I've been looking forward to seeing this movie for quite some time now. I really love the Coen brothers and Jeff Bridges and together is just golden. It's a fairly typical western story (...I would think. Although, I don't pretend to be an expert on westerns by any means). A young girl, Mattie, wants to have revenge and kill the man who killed her father. She hires the most fierce marshal, Cogburn, played by Jeff Bridges, who is known for having "true grit".
She is an amazingly intelligent and well spoken girl who fights for the right to ride with Cogburn, and occasionally some company, to catch and kill the man who killed her father.
In my opinion the film did well with how much action and guns etc they had. I would imagine it would be extremely easy to over do it with thr violence in a western like this...
The humour was always fantastic, the majority of it coming from Jeff Bridges.
Something that I'm noticing with many Coen films is the lack of music, and they continued the trend with this one. They really make it work...I'm not sure if many other filming styles could support a lack of music as well as theirs does.
One negative that I am just remembering now is probably the length of the film. It was an hour and fifty minutes long, which seems like a perfectly respectable length of time for a movie, but this one I felt required a minimum of fifteen minutes more...ideally, probably a good half hour. I felt like things were a bit rushed and a bit choppy, and I wish we could have also spent a bit more time getting to know the characters of the marshal and the girl. I wanted to feel for them more, and that would have made the film even more effective than it was.
Another negative for me was too much Matt Damon and not enough Josh Brolin. I really don't like Matt Damon and I thought his acting was below average and his character quite underdeveloped and lifeless. Brolin on the other hand, I quite like and wished to see more of...he wasn't given enough time...not enough time to be able to develop into anything more than a minor character. I wish he was given that chance.
One final note...regarding the final notes of the movie.
It didn't end fantastically. It was a respectable ending but nothing special.
And then the song playing for the credits just totally killed the mood.
Forgetting that, it was a great film, and I look forward to more from the Coen brothers, Jeff Bridges, and hopefully Josh Brolin in the future.
7.7/10
Friday, December 24, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Dazed and Confused
Made in the 90s but based in the mid 70s...76 I think...it's basically about the last day of school, high school for some, grade 8 for others. I would expect I probably would have enjoyed it a bit more if I was around in the 70s...or graduating in the 70s...but I do appreciate it, and I've heard from talking to people who did graduate mid 70s that the movie is pretty spot on. Favourite character would have to be Slater...the pot head played by Rory Cochrane.
Fun fact of the day...in this movie the word 'man' was said just over 200 times (I would guess 80% of those were from Slater :P) and the word 'fuck' just over 60.
Matthew McConaughey makes a creepy appearance as an old graduate...I'm sorry, but I find him so disgusting...his little blonde mustache, ugh it's just so gross.
I kinda liked that his character was there though...him being the old graduate, hanging out with the new graduates, hanging out with the soon-to-be freshmen...it was kinda neat. And alotta fun. The movie was just fun...
With a kick ass classic rock (well, now classic rock) soundtrack consisting of Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Bob Dylan, Nazareth, Black Sabbath, The Runaways, Kiss, Foghat etc.
Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and it was funny without being overly cheesy which I can imagine would be very easy for that type of movie.
7/10
Fun fact of the day...in this movie the word 'man' was said just over 200 times (I would guess 80% of those were from Slater :P) and the word 'fuck' just over 60.
Matthew McConaughey makes a creepy appearance as an old graduate...I'm sorry, but I find him so disgusting...his little blonde mustache, ugh it's just so gross.
I kinda liked that his character was there though...him being the old graduate, hanging out with the new graduates, hanging out with the soon-to-be freshmen...it was kinda neat. And alotta fun. The movie was just fun...
With a kick ass classic rock (well, now classic rock) soundtrack consisting of Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Bob Dylan, Nazareth, Black Sabbath, The Runaways, Kiss, Foghat etc.
Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and it was funny without being overly cheesy which I can imagine would be very easy for that type of movie.
7/10
2001: A Space Odyssey
So, I had really really high hopes for this movie when I finally decided to sit down and watch it. I really enjoy Stanely Kubrick and I've heard that this is considered to be one of the greatest movies ever made...kinda a cult classic?
However, I have to say I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to.
The movie is divided into fourish pieces.
The first one is these ape-like animals who I assume are supposed to represent humans pre-evolution kinda thing. This big black monolith appears and in touching it and being around whateve this may be emitting...they suddenly aquire the ability to use tools. They use a bone...as tools and eventually as a weapon.
The second part follows a scientist I believe who is about to travel to a base on the moon. A group of people confront this scientist about an epidemic that is rumoured to be going on on the moon. The scientist doesn't deny it...implying it's true. When he gets to the moon h meets with fellow scientists where they reveal that the epidemic was a cover up for a monolith discovered on the moon. They go out to see it where again, it emits a loud...radio signal?
Part three, two scientist/astronauts are on a spaceship on their way to Jupiter. They're accompanied by three...hibernating? Astronauts in these chamber kinda things along with HAL, a computer helping them with the mission. HAL is said to be totally and completely foolproof and never makes errors. Eventually HAL tells the guys that their is some issue with some machine that needs to be fixed, however the humans back home say that THEIR HAL computer is telling them that thiers is wrong. This gets the men questioning HAL and despite their caution when expressing their concerns, HAL realizes this and murders one of the men when he's fixing thr apparent problem by severing his oxygen. When the other man goes out to retrieve the body, HAL kills the three hibernating astronauts, and gives the man difficulty getting back into the spaceship. When he finally got in, he dissabled HAL as HAL was begging him robotically not to. Upon dissabling it, he gets a video message telling him the actual purpose for his trip to Jupiter...it was because the signal from the monolith on the moon was aimed there. He continues to Jupiter.
In the last part of the movie, the astronaut makes it to Jupiter to find another monolith. He suddenly is like...sucked into this...I dunno what, but I do know it's very colourful, noisy, and lasts like five minutes. He then sees himself in different stages in his life, in a room...middle aged, older, then elderly...When he's old and lying in bed, a monolith appears at the foot of his bed. As he reaches for it, he transforms into a fetus and hovers in space over Earth.
So, the movie is definately slow, but I appreciate that for sure...there's definately enough substance to keep me fairly interested. So, that's not what made me dislike it...well, I didn't even dislike it actually! I enjoyed it but it didn't wow me like I had expected. I felt like there was kinda a theme of the monoliths allowing for evolution or progress or enlightenment...but then it doesn't really seem to be all that it's cut out to be. For example, the use of bones as a tool...then turns into a weapon and spurs on violent actions etc.
My favourite scene was probably when HAL was begging the astronaut not to unplug him. He has this super monotonous voice, being a robot, but you could sense the attempt at emotion...as he was begging and telling him that he was hurting him. Eventually he is eliminated to everything but his core, which happened to be him singing a song..."Daisy, daisy...." as he slowly fades out completely. I really liked that scene, I thought it was really creepy.
I'm going to let this one marinate a bit...and what i would rate this one now is actually even higher than what I had in mind before I started writing.
7.2/10
However, I have to say I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to.
The movie is divided into fourish pieces.
The first one is these ape-like animals who I assume are supposed to represent humans pre-evolution kinda thing. This big black monolith appears and in touching it and being around whateve this may be emitting...they suddenly aquire the ability to use tools. They use a bone...as tools and eventually as a weapon.
The second part follows a scientist I believe who is about to travel to a base on the moon. A group of people confront this scientist about an epidemic that is rumoured to be going on on the moon. The scientist doesn't deny it...implying it's true. When he gets to the moon h meets with fellow scientists where they reveal that the epidemic was a cover up for a monolith discovered on the moon. They go out to see it where again, it emits a loud...radio signal?
Part three, two scientist/astronauts are on a spaceship on their way to Jupiter. They're accompanied by three...hibernating? Astronauts in these chamber kinda things along with HAL, a computer helping them with the mission. HAL is said to be totally and completely foolproof and never makes errors. Eventually HAL tells the guys that their is some issue with some machine that needs to be fixed, however the humans back home say that THEIR HAL computer is telling them that thiers is wrong. This gets the men questioning HAL and despite their caution when expressing their concerns, HAL realizes this and murders one of the men when he's fixing thr apparent problem by severing his oxygen. When the other man goes out to retrieve the body, HAL kills the three hibernating astronauts, and gives the man difficulty getting back into the spaceship. When he finally got in, he dissabled HAL as HAL was begging him robotically not to. Upon dissabling it, he gets a video message telling him the actual purpose for his trip to Jupiter...it was because the signal from the monolith on the moon was aimed there. He continues to Jupiter.
In the last part of the movie, the astronaut makes it to Jupiter to find another monolith. He suddenly is like...sucked into this...I dunno what, but I do know it's very colourful, noisy, and lasts like five minutes. He then sees himself in different stages in his life, in a room...middle aged, older, then elderly...When he's old and lying in bed, a monolith appears at the foot of his bed. As he reaches for it, he transforms into a fetus and hovers in space over Earth.
So, the movie is definately slow, but I appreciate that for sure...there's definately enough substance to keep me fairly interested. So, that's not what made me dislike it...well, I didn't even dislike it actually! I enjoyed it but it didn't wow me like I had expected. I felt like there was kinda a theme of the monoliths allowing for evolution or progress or enlightenment...but then it doesn't really seem to be all that it's cut out to be. For example, the use of bones as a tool...then turns into a weapon and spurs on violent actions etc.
My favourite scene was probably when HAL was begging the astronaut not to unplug him. He has this super monotonous voice, being a robot, but you could sense the attempt at emotion...as he was begging and telling him that he was hurting him. Eventually he is eliminated to everything but his core, which happened to be him singing a song..."Daisy, daisy...." as he slowly fades out completely. I really liked that scene, I thought it was really creepy.
I'm going to let this one marinate a bit...and what i would rate this one now is actually even higher than what I had in mind before I started writing.
7.2/10
Friday, September 24, 2010
Amelie
Jean-Pierre Jeunet continues to impress me. The first I saw of his was Micmacs…then City of Lost Children, and now Amelie.
I think Amelie is probably his most widely known film, and it’s fairly new…2001.
It’s about a girl named Amelie, surprise surprise, who had a very antisocial life growing up, lacking a lot of human contact.
Now, she’s older, single, a little lost, but thoroughly enjoying the small things in life.
She’s almost nauseatingly nice…like, really…I’m not sure it’s possible. Her first act of kindness, that we witness, is her tracking down and anonymously returning a childhood keepsake of a middle-aged man that used to live in her apartment. I think his overwhelming reaction kinda inspired her, and she continued to help people out and match people up anonymously.
One day she finds this scrapbook, full of different pictures of people from photo booths that had been torn up and reassembled. She sets out to find the person its belongs to, however, she plans on having a little bit of fun on the way…as she is now genuinely intrigued by this guy, due to the strange nature of the scrapbook she found. While browsing the scrapbook, she finds pictures of the same man repeated many times throughout the book, and the mystery man of the photos consumes her just as much as finding the scrapbooks owner does. Eventually, she uncovers the secret of both the man in the photos and the scrapbooks owner…and conjures up a plan to have them discover each other…well, the scrapbook man discover who the man in the photo’s is…the other half of this reunion is completely unaware that anything is happening.
As Amelie is concentrated on playing games with everyone else, she frequently visits her neighbor for talks that eventually help HER figure herself out. Her neighbor is working on a painting the entire time…one that he’s painted multiple times before, only…he can never get the face of the girl with the water right. He can never figure out her expression. As her visits increase, we assume that the girl with the water represents Amelie, and in Amelie trying to help him with her expression, she simultaneously discusses and discovers herself.
So far, every single movie of Jean-Pierre Jeunets that I have seen, has been beautifully shot, and this one is no exception! I always think it’s a pity that I have to concentrate on the subtitles as much as I do because it takes away from the visual. As with the City of Lost Children, I’ll probably end up watching it again, just to take in the visuals more…
The acting was good…nothing fantastic I didn’t think. Amelie as a character was very interesting, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt as uneasy and uncomfortable about a character that was essentially the poster child for a “good person”. It was kind of strange.
It was easy going, it was cute…I enjoyed it thoroughly (:
8.6/10
I think Amelie is probably his most widely known film, and it’s fairly new…2001.
It’s about a girl named Amelie, surprise surprise, who had a very antisocial life growing up, lacking a lot of human contact.
Now, she’s older, single, a little lost, but thoroughly enjoying the small things in life.
She’s almost nauseatingly nice…like, really…I’m not sure it’s possible. Her first act of kindness, that we witness, is her tracking down and anonymously returning a childhood keepsake of a middle-aged man that used to live in her apartment. I think his overwhelming reaction kinda inspired her, and she continued to help people out and match people up anonymously.
One day she finds this scrapbook, full of different pictures of people from photo booths that had been torn up and reassembled. She sets out to find the person its belongs to, however, she plans on having a little bit of fun on the way…as she is now genuinely intrigued by this guy, due to the strange nature of the scrapbook she found. While browsing the scrapbook, she finds pictures of the same man repeated many times throughout the book, and the mystery man of the photos consumes her just as much as finding the scrapbooks owner does. Eventually, she uncovers the secret of both the man in the photos and the scrapbooks owner…and conjures up a plan to have them discover each other…well, the scrapbook man discover who the man in the photo’s is…the other half of this reunion is completely unaware that anything is happening.
As Amelie is concentrated on playing games with everyone else, she frequently visits her neighbor for talks that eventually help HER figure herself out. Her neighbor is working on a painting the entire time…one that he’s painted multiple times before, only…he can never get the face of the girl with the water right. He can never figure out her expression. As her visits increase, we assume that the girl with the water represents Amelie, and in Amelie trying to help him with her expression, she simultaneously discusses and discovers herself.
So far, every single movie of Jean-Pierre Jeunets that I have seen, has been beautifully shot, and this one is no exception! I always think it’s a pity that I have to concentrate on the subtitles as much as I do because it takes away from the visual. As with the City of Lost Children, I’ll probably end up watching it again, just to take in the visuals more…
The acting was good…nothing fantastic I didn’t think. Amelie as a character was very interesting, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt as uneasy and uncomfortable about a character that was essentially the poster child for a “good person”. It was kind of strange.
It was easy going, it was cute…I enjoyed it thoroughly (:
8.6/10
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
So...I heard so much about Buffy Buffy Buffy! Ash, you gotta watch it...I was so built up on this...and I think it may be my own fault...that upon hearing these recomendations I watched the film ( '96..'94ish?) instead of the tv show (1997 I believe) that everyone was raving about.
I thought that it would be smart to get a small taste for Buffy with the film instead of diving right into the ever famous show...
BUT I did...and I was not impressed lol.
Uhh...I'm not sure if it was supposed to be one of those movies so bad they're good??
I'm not sure...see, I'm quite a fan of movies that are so bad they're funny...even if they're not intended that way.
I get it. When it's done right, I get it.
The acting was terrible :P God, that chick pissed me off so much!!!
I dunno...I think all my Buffy loving friends are going to murder me...but I did promise I'd give the show a chance :P
anyway, I'm not going to spend a lot of my time thinking about this...I'll save it for when I get around to seeing the tv show.
4.0/10
I thought that it would be smart to get a small taste for Buffy with the film instead of diving right into the ever famous show...
BUT I did...and I was not impressed lol.
Uhh...I'm not sure if it was supposed to be one of those movies so bad they're good??
I'm not sure...see, I'm quite a fan of movies that are so bad they're funny...even if they're not intended that way.
I get it. When it's done right, I get it.
The acting was terrible :P God, that chick pissed me off so much!!!
I dunno...I think all my Buffy loving friends are going to murder me...but I did promise I'd give the show a chance :P
anyway, I'm not going to spend a lot of my time thinking about this...I'll save it for when I get around to seeing the tv show.
4.0/10
Monday, September 13, 2010
Basquiat
I have no idea why I watched this film before I watched The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, because that was the movie that was recommended to me, by the same director. I think...that this was the first movie of this director, but I'm not positive.
It was about this black artist, Basquiat. He was homeless, living in a cardboard box, struggling to make it as an artist and to be rich and famous. Him and his friend (Benicio Del Toro) run into Andy Warhol (David Bowie) and his art dealer friend (Dennis Hopper) and Andy is actually quite a fan of his work. He buys a couple cheap pieces and they seperate. Then Basquiat is discovered by someone else, and over time ends up rising to fame in the world of painting. He reunites with Andy Warhol and they become good friends.
Unfortunately, he seems to be being used...used by people high in the business...but as much as I would like to feel sorry for him, I really don't. He kinda becomes an asshole to his old friend and the first person to recognize his art. He cheats on his girlfriend and then Warhol dies...and he discovers that that's really all he had left.
Andy was kinda the only one left in the art world that recognized him, and without him, he was nothing...with no friends or family left either.
Speaking of family...probably mt biggest complaint about this movie was the portrayal of Basquiat's relationship with his family. We learn that his family is actually middle class, so why does he live in a cardboard box. We are introduced to his father once but get no real insight to what their relationship might be (although I think we are meant ro assume that it's only after his rise ro fame that his father became re-interested in him). And we also learn that hismother is in a mental institution yet we have no idea why or how this affects him.
In that sense, the movie felt a little incomplete...and I also think that if I had previous knowledge of the artist or his work I may have appreciated it more.
On a positive note, the soundtrack and cast was AMAZING. For the cast we had David Bowie, Dennis Hopper, Benicio Del Toro, Gary Oldman, Willem Dafoe, Christopher Walken etc. It was really great...all these cameos left me and my friends going "woahh! That's _____" every other scene
With the soundtrack we had multiple songs by The Pogues, The Rolling Stones, Tom Waits, Public Image Ltd., a little Iggy Pop and David Bowie..it was great too (:
6.7/10
It was about this black artist, Basquiat. He was homeless, living in a cardboard box, struggling to make it as an artist and to be rich and famous. Him and his friend (Benicio Del Toro) run into Andy Warhol (David Bowie) and his art dealer friend (Dennis Hopper) and Andy is actually quite a fan of his work. He buys a couple cheap pieces and they seperate. Then Basquiat is discovered by someone else, and over time ends up rising to fame in the world of painting. He reunites with Andy Warhol and they become good friends.
Unfortunately, he seems to be being used...used by people high in the business...but as much as I would like to feel sorry for him, I really don't. He kinda becomes an asshole to his old friend and the first person to recognize his art. He cheats on his girlfriend and then Warhol dies...and he discovers that that's really all he had left.
Andy was kinda the only one left in the art world that recognized him, and without him, he was nothing...with no friends or family left either.
