Review - I SAW THE TV GLOW (2024)
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- Опубліковано 13 жов 2024
- / moviebob1
Justice Smith is a young man haunted by vivid (or maybe not so...) memories of a scary 1990s 'tween TV series that was an intense shared fixation for himself and his only childhood friend - who mysteriously vanished at the same point the series was canceled. As cryptic, sometimes terrifying visions suggesting that both his friend and "their" show are somehow reaching back into his life from somewhere not entirely within his understanding; he confronts a dark realization that not only his "lost" friend but their friendship, the object of his fandom, his memories and even his own life may not be what he believed.
Writer-director Jane Schoenbrun ("WE'RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD'S FAIR") fuses vaporwave-retro vibes, Lynchian existentialism and UA-cam-age "analog horror" energy into a beautiful, cruel and shatteringly heartfelt portrait of devastation at meeting the limits of allegory as substitute for self-acceptance: An emotional horror movie where the monsters are the inadequacy of nostalgia and the emptiness of the unrealized life.
#isawthetvglow #a24 #pinkopaque
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0:43 "This is the greatest movie I wish I never saw."
-Noah Atweiler on Grave of the Fireflies
Perfect movie to use as an example
@@timy9197 That and Requiem for a Dream.
Grave of the Fireflies is the perfect example to disprove the whole "animated means its for kids" nonsense. If you are dumb enough to show an elementary schooler that movie, you deserve to deal with the months of nightmares and emotional trauma. Also, you're a fucking asshole whole shouldn't have anything to do with kids. That said, its a beautiful damn movie that I plan to never watch again unless I'm strapped down and forced to, because holy shit is that movie depressing as hell.
Was going to type “hell yeah more bob” and roughly ten seconds in it would have been the wrong vibe. Love your content and best wishes.
My gold standard for a movie about which I feel this way is Children of Men. Excellent movie, but I feel physically exhausted by the end. I definitely understand needing to be in the right headspace.
One of my absolute favorites that I can only stomach every few years. Though it does Help that the ceasefire scene is one of the most powerful depictions of the concept of hope that I've ever seen, and it ends the film in a somewhat positive note (relative to what came before).
For me it was The Cell. Or as I proclaimed to the friend I saw that movie with, "this is probably the most gorgeous movie that I don't think I want to ever see again."
I’m so glad you put this on my radar.
Hands down, this review of this postmodern Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari is the most sincere, heartfelt one I've seen from Mr. Chipman in a while. I'll be seeing this one, as it sounds like too many pieces of my life got onscreen.
Incidentally, there's a game called Stories Untold with a very similar theme.
I was sold on "David Lynch for teenagers".
Think I even got the right references for what kind of David Lynch: Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway.
Having just come back from it, that is very accurate description
@johnathanonhaney8291 unfortunately the Lynch film this resembles the most is Dune. You know, the one where Lynch didn't understand or even like the source material, and couldn't figure out how to tell the story, so he just had long passages of exposition. This film fails the "show, don't tell" test.
Poignant in that regard to have Pete and Pete’s actors cameo in the movie, as that show did that tone first.
I call it "the best movie I never want to watch again" and for me it's Grave of the Fireflies.
It's practically the definition of the saying
A Silent Voice for me
Schindler's List
@@johnathonhaney8291 Same!
Yes. Yes it is.
The way you described it makes it sound like a horror version of ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’.
Eternal Sunshine is my all time favorite film, so that sounds WONDERFUL to me.
Not inaccurate from the right vector
I would say the more accurate description is that this is a David Lynch movie made by someone who watched a metric ton of mid 90s Nickelodeon. There is far more Mulholland Drive in this thing than Eternal Sunshine. Especially when you consider that Eternal Sunshine is probably a far more optimistic movie.
I was struggling to explain this film to someone without spoilers, and landed on Stand By Me meets Videodrome." And I know that's not even right, but yeah.
Close, I was also thinking about Synecdoche, New York
The thing is, we can be affected by stories about other people with different experiences. A story might not be "for" me, but that doesn't mean it's appropriative to find meaning within it. Indeed, connecting with a story for someone else is one of the best ways to begin to understand someone with different experiences.
Beautifully said
Well said. If empathy is seen as appropriative, we're really fucked.
