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man, this is such an interesting discussion, which i think is a sneaky win for the author considering we're talking at length about it.

i think it's fair for someone to think that watching two angry men try to kill each other in a slow burning arthouse film that uses oil mining as a metaphor for the evils of capitalism and religion is boring, to be completely honest. not everyone's cup of tea! i loved it because i find those questions interesting and i like the way PTA tells those stories even if it's not enjoyable to sit through. to me it is a horror film, not a comedy (but i want to try to see it from that lens next time). i get stressed out the same way i do when i know some scary monster is going to jump out from a shadow because the anger of men and the addiction to capitalism and religion are scary and interesting to me. but i can see people finding that conversation boring, too!

but the thing that seems to be happening in finding that kind of film boring yet getting so much praise is the question of whether what we consider to be great/good is too narrow, and a resulting frustration from that narrow description and/or recommendation.

that's a sentiment that really resonates with me. but like you point out, the author is engaging in bad faith and it's hard to see the underlying point through the condescension. anyway, i wanna watch TWBB as a comedy on the next viewing now!

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now that i think about it, it was really funny when Daniel Day Lewis throws Paul Dano into the mud haha

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Haha, exactly, he open-hand slaps him over and over and Paul Dano squeals like Curley from The Three Stooges. Anyway, viewing TWBB as horror film is also my favorite way to view it 👍

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