Speaking of family...probably mt biggest complaint about this movie was the portrayal of Basquiat's relationship with his family. We learn that his family is actually middle class, so why does he live in a cardboard box. We are introduced to his father once but get no real insight to what their relationship might be (although I think we are meant ro assume that it's only after his rise ro fame that his father became re-interested in him). And we also learn that hismother is in a mental institution yet we have no idea why or how this affects him.
In that sense, the movie felt a little incomplete...and I also think that if I had previous knowledge of the artist or his work I may have appreciated it more.
On a positive note, the soundtrack and cast was AMAZING. For the cast we had David Bowie, Dennis Hopper, Benicio Del Toro, Gary Oldman, Willem Dafoe, Christopher Walken etc. It was really great...all these cameos left me and my friends going "woahh! That's _____" every other scene
With the soundtrack we had multiple songs by The Pogues, The Rolling Stones, Tom Waits, Public Image Ltd., a little Iggy Pop and David Bowie..it was great too (:
6.7/10
Barry Lyndon
A Stanley Kubrick film that hasn't really gotten recognized as widely as a lot of Kubricks other films.
I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the movie is over 3 hours long and doesn't exactly have an action packed plot.
The movie is divided into two halves. They're called (in MUCH fancier terms) How Redmond Barry aquired the name of Barry Lyndon and The Unfortunate Events that Barry Lyndon underwent as he fell from his high position....I just totally butchered that, but you get the idea.
The first half of the movie, we are introduced to the main character, Redmond Barry. He's an Irishman and, because of some love issues and a staged murder, he has to leave Ireland. From there he joins the British army...from THERE he ends up running away, getting caught up in a lie, and is forced to join the Prussian army. He works his way up there in the army and is assigned to spy on this...guy (yah, I totally forget his status).
When Barry discovers that the man he was sent to spy on is a fellow Irishman, they stick together and end up cheating rich men out of their money.
Eventually, they're found out and forced ro leave the country...where continuing to cheat men out of money with cards and Barry decided he needs to marry rich to continue the lifestyle he wants.
He finds a rich Lady (Lyndon)...and she falls in love and they're married.
The second part is after they're married. Barry kinda turns into an asshole at the point. He is extremely cruel to Lady Lyndons child with her previous husband, and totally favours his own child with her.
Long story short, (yah right...I suck at summarizing) he kinda abuses his stepson in front of people who he needs to impress in order to keep himself socially high...
Slowly he falls from the lifestyle that he was used to, without securing himself with any financial stability...the stepson comes back, challenges him to a dual, which Barry loses...and is sent out of the country to leave his mother alone...
I can see how people may consider this movie extremely slow and boring...it is really really long, and it didn't hold my attention as much as I would have liked, but I dis feel like every scene had a lot of work put into it.
I haven't read the novel it was based off of, but I get the feeling like what they kept from the book was done really well, true to the details of te book.
I have no idea why I feel like that...but, I dunno.
It was interesting...but I think someone interested in the 1700's time or in Kubricks film will really enjoy and appreciate it.
7.1/10
I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the movie is over 3 hours long and doesn't exactly have an action packed plot.
The movie is divided into two halves. They're called (in MUCH fancier terms) How Redmond Barry aquired the name of Barry Lyndon and The Unfortunate Events that Barry Lyndon underwent as he fell from his high position....I just totally butchered that, but you get the idea.
The first half of the movie, we are introduced to the main character, Redmond Barry. He's an Irishman and, because of some love issues and a staged murder, he has to leave Ireland. From there he joins the British army...from THERE he ends up running away, getting caught up in a lie, and is forced to join the Prussian army. He works his way up there in the army and is assigned to spy on this...guy (yah, I totally forget his status).
When Barry discovers that the man he was sent to spy on is a fellow Irishman, they stick together and end up cheating rich men out of their money.
Eventually, they're found out and forced ro leave the country...where continuing to cheat men out of money with cards and Barry decided he needs to marry rich to continue the lifestyle he wants.
He finds a rich Lady (Lyndon)...and she falls in love and they're married.
The second part is after they're married. Barry kinda turns into an asshole at the point. He is extremely cruel to Lady Lyndons child with her previous husband, and totally favours his own child with her.
Long story short, (yah right...I suck at summarizing) he kinda abuses his stepson in front of people who he needs to impress in order to keep himself socially high...
Slowly he falls from the lifestyle that he was used to, without securing himself with any financial stability...the stepson comes back, challenges him to a dual, which Barry loses...and is sent out of the country to leave his mother alone...
I can see how people may consider this movie extremely slow and boring...it is really really long, and it didn't hold my attention as much as I would have liked, but I dis feel like every scene had a lot of work put into it.
I haven't read the novel it was based off of, but I get the feeling like what they kept from the book was done really well, true to the details of te book.
I have no idea why I feel like that...but, I dunno.
It was interesting...but I think someone interested in the 1700's time or in Kubricks film will really enjoy and appreciate it.
7.1/10
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Blair Witch Project
I’ve been wanting to see this movie for quite some time now. I’ve heard good things from people whose opinions I trust…but I’ve also heard people saying it’s one of the worst movies they’ve ever seen. Those two facts alone almost always make me want to see a movie.
Also, I’m a fan of the style that it was filmed in…similar to Cloverfield etc.
Basically, these three friends are making a documentary on the Blair Witch, who is said to haunt this local forest. After interviewing a few people around the town, they travel in to the forest, set up camp, and stay the night…filming almost everything as they go. Unfortunately, things start going south after the first night…when they cant find their way back to their car. They end up spending another night in the forest…hearing strange noises this time.
They pretty much conclude the next day that they are lost, and one of the guys even admits to kicking the map into the river, which enrages both the other people. They continue to hear strange things, mostly at night, and they stumble across strange things during the day. One of the guys, Josh I believe, ends up missing about ¾ of the way through. Dun dun dunnn.
I’ve talked to a few people about their “theories” as to what is exactly going on, and what happens at the end of the movie…and the majority of the people I talk to bombard me with questions as to why the witch does what she does to the characters at the end of the film…and why she lets some other unknown party come and collect the tapes that recorded what went down. People have themselves really worked up over what/why this witch is doing what she’s doing.
MY theory, if that’s what you want to call it, is that there really is no witch…
I mean, at no point throughout the entire movie do we ever get concrete proof that the witch exists…nothing.
My first thought is that it’s Josh setting his friends up…I mean, I obviously don’t think he’s sane…I feel like maybe he went kinda insane? Maybe being paranoid with the Blair Witch curse and being in the forest…it all just got to him?
HIS pack and clothes are the ones that got covered in slime…HE is the one that disappeared…they hear HIM screaming…but as much as they try and find him he seems to avoid it…
I don’t really know…
As for the ending…I’m not really sure what happened…MIKE…yesss I just remembered his name. Mike ends up staring at a wall…screaming? I’m not sure, I don’t remember…
The beginning of the movie states that they remain missing, that they, nor anything that belonged to them, aside from their tapes, was ever found.
On the whole, I really enjoyed the movie…I can see how its kinda a ‘love it or hate it’ kind of movie. As I said before, I’m a sucker for movies that feel like you’re watching a playback of something recorded on a video recorder. I think it gives it an eerie realistic feel that you lose when they put a lot of effort into the professional filming. And although it had the feel of just spontaneous filming, it was obvious when you paid more attention that many of the shots were thought out very thoroughly and some pretty neat shots were achieved.
I also liked the fact that there was a lot left to the imagination…never seeing the witch and the camera turning off and on, cutting out parts…you miss some stuff…for example, we don’t figure out until later that Heather actually took one of the little stick figures that were hanging in the tree.
ANYWAY. I liked it…it kept me entertained.
7.7/10
Also, I’m a fan of the style that it was filmed in…similar to Cloverfield etc.
Basically, these three friends are making a documentary on the Blair Witch, who is said to haunt this local forest. After interviewing a few people around the town, they travel in to the forest, set up camp, and stay the night…filming almost everything as they go. Unfortunately, things start going south after the first night…when they cant find their way back to their car. They end up spending another night in the forest…hearing strange noises this time.
They pretty much conclude the next day that they are lost, and one of the guys even admits to kicking the map into the river, which enrages both the other people. They continue to hear strange things, mostly at night, and they stumble across strange things during the day. One of the guys, Josh I believe, ends up missing about ¾ of the way through. Dun dun dunnn.
I’ve talked to a few people about their “theories” as to what is exactly going on, and what happens at the end of the movie…and the majority of the people I talk to bombard me with questions as to why the witch does what she does to the characters at the end of the film…and why she lets some other unknown party come and collect the tapes that recorded what went down. People have themselves really worked up over what/why this witch is doing what she’s doing.
MY theory, if that’s what you want to call it, is that there really is no witch…
I mean, at no point throughout the entire movie do we ever get concrete proof that the witch exists…nothing.
My first thought is that it’s Josh setting his friends up…I mean, I obviously don’t think he’s sane…I feel like maybe he went kinda insane? Maybe being paranoid with the Blair Witch curse and being in the forest…it all just got to him?
HIS pack and clothes are the ones that got covered in slime…HE is the one that disappeared…they hear HIM screaming…but as much as they try and find him he seems to avoid it…
I don’t really know…
As for the ending…I’m not really sure what happened…MIKE…yesss I just remembered his name. Mike ends up staring at a wall…screaming? I’m not sure, I don’t remember…
The beginning of the movie states that they remain missing, that they, nor anything that belonged to them, aside from their tapes, was ever found.
On the whole, I really enjoyed the movie…I can see how its kinda a ‘love it or hate it’ kind of movie. As I said before, I’m a sucker for movies that feel like you’re watching a playback of something recorded on a video recorder. I think it gives it an eerie realistic feel that you lose when they put a lot of effort into the professional filming. And although it had the feel of just spontaneous filming, it was obvious when you paid more attention that many of the shots were thought out very thoroughly and some pretty neat shots were achieved.
I also liked the fact that there was a lot left to the imagination…never seeing the witch and the camera turning off and on, cutting out parts…you miss some stuff…for example, we don’t figure out until later that Heather actually took one of the little stick figures that were hanging in the tree.
ANYWAY. I liked it…it kept me entertained.
7.7/10
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Snatch.
Directed by Guy Ritchie…biggest names being Brad Pitt and Benicio del Toro. The plot, similarily to Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is huge mess of people and confusion…in a good way. It’s good, and it’s a style that he makes work.
There are people searching for the monster of a diamond…and people stealing it off of each other, along with a series of rigged boxing matches with a participant that isn’t exactly willing to win and lose when he is supposed to.
Brad Pitt plays Mickey…the gypsy boxer who has a mind of his own. Definitely my favourite character by far…They joke in the film about them having an accent that is not understandable…it not being English or Irish, but seemingly a combination of them both, mixed with pure gibberish. However, I found myself understanding him quite easily…and I’ve come to the conclusion, that his accent sounds extremely similar to that of a Newfie! I know a few people, a friends family actually, that come from Newfoundland and that’s exactly what they sound like. Anyway, off track.
I was actually a little disappointed by how similar I found it to be to Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels…
Some of the same actors were used, some of the characters were extremely similar, the plot was a similar tangled web of murders and stealing.
It was still good. I just would have liked more to see something a little different from the director…because I really enjoyed Lock Stock…
The short, witty comments almost make this movie for me. I laughed non stop…
It was good…I’m going to stop, cause Im not even going to attempt to begin to loosely describe the plot.
8/10
There are people searching for the monster of a diamond…and people stealing it off of each other, along with a series of rigged boxing matches with a participant that isn’t exactly willing to win and lose when he is supposed to.
Brad Pitt plays Mickey…the gypsy boxer who has a mind of his own. Definitely my favourite character by far…They joke in the film about them having an accent that is not understandable…it not being English or Irish, but seemingly a combination of them both, mixed with pure gibberish. However, I found myself understanding him quite easily…and I’ve come to the conclusion, that his accent sounds extremely similar to that of a Newfie! I know a few people, a friends family actually, that come from Newfoundland and that’s exactly what they sound like. Anyway, off track.
I was actually a little disappointed by how similar I found it to be to Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels…
Some of the same actors were used, some of the characters were extremely similar, the plot was a similar tangled web of murders and stealing.
It was still good. I just would have liked more to see something a little different from the director…because I really enjoyed Lock Stock…
The short, witty comments almost make this movie for me. I laughed non stop…
It was good…I’m going to stop, cause Im not even going to attempt to begin to loosely describe the plot.
8/10
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Gummo
So, as much as I have tried…there really isn’t much to the plot of this movie. To sum it up, I guess you could say its primarily about a group of kids living in a small down, pretty much destroyed by a prior tornado. Everyone is living in trailers, killing, torturing, and selling cats for meat. That’s actually a huge part of the movie. The torturing, drowning, and killing of cats by these kids.
The movie is just really really strange.
I’m not entirely sure what the point of it was, or what I was supposed to get out of it.
At first glance I would have said that it’s trying to depict life in a trailer park kinda atmosphere? But I’m not sure if that’s realistic…I just…I don’t really know.
I did like a lot of the characters!
I thought the three sisters were probably the most likable characters…they were cute…naïve…
The bunny boy was also kinda funny.
I liked the scene where the…I would venture to say mentally disabled? Person shaves off her eyebrows…
And the mother of the funny looking kid.
There were a couple of really random scenes that just kinda disturbed me…and surprisingly it was none of the ones involving cats lol.
At one point, this kid is taking a bath…in filthy water, and his mother brings him spagetti and milk to eat while he’s having a bath…
So, he’s eating…and she’s shampooing his hair…and she goes to the door to buy a chocolate bar off of some kid…gives it to him. He drops it…in the water…and then eats it, while soggy chocolate stuff drips out the side of his mouth…and then the scene just continues…
I don’t know, I think I’ll always remember that scene…I just found that really gross…
And the random bacon taped to the wall…
There is just a lot of random shit :P
Anyway, recommendation wise, I think I would definitely recommend people to watch it…I think a lot of people will hate it…
I think its one of those movies that people either love or hate…no real grey area…
Actually…I feel kinda grey about it though :P Uhhh…I think it just needs to marinate…
I’m trying to figure out if it was stupid stupid…or stupid genius :P
I’m not sure.
But it’s so different, and SO strange…I’d recommend it for sure.
6.7/10
The movie is just really really strange.
I’m not entirely sure what the point of it was, or what I was supposed to get out of it.
At first glance I would have said that it’s trying to depict life in a trailer park kinda atmosphere? But I’m not sure if that’s realistic…I just…I don’t really know.
I did like a lot of the characters!
I thought the three sisters were probably the most likable characters…they were cute…naïve…
The bunny boy was also kinda funny.
I liked the scene where the…I would venture to say mentally disabled? Person shaves off her eyebrows…
And the mother of the funny looking kid.
There were a couple of really random scenes that just kinda disturbed me…and surprisingly it was none of the ones involving cats lol.
At one point, this kid is taking a bath…in filthy water, and his mother brings him spagetti and milk to eat while he’s having a bath…
So, he’s eating…and she’s shampooing his hair…and she goes to the door to buy a chocolate bar off of some kid…gives it to him. He drops it…in the water…and then eats it, while soggy chocolate stuff drips out the side of his mouth…and then the scene just continues…
I don’t know, I think I’ll always remember that scene…I just found that really gross…
And the random bacon taped to the wall…
There is just a lot of random shit :P
Anyway, recommendation wise, I think I would definitely recommend people to watch it…I think a lot of people will hate it…
I think its one of those movies that people either love or hate…no real grey area…
Actually…I feel kinda grey about it though :P Uhhh…I think it just needs to marinate…
I’m trying to figure out if it was stupid stupid…or stupid genius :P
I’m not sure.
But it’s so different, and SO strange…I’d recommend it for sure.
6.7/10
The City of Lost Children
So, basically, this crazy scientist guy is stealing children to…harvest their dreams I guess you could say? So, first of all…I guess I should rewind a bit…This man, an incredible inventor guy, had no children, no family…so he decided to create some for himself. He created a wife, five or six sons (I can’t remember) who look identical to him, this giant brain, and basically the most intelligent man on the face of the earth. The thing is, something…I’m not sure if this little fact was omitted or if I just totally missed it…but I’m not sure exactly WHAT it was…anyway. Something put a curse on this little family that he created. His wife was super short, his children fell asleep spontaneously, the brain was prone to migraines, and lastly, the intelligent man, could not dream. SO because of this, he is ageing extremely fast…and attempts to steal children’s dreams so he can finally experience what it is to dream.
The main character One is this big, simple, ‘strong man’ whose little brother is kidnapped by this scientist. He really reminded me of like…Will Ferell on steroids…and like, a good actor :P. Most of the movie is about him going and searching for his brother…
He builds this extremely creepy (in my opinion) relationship with this little girl. She’s helping him find his little brother, actually, she’s the one who ultimately saves him in the end. She is obviously in love with him…you know, little girl crush…but its HIM that just creeped me out insanely ughh… :P It was weird.
I mean they’re so many weird things…these conjoined twins, evil fleas…really strange shit.
It was in French…so, unfortunately, I wasn’t as focused on the overall picture as I would have liked to be…it had a really cool tone to it, and I’d definitely want to watch it again to be able to see more of the visuals…now that I know exactly what’s going on.
It was overall really good (: I liked it…the ending was a bit predictable. All the “bad guys” get blown up, and One, his little brother, and his new little…friend…are all safe and happy :P
It was good though. Unique. I liked it. It actually reminded me of a really fucked up, and good, Golden Compass…the whole child stealing idea :P
7.5/10
The main character One is this big, simple, ‘strong man’ whose little brother is kidnapped by this scientist. He really reminded me of like…Will Ferell on steroids…and like, a good actor :P. Most of the movie is about him going and searching for his brother…
He builds this extremely creepy (in my opinion) relationship with this little girl. She’s helping him find his little brother, actually, she’s the one who ultimately saves him in the end. She is obviously in love with him…you know, little girl crush…but its HIM that just creeped me out insanely ughh… :P It was weird.
I mean they’re so many weird things…these conjoined twins, evil fleas…really strange shit.
It was in French…so, unfortunately, I wasn’t as focused on the overall picture as I would have liked to be…it had a really cool tone to it, and I’d definitely want to watch it again to be able to see more of the visuals…now that I know exactly what’s going on.
It was overall really good (: I liked it…the ending was a bit predictable. All the “bad guys” get blown up, and One, his little brother, and his new little…friend…are all safe and happy :P
It was good though. Unique. I liked it. It actually reminded me of a really fucked up, and good, Golden Compass…the whole child stealing idea :P
7.5/10
The 25th Hour
So, this one is basically about the day before the main character, Monty, played by Edward Norton, goes to jail. He was caught dealing drugs…and was sentenced to 7 years in jail.
