7 ms·

Am I the only one that doesn't really like it? I see all these websites talking about how amazing it is, but it's just, eh. Everything pre-chatroulette was al

Am I the only one that doesn't really like it? I see all these websites talking about how amazing it is, but it's just, eh. Everything pre-chatroulette was alright and realistic but then a third of the movie is wasted time jumping around dick shots until he magically hits upon a girl who has a quick speech talking about how fake Facebook is. The bond between those two parts doesn't really work for me. And it seems like he just ran out of ideas for concluding the Facebook paranoia/break up scene so he cheated with the speech. It's like a bunch of people see this movie is completely on a screen and it's this hard hitting revelation that relationships are now on screen and so this movie perfectly encapsulates a young person's relationship.

chatman 13y ago
Not so well put together. I had higher expectations. Perhaps I miss "You got mail" (Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks).
- stephengillie 13y ago
  It's a sign. It means we're getting old.
  - thejulielogan 13y ago
    Ah no, it means the filmmakers are young!
aroman 13y ago
I had the opposite reaction to your perceived flaws. I found them extremely true to the rapid and abrupt nature of teenage computer use, as showcased in the first 30 seconds of the movie. That really is how chatroulette works -- you jump around dick shots for a while until you hit a decent human being. The speech didn't seem like filler to me. Perhaps you haven't wasted enough time on ChatRoulette and the like ;)
- stephengillie 13y ago
  The dialog is the same vapid conversation that all humans use from teenage to mid-adulthood.
  - flipp 13y ago
    They're sharing frustrations, emotions, connecting. Just because someone is trying to share a feeling doesn't make what they're saying instantly vapid. I thought it was great.
  - thejulielogan 13y ago
    Given that it's a movie about teenagers...yeah I'd hope the dialogue would be the same vapid conversations that all humans have from teenage to mid-adulthood.
    - clicks 13y ago
      Worse than that, what about the casual racism? The truly shocking thing to me is no-one in this thread has yet commented about it. This is frustrating for two reasons: 1) It is so normalized that no-one felt the need to even comment about it -- as if it's not bizarre 2) 'Studying' is presumed as a boring, bad thing. Is this what college students are like? Studying a lot is bad? Asians studying a lot is 'the worst thing'? I emphasize it not apparently being a problem is a big problem -- this is how racism is perpetuated.
      - stephengillie 13y ago
        >Is this what college students are like? Studying a lot is bad? Asians studying a lot is 'the worst thing'? Yes, most college students want to study only the week before midterms and finals, so they can maximize their free time with friends. And I have seen Asian friends complain about other Asians for "living in the library" and "being too Asian". (I was in an Asian fraternity at a 25% Asian campus...) Yes, everyone's racist today, and the new equality is being an equal-opportunity racist. It's a brave, new world.
      - 13y ago
shurcooL 13y ago
Happiness/Likeness = Expectation - Reality. Those who thought it was great probably did not have high expectations. The movie beat them. You already saw websites saying how great it was, so your expectations were much harder to beat.
- DjangoReinhardt 13y ago
  I think, you'll find that the equation works better if you reverse the RHS. Happiness = Reality - Expectations. The lesser the expectations and the greater/better the reality, the more the happiness. :) (NB: I use this equation as a general rule for my life. In fact, I put it in one of my first HN comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5932133 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5932133)
  - shurcooL 13y ago
    You're right, that's what I meant.
  - rapind 13y ago
    One of my favs https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2092745 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2092745
atmosx 13y ago
No man, I feel you. I saw nothing strange, original or frightening about it.
discostrings 13y ago
I think this format has a lot of potential, but it's also really hard to do well. To me, this film felt much more like a stylistic proof-of-concept than something that's been realized. Having Noah change the status in Amy's account served the plot but not the story--it was a quick shortcut that got the film to the length that those who created it wanted, but it struck me as unrealistic. This had a higher level of production behind it than The Scene, but The Scene--at least what I watched of it--did much more exploration. Granted, they're about different things, but this seemed much more glib. I think it was really more about how to execute the idea than about the content, where I feel The Scene explored the content better. I don't think either of them got it right, but I really appreciate the attempts. I'd love to see more exploration of this sort of thing.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- rapind 13y ago
  Agreed. The status change seemed very unlikely. It really got me to cringe during the mouse hovers on the buttons though. That was pretty great.
thekevan 13y ago
What I thought was cool about it was that it was just a real life shot of what an average college aged person might do online these days. Now get off my lawn.
drhowarddrfine 13y ago
A third of the movie did not jump around dick shots. You dwell on the Facebook ending with was maybe 30 seconds? And if you're looking for realism, dramatic movies are not what you should be commenting on.

