The Problem with "SMART" Horror - The Menu
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- Опубліковано 1 чер 2024
- If I explain the Menu's Ending and why The Cheeseburger is a Metaphor, will people see this video???
The Horror Genre has gotten too smart for it's own good. But The Menu just might be able to fix that!
The Menu (starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, and Ralph Fiennes) is a film that emphasizes why simple but smart horror/thrillers can be some of the most impactful films out there.
In this Video Essay Analyzing The Menu and the current Trajectory of the Horror Genre, we'll be looking at why appealing to the critics can often alienate you from the audience you are meant to be serving.
I'm Dylan, and THIS is The Writer's Block!
Written & Edited --------------- Dylan Gregory @TheWritersBlockOfficial
Music by -------------------------- Mozart & My Computer
#TheMenuExplained #TheMenu #TheMenuVideoEssay #anyataylorjoy #VideoEssay #TheWritersBlock - Фільми й анімація
Do you think "Smart" Horror is a problem??? What's been your favorite SCARY/SUSPENSEFUL movie recently???
Thank you all for taking the time to engage and discuss movies with me. Writing is a passion of mine, and it's a privilige to get to share that with all of you (even if we disagree on specific topics or films)!
Barbarian
The thought that The Menu was supposed to be a horror flick never crossed my mind while watching it, it's just too intentionally funny all the time.
Scary movies aren't in danger. But film is always an art form. The fact that horror movies aspire to have a message is not unnatural but people will go out to see a movie about killing whether or not there's a theme
Im not saying its unnatural. I just think that people have the wrong priorities some times. A putting the cart before the horse type situation
Oh, I thought you were going to give grief to The Menu based on your video's title.
I also enjoyed The Menu.
Yeah i realized the thumbnail might do that. But that shot of ralph fiennes is too good not to use
I’m not normally into horror movies but this video was very good
Thank you that means a lot!
Great stuff... keep pushing Dylan. You'll have a great following one day
Thanks !
The cheeseburger is in fact a metaphor hehe
And the cake is a lie... :(
I can’t fundamentally disagree with any of the points you’ve made here but some of the movies you listed are my all time favorite movies that I would give anything to be able to experience for the first time again. The feeling at the end of get out when the police lights flash in the distance had me physically jumping out of my seat. Dani’s raw physical emotional expressiveness in Midsommer is unlike anything I’ve experienced on screen before. Sure horror movies don’t need to do any of these things, but damn I like when they do, and do it well. The Menu was enjoyable but I’m not going back for rewatches the way I have with films like Get Out and Midsommer.
Great analysis, good dissection, but I think this is a difference in tastes (heh). Movies like The Menu (2022), Triangle of Sadness (2022) and Saltburn (2023) can only HOPE to achieve what Boots Riley did with Sorry To Bother You (2018). While they’re in different genres, it felt Riley at least had a clear direction of what he thinks these class divisions will cause (violence from the oppressed, it was militant in its approach) that the three aforementioned movies just felt like they lost their point in the third act or were ultimately like “Well, what can we do, oh well.” Sorry To Bother You was like “Go kill the CEO of your company”
I really enjoyed your video essay and the Menu was a great film. I saw it at the theater and I was the only one there. 😁
I actually had to leave cause 2 women in front of me wouldn't stop talking or get off their phones. They kept checking the time, which is just wild, cause if you are bored, just leave
Barbarian is the best fix for "Smart" Horror IMO.
The menu is one of my favorite movies. Im bored of safe and high budget movies, instead I do love indie movies that have an interesting or unique plot. Like I loved ex machina and the orginal saw. Its something that makes it worth the money of buying or renting the movie because your into what could happen instead of something so generic that chat gpt can write a script that almost matches it.
Commenting for engagement. I will try to watch The Menu.
Has anyone seen Fear Street? Actually I'm wondering about these kid horror movies/series based on kids horror books from the 80s and 90s.
Ironically, I disliked The Menu precisely because I found it pretentious in how it approaches its criticisms of over-intellectualizing art. Simpler art and more complex art should not be at war with each other. Both can exist and can be enjoyed. Just like I wouldn’t look down on someone for enjoying a superhero movie, I’m not about to be an anti-intellectual (god knows we have enough of those in society as it is) and say stop making allegory heavy films like Annihilation.
There's a difference between complexity and pretentiousness though. The critique in THE MENU is that Voldemort has lost his love for what he does. Fine dining is all well and good, but it's the motivation that matters. If he truly loved it that's one thing. But he's making these complex dishes to appear high class, not because he loves them. It's not that simple vs complex is the problem. It's that judging simplicity or complexity, and not the actual personal value of art that is the problem
@@TheWritersBlockOfficial The problem with this is that you have no idea whether or not an artist is being sincere or insincere with their art. Who are you to assume that any artist is only making their art with the goal of “appearing high class”? You have nothing to base this off of other than your own projection and cynical view of complex art. No one could possibly make this because they enjoy doing it or think it’s interesting. Surely, it’s all about vanity and ego. Says who? Yes, I’m certain people like that exist, but I’m not about to generalize because if you assume, all you do is make an ass out of you and me. Never mind the fact that someone can still have less than earnest intentions with their art and can still elicit a strong reaction from people. As a matter of fact, that’s pretty much been the accusation of a lot of commercial art with wide appeal.
This movie sucks.
I don’t eat burgers tho so… allegory doesn’t fit rip bozo