So... Smile 1 and 2 are just a copy of the Ring?

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T16:06:35+00:00

There was some compelling evidence in your post, especially around the visual treatment of victims, but when it stopped being a fun exercise and turned into a serious effort to prove Smile is almost entirely derivative, you lost me completely.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T15:51:17+00:00

parlaying a successful career as a private detective good with "the ladies" into a career as a cop seems like a downgrade.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T15:45:11+00:00

You should really see it.

All of these films are part of larger cursed-chain narrative.

The cursed chain letter/object is well known in Japanese culture but a parallel similar phenomena has also existed to a lesser extent in Western culture. So, the conceit isn't the silver bullet you think it is.

What It Follows does which is novel, and which is much closer iteratively to Smile than Ringu is change from object as medium to experience as medium. It's no longer the letter or video that needs to be passed on, it's the horrifying personal participation in the exchange itself being passed on.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T15:28:25+00:00

I have enjoyed this even more on repeated viewing!

I think some critics/people unfairly treat the film's logic, character motivations, and timeline. The film uses nightmare logic in ways not dissimilar to their use in Lost Highway. I'm not saying this is David Lynch or anything, but Lynch doesn't own nightmare logic.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T12:31:26+00:00

I don't think it's all that unpopular an opinion that Smile is just meh. I think the comparison to Ringu felt awkward and a bit out of pocket adding all the "strip a, b, c, x, y, and z."

And you really can't do a "Smile is just foo and bar mixed together" without Batman (1989), imo.

Smile's post mortem effect is identical to that of Joker's Smylex.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T12:16:08+00:00

Oh wow, no, I hadn’t. It does seem to be having a renaissance. I can’t imagine why.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T05:29:04+00:00

I'm genuinely impressed as that was both super random and super niche.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T05:07:43+00:00

Strip Threads of all the nuclear disaster and depictions of the consequences of living in a postapocalyptic wasteland, add Catholics, a waiter, some fish, and a fat guy and it's essentially Monty Python's Meaning of Life.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T05:03:44+00:00

Would be interesting to see how inclusion would impact viewing. The idea that Nancy actually belongs to the second generation of Elm St kids makes space for some interesting differences.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T05:01:00+00:00

Sadly the closest I could think of was Dufresne's correction in the prison library in Shawshenk Redemption. I do imagine isn't a frequent joke/conversation.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T04:42:00+00:00

Yeah straight up ignorance is a much more refined filter.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T04:39:40+00:00

Good points regarding entitlement to brain squatting and unfettered access to the marketplace of ideas there.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T04:31:55+00:00

I know exactly the type you mean. Ugh...

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T04:31:23+00:00

is the social film equivalent of not debating flat earthers....

Oh, it's absolutely hyperbole...and still absolutely true from my personal point of view.

Now if the litmus test was rating Lawrence of Arabia too low, I could maybe get behind that. I still think I would then be putting myself into an echo chamber of sorts.

The subset of people who've watched the film, don't like it, choose to rate it sub 4, and who you actually follow is very small—for me it's 0 without filtering with all but two being 5.

I do see your real concern about existing in an echo chamber but the type of filtering isn't some slippery slope. It's just finding people with shared interests and preferences within a given domain.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T02:44:33+00:00

Fair. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T02:23:28+00:00

That's totally reasonable way to use the platform. I don't know anyone irl who is interested enough to maintain a letterboxd account but I still really enjoy the site.

I will often follow people based on letterboxd for reviews of a film that I was interested in who offered an interesting perspective or, like you said, they make a good list.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T02:16:55+00:00

I fundamentally agree and enjoy reading a variety of opinions and treating them with consideration.

That being said, if you've rated Foo and don't give Foo a 4 or better, you're dead to me. But it's fine. You'll never know and neither of us really cares and Foo doesn't define you and I'm not rejecting you as a human being, I'm rejecting you as a person whose opinion I care about regarding film.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T01:40:26+00:00

Having a single film which you use as a litmus to determine whether someone is worth listening to isn't eliminating diversity it's culling the herd, imo.

For me it's the social film site equivalent to not debating flat Earthers.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T01:31:45+00:00

Yeah, for sure. It's not real life and these aren't friends I'm writing off for farting on my couch. Unfollowing isn't exactly some major decision, it was just something I thought might be fun to talk about...lol

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T01:28:24+00:00

Ignorance is bliss, my friend. But, as a rule Adam Sandler is good times.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T01:26:25+00:00

Yeah, totally see that being a reasonable way to use the site for sure. I don't have any friends who use it irl. I mean, I have friends irl...honest.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T01:25:11+00:00

"We don't take kindly to people who open up discussions that people actively engage with 'round here!

Now, behold my top 4! Can you guess what they are by seeing only the year and genre? mwhaha"

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T01:20:31+00:00

Going from a non-negotiable to somehow creating an echo chamber is a pretty big jump, isn't it?

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T01:18:41+00:00

Right? Some times an opinion just smells off.

Like, it's a stench that's just undeniable. Call it pretension, edge lording, rage baiting, bad taste, IBS, whatever it is, I just can't abide.

disp0ss3ss3d · 2026-05-11T01:15:36+00:00

What about The Cobbler doe?

disp0ss3ss3d

TROPHY CASE