They don’t make them like they used to.

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Tony_Tanna78@reddit

Natural Born Killers is one of my personal favorite movies made in the last 30 years plus. It perfectly captured the sensationalized media, especially in regards to serial killers and how it helps creates a cult following with them. Robert Downey Jr. perfectly personified it as Wayne Gale. Plus Rodney Dangerfield was absolutely chilling as Mallory's dad.

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cmgww@reddit

Hated it at the time but I was only 14, so I didn’t get what Stone was going for with the satire. Appreciate it more now, obviously a very obvious lampooning of the media and their obsession over serial killers. It’s still a rough watch in parts, though

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Typical_Dweller@reddit

Totally blew my mind at 14. In fact I think this movie is kind of made for angry teenage boys.

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TakingYourHand@reddit

They didn't make it like this back then, either.

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Typical_Dweller@reddit

Stone got reigned in by the studios after this one I think. Or he just got older, I dunno.

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Beautifulwoman00@reddit

For real, it’s like everything now just lacks that charm and quality

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Astrostuffman@reddit

But they make it up with superheroes.

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LeoDavinciAgain@reddit

They don't make up anything anymore.

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Sumeriandawn@reddit

Is this r/Xennials or r/Boomers?

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TakingYourHand@reddit

born between 1977 and 1984

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Thisisace@reddit

gif

One of the best, most eclectic movie soundtracks of all time

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velvet_blunderground@reddit

Agreed. You can thank Trent Reznor for it.

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IndyDude11@reddit

I will do that next time I see him.

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Thisisace@reddit

💯

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Noname_Maddox@reddit

As expected, Rodney Dangerfield’s name missing from the billing. That guy gets no respect

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SELECTaerial@reddit

Loved him in Ladybugs

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zerok_nyc@reddit

He starred in a biopic about Lindsey Graham?

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sahuxley2@reddit

There's one they couldn't make today.

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SilikonBurn@reddit

Self-described “theocratic fascist” and famed dickbag Matt Walsh sorta tried.

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Apprehensive_Hat8986@reddit

What a thoroughly depressing read.

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sahuxley2@reddit

Sounds like it made him a popular and well-liked guy.

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sahuxley2@reddit

See?

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76@reddit

No respect at all I tell ya.

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Dogrel@reddit

To quote the movie “Ghostbusters”: No, they NEVER made them like this.

If you think movies written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Oliver Stone just grow on trees, you are in for a lot of disappointment.

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emboldenedvegetables@reddit

I rewatched this recently and found it a still relevant commentary on the line between news and spectacle. The main characters were also self curating their own reality tv show using news outlets. The intersections between all three of these things are oddly predictive of the stupidity we currently live in.

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Ok-Potato-4774@reddit

Woody Harrelson was crazy in this. It was just after his role lovable hick-from-the-sticks bartender Woody ended on the classic sitcom "Cheers", and this proved he had acting chops.

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PlaneLiterature2135@reddit

Can we talk about rampart now?

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my_buddy_is_a_dog@reddit

Great movie, started my crush on Juliet Lewis 🤩.

I even ended up reading the book after finding it in a used book store.

The soundtrack is also awesome, introduced me to Leonard Cohen and Patsy Cline.

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MartyMcFlyAsFudge@reddit

Trent Reznor was responsible for the soundtrack and did an excellent job. He also did soundtracks for Seven and Lost Highway.

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taosaur@reddit

That soundtrack stayed in heavy rotation with me for years, along with Trainspotting and, yeah, The Crow.

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MartyMcFlyAsFudge@reddit

I also enjoyed Reservoir Dogs and the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack. Man, it seems so rare these days that there's even a thought given to the soundtracks of films but like Forest Gump was a double discer plus had an original score that was super memorable.

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taosaur@reddit

Well, soundtracks were a phenomenon in the '90s and '00s because selling CDs was a profitable venture. There was a lot of talk about "soundtrack insertion," warping films around the need to get some hit singles off the soundtrack.

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MartyMcFlyAsFudge@reddit

To be real 80s movies had some legit soundtrack as well, wasn't alive before then but definitely seems like soundtracks were important before the 90s as well.

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Pillars_of_Salt@reddit

Eye of the Tiger was literally written to be in Rocky III.