Yeah I know Bob wasn't trying to imply anything like this, but I'd never want to discourage someone from watching and empathizing with something. If you have to be of the same culture to enjoy or share media that speaks to you then you are basically saying that media by that culture cannot and should not have a large audience. I think appropriation discourse comes from a good place but a lot of people end up at cultural isolationism which I think is just as harmful.
@@justsomeguy9230 With this movie specifically. It is clear that the core metaphor of the film about the struggles of certain oppressed groups … but you don’t need to be a member of that group to understand or sympathize with the lead characters. Especially when because the movie is heavily layered in metaphor it is effective as a generalized story about dealing with not being fulfilled in your life. This movie is pretty dark & haunting & effective not taking the subtext into account at all for what a warped twist it is on 1990s kid shows.
But in praising it on that level when the subtext is still that obvious … why this would feel like an act of appropriation is clear
@TheJadedJames what the filmmakers fail to realize is that being part of an oppressed group isn't the same as character development.
That description reminds me of 12 years a slave. It's a masterpiece but damn is it tough to watch.
I felt this way about “Iron Claw”. Some movies, you’re like “damn, this is a great movie, but this shit is depressing… and then you see THAT movie, and realize, “holy shit, man, this stuff ACTUALLY happened!” And you can’t even be like “well at least it’s just a movie!” Like, damn…
Movies like this are tough, because the same thing that makes them so powerful and important also makes them incredibly difficult to actually watch. For example, I frequently describe the film "12 Years a Slave" as the best movie that I will never see again...
Oh dear. Sounds like a film I very much need to see and very much need specific people with me for emotional support.
Now you gotta find a way to see the people's joker Bob! I think you'd appreciate it. But it's very difficult to see right now because of dumb reasons. But I saw a screener with the director last week and I loved it.
Never heard of this until now. I didn’t know Justice Smith could act this well. I’m looking forward to seeing it!
There was a book that I had the same reaction to as Bob seems to have had with this movie, but for different less personal reasons. It was "Dead Men Walking" by Steve Lyons. I very well written book with a compelling narrative that I don't have the fortitude to go through again.
You peaked my attention with the description about how you’re not sure you want to watch it again, at least not any time soon.
I have a pair of movies on that list right now for myself. Kids & Requiem for a Dream. Both amazing yet visceral films that I don’t think I could bear to watch again more than once a decade (both are overdue for a rewatch).
I keep telling myself I’m gonna watch them with my kids when they are the right age for them, but as that time comes closer and closer, I feel less and less firm with that.
my "greatest movie I wish I never saw" was Pan's Labyrinth.
Anyone else hearing this premise and just thinking about UA-cam vlog horror series and Welcome to Night Vale or King Falls AM?
My own point of reference was Stories Untold, a four episode game that openly calls out the hidden poison of nostalgia.
this feels like a movie laser guided to drop me back into a deep depression... as much as i want to watch it i don't think its worth the risk
Out of curiosity, I looked at the IMDB user reviews, and yeah, they definitely seem to land in the "you'll love it or hate it territory" as far as ratings go.
I just watched it … and I 100% getting those kinds of reviews. This movie will absolutely come off as confusing and pretentious to some viewers. And others will connect with its themes making it depressing instead
Saw this tonight now that it's finally in Melbourne and... yeah. Brutal, affecting, and far darker than I expected.
I think I know what this dances around, but I need to be sure. I am going to spoil this movie for myself so I can know if I can handle it.
....
HUH. Well. I'm a LOT less sure about what I thought the allegory was, but now I've got a VERY different idea of what the allegory is and I ammmm absolutely going to need some supportive friends to watch that. It sounds like fucking art though. God damn.
this movie gave me a visceral personal identity explosion and I came out bc of it
Just so you know, this random ass stranger on the internet you will never meet or hear from again is proud of you for that. It must've taken a lot of courage, but I'm sure it'll pay off in the long run❤️
@@radiofloyd2359 that made me emotional. thank u for caring about strangers !
Congrats! Being out can be scary but it's worth it.
We love you Bob
Hoo boy. This may just be the "Just when you thought you were out, they pull you back in" of positively artsy, emotionally draining movies for me...
I have seen and watched a number of shows exactly like what you're talking about..
Don't always agree with your reviews, but I'm with you on this one. This thoroughly fucked me up; this movie made me look inward in a way no other movie has in quite some time.
I can definitely relate to 'the movie is really good and I'll never ever watch it again or recommend it to anyone I like' because I've seen Grave of the Fireflies.
