Being single and not looking while unemployed sure is conducive for movie viewing. Lately I've been watching about four DVDs a week via NetFlix. Here is a rundown of the last month or so's activity with a brief review:
"The Wrestler" - By all accounts a great movie, yet I only made it through about 35 minutes before calling it quits. I'm sure it's depressing enough to the average person; while struggling with a bit of a mortality crisis it's unbearable. I'll give it another shot somewhere down the line.
"Bad Boy Bubby" - The only quality "disturbing" movie I've seen in awhile. An esoteric Australian film about a 30-something fella who has spent his entire life within the confines of his small flat because his crazy mother convinced him the air outside is toxic (she comes and goes with the aid of a gas mask). Until one day he ventures outside and encounters the modern world as a social retard, completely unprepared to live in it. You can't help but feel bad for him, howeverall turns out well for "Bubby" and he lives happily ever after. The same can't be said for any of the cats that appear in the movie.
"Gummo" - A very lame allegedly "disturbing" movie that wasn't disturbing in the least. A story-less snapshot of white trash small town America. *Yawn* Another not so cat-friendly flick. That Chloë Sevigny sure is an, um, interesting looking woman.
"Calvaire" - ("The Ordeal") Had lots of potential as a "disturbing" movie: dude's van breaks down stranding him in a remote village in the French countryside in which seemingly every man in town mistakes him for a woman that spurned them some time back. Unfortunately they dropped the ball and didn't make it quite the ordeal it could have been. Outside of the sodomy and crucifixion, that is. Not bad, but it's subtitled so if that's not your bag look elsewhere.
"The Last Supper" - Another allegedly "disturbing" film that looked great on paper, but was too cheesy to be enjoyable. A plastic surgeon develops a taste for humans after bringing home some extra fat from a liposuction procedure and frying it up. The special effects gore were as bad as I can recall ever seeing in a movie; not to mention the foley artist should be drawn and quartered -- using the sound effect of a saw cutting wood when our good doctor was taking a hacksaw to a human body? Amateur. And rather than subtitles this Japanese movie is overdubbed in English, making it feel like an old Godzilla flick. Why!?! Just subtitle it, that's far more tolerable. Some of us are sophisticated enough to sit through subtitles.
"Halloween" - The Rob Zombie remake of the original. I can accept a remake of a classic if a) it's been more than 30 years since the original release and b) the director attempts to actually reinterpret the original, making a different movie out of it. Zombie should be applauded for doing the latter, providing insight into what made Michael Myers the monster he was, which the original curiously ignored. What he should be criticized for is the lack of savagery in and execution of the death scenes. You do such a great job of portraying how evil this guy is then have him murder people in such... tame fashion? Why?
"The Ruins" - Awful, unless plants terrify you. Seriously, a movie involving vines as the monster? Vines? Avoid this.
"Veronica Guerin" - Pretty good drama about a journalist who risks the safety of her and her family in the name of doing her job as a reporter and exposing bad guys. However, had Cate Blanchett not played the lead character I don't know I would have enjoyed this movie as much as I did. Besides being a fantastic actress I find her to be one of the most attractive woman on the face of the earth. She makes my toes tingle.
"Mulholland Drive" - This was my second attempt at watching it; I only made it through about 30 minutes the first time around due to the horrible acting of Naomi Watts and the other broad. For an hour and 40 minutes I kept shouting at the screen, "Kiss!", as the two gals stared intensely into each other's eyes in scene after scene. Had I really gone so long without female contact that I'd resorted to imagining sexual chemistry? No, my sexual chemistry radar is still alive and well, as surprisingly enough they had a couple of pretty passionate scenes, and Naomi had one furious masturbation session. Nice. But this "complex, mysterious tale" was actually just the re-imagining of a lesbian relationship going bad and resulting in a murder suicide? If I never see another David Lynch movie...
"The Omen" - The 2006 remake of the original classic. Tweaked a little to update the story for modern times, but all in all a very uninspired effort. However like the original the death scenes were excellent. And that Julia Stiles, while I'm sure she's a perfectly nice gal, has a very, um, unusual face. She reminds me of a Sleestak. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)
"Man on Fire" - I love me a dude-gets-Medieval-on-the-bad-guys-asses movie. Nothing like watching vengeance doled out with extreme prejudice by a calm, cool and collected wrong guy to piss off. The scenes with Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning were fun stuff; they had great chemistry. *Spoiler Alert* Although the ending was thoroughly disappointing. Handing himself over to the bad guys and letting the chief baddie survive was so out of character for him. I completely expected Denzel to use his watch to set off another one of those upp-the-ass bombs once he met the chief baddie. Much to my dismay, he did not, preferring to go quietly. Lame. Very un-Creasy.
"Shine a Light" - The Rolling Stones concert filmed and directed by Martin Scorsese. A great set list featuring lots of tunes you'll never hear on the radio. "You Got the Silver" was the high point for me. Guest appearances by Jack White and Buddy Guy were a treat. A must watch for any Stones fan. But why did they edit out the profanity in Mick's in-between song banter? Was this rated 'G'?
"Casino Royale" - While I was originally opposed to the idea of a blond-haired, blue-eyed James Bond, Daniel Craig was better suited for the role than any of the previous candidates. A young, buff, bad ass Bond, now that's what this series has been missing. Thoroughly enjoyable, though that opening action sequence alone was worth the price of admission. Too bad I've heard nothing but lousy things about "Quantum of Solace", the latest Craig Bond portrayal.
Tonight it's "Body of Lies" with Russell Crowe and Leo DiCaprio. And I've only got like 160 more flicks on my NetFlix queue.
I mostly really liked "halloween". Showing the rage behind the actions, instead of just the plodding, mindless thing from the original outweighed the lack of major gore (by today's standards).
At first, I was kind of thinking, oh, here we go, he's depicting Michael as this poor unfortuante soul who can't help the way he is because he had a rough childhood. But once everything was tied together, I think he did a great job.
But I was disappointed that even though his wife played a stripper in the movie, she still didn't do a real nude scene.. :)
Posted by: Larry The Snake Guy | July 15, 2009 at 03:17 PM
Exactly, giving him an actual psychological makeup was a good move. In the original he's this darkest of souls for no reason whatsoever; just bring on the slaughtering. I only wish the murders were more... artful. And while there were cute gals and some nudity I wouldn't have minded that nude scene myself.
The soundtrack was top notch, really setting the tone for the period.
Posted by: Creepy | July 15, 2009 at 04:09 PM
I met the actor from that movie a couple of times. Never really did much after that.
Posted by: Miss.Smack | July 18, 2009 at 11:51 AM
Which movie, "Halloween"? Which actor?
Posted by: Creepy | July 18, 2009 at 11:52 AM