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Hostel




My girlfriend agreed to see a horror movie. There was nothing appealing to me in the New Releases of Blockbuster, so I scanned through the Horror section and came across this movie, which I had never really gotten around to seeing, and which I figured wouldn't really be genuinely scary, but rather, would focus on shock value, so it wouldn't end up traumatizing the chick.

Two American backpackers and a Icelandic fellow they picked up at some point prior to the start of the film are hanging in Amsterdam when they hear of a hostel in Slovakia with the most amazing selection of girls in Europe. Predictably, they head off to spend some time at the hostel, where they meet two girls in particular (and proceed to hook up with them, of course). Before long, however, the three friends find themselves victims of an elaborate underground service which offers eccentric millionaires the chance to torture and murder kidnapped patrons of the hostel.

This was decent. I don't really know what I expected out of it, so I guess it didn't have any real expectations to measure up to, but it didn't jump out as anything special anyway. The idea of a hostel that serves as a front for crazies to be able to pay to torture innocent victims is interesting, if pretty unoriginal. It was sufficiently gory, and had plenty of sex, as expected (although I hate when naked chicks in movies are not even remotely attractive). I think my biggest problem was how pathetic the whole setting ended up being. I mean, one torturer cuts himself in half because he slips on a gag? Really? Talk about a retarded way to screw everything up. And really, most of the bad guys in this movie are pretty damn incompetent. I don't know how they've gone this long without any problems in the past. The last thing you do on a security red alert is stand around talking while your car sits unlocked with the key in the fucking ignition 50 feet away. And I know there's a lot of character development at the beginning of the movie, but I still didn't find myself giving a shit about the protagonist's survival, sorry. I did like that the guy I expected to be our lead role ended up dying and someone else took over as the main character, and sure, a couple of torture techniques were pretty intense, and yeah, there's lots of nudity. But it just didn't register as a particularly good movie to me. Alright, but not a whole lot to take away from it, and not the best form of 2 hours of entertainment.

Dr Will Hatch two point oh wrote:

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You should watch Cannibal Holocaust, scariest movie I ever saw.

Is that so? Must be intense. Maybe I'll check it out if there's a version of it online that's of decent quality.

Requiem for a Dream




Everyone told me this would be depressing. Boy were they right.

This movie isn't especially plot-driven. All I can really say is that it follows four different people whose lives unravel due to their drug addictions spinning out of control. That's really all there is to it.

The last flick was light-hearted and makes you come away from it feeling good about yourself. This one has the exact opposite effect. One experience a lot of IMDB users seem to report having gone through after watching this movie is an inability to say anything for a good 10 minutes after the credits roll. I don't watch a lot of movies by myself, but this is one of them, and I definitely felt that, though not really to such a degree. It's a powerful film, one with some amazing direction and acting that leaves you feeling really personally affected after it's done. It's well done, no doubt about that. Really quite beautiful, honestly, and anyone with any appreciation for film can tell you just how amazing it is in that sense. Artistically, it deserves top marks.
Here's my problem with it. What message is really being conveyed here? Drug addiction is bad? That it? Because what you won't get out of the film is superficial entertainment. Which is fine by me, but only if there's something more intriguing below the surface. And I don't see that here. I see an incredibly well crafted movie with superior acting and genius direction. But I didn't learn anything, I didn't make any revelations, I didn't come away thinking about any topic in any particular depth. It's a fantastic movie, but one that doesn't seem to have any sort of real direction, and I think that's why I can't say it was anything particularly special. See it, maybe it'll do something for you, and even if it doesn't, it's good enough to see simply for an appreciation of the way it's handled. But if you're looking for something to change your life or really get you thinking, I'm not so sure you'll find that here.

A Clockwork Orange




Saw this one per madhackrviper's suggestion. Granted, I'd been wanting to see it anyway, but his suggestion is what actually caused me to look it up and watch it.

The plot for this movie is relatively simple. You've got this teenage kid, Alex, who lives a life of crime by night, beating the homeless, raping the vulnerable, and robbing the unwitting. But when his group of thugs (droogs, as he refers to them in his own particular language) turns against his rule and he's found guilty of murder after being arrested for his crime, Alex is sent to prison and pursues a new experimental therapy intended to restore goodness to society's criminals. As the young man undergoes the process and is released back into the world, the question remains: is he really "cured"?

I know this is considered a particularly brilliant movie. And I'll be the first to admit that yes, it's incredibly well done. I've only seen one other Stanley Kubrick film (The Shining), but both of his movies that I've watched have had wonderful directing and amazing visuals. This is by no means standard movie-going fare, and the peculiar language of the film's protagonist (if he can be called that) definitely lends itself to a sense of confusion. But that doesn't make it a difficult film to follow, and you can get so very much out of it just by using your eyes and no other senses. It's beautiful to see, the acting is strong, the themes are intense. It's not one of my favorite movies of all time. I don't think it presents any concepts that will leave your mind blown. But it's certainly an intelligent movie, one with every crucial element of a great film. The iconic brainwashing scene is very cleverly done (and graphic, as is the rest of the movie, which I think really helps it become that much more powerful), and I have no idea how I've been able to go for so long without ever knowing where that creepy-looking face and menacing undertones of "Singing in the Rain" came from. It's a strong movie, no doubt about it. Not one of my personal favorites, but I can certainly appreciate it. And yes, it does have a good ending. I like it far better than the one Anthony Burgess would have preferred.