10 Successful Low Budget Films (That Weren't As Good As You Think)
4. Donnie Darko (2001)
Donnie Darko isn't an awful movie by any means: it is entirely inoffensive as long as you don't think too much about the slipshod plot, or how Donnie Darko ended up letting a pedophile roam free to commit more crimes. It did have Echo and the Bunnymen on the soundtrack and a really cool visual style, so it is easy to forgive its glaring shortcomings as long as nobody tries to pretend it is the smartest movie ever made or something. SPOILER ALERT: That is precisely what people did. The internet in 2001 was a scary place where you couldn't swing a guy in a rabbit suit without hitting somebody willing to yell at you about how profound Donnie Darko is. Not much has changed since, and this merely-okay-sort-of-nostalgic film has turned into an unassailable classic to a lot of people. The problem inherent in Donnie Darko is that it isn't nearly as smart as it thinks it is, and almost none of it holds up to any real scrutiny. This was proven drastically correct when the director's cut was released: imagine how poorly written a movie has to be for it to get worse when you explain more of it and fill plotholes. This and The Butterfly Effect were the "Baby's First Mindmelt" duology and on the surface there isn't really anything wrong with that - it is just that when you learn how to ride a bike you are supposed to take the training wheels off, and as soon as you saw Lost Highway or something, you should stop getting super angry when people point out they don't like Donnie Darko. And Southland Tales was Richard Kelly's best movie. Think about that for a minute.
Gavin Bard was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambiance of his home city of Los Angeles. His work addresses the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women, and the drudgery of work. In 1986 Time called Bard a "laureate of American lowlife".
Wait, crap, hold on a second. That is Bukowski. Sorry. Gavin plays too many video games, thinks pro wrestling is the world's best performance art, and considers Hunter S. Thompson a better journalistic influence than Edward R. Murrow.
