to be a challenge, to say the least. But even so they made a dog’s breakfast of it.
I’m a Penn & Teller fan (aren’t we all?), but Penn & Teller Get Killed wasn’t their finest hour. I’m not sure if it’s a case of ‘it’s hard to follow the plot’ or ‘there isn’t much of a plot to follow’. A bit of both, perhaps.
BTW, re The Big Sleep, even Chandler himself admitted he didn’t understand the plot of his own book.
I’m a Penn & Teller fan (aren’t we all?), but Penn & Teller Get Killed wasn’t their finest hour. I’m not sure if it’s a case of ‘it’s hard to follow the plot’ or ‘there isn’t much of a plot to follow’. A bit of both, perhaps.
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[/QUOTE]
I have no memory of what P&T Get Killed was but the ending of that movie is just genius.
As for Batman Returns… The plot is pretty easy.
Penguin wants to get revenge on the rich of Gotham by killing all their first born sons. (Penguin being a first born son of a rich Gotham family and was abandoned so therefore he is jealous)
Max Shreck is an evil businessman who wants to help the Penguin become mayor because the current mayor is a goodie-goodie who won’t let Shreck be as evil as he wants to be. Why back the penguin, because Shreck thing the crazy little bastard, who he knows is already evil, will be easy to control and has become something of a celebrity in Gotham.
Catwoman, killed by Shreck but revived by cat magic… she wants to kill Shreck. Why she commits the other crimes like burglary in that department store, I have no idea..unless she feels she need capitol in order to go after Shreck.
That movie doesn’t hold up at all today but the plot isnt that complex.
[QUOTE=Ethilrist]
A non-native farm worker is harvesting some plants when he is separated from the rest of his crew by a scheduling mishap. Since he wasn’t properly vaccinated before entering the U.S., he begins to fall ill and is unable to properly contribute to society. He is eventually captured by the INS and some children break him free, which doesn’t make the INS look too good. He is eventually able to join back up with his group and returns to his country of origin.
[QUOTE=Push You Down]
Why [Catwoman] commits the other crimes like burglary in that department store, I have no idea..unless she feels she need capitol in order to go after Shreck.
[/QUOTE]
Because it was Shreck’s Department Store. She was the typical disgruntled former employee striking back at her ex-employer.
[QUOTE=Troy McClure SF] The Day After Tomorrow- What hell was the father going to do once he reached his kid? He didn’t come with a bus or a ration of food or a radio or one of those sqeezy-hot-pack things you get from Walgreens or even a couple of fucking corn dogs.
[/QUOTE]
What’s worse is that it is clearly shown that Florida is outside the frozen area, and thus Hawaii must also be and part of Texas, yet the president must move his government to MEXICO, hat in hand? (And, if we really had to move south to Mexico due to a global disatser of the first order, the US Army would proceed us, thus no more Mexico as a soveriegn nation problem).
[QUOTE=Push You Down]
I Penguin wants to get revenge on the rich of Gotham by killing all their first born sons. (Penguin being a first born son of a rich Gotham family and was abandoned so therefore he is jealous)
[/QUOTE]
How would you accomplish that, though, by strapping fireworks to the backs of penguins?
I’m sure at some early stage of development, all Tim Burton movies have comprehensible plots, but by the time Burton’s done rewriting, filming and editing, they’re mostly just a semi-connected series of Tim Burton Shots.
[QUOTE=minlokwat]
Count me in with the crowd who drew a big when watching Brazil.
[/QUOTE]
If you saw the bowdlerized 90-minute verison, I could understand your finding the plot incomprehensible. But the authentic Gilliam-approved cuts (one 130 minutes long, the other 140) should have been comprehensible at least, if maybe not exactly your cup of tea. Personally, it’s one of my all-time favorite films, but I can see why some people dislike it.
In fact I happen to have re-watched Brazil just a few weeks ago, for the fourth time. (First time though watching the 140-minute version.) I will presume then to explain anything and everything about the movie, if asked — except of course when I can’t.
when watching Brazil.