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The Room (2003)
Just uncomfortably bad
Have you ever been asked by a good friend to come to see him at an open mic night or to play a couple pieces before another band? Being a nice guy you agree and show up to lend support, your friend gets on stage...and proceeds to destroy all of his chords, screeches his lyrics in an off kilter voice and generally makes an idiot out of himself. Everyone around you is booing and perhaps throwing small projectiles and you're left unable to boo (after all, your friend is now staring at you for support) and feel sort of unpleasantly helpless.
That's exactly what this movie is, and it's the fact that it FEELS like the guy who came up with this actually was trying to do this heavy artsy piece and everything about it completely falls apart at the scenes. The acting is pretty much all around atrocious, our "lead" is just horrific...HORRIFIC...he brandishes his lines like a child with a sword, jumping from complete and utter ambiguous detachment "everything will be fine" to completely off key bursts of anger. Of course he isn't playing off gold here, the sets burst from one scene to the next...one minute we're on a rooftop and suddenly we're in a living room and everyone's wearing tuxedo's, and now we're leaving to play football. Characters come into a scene where two other characters seem to be standing pointlessly at a wall, they'll spout one line and then they're gone and the next scene is off and running. There's no introduction to any of these people, I'm not given any reason to care at all about any of them. Plot points are introduced and dropped two seconds later, never to be heard about again...everything about this film is jarring and flat out poorly done.
If you INSIST on seeing this I'd recommend spending the extra couple bucks and buying the Rifftrax shot at this movie. Doesn't make the movie GOOD but at least makes it watchable and funny.
Låt den rätte komma in (2008)
Brilliantly moving work from an oft under-appreciated cinematic locale.
I'm not generally one to write reviews of movies on IMDb, I generally find one-sided comments to be difficult to write in comparison to a healthy back and forth dialog on a film, this one sticks out though.
I heard about this film while looking for information on Park Chanwook's "Thirst" in which users were asking as to whether that film would be as powerful and moving as this. My interest piqued, I went and picked up a copy to watch, put it in the player and satin rapt amazement for the next nearly two hours watching the beautifully paced story gradually unwind before my eyes.
Oskar is a young, thoughtful boy of 12 going through a stage of life I think most of us remember with at least some small sense of displeasure, when our emotional stability was built largely around our interaction with our peers. Like many, Oskar is viciously victimized by a group of bullies at his school, but doesn't seem to carry the force of personality necessary to help himself out of his problem.
All this changes when a young girl named Eli moves in next door, at first reticent to build any relationship with Oskar, she gradually warms to him and the two begin to develop a deep friendship, brought closer together by their shared isolation and anomie. Unfortunately this relationship is tested on a very fundamental level due to the fact that our young Eli is, in fact, a vampire.
I can't go into great detail as to the plot without utterly ruining the impact of the film and so I won't bother to try. What I will say is that this movie is, without a doubt, among the most brilliantly and emotionally honest "vampire" movie I've seen in a long, long time...perhaps as far back as such masterpieces as Near Dark and The Lost Boys.
What makes this movie stick out isn't the general Vampire fare of intense fighting, gore, blood and mayhem (though they do make appearances throughout), it's the slow pace of the film. By the time any conclusive mention of Vampires is mentioned we, the audience, is already completely and utterly immersed in the moving relationship between our two young protagonists. I use the term Vampire movie lightly, one could very reasonably remove the vampire undertone to the film and still have a beautiful story of connection, love, loss and morality. Very rarely is this the case in such movies.
Ultimately I think the appeal here is that all of us have been, or known someone like Oskar...and ultimately all of us wish for such a connection in our own lives. While some audiences may find it slow paced (the same people who shut off the brilliant Audition halfway through because there'd bee no payoff yet), for those willing to immerse themselves in the story and with a sensibility to thoughtful, and honest storytelling, this film is among the most moving, and emotionally meaningful films to have come out of cinema, period (let alone foreign cinema) in the last decade.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
Very well done
I've been a fan of the Batman comic since I was a child, the idea of the tragic mere man pushing himself physically, mentally and intellectually (and with the help of his nice financial situation) as to be able to rank with Superman (and indeed even beat him on more than one occasion) always appealed to me.
