this was my favorite movie for a while, when I was in my prime filmbro era (age 17, approximately). I was really into the movie's style, its cadence, the camera work, narration, sound mixing. the ominous music. the flow of scenes, how they almost have a rhythm. then I watched it too many times. I also became acutely aware of its filmbro status, and in true contrarian fashion, could not admit to liking a film that scads of questionable men also liked, for seemingly all the wrong reasons.
I still contend that this film creates some of the best sense of atmosphere that I've ever seen. it's choked with blood and sweat and grime and chemical fumes, and imbued with a playful nihilism and mind-numbing ennui that have since become cliche but work so well here. the film is great because it debunks the very "truths" it initially promotes, because it's funny, and because you know tyler's full of shit, but he's also brad pitt in his prime wearing slutty outfits and hitting on ed norton. not even subtly. a homoerotic cult classic for the ages