Obviously, it starts off in the morning the day before he is set to go to jail. His entire day/night is dedicated to hanging out with his two best friends Jacob and Frank. They go to a club, Jacob, who is a high school teacher, hooks up with one of his students…awkwardly.
There isn’t much to the plot of the movie…we get a little bit of background information on Monty, see him talking with his father, see that he wanted to become a firefighter when he was a kid. It builds up and it keeps building up the entire movie…you feel sorry for him and he grows on you! You really really like this guy by the end of the movie…I mean, the opening scene is him saving a dog who is dying on the side of the street.
Then comes the ending :P I really really loved the ending. I thought it was really smart. When it first started, I was a little disappointed…I was disappointed maybe that that’s what Monty would choose…but also that it seemed like the easy way out…both for the movie and for Money the character…
Then, it REALLY ended…and I really loved it. It was cruel and terrible and you hate to see a character you have grown to love be put through that, but it was beyond effective.
The acting was really good…I love Ed Norton…and Philip Seymour Hoffman was playing Jacob…
One of the scenes that I keep remembering is near the end of the film…Monty confessed that he is terrified of being raped in jail. He’s a good looking guy, he is terrified he is going to get torn apart. He tries to convince his other friend, Frank, to beat him up…really rearrange his face. He has to really antagonize Frank to get him to do it…by threatening Jacob physically. Eventually Frank does give in, and leaves Monty’s face a mess, but is also himself an emotional wreck. That’s how Monty leaves his friends…that was his goodbye…
He walks away from them face bloody and swollen and Jacob is trying to console a hysterical Frank.
I dunno…I thought it was pretty intense.
Oh! Shit!…I almost forgot my favourite part of this movie lol. Even better than the ending I thought…was Monty’s “fuck you” monologue. I thought it was great…
He is in the washroom, and he looks at himself in the mirror…and he’s ranting to himself…saying Fuck You to all the different races and stereo types found in New York…this goes on for like five minutes, him blaming everyone else in New York for his issues and his fuck ups…and then in the end, the Monty in the mirror kind of comes back and says noo…you know what fuck YOU. Basically, your life is yours…and if anyone fucked it up it was you. You had it all…and you fucked it up (:
I really liked it. Done!
7.3/10
Obviously, it starts off in the morning the day before he is set to go to jail. His entire day/night is dedicated to hanging out with his two best friends Jacob and Frank. They go to a club, Jacob, who is a high school teacher, hooks up with one of his students…awkwardly.
There isn’t much to the plot of the movie…we get a little bit of background information on Monty, see him talking with his father, see that he wanted to become a firefighter when he was a kid. It builds up and it keeps building up the entire movie…you feel sorry for him and he grows on you! You really really like this guy by the end of the movie…I mean, the opening scene is him saving a dog who is dying on the side of the street.
Then comes the ending :P I really really loved the ending. I thought it was really smart. When it first started, I was a little disappointed…I was disappointed maybe that that’s what Monty would choose…but also that it seemed like the easy way out…both for the movie and for Money the character…
Then, it REALLY ended…and I really loved it. It was cruel and terrible and you hate to see a character you have grown to love be put through that, but it was beyond effective.
The acting was really good…I love Ed Norton…and Philip Seymour Hoffman was playing Jacob…
One of the scenes that I keep remembering is near the end of the film…Monty confessed that he is terrified of being raped in jail. He’s a good looking guy, he is terrified he is going to get torn apart. He tries to convince his other friend, Frank, to beat him up…really rearrange his face. He has to really antagonize Frank to get him to do it…by threatening Jacob physically. Eventually Frank does give in, and leaves Monty’s face a mess, but is also himself an emotional wreck. That’s how Monty leaves his friends…that was his goodbye…
He walks away from them face bloody and swollen and Jacob is trying to console a hysterical Frank.
I dunno…I thought it was pretty intense.
Oh! Shit!…I almost forgot my favourite part of this movie lol. Even better than the ending I thought…was Monty’s “fuck you” monologue. I thought it was great…
He is in the washroom, and he looks at himself in the mirror…and he’s ranting to himself…saying Fuck You to all the different races and stereo types found in New York…this goes on for like five minutes, him blaming everyone else in New York for his issues and his fuck ups…and then in the end, the Monty in the mirror kind of comes back and says noo…you know what fuck YOU. Basically, your life is yours…and if anyone fucked it up it was you. You had it all…and you fucked it up (:
I really liked it. Done!
7.3/10
Audition
Mkay. So this is like a Korean horror movie…
It starts out with this guy, and his wife passes away. Years later, his son mentions to him that he thinks that his father needs to get out, start dating, perhaps get married again.
So, the man, being a part of the movie industry, sets up an audition for a female lead role that describes what his ideal woman is. Obviously, he finds and falls in love with one of the women who auditioned. The first three quarters of the movie is them building up a relationship basically. We see a little bit into the girls past…which as more and more is revealed to us we find out that she’s had a fucked up childhood…then we figure out that SHE is pretty fucked up as well. It’s a really really slow beginning…they’re building up…and the “climax” is moderately surprising. Because it was advertised as a horror you kinda suspect something is going to happen.
But, when the climax does happen, it wasn’t really…disturbing enough for me :/
I know, I’m probably really fucked up. But I can deal with a really slow build up, but the big BAM better be big and worth it! It just feel short for me a little bit.
My thing is eyeballs…I cannot stannndddd stuff with eyeballs. And in part of her torture…she sticks pins under his eyeballs, and I almost wish they would have shown them getting put in! That would have made me cringe…
But, they didn’t so…ahh well…
One thing that I did love about the movie, and it was really really memorable for me, was what she was saying while she was putting the pins in various areas of his body. Every time she stuck one in she would kinda coo “kikireekireekireeeee…” and it was quite eerie.
Other than that…acting wasn’t fantastic…plot was mehh…wasn’t all that disturbing…
I felt a little bit let down.
5/10
It starts out with this guy, and his wife passes away. Years later, his son mentions to him that he thinks that his father needs to get out, start dating, perhaps get married again.
So, the man, being a part of the movie industry, sets up an audition for a female lead role that describes what his ideal woman is. Obviously, he finds and falls in love with one of the women who auditioned. The first three quarters of the movie is them building up a relationship basically. We see a little bit into the girls past…which as more and more is revealed to us we find out that she’s had a fucked up childhood…then we figure out that SHE is pretty fucked up as well. It’s a really really slow beginning…they’re building up…and the “climax” is moderately surprising. Because it was advertised as a horror you kinda suspect something is going to happen.
But, when the climax does happen, it wasn’t really…disturbing enough for me :/
I know, I’m probably really fucked up. But I can deal with a really slow build up, but the big BAM better be big and worth it! It just feel short for me a little bit.
My thing is eyeballs…I cannot stannndddd stuff with eyeballs. And in part of her torture…she sticks pins under his eyeballs, and I almost wish they would have shown them getting put in! That would have made me cringe…
But, they didn’t so…ahh well…
One thing that I did love about the movie, and it was really really memorable for me, was what she was saying while she was putting the pins in various areas of his body. Every time she stuck one in she would kinda coo “kikireekireekireeeee…” and it was quite eerie.
Other than that…acting wasn’t fantastic…plot was mehh…wasn’t all that disturbing…
I felt a little bit let down.
5/10
American Psycho
Okay…so, first of all, I have to say that I read the book, American Psycho, a couple weeks before the movie…and I am SO glad I did! I mean, I’m usually glad, but this time, I was REALLY glad.
I loved the book…I thought Bret Easton Ellis was incredibly descriptive, really creative (in the wrongest ways :P) and I just thought it was really well written.
It did lack a plot…it didn’t really go anywhere, but that didn’t even matter, honestly, it wasn’t about that for me. I couldn’t help but laugh every time he would bring up something about killings and it would either be misheard or ignored :P
There was a point where I considered that none of the killings were happening…especially when the fact that the lawyer had lunch with Paul Owens multiple times through his death. But, then it kinda clued in…something else I found amusing…the fact that they were constantly mistaking people for others…something which actually made the book so confusing for me at the beginning.
Now, onto the movie…I’ve been putting this off…cause, I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. It may be sick, but I didn’t think it was near graphic enough.
Also, I don’t think Christian Bale was right at all for the part…I thought he should be more pompous and less monotonous.
Best part of the movie was Willem Dafoe…hands down! That guy was the perfect touch…I loved it.
I mean…I think the conclusion that you are eventually supposed to come down to is…who is crazy? Is it society? Or is it Patrick?
As I said before, I do think that Patrick actually committed the murders, but I’m not sure who is to blame? Society or Patrick? I tend to lean towards society…I do think that Bateman was fucked…but society definitely did not help. I don’t know, I really don’t know lol…
Urghh…so, I was just kinda frustrated by this movie. I still wanted to add more…but I really don’t feel like bitching any more…and a lot of what I have left is just that :/
I’m going to focus on the book…
Book: 9.3/10
Movie: 7.0/10
I loved the book…I thought Bret Easton Ellis was incredibly descriptive, really creative (in the wrongest ways :P) and I just thought it was really well written.
It did lack a plot…it didn’t really go anywhere, but that didn’t even matter, honestly, it wasn’t about that for me. I couldn’t help but laugh every time he would bring up something about killings and it would either be misheard or ignored :P
There was a point where I considered that none of the killings were happening…especially when the fact that the lawyer had lunch with Paul Owens multiple times through his death. But, then it kinda clued in…something else I found amusing…the fact that they were constantly mistaking people for others…something which actually made the book so confusing for me at the beginning.
Now, onto the movie…I’ve been putting this off…cause, I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. It may be sick, but I didn’t think it was near graphic enough.
Also, I don’t think Christian Bale was right at all for the part…I thought he should be more pompous and less monotonous.
Best part of the movie was Willem Dafoe…hands down! That guy was the perfect touch…I loved it.
I mean…I think the conclusion that you are eventually supposed to come down to is…who is crazy? Is it society? Or is it Patrick?
As I said before, I do think that Patrick actually committed the murders, but I’m not sure who is to blame? Society or Patrick? I tend to lean towards society…I do think that Bateman was fucked…but society definitely did not help. I don’t know, I really don’t know lol…
Urghh…so, I was just kinda frustrated by this movie. I still wanted to add more…but I really don’t feel like bitching any more…and a lot of what I have left is just that :/
I’m going to focus on the book…
Book: 9.3/10
Movie: 7.0/10
Monday, June 14, 2010
Antichrist
Mkay. Antichrist. Made in 2009…which is a lot…recenter? Than I had expected. The only two actors in the movie, if you exclude the baby that’s in it for five minutes and the groups of women with their faces blurred out that are in it for five minutes, are Willem Dafoe, who plays the “him” and another actress…I’d never heard of her, so, like usual, I don’t remember her name…in case you didn’t guess, she plays the “her”.
The basic idea is that this couple’s baby falls out of a window and dies while they are having sex. Afterward, the female is not dealing with it well at all. Being a psychiatrist, the husband takes his wife case on himself, and decides to take her somewhere that she is afraid of. It’s a forest called Eden, where they have a cabin and where his wife had spent a great deal of time with her son, working on a book she was writing about gynocide. Things just go south from there, as the husband figures things out about his wife, and she gets out of control.
One thing that I really liked about this movie was that it was divided into six…a prologue, four chapters, and an epilogue. I didn’t like the whole chapter thing at first…but it really came to make sense in the end.
The prologue and epilogue are in black and white…and the prologue is when the couple are having sex and the baby dies. The first chapter is called Grief. The part of the story where they are still at home dealing with their baby’s death is included in this chapter. At the very end, they decide to leave for the forest. The chapter ends with a deer with a stillborn baby hanging out of the womb…
Chapter two is called Pain. It’s basically her treatment at the cabin, getting better and worse…this chapter ends with him seeing a fox like, eating itself.
Chapter three is where it really picked up for me. Dafoe catches on that something is weird. And it turns out, that by going through her books and notes, he realizes that while she was up here trying to write against gynocide, she actually ended up believing that it was true and just and necessary. So, shit happens and he ends up having his genitals smashed by a piece of wood, gets knocked out (obviously…like, shit) and drills a hole in his leg and screws a weight to him so he can’t escape. There is a lot more graphic torture and shit going on in this chapter…but I’m going to skip to the end where Dafoe is trying to smash a crow in the head and kill it with a stone.
The last chapter is called the three beggars. Which kinda pulls everything together. Part of the woman’s study notes included information on the three beggars. Which are the Deer (Grief) the Fox (Pain) and the Crow (Despair). I really liked how they worked that. The woman told Dafoe that the three beggars were coming, and when they did, someone needed to die. I thought it was pretty obvious at this point that she was going to be the one to die. Despite what she did to him…
The prologue consists of Dafoe, limping through the forest, and suddenly, hundreds of women with their faces blurred out come up to greet him.
So, I thought that this movie was actually really really disturbing. I mean, I’ve seen a lot. A lot that have claimed to be ‘most disturbing of the year’ or ‘of all time’. But this one, I would actually consider to live up to that statement.
I thought it was clever how she prevented both her son and her husband from leaving her. Earlier in the movie she says something about her son trying to leave…wander about…when they were in the cabin in the summer, and from photos, Dafoe sees that she began butting his boots on the wrong feet…perhaps to cripple him, or prevent him from leaving? Later in the movie she does something similar to Dafoe, drilling a hole in his leg and attaching a weight to him.
She seems all emotion, all self centered, and not at all intelligent…where as I feel like they made him, for the most part, generally emotionless, concerned more for others than himself, and extremely intelligent. It was interesting…and verging on annoying, the entire time, he kept his doctorly composure.
This is one of the only movies that I have seen in my life that I have felt like I needed to turn away from. Actually, I think I did…when the girl cuts her clit off…man…I could not fucking watch that haha…other than that, I watched the entire thing, but I don’t think I have felt the urge to look away from the screen that much in a looooong time, if ever.
8.1/10
The basic idea is that this couple’s baby falls out of a window and dies while they are having sex. Afterward, the female is not dealing with it well at all. Being a psychiatrist, the husband takes his wife case on himself, and decides to take her somewhere that she is afraid of. It’s a forest called Eden, where they have a cabin and where his wife had spent a great deal of time with her son, working on a book she was writing about gynocide. Things just go south from there, as the husband figures things out about his wife, and she gets out of control.
One thing that I really liked about this movie was that it was divided into six…a prologue, four chapters, and an epilogue. I didn’t like the whole chapter thing at first…but it really came to make sense in the end.
The prologue and epilogue are in black and white…and the prologue is when the couple are having sex and the baby dies. The first chapter is called Grief. The part of the story where they are still at home dealing with their baby’s death is included in this chapter. At the very end, they decide to leave for the forest. The chapter ends with a deer with a stillborn baby hanging out of the womb…
Chapter two is called Pain. It’s basically her treatment at the cabin, getting better and worse…this chapter ends with him seeing a fox like, eating itself.
Chapter three is where it really picked up for me. Dafoe catches on that something is weird. And it turns out, that by going through her books and notes, he realizes that while she was up here trying to write against gynocide, she actually ended up believing that it was true and just and necessary. So, shit happens and he ends up having his genitals smashed by a piece of wood, gets knocked out (obviously…like, shit) and drills a hole in his leg and screws a weight to him so he can’t escape. There is a lot more graphic torture and shit going on in this chapter…but I’m going to skip to the end where Dafoe is trying to smash a crow in the head and kill it with a stone.
The last chapter is called the three beggars. Which kinda pulls everything together. Part of the woman’s study notes included information on the three beggars. Which are the Deer (Grief) the Fox (Pain) and the Crow (Despair). I really liked how they worked that. The woman told Dafoe that the three beggars were coming, and when they did, someone needed to die. I thought it was pretty obvious at this point that she was going to be the one to die. Despite what she did to him…
The prologue consists of Dafoe, limping through the forest, and suddenly, hundreds of women with their faces blurred out come up to greet him.
So, I thought that this movie was actually really really disturbing. I mean, I’ve seen a lot. A lot that have claimed to be ‘most disturbing of the year’ or ‘of all time’. But this one, I would actually consider to live up to that statement.
I thought it was clever how she prevented both her son and her husband from leaving her. Earlier in the movie she says something about her son trying to leave…wander about…when they were in the cabin in the summer, and from photos, Dafoe sees that she began butting his boots on the wrong feet…perhaps to cripple him, or prevent him from leaving? Later in the movie she does something similar to Dafoe, drilling a hole in his leg and attaching a weight to him.
She seems all emotion, all self centered, and not at all intelligent…where as I feel like they made him, for the most part, generally emotionless, concerned more for others than himself, and extremely intelligent. It was interesting…and verging on annoying, the entire time, he kept his doctorly composure.
This is one of the only movies that I have seen in my life that I have felt like I needed to turn away from. Actually, I think I did…when the girl cuts her clit off…man…I could not fucking watch that haha…other than that, I watched the entire thing, but I don’t think I have felt the urge to look away from the screen that much in a looooong time, if ever.
8.1/10
The Human Centipede
Okay! There has been huuuuuuge talk about this movie haha. About how disturbing and disgusting it was. How people threw up watching it, left the theatre, turned it off, didn’t make it through…so, naturally I had to see it. See if it lived up to the title of one of the most disturbing movies of all time.
My first complaint would have to be how typical everything is…starts off with two young tourists…women…whose car breaks down. Oh, and its raining :P
They find a house, and whose inside? A creepy German surgeon who has a guy locked in his basement strapped to a medical bed and pumped with random shit, tubes all over the place.
Obviously, the girls find themselves strapped to beds beside the guy…and, unfortunately for the guy, he doesn’t match up with the two girls…so…buh bye :(
We get a little Asian guy now, and man…he is feisty! Haha he does NOT stop screaming and yelling in like Korean or something the entire movie!
The doctor then proceeds to tell the three of them how he plans to attach them via their digestive tract and cut the muscles in their knee joints to make a human centipede. Food entering through the first person, traveling through the second, and exiting the third…their knees like, butchered, so they have to choice but to crawl.
He performs the actual surgery fairly quickly into the movie…probably a third of the way in. The next third of the movie is him interacting with this thing he created…
I read that this was supposed to be a dark comedy :P and…the more I get over the ‘what the fuck’ thoughts, I see that it really did have its twisted funny moments :P
There is one point, before he sews them together, that the one girl escapes…she is running all around the house, until she runs into the pool room and falls into the pool. Obviously, the doctor catches up with her…and he makes this very serious and intense speech about why he is glad she tried to escape and blah blah blah…and he ends this speech by saying…something along the lines of: “Do you know the real reason why I am glad you tried to escape me?…. Because now…I know, you will be the middle piece!”
