Wild Things (1998)

[seanotron 2307]

This has been playing lately on IFC and I had honestly forgotten all about it. Much like Color of Night, it was more famous for its sex scenes than its story. But it's a pretty wacky erotic thriller. Admittedly, it's probably one of Denise Richards better performances, but that's not exactly a strong recommendation. The plot is utter nonsense, with so many reversals and twists it would make M Night dizzy. I think this would be a fun one.

[sillstaw 414]

If anyone needs to use a GIF of a head exploding, here's a good excuse: This is from the director of "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer."

[Lando 2019]

I should re-watch this. I remember seeing it in the theater when it came out (I was 18) and thinking it was great but so few movies from my teen years hold up

[wyldride 285]

I could understand doing one of the sequels, but the original works. The problem is, when you know going in that it's going to be a twist movie, you aren't surprised by the twists. Like, you'd have to be an idiot to watch a Die Hard movie and not be waiting for it to turn out that the villain is secretly going after money -- He's always going after money. A Wild Things movie is always about the twists, right up to the very end, and then unraveling the whole plot during the credits sequence. The first time you see the original movie, you don't know that, so it works. But it's hard to get into a movie when you mistrust the motivations of every single character. Beyond the twists, though, this is just a very well made movie.

[seanotron 2307]

I saw it when it came out, and pretty much everyone I knew was seeing it for the threesome, not because it was a brilliantly written screenplay. I didn't know any of the twists going in, and I actually found them increasingly ridiculous (though admittedly entertaining). It's all a bit OTT, which I can buy as being on purpose, but some of it is just too outlandish. I think there's plenty to chew on here, and I'd love to hear June's thoughts on some of the sexual politics at play. Roger Ebert's thoughts pretty much match my own: "It's like a three-way collision between a softcore sex film, a soap opera and a b-grade noir."

 

The sequels seem like a waste of time, as they were all direct-to-video. Plus they're just kind of the same story over and over again.

[Lando 2019]

This thread has me asking myself if I had seen Now You See Me when I was 18 if I would have thought it was a good movie? I hope not.

[IHugKittens 53]

Yeah, I remember loving it when I first saw it but I was a teenager and I loved all the crazy twists and I don't wanna seem shallow but there was Denise Richards and Neve Campbell, naked in a pool and making out. And I remember, at some point after the 4-th or 5-th twist Kevin Bacon flashed his penis for no real reason.

[seanotron 2307]

Yeah, I remember loving it when I first saw it but I was a teenager and I loved all the crazy twists and I don't wanna seem shallow but there was Denise Richards and Neve Campbell, naked in a pool and making out. And I remember, at some point after the 4-th or 5-th twist Kevin Bacon flashed his penis for no real reason.

 

This is a highly accurate plot summary for this movie.

[jarrycanada 2483]

I should re-watch this. I remember seeing it in the theater when it came out (I was 18) and thinking it was great but so few movies from my teen years hold up

 

 

I am up to rewatching it if you want to share your thoughts about it.

[Lando 2019]

I think that there is a strong possibility that I grabbed this from the $5 bin at Wal Mart a long time ago.

[Lando 2019]

Yep, I own this movie. I am defintiely going to rewatch this movie this weekend, which will probably be the first time that I have watched a DVD that I own in at least 3 years.

[jarrycanada 2483]

Yep, I own this movie. I am defintiely going to rewatch this movie this weekend, which will probably be the first time that I have watched a DVD that I own in at least 3 years.

 

Yep i can so relate to that. Some day son all this will be yours.. The beta tapes, the vhs, laserdiscs... This is my legacy to you.

[RyanSz 3140]

Remember seeing this and just amazed at how sex was just thrown in like Denise Richard's mom getting plowed by the gardener for no reason or the fact that in the initial setup of Matt Dillon, Denise Richards so oversold the "c'mon you know you wanna fuck me after I wash this car." The twist on twist on twist ending was nuts because like Reindeer games there were so many moving parts it would have been impossible for the whole scheme to work. I think this is done in the same vein as Color of Night in that there is a nonsensical plot, abhorrent characters, gratuitous sex, useless twists, and a quick flash of one of the male leads' penis. Plus I still find it shocking that this movie lost "Best Kiss" to Shakespeare in Love at the MTV Movie Awards, when it was one of the most talked about things in pop culture at the time.

[jarrycanada 2483]

If any other Canadians are reading this, this movie is on Encore Avenue.

it's on tonight!!!Set that PVR,and Sun, Sep 7 10:20pm MST

[Lando 2019]

Was there ever a worse idea than the reversible DVD where one side is widescreen and the other is full screen? I ended up flipping the DVD over twice because the menu on both sides is 4:3 and it's confusing as fuck.

 

I feel like in the year 2048, if someone asked what the culture was like 50 years ago you could show them this movie and it would give them a good idea of what people wore, listened to and what slang was used. If nothing else this movie is a time capsule of the late 90s. However, the future person would also think that people in the late 90s were dumb and easily entertained. I think that the earlier Ebert quote describes this movie perfectly; the dialog is stiff and full of non-sequiturs, the characters behave in any way that suits the current scene and not in any consistent manner (At the beginning Matt Dilon's character acts like he doesn't want to bang Denise Richards even when nobody is around) and I have no clue how this scheme is the least bit workable.

[jarrycanada 2483]

Was there ever a worse idea than the reversible DVD where one side is widescreen and the other is full screen? I ended up flipping the DVD over twice because the menu on both sides is 4:3 and it's confusing as fuck.

 

I feel like in the year 2048, if someone asked what the culture was like 50 years ago you could show them this movie and it would give them a good idea of what people wore, listened to and what slang was used. If nothing else this movie is a time capsule of the late 90s. However, the future person would also think that people in the late 90s were dumb and easily entertained. I think that the earlier Ebert quote describes this movie perfectly; the dialog is stiff and full of non-sequiturs, the characters behave in any way that suits the current scene and not in any consistent manner (At the beginning Matt Dilon's character acts like he doesn't want to bang Denise Richards even when nobody is around) and I have no clue how this scheme is the least bit workable.

 

 

What you bitching about, you don't have to filp the movie each hour, be thankfully.

 

see it the way it was made to be seen, on laserdisc..LOL i don't really own this.but I love how it's in it's own plastic protective sleeve, I remember buying those fucking bags for my laser discs. Now those bags are most likely worth more then the movie it was protecting. Mind you I miss those days.

 

You know they made three of these movies? I just learned that today looking at IMDB.

[Lando 2019]

Man, I think there are laserdisc purists who would insist to this day that this movie looks better on ld than blu-ray.

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

I wonder if Paul had this on Laserdisc?