Angry Robot

Rules vs. Laws

If I were the film The Rules of Attraction, I would sue the film The Laws of Attraction. If I couldn’t get them on copyright infringement I’d take ‘em down for dilution of brand. At some point, someone is going to rent The Laws of Attraction thinking “great, a drugged-out, nihilistic college hate-sex romp,” and they’re going to watch “Getting married is a great way to fall in love.” Find your own title, Hollywood lawyer make-believe! “Sex Lawyer” is an awesome title, and it’s totally not taken.

11 comments on "Rules vs. Laws"

  1. robot johnny says:

    Should I cease production of my screenplay, The General Guidelines of Attraction?

  2. eL says:

    Yeah, then I’d have to sue you b/c I have the rights to “The Rough Synopsis of Sexual Interest.” It’s on a napkin somewhere.

  3. robot johnny says:

    That’s a little too close to my OTHER screenplay-in-progress: The Lowdown on Doing It.

  4. D says:

    Courting would be a touche, oh-so-witty title for the Pierce film. As would Lawfucker, but hey, I’m realistic.

  5. king says:

    Roger Avary’s “Rules of Attraction” was a first class piece of shit. Even worse was the behind-the-scenes featurette on the DVD where they show you how they did a pretty cool splitscreen shot which gets lets cool with every word out of Avary’s mouth.

  6. D says:

    Aw, I think it was a good picture. I wasn’t thrilled with it after one viewing, but it stuck around in my head for quite a while. It’s one of those pictures that doesn’t quite work as a whole, but has enough interesting things going on to make it good. The suicide scene is unbelievable, and I also like the reverse footage bit. And the postcard sequence.

  7. king says:

    I’m all for good sequences in not-so-stellar films but the Rules of Atrraction was just annoying I thought, mainly because the performances were so unrealistic, although they were trying to be ultra-realistic. What was the postcard scene again?

  8. D says:

    I’m not sure how realistic they were trying to be, given that the film was sort of a Brecht-a-thon. The postcard scene was the pal traveling, and there’s a fast-paced montage of travel footage along with a rapid VO summary of his trip, which is flashy, sexed-up and meaningless… so the advertising feeling of the sequence kinda works.

    You know he’s a blogger right King?

  9. king says:

    Oh yeah, that was a good sequence, probably the best in the film. I don’t know what you mean by it being a Brecht-A-Thon really, but I’m not all that familiar with Brecht so that’s probably why. Who’s a blogger, Avary?

  10. king says:

    Oh yeah, that was a good sequence, probably the best in the film. I don’t know what you mean by it being a Brecht-A-Thon really, but I’m not all that familiar with Brecht so that’s probably why. Who’s a blogger, Avary?

  11. D says:

    Well, the idea of heaving stylistics constantly reminding you that what you are watching is not reality but a created world, an attempt to distance the viewer from the fiction so as to provoke the viewer to think for his/herself. That’s a vague idea of Brecht’s approach.

    Yes, Avary. Blogger.

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