Something I've put off for a little while
Jul. 30th, 2004 03:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
uberreinigerRemember all those movies I was renting during my house sitting? Because I have no life I decided to briefly review them all.
Jacob's Ladder (1990) - Starring Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Pena, Danny Aiello. Directed by Adrian Lynne.
Jacob (Robbins) returns from the Vietnam War to face the sorrows of the death of one of his children and the failure of his marriage. Making matters worse, something seems to be after him. Faceless monsters stalk him and may even wear the faces of the ones he loves and his fellow soldiers are being murdered one by one. The answers may be hidden in a forgotten battle if only he can remember exactly what happened...
This highly unusual psychological horror film was overlooked during its release but has gone on to acquire cult status both for its unique visual stylings and for its touching, sorrowful tale of a lonely man struggling to hold on to everything he holds dear in the face of a supernatural force seemingly bent on tearing it away. This movie is worth seeing for the creature effects alone, but they're only part of what makes it so great. If you can, get the DVD and listen to director Lynne and writer Bruce Joel Rubin's comments. The sheer amount of respect they seem to hold for the tough subject matter of this film is genuinely touching. They are so at home with this material that it's tough to believe they are the writer of Ghost and the director of Fatal Attraction. The only issues I have with the movie are its legendary "descent into hell" scene: it's much too short! Also, the DVD extras feature an alternate sequence of events leading to the ending which in my opinion, really needed to be in the final film.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about this movie is the mind-boggling number of future celebrities who appear in bit-parts. Keep your eyes opened for ER's Eriq LaSalle, Seinfeld's Jason Alexander, Law & Order's S. Epatha Merkerson, and movie stars Ving Rhames and McCaulley Culkin, all before they were famous! Jason Alexander's comb-over hairdo may be the scariest thing in the movie of all...
Session 9 (2001) - Starring David Caruso, Stephen Gevedon, Peter Mullan, Brendan Sexton III. Directed by Brad Anderson
First of all, any movie filmed inside of a real-life abandoned and allegedly haunted nineteenth century insane asylum is bound to be interesting. And Session 9 is VERY interesting. Desperate to keep his struggling asbestos removal business alive and to support his growing family, Gordon Flemming (Mullan), rashly agrees to have the enormous Danvers Mental Institution ready for renovation into city offices in one week's time. As Gordon struggles with turmoil at home and the disparate crew get more and more on each other's nerves in the face of the brutal deadline, emotions and tempers begin to fray. But when one of the workers, (Gevedon, who also co-wrote), finds a box of audio tapes detailing the case of a patient at the hospital who eventually died while under care, that's when things really begin to fall apart...
The only move I've seen that can even be compared to this film is The Shining in the sense that the location of the film becomes a character in and of itself. Much as with The Shining's Overlook Hotel, the crumbling, labrynthine asylum of Session 9 slowly evolves into a force of omnipresent, inescapable evil of which the film's flesh and blood villain is but the merest shadow. The cinematography of the film is outstanding to say the least. Although the actors are hardly playing against type here, (CSI: Miami's Caruso as a world-weary curmudgeon. Empire Records' Sexton as a slacker goofball.) the script is tight and suspenseful and showcases everyone's natural talent to the greatest degree. Gorehounds seeking a bloodbath will be disappointed by this film, but those who enjoy a stark, disturbing story of the depths of evil in human nature are in for quite a treat.
Donnie Darko (2001) Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Daveigh Chase, Patrick Swayze, Drew Barrymore, Noah Wyle. Directed by Richard Kelly.
What can I say? I love any movie that gives 80's megastar Patrick Swayze a chance to shine, but Donnie Darko is a stellar little film in its own right.
Set on the eve of the '88 Presidential Election, Donnie Darko tells the story of, well, Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal): an ordinary, slightly rebellious teenager with a big problem: he keeps seeing a six foot tall monstrous-looking rabbit who goads him to acts of mayhem and prophesizes the world's imminent destruction.
It's impossible to go too much into the plot without giving things away so I'll just compliment everyone involved for taking an absurd concept of a film and making it so incredibally human and believeable. Most movies would've taken a sullen, anti-depressant-addled young man like Donnie and placed him starkly at odds with his parents, his only friends being the Doe-Eyed Fawning Girlfriend and perhaps the Wise, Iconoclastic Teacher. And while these latter two characters are definately in there, the relationships of the Darko family are far from being some movie cliche. They argue one minute and laugh the next, just like a real family. When Donnie stands up for what he thinks is right in the face of school policy, they take his side. These are things that real families do. When was the last time in a motion picture that you saw that?