I'm late to the party, but I finally got around to watching this movie, and I absolutely loved it! On the one hand, yes, it's incredibly heart-breaking. But on the other hand, I've never felt so validated by a movie. The narrator's story is so close to my own. I could easily watch this again, possibly multiple times.
All I needed to know is that it's from the lady who made We're All Going to the World's Fair, and going by the way he talked about it, It looks like it might be somewhat similar in tone and themes, but... just more
WAGTTWF was a much better film. At least the main character there was interesting.
Felt that way about 12 Years a Slave, Pi, and the Pianist.
"Find a way to watch it" indeed. Such high praise from you, like from Yahtzee on Fully Ramblomatic, is an instant watch for me. But christ I cannot figure out how. It doesn't look like it's going to be coming to theaters in these parts, and I can't even really find any mention of how it intends to release.
Did this movie break Bob? Sheesh. He seems shaken and he saw it several days before filming this.
Some films just stay with you like that, echo around the brain on a visceral level and keep making you think.
I'm broken (in a good movie made me cry kind of way) several days after seeing this so i'm guessing that is the case.
The Requiem for a Dream syndrome then?
I hadn't heard of it until now, but it sounds amazing and I need to see it as soon as possible.
Re: Films that are hard to watch because they make you feel like you've been punched in the gut. For me, the original _Texas Chainsaw Massacre._ I've seen a lot of slashers, but that one hits very different. It feels like I'm actually watching real people dying and made me very uncomfortable. Which, is what they were going for, I guess, so good job.
The sound of those effing generators...
All the found footage in the world has never felt as raw and uncomfortable as that scene of Leatherface hitting that guy and slamming the metal door.
"Vaguely appropriative" is the saddest way I've _ever_ heard of saying "experiencing empathy."
So, well made, but potentially deeply disturbing.
More so depressing
I’ve seen the movie now, so now I know the subtext that Bob was talking around. This movie is has a really sudden and dark ending. I’m somewhat with Bob here in that the themes of the movie are affecting but I am very clearly not the target audience for the main thing this narrative is meant to be a metaphor for … much of it probably went over my head and would be far more affective for the people with personal experience with the thing the fake ‘90s show is standing in for. I didn’t find the movie hard to watch. This was like Lynch movie that might benefit from a second viewing just to better pick part its hidden meanings with advanced knowledge of the conclusion
4:20 is around the point where I looked at the visuals again, thought about what you said, and had the epiphany. I want to watch this movie, but I don't know where to go watch this.
Moviebob, you mentioned feeling vaguely appropriative... and I have a point that I confront my friends with when they worry about appropriation: Just because us queer nerds have experienced acute trauma doesn't mean that we are the only experts in it. In the end we are all just scared critters fighting against our emotional issues. The only question is if we do it all together, or if we carve ourselves into groups until we find ourselves all alone.
For now, I am too scared to watch this film right now... I think It might just break me after I read the full plot synopsis.
Thanks for putting this movie on my radar.
Bob, I've been subbed for many years and I've always thought it was tragic that you've consistently struggled to get the audience you deserve. But something just occurred to me. I *always* skip the intro for these because the intro music is basically like sticking knives in my ears. You thoughtfully put the TV test pattern right when the intro ends so I can just skip to that using youtube's preview thing when you hover over the timeline. I haven't listend to a full intro for almost the entire time I've been subscribed.
I think your intro music might be putting people off. I am a guitar player and love heavy shit, but why for a movie review? This one is probably a bad example but for 99% of movies it's just the wrong vibe. I noticed Chris Stuckman changed his intro from heavy guitar to something much lighter some time ago, probably when he started making movies himself. Not sure if it's changed his analytics, but it's something to think about.
Anyway, it's been a thousand years so maybe a change of intro would be a good thing regardless.
I miss the classic Escape to the movies intro he had on Escapist. Apparently it was removed due to copyright? I never understood that
Sheeit. I should have headed the warning. I gotta describe it like requiem for a dream for people who would never actually do drugs.
Just saw this yesterday. Truly original, I would call it liminal existential horror. The ending is amazing.
It was a little pretentious and self-serious here and there, but the sum total effect it had on me when I thought about it afterwards was huge….
0:55 I still have similar thoughts about 2017's LOGAN, one of the best movies I can't bear to watch again.
Uh oh. The 90's are far enough in the past now for movies to start mining our nostalgia for them.