Omg…I found that so funny! I seriously, could not stop laughing! Haha.
Anyway, there is another scene when he is trying to train the centipedey thing to fetch the newspaper…its just…extremely humorous :P
I also absolutely loved the ending…the cops come. They come because of the missing girls, and the doctor, being the dumbass he is, totally blows his cover. So…they leave to get a warrant, and he goes to get the centipede…well, the asian guy, in the front, stabs him in the legs…so, we have this centipede and this legless doctor, chasing, crawling, all over the house :P
Finally, the centipede goes into this room, and the doctor is right behind them…Asian dude gets a lamp…cause he wants to smash the window to get out…but stupidly, turns towards the doctor…and when you think that he MIGHT do something smart (aka smash the doctor in the face with the lamp) He decides it would be a great time to do a speech! After he does his speech about I don’t even know…I was laughing too hard…something about human nature, and society, and his sister, and humanity…he takes a piece of glass and slits his throat. Well, that’s just great…
Now, we have a centipede with a dead front…perfect. You dumb shit!
Cops come back. Try and find the doctor…the doctor shoots the one. The other one, the stupid one, goes and sees ‘ohh a gunshot…lemme go and take a peek’ Well, no shit. He gets shot too. BUT he is able to simultaneously shoot the doctor too…so, we killed two idiotic birds with one stone there.
Now we’re back…and guess who is looking just a bit blue? The back piece of the centipede…perfect timing! Her mouth/the other girls ass is like infected…so, that’s not so good…and basically, she dies. Leaving the middle piece, yes, the feisty one from the beginning, alone in a house with two dead cops, a dead doctor, and a dead asian sewed to her mouth and her dead best friend sewed to her ass :P
I have to say, I actually found this movie quite humorous. And the less serious I take it, the more I enjoy it.
6.8/10
My first complaint would have to be how typical everything is…starts off with two young tourists…women…whose car breaks down. Oh, and its raining :P
They find a house, and whose inside? A creepy German surgeon who has a guy locked in his basement strapped to a medical bed and pumped with random shit, tubes all over the place.
Obviously, the girls find themselves strapped to beds beside the guy…and, unfortunately for the guy, he doesn’t match up with the two girls…so…buh bye :(
We get a little Asian guy now, and man…he is feisty! Haha he does NOT stop screaming and yelling in like Korean or something the entire movie!
The doctor then proceeds to tell the three of them how he plans to attach them via their digestive tract and cut the muscles in their knee joints to make a human centipede. Food entering through the first person, traveling through the second, and exiting the third…their knees like, butchered, so they have to choice but to crawl.
He performs the actual surgery fairly quickly into the movie…probably a third of the way in. The next third of the movie is him interacting with this thing he created…
I read that this was supposed to be a dark comedy :P and…the more I get over the ‘what the fuck’ thoughts, I see that it really did have its twisted funny moments :P
There is one point, before he sews them together, that the one girl escapes…she is running all around the house, until she runs into the pool room and falls into the pool. Obviously, the doctor catches up with her…and he makes this very serious and intense speech about why he is glad she tried to escape and blah blah blah…and he ends this speech by saying…something along the lines of: “Do you know the real reason why I am glad you tried to escape me?…. Because now…I know, you will be the middle piece!”
Omg…I found that so funny! I seriously, could not stop laughing! Haha.
Anyway, there is another scene when he is trying to train the centipedey thing to fetch the newspaper…its just…extremely humorous :P
I also absolutely loved the ending…the cops come. They come because of the missing girls, and the doctor, being the dumbass he is, totally blows his cover. So…they leave to get a warrant, and he goes to get the centipede…well, the asian guy, in the front, stabs him in the legs…so, we have this centipede and this legless doctor, chasing, crawling, all over the house :P
Finally, the centipede goes into this room, and the doctor is right behind them…Asian dude gets a lamp…cause he wants to smash the window to get out…but stupidly, turns towards the doctor…and when you think that he MIGHT do something smart (aka smash the doctor in the face with the lamp) He decides it would be a great time to do a speech! After he does his speech about I don’t even know…I was laughing too hard…something about human nature, and society, and his sister, and humanity…he takes a piece of glass and slits his throat. Well, that’s just great…
Now, we have a centipede with a dead front…perfect. You dumb shit!
Cops come back. Try and find the doctor…the doctor shoots the one. The other one, the stupid one, goes and sees ‘ohh a gunshot…lemme go and take a peek’ Well, no shit. He gets shot too. BUT he is able to simultaneously shoot the doctor too…so, we killed two idiotic birds with one stone there.
Now we’re back…and guess who is looking just a bit blue? The back piece of the centipede…perfect timing! Her mouth/the other girls ass is like infected…so, that’s not so good…and basically, she dies. Leaving the middle piece, yes, the feisty one from the beginning, alone in a house with two dead cops, a dead doctor, and a dead asian sewed to her mouth and her dead best friend sewed to her ass :P
I have to say, I actually found this movie quite humorous. And the less serious I take it, the more I enjoy it.
6.8/10
A Scanner Darkly
Another one based on a novel by Philip K. Dick…and another one I have yet to read.
It was made in 2006…which surprised me…I thought it was older than that.
Takes place in the future, I can’t recall how far exactly…or if they even tell you?…Basically, a big majority of the country is addicted to drugs…in particular, this new drug, Substance D. Police surveillance is very invasive and intense…Arctor (Keanu Reeves) is meant to go undercover as a drug user…make friends with other drug users (Robert Downey Jr, and Woody Harrelson).
Arctor ends up getting hooked on drugs himself and falls in love with a girl, Winona Ryder, who is providing him with the drugs.
He ends up totally immersed in this new lifestyle…and the hemispheres in his brain are no longer functioning properly…causing him to lose the ability to distinguish between himself as a cop and a drug addict.
I was actually really impressed with the acting in this movie…aside from Keanu Reeves. I’ve never really been a big Keanu Reeves fan, and…I just wasn’t feeling it. Woody Harrelson especially was hilarious. Robert Downey Jr. was really quirky and odd. Even Rory Cochrane was hilarious with his portrayal of a heavy drug user…his facial expressions were just priceless.
The animation was really neat…and I’m sure took an incredibly long time to complete…but I think it was worth it. It made it different…added to the whole…I dunno. I felt like the whole movie I was wondering what was actually real. Were these people believing what they were seeing? Or seeing what they were believing?…kinda thing.
The beginning was a little slow, but it definitely worked itself out in the end…I really loved the ending.
Arctor is sent to rehab to recover…after the cops supposedly figure out that he is actually addicted to drugs too. We find out that their intention all along was to get Arctor addicted. The reason being that the number one rehab center, where people addicted go to recover, is suspected of actually manufacturing and distributing Substance D. In order to get anywhere near the center, you need to be heavily addicted to substance D. The girl, Winona Ryder, who he fell in love with as his drug dealer…was actually his boss. This was unkown to him, because everyone in that field of work wears these scramble suits that make them look like multiple people at once and change very frequently. She was one of the ones most responsible for setting him up. Their hope was to get him in the center, and hope that he still had a little bit of sense left in him, enough to find proof and be able to relay it back to the cops. He is actually sent to do farm work in the rehab center, and stumbles across rows and rows of blue flowers…which just so happen to be what they use to make substance D. The movie ends with him tucking a blue flower into his boot, and saying that its for his friends when he gets to go back and visit in a few months, at Thanksgiving…and that’s how its left off. I really liked the ending…I was hoping that they were going to put a twist in it.
I also liked…after the movie ended, but before the credits, there was a scrolling list of people dead/damaged because of extensive drug use. It was good, overall…and I think I liked it more than Blade Runner…which I’m not sure if that’s strange…from the ratings I’ve read, it seemed like Blade Runner got better reviews…but I found this more entertaining…and had more ‘huh…’ moments :P
8.7/10
It was made in 2006…which surprised me…I thought it was older than that.
Takes place in the future, I can’t recall how far exactly…or if they even tell you?…Basically, a big majority of the country is addicted to drugs…in particular, this new drug, Substance D. Police surveillance is very invasive and intense…Arctor (Keanu Reeves) is meant to go undercover as a drug user…make friends with other drug users (Robert Downey Jr, and Woody Harrelson).
Arctor ends up getting hooked on drugs himself and falls in love with a girl, Winona Ryder, who is providing him with the drugs.
He ends up totally immersed in this new lifestyle…and the hemispheres in his brain are no longer functioning properly…causing him to lose the ability to distinguish between himself as a cop and a drug addict.
I was actually really impressed with the acting in this movie…aside from Keanu Reeves. I’ve never really been a big Keanu Reeves fan, and…I just wasn’t feeling it. Woody Harrelson especially was hilarious. Robert Downey Jr. was really quirky and odd. Even Rory Cochrane was hilarious with his portrayal of a heavy drug user…his facial expressions were just priceless.
The animation was really neat…and I’m sure took an incredibly long time to complete…but I think it was worth it. It made it different…added to the whole…I dunno. I felt like the whole movie I was wondering what was actually real. Were these people believing what they were seeing? Or seeing what they were believing?…kinda thing.
The beginning was a little slow, but it definitely worked itself out in the end…I really loved the ending.
Arctor is sent to rehab to recover…after the cops supposedly figure out that he is actually addicted to drugs too. We find out that their intention all along was to get Arctor addicted. The reason being that the number one rehab center, where people addicted go to recover, is suspected of actually manufacturing and distributing Substance D. In order to get anywhere near the center, you need to be heavily addicted to substance D. The girl, Winona Ryder, who he fell in love with as his drug dealer…was actually his boss. This was unkown to him, because everyone in that field of work wears these scramble suits that make them look like multiple people at once and change very frequently. She was one of the ones most responsible for setting him up. Their hope was to get him in the center, and hope that he still had a little bit of sense left in him, enough to find proof and be able to relay it back to the cops. He is actually sent to do farm work in the rehab center, and stumbles across rows and rows of blue flowers…which just so happen to be what they use to make substance D. The movie ends with him tucking a blue flower into his boot, and saying that its for his friends when he gets to go back and visit in a few months, at Thanksgiving…and that’s how its left off. I really liked the ending…I was hoping that they were going to put a twist in it.
I also liked…after the movie ended, but before the credits, there was a scrolling list of people dead/damaged because of extensive drug use. It was good, overall…and I think I liked it more than Blade Runner…which I’m not sure if that’s strange…from the ratings I’ve read, it seemed like Blade Runner got better reviews…but I found this more entertaining…and had more ‘huh…’ moments :P
8.7/10
The Sixth Sense
I honestly have no idea why I haven’t seen this movie before now…haha. I had always heard about it…it’s the movie that brought about the ever famous line “I see dead people” But I, for whatever reason, had always passed it off as a typical horror movie. You know, scary ghosts, spirits all that kinda stuff. But I definitely had NO idea that it would be as good as it was…in comparison to what I expected.
We start off with this child psychologist, played by Bruce Willis, and he is visited by an old patient in his home…The patient is extremely frustrated and claims that he didn’t help him at all. Eventually his anger escalades and he shoots at the doctor. A few months later, Willis has another patient…one that reminds him an awful lot of the other one that he couldn’t help.
Because of that fact, Willis has a special place for this kid, and really wants to help him.
Eventually, after earning the kids trust, the kid tells him that he sees and talks with people who are dead…but don’t always know that they’re dead. He starts helping the kid to actually communicate with these ghosts…and the child ends up helping them, so they stop hurting him.
The acting was very well done. That kid! I love that kid :P After seeing him in Pay It Forward I think he is absolutely adorable. A pretty good crier too.
Bruce Willis was decent too.
The ending was one to definitely remember…and its definitely going to be a movie that I watch again. Similar to a Lost episode…you get to the end of the movie and you try and desperately recall what you’ve just seen…almost searching for ways to prove the ending wrong…or find a slip up.
How they pulled off that ending without me suspecting…I have no idea. I did figure out the “twist” about five/ten minutes ahead of when you typically figure out what’s going on…but it honestly surprised me.
The general plot wasn’t extensive…but it was very entertaining…and it was very well done (:
7/10
We start off with this child psychologist, played by Bruce Willis, and he is visited by an old patient in his home…The patient is extremely frustrated and claims that he didn’t help him at all. Eventually his anger escalades and he shoots at the doctor. A few months later, Willis has another patient…one that reminds him an awful lot of the other one that he couldn’t help.
Because of that fact, Willis has a special place for this kid, and really wants to help him.
Eventually, after earning the kids trust, the kid tells him that he sees and talks with people who are dead…but don’t always know that they’re dead. He starts helping the kid to actually communicate with these ghosts…and the child ends up helping them, so they stop hurting him.
The acting was very well done. That kid! I love that kid :P After seeing him in Pay It Forward I think he is absolutely adorable. A pretty good crier too.
Bruce Willis was decent too.
The ending was one to definitely remember…and its definitely going to be a movie that I watch again. Similar to a Lost episode…you get to the end of the movie and you try and desperately recall what you’ve just seen…almost searching for ways to prove the ending wrong…or find a slip up.
How they pulled off that ending without me suspecting…I have no idea. I did figure out the “twist” about five/ten minutes ahead of when you typically figure out what’s going on…but it honestly surprised me.
The general plot wasn’t extensive…but it was very entertaining…and it was very well done (:
7/10
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Little Otik
I have no idea how I heard about this movie…but I’m glad I did. It’s based on this Czech fairy tale about this couple who can’t have a child. In desperation to make his wife happy, the husband carves a baby out of a stump he dug up that resembles a child. When he gives it to his wife, almost immediately I think he realizes that it was a bad mistake. She immediately attaches to it, and cares for it as if it were real.
She puts a huge amount of effort into creating this lie that she’s pregnant…different sized pregnancy stomachs and everything…I’m sure she’s convinced herself that she’s pregnant. After she finally “gives birth” the husband comes home to find the baby alive…haha yah, wtf this wooden baby is now breastfeeding…
She keeps the baby hidden from others…obviously if people saw they would be very suspicious and well…that’s not normal…
The baby, who they named Otik in case that wasn’t obvious, grew at an extremely fast pace, and had an incredible appetite…for flesh…dun dun dunnn XD
At the same time as this whole thing is unfolding, the next-door neighbor, a little girl, is reading a Czech fairytale. The fairytale is eerily similar to what the girl is observing next door.
First of all, the stop motion in this film was fantastic, and I wish that there were more…all the scenes with Otik were done with stop motion.
Something I think the film could have done without would have been…when the girl was reading the story out loud…they took us and actually showed us scenes from what she was reading…and, it just felt redundant to me, because most of them ended up happening in real life anyway. I mean, that could have been done on purpose, well, I’m sure it was done on purpose, but it just didn’t work for me…personally.
I think I need to look into more of this directors films…talking to a few people, they’ve said that a couple of his other films are actually much better…so, if I enjoyed this one as much as I did, I think I’ll enjoy the others.
Funniest moments in the movie…the dinner times at the next door neighbors house. Every single meal was absolutely disgusting! Haha. That, and the father in that household, it just cracked me up.
Annnd one more thing, the ending. I loved how it ended. We are read from the book, that the way that Otik is killed is by an old woman with a hoe, a gardening hoe…and she slices his stomach and everyone/thing he has eaten comes out. They end the movie with the old woman, hoe over her shoulder, marching down the stairs, determined look on her face, with the little girl practically hanging off her legs, protesting and screaming for her to stop. (:
7.8/10
She puts a huge amount of effort into creating this lie that she’s pregnant…different sized pregnancy stomachs and everything…I’m sure she’s convinced herself that she’s pregnant. After she finally “gives birth” the husband comes home to find the baby alive…haha yah, wtf this wooden baby is now breastfeeding…
She keeps the baby hidden from others…obviously if people saw they would be very suspicious and well…that’s not normal…
The baby, who they named Otik in case that wasn’t obvious, grew at an extremely fast pace, and had an incredible appetite…for flesh…dun dun dunnn XD
At the same time as this whole thing is unfolding, the next-door neighbor, a little girl, is reading a Czech fairytale. The fairytale is eerily similar to what the girl is observing next door.
First of all, the stop motion in this film was fantastic, and I wish that there were more…all the scenes with Otik were done with stop motion.
Something I think the film could have done without would have been…when the girl was reading the story out loud…they took us and actually showed us scenes from what she was reading…and, it just felt redundant to me, because most of them ended up happening in real life anyway. I mean, that could have been done on purpose, well, I’m sure it was done on purpose, but it just didn’t work for me…personally.
I think I need to look into more of this directors films…talking to a few people, they’ve said that a couple of his other films are actually much better…so, if I enjoyed this one as much as I did, I think I’ll enjoy the others.
Funniest moments in the movie…the dinner times at the next door neighbors house. Every single meal was absolutely disgusting! Haha. That, and the father in that household, it just cracked me up.
Annnd one more thing, the ending. I loved how it ended. We are read from the book, that the way that Otik is killed is by an old woman with a hoe, a gardening hoe…and she slices his stomach and everyone/thing he has eaten comes out. They end the movie with the old woman, hoe over her shoulder, marching down the stairs, determined look on her face, with the little girl practically hanging off her legs, protesting and screaming for her to stop. (:
7.8/10
Idiocracy
The plot is pretty simple...this guy, played by Luke Wilson, is a part of this army experiment of preserving their men so they can be "unfrozen" when they are needed in tuefuture. Obviously, something goes wrong and Pwen Wilson ends up in the year 2500 and everyone is just incredibly stupid. Basically, all the intelligent people were eliminated by natural selection.
Survival of the fittest, eventually the idiots won.
So, here he is, the smartest man alive and the movie us about his journey...until he eventually becomes president...and falls in love with the hooker who was payed by the army to also be inolved in this experiment.
I thought the idea was decent...and it coulda been good...but it just didn't happen.
It did reinforce the fact that we are idiots and are headed in the wrong direction.
The acting was definately nothing spectacular.
What really dissapointed me was that I heard people compare it to Office Space and 1984. I've read 1984 and thought it was fantastic and I've heard really good things about Office Space but wtfff.
Othe than the fact that it revolves around a sort of dystopian world, I don't understand the comparison to 1984. I mean, that's just wrong to compare those lol.
Anyway, overall...not so hot :/
5/10
Survival of the fittest, eventually the idiots won.
