Why can I remember almost zero about this movie? I saw it.
At first I was thinking, you know what…it’s a shame it was a flop, because at least it was a filmmaker trying something original that wasn’t just a sequel/superhero/crap action franchise movie that we’ve seen ad nauseaum.
But then I thought…no…that’s too easy. While that is true, it let’s Coppola off the hook far too easy than he deserves.
A better phrase would be, “It’s a shame that the movie turned out to be hot garbage”, because that is ultimately what made it flop, and we’re doomed to have even fewer investors interested in original content as a result.
“go back to the cluuuub”
I saw the trailer and heard that the movie is not good. That’s why I didn’t watch it.
I’m assuming this is entirely related to him financing the film himself by taking out loans against his properties, which are coming due and he’s now having to sell things off and take new loans. He’s convinced it will still become a cult classic!
MegaFlopOlis
I haven’t seen it, but for some reason I haven’t been able to forget this review:
I have seen it. I don’t remember hating it but for the life of me I could not tell you a single thing that the movie is about.
I tried muddling my way through it but gave up.
I’ve watched some truly terrible movies but this one really irks me. I recall it being pretentious and yet banal.
I watched this at the cinema. There were three other people in the whole room. We were all confused.
Why?
It’s Megalollipolisin’ time!
This is what I came for!
Precisely what I clicked through to comment. 🤌🏼
Didn’t he have to sell his vineyard (the absolute indignation of it!) because the movie lost so much? He probably wants some money back.
I would much prefer that rich artists have the capacity to make art and try to make money off it than all mass media be controlled by a few organisations. It’s a shame it wasn’t a humongous success. We might benefit from more artists and more investors taking risks.
Poor man must be so thirsty…
But why tho?
I’ll be even funnier the second time
Well if you put it like that, it’s morbin time!
Sony please, this time we’ll see it.
Desperately trying to make money?
Wouldn’t that be easier if they picked one of his watchable films instead?
But then the people who lost money on this film wouldn’t make their money back.
It’ll trickle down.
It was him; he financed it himself by taking out loans against properties he owned. He’s selling things off now to pay the loans back.
I love movies with abstract imagery and themes. Usually I can piece things together and figure out what the film is trying to say, but not Megalopolis.
Like, what was Megalopolis (the in-film construction project) supposed to represent? It was one guy’s vision for a better future that he was going to build no-matter what. Fine! But then Adam Driver’s character makes a big speech at the ribbon ceremony about how we need to start a conversation about the future. What conversation? The guy never listened to anyone else during the film! Maybe his wife?
Why was everything wrapped up in the names and imagery of late Roman republic? To imply that American society is reaching an end of its current unsustainable phase. Ok, but then you name Adam Driver’s character after the guy who turned Rome into a militarist principate. So what better future should we be looking towards?
What was the whole deal with Carthage, the crumbling Soviet satellite which destroyed part of the city? The Megalopolis project only got underway when the destruction cleared out a chunk of New Rome, so are we to assume that our bold conversation about the futute can only happen when the once-forgotten ghost of Communism smashes America? But then the satellite’s crash has no impact on anything except some buildings. The mayor doesn’t face any problems as leader during or after this disaster, and the MAGA-coded villains don’t really change tactics either. Adam Driver’s plans are obviously helped by this, but he already had buy-in from the Mayor. It’s not like the disaster was some catalyst for change, but rather a convenience so we don’t have to watch Adam Driver finger-snap another building demolition.
Megalopolis threw a lot of ideas on the screen, but I kept waiting for a payoff that never arrived.
1: his movies, it’s a vanity project. Driver is a metaphorical director that is literally what Coppola thinks of himself including his magic plot armor powers being the power of a director to determine the fate of a film and culture derived from it blah blah
2: he’s talking to the audience, because it’s a vanity project and bad
3: America was deliberately patterned on Rome, including the slave economy and aggressive expansion. It’s not that deep, but it does explain why the House of Representatives has a fasces in it.
4 onwards:cuz continuing the metaphor, the satellite is Putin/conflict with the Russian Federation or whatever who cares
You just need to understand that every question about the movie is answered by “the old man thinks he’s a genius dropping deep cuts about what social media’s been saying for a decade.”
Tbf to him he probably started on this with the fall of America’s Carthage… This would have blown some damn minds in 2006
I like the occasional artsy fartsy overly pretentious movie.
I absolutely hated this movie. There was nothing I found redeeming. The acting was horrible, the writing was awful, the cgi/effects reminded me of Sky Captain, but bad. Everything pointed to awful direction as the problem.
The only thing I thought was cool was the moving statues during one of the car rides.
When i saw some clips i thought i would love it. Or love to hate it. Or at least find it funny.
It was just a colossal waste of time.
Can’t wait to not see it again!
Everyone here is dumping on it. I’m gonna try and get tickets.
It was far from a perfect movie yes but it was weird and fun and I loved it. I say “go back to the club” all the time now.
I unironically love it and think it will be a cult classic in 10 years. It’s so stupidly ambitious and unapologetic. It’s beautiful too. I love how you find out in the first scene that the main character can stop time (the only one with any kind of superpower) and that turns out not to be very relevant for the rest of the movie. Fuck Chekhov’s gun, amirite. Frank stockpiled wine money for years to make exactly what he wanted to make and damnit he did. I’ll happily see it in theaters.
That time pause scene was great. Let Adam Driver do his thing and set the tone for the rest of the film but also leave room for the more gonzo things like whatever Shia Lebouf was on
I enjoyed a few movies that everyone else was shitting on. I know the feeling.
This one I couldn’t stand. But Coppola is no fool. Maybe I missed something. I will give it a try again, but not at a theater. And not too soon after my first try.
I think part of the problem is it’s a mess. It’s very on the nose and chaotic and does not live fully up to his skill. It asks people to critique the society they’re a part of too which almost never goes well.
But it’s beautiful. The cinematography alone was worth a watch in my book. It was a movie that you could tell the creators cared about the message and truly wanted people to think about.
I’m in general a sucker for movies I call “So shitty so good” which might not help. Movies that just objectively are flawed, but you can’t help but enjoy. Like Colors out of Space starring Nic Cage, or Velocipastor, or Kung Fury.
Whenever you do rewatch, go in knowing it’s flawed, but look for it’s heart.
Movies that just objectively are flawed, but you can’t help but enjoy. Like Colors out of Space starring Nic Cage
How dare you!
Don’t get me wrong, I loved it and recommend it all the time.
Have you seen Priest, with Paul Bettany and Karl Urban?
Solid 5.5/10, and an absolute joy to watch.
Added to list, looks exactly like what I’m talking about
It’s got everything, and it’s beautiful. Don’t read up about it.
Now even more people can go back to the cluuuuub.
This was great. I hope people click the link. The comments were hilarious:
So go back to the 🗣⬅➡⬅➡cluuuub⬅➡⬅➡🗣
Adam Driver in this movie looks, talks and acts like Snape if he was a thirty something tech bro on morphine, and also took losing Lily Potter even harder.
This is like if roman history and some philosophy books fell into a blender mixed in with Spy Kids and Star Wars prequels DVDs and this is what we got
Actress: “Let me give three different versions of this line so you can pick the one you like.” Coppola: “I hired the whole actress I’m gonna use tho whole acting!”
If you want people to talk about your movie, they have to see it first.