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On_my_last_spoon@reddit

Licensing music costs way more now because of streaming. Artists get less money on album sales now. So they make up for it by charging large amounts on rights for use.

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MartyMcFlyAsFudge@reddit

Ah, thank you. This makes more sense.

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booyakasha99@reddit

The Crow is one of the best movie soundtracks of all time.

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taosaur@reddit

I'd rate it third out of the three I mentioned, especially for staying power, but it did establish the trend of ballin' alt-rock soundtracks in the '90s.

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MxMicahDeschain@reddit

If we're going back to setting the trend of solid 90's alt-tock soundtracks, Single's('92) would have to be one of the earliest and best of the era.

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crotalus80@reddit

Howard Shore wrote the score for Seven. The title sequence used a remix of Closer but I think that’s it when it comes to Trent Reznor’s involvement.

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MaestroLogical@reddit

For some reason I read that as Howard Stern and I momentarily wracked my brain trying to figure out how I never knew he was a composure.

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Morriganx3@reddit

Started my crush on Woody Harrelson. Pretty sure I’d have fallen for Juliette Lewis also, if I weren’t incurably straight.

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On_my_last_spoon@reddit

We all get at least one exception. Mine is Carrie Ann Moss.

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Susie4ever@reddit

He was incredibly sexy 😛!

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William_S_Burros@reddit

Didn’t know there was a book. Is it any good?

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Zagmut@reddit

There's a BOOK?! How am I only learning this now???

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Voltage604@reddit

I find movies are way more tame now.

Too many big blockbuster family appeal movies. MCU, Star wars, Avatar.... Watered down no substance no message no sex and no violence.

I want to be shocked and blown away.

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Blazenkks@reddit

Lmao. Sure 🤣. Movies like Midsommar, Saltburn, or Everything Everywhere all at Once, never get made these days 🤣.

I think you just need to expand your viewing a bit. There’s all kinds of fucked up movies out there that would never have been greenlit by big studios back then. And only bought up by Budget studios relegated to direct to home video, with only cult fan bases. Not mainstream…

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OurHouse20@reddit

There’s all kinds of fucked up movies out there that would never have been greenlit by big studios back then.

Holy shit, have you seen Titane? One of the wildest rides I've ever seen.

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Blazenkks@reddit

No not yet. I technically haven’t seen Saltburn yet either but I’ve heard. It took me a while to get to Midsommar. Idk I have to be in the headspace to want to see disturbing shit as entertainment.

But you totally understand what I’m saying. Theres all kindsa shocking torture or body horror movies out there if people want to watch them. It’s silly to say movies like NBK aren’t made anymore. Just because the filmstock isn’t grainy in 1080p HD. 🤣

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Voltage604@reddit

I've seen all those and none feel real or gritty like a bunch of those mid 90s movies.

Maybe I'm just not as easily impressed anymore... I dunno but there is no denying everything is different now.

Even 90s early 2000s war movies were grittier. Saving private Ryan and Blackhawk Down come to mind.

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Sumeriandawn@reddit

????

Srdan Spasojevic, Lars Von Trier, Gaspar Noe, Darren Aronofsky, Yorgos Lanthimos, Eli Roth, Abdellatif Kechiche, Julia Ducournau, Takishi Miike, Michael Haneke, Park Chan Wook, Harmony Korine, Tom Six, Micheal Winterbottom, Nicolas Winding Refn

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Blazenkks@reddit

Don’t get me wrong. I am in the camp of 90’s movies are some the best ever. Especially movies made in 1994, that for some reason was insane for releases.

But to say that movies today don’t have the same shock value or just aren’t made with grit anymore is a terrible take.

And go figure now that your wiser and have been exposed to a lot more life, there’s fewer surprises. That’s more about getting older than some behind the scenes conspiracy to make movies all sunshine and roses…

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Voltage604@reddit

I never said they were all sunshine and roses. Lol

Just more mass appeal. I get it's a business but in most cases it feels the art is gone.

Sitting here thinking about this topic though I think it mainly comes down to practical special effects vs CGI... For as good as CGI has gotten it still looks like CGI.

I had the same thought when Star wars Episode 1 2 3 were released and a lot of people hated them. Watching them it just seems so fake because of the CGI.

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Blazenkks@reddit

So, what you’re really saying is you want more, cheesy , unpolished, super fake practical effects? That are grainy, not very well lit, and have fishing line that can clearly be seen?