chatman 13y ago

Not so well put together. I had higher expectations. Perhaps I miss "You got mail" (Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks).

stephengillie 13y ago
It's a sign. It means we're getting old.
- thejulielogan 13y ago
  Ah no, it means the filmmakers are young!

aroman 13y ago

I had the opposite reaction to your perceived flaws. I found them extremely true to the rapid and abrupt nature of teenage computer use, as showcased in the first 30 seconds of the movie. That really is how chatroulette works -- you jump around dick shots for a while until you hit a decent human being. The speech didn't seem like filler to me. Perhaps you haven't wasted enough time on ChatRoulette and the like ;)

stephengillie 13y ago
The dialog is the same vapid conversation that all humans use from teenage to mid-adulthood.
- flipp 13y ago
  They're sharing frustrations, emotions, connecting. Just because someone is trying to share a feeling doesn't make what they're saying instantly vapid. I thought it was great.
- thejulielogan 13y ago
  Given that it's a movie about teenagers...yeah I'd hope the dialogue would be the same vapid conversations that all humans have from teenage to mid-adulthood.
  - clicks 13y ago
    Worse than that, what about the casual racism? The truly shocking thing to me is no-one in this thread has yet commented about it. This is frustrating for two reasons: 1) It is so normalized that no-one felt the need to even comment about it -- as if it's not bizarre 2) 'Studying' is presumed as a boring, bad thing. Is this what college students are like? Studying a lot is bad? Asians studying a lot is 'the worst thing'? I emphasize it not apparently being a problem is a big problem -- this is how racism is perpetuated.
    - stephengillie 13y ago
      >Is this what college students are like? Studying a lot is bad? Asians studying a lot is 'the worst thing'? Yes, most college students want to study only the week before midterms and finals, so they can maximize their free time with friends. And I have seen Asian friends complain about other Asians for "living in the library" and "being too Asian". (I was in an Asian fraternity at a 25% Asian campus...) Yes, everyone's racist today, and the new equality is being an equal-opportunity racist. It's a brave, new world.
    - 13y ago

shurcooL 13y ago

Happiness/Likeness = Expectation - Reality. Those who thought it was great probably did not have high expectations. The movie beat them. You already saw websites saying how great it was, so your expectations were much harder to beat.

DjangoReinhardt 13y ago
I think, you'll find that the equation works better if you reverse the RHS. Happiness = Reality - Expectations. The lesser the expectations and the greater/better the reality, the more the happiness. :) (NB: I use this equation as a general rule for my life. In fact, I put it in one of my first HN comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5932133 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5932133)
- shurcooL 13y ago
  You're right, that's what I meant.
- rapind 13y ago
  One of my favs https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2092745 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2092745

atmosx 13y ago

No man, I feel you. I saw nothing strange, original or frightening about it.

discostrings 13y ago

I think this format has a lot of potential, but it's also really hard to do well. To me, this film felt much more like a stylistic proof-of-concept than something that's been realized. Having Noah change the status in Amy's account served the plot but not the story--it was a quick shortcut that got the film to the length that those who created it wanted, but it struck me as unrealistic. This had a higher level of production behind it than The Scene, but The Scene--at least what I watched of it--did much more exploration. Granted, they're about different things, but this seemed much more glib. I think it was really more about how to execute the idea than about the content, where I feel The Scene explored the content better. I don't think either of them got it right, but I really appreciate the attempts. I'd love to see more exploration of this sort of thing.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
rapind 13y ago
Agreed. The status change seemed very unlikely. It really got me to cringe during the mouse hovers on the buttons though. That was pretty great.

thekevan 13y ago

What I thought was cool about it was that it was just a real life shot of what an average college aged person might do online these days. Now get off my lawn.

drhowarddrfine 13y ago

A third of the movie did not jump around dick shots. You dwell on the Facebook ending with was maybe 30 seconds? And if you're looking for realism, dramatic movies are not what you should be commenting on.