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But I'm not sure Taken would have counted, and I'm not sure whether the internet will exactly destroy the cult classic. In some ways, it will actually just increase the audience for cult films. Think about Oldboy - there's a film that's only known about by a marginal amount, loved intensely by those that have seen it, and it only gains in popularity because of the internet. I doubt that it will ever move into mainstream love (the original, not whatever Will Smith makes), and if more people fall in love with it, I'm pretty sure it retains cult status if it's still so vehemently loved.
And yeah, at the end of the day, it's greater just to see good films celebrated by larger numbers, even if it does dilute the uniqueness that some feel for loving barely-known films.
I think we can all agree that "Tank Girl" is a cult classic, because it's so campy, most people haven't really heard of it, and not everyone loved it, but it has some fans. But is "Ghost World" a cult classic, as many have called it? Hardly, it has a mainstream cast with well known actors and it did pretty well at the box office.
The Fight Club has also been called a cult hit, since it FAILED at the B.O and became a huge hit on DVD and to this day, still has a large cult following. But it's very mainstream popular, so can it still be considered a cult hit?
OldBoy can definitely be counted as a cult film because it's foreign, it's dark, and not mainstream known in this country.
Alejandro Jodorowsky's "Santa Sangre"
and
Luis Bunuel's "Los Olvidados"
The internet is just spoiling the experience of cinema.
A 19" screen is fine for some films, but not all. My video projector, dvd player and surround sound system plus a 100" screen are better than a theater for me. No distractions. Cheaper popcorn and lower overall cost, plus I can pause it if I need to use the bathroom.
If I owned a theater, I would block cell phone signals, ban children under 5 from all films and under 13 for R rated movies, even if accompanied by adults, and have ushers standing at the back of each row ready to kick out anyone that continued to talk through a film. I bet enough people would support such a cinema, but until then, many will just stop going and watch the movie at home one way or another.
Now get the hell off my lawn!!!!
In the last twelve months Let The Right One In has slowly built momentum based on the fact that it is an astonishing work. The same is true for Moon, a film that is being shown in a fair number of cinemas, but has nothing like a general release.
Just because we are over exposed to films in our rarified world of movie geekdom, doesn't mean that new films can't be described as cult classics. The fact is that, at least in terms of films, many people who read movie websites are now the taste makers who identify good films and evangalise about them to our less informed friends.
This evangalisation from a small group of hardcore fans was always the way thay exceptional films were identified by the mainstream. The fact that that those reccomendations have gone from word of mouth to posts in a blog highlight how communications media have changed, but certailnly aren't a death knell for the idea of the 'cult classic'.
I would like Dean Koontz's 'Intensity' on DVD as despite its terribleness it had John C McGinley as a murderer which is hilarious.
I don't think you can really define a Cult Classic. It's different for everyone. I'll watch a movie and consider it one if it's so obscure I'm the only one who's watched it in 10 years.