You're most depressing movie ever?

[Chef Jim]

"Raising Arizona' could be the lone gem

 

I have not seen it but I have heard it's good. My question though is it good in spite of his acting or does he actually act well in it? When I was back east a few weeks ago my nephew was watching some Cage movie. Holy crap I thought there was no way I could possible see a move where his acting is worse that what I've seen in the past but it was bad, bad, bad, bad. It had something to do with him being able to see into the future. I can't believe the guy gets paid to do what he does.

[Buftex]

"Raising Arizona' could be the lone gem

 

 

"Birdy" was awesome too!

[Wacka]

Cage was fine as one of the guys working with Judge Reinhold at the fish & chips place in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

[KD in CA]

I have not seen it but I have heard it's good. My question though is it good in spite of his acting or does he actually act well in it? When I was back east a few weeks ago my nephew was watching some Cage movie. Holy crap I thought there was no way I could possible see a move where his acting is worse that what I've seen in the past but it was bad, bad, bad, bad. It had something to do with him being able to see into the future. I can't believe the guy gets paid to do what he does.

 

RA was hysterical, but also the kind of movie where bad/silly/campy acting actually made it funnier.

[Chalkie Gerzowski]

Yep....along with some of the best acting you'll ever see on film.

 

 

The one part where Nolte nonchalantly walks back to the house from the burning garage after killing Coburn in there. The music gets a bit eerie and Nolte sits down in the kitchen and pours himself a shot and looks out that big kitchen window at the burning garage, almost in some kind of attitude of self-satisfaction.

[PushthePile]

The Deer Hunter

 

Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby

 

Born on the Fourth of July- The winner for most depressing.

 

Precious

 

Schindlers List

[Pete]

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

[bartshan-83]

came in here only to post Requiem for a Dream.

 

there are a lot of other good, depressing movies mentioned in this thread, but Requiem is the movie that makes you feel like someone just kicked your soul in the crotch. I remember not even being able to get up from my chair when it was over. A really messed up, amazing movie.

 

What an excellent description.

 

What's crazy is, I still can't decide which of the 4 of them ends up the most F'd. I'd go with Connolly or Wayans...but there are no winners.

[The Dean]

"Raising Arizona' could be the lone gem

 

 

He was excellent in Moonstruck.

[The Avenger]

You'd be hard-pressed to find a more outright depressing movie than 2001's "Wit" starring Emma Thompson.

 

In this movie Emma Thompson plays an eglish professor dying of cancer and reflecting on her life - how she's never really had any good strong relationships, how alone she is, how her work has been her life and how few people know or like her. So you follow a lonely woman as she slowly dies a terrible death - hard to get more depressing than that. After I watched it I wondered why I had done that to myself.

[GoodBye]

I agree. I didn't enjoy that movie at all. I also agree on "The Road" being downbeat but I thought it was well done for what it was. I think Charlize Theron is one of the best actresses out there. Put aside that shes beautiful. To add to the most depressing movie list I think "AI" would be a good nomination. Again I thought it was well done but so sad.

I have never felt so disgusted watching a movie as I did when I got finished watching Revolutionary Road. It affected my mood for a long time after that.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

 

At least this one has something of a hopeful ending, even if Randall gets screwed over and bites it.

[stuckincincy]

At least this one has something of a hopeful ending, even if Randall gets screwed over and bites it.

 

The Native American thread starter who hated the Redskins needs to chime in here about the big Indian who liked Juicy Fruit gum and pitched the ceramic thing through the window. How racially insensitive...

[boyst]

The Bridge. A documentary of people jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. It is amazing to watch them back track the lives of people who jumped, talking to their family, their friends, finding their lifes secrets.

 

One guy was the product of his mothers one night stand. She had been planning suicide prior and determined that she would not get the abortion and end her life but instead try to raise him and see if it can help her live. She died when he was in his twenties and not too long after he jumped. It is epic to see the lifes dangle as they fall, to see the one person that someone saved and to see the one who survived. Try it...

