Double Feature Duel (Rd 2): Das Boot vs. Requiem For a Dream

Double Feature Duel (Rd 2):
Das Boot vs. Requiem For a Dream

Hello! Welcome to the Round of 32! We’ve weeded out the crap and it’s time to get to business. Make the hard decisions I will one day get paid for. But until then, I will make these hard decisions here – for free – if for no other reason than to stave off doing anything considered productive by society. This includes joining Google Plus and figuring out what the hell it does. OK. What’s up, Das Boot and Requiem for a Dream?

Title: Das Boot is German for “The Boat.” I don’t even really know what a requiem is and that alone is better than a movie called “The Boat” in any language. Maybe if it was German for “Jelly Donut.” (Point, Requiem 0-1)

Funnier: Yikes! Everybody dies in both of these movies. But I’d say that the 3 ½ hours of Das Boot numbed whatever laugh sensors I had anyway. (Point, Requiem 0-2)

Better Turn: Both turns exposed the hopelessness of the situation. Dramatic as it was to see that the German crew had to go back out on a suicide mission immediately upon their return, the scene where the son tried to get his mom to realize she was addicted to diet pills out-hopelessed Das Boot. (Point, Requiem 0-3)

Better Ending: I just watched a really good movie last night called Das Boot. Ron: “What was it about?” It was a World War Two movie shot from the perspective of a German U Boat. Ron: “It didn’t end well, did it.” Not so much. But it did. (Point, Das Boot 1-3)

Better Message: “Don’t do drugs” vs. “Don’t mess with America.” Maybe not exactly like that, but that’s one takeaway. (Point, Das Boot 2-3)

Better Acting: Once again, Ellen Burstyn brought an unexpected thrill to this movie. I didn’t even know what the guys in the other movie were saying. In fact, how the hell did a German movie get to the second round? (Point, Requiem 2-4)

Poster: I’m not particularly affected by the giant eyeball. If they were going for disturbing, I suppose they got close enough to the target. Otherwise, the Das Boot poster, from picture quality to choice of font, shows a graininess and pixelated quality, which may just be the quality of the jpg, but is still enough to win this. I guess. (Point, Das Boot 3-4)

More Creative: The use of some creative camerawork and music along with the “Juice By Tappy” commercials made Requiem as uncomfortable to watch as Das Boot without having to be in German or last 3 ½ hours. (Point, Requiem 3-5)

Watch again: Have I mentioned yet that Requiem for a Dream wasn’t 3 ½ hours long? (Point, Requiem 6-3)

Overall: OK. We have our first Sweet 16. I wouldn’t exactly call Requiem an underdog, but mid-majors don’t usually escape the round of 16 too often. Good luck, Mason.

Double Feature Duel: Das Boot vs. Answer Man

Double Feature Duel:
Das Boot vs. Answer Man

New game! I decided in order to help me get the motivation to write on this blog, I’d come up with a little bit of a gimmick. Every time I watch two movies – no matter how long between them or what their genres are, etc. – I’ll rate them against each other in seven categories and rule one as the victor over the other. This will satisfy two of my favorite writing concepts: movies and competition. It’s an experiment and will likely change name and categories a number of times before settling in, but I like the idea, so here goes. And the inaugural two movies could possibly be the most polar opposite of any two movies that I watch in the next 50 entries.

After finally watching Schindler’s List, I got the bug to start watching a bunch of WW2 movies, and one of the most highly recommended was Das Boot. This is a WW2 film shot from the perspective of a German U-Boat. No, it didn’t end well. Up against this film was Answer Man with Jeff Daniels and Lauren Graham. It was not as historically significant, but it was about a man who wrote some very inspiring religious books who turned out to be a phony. Anyway, let the games begin!

Funnier: This was a no brainer since Das Boot was shot in German and if it contained any humor, it was lost in translation, possibly under the crushing weight of the impending death of the entire cast. Point, Answer Man. (0-1)

Better Turn: The “turn,” as I put it, is the transition from the first act to the second act, or the tension that must be solved which drives the plot. In Answer Man, Lauren finds out that Jeff has been forcing a small book store owner to take books from him in return for answering a “secrets of the Universe” type of question that he allegedly got from God according to his books, and she stops seeing him. It’s not quite as stupid as it sounds, but just barely. In Das Boot, it was when the entire crew finally docked after almost losing the entire boat only to find out that their request to come ashore was denied and they had to go back out on basically a suicide mission. Point, Das Boot (1-1)

Better Ending: The U.S. bombed the hell out of a bunch of Germans, leaving them all for dead. Point, Das Boot (2-1)

Better Message: If I told you that the God I claimed to have gotten all my answers from was really just my thoughts, does it make the answers you’ve put so much faith in any less correct? Oh. And let’s squeeze in a redemptive love story. OR… the people not actually in the battles are playing this war like a game. Yet the pawns are actually living, breathing people with feelings and a heartbeat. The love story almost lost it for Answer Man, but the point behind Das Boot isn’t anything revolutionary. Point, Answer Man (2-2)

Better Acting: Das Boot was entirely shot in German, but I watched it with English subtitles. So it’s tough to really say. However, Jeff Daniels was pretty good and Lauren Graham was just OK. But Lauren’s assistant had one of the stupidest hissy fits I’ve ever seen. It was probably poorly written plot, but I’m taking it away from the acting score. Point, Das Boot (3-2)

More Creative: Thought I really like the concept behind a man who writes books about answers that he claims to be from God, who he doesn’t actually believe in, the claustrophobic world that Das Boot created was very convincing and interesting. Point, Das Boot (4-2)

Watch again: Though all signs point to Das Boot, that movie was 209 minutes long. That’s one minute shy of 3 ½ hours. Point, Answer Man (4-3)

Overall: Well, the score ends barely in favor of Das Boot. It was definitely the superior film probably by a lot more than a 1/7^th margin, but I don’t make the rules. Congrats to Das Boot for escaping the narrow victory over a pretty forgettable Answer Man.

Winner, Das Boot