Yeah, LOGAN was a gut punch. When it was done, all I could do was stare at the credits while Johnny Cash played "The Man Comes Around".
**spoilers**
Really interesting direction you took this review. My interpretation was mostly about the difficulties of being trans and the "fake" life you are forced to live unless you accept who you really are. The "Im dying scene" only for everyone to ignore him was super heart wrenching and to me spoke to the insane suicide rate of trans people.
Now I have a new movie to watch by myself and cry about!
Very much looking forward to catching this, unsure which cinema it's playing round here yet.
sounds like kind of a creepy movie. sounds interesting.
and a little intense as far as having the stuff that makes you only watch it once.
I had this reaction with 12 monkeys. Brilliant movie, don't know if I'll ever watch it again
Remember that one well...and it DOES crawl under the skin.
I just watched the trailer after watching this and you have my attention. I live in Japan though so I don't think it'll get a theatrical release here. Is it coming to streaming soon? I'd like to see it before my curiosity gets the best of me and just googles the plot.
I assume there was a merger of some sorts and that's why the show got cancelled.
more direct than hypertext? must be LT Smash's superliminal messaging.
0:32 I feel this way about Pan's Labyrinth, pretty much every Quentin Tarantino movie, and a few older movies including The Seventh Cross (a movie starring Spencer Tracy about seven prisoners who escape a concentration camp and are hunted down and crucified one by one). Basically really well made movies that heavily feature psychological or physical torture.
Do not see this with out someone to cry with after. The concessions stand was more than I could take after the ending.
Sounds like Donnie Darko would be a good comparison for this film. Definitely intrigued...
Also Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway.
Given how scared I was after watching the 1989 movie Parents due to not having the context for the parody side of that film, a movie like I Saw The TV Glow would *definitely!* scare me because of having the context for the kind of horror that you described for it Moviebob: so I'll still check this movie out but I am going to be *EXTREMELY!* cautious as to when I'll watch I Saw The TV Glow because... oh boy! It sounds like the kind of movie that'll just wreck me up on so many levels
You're the first gender typical person I've seen actually understand and be moved by this film. Everyone else just decided that it wasn't for them. Thank you, Bob, for putting in the work.
Incredibly affecting film that's so wrenching I can never recommend anyone else watch it? Psychological / emotional horror where the supernatural elements are fuzzily blurred behind an unreliable narrator? Is this just Hereditary again but for being [prediction based on the trailer removed because it's probably a spoiler] instead of for abusive parents?
It’s closer to Mulholland Drive actually
So glad to see Justice Smith getting good work
I should’ve heeded that opening paragraph much more conscientiously because seeing this movie alone was a *mistake.*
Ooo I can tell this is a movie I want to see but probably not until I get my life in a stable and secure or at least less lonely place sooo maybe never? A few years? Looking forward to the eventual self reflection and emotional gut punches then!
I am intrigued as a 90's child, but it seems like this movie isn't even being suggested to release in Europe. So... I'll just be keeping an eye out, I suppose.
i had a feeling this might be good. but wasn't sure.
went to go see that Mars Express movie instead.
I've never understood watching a movie to be sad. I'm sad all the time. I don't have any social media apps because they actually try to make me sad. I catch up on the news once a day and it makes me sad. I just put my cat down of 12 years... sad. There is so much horror going on around us the idea of introducing made up sad stuff to my brain seems silly.
I hear you there. I just focus on the happy, for my health in every sense.
Speaking solely for myself, watching a film or TV show that is designed to be sad or difficult to process isn't just about feeling those emotions as if I was running low on sad fuel and needed to be topped off, it's about experiencing difficult things in a safe space so that I can process *dealing* with those emotions and finding resolution so that when/if something comes up in real life that is analogous to what I've watched, I can be more prepared and walk away more healed.
I used to identify as trans, and I bawled for what felt like hours after watching Boys Don't Cry. It was horrifying and shocking, but also gave me a chance to deal with the fears, pain, and anxieties that I was going through at that time in my life. I've seen dog owners who know they're going to have to say goodbye finally let loose after watching Marley & Me. As flawed and superficial as Crash was, I've seen people of color express sympathy and empathy with the characters in that film.
I understand wanting to not deal with it, and there are plenty of days and times where I'm right there with you - knowing I'm not in the right headspace to absorb something difficult or sad. Other times, I think it is important that we get practice in facing that darkness however we can, and sometimes a movie can help us do that.