[stuckincincy]

The Bridge. A documentary of people jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. It is amazing to watch them back track the lives of people who jumped, talking to their family, their friends, finding their lifes secrets.

 

One guy was the product of his mothers one night stand. She had been planning suicide prior and determined that she would not get the abortion and end her life but instead try to raise him and see if it can help her live. She died when he was in his twenties and not too long after he jumped. It is epic to see the lifes dangle as they fall, to see the one person that someone saved and to see the one who survived. Try it...

 

Here's a classic Bridge movie: the 1959 flick, Die Brücke You won't be all smiles after viewing this sad one...

.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052654/

[UConn James]

I distinguish b/w movies that tell a sad story, real-life or not ("Schindler's List") with movies that are nothing more than exercises in wallowing and depressing just to be depressing.

 

My vote in this regard goes to "Far Harbor" with pre-Oscar Jennifer Connelly. Just a bunch of whiny/mopey, self-involved NYC yuppies who you just want to punch in the solar plexi and yell "Cowboy up!" at. I get enough of that in real life that I don't need to go seeking out and paying to watch these same kind of conversations, thank you very much. Seriously, I'd write that whoever wrote that screenplay ought to be shot, but w/o looking it up, I'd say the odds are 9 out of 10 that they've already done that deed themselves.

 

I almost wrote "Rachel Getting Married" too, but there were at least parts of it that I rather enjoyed, with characters who were humans trying to move on with their lives after an event that defined their family.

[Pete]

The Bridge. A documentary of people jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. It is amazing to watch them back track the lives of people who jumped, talking to their family, their friends, finding their lifes secrets.

 

One guy was the product of his mothers one night stand. She had been planning suicide prior and determined that she would not get the abortion and end her life but instead try to raise him and see if it can help her live. She died when he was in his twenties and not too long after he jumped. It is epic to see the lifes dangle as they fall, to see the one person that someone saved and to see the one who survived. Try it...

I just watched it. Well done but devastating

[Acantha]

Jennifer Connely movies being mentioned reminded me of another, House of Sand and Fog. Bonus that it has Ben Kingsley who can be one of my favorite actors when he's playing the right roles (unfortunately he's played some really bad ones too).

[stuckincincy]

I distinguish b/w movies that tell a sad story, real-life or not ("Schindler's List") with movies that are nothing more than exercises in wallowing and depressing just to be depressing.

 

My vote in this regard goes to "Far Harbor" with pre-Oscar Jennifer Connelly. Just a bunch of whiny/mopey, self-involved NYC yuppies who you just want to punch in the solar plexi and yell "Cowboy up!" at. I get enough of that in real life that I don't need to go seeking out and paying to watch these same kind of conversations, thank you very much. Seriously, I'd write that whoever wrote that screenplay ought to be shot, but w/o looking it up, I'd say the odds are 9 out of 10 that they've already done that deed themselves.

 

I almost wrote "Rachel Getting Married" too, but there were at least parts of it that I rather enjoyed, with characters who were humans trying to move on with their lives after an event that defined their family.

 

Me and wife enjoy the Indie flicks. Our poster MarkV... that gives us the reviews is a great resource.

 

We only view the PG-13 and down flicks - IMO, if you sit through an Indie R rated or above movie, you will leave the theater with your knuckles dragging on the pavement debating in the mind the best way to do yourself in.

[bbb]

The movie I was most depressed with at the end was No Country for Old Men........I was depressed because such a gripping and excellent movie ended so stupidly.

[Buftex]

The movie I was most depressed with at the end was No Country for Old Men........I was depressed because such a gripping and excellent movie ended so stupidly.

 

 

That was one of those endings that I liked, the more I thought about it. IMO, the biggest flaw, with the best Hollywood movies, few good ones as there are, is that they never end satisfactory. I have a good friend who is a screenplay writer, done some big movies, he says writing the end is normally the hardest part.

