I remember being a kid and thinking this was a movie I had discovered and that no one else knew about. I thought--and still do--believe it's unique and like nothing I've seen.
Thanks for posting this! My favorite bit: Mr. Culver - "Economics has become a spiritual thing. I must admit it frightens me a little bit. They don't seem to see the difference between working and not working. It's all become a part of one's life. Linda, Larry! There's no concept of weekends anymore!"
"There's no concept of weekends anymore!" I didn't really understand that line until I started working full time and co-workers started asking me "How was your weekend?," to which I can only respond with confusion- "but you were there, you know what I did!"
Mr. Culver is a fascinating character. He always sounds kind of like a salesman giving a Powerpoint presentation, talking about PROGRESS and GROWTH, but his dialogue is peppered with these lines that are casually despairing. "Of course, nowadays not everyone is having kids, what with the end of the world coming up and all." In this scene he's like some weird wizard of commerce, making the dinner plates spin with a wave of his hand, but as powerful as he is and as confident as he sounds, there's this feeling like it could all come crashing down at any moment. He's devoted his entire life to business, and now, on some level he may not even understand himself, he's deeply unfulfilled and lost. He believes the planet is doomed and he probably senses that men like him are responsible for it, but he keeps on building and selling because that's all he knows.
they tried to warn us of the impending doom, but had to present it in this playful manner, so they would not seem threatening to the planners...I always found this to be a highly prophetic work...I saw this for the first time around 1996 or so...'it's all true!'...
"They don't work for money anymore or to earn a place in Heaven, which was a big motivating factor once upon a time, believe you me." I love that line. "Middle class people have worked for large corporation like VariCorp, or for the government itself" is actually a VERY subversive statement. It implies that corporations and the gov't are so inextricably linked that when you work for one you might as well be working for the other.
This can be seen as either prophetic or a case of nothing new under the sun. Also, I could never work out why they didn't speak because they seemed to be on perfectly good terms.
I believe you're overthinking it. The fact that they were on good terms, and yet inexplicably communicated exclusively through third parties, is what makes them amusing as a couple.
David Byrne based many of the characters on the odd , weird stories seen in Weekly World News, Star, National Enquirer, etc i the 80s. The guy who took out a billboard looking for a wife, the couple who didn't speak to each other for years because he refused to apologize, the lazy woman who never left her bed...
I remember being a kid and thinking this was a movie I had discovered and that no one else knew about. I thought--and still do--believe it's unique and like nothing I've seen.
"Excuse me, Mr. Culver, I forgot what these peppers represent"
Thanks for posting this!
My favorite bit:
Mr. Culver - "Economics has become a spiritual thing. I must admit it frightens me a little bit. They don't seem to see the difference between working and not working. It's all become a part of one's life. Linda, Larry! There's no concept of weekends anymore!"
That’s so true in regards to the weekends.
" Linda, Larry, there's no concept of weekends anymore ! "
I’m watching this in my company’s break room on a Sunday morning.
There really is no concept of the weekend anymore, you know it’s true.
- Do you hear music?
- Something wrong with your sister?
Yes, she lowkey broke the 4th wall lol
"There's no concept of weekends anymore!"
I didn't really understand that line until I started working full time and co-workers started asking me "How was your weekend?," to which I can only respond with confusion- "but you were there, you know what I did!"
KBMusic I work full time Mon-Fri
I work for Ford Motor Co. Henry Ford pushed the concept of “The Weekend” so the workers would buy a Ford and take their families places.
Where I work, a weekend is whenever you happen to get two days off in a row.
It's even weirder when you do freelance work, as I've been discovering the past few weeks.
Mr. Culver is a fascinating character. He always sounds kind of like a salesman giving a Powerpoint presentation, talking about PROGRESS and GROWTH, but his dialogue is peppered with these lines that are casually despairing. "Of course, nowadays not everyone is having kids, what with the end of the world coming up and all." In this scene he's like some weird wizard of commerce, making the dinner plates spin with a wave of his hand, but as powerful as he is and as confident as he sounds, there's this feeling like it could all come crashing down at any moment. He's devoted his entire life to business, and now, on some level he may not even understand himself, he's deeply unfulfilled and lost. He believes the planet is doomed and he probably senses that men like him are responsible for it, but he keeps on building and selling because that's all he knows.
This movie was ahead of its time
This movie keeps on giving in so many ways.
This movie was an enormous influence on me as a teen in the mid-90s. I'm 37 in the 2017 and it's still influencing me.
I LOVE this film. Even though the culture we've created is a strange mutant of this.
IMHO this "culture" has spread all around the world
maybe it was a cautionary tale?
Up there with the following:
It's a multipurpose shape, a box.
This movie is a gem.
I can’t like this enough. One of my favorite scenes in one of my all-time favorite films.
This is the greatest and best film i the world.
Yep
they tried to warn us of the impending doom, but had to present it in this playful manner, so they would not seem threatening to the planners...I always found this to be a highly prophetic work...I saw this for the first time around 1996 or so...'it's all true!'...
Totally.
one of the best scenes in one of my favorite movies
Miss you, Spaulding
Damn, this scene from 1986 is still so relevant to events today in 2024.
"They don't work for money anymore or to earn a place in Heaven, which was a big motivating factor once upon a time, believe you me."
I love that line.
"Middle class people have worked for large corporation like VariCorp, or for the government itself" is actually a VERY subversive statement. It implies that corporations and the gov't are so inextricably linked that when you work for one you might as well be working for the other.
and academia, and the churches, and the schools, and the hospitals, and the farms...on and on and on...
english plz... I want to understand this
@peninsulacheeks Totally. "There's no concept of weekends anymore!" gets me every time!
God, i love this movie
I actually shouted "HOLY SHIT THAT'S SPALDING GRAY" when he got his close-up
RIP Spalding Gray
Spaulding Grey was a talented writer and actor.
I miss Spalding Gray. :(
I love this movie. Started my fetish for small American towns lol
Spalding Grey, the least Texan man in America.
PRICELESS!!!!
This can be seen as either prophetic or a case of nothing new under the sun. Also, I could never work out why they didn't speak because they seemed to be on perfectly good terms.
I believe you're overthinking it. The fact that they were on good terms, and yet inexplicably communicated exclusively through third parties, is what makes them amusing as a couple.
John Goodman's character explains to David at the fashion show that they haven't spoken (directly) to each other in years.
David Byrne based many of the characters on the odd , weird stories seen in Weekly World News, Star, National Enquirer, etc i the 80s. The guy who took out a billboard looking for a wife, the couple who didn't speak to each other for years because he refused to apologize, the lazy woman who never left her bed...
@@venetiagentzler2324 really? I had no idea but that makes a lot of sense. Thanks.
True.
So prophetic 34 years ago. Now its called disruption.
then we get Silicom Valley, Machintosh, Tesla and the Iphone 16 🙃
pass the food with your right or left hand?
11
Notice how the wife's endeavors are marginalized. Troubled family.
Straaaaange.
Hahahah, wtfffff!??!?!