So, here he is, the smartest man alive and the movie us about his journey...until he eventually becomes president...and falls in love with the hooker who was payed by the army to also be inolved in this experiment.
I thought the idea was decent...and it coulda been good...but it just didn't happen.
It did reinforce the fact that we are idiots and are headed in the wrong direction.
The acting was definately nothing spectacular.
What really dissapointed me was that I heard people compare it to Office Space and 1984. I've read 1984 and thought it was fantastic and I've heard really good things about Office Space but wtfff.
Othe than the fact that it revolves around a sort of dystopian world, I don't understand the comparison to 1984. I mean, that's just wrong to compare those lol.
Anyway, overall...not so hot :/
5/10
Thursday, June 3, 2010
An Andalusian Dog
I'd heard a lot about this film...most specifically, the ever famous opening scene of a woman getting her eye sliced open. For me, eyes are my weakness...something about eyeballs being disturbed in any way I find really, well, disturbing....
Anyway, this is a fifteen minute short film made in 1929 by two French dudes...i think :/ well, the one was French for sure
I don't even think I could begin to summarize the events that happen in this film...the time jumps around constantly and the events are random, bizarre and compelling...
We start off with the woman getting her eye sliced open, we jump in time a bit , eight years I think...and we got anwoman watching out a window as a man just falls over on his bike :/
then ants start crawling out of this guys palms, which apparenty in France is some sort of representation of 'itching to kill'.
Down on the street, we see a severed hand, which an old woman pokes repetitively with her cane...until they put it in a box, then the chick holding it gets hit by a car.
Bam, we're back in the room with the lady and the man, he starts to get all sexual, she resists, gives in, then runs away...
In his attempt to catch her the man drags two pianos with the ten commandments hanging off, dead rotting donkeys stuck inside, and two baffled looking priests dragging behind...
We jump in time a bit more, see the woman happy on the beach with a man, walking and skipping...another time jump and we find them buried to their chests, in sand, apparently dead...
So, I'm not really sure your supposed to fully understand what's going on, it lacks a plot, and I think if you try and fgure it out, your making a mistake...
By all means, go for it...but I'm happy with it being a shocking and entertaining 16 minutes that all takes place in a bunch of dream-like scenes...
And surprisingly...even though this film is over 75 years old...it really doesn't seem like it. Two of the most obvious themes I could pick out from what I was given was love and death...simple, broad, and ageless.
8.6/10
Anyway, this is a fifteen minute short film made in 1929 by two French dudes...i think :/ well, the one was French for sure
I don't even think I could begin to summarize the events that happen in this film...the time jumps around constantly and the events are random, bizarre and compelling...
We start off with the woman getting her eye sliced open, we jump in time a bit , eight years I think...and we got anwoman watching out a window as a man just falls over on his bike :/
then ants start crawling out of this guys palms, which apparenty in France is some sort of representation of 'itching to kill'.
Down on the street, we see a severed hand, which an old woman pokes repetitively with her cane...until they put it in a box, then the chick holding it gets hit by a car.
Bam, we're back in the room with the lady and the man, he starts to get all sexual, she resists, gives in, then runs away...
In his attempt to catch her the man drags two pianos with the ten commandments hanging off, dead rotting donkeys stuck inside, and two baffled looking priests dragging behind...
We jump in time a bit more, see the woman happy on the beach with a man, walking and skipping...another time jump and we find them buried to their chests, in sand, apparently dead...
So, I'm not really sure your supposed to fully understand what's going on, it lacks a plot, and I think if you try and fgure it out, your making a mistake...
By all means, go for it...but I'm happy with it being a shocking and entertaining 16 minutes that all takes place in a bunch of dream-like scenes...
And surprisingly...even though this film is over 75 years old...it really doesn't seem like it. Two of the most obvious themes I could pick out from what I was given was love and death...simple, broad, and ageless.
8.6/10
Sunday, May 30, 2010
The Crow
Okay, so this is actually a recent one. A really recent one actually…literally a week or so ago. I had just read the comic, and was able to see the movie like, two days later. First of all, I absolutely loved the comic. The…feelings that were there…I just…it hit me on a different level. The whole, standing by and watching someone you love being tortured and killed thing, really got to me…cause I understand it. On a lower level…a little while ago, I was notified that one of my best friends was shot and killed by her ex boyfriend. And…the helplessness and the guilt that you feel after something like that, is beyond anything. It really is. I was encouraging her to break up with him, I mean, he was terrible to her…but I was encouraging her, and I would have to assume that because she broke up with him, was why he shot her…and that took me a looong time to deal with. Then, the fact that at 2am one Saturday night, I was up laughing, being an idiot, watching movies with my friends, she was dying…alone…and I wasn’t there…and there was nothing I could do…and…yah. You know what? shit like that isn’t supposed to happen in real life :/
So. As I said. It was a different situation, but a lot of what was there…I felt really connected to. And I was not surprised at all to find out that the guy who wrote it did so after his girlfriend died.
So, comic was an A+ …now, the movie I didn’t enjoy so thoroughly.
I knew that going from something written to a film, it was probably going to lose its emotion, and it wasn’t going to be as personal…But it was even less genuine feeling than I expected.
The guy that played Eric…Brandon Lee…I just, didn’t like it very much. Everything…his hair, which in the comic had a cool David Bowie/Daniel Ash kinda spikey think going on was just, not. His voice, was very clear and very…normal? I just expected him to be less normal I guess. I wanted like a soft, deep, kinda raspy voice…he should have been more mysterious. And his fucking teeth omg :P I didn’t even get a chance to admire his chest because every time he talked I looked and his teeth and thought TIM CURRY in Rocky Horror Picture Show haha…big white teeth, black lips…yah. The soundtrack was good…and the setting…like the town, the shots where the would just kinda move around over the city, I thought those were really cool…I liked them.
And the little girl, was in the movie muchhh more than in the comic. She was in the comic for like two scenes, quite randomly…So, I liked that.
Anyway, I’m going to bed…I’m like typing on word at like 4am on a Tuesday night…I may add more later, cause I’m kind of unsatisfied with this…but I write weird things when I start to lose consciousness, so Imma stop for now.
Comic – 9.2/10
Movie – 7.1/10
So. As I said. It was a different situation, but a lot of what was there…I felt really connected to. And I was not surprised at all to find out that the guy who wrote it did so after his girlfriend died.
So, comic was an A+ …now, the movie I didn’t enjoy so thoroughly.
I knew that going from something written to a film, it was probably going to lose its emotion, and it wasn’t going to be as personal…But it was even less genuine feeling than I expected.
The guy that played Eric…Brandon Lee…I just, didn’t like it very much. Everything…his hair, which in the comic had a cool David Bowie/Daniel Ash kinda spikey think going on was just, not. His voice, was very clear and very…normal? I just expected him to be less normal I guess. I wanted like a soft, deep, kinda raspy voice…he should have been more mysterious. And his fucking teeth omg :P I didn’t even get a chance to admire his chest because every time he talked I looked and his teeth and thought TIM CURRY in Rocky Horror Picture Show haha…big white teeth, black lips…yah. The soundtrack was good…and the setting…like the town, the shots where the would just kinda move around over the city, I thought those were really cool…I liked them.
And the little girl, was in the movie muchhh more than in the comic. She was in the comic for like two scenes, quite randomly…So, I liked that.
Anyway, I’m going to bed…I’m like typing on word at like 4am on a Tuesday night…I may add more later, cause I’m kind of unsatisfied with this…but I write weird things when I start to lose consciousness, so Imma stop for now.
Comic – 9.2/10
Movie – 7.1/10
K-PAX
Okay…So, I caught this movie on TV a little while ago, and I don’t know how, but I had never heard of it. I consider myself to be a fairly big Kevin Spacey fan, and what I haven’t seen by him, I usually have heard about. Anyway, it hit the info button and see Kevin Spacey’s name there on the TV just kinda made my day (:
K-PAX is a relatively new movie…2001 I think. Starring Kevin Spacey, obviously, and Jeff Bridges. It is about a man, or alien perhaps, named Prot, played by Kevin Spacey, who claims he is from a different planet, K-PAX, which is like 1000 light years away. Upon this fact becoming public knowledge, he is obviously sent to a mental hospital to consult with a doctor, who is Jeff Bridges. So, Prot is like, insanely intelligent, and seems to know an incomprehensible amount of information about this planet K-PAX and how it orbits etc. He knows so much information that it impresses and even teaches even the most accomplished astronomers. We learn that the residents of K-PAX lack the family structure that we have. Kids, parents, siblings, etc…are non-existant, well, they do not know of each other. Also, the act of reproduction is incredibly painful. And what I am wondering is…why would anyone have the desire to reproduce then? My first thought when I heard that it hurt terribly to have sex was, you know what? I think that would make for a much more efficient society. Because of that, people will only have sex if they want a child, if they really love each other, have the means to support it etc. It would put an end to rape, teen parents, abortions etc. Everything that is trivial today. But then, I remembered the fact that they don’t have families. They don’t have spouses. So…with a lack of family structure, I just don’t see how they would have the desire to go through that, just to pop out a kid that they won’t be responsible for caring for and loving anyway. Unless its for the good of the community, which I guess would make sense… I dunno. ANYWAY.
I can’t remember the exact quote, but at one point, Prot reveals that everyone at K-PAX has learned how to self-heal…thus eliminating the use of doctors, I would assume. Prot kind of takes it upon himself to start teaching the other patients in the mental hospital this tool and in very unorthodox ways, actually begins to help some of them heal. While Prot was helping out these patients by making them do the weirdest things and things they would normally never do…it really reminded me of how Jack Nicholson’s character helped out the patients in the mental hospital in the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, similarly.
So, the one big question you are left with at the end of the movie, is whether or not Prot is an alien, or a human. We are told the story of Robert Porter, through Prot, while being hypnotized. Robert came home one day to find his family raped and murdered and attempted suicide in the river behind his home. Prot claims to have been friends with Robert Porter, and comes to earth whenever Robert needs him…however, being more logical, the doctor draws the conclusion that Prot is Robert Porters second personality…a personality that emerged after he failed his suicide attempt and needed to totally separate himself from earth. While this theory makes sense, we are still left to wonder how he was absolutely resistant to drugs, and how he escaped the hospital, and how he knew of solar systems that the greatest astronomers did not…
The way it ends…with Prot, or Robert, in a wheelchair, not talking…never talking according to the doctor…makes me lean towards believing he has a mental disorder. As much as I would love the alien…the fact that once his second personality was crushed, he is still distancing himself from the world in some way, kinda convinces me of that fact.
The acting was fairly good…Kevin Spacey stood out above the rest by just a bit…not as much as I expected. I think the whole him wearing glasses the whole time took away from the acting a bit, we didn’t get to see his eyes a whole lot...
7.4/10
K-PAX is a relatively new movie…2001 I think. Starring Kevin Spacey, obviously, and Jeff Bridges. It is about a man, or alien perhaps, named Prot, played by Kevin Spacey, who claims he is from a different planet, K-PAX, which is like 1000 light years away. Upon this fact becoming public knowledge, he is obviously sent to a mental hospital to consult with a doctor, who is Jeff Bridges. So, Prot is like, insanely intelligent, and seems to know an incomprehensible amount of information about this planet K-PAX and how it orbits etc. He knows so much information that it impresses and even teaches even the most accomplished astronomers. We learn that the residents of K-PAX lack the family structure that we have. Kids, parents, siblings, etc…are non-existant, well, they do not know of each other. Also, the act of reproduction is incredibly painful. And what I am wondering is…why would anyone have the desire to reproduce then? My first thought when I heard that it hurt terribly to have sex was, you know what? I think that would make for a much more efficient society. Because of that, people will only have sex if they want a child, if they really love each other, have the means to support it etc. It would put an end to rape, teen parents, abortions etc. Everything that is trivial today. But then, I remembered the fact that they don’t have families. They don’t have spouses. So…with a lack of family structure, I just don’t see how they would have the desire to go through that, just to pop out a kid that they won’t be responsible for caring for and loving anyway. Unless its for the good of the community, which I guess would make sense… I dunno. ANYWAY.
I can’t remember the exact quote, but at one point, Prot reveals that everyone at K-PAX has learned how to self-heal…thus eliminating the use of doctors, I would assume. Prot kind of takes it upon himself to start teaching the other patients in the mental hospital this tool and in very unorthodox ways, actually begins to help some of them heal. While Prot was helping out these patients by making them do the weirdest things and things they would normally never do…it really reminded me of how Jack Nicholson’s character helped out the patients in the mental hospital in the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, similarly.
So, the one big question you are left with at the end of the movie, is whether or not Prot is an alien, or a human. We are told the story of Robert Porter, through Prot, while being hypnotized. Robert came home one day to find his family raped and murdered and attempted suicide in the river behind his home. Prot claims to have been friends with Robert Porter, and comes to earth whenever Robert needs him…however, being more logical, the doctor draws the conclusion that Prot is Robert Porters second personality…a personality that emerged after he failed his suicide attempt and needed to totally separate himself from earth. While this theory makes sense, we are still left to wonder how he was absolutely resistant to drugs, and how he escaped the hospital, and how he knew of solar systems that the greatest astronomers did not…
The way it ends…with Prot, or Robert, in a wheelchair, not talking…never talking according to the doctor…makes me lean towards believing he has a mental disorder. As much as I would love the alien…the fact that once his second personality was crushed, he is still distancing himself from the world in some way, kinda convinces me of that fact.
The acting was fairly good…Kevin Spacey stood out above the rest by just a bit…not as much as I expected. I think the whole him wearing glasses the whole time took away from the acting a bit, we didn’t get to see his eyes a whole lot...
7.4/10
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
So, this is a British crime movie…made in…I don’t know when and I’m not looking it up, I would guess…mid 90’s?
It’s about this group of four guys…they think, an easy way to earn some quick cash would be to gather up a whole shitload of money…I think it was like 100,000 pounds…and bet it on a card game. I have no idea what the card game is, because I am socially disabled and have absolutely no knowledge of that kinda stuff :P
Anyway, all you need to know, it the game was rigged, surprise surprise, and he ended up owing the guy half a million pound. Yes, dumbass…
So this guy goes back to his friends, and has to let em know that they now owe this guy, Harry (I think), half a million pounds in a week. So, this is serious shit. These guys probably sit around thinking of ideas for like three days, before they overhear their neighbors talking about how they’re going to rob these guys that grow weed. So, they’re brilliant, fail proof plan, is to then turn around and rob their neighbors when they come home from their own robbery.
So, we have three different groups here…and the movie jumps back and forth between the three of them…the drug dealers, the neighbors, the original group of idiots…oh, and Harry and his little posse too…
So, this thing gets started and its just…incredibly confusing haha…everyone has crazy accents, there were so many different characters, as you can see, I don’t remember any of their names…except for one, I remember Soap, cause he was funny looking anddd really paranoid. So, this money is being stolen from people back and forth, all over the place, people are shot, people are killed, people run away, meet up, exchange words, then die again…ughh so much happens…and it wasn’t until I gave up trying to keep track of everything and just sat back and took it in as a whole that I actually really started to enjoy it. I’m not sure if that’s what I was supposed to get out of it…but that’s what I did, and it made me really enjoy it.
So…favourite character…well, two of them, another two whose name I remember! Big Chris and Little Chris. Big Chris, the father, worked for Harry and it was his job to collect the money from the original group of four. Little Chris is his son and was almost always with him throughout the movie…
I liked both of them from the beginning, the seemed like the cutest thing ever! Once again, I’m not sure I was supposed to find them both adorable, but I did.
Then, they totally kick ass in the end and drive away with all the cash and a red sports car (:
The more I let this movie marinate in my mind…the more I liked it.
I’m actually glad that I waited months after seeing the movie to actually type up what I had thought about it, because once I let my mind just go, and started to lose all the details that I was focusing on, the big picture just became a whole shitload funnier.
Oh, and I loved the ending :P
I thought it was really funny…although the guys get ripped off when my Chris actually doesn’t return on the money to them, they realize that the guns they just sent one of the guys to dump in the water because they’re evidence, are worth an enormous amount of money. Movie ends with the guy, hanging over the edge of the bridge, one hand on the rail, keeping him from falling, the other hand holding the guns, and his cell in his mouth…and his cell rings. His friends calling him to tell him no to drop the guns…dun dun dunnn :P
8.3/10
It’s about this group of four guys…they think, an easy way to earn some quick cash would be to gather up a whole shitload of money…I think it was like 100,000 pounds…and bet it on a card game. I have no idea what the card game is, because I am socially disabled and have absolutely no knowledge of that kinda stuff :P
Anyway, all you need to know, it the game was rigged, surprise surprise, and he ended up owing the guy half a million pound. Yes, dumbass…
So this guy goes back to his friends, and has to let em know that they now owe this guy, Harry (I think), half a million pounds in a week. So, this is serious shit. These guys probably sit around thinking of ideas for like three days, before they overhear their neighbors talking about how they’re going to rob these guys that grow weed. So, they’re brilliant, fail proof plan, is to then turn around and rob their neighbors when they come home from their own robbery.
So, we have three different groups here…and the movie jumps back and forth between the three of them…the drug dealers, the neighbors, the original group of idiots…oh, and Harry and his little posse too…
So, this thing gets started and its just…incredibly confusing haha…everyone has crazy accents, there were so many different characters, as you can see, I don’t remember any of their names…except for one, I remember Soap, cause he was funny looking anddd really paranoid. So, this money is being stolen from people back and forth, all over the place, people are shot, people are killed, people run away, meet up, exchange words, then die again…ughh so much happens…and it wasn’t until I gave up trying to keep track of everything and just sat back and took it in as a whole that I actually really started to enjoy it. I’m not sure if that’s what I was supposed to get out of it…but that’s what I did, and it made me really enjoy it.
So…favourite character…well, two of them, another two whose name I remember! Big Chris and Little Chris. Big Chris, the father, worked for Harry and it was his job to collect the money from the original group of four. Little Chris is his son and was almost always with him throughout the movie…
I liked both of them from the beginning, the seemed like the cutest thing ever! Once again, I’m not sure I was supposed to find them both adorable, but I did.
Then, they totally kick ass in the end and drive away with all the cash and a red sports car (:
The more I let this movie marinate in my mind…the more I liked it.
I’m actually glad that I waited months after seeing the movie to actually type up what I had thought about it, because once I let my mind just go, and started to lose all the details that I was focusing on, the big picture just became a whole shitload funnier.
