# What in the Heck Did I Just Watch or 134 Minutes I'll Never Get Back **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 15, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693 "2020-09-15T13:56:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/41 "2020-09-16T18:32:00Z")
I read the Wiki plot description - almost sounds like something I’ve read by another author - A Stephen King short Maybe?. Anyway, it sounds interesting but I don’t understand it at all. Would you mind spoiling it? I’ll still watch it but I’d like to have an idea what it’s supposed to mean. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/42 "2020-09-16T18:49:18Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > Would you mind spoiling it? I’ll still watch it but I’d like to have an idea what it’s supposed to mean. Well okay–you did ask! BTW, the link above somewhere to the synopsis also spoils the heck out of the movie so if you really want spoiling, that’s where to go but in the meantime, the short version is: Jesse Plemons is the only actual character in the film, and he and the janitor are the same person. The entire movie is his dying dream. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/43 "2020-09-16T19:18:01Z")
Oooooh, that sounds good! Thank you. I don;t know if I would have gotten that. I look forward to watching it. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/44 "2020-09-16T19:19:40Z")
Enjoy! It’s really well done. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/45 "2020-09-16T19:20:54Z")
“Dogtooth” was definitely one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen, on so many levels. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/46 "2020-09-16T19:22:05Z")
My girlfriend and I watched it last week and both thought it sucked. The beginning and end were intriguing, I’ll give it that, but there was WAY too much dead space in the middle. It was like a poor man’s imitation of David Lynch and Darren Aronofsky. I had high hopes for it and I was brutally let down. Edit - I’m talking about “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” here. Oh - one good thing about it is that it displayed that Jesse Plemons is evolving into a second Philip Seymour Hoffman to take the place of the first one who we lost too soon. But his talent was wasted in this film, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/47 "2020-09-16T22:19:51Z")
I enjoyed “Locke”, as much as one could enjoy watching a movie about someone whose life is falling apart in one way after another, and it’s all his own doing, but I could understand why a lot of people wouldn’t like it. I just picked up the DVD of “The Lighthouse” from the library - the 2nd copy, because the first one didn’t play at all. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/48 "2020-09-17T01:14:54Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I enjoyed “Locke”, as much as one could enjoy watching a movie about someone whose life is falling apart in one way after another, and it’s all his own doing, but I could understand why a lot of people wouldn’t like it. My wife and I are big Tom Hardy fans so we watched it a few months ago. Though we liked it, we both agreed that had we gone to a theater as a night out it would have been a disappointment. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/49 "2020-09-20T21:37:22Z")
I started watching “The Lighthouse” last night, and about 30 minutes in, I shut it off and decided to read the IMDB reviews. They’re about evenly divided between people who absolutely loved it, and people who said, “I like movies like this. I didn’t like this movie.” So far, I’m in the latter camp. I may just listen to the commentary track instead. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/50 "2020-09-20T23:00:08Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I started watching “The Lighthouse” last night, and about 30 minutes in, I shut it off and decided to read the IMDB reviews. … I haven’t seen “The Lighthouse,” but last night I watched the director’s earlier film, 2015’s “The Witch” (sometimes known as “The VVitch”). That movie isn’t quite in the “\_\_\_minutes I’ll never get back” category as it IS beautifully shot and well-acted. And for the first 3/4ths or so, it’s a very respectable psychological drama set in 1630, in which we watch a Puritan family come apart at the seams. But then in the last 1/4 we have The Supernatural come in full force–basically rendering _completely moot_ the psychological complications we had watched being developed for over an hour. I can easily imagine how the creator of that work, Robert Eggers, would do something in his next work that would infuriate viewers. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/51 "2020-09-22T21:17:35Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > And I agree that _2001_ is phenomenally stupid. I guess it’s one of those “you had to be there” things I saw it when I was about 11. Until the last bit - where the astronaut is going down that trippy passage etc., it was OK (and on re-watch a few years ago, I felt the same) if not riveting - but that last bit was bizarre and unnecessary. I suspect it would have made sense if I’d dropped some acid beforehand but that was in rather short supply in the 5th grade. There was a movie, 30+ years back, called Stranger Than Paradise. It got rave reviews. Supposedly it was hilarious. I saw it with a friend. We both sat there, listening to other people chuckling, and were baffled. We sat through the whole thing waiting for it to get funny (hint: it never did). I’m never getting those 2 hours back. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/52 "2020-09-22T21:47:24Z")