Never heard anyone complain, about how much better, movies effects have become visually. 🤣

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Voltage604@reddit

Practical special effects done right don't look cheesy at all. Go look at the new fallout trailer and tell me the deathclaw looks cheesy

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Useful_Transition883@reddit

Watch the substance

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DramaticErraticism@reddit

On the positive side, smaller films are much better and easily available and there are much more of them.

Blockbusters have gone down in quality a lot of ways, in other ways the past 25 years has been the best it has ever been.

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Siphoneder@reddit

I swear there was a coordinated effort by politicians and the major media companies to tame everything down in the mid and late 90s, which only got worse after Columbine and 9/11. But sexualizing teens and pre-teens on Disney and Nickelodeon was a-ok to them.

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Voltage604@reddit

That's exactly what happened.

We had Natural Born Killers, American History X, Pulp Fiction, Crash etc all in the mid 90s

We also had gangster rap, Marilyn Manson and shock rock becoming mainstream.

We then saw protests against stuff like this and religious groups lobbying the government.

As for the Disney thing.... Of course that was still ok.... Have you looked at politicians?

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EyeFit4274@reddit

Repetition works, David.

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Zimzang@reddit

I guess I was born, naturally born, born bad

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worldwide2047@reddit

Born bad! It’s such a sin…

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misterlakatos@reddit

I tried watching this movie but did not get very far. To this day I cannot bring myself to revisit it.

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Suspicious_Pick9421@reddit

This movie is awful.

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Alert_Classic_3428@reddit

I lode that movie!

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Piranha_Vortex@reddit

The best way I have watched this movie was on a fancy TV with 3D glasses. Epic. An already intense movie is amped up and more vivid.

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hjeff51@reddit

One of my favorite movies of all time. I am a sucker for Olive Stones editing style in this era. All the endless B Roll put together to continue telling the story. Same way he did with JFK. I saw this on acid when I was 16 17. I mainly saw a love story. Also the soundtrack was dope. It was my introduction to LARD which I am grateful for.

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perfumefetish@reddit

are you flirtin with me?

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FelixMcGill@reddit

This movie was, and is, incredible. I watched it way too many times in middle and high school, and still rewatch it from time to time. One of the best representations of sensational media making heroes out of the worst people imaginable. Just like now.

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Dense_Surround3071@reddit

The soundtrack introduced me to Leonard Cohen.... The Future is still one of my all time favorite songs.

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velvet_blunderground@reddit

This was my FAVORITE movie when I was 15, god. My bff and I used to rent it literally every weekend from the video store down the street and then fall asleep watching it.

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Low_Sheepherder_382@reddit

Was never really a fan of this film. I also think it somewhat ushered in the future waves of school shootings. I don’t think it brought anything decent/good for society. Just my 2 cents.

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PrarieDogma@reddit

Yeah, having lax gun control laws have nothing to do with increased school shootings. Horrible fucking take lol

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Blazenkks@reddit

If I could upvote this more I would.

It’s so ridiculous, that with how much information about other oh my god Socialist Countries with responsibility strict gun laws don’t have the same mass shooting problems as the U.S.

Meanwhile morons will blame anything and everything else for the issue, other than how accessible firearms are in this country.

Canada. Australia. Britain. None of them have mass shooting drills at schools. Or are in the news monthly with yet another mass shooting.

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PrarieDogma@reddit

Exactly, but blame it on the music and the movies, never one the lobbyist for the NRA. I’m so happy I live in a country where I don’t have to worry about my kid going to school and dying from getting shot in a mass shooting. Could it happen, absolutely, but less likely than the US.

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Blazenkks@reddit

You missed the whole point then. The movie is a commentary on how the media sensationalizes violence.

And thinking that this movie contributed in any way to Mentally ill individuals shooting up schools is a terrible take… It honestly sounds like the 80’s panic about Gangster Rap music. Or the 90’s Video game promoting violence rhetoric. You truly have grown up to be our Parents… shame…

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Low_Sheepherder_382@reddit

Okay buddy. How many school shootings happened before 1994 vs after. Don’t get your panties in a bunch because I laid out facts. I’ll stand by what I said about the movie doing nothing positive for humanity or culture.

