The Interview Bombs In US, Kills In China, Threatens N. Korea

First time accepted submitter twitnutttt (2958183) writes "While it has been broadly panned in the U.S. as not very funny, The Interview is surprisingly getting good reviews in China. And the North Korean government's fears of the threat posed by this movie are apparently merited: "It is powerful because it depicts Kim Jong-un as a vain, buffoonish despot, alternating between threats and weeping that he's been misunderstood. The people around him have all the signs of fear you might expect with a despot — they second-guess his likes and dislikes. Maybe he — and they — were right to fear the film. North Korean defectors sometimes smuggle USB sticks with films and soaps into the closed-off country, and there is a view in the south that these are a particularly powerful means of undermining the regime in Pyongyang. If that's so, The Interview might be a good candidate for inclusion." If you've seen the movie, and have your own reactions, please label any real spoilers out of courtesy.

Comments

Bombs in the US?

[Frosty Piss]

It may be an unfunny movie, but reports are that in the limited number of theatres it has been relieased in, the shows are sold out.

That's hardly "bombing".

Re:Bombs in the US?

[Frosty Piss]

Bombed with critics...

Meaningless when talking about Seth Rogen movies. The "critics" are not who goes to his movies. People who laugh at fart jokes go to his movies.

Oh yeah, it's "bombing" in the US alright...

[Frosty Piss]

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Oh yeah, it's "bombing" in the US alright...

Not very funny? Is anybody surprised?

[Anonymous Coward]

You want a good movie mocking a dictator?

Duck Soup. It's like a thousand times as good as the Interview.

Nobel?

[The Grim Reefer]

"It is powerful because it depicts Kim Jong-un as a vain, buffoonish despot, alternating between threats and weeping that he's been misunderstood. The people around him have all the signs of fear you might expect with a despot â" they second-guess his likes and dislikes. Maybe he â" and they â" were right to fear the film. North Korean defectors sometimes smuggle USB sticks with films and soaps into the closed-off country, and there is a view in the south that these are a particularly powerful means of undermining the regime in Pyongyang. If that's so, The Interview might be a good candidate for inclusion."

If nothing else, it's rather sad that Seth Rogen and James Franco are able to have a bigger impact on North Korea than sanctions and every diplomat and US president since the end of the Korean War.

This sounds like Nobel Peace Prize buzz to me. ;-)

Re:Nobel?

[MightyMartian]

That's utter BS. The UN released a report on human rights violations months before The Interview became a big issue. You should read it. The treatment of political prisoners (and christ, even unlucky bastards who happen to be distaff kin) is so harrowing that the only thing that really does come close was the Nazi death camps.

Meh

[lennier1]

It's a movie that includes Seth Rogen!
What did you expect? A new Schindler's List?!?

Submission Title

[Nemyst]

Is it just me who found the title for this submission a little strange, especially considering the hackers threatened to bomb the theaters which'd show the movie? I initially misread it into thinking they actually did it somehow.