Episode #783: Donnie Darko (W❤️M)
Added 2025-02-06 11:00:10 +0000 UTC“This one might be 15 years in the making!” - Andrew, on doing this episode
On this month’s We ❤️ Movies, we’re finally getting around to chatting about one of our all-time cult faves, Donnie Darko! Released smack-dab in the middle of our formative years, this movie features a WILD list of incredible actors giving memorable performances, a fantastic 80’s soundtrack, a terrifying giant rabbit, and one helluva double feature at the Aero! PLUS: Vince Vaughn as Donnie? It almost happened! Mark Wahlberg as Donnie? That almost happened too!
Donnie Darko stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Beth Grant, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne, Noah Wyle, Katharine Ross, James Duval, Daveigh Chase, Patience Cleveland, and the late, great Patrick Swayze as Jim Cunningham; directed by Richard Kelly.
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Original cover art by Felipe Sobreiro.
Comments
I still haven't seen this movie. The most I know about it was from watching the nostalgia critic review lol
Kureigu
2025-03-10 18:08:55 +0000 UTCSomeone forced me to watch this movie in college as was so annoying about it the whole time so I didn’t enjoy it or appreciate it. Checked it out again a few years later and loved it.
Brendan Flanagan
2025-03-03 22:21:25 +0000 UTCYou guys doing this single handedly seems to have gotten Richard Kelly OUT of movie jail
Robyn Zabukovec
2025-02-22 19:51:05 +0000 UTCMy former middle school French class teacher took his own life a few years ago after two of his past students came forward with sexual misconduct allegations. There was also a teacher from a different middle school who allegedly touched himself during videos about puberty in health class.
Matt Eldritch
2025-02-18 01:33:05 +0000 UTCI really want to hear them do Southland Tales. That movie deserves to be a camp classic on par with Rocky Horror for how completely insane it is.
Nexuscrawler
2025-02-11 22:43:09 +0000 UTCI don’t think I’ve seen this movie since I was 17. Might need to rewatch.
Will See
2025-02-10 17:40:11 +0000 UTCI saw this once or twice before. … I didn’t think much of it. Watching it now- i appreciate it so much more. In my mind it’s a borderline masterpiece. I am sincerely awaiting the sequel.
Brenden Bales
2025-02-10 14:37:53 +0000 UTCI agree it feels WLM is buit for this kind of film.
Brandon Gorin
2025-02-09 17:08:15 +0000 UTCRe: Richard Kelly v Zack Snyder in movie jail - I'm getting the sense Snyder is, at least, in movie house arrest and his days of theatrical releases are behind. Until I see proof otherwise, my main theory has been Netflix saw the initial Snyder Cut campaign numbers and figured they needed to get on that train tout suite (this being before it got out that there was some astro-turfing to pump the numbers) So, they basically cut him a blank check and now here we are. You can tell from the pre-release hype on RM, and how quickly that dried up, that they really thought they had more here than they wound up getting.
Todd B
2025-02-09 17:04:35 +0000 UTC"LOVE YOU, SIS!"
Todd B
2025-02-09 17:00:30 +0000 UTCI was initially wondering if Mulholland Drive would be the pick for this month's theme. Having said that, this was a movie long overdue, so...win win.
Todd B
2025-02-09 16:59:07 +0000 UTCI think y’all could do a Lynch on WLM
Brandon Gorin
2025-02-08 21:24:53 +0000 UTCLorraine Bracco what now?
MarkNM
2025-02-08 18:12:30 +0000 UTCMy k-12 rural Alabama school: Hs girls basketball coach married one of his players the summer after she graduated. He's still there 25 years later. My hs history teacher taught us that the Klan was started as a community service organization to hunt down deadbeat dads. Real Lost Cause/ War of Northern Aggression kinda shit. I received 2 trophies 2 years running for Most Improved Band Member.
d'kotah delGato
2025-02-08 04:53:36 +0000 UTCYour opening convo was so nostalgic for me. I saw Donnie Darko at a midnight show at Sundance, the day after seeing Memento. I wonder if Nolan was in the same screening?
d'kotah delGato
2025-02-08 04:30:01 +0000 UTCI just picked up the Sony X700. Seems to be pretty decent for the price.
Kevin Pires
2025-02-08 00:39:46 +0000 UTCYeah.... I saw it on DVD years ago and just didn't like it.
Kevin Pires
2025-02-08 00:38:19 +0000 UTCMan, you guys had some fascinating teachers. All I got was an elementary music teacher who randomly vanished one day, which I learned later was due to him hurling one of those desk-and-chair combos at a student. Made seeing him randomly at a wedding a decade later a titch awkward.
John Edwards
2025-02-07 23:41:03 +0000 UTCFear--------------×Love
Catherine McKee
2025-02-07 21:28:17 +0000 UTCThis was great, thanks guys!