Just this afternoon I was discussing this with a friend of mine who’s in her early 30’s. We had been discussing earlier this month our favorite Disney movies and my contribution to the conversation was minimal because I’m not a big Disney fan. During the convo I admitted that I had never seen Nightmare Before Christmas, which according to my friend made me an uncultured troglodyte. So last night I watched Nightmare before Xmas and was… unimpressed, to say the least. It was dumb and predictable. My friend, needless to say, does not share my opinion and thinks it’s one of the greatest movies ever made (it doesn’t help that I despise musicals). Anyway, I theorized that Nightmare Before Christmas was kind of the 2001 of the early 90’s: at the time it was a fresh story, the special effects were, if not groundbreaking, at least somewhat unique, and if all your friends are talking about a movie then you make it your business to see that movie too. In other words it’s part of that generation’s cultural DNA. We’re both milllenials, although I’m just barely. I’ve always been fascinated at how popular culture – movies, music, fashion trends – become popular and, perhaps more importantly, how they manage to gain a following. Things like popular music and movies I rarely have much interest in, so maybe I’m just wired differently. What’s part of most people’s cultural DNA I have no use for, so I recognize I’m the odd one, not everyone else who has tastes I can’t fathom. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/53 "2020-09-23T04:40:58Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I enjoyed “Locke”, as much as one could enjoy watching a movie about someone whose life is falling apart in one way after another, and it’s all his own doing, but I could understand why a lot of people wouldn’t like it. I was appalled by all the ‘distracted driving’ being showcased. (I ride motorcycles and was nearly killed by one of these assholes) ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/54 "2020-11-14T20:38:24Z")
Jesse Plemons is the only actual character in the film, and he and the janitor are the same person. The entire movie is his dying dream. Except there’s a VERY brief post-credits scene at the end of “I’m Thinking of Ending Things.” As the credits roll, we see the janitor’s truck covered with snow, presumably with the janitor dead inside. As the credits end, we hear the truck start. I felt that this suggested the janitor had decided not to end things that day after all. I wonder if the resolve to start anew was expressed in the final song from Oklahoma I about drove myself crazy trying to figure out this plot, until halfway through I realized the key was in the paintings that were discussed. The paintings were abstract, not representative. After I stepped back and watched it through those eyes, I enjoyed it much more. Kind of makes me want to go back and watch Mulholland Dr. again. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/55 "2020-11-15T16:39:22Z")
Is this the thread to complain about _The Star Wars Holiday Special_ again? It’s infamous reputation is deserved and after watching it once I have no desire to try and watch it again. It has never been released commercially but it is repeatedly posted on various site online including YouTube and pulled off and posted again. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/56 "2020-11-15T16:58:58Z")
I didn’t understand Lost In Translation. Well, I mean, I wasn’t confused or anything, I just wasn’t moved by it. (Except the beginning, which features Scarlett Johansen in her underwear. That was my favorite part.) But who doesn’t love Bill Murray? And this movie won awards. So I gave it a shot, and was left scatching my head. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/57 "2020-11-15T17:14:04Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > What in the Heck Did I Just Watch or 134 Mintues I’ll Never Get Back Are you somehow able to get back the minutes you’ve spent watching something you enjoyed? 😁 mmm ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/58 "2020-11-15T17:16:35Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I did just fast forward my way through an idiotic time travel movie called “Safety Not Guaranteed”. Some of the acting wasn’t bad but the story was shite. That’s not a time travel movie; it’s a film about personal growth and what it means to be an adult. > [@Marine\_One](#): > > **Movie 43 - (2013)** > > It’s has different segments about … oh, what difference does it make. > It has: 15 directors > It has: Hugh Jackman, Emma Stone, Kate Winslet, Richard Gere, about 20 more stars. Or really career stupid stars. > > It’s about something with different “funny” episodes linked by a “plot”. > Just read any review. > It tries **WAY** too hard to be funny and sinks fast and often. No, I didn’t watch all of it. > > Sample reviews: > > “An execrable waste cooked up by a hell’s kitchen of directors and writers. It’s death-of-laughter by committee.” > > “Being punched in the face was easier that watching this movie.” > > “Don’t see this movie. Don’t rent this movie. Don’t even read this review.” > > This isn’t even worthy of “Mystery Science Theater 3000”. _Movie 43_ isn’t a masterpiece. Its humor often is mired in uncomfortable things and situations, true, but several of the skits are among the funniest things I’ve seen in the past 10 years and the vast majority are funny as hell. _Homeschooled_ and _[The Proposition](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ-ImsChtvI)_ (NSFW) are both top-notch. IMO only _Truth or Dare_ and _Beezel_ were the only two sub-par skits, actually. Lots of good lines in the movie, too: “He was a _wizard_, Neal!” “That’s a gift that you give your soulmate.” ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/59 "2020-11-15T18:44:07Z")
I got along a lot better with **The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly** once I realized that it’s really an extremely straight-faced comedy. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/60 "2020-11-15T19:40:41Z")
IMHO _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ may be on of the most beautifully animated cartoons since _Pinocchio_. The plot is silly and frankly doesn’t make much sense. but then again what cartoon does make sense? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693.md?page=4)