@@NobleChevalier very well said.
@NobleChevalier DOG SHELTER! That's my point. Animal shelters are filled with dogs that are lonely dying and need help. People pay money to see Marly and Me, cry, give money to movie studio, dogs are still lonely. People can prosses all they want. I see dogs dying for real and people paying to see dogs fake die. A safe space to watch that seems like first world selfishness.
I am so intrigued...
Will definitely try to catch it though the theatrical run seems very limited.
This was very much worth the watch, but it's a challenge and requires you to work on the "high" frequencies
I felt like the movie is pretty abstract in its opening scenes, but after that “Don’t you feel like time is wrong and you are a narrating your life?” scene, it is clear what the movie is really about on both the level of text and subtext
@@TheJadedJames lmao you needed until that time? Scrub
@@chavesa5 I’m sure a rewatch would make it feel obvious but the metaphor did not occur to me until she said “Are you sure that’s it?” That moment was the big plot twist where I discovered what kind of movie I was watching. I did not consider that angle beforehand
Bob really said this movie is so good I need to gatekeep it from the rest of you. Amazing review
"This is an excellent movie I never want to watch again" is exactly how I felt about Hereditary.
How did you not mention that FRED FUCKING DURST is in this movie?!
Algorithmic engagement!
wow, I had no idea.
There are a lot of movies I'm glad I saw... once.
Wish I saw this review before going to see it because I did go see it alone today and I am very not ok right now.
Ohhhhh... boy.
Would this be a cautionary tale?
(I’m gonna have to see this for myself to find out.)
Probably not. Because if this affects you that means it's already too late.
@@jordanloux3883It is not too late. You can choose to see the glow at any point in your life.
Cautionary in a way but ultimately optimistic. There is still time.
None of these words are uncanny, which says to me the film has sacrificed oneiric beauty for psychological “depth” Is this just Mud by Jeff Nichols for kids raised on Doctor Who and not Tom Sawyer?
well then I guess I'll check it out cautiously
Thanks.
Thanks 🍻
❤❤❤❤❤
Gotta be honest: I HATE media like this. It's garbage to me, and I hate that most of it exists.
Life can be cruel and harsh enough, and shit like this is torture porn
That's fair, but sad, depressing movies can also be motivating. As sad as the movie is, it's still optimistic, even if just a little bit.
Might as well just watch barney then dude
+
Daaaang
👍👍👍👍
I'm betting either he killed her or did something that contributed to her death/disappearance.
Or maybe the answer was something else that was just as bad or worse.
Please report back your thoughts if you ever see the movie. That is all I’m going to say
Nope. She's just a runaway.
This is easily one of the worst movies of the year, if not the decade. If someone wanted to make the case that indie movies suck, they could use it an a perfect example,t he same way that someone who wanted to say mainstream blockbusters suck would use the Transformers series.
It's also blatant false advertising from A24, who present it as a horror film, when a) nothing scary happens (even the gore is boring), and b) it's just a big metaphor for being gay/trans.
Did you only watch like 3 movies this decade?
🍿🎥🎬📀📼🎦📽️🎞️
Pretention, all bob looks for in a movie
The DUMBEST, most BORING and DEPRESSING movie I ever ''tried'' to watch...actually ''struggled'' to watch. Film makers are on drugs. This made no sense and belongs in a mental ward on TV night. Characters are always depressed to the point you either wanna turn this movie off or commit suicide. Couldn't even make it halfway through this thing, whatever it was.
It was like a student movie with a massive budget. It wasn’t good!
He felt like an asexual autistic kid, not trans.
@@A_UA-cam_CommenterI mean, asexual autistic trans people exist.
The worst movie to ever make the cinema. I seen better B movies than this.
Director should be fired and blacklisted from making movies ever again.
Most reviews and comments on 'X' are bots repeating similar sentences.
End of Evangelion. Saw it once during the hottest part of it's era and I never need to see it again. The sheer contempt of it's payload is so stark and explicit.
Evangelion in general is like what Bob's describing. A conscious non-catharsis. Not even a slap in the face, but... "if you are like you Shinji you are wretched and not accepting that is your most damning failure. You cannot advance and your problems are far smaller then death-duels with eldritch kaiju at the end of the world."
I suppose runner-up nominations would be Salo, which is literal torture porn, and The Passion of the Christ, which is less literal torture porn.