[Chilly]

That was one of those endings that I liked, the more I thought about it. IMO, the biggest flaw, with the best Hollywood movies, few good ones as there are, is that they never end satisfactory. I have a good friend who is a screenplay writer, done some big movies, he says writing the end is normally the hardest part.

 

That's why I tend to love the "depressing" movies mentioned in this thread, and am a big coen bro's fan. Such great stories.

 

IMO, story > everything else with movies

[Mark Vader]

Me and wife enjoy the Indie flicks. Our poster MarkV... that gives us the reviews is a great resource.

 

We only view the PG-13 and down flicks - IMO, if you sit through an Indie R rated or above movie, you will leave the theater with your knuckles dragging on the pavement debating in the mind the best way to do yourself in.

Thank you stuckincincy.

 

You are right about the indy movie scene. I do not see that many of them and if you are referring to the "R" rated drama's, then yes you do leave the theatre with a huge feeling of gloom.

 

Although "Juno" was an "R" rated comedy/drama, and I felt violated after watching that crap. But "Little Miss Sunshine" was a gem.

 

I am very much looking forward to "Buried" next month. With all the glowing reviews it got at Sundance, and Ryan Reynolds really starting to become a big name, it should be exciting. The real challenge will be if audiences can stand watching an entire movie about a guy trapped in a coffin.

 

I also saw a trailer for the unrated remake of "I Spit on Your Grave". I'm surprised that this movie got a remake, since the original has such a cult following. Nevertheless, it looks extremely brutal, and with it being unrated, who knows how far they will push boundaries.

[Mark Vader]

Jennifer Connely movies being mentioned reminded me of another, House of Sand and Fog. Bonus that it has Ben Kingsley who can be one of my favorite actors when he's playing the right roles (unfortunately he's played some really bad ones too).

Ben Kingsley is one actor that is tough to figure out.

 

Here's a guy that will be in movies like, "Gandhi", "Schindler's List", "Sexy Beast" & "Shutter Island".

 

Then all of a sudden he's in "Species", "Bloodrayne", "A Sound of Thunder" & "Prince of Persia".

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

Thank you stuckincincy.

 

You are right about the indy movie scene. I do not see that many of them and if you are referring to the "R" rated drama's, then yes you do leave the theatre with a huge feeling of gloom.

 

Although "Juno" was an "R" rated comedy/drama, and I felt violated after watching that crap. But "Little Miss Sunshine" was a gem.

 

I am very much looking forward to "Buried" next month. With all the glowing reviews it got at Sundance, and Ryan Reynolds really starting to become a big name, it should be exciting. The real challenge will be if audiences can stand watching an entire movie about a guy trapped in a coffin.

 

I also saw a trailer for the unrated remake of "I Spit on Your Grave". I'm surprised that this movie got a remake, since the original has such a cult following. Nevertheless, it looks extremely brutal, and with it being unrated, who knows how far they will push boundaries.

 

Juno wasn't really what I'd called indie, though. It sorta pretended to be indie for the sake of drawing in that audience, but was actually pretty mainstream. Quirky, but mainstream.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

Ben Kingsley is one actor that is tough to figure out.

 

Here's a guy that will be in movies like, "Gandhi", "Schindler's List", "Sexy Beast" & "Shutter Island".

 

Then all of a sudden he's in "Species", "Bloodrayne", "A Sound of Thunder" & "Prince of Persia".

 

Kingsley, in my opinion, is a great actor who also chooses to sometimes make a quick buck as a stock bad guy because he is vaguely threatening for whatever reason.

[Wooderson]

Requiem for a Dream

 

The last 5-10 minutes was one of the most f-ed up endings I've ever seen.

 

 

Most depressing film I have ever seen. There is another which I can't remember the name- but it is about a women dying from cancer. Butterfly Effect was depressing too. And the most disturbing, etched in my memory ending to a film is Being John Malkovich (with Cusack in the babys body leering at this mother)

 

 

came in here only to post Requiem for a Dream.