You can tell the creators of this movie and the associated TV series (primarily the original "adventures of batman" on which the movie is modeled though Batman Beyond isn't without a charm) really enjoy the story and the character of this figure, presenting his isolation, drive and even fanaticism to an accurate degree. Spectacular job, I would love to see more in the same vein, though that seems unlikely now.
House of Wax (2005)
Alright, worth it for the hardcore
Just got back from seeing this movie and I'm somewhat on the fence. If you're a fan of the classic "slasher" flicks, Halloween, Friday the 13th and such then you'll see all the "quintessential" bits here.
Now don't get me wrong, nothing in this movie is "new" as such, you can tell they tried very hard in order to keep the gore top notch (in one scene one of the characters graphically gets his face beaten into hamburger), but the "story" (as I'm sure you'd have already guessed) is your standard fair.
The movie starts with our protagonists setting off to see a nearby football game. One finds a shortcut and decides to use that in order to shave off time. One thing leads to another and, lo and behold, a "detour" sign pops up. Our jolly gang decides to pull over and camp for the night. During their nightly reverie an eerie looking truck pulls up and just sits with it's high beams on them. One character gets angry and smashes one of the lights out...guy drives off and the night goes on as per usual.
Next morning, late to wake up one of the cars is discovered to have a broken fan belt. The two girls wander into the woods in search of a "smell" and one ends up slipping down a huge hill into a large pile of rotting animal carcasses (with a hand poking out). Cue creepy hick-guy to come in his broken down truck (not the one from the night before, but almost identical) and offers to drive the characters to a nearby town in order to get a fan belt. Two of the characters agree, the others drive off to go to the game (the others "will meet up with them" of course).
The lucky pair ends up pulling into a town somewhat reminiscent of the one in "children of the corn", completely deserted and dilapidated. They can't find anyone in the gas station and walk into the church interrupting (seemingly) a funeral. Ends up the mechanic is in there and comes out and tells them he'll "be 'round" in half an hour...while later he shows up, what's this? No fan belt...but "I've got one in my house"...
Needless to say this results in much bloodshed and fun for all. All in all, this was a pretty good film...it wasn't really worth the 9.50 I paid to see it, but I would happily shell out a couple bucks to rent and watch at home. Overall, not too "scary" as such, many of the kills seems almost like homages to other horror films. For example, one character, after the necessary chase scene, ends up having a sharp rod thrown through her head. This reminded me very much of the scene in Children of the Corn 3 in which one woman falls on a water pipe and it goes through the back of her skull causing blood to pop out her mouth like a sprinkler. Almost all the scenes in the "house" (you'll know what I mean) or the killers abode is STRONGLY reminiscent of Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
This is a fun movie, if you're into gore and slasher-style movies this will be right up your alley. The story is woefully sparse...you discover something about how the two brothers involved were Siamese twins but don't really get into any depth with it. Had they gone with that idea they may have drummed up some sympathy for the protagonist villains. Instead they basically fill the time with discussion and people being slaughtered in creative manners. All in all, a fun flick. just don't expect anything intelligent or new, go looking for a lot of gore and scantily-clad women running around and you won't be disappointed. :)
Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (1990)
Funny, like Reefer Madness
Hilarious video depicting a young boy who's using drugs and turning for the worse. Quite cute in the parts where it shows him stealing his baby sisters piggy bank to get money for some pot. Other scenes that stick out in my mind include seeing his future looking like some guy from Night of the Living Dead. As you would expect, complete and utter propaganda, however, it's one of the funniest films I've ever seen.
The Grandmother (1970)
An amazing (and disturbing) masterpiece
Just recently saw this film along with "The Alphabet"...One of the most disconcerting Lynch films I've ever seen...but incredibly brilliant...the portrayal of the animalistic sides of the human psyche, and the "touching of the grandmother" scenes are quite unique...overall, I highly recommend this short film for anyone interested in film as an art. Extra kudo's to those who see the psychological metaphors throughout the film.