Catherine McKee
2025-02-07 21:26:07 +0000 UTCTo quote the Venture Brothers "Smurfs dont lay eggs".
Matthew Lloyd
2025-02-07 19:24:46 +0000 UTCBack when Noah Wylie was a bigger star than Jake Gyllenhaal.
Mike Kling
2025-02-07 18:35:24 +0000 UTCI'm sure you guys had this in the barrel for a while but I was really hoping for a Lynch tribute and a lot of those movies would be perfect for this theme! Keeping fingers crossed that we'll get one in the future
Aidan
2025-02-07 18:04:41 +0000 UTCDonnie darko and battle royale were two movies that i watched with other people and they questioned my taste in movies afterward. To be fair, I was young and pretentious. Lots of "You don't get it, maaaan. This is art, maaaaaaan." If I talked to that version of myself about that movie now, I'd also hate me lol Donnie darko is a movie you have to watch at the right time in your life. It's like how if you need to sacrifice a virgin to appease your dark god, you have to do it on an eclipse. Timing is everything
Jonathan Lyons
2025-02-07 17:49:44 +0000 UTCI know it's okay to LIKE a movie, but is it okay to DISLIKE a movie? I watched DD for the first time yesterday and found it pretty stupid. Great soundtrack, great acting, and interesting premise. I just don't think it all came together in an exceptionally enjoyable way.
Dr. M
2025-02-07 16:18:11 +0000 UTC"Yeah so my brother told her to shove a book up her ass" is always a laugh out loud moment for me
JK
2025-02-07 16:08:20 +0000 UTCSo I listened to the first 10 minutes without seeing the movie , so last night I watched it in full and OH MY FUCK I really fell in love with it. The dad is the best
Dalton Barrett
2025-02-07 15:53:57 +0000 UTCMy high school mascot was the “Red Devil.” So basically Satan. Which was weird because a.) I grew up in a very conservative, religious, upper middle class suburb, and b.) our school colors were green and white.
Liam Carroll
2025-02-07 15:16:17 +0000 UTCI don’t know about any space spider nonsense, but Jena Malone was good in Love Lies Bleeding last year
Happy Birthtime!
2025-02-07 14:12:23 +0000 UTCThis is one of my favorite movies and your episode on it is perfect. Felt like I was back in college talking about it with friends My high school mascot was Caveman. Can you do worse without antiquated offensiveness?
Allen M
2025-02-07 13:34:03 +0000 UTCPerfect double feature film(s) to this episode: (vibe-wise) The Virgin Suicides (1999) written/directed by Sofia Coppola with a small role played by a Schwartzman brother (the other one) or Whip It (2009) written/directed by Drew Barrymore, co-starring Daniel Stern and one of the Wilson brothers (the other other one) 😊❤️🎬
Molly
2025-02-07 12:44:27 +0000 UTCDonnie Darko open world video game. Still recovering from that laugh. Bravo guys! “Press X and square to expose this porn dungeon.”
Zack Gillespie
2025-02-07 12:19:53 +0000 UTCI’ve tried hundreds of times with Donnie just can’t get into it. I’ve started a ton but haven’t finished it.
Adam
2025-02-07 12:10:34 +0000 UTCI had the somewhat bizarre situation of renting this on DVD and not understanding it, then I watched the trailer in the special features and suddenly it made sense.
Craig
2025-02-07 09:45:47 +0000 UTCAlso in YouTube. Directors and theatrical
Ray
2025-02-07 05:36:09 +0000 UTCThe timing is perfect for this ep, as just last week I was thinking about the meteoric rise and fall of Richard Kelly's career. This is clearly his best film even though the director's cut is ass.
CharlesGrodin'sToupee
2025-02-07 03:55:19 +0000 UTCDonnie Darko is on TUBI!!
Damon LeCornu
2025-02-07 02:05:58 +0000 UTCThis movie hits me in the feels. If Marky mark was in probably not so much.. haha
Matthew L Adams-Tucker
2025-02-07 01:57:32 +0000 UTClol or Frank the bunny bumper sticker on their car
Catboyslim
2025-02-07 00:29:52 +0000 UTCThis has always been a bit of a We *Shrug* Movies situation for me, neither hate nor love. I think most people's opinion of the movie is affected by their age and first experience seeing it. I was far too young and dumb with these kind of stories as a young teen, so I was almost literally like "Did anybody get it??" when my friend showed it to me on DVD for the first time.
Busiris
2025-02-06 23:50:49 +0000 UTCThis movie is always associated in my mind with The Absolute Worst Person You Knew in 2003 who had the Hot Topic Frank T-shirt that said "Why do you wear that stupid human suit?" on it
Michael Daniels
2025-02-06 21:35:28 +0000 UTCDoes Donnie Darko take place before or after Donnie Brasco?