 

there are a lot of other good, depressing movies mentioned in this thread, but Requiem is the movie that makes you feel like someone just kicked your soul in the crotch. I remember not even being able to get up from my chair when it was over. A really messed up, amazing movie.

 

 

Definitely Requiem.

 

A movie that became more depressing as I researched it a little bit was Apocalypse Now. Martin Sheen almost committing suicide and being drunk during multiple scenes, Coppola going crazy during shooting and on drugs, taking over 15 months to film in the jungle, the slaughtering of the bull being real. Pretty crazy stuff for an already crazy movie.

[The Dean]

Kingsley, in my opinion, is a great actor who also chooses to sometimes make a quick buck as a stock bad guy because he is vaguely threatening for whatever reason.

 

 

Some actors (Michael Caine comes to mind) simply like to keep busy.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

Some actors (Michael Caine comes to mind) simply like to keep busy.

 

Samuel L. Jackson is the best example. He's a more than competent actor (and a cult icon superstar to boot), but he's been in a TON of bad movies because he claims that acting is work and should be like any other profession, any other 9-5 job. So unlike most actors, he doesn't sit around at home waiting for the perfect script (a la two of my favorites, Daniel Day Lewis and Kevin Kline), he just acts and acts and acts. Something of a refreshing attitude, actually.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Angela's Ashes.

 

Close second: Schindler's List

[The Dean]

Samuel L. Jackson is the best example. He's a more than competent actor (and a cult icon superstar to boot), but he's been in a TON of bad movies because he claims that acting is work and should be like any other profession, any other 9-5 job. So unlike most actors, he doesn't sit around at home waiting for the perfect script (a la two of my favorites, Daniel Day Lewis and Kevin Kline), he just acts and acts and acts. Something of a refreshing attitude, actually.

 

 

Pretty much what I recall Caine saying many years ago. When he is done with one job he expects to start another and it's his manager's job to keep him employed.

[Terry Tate]

Pretty much what I recall Caine saying many years ago. When he is done with one job he expects to start another and it's his manager's job to keep him employed.

I once had a close call with death, and my life flashed before my eyes. The parts of myself and all the people I've ever known in my life, including the female roles, were played by Michael Caine and Gene Hackman.

[The Dean]

I once had a close call with death, and my life flashed before my eyes. The parts of myself and all the people I've ever known in my life, including the female roles, were played by Michael Caine and Gene Hackman.

 

 

Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich

[Mark Vader]

Juno wasn't really what I'd called indie, though. It sorta pretended to be indie for the sake of drawing in that audience, but was actually pretty mainstream. Quirky, but mainstream.

It became mainstream because of all the positive reviews and large word-of-mouth it got, yet it was an independent film. Now it did have recognizable names in the movie instead of a bunch of "unknowns", so from that perspective it may not have been a typical independent film.

[Fingon]

The Road is definitely the most depressing movie I've seen in a long time.

[Rob's House]

came in here only to post Requiem for a Dream.

 

there are a lot of other good, depressing movies mentioned in this thread, but Requiem is the movie that makes you feel like someone just kicked your soul in the crotch. I remember not even being able to get up from my chair when it was over. A really messed up, amazing movie.

 

That's how I felt at the end of Glen Gary Glen Ross.

 

I always thought chicks liked Requiem b/c of the name (and every girl has this one on her list) but with the responses it's getting here I think I'll have to rewatch it.

[boyst]

Did anyone point out that it should be your and not you're? I am too lazy to check.

[Pete]

The Champ

Brian's Song

[BLZFAN4LIFE]

Did anyone point out that it should be your and not you're? I am too lazy to check.

 

Your a ideit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Jokeman]

Perhaps these aren't the most depressing ever but some little known titles that made me shake my head and want to take a cold shower after seeing include "Little Children" and "Towelhead (Nothing is Private)". Ironically enough Jennifer Connelly is in the first.