Oh, and I loved the ending :P
I thought it was really funny…although the guys get ripped off when my Chris actually doesn’t return on the money to them, they realize that the guns they just sent one of the guys to dump in the water because they’re evidence, are worth an enormous amount of money. Movie ends with the guy, hanging over the edge of the bridge, one hand on the rail, keeping him from falling, the other hand holding the guns, and his cell in his mouth…and his cell rings. His friends calling him to tell him no to drop the guns…dun dun dunnn :P
8.3/10
Blade Runner
Okay...so I have attempted to watch this movie before, but I wasn't quite...uhmm, there? You know...
So...I've had the tendancy to reply with a 'yes' when people ask if I've seen it, when in reality, I don't really think I could have a decent conversation about it...
Basically, it takes place around the year 2019 I believe…in this very futuristic, built up economy. The main character, Deckard, is a blade runner…someone who “retires” replicants. Replicants are these genetically engineered super humans, who mimic real humans almost perfectly. They appear to have accelerated abilities that most humans find enviable…strength, endurance etc. So, these replicants are banned from earth, and are only permitted for use on other planets for work purposes.
They are created with a four-year life span, to avoid them from developing potentially dangerous and strong emotions.
Four of these replicants have escaped to earth to confront the man who created them, about an extended life, as it seems their four-year expiry date was quickly approaching. Deckard, the best of the best when it comes to blade runners, has been pulled out of retirement to destroy these four replicants. This job takes him all over the city while he eliminates the replicants one by one, while simultaneously falling in love with a different, more complex replicant.
So this girl, this replicant, the one that Deckard falls in love with, has been built with the addition of real memories from a young girl growing up. Because of this, she isn’t aware at first that she is a replicant, and has more complex emotions than replicants normally would.
What I’m wondering is…what is the point of this four year life span if your idea of a development in the creation of replicants is giving them more complex feelings? The reason why they don’t let them live their potential life span out is fear of them accumulating too many thoughts, memories, and feelings…which, when mixed with a powerful individual could be dangerous. So, why supply a replicant with these thoughts and emotions that you’re trying to avoid them acquiring? My only thought is the fact that they can control what memories they are giving them? So, obviously they would be sure to not supply them with bitter memories…also, perhaps this was just an experiment? Actually, I know for a fact that it was an experiment, but I was under the impression that it was an experiment at the beginning of a possible movement, compared to a one time thing experiment.
I thought that the acting was decent…I’m not a huge fan of Harrison Ford…I haven’t seen him in anything that I thoroughly enjoyed…well, I think he was in Apocalypse Now…but I think he only had a small part :/ damn…I can’t even remember, that’s sad…
Anyway, no performances that stood out, but they weren’t terrible either.
I usually don’t like sci-fi movies very much…I mean, I think when they’re good, they can be really good. But on the whole, I find that they tend to always end up just being the typical ‘good vs. evil’ some spaceships, explosions…all that…
What I really liked about this movie was it had a lot more to it…it had this society totally shaped by technology…and using it to replace human beings with something that appears to lack what makes a human human…given that, it also brings up what it is to be human. A little cliché, but the creation comes back to bite the creator in the ass, and the big ‘Is Deckard a replicant?’ question.
I’d like to think so. I think that it would be neat. Although, I would assume, Deckard being this super kick ass replicant killer, that he would be aware, well, I’m sure he’s aware, that the replicants don’t have memories from before they were created because…well, they weren’t created…
And this whole inputting memories into a replicant to make them more human seems to be a new thing, so, I’m not entirely sure how it would be possible…but I think it would be neat if he was.
On the whole, I have to say I was slightly disappointed. It could be partly to the fact that this isn’t the genre of movies I tend to enjoy, I did find myself slightly bored at times, and I did have many people telling me how really great this movie was. Maybe my expectations were set too high? I’m not sure. It was definitely a good movie though.
One thing I did notice about the book though…is that the author reprinted the novel with the title Blade Runner!? (As opposed to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) I found that really weird…and it kinda bothered me :/
I don’t like how the author would change the name of his book…to associate it with a movie…which, ultimately is someone elses interpretation of what he’s made…right? I dunno…
I’ve seen a lot of writers try and put as much distance between their books and the films based on them as possible, and to me, that makes a whole lot more sense.
7.8/10
So...I've had the tendancy to reply with a 'yes' when people ask if I've seen it, when in reality, I don't really think I could have a decent conversation about it...
Basically, it takes place around the year 2019 I believe…in this very futuristic, built up economy. The main character, Deckard, is a blade runner…someone who “retires” replicants. Replicants are these genetically engineered super humans, who mimic real humans almost perfectly. They appear to have accelerated abilities that most humans find enviable…strength, endurance etc. So, these replicants are banned from earth, and are only permitted for use on other planets for work purposes.
They are created with a four-year life span, to avoid them from developing potentially dangerous and strong emotions.
Four of these replicants have escaped to earth to confront the man who created them, about an extended life, as it seems their four-year expiry date was quickly approaching. Deckard, the best of the best when it comes to blade runners, has been pulled out of retirement to destroy these four replicants. This job takes him all over the city while he eliminates the replicants one by one, while simultaneously falling in love with a different, more complex replicant.
So this girl, this replicant, the one that Deckard falls in love with, has been built with the addition of real memories from a young girl growing up. Because of this, she isn’t aware at first that she is a replicant, and has more complex emotions than replicants normally would.
What I’m wondering is…what is the point of this four year life span if your idea of a development in the creation of replicants is giving them more complex feelings? The reason why they don’t let them live their potential life span out is fear of them accumulating too many thoughts, memories, and feelings…which, when mixed with a powerful individual could be dangerous. So, why supply a replicant with these thoughts and emotions that you’re trying to avoid them acquiring? My only thought is the fact that they can control what memories they are giving them? So, obviously they would be sure to not supply them with bitter memories…also, perhaps this was just an experiment? Actually, I know for a fact that it was an experiment, but I was under the impression that it was an experiment at the beginning of a possible movement, compared to a one time thing experiment.
I thought that the acting was decent…I’m not a huge fan of Harrison Ford…I haven’t seen him in anything that I thoroughly enjoyed…well, I think he was in Apocalypse Now…but I think he only had a small part :/ damn…I can’t even remember, that’s sad…
Anyway, no performances that stood out, but they weren’t terrible either.
I usually don’t like sci-fi movies very much…I mean, I think when they’re good, they can be really good. But on the whole, I find that they tend to always end up just being the typical ‘good vs. evil’ some spaceships, explosions…all that…
What I really liked about this movie was it had a lot more to it…it had this society totally shaped by technology…and using it to replace human beings with something that appears to lack what makes a human human…given that, it also brings up what it is to be human. A little cliché, but the creation comes back to bite the creator in the ass, and the big ‘Is Deckard a replicant?’ question.
I’d like to think so. I think that it would be neat. Although, I would assume, Deckard being this super kick ass replicant killer, that he would be aware, well, I’m sure he’s aware, that the replicants don’t have memories from before they were created because…well, they weren’t created…
And this whole inputting memories into a replicant to make them more human seems to be a new thing, so, I’m not entirely sure how it would be possible…but I think it would be neat if he was.
On the whole, I have to say I was slightly disappointed. It could be partly to the fact that this isn’t the genre of movies I tend to enjoy, I did find myself slightly bored at times, and I did have many people telling me how really great this movie was. Maybe my expectations were set too high? I’m not sure. It was definitely a good movie though.
One thing I did notice about the book though…is that the author reprinted the novel with the title Blade Runner!? (As opposed to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) I found that really weird…and it kinda bothered me :/
I don’t like how the author would change the name of his book…to associate it with a movie…which, ultimately is someone elses interpretation of what he’s made…right? I dunno…
I’ve seen a lot of writers try and put as much distance between their books and the films based on them as possible, and to me, that makes a whole lot more sense.
7.8/10
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Being John Malkovich
Being John Malkovich
soo...this movie was written by the same guy who did Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind...which I can kinda see
John Cusacks character is this unemployed pupeteer who desperately needs a job and gets one at this random company on floor seven and a half...
On that floor he finds this portal that leads him into John malkovich's head, seeing through his eyes.
He makes it an attraction sorta thing with a fellow co-worker...and basically there is this huge love...square? Between cusack, his wife, his female co-worker and malkovich
Cameron Diaz plays Craig (Cusack) wife...and she is almost unrecognizable!! Her hair is a complete wreck, her clothing is old and worn and baggy...she looks nothing like she usually does, but her acting still isn't so hot.
The acting quality that I was impressed with was John Malkovich (:
I thought he did a fantastic job...especially while acting struggling to keep his consiousness it was good.
One of my favourite scenes was when malkovich goes into his own portal and it's a worl of malkovich...kinda creepy really weird lol
I also thought the chimps flashback to her "troubled childhood" that was mentioned so frequently was quite neat too.
You have to admit, the idea of being in someone elses head, seeing and hearing what they do, has crossed everyones mind.
So, the idea, the concept is there...but I felt like it was missing something.
I felt like o wanted more background, or I wanted it to go farther, prove something, make me think, question, something...anything!
But that's where it fell flat for me.
Solid movie. Unique idea. Decent acting...but the wtf/wow factor wasn't there...I wasn't terribly impressed
worth seeing though (:
but I wouldn't purchase it...that's just me
6.5/10
soo...this movie was written by the same guy who did Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind...which I can kinda see
John Cusacks character is this unemployed pupeteer who desperately needs a job and gets one at this random company on floor seven and a half...
On that floor he finds this portal that leads him into John malkovich's head, seeing through his eyes.
He makes it an attraction sorta thing with a fellow co-worker...and basically there is this huge love...square? Between cusack, his wife, his female co-worker and malkovich
Cameron Diaz plays Craig (Cusack) wife...and she is almost unrecognizable!! Her hair is a complete wreck, her clothing is old and worn and baggy...she looks nothing like she usually does, but her acting still isn't so hot.
The acting quality that I was impressed with was John Malkovich (:
I thought he did a fantastic job...especially while acting struggling to keep his consiousness it was good.
One of my favourite scenes was when malkovich goes into his own portal and it's a worl of malkovich...kinda creepy really weird lol
I also thought the chimps flashback to her "troubled childhood" that was mentioned so frequently was quite neat too.
You have to admit, the idea of being in someone elses head, seeing and hearing what they do, has crossed everyones mind.
So, the idea, the concept is there...but I felt like it was missing something.
I felt like o wanted more background, or I wanted it to go farther, prove something, make me think, question, something...anything!
But that's where it fell flat for me.
Solid movie. Unique idea. Decent acting...but the wtf/wow factor wasn't there...I wasn't terribly impressed
worth seeing though (:
but I wouldn't purchase it...that's just me
6.5/10
Eraserhead
It's another one by David Lynch, made innn... mid 70's I think?
Anyway. It's filmed all in black and white, and revolves around this man, Henry. Henry lives in this town...all industrialized...tons of big buildings and smoke and machines and noise. He goes over to his girlfriend's, Mary (I think :/), house and is having dinner with her family...which includes a rather bizarre chicken carving scene, I have to bring up . Afterwards, we find out that Mary is pregnant, the result of which is the two living together in Henry's home, and Mary giving birth...to a mutant baby. After the baby is born we are just thrown into this totally confusing and beyond weird story of cackaling mutant babies, a woman in the radiator, and people using brain matter to make pencil erasers? yah...definately not fucked up
So...the way I kinda wrapped up and interpreted what I was watching was it was representing Henry's descent into madness and delusion...maybe.
Okay, so this is what I'm thinking...First of all...I don't see how Henry can be truly happy with the life he is leading...he lives in this polluted, noisy, industrial town...doing a shitty, repetative job in this surrounding that is continually emitting loud, annoying noises...Is there any way a human being can be even moderately sane while having to endure that? Actually, I'm going to correct myself...I said before I don't think that Henry is truly happy...but I'm going to go with, I don't think Henry is in any way emotionally sane.
So...now, the lady in the radiator. I'm thinking ultimately, she represents the madness, insanity, delusion...wherever Henry is headed. This radiator...once again, another element of this film that is emitting this loud constant noise-- actually...isn't there a mental disorder that can result from being exposed to loud, constant noises? I'm not sure...
Anyway, that would make sense. She is the product of the radiator...the radiator is producing noise, noise is causing Henry to be delerious?
It seems to me as though she is urging him to destroy the mutant baby? There is one scene where I’m not sure if it is supposed to be fetuses or sperm or something…falling onto this stage where the lady in the radiator is dancing, and she crushes them…she stomps on them, destroying what is essentially his offspring? In one form or another?
So, now this baby has got to represent something evil…sin…something like that. But I feel like it’s the evil/sin that is within Henry? Multiple times throughout the film, the mutant baby’s head appears as Henry’s own…Henry is eventually compelled to cut open the bandages that surround the baby. Is he now deciding to explore his own self? His own sin? Deciding to tear down those emotional walls that are preventing him from seeing it?
So he does, he rips open the bandages and he finds this revolting looking inside… after staring in disgust at the insides of his baby, he stabs and cuts and destroys the inside of it. Shortly after, he finds himself back with the lady in the radiator…soo…he destroys his sins? And gives in to delirium? A world where he has no sin?
I have no idea
Anyway, I think I’ve rambled for long enough…
I also thought the dream sequence where his head like pops off…and like sinks into a puddle of blood and that boy takes it to the pencil factory kinda thing to be made into eraser was so bizarre! I loved it…it deserved an honourable mention (:
Great movie…honestly, one of my favourite…Definitely my favourite of what I’ve seen from David Lynch…
This is rare…and totally against my nature, but…
9.9/10
just couldn’t do the whole 10/10 thing…
Anyway. It's filmed all in black and white, and revolves around this man, Henry. Henry lives in this town...all industrialized...tons of big buildings and smoke and machines and noise. He goes over to his girlfriend's, Mary (I think :/), house and is having dinner with her family...which includes a rather bizarre chicken carving scene, I have to bring up . Afterwards, we find out that Mary is pregnant, the result of which is the two living together in Henry's home, and Mary giving birth...to a mutant baby. After the baby is born we are just thrown into this totally confusing and beyond weird story of cackaling mutant babies, a woman in the radiator, and people using brain matter to make pencil erasers? yah...definately not fucked up
So...the way I kinda wrapped up and interpreted what I was watching was it was representing Henry's descent into madness and delusion...maybe.
Okay, so this is what I'm thinking...First of all...I don't see how Henry can be truly happy with the life he is leading...he lives in this polluted, noisy, industrial town...doing a shitty, repetative job in this surrounding that is continually emitting loud, annoying noises...Is there any way a human being can be even moderately sane while having to endure that? Actually, I'm going to correct myself...I said before I don't think that Henry is truly happy...but I'm going to go with, I don't think Henry is in any way emotionally sane.
So...now, the lady in the radiator. I'm thinking ultimately, she represents the madness, insanity, delusion...wherever Henry is headed. This radiator...once again, another element of this film that is emitting this loud constant noise-- actually...isn't there a mental disorder that can result from being exposed to loud, constant noises? I'm not sure...
Anyway, that would make sense. She is the product of the radiator...the radiator is producing noise, noise is causing Henry to be delerious?
It seems to me as though she is urging him to destroy the mutant baby? There is one scene where I’m not sure if it is supposed to be fetuses or sperm or something…falling onto this stage where the lady in the radiator is dancing, and she crushes them…she stomps on them, destroying what is essentially his offspring? In one form or another?
So, now this baby has got to represent something evil…sin…something like that. But I feel like it’s the evil/sin that is within Henry? Multiple times throughout the film, the mutant baby’s head appears as Henry’s own…Henry is eventually compelled to cut open the bandages that surround the baby. Is he now deciding to explore his own self? His own sin? Deciding to tear down those emotional walls that are preventing him from seeing it?
So he does, he rips open the bandages and he finds this revolting looking inside… after staring in disgust at the insides of his baby, he stabs and cuts and destroys the inside of it. Shortly after, he finds himself back with the lady in the radiator…soo…he destroys his sins? And gives in to delirium? A world where he has no sin?
I have no idea
Anyway, I think I’ve rambled for long enough…
I also thought the dream sequence where his head like pops off…and like sinks into a puddle of blood and that boy takes it to the pencil factory kinda thing to be made into eraser was so bizarre! I loved it…it deserved an honourable mention (:
Great movie…honestly, one of my favourite…Definitely my favourite of what I’ve seen from David Lynch…
This is rare…and totally against my nature, but…
9.9/10
just couldn’t do the whole 10/10 thing…
The Beach
The Beach
so, this is another one directed by Danny Boyle, and based on a book by Alex Garland...yet another book on my impossibly long list of books to read.
Main character is Richard, played by Leonardo Dicaprio. Now, Richard went to...Tailand I think (yah, I know, I butchered that country's name) to escape I guess you could say...trying to find himself.
He comes accross this guy in a hotel, who gives him a map to basically the best island ever, except in slightly more intelligent phrasing.
So, Richard hooks up with another couple ans they go to this island.
As promised, the beach they find is paradise, with a small community of people living there who are sick of the worlds bullshit.
And that's where I'll stop...
I think the movie was trying to prove a point about people being consumers something like that...but I thought they spent too much time setting it up.
A big chunk of the movie was just showcasing the fantastic life that those who live on the beach lead. And that can work with some movies, but if your goig to spend that much time building a setting up like that, you have to really fuck it up ans tear it apart afterwards to make it affective...and this one didn't.
It did prove that there is really no such thing as a flawless paradise. Someone will always be unhappy, someone will always want something they can't have. It's human nature. When Richard is going back to the main land he collects some of the most outrageous requests for things to bring back from people...who aren't happy with civilization, yet still dependant and craving what it produces :/
I think you pretty much conclude that it's impossible to achieve paradise, because anytime you find one, basically the presence of a human being transforms the paradise into something selfish and unpure...what else is new?
Anyway, this movie really wasn't as bad as I was expecting...saying that, it wasn't good either...it was okay, entertaining...
most people I have talked to have read the book though, so my opinion on it may change once I read the book...maybe I'll realize it had way more potential? I'm not sure...
6.5/10
so, this is another one directed by Danny Boyle, and based on a book by Alex Garland...yet another book on my impossibly long list of books to read.
Main character is Richard, played by Leonardo Dicaprio. Now, Richard went to...Tailand I think (yah, I know, I butchered that country's name) to escape I guess you could say...trying to find himself.
He comes accross this guy in a hotel, who gives him a map to basically the best island ever, except in slightly more intelligent phrasing.
So, Richard hooks up with another couple ans they go to this island.
As promised, the beach they find is paradise, with a small community of people living there who are sick of the worlds bullshit.