Harry Baker
2025-02-06 21:24:23 +0000 UTCWe also had a girls soccer coach who loved going to teen parties trying to shoot his shot with the students, he got fired
Jessica
2025-02-06 20:56:04 +0000 UTCOur band director in high school had an affair with a senior student! As soon as she graduated he got divorced, they got married and had a kid!!
Jessica
2025-02-06 20:52:42 +0000 UTC@andrew - do you have a 4k player recommendation?
TDB
2025-02-06 20:15:31 +0000 UTCStruck a pop culture nerve, seeing all these grown ass adults with Frank the rabbit stickers on the back of cars
Catboyslim
2025-02-06 19:14:25 +0000 UTCA million years ago cable tv had a scrolling list of what was on, the channel, and a brief descriptive, which was “Donny Darko-teen comedy-Hi jinks”. Well this was no comedy lol I still loved it so refreshingly different from the usual Hollywood garbage. Then I remembered the commercials for it, just before 9/11. The adds made you think it was a teen horror movie , with JG standing in the dark outside of a door holding an axe with a creepy smile. Then 9/11 happened and any movie released just before the attack was forgotten and tanked at the box office. The soundtrack was perfect, which I bought.
Catboyslim
2025-02-06 19:08:06 +0000 UTCHell yeah! This is always my WLM choice for LRM.
Shawn
2025-02-06 18:47:06 +0000 UTCOh boy, I just watched this movie for the first time a couple years ago. And I watch the Head Over Heels scene periodically on youtube. I still haven't watched the director's cut but I probably will at some point. Def a fave "WAIT. WUUUT?" film.
Paul DeCoursey-Clark
2025-02-06 18:13:46 +0000 UTCDonnie is wrong. Smurfs have penises. It's hidden under their hats obviously . That's not a beard on Papa Smurf; it's his pubes.
Eren Keskin
2025-02-06 18:00:15 +0000 UTCShots fired at velvet buzzsaw! 😂
Jeff Wanless
2025-02-06 17:05:45 +0000 UTCDude the Captain Planet Aids episode was insane to a 7yr old me
Dan Craftwerk
2025-02-06 16:17:51 +0000 UTCIn 2002, a 22 year old me saw this at the Two Boots Pioneer Theater on the Lower East Side(?). I was in Manhattan on vacation and was just looking for an indie theater to see something in. I was going in cold. It was a midnight show, nearly empty, and one of my fondest movie theater experiences.
John Shetler
2025-02-06 15:27:36 +0000 UTCWhen I was a HS sophomore, we had a gym teacher who would "show up" to seniors' parties (supplying the booze and oh yeah COCAINE.) He also, in our little informal PE class basketball semester, decided to play on one of the teams against a bunch of 14 and 15 year olds. I (a nerdy little fatty who was REALLY lagging on puberty at the time) was inexplicably assigned to guard him. My awkward but enthusiastic defense caused him to loudly say "if I keep getting hacked someone's getting hurt, and it won't be me." Oh, fuck you, Lance.
Mark Ibarra
2025-02-06 15:20:01 +0000 UTCSpecial Computers is my favorite Radiohead album
Matt
2025-02-06 14:29:53 +0000 UTCWhen Jake Gyllenhall is clean shaven, he looks like an intensely handsome iguana. That's why he's so good at playing creeps.
Mark Ibarra
2025-02-06 14:22:30 +0000 UTCYou guys really nailed why this movie is so good. It so effectively captures the feeling you have when you're in your later teens and you're just baffled and disgusted that the adult world is just packed to the gills with morons and freaks. Somehow it avoids pretty much all of the tropes that can make teen movies tiresome. It's wonderful to have the feeling of being young captured so well.
Tim O'Connor
2025-02-06 13:23:18 +0000 UTC“Get out of the ROOOO-AAAAADDDD!!!”
Daniel Cloud
2025-02-06 13:21:18 +0000 UTCJesus Christ those stories about school predators. Makes me wonder what kinda predators might have been at my school...my friends would make comments about one of their teachers...wonder how true it was
Frank Grimes
2025-02-06 12:36:42 +0000 UTC"Yo bro, why is there a plane in the middle of my bedroom? That's crazy bro?"
CharlesGrodin'sToupee
2025-02-06 12:10:47 +0000 UTCMarky Mark? Unwatchable in that role. However, I could see him being the Antichrist pedo-monster. In the movie, I mean.
Dominic Kovell
2025-02-06 11:36:22 +0000 UTCI'm pretty troubled and I'm pretty confused. And I'm afraid, really, really afraid, really afraid. But I think you're the fucking Antichrist. ;)
Vio Darc
2025-02-06 11:11:38 +0000 UTCI'm beginning to question WHM's commitment to Sparkle Motion
John Kerstetter
2025-02-06 11:04:29 +0000 UTC