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Blazenkks@reddit

You must not remember the Postal worker from the 80’s. That was such a prevalent event, that so many other shows and movies made jokes about “Not going Postal”.

Movies, video games, music, none of them are any more responsible than the mentally ill person that owned the gun… Access to Firearms in this country to anyone is the issue. Nothing else…

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_--_Osiris_--_@reddit

Postal the video game was a banger though!

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Blazenkks@reddit

🤣 cheers 🍻 I wasn’t getting all super cereal 🤣

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badger_breath@reddit

It seems, every time my wife gets sick and starts coughing, she says, "how sexy am I now****!"

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sixfive407@reddit

My mom's friend checked us out of sixth grade and signed both of our movie tickets because it was NC-17 at the time and took us a left us to watch this gem of a movie at 11 years old by ourselves!

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Chrundle-DaGreat@reddit

LITTLE JOHNNY NO!

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BalrogRuthenburg11@reddit

You're scum, Wayne; you did it for RATINGS. You don't give a shit about us or anybody else except yourself; that's why nobody gives a shit about YOU. That's why "helicopters" were not "deployed.".

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PokerbushPA@reddit

This movie is criminally underrated.

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Walter_Padick@reddit

Oliver Stone is so talented but rarely makes a good movie. This is mid. He took a Tarantino script and make it worse...wouldn't catch Tony Scott doing that

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Crombus_@reddit

Thank God.

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bigsampsonite@reddit

A24 would like a chat.

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R0botDreamz@reddit

I remember the big deal about this one being the director's cut.

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PsychologicalMix8499@reddit

One of my favorite movies. Seen it so many times.

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reallyrealest@reddit

That prison riot scene fundamentally changed my understanding of human nature.

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Aggravating-Try1222@reddit

I loved this movie back then, but no so much now. I do think the supporting roles are great: Dangerfield, RDJ, Tommy Lee Jones, and the soundtrack is spectacular.

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_--_Osiris_--_@reddit

Same, trying to watch it again and couldn't get through it

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cosnierozumiem@reddit

Somehow the mass shootings have increased.

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Blazenkks@reddit

Gee, Gun stores on every corner, and legitimately anyone being able to access firearms with the captivity to mow down 30 people in a single magazine have nothing to do with it… smh…

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Blazenkks@reddit

You sound like the 90’s rhetoric about Video games promoting violence… or the 80’s Gangster Rap promoted violence… or the 80’s D&D promotes Satan worship…

Please use some critical thinking skills unlike our Parents did…

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rigidlynuanced1@reddit

Walked out of that movie. What’s crazy is Tarantino’a version was more violent

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dufflebag7@reddit

Fun fact - Woody Harrelson’s father was a convicted murdered.

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PM_ME_UR_PIKACHU@reddit

Yeah, but did you see Rampart??

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Cactilily@reddit

I LOVED this movie. My mom hated that I loved it. I listened to the soundtrack so much she threatened to break the CD. Thankfully it was only a threat. Great film and soundtrack.

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bigdickedbat@reddit

I took a date to see this at 15 and got dropped off, they proceeded to not sale us tickets because of the R rating. Had to see Mixed Nuts instead.

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Lumpy_Tomorrow8462@reddit

Hat’s why helicopters were not deployed

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capthazelwoodsflask@reddit

The 90’s, the decade we decided to see things from the serial killer’s point of view.

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Technology_Tractrix@reddit

This is the only movie I ever walked out of in a theater. I can get behind a good old fashioned revenge movie. But this thing was senseless, gratuitous, and pointless.

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Morriganx3@reddit

LoL, my then-boyfriend tried to walk out of the theatre during this movie. Not because he didn’t like the movie, but because I was absolutely drooling over Woody Harrelson, and he got all jealous. I just kind of ignored him standing up and walking away, so eventually he had to come sit back down and watch the rest of the movie.

Woody Harrelson as Mickey still does things to me.

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What_the_8@reddit

Well yeah, that’s the point…

Natural Born Killers" is the title of a 1994 film that uses extreme violence to satirize the media's glorification of murderers, while also exploring the idea of a "natural" predisposition to violence. The film's meaning revolves around the symbiotic relationship between crime and the media, where sensationalism turns criminals into celebrities, and society becomes desensitized and complicit. The title also touches on the controversial debate of whether violent tendencies are an innate part of human nature.

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