8 mm (1999)

[Snake 165]

I know Jason put a moratorium on Nic Cage movies and that's fine, but I've never laughed so hard at a snuff film before. I was just listening to this episode of Never Not Funny with Andy Daly:

 

http://www.earwolf.com/episode/andy-daly/

 

and they had a bit where they took turns going into a 7/11 and and asking about a malfunctioning sign at around an hour and thirty minutes in. I don't want to spoil it, it's amazing, but I was thinking how great it would be if Jason, Paul, June and Paul for instance walked into a different porno store one after another, went up to the most fucked up movie they had and then gave the Nic Cage line "do you have anything.....harder?"

[sillstaw 414]

I recall reading that the screenwriter (Andrew Kevin Walker, who previously wrote "Se7en") had written a pretty dark script. The studio wanted him to lighten the tone of the film (because movies about snuff films need to be jolly), and he refused, apparently thinking that like with "Se7en," the director would support him. Unfortunately, the director of "8mm" is Joel Schumacher, who naturally went along with the studio's wishes. Walker practically disowned the film as a result, and refused to watch the final result.

 

Also worth noting: There's a direct-to-video "sequel" that has literally nothing to do with the original. Going by the Wikipedia summary, it doesn't even seem to involve film or video footage, making you wonder why they'd even bother naming it after a film format. The only explanation is that it came out during a boom of direct-to-video sequels, like a sequel to "The Cell" where the main character has psychic powers for some reason. (Needless to say, "8mm 2" was originally made as a stand-alone film and was only changed into a "sequel" after the distributor bought it.)

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

I remember Cage's reaction to watching the snuff film being pretty hilarious, especially considering that his character has supposedly already seen some horrible, horrible shit in his day. We're told that this is like the most disturbing shit ever, and even though we see someone murdered, it kind of feels like everyone's overreacting.

 

What if this is Joaquin's character from "Parenthood" and he really DID get messed up by all the endless jerking off? Keanu said he'd be okay, but maybe he was wrong...

 

Has anyone else seen the George C. Scott flick "Hardcore"? The premise is a little different, like he's looking for his daughter or something, and I'd say that it has a "happy" ending, but Cage pretty much went on the same quest through the seedy porn underworld as he did, only in a much more cartoonish fashion.

 

Ironically, we remember Schumacher's previous film for all of the nipples more than we remember the nipples in this one, a movie ABOUT porn.

[sillstaw 414]

Ironically, we remember Schumacher's previous film for all of the nipples more than we remember the nipples in this one, a movie ABOUT porn.

 

Well, you'd kind of expect nipples in something involving porn. But more importantly, porn and snuff films are all fine and dandy, but superheroes are a deadly serious subject, and heaven forbid somebody make a man dressing like a bat look silly.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

 

Well, you'd kind of expect nipples in something involving porn. But more importantly, porn and snuff films are all fine and dandy, but superheroes are a deadly serious subject, and heaven forbid somebody make a man dressing like a bat look silly.

I suppose that's true, kind of like how tits were the about the LEAST memorable thing in "Showgirls". In fact, I think the edited-for-TV version is infinitely more entertaining...mostly for the hilarious covering up of tits.