And that's where I'll stop...
I think the movie was trying to prove a point about people being consumers something like that...but I thought they spent too much time setting it up.
A big chunk of the movie was just showcasing the fantastic life that those who live on the beach lead. And that can work with some movies, but if your goig to spend that much time building a setting up like that, you have to really fuck it up ans tear it apart afterwards to make it affective...and this one didn't.
It did prove that there is really no such thing as a flawless paradise. Someone will always be unhappy, someone will always want something they can't have. It's human nature. When Richard is going back to the main land he collects some of the most outrageous requests for things to bring back from people...who aren't happy with civilization, yet still dependant and craving what it produces :/
I think you pretty much conclude that it's impossible to achieve paradise, because anytime you find one, basically the presence of a human being transforms the paradise into something selfish and unpure...what else is new?
Anyway, this movie really wasn't as bad as I was expecting...saying that, it wasn't good either...it was okay, entertaining...
most people I have talked to have read the book though, so my opinion on it may change once I read the book...maybe I'll realize it had way more potential? I'm not sure...
6.5/10
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Sexy Beast
So we have Gary, he’s a retired gangster who is living happily in Spain with his wife, and his good friend and his wife. Then, Don, an old associate, comes looking for Gary to bring him back to London to do a job…a good part of the movie is Don trying to convince Gary to come back, to which he continues to decline, repetitively stating that he’s retired.
Right now, I need to say, that Ben Kingsley doing Don Logan was fantastic! His character was so vile, unpleasant, manipulative, and violent…it was really good.
Unfortunately he gets out of hand trying to convince Gary to come back to London that he throws a punch and ends up getting himself shot…dead. :P Dernn…
The plot wasn’t anything special…actually, it was really really simple. Usually when I say ‘not anything special’ it means its good…im a tough critic, I know, but this was really flat. No twists whatsoever. That was a little bit of a downfall for me, but it actually wasn’t that bad at the time, so, whatever it did, it worked…so, I’m not holding it against em.
I was actually a little bit surprised by the lack of violence in the movie. Sure, you see a few people get shot just straight on…one in the head…one in the stomach…but a lot less than I expected when I heard ‘retired gangster film’.
One more thing…my favourite scene in the movie. Don Logan is smoking on a plane…the flight attendant tells him to put out his cigarette…to which he declines. He gets super riled up :P Ends up leaving the plane, and ends up in shit with airport security…where he decides he has the perfect way of getting out of this situation…
He tells security that he was sexually assaulted by a male flight attendant and was smoking unknowingly to calm his nerves :P
I honestly found this scene quite funny…
And I pulled one of those moments where I laugh and turn to the person beside me only to discover I was watching it by myself…depressing yes I know haha…
Anyway, this one needs to be quick…I only have the house to myself for a little bit longer, so I need to get downstairs.
It was entertainment…it kept me occupied for a couple hours…it wasn’t terrible….
6.5/10
Right now, I need to say, that Ben Kingsley doing Don Logan was fantastic! His character was so vile, unpleasant, manipulative, and violent…it was really good.
Unfortunately he gets out of hand trying to convince Gary to come back to London that he throws a punch and ends up getting himself shot…dead. :P Dernn…
The plot wasn’t anything special…actually, it was really really simple. Usually when I say ‘not anything special’ it means its good…im a tough critic, I know, but this was really flat. No twists whatsoever. That was a little bit of a downfall for me, but it actually wasn’t that bad at the time, so, whatever it did, it worked…so, I’m not holding it against em.
I was actually a little bit surprised by the lack of violence in the movie. Sure, you see a few people get shot just straight on…one in the head…one in the stomach…but a lot less than I expected when I heard ‘retired gangster film’.
One more thing…my favourite scene in the movie. Don Logan is smoking on a plane…the flight attendant tells him to put out his cigarette…to which he declines. He gets super riled up :P Ends up leaving the plane, and ends up in shit with airport security…where he decides he has the perfect way of getting out of this situation…
He tells security that he was sexually assaulted by a male flight attendant and was smoking unknowingly to calm his nerves :P
I honestly found this scene quite funny…
And I pulled one of those moments where I laugh and turn to the person beside me only to discover I was watching it by myself…depressing yes I know haha…
Anyway, this one needs to be quick…I only have the house to myself for a little bit longer, so I need to get downstairs.
It was entertainment…it kept me occupied for a couple hours…it wasn’t terrible….
6.5/10
Memento
Guy Pearce plays Leonard, an insurance guy who now suffers from amnesia due to a head injury from when he and his wife were attacked. His wife was killed, and now he lives for revenge…needing to kill the second attacker that he knows was present during the attack, but who the police refuse to believe exists. He basically has to tattoo himself with important information and constantly take polaroids just to get through each day and continue with his own little personal investigation.
This film is kinda broken into two parts…approx. a quarter is in black and white, while the rest is in colour. The part that is in colour shows Leonards investigation, and what he’s doing to find and murder this man that supposedly attacked him and killed his wife. The thing is, it’s all backwards…so the film starts off, and we actually see who Leonard ends up killing…concluding them as his wife’s murderer. The other part of the film, the black and white portion, is telling us a little bit about Leonards amnesia in the form of a phone call. Leonard is is discussing a former client, Sammy, with an unkown caller, and Sammy had the same sort of condition that Leonard now has. This part of the movie actually plays in chronological order…so in the end of the film, they both kind of come together quite well.
One of my favourite things about this movie is how it made me feel…it was filmed and edited in a way that was very quick and left you with many questions, never fully understanding everything. The fact that the majority of the movie was backwards, made you feel how you would imagine Leonard feeling…totally confused. You never had any background as to why something was happening…you just witnessed it, and found out why later. The quick editing and pace also kept you from really analyzing the movie for too long…just adding to my constant feeling of being a little bit lost throughout the movie.
I also loved how it was so NOT what I expected! The whole ‘guy with amnesia’ trying to solve a mystery isn’t exactly the most unique story…and the technique of showing the scenes backwards isn’t terribly unique either…but, they way they put it together just totally worked, and made it unique!
The acting left me feeling indifferent…which is my only complaint…which is good! My complaint isn’t even bad…its just a lack of…great. I do agree with their choice of casting Guy Pearce though…Brad Pitt was originally the first choice for Leonard, and he wanted to accept, but it ended up not working schedule wise, and don’t get me wrong, I like Brad Pitt…but I don’t think an A-list actor would have been right for that role.
Anyway, this film was totally engaging, I loved it, and I would love to see it again sometime soon. I recommend it 100%
This film is kinda broken into two parts…approx. a quarter is in black and white, while the rest is in colour. The part that is in colour shows Leonards investigation, and what he’s doing to find and murder this man that supposedly attacked him and killed his wife. The thing is, it’s all backwards…so the film starts off, and we actually see who Leonard ends up killing…concluding them as his wife’s murderer. The other part of the film, the black and white portion, is telling us a little bit about Leonards amnesia in the form of a phone call. Leonard is is discussing a former client, Sammy, with an unkown caller, and Sammy had the same sort of condition that Leonard now has. This part of the movie actually plays in chronological order…so in the end of the film, they both kind of come together quite well.
One of my favourite things about this movie is how it made me feel…it was filmed and edited in a way that was very quick and left you with many questions, never fully understanding everything. The fact that the majority of the movie was backwards, made you feel how you would imagine Leonard feeling…totally confused. You never had any background as to why something was happening…you just witnessed it, and found out why later. The quick editing and pace also kept you from really analyzing the movie for too long…just adding to my constant feeling of being a little bit lost throughout the movie.
I also loved how it was so NOT what I expected! The whole ‘guy with amnesia’ trying to solve a mystery isn’t exactly the most unique story…and the technique of showing the scenes backwards isn’t terribly unique either…but, they way they put it together just totally worked, and made it unique!
The acting left me feeling indifferent…which is my only complaint…which is good! My complaint isn’t even bad…its just a lack of…great. I do agree with their choice of casting Guy Pearce though…Brad Pitt was originally the first choice for Leonard, and he wanted to accept, but it ended up not working schedule wise, and don’t get me wrong, I like Brad Pitt…but I don’t think an A-list actor would have been right for that role.
Anyway, this film was totally engaging, I loved it, and I would love to see it again sometime soon. I recommend it 100%
Sunday, April 11, 2010
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
So…I had heard a ton of good things about this movie…I mean, its really a classic, and I have to say it met my expectations. It didn’t quite surpass them, but it lived up to what I had heard.
Basically, Jack Nicholson’s character, McMurphy, is in jail for statutory rape…and he convinces the jail gaurds that he is mentally ill, mad, and is sent to a mental asylum. While he’s there he creates chaos, stirring shit up, which actually seems to be helping some of the patients advance in their mental health, while driving the nurse insane. :P
Uhmm…so, this is based on the book by Ken Kesey, which I’m looking into reading, especially after I found out that it’s actually narrated by my favourite character in the film, CHIEF!! Haha.
I love that guy man…
The first half of the movie is good. There’s nothing really outstandingly unique or anything…it was funny though, and it set it up good, you get to know everyone, work everything out, see exactly how this mental ward works.
I think the point in the movie where it really picked up, for me anyway, was when McMurphy invited over the girls who brought booze.
The result of that night was Billy finding this weird newfound self-belief after sleeping with one of the girls. When the nurse comes and finds him, his stutter is gone, and he has this air of confidence around him. It’s great, they build him up, he is so happy, you feel happy for him…then the nurse goes and threatens to tell Billy’s mother. Bam, stutter comes back, he’s a fucking emotional wreck all over again. Now, I’m totally sympathizing with this kid, I totally know how it feels to constantly have your stomach dropping because your scared of your fucking mother…maybe not to the extent that he does, but I was definitely feeling terrible for him.
Then, minutes later, he’s found in the office, throat cut, dead. Just like that. Literally two minutes ago he was this confidant guy, totally released from his mother and then he’s dead. Well…fuck. That sucked. They did it really well though, I felt horrible at that moment.
Next scene I liked was when McMurphy came back from receiving a lobotomy and was just, gone. A vegetable. Chief is so excited to see him, he has this big speech…feels as big or strong as a mountain…something like that…only to realize what had happened. He knows the only thing that he can do is to end his suffering…he suffocates McMurphy and then takes off on his own.
I don’t know, I really liked the ending…simply riding into the sunset, sounds cheesy, I know, but its just…crushing.
I randomly just remembered the scene where Mac is trying to teach Chief how to play basketball…and that might be my favourite scene…he’s so…passionate, and you can’t help but feel it with him. This guy is so fucked up…I mean, he’s in jail for statutory rape, he would be what society defines as a ‘bad guy’, but he’s incredibly optimistic. I’m all for Mac’s pep talks (:
“What do you think you are, for Chrissake, crazy or somethin'? Well you're not! You're not! You're no crazier than the average asshole out walkin' around on the streets and that's it.”
8/10
Basically, Jack Nicholson’s character, McMurphy, is in jail for statutory rape…and he convinces the jail gaurds that he is mentally ill, mad, and is sent to a mental asylum. While he’s there he creates chaos, stirring shit up, which actually seems to be helping some of the patients advance in their mental health, while driving the nurse insane. :P
Uhmm…so, this is based on the book by Ken Kesey, which I’m looking into reading, especially after I found out that it’s actually narrated by my favourite character in the film, CHIEF!! Haha.
I love that guy man…
The first half of the movie is good. There’s nothing really outstandingly unique or anything…it was funny though, and it set it up good, you get to know everyone, work everything out, see exactly how this mental ward works.
I think the point in the movie where it really picked up, for me anyway, was when McMurphy invited over the girls who brought booze.
The result of that night was Billy finding this weird newfound self-belief after sleeping with one of the girls. When the nurse comes and finds him, his stutter is gone, and he has this air of confidence around him. It’s great, they build him up, he is so happy, you feel happy for him…then the nurse goes and threatens to tell Billy’s mother. Bam, stutter comes back, he’s a fucking emotional wreck all over again. Now, I’m totally sympathizing with this kid, I totally know how it feels to constantly have your stomach dropping because your scared of your fucking mother…maybe not to the extent that he does, but I was definitely feeling terrible for him.
Then, minutes later, he’s found in the office, throat cut, dead. Just like that. Literally two minutes ago he was this confidant guy, totally released from his mother and then he’s dead. Well…fuck. That sucked. They did it really well though, I felt horrible at that moment.
Next scene I liked was when McMurphy came back from receiving a lobotomy and was just, gone. A vegetable. Chief is so excited to see him, he has this big speech…feels as big or strong as a mountain…something like that…only to realize what had happened. He knows the only thing that he can do is to end his suffering…he suffocates McMurphy and then takes off on his own.
I don’t know, I really liked the ending…simply riding into the sunset, sounds cheesy, I know, but its just…crushing.
I randomly just remembered the scene where Mac is trying to teach Chief how to play basketball…and that might be my favourite scene…he’s so…passionate, and you can’t help but feel it with him. This guy is so fucked up…I mean, he’s in jail for statutory rape, he would be what society defines as a ‘bad guy’, but he’s incredibly optimistic. I’m all for Mac’s pep talks (:
“What do you think you are, for Chrissake, crazy or somethin'? Well you're not! You're not! You're no crazier than the average asshole out walkin' around on the streets and that's it.”
8/10
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Apocalypse Now
Mkay. So…last night I watched Apocalypse Now. Loooooong movie. Bad idea to start watching it at like 1:30 in the morning lol. You’ll be up all night…Not that I wouldn’t have been anyway :P
So, basically, this Captain in the Vietnam war is sent on this secret mission sort of thing. It doesn’t technically exist…it’s to eliminate one of their own men…a Colonel who has apparently gone insane and is controlling a huge amount of people.
My favourite character was the camouflage guy!! I loved him…and he saved da puppayy XD
Speaking of which, I totally got distracted and have no idea what ended up happening to the puppy…I don’t know if I’d want to know…
I wasn’t a huge fan of the Captain…he seemed a little too cold…I mean, I guess its kind of understandable.
He’s being sent on this mission…to destroy one of their own men, basically because mankind find it incredibly difficult to be able to accept something that they can’t understand and can’t control…in this case Kurtz. Anyway, bam. He gets ‘eliminated’, a scene that I really enjoyed.
I liked how they kept Kurtz in the shadows for the first two thirds of the confrontation. It reminded me of the Elephant Man, how we’re kept from seeing his face until we were well into the movie…
Anyway, that was random.
I liked how they flashed back and forth from the Captain interrogating Kurtz to a scene with a tribe sacrificing a bull.
Which I found out a little while after watching the film was actually real. They got this local tribe, and filmed them during one of their rituals, which included the sacrifice of a bull…they didn’t stage it…they documented it…intense shit.
I also loved how the farther the Captain’s boat made it down the river the crazier and more hectic things became. The closer he got to Kurtz, the more chaos ensued.
It was different than the typical war movie…It reminded me more of…Full Metal Jacket maybe?
Where it focused more on the psychological aspects of the war then most war movies do, which is great, I like that.
Ohh…and I finally got to hear where the famous line “I love the smell of Napalm in the morning” came from (:
Speaking of quotes…another one I liked kinda just popped into my head. Spoken by Kurtz, about a snail scrawling along the edge of a razor…lemme find it.
I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream; that's my nightmare. Crawling, slithering, along the edge of a straight razor... and surviving.
8.5/10
So, basically, this Captain in the Vietnam war is sent on this secret mission sort of thing. It doesn’t technically exist…it’s to eliminate one of their own men…a Colonel who has apparently gone insane and is controlling a huge amount of people.
My favourite character was the camouflage guy!! I loved him…and he saved da puppayy XD
Speaking of which, I totally got distracted and have no idea what ended up happening to the puppy…I don’t know if I’d want to know…
I wasn’t a huge fan of the Captain…he seemed a little too cold…I mean, I guess its kind of understandable.
He’s being sent on this mission…to destroy one of their own men, basically because mankind find it incredibly difficult to be able to accept something that they can’t understand and can’t control…in this case Kurtz. Anyway, bam. He gets ‘eliminated’, a scene that I really enjoyed.
I liked how they kept Kurtz in the shadows for the first two thirds of the confrontation. It reminded me of the Elephant Man, how we’re kept from seeing his face until we were well into the movie…
Anyway, that was random.
I liked how they flashed back and forth from the Captain interrogating Kurtz to a scene with a tribe sacrificing a bull.
Which I found out a little while after watching the film was actually real. They got this local tribe, and filmed them during one of their rituals, which included the sacrifice of a bull…they didn’t stage it…they documented it…intense shit.
I also loved how the farther the Captain’s boat made it down the river the crazier and more hectic things became. The closer he got to Kurtz, the more chaos ensued.
It was different than the typical war movie…It reminded me more of…Full Metal Jacket maybe?
Where it focused more on the psychological aspects of the war then most war movies do, which is great, I like that.
Ohh…and I finally got to hear where the famous line “I love the smell of Napalm in the morning” came from (:
Speaking of quotes…another one I liked kinda just popped into my head. Spoken by Kurtz, about a snail scrawling along the edge of a razor…lemme find it.
I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream; that's my nightmare. Crawling, slithering, along the edge of a straight razor... and surviving.
8.5/10
Sunday, April 4, 2010
28 Days Later
So…it’s based on a book by Alex Garland...an author I've heard great things about and a book that is among the many on my 'to read' list.
Directed by Danny Boyle…who did The Beach, also based on a novel by Alex Garland, which I have yet to read and see. He also did Trainspotting…Sunshine…Slumdog Millionaire I think…that’s all I can think of right now.
Basically it is about this weird virus that was in these chimps, that these activists set free. The disease causes complete rage and when spread to humans, they basically destroyed each other, or committed suicide in fear…
Anyway...the VERY beginning was good, it was okay...then it started to go downhill for me. I couldn't really see where they were trying to go...the plot kind of seemed to disappear. Then the third quarter was great. It died down again for the last quarter but it was still better than the majority of the beginning half.
The main character is the guy from Red Eye I believe...the bad guy, and I think he’s in Sunshine too.
He's a creepy looking guy, and I don't think he was that great of an actor...and not because of the fact that I think he’s creepy…if anything, I would consider that to be an advantage.
The other main character was Selena...I liked her. Besides the fact that she had a really kick ass haircut, she started off as a hardass and softened up a bit by the end, possible a bit too much.
some of the events that happened were very predictable....and some were unpredictable however completely unrealistic, even for a movie.
I think this movie was attempting to show how savage humans are...maybe compare the non infected with being almost as savage as those infected with “rage”.... and it started off in the right track, but it didn’t go all the way.
