Refn Gonna Refn: The Neon Demon (2016)

i was watching an episode of Southland and someone was smashing big store windows around town and they finally found the guy and he was a sad middle-aged white guy with a slingshot and he said he felt dead inside and smashing the windows was a way to feel surprise and he liked that feeling because he never felt surprised anymore. later, the weary gay cop who caught him went home and got drunk and noticed that he still had the slingshot and went in his backyard and set some empty bottles up and then shot one of them with the slingshot and then he laughed. end of episode.

made me think of this thread.

I thought you were quoting Marilyn Hagerty.

Jena Malone the real star of The Neon Demon imo

― μpright mammal (mh)

She stole the show from the camera, the read lead.

imo if critics want to make sure movies don't get picked up by people wanting to canonize trash, the Hagerty technique of damning with polite faint praise might be a good approach

it took me a while to realize I recognized the photographer as one of the detectives from television's Dexter

does Refn cast a lot of his parts by watching american cable television?

how is Refn pronounced anyway

"hack"

Just saw this. I dunno what I thought of it. I guess the best way to enjoy it would be to treat it as a glorified music video for an amazing soundtrack.

Score was so good. Cliff Martinez rulez

That it was so laughably over-the-top + Jena Malone's performance was enough for me to quite enjoy the movie. Obviously it isn't smart, nothing Refn does is smart, but it was fun to see all the aesthetical elements I've been railing against eat themselves and suffer.

Ending was particularly rubbish buy I did stay for the credits.

this would make a good double bill with that last cronenberg movie with julianne moore or the canyons maybe.

looks fantastic as expected, starts off well, looks like its going to be an interesting look at power and rivalry in LA modelling, but then just becomes a stupid horror movie. i say that as someone who likes horror, but who doesnt really like how its often just bolted on in these sorts of art-horror films. some of it was genuinely gross. but the films bitchiness wasnt really OTT enough like some have said (its no heathers). ending was pathetic. felt underscripted and lacking where it needed more. basically just another excuse for refn to come up with great shots, but not a great movie. someone let the man do some film art installations instead.

"Ending was particularly rubbish buy I did stay for the credits."

the font was nice at the very end.

one thing i thought was that if this was made in the 80s it would prob have been more exploitative whereas in this, you never see EF naked, the scene with keanu and the knife is awful rather than titillating, etc etc. its weirdly sexless, the whole thing. very clinical.

I liked this a lot. Refn is still hamfisted in many ways but I think he's really found his "Refn Mach 2" style with this one. It's beautiful and vapid and egregious and still when you have a solid lead performance you can work wonders. Cinematography, editing and music very on point as well. Color me surprised.

A performance like Fanning's in this possibly one of the key missing elements in his last two films.

On Netflix UK now fwiw.