I mean, there are a group of survivors hunting for women to rape basically to restart civilization....one of these girls happened to be a young teen.
But they never end up raping them...
And I'm not saying I wanted it to happen...but I think they should have insinuated that it was happening, or let us hear it or something, I don’t know…I probably sound incredibly sick right now.
But if your trying to show what monsters humans can be, just go all the way!
It was hard trying to decide which was worse…the fact that the entire human race was about to become extinct because of this virus, or the fact that the entire human race could possible be rebuilt by these supposedly sick and twisted men.
I think the human race being repopulated by these maniacs had the potential to be more frightening, and should have been more upsetting, however as I said before, they didn’t go as far as they could have with the pathetic remains of mankind.
overall it was okay
I think I'd rather read the book, I’m planning on it...and I hope it's better.
6/10
Directed by Danny Boyle…who did The Beach, also based on a novel by Alex Garland, which I have yet to read and see. He also did Trainspotting…Sunshine…Slumdog Millionaire I think…that’s all I can think of right now.
Basically it is about this weird virus that was in these chimps, that these activists set free. The disease causes complete rage and when spread to humans, they basically destroyed each other, or committed suicide in fear…
Anyway...the VERY beginning was good, it was okay...then it started to go downhill for me. I couldn't really see where they were trying to go...the plot kind of seemed to disappear. Then the third quarter was great. It died down again for the last quarter but it was still better than the majority of the beginning half.
The main character is the guy from Red Eye I believe...the bad guy, and I think he’s in Sunshine too.
He's a creepy looking guy, and I don't think he was that great of an actor...and not because of the fact that I think he’s creepy…if anything, I would consider that to be an advantage.
The other main character was Selena...I liked her. Besides the fact that she had a really kick ass haircut, she started off as a hardass and softened up a bit by the end, possible a bit too much.
some of the events that happened were very predictable....and some were unpredictable however completely unrealistic, even for a movie.
I think this movie was attempting to show how savage humans are...maybe compare the non infected with being almost as savage as those infected with “rage”.... and it started off in the right track, but it didn’t go all the way.
I mean, there are a group of survivors hunting for women to rape basically to restart civilization....one of these girls happened to be a young teen.
But they never end up raping them...
And I'm not saying I wanted it to happen...but I think they should have insinuated that it was happening, or let us hear it or something, I don’t know…I probably sound incredibly sick right now.
But if your trying to show what monsters humans can be, just go all the way!
It was hard trying to decide which was worse…the fact that the entire human race was about to become extinct because of this virus, or the fact that the entire human race could possible be rebuilt by these supposedly sick and twisted men.
I think the human race being repopulated by these maniacs had the potential to be more frightening, and should have been more upsetting, however as I said before, they didn’t go as far as they could have with the pathetic remains of mankind.
overall it was okay
I think I'd rather read the book, I’m planning on it...and I hope it's better.
6/10
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Blue Car...turned RANT...sorry :P
Mkay
so, there wasn't really anything terribly unique about this movie that made me want watch it. No director that I loved, no actors I thought was great, no outstanding reviews.
What made me want to watch it was the plot I guess…and not even that it was distinct or anything I just felt…I dunno how to explain :P
The film is about a girl whose life is just shit, her dad left, her mum is terrible, her younger sister is suicidal. Then, her English teacher kinda opens her up to the world of poetry and apparently she is really talented.
Long story short, the English teacher ends up taking advantage of her (although she somewhat initiated it :/ which was fucked) and basically just ends up fucking with her already fucked life…
as I said, nothing outstanding, just a plot that hit home....ish
For a really long time I’ve had issues with teachers.
Most of you know what I’m talking about…especially inside the school, news travels fucking fast.
Some of you were there afterward, one of you were there with me at the time…
But I lost A LOT of people that I really cared about. All because of that fucking asshole of a teacher…fuck. All because he decided he wanted to feel superior…rip my fucking soul out and just hand it out to the fucking class thank you very much.
What the fuck, I mean, I can deal with the humiliation…I could deal with the fact that he publicly told me how disgusting I was, telling me about God and shit (which luckily didn’t affect me, but I can only imagine if I was religious) and let the whole class in on something that even I wasn’t grasping at the time.
What I couldn’t deal with is how I was totally alienated from there on. One of my favourite teachers from elementary school refused to speak with me…and when he had to, he never looked me in the eye.
It’s a topic that my friends know to avoid because I can just go on an hour long rant. What I don’t understand is how the fuck some of these people are allowed to become teachers!?!
I mean this guy wasn’t as obvious…I trusted him, a lot of people really liked him, but that just made it worse.
But what pisses me off is when it is SO obvious.
Woodshop teacher. Yah…obviously perverted. And anyone who went to my elementary school knows EXACTLY what I’m talking about. Don’t know how he made it that far in his career. Sure enough, by the second day of class he slapped my fucking ass…yah, along with at least two other girls that I talked to in class. Well…obviously from the incident above, I’m out to slaughter these fucking teachers. Cops are there next day and he’s in jail now. Another great experience with a perfectly reliable teacher right?
Oh, did I mention that my senior kindergarten teacher was also arrested for child molestation two years after I had him as a teacher? No? well…he was.
It’s disgusting and it’s pathetic and it pisses me off.
I can honestly say that I’ve had…probably two teachers in my life that I will actually have a conversation about anything other than school with. Other than that…fuck em. Seriously.
I feel like, from past experiences, saying anything other than ‘Hey, I don’t understand how to do question 6’ will come back and bite me in the fucking ass. So…I’m fnished with them. :)
Wowww…that actually felt really good!
Haha, the thought of blogging about anything personal has always turned me off…but its fun to bitch, that’s what I do best.
Everything aside…as a movie it would get:
5/10
so, there wasn't really anything terribly unique about this movie that made me want watch it. No director that I loved, no actors I thought was great, no outstanding reviews.
What made me want to watch it was the plot I guess…and not even that it was distinct or anything I just felt…I dunno how to explain :P
The film is about a girl whose life is just shit, her dad left, her mum is terrible, her younger sister is suicidal. Then, her English teacher kinda opens her up to the world of poetry and apparently she is really talented.
Long story short, the English teacher ends up taking advantage of her (although she somewhat initiated it :/ which was fucked) and basically just ends up fucking with her already fucked life…
as I said, nothing outstanding, just a plot that hit home....ish
For a really long time I’ve had issues with teachers.
Most of you know what I’m talking about…especially inside the school, news travels fucking fast.
Some of you were there afterward, one of you were there with me at the time…
But I lost A LOT of people that I really cared about. All because of that fucking asshole of a teacher…fuck. All because he decided he wanted to feel superior…rip my fucking soul out and just hand it out to the fucking class thank you very much.
What the fuck, I mean, I can deal with the humiliation…I could deal with the fact that he publicly told me how disgusting I was, telling me about God and shit (which luckily didn’t affect me, but I can only imagine if I was religious) and let the whole class in on something that even I wasn’t grasping at the time.
What I couldn’t deal with is how I was totally alienated from there on. One of my favourite teachers from elementary school refused to speak with me…and when he had to, he never looked me in the eye.
It’s a topic that my friends know to avoid because I can just go on an hour long rant. What I don’t understand is how the fuck some of these people are allowed to become teachers!?!
I mean this guy wasn’t as obvious…I trusted him, a lot of people really liked him, but that just made it worse.
But what pisses me off is when it is SO obvious.
Woodshop teacher. Yah…obviously perverted. And anyone who went to my elementary school knows EXACTLY what I’m talking about. Don’t know how he made it that far in his career. Sure enough, by the second day of class he slapped my fucking ass…yah, along with at least two other girls that I talked to in class. Well…obviously from the incident above, I’m out to slaughter these fucking teachers. Cops are there next day and he’s in jail now. Another great experience with a perfectly reliable teacher right?
Oh, did I mention that my senior kindergarten teacher was also arrested for child molestation two years after I had him as a teacher? No? well…he was.
It’s disgusting and it’s pathetic and it pisses me off.
I can honestly say that I’ve had…probably two teachers in my life that I will actually have a conversation about anything other than school with. Other than that…fuck em. Seriously.
I feel like, from past experiences, saying anything other than ‘Hey, I don’t understand how to do question 6’ will come back and bite me in the fucking ass. So…I’m fnished with them. :)
Wowww…that actually felt really good!
Haha, the thought of blogging about anything personal has always turned me off…but its fun to bitch, that’s what I do best.
Everything aside…as a movie it would get:
5/10
The Departed
I thought it was a pretty decent film. I read that it was based off another film ‘Internal Affairs’, a Hong Kong movie or something? and might want to check that one out too.
The plot was okay, decent...nothing special or unexpected really…. I mean, I don’t think…
Basically you got two cops…one is undercover for the good guys, one is undercover for the bad guys.
I liked the ending ish...I won't say exactly what happened in case someone wants to see it, but I really wasn't expecting what happened when the elevator door opened. It surprised me at first…but then the more I thought about it mehh…it lost its appeal.
Uhm, this is another one with Leo...huh, I've been watching a lot with him in it lately (I’ve seen Shutter Island, Revolutionary Road, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape all within the past week). I really liked him in it, I thought his acting was good, and he is incredibly good looking to boot. And Jack Nicholson!! He was old and fat lol! (I’ve also very recently seen him in ‘The Shining’ and ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest’) Once I got over that, I really liked him too, the perfect asshole. I think that’s how a total dick is supposed to be played. I think the assholes always come off too full of themselves and it just turns me off.
Now, negative aspects of the film, some of the situations just seemed a little bit too far-fetched. I know its Hollywood; I know it’s a movie blah blah blah. I always keep that in mind, but this went a bit over that.
I hate Matt Damon. That’s it. I think he's a terrible actor in the first place, and I thought his character was pretty one dimensional. I think that’s all the acknowledgment that guy deserves, I really despise him. Same with Mark Wahlberg…oh man, after I saw The Happening, I can never look at him the same again. I never thought he was a good actor…but that movie…fuck.
Also, believe it or not, all the 'fucks' just desensitized me to the word, and then when it could have really made an impact...it didn’t.
Uhm...also the love triangle between the two guys and the shrink...what really was the point of that? I’m probably just being really thick, but in the beginning the way they played it up, I expected it to be really significant later on…and it just wasn’t…I don’t think.
7/10
The plot was okay, decent...nothing special or unexpected really…. I mean, I don’t think…
Basically you got two cops…one is undercover for the good guys, one is undercover for the bad guys.
I liked the ending ish...I won't say exactly what happened in case someone wants to see it, but I really wasn't expecting what happened when the elevator door opened. It surprised me at first…but then the more I thought about it mehh…it lost its appeal.
Uhm, this is another one with Leo...huh, I've been watching a lot with him in it lately (I’ve seen Shutter Island, Revolutionary Road, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape all within the past week). I really liked him in it, I thought his acting was good, and he is incredibly good looking to boot. And Jack Nicholson!! He was old and fat lol! (I’ve also very recently seen him in ‘The Shining’ and ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest’) Once I got over that, I really liked him too, the perfect asshole. I think that’s how a total dick is supposed to be played. I think the assholes always come off too full of themselves and it just turns me off.
Now, negative aspects of the film, some of the situations just seemed a little bit too far-fetched. I know its Hollywood; I know it’s a movie blah blah blah. I always keep that in mind, but this went a bit over that.
I hate Matt Damon. That’s it. I think he's a terrible actor in the first place, and I thought his character was pretty one dimensional. I think that’s all the acknowledgment that guy deserves, I really despise him. Same with Mark Wahlberg…oh man, after I saw The Happening, I can never look at him the same again. I never thought he was a good actor…but that movie…fuck.
Also, believe it or not, all the 'fucks' just desensitized me to the word, and then when it could have really made an impact...it didn’t.
Uhm...also the love triangle between the two guys and the shrink...what really was the point of that? I’m probably just being really thick, but in the beginning the way they played it up, I expected it to be really significant later on…and it just wasn’t…I don’t think.
7/10
Monday, March 29, 2010
Jacob's Ladder
Mkay. So, basically, this is about a soldier, Jacob, who was in the Vietnam war. The movie starts out in the middle of the war, they're under attack, then suddenly flashes to after the war. Now, after the war, Jacob is seeing all these creepy people and voices and shit, and he's kinda on a mission to figure what the fuck is going on.
I think this is one of these movies where you either love it or you hate it. I mean, I wouldn’t really know…no one I know personally has seen it, so I haven’t been able to talk it out with people, but I get the feeling that some people would just totally give up on it. It’s definitely not for people who are looking for a movie that serves you the answers on a platter…it brings up question after question. And when it finally seems like your getting your questions answered, BAM they get you with the big ‘What the fuck!?’.
Anyway, Tim Robbins plays the main character. I think he's a strange guy lol...Ever since seeing Shawshank Redemption, I just think he’s really funny looking! And it was honestly hard for me to get past that, it was so strange.
I didn't think that the acting was great...but the plot made up for it, it really did.
I think my favourite character was Louis the chiropractor!! He had some of the best lines. Amoung my favourite: "Eckhart saw Hell too. He said: The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of life, your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you, he said. They're freeing your soul. So, if you're frightened of dying and... and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth"
Most of the film is dark...and it gets darker as it goes on (I feed off of this stuff in case you haven't noticed lol) BUT you get the dark and gory feel without an excess of actual gore. Then, when they do throw a bit of gore in, the impact is much more intense.
Usually, I would have hated the way this film ended...I won't go into great detail...because doing so would totally ruin what I love about this movie, and would be beyond unfair. BUT Jacob's Ladder actually pulled it off.
It made me feel content with an ending that I usually hate, because it just fit, and they made it work.
I dunno. I loved it though.
9/10
I think this is one of these movies where you either love it or you hate it. I mean, I wouldn’t really know…no one I know personally has seen it, so I haven’t been able to talk it out with people, but I get the feeling that some people would just totally give up on it. It’s definitely not for people who are looking for a movie that serves you the answers on a platter…it brings up question after question. And when it finally seems like your getting your questions answered, BAM they get you with the big ‘What the fuck!?’.
Anyway, Tim Robbins plays the main character. I think he's a strange guy lol...Ever since seeing Shawshank Redemption, I just think he’s really funny looking! And it was honestly hard for me to get past that, it was so strange.
I didn't think that the acting was great...but the plot made up for it, it really did.
I think my favourite character was Louis the chiropractor!! He had some of the best lines. Amoung my favourite: "Eckhart saw Hell too. He said: The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of life, your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you, he said. They're freeing your soul. So, if you're frightened of dying and... and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth"
Most of the film is dark...and it gets darker as it goes on (I feed off of this stuff in case you haven't noticed lol) BUT you get the dark and gory feel without an excess of actual gore. Then, when they do throw a bit of gore in, the impact is much more intense.
Usually, I would have hated the way this film ended...I won't go into great detail...because doing so would totally ruin what I love about this movie, and would be beyond unfair. BUT Jacob's Ladder actually pulled it off.
It made me feel content with an ending that I usually hate, because it just fit, and they made it work.
I dunno. I loved it though.
9/10
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Blue Velvet
I really enjoyed this movie...I’m starting to become a pretty big David Lynch fan. It’s dark, full of dark humour, it was great.
It starts out with the main character, Jeffery, and he finds an ear lying in the middle of a field. Eventually, he gets all wrapped up in the investigation following the discovery of the ear, and discovers some things about his town I’m sure he found surprising and disturbing :)
My favourite character was night club singer, Dorothy. I just felt like she really developed especially compared to the other female role, Sandy, played by Laura Dern. I just really don’t like Laura Dern, I think she’s a terrible actress. For me, she’s never really brought anything that I haven’t seen before, nothing interesting, nothing. Plus, she sucks ass at crying…Like, really. It’s terrible. The first movie I saw her in was Novocaine I think…which may be why I dislike her so much :P
Okay, on to something else I really loved. The scene where the cameras slowly zooming in towards the grass, then it takes us into the dirt and there’s all bugs and shit. Yes, I’m aware I do the scene no justice. I liked the whole introduction into a dirty sketchy kinda world underneath everything else that is seemingly perfect.
I also thought it was really neat. When the main character found the ear in the field and we were taken on this eerie trip like through…into the ear. And I totally didn’t even notice (shame on me) that the camera never came back out…until the very end of the film, when all is well, and we get the same journey except out of the ear.
Something I kind of noticed was that when a scene was kind of portraying innocence, that kinda thing, the dialogue and everything seemed really cheesy, and dumbed down kinda, and when the darkness was added back into the film everything seemed to improve. I don’t know if that was on purpose…I mean, I got the feel that it was, but I could be wrong. I thought it was neat anyway.
The music and sounds were fantastic, and the contrast between the black and white and colours, most notably the red curtains that kept popping up, were incredible.
Would recommend it for sure!
Although, with saying that, there is some nudity/sex/rape etc…just wanna put that out there.
8.5/10
It starts out with the main character, Jeffery, and he finds an ear lying in the middle of a field. Eventually, he gets all wrapped up in the investigation following the discovery of the ear, and discovers some things about his town I’m sure he found surprising and disturbing :)
My favourite character was night club singer, Dorothy. I just felt like she really developed especially compared to the other female role, Sandy, played by Laura Dern. I just really don’t like Laura Dern, I think she’s a terrible actress. For me, she’s never really brought anything that I haven’t seen before, nothing interesting, nothing. Plus, she sucks ass at crying…Like, really. It’s terrible. The first movie I saw her in was Novocaine I think…which may be why I dislike her so much :P
Okay, on to something else I really loved. The scene where the cameras slowly zooming in towards the grass, then it takes us into the dirt and there’s all bugs and shit. Yes, I’m aware I do the scene no justice. I liked the whole introduction into a dirty sketchy kinda world underneath everything else that is seemingly perfect.
I also thought it was really neat. When the main character found the ear in the field and we were taken on this eerie trip like through…into the ear. And I totally didn’t even notice (shame on me) that the camera never came back out…until the very end of the film, when all is well, and we get the same journey except out of the ear.
Something I kind of noticed was that when a scene was kind of portraying innocence, that kinda thing, the dialogue and everything seemed really cheesy, and dumbed down kinda, and when the darkness was added back into the film everything seemed to improve. I don’t know if that was on purpose…I mean, I got the feel that it was, but I could be wrong. I thought it was neat anyway.
The music and sounds were fantastic, and the contrast between the black and white and colours, most notably the red curtains that kept popping up, were incredible.
Would recommend it for sure!
Although, with saying that, there is some nudity/sex/rape etc…just wanna put that out there.
8.5/10
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