A warning: this movie will probably confuse you. I have always prided myself on "getting" confusing movies. I've always been able to unravel the confusing endings, the unspoken plot points, the nested flashbacks and whatever else. I couldn't do it with this movie. There were things in this movie I genuinely did not understand. Donnie Darko is a truly rare thing: a thinking person's movie that actually entertains. The only choice on the part of the creators' that made me curious was the decision to set the film in 1988 as the events of the time really don't play a deciding role in the story. It could just as easily have been set in 1998 or 1948 and nothing would have been lost. Maybe it was just an excuse to cull together the soundtrack of mind-blowingly good 80's tunes. But yes, definately see Donnie Darko and then see it again. You will need to.
That took much, much longer than I planned. More to come later.
Jacob's Ladder (1990) - Starring Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Pena, Danny Aiello. Directed by Adrian Lynne.
Jacob (Robbins) returns from the Vietnam War to face the sorrows of the death of one of his children and the failure of his marriage. Making matters worse, something seems to be after him. Faceless monsters stalk him and may even wear the faces of the ones he loves and his fellow soldiers are being murdered one by one. The answers may be hidden in a forgotten battle if only he can remember exactly what happened...
This highly unusual psychological horror film was overlooked during its release but has gone on to acquire cult status both for its unique visual stylings and for its touching, sorrowful tale of a lonely man struggling to hold on to everything he holds dear in the face of a supernatural force seemingly bent on tearing it away. This movie is worth seeing for the creature effects alone, but they're only part of what makes it so great. If you can, get the DVD and listen to director Lynne and writer Bruce Joel Rubin's comments. The sheer amount of respect they seem to hold for the tough subject matter of this film is genuinely touching. They are so at home with this material that it's tough to believe they are the writer of Ghost and the director of Fatal Attraction. The only issues I have with the movie are its legendary "descent into hell" scene: it's much too short! Also, the DVD extras feature an alternate sequence of events leading to the ending which in my opinion, really needed to be in the final film.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about this movie is the mind-boggling number of future celebrities who appear in bit-parts. Keep your eyes opened for ER's Eriq LaSalle, Seinfeld's Jason Alexander, Law & Order's S. Epatha Merkerson, and movie stars Ving Rhames and McCaulley Culkin, all before they were famous! Jason Alexander's comb-over hairdo may be the scariest thing in the movie of all...
Session 9 (2001) - Starring David Caruso, Stephen Gevedon, Peter Mullan, Brendan Sexton III. Directed by Brad Anderson
First of all, any movie filmed inside of a real-life abandoned and allegedly haunted nineteenth century insane asylum is bound to be interesting. And Session 9 is VERY interesting. Desperate to keep his struggling asbestos removal business alive and to support his growing family, Gordon Flemming (Mullan), rashly agrees to have the enormous Danvers Mental Institution ready for renovation into city offices in one week's time. As Gordon struggles with turmoil at home and the disparate crew get more and more on each other's nerves in the face of the brutal deadline, emotions and tempers begin to fray. But when one of the workers, (Gevedon, who also co-wrote), finds a box of audio tapes detailing the case of a patient at the hospital who eventually died while under care, that's when things really begin to fall apart...
The only move I've seen that can even be compared to this film is The Shining in the sense that the location of the film becomes a character in and of itself. Much as with The Shining's Overlook Hotel, the crumbling, labrynthine asylum of Session 9 slowly evolves into a force of omnipresent, inescapable evil of which the film's flesh and blood villain is but the merest shadow. The cinematography of the film is outstanding to say the least. Although the actors are hardly playing against type here, (CSI: Miami's Caruso as a world-weary curmudgeon. Empire Records' Sexton as a slacker goofball.) the script is tight and suspenseful and showcases everyone's natural talent to the greatest degree. Gorehounds seeking a bloodbath will be disappointed by this film, but those who enjoy a stark, disturbing story of the depths of evil in human nature are in for quite a treat.
Donnie Darko (2001) Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Daveigh Chase, Patrick Swayze, Drew Barrymore, Noah Wyle. Directed by Richard Kelly.
What can I say? I love any movie that gives 80's megastar Patrick Swayze a chance to shine, but Donnie Darko is a stellar little film in its own right.
Set on the eve of the '88 Presidential Election, Donnie Darko tells the story of, well, Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal): an ordinary, slightly rebellious teenager with a big problem: he keeps seeing a six foot tall monstrous-looking rabbit who goads him to acts of mayhem and prophesizes the world's imminent destruction.
It's impossible to go too much into the plot without giving things away so I'll just compliment everyone involved for taking an absurd concept of a film and making it so incredibally human and believeable. Most movies would've taken a sullen, anti-depressant-addled young man like Donnie and placed him starkly at odds with his parents, his only friends being the Doe-Eyed Fawning Girlfriend and perhaps the Wise, Iconoclastic Teacher. And while these latter two characters are definately in there, the relationships of the Darko family are far from being some movie cliche. They argue one minute and laugh the next, just like a real family. When Donnie stands up for what he thinks is right in the face of school policy, they take his side. These are things that real families do. When was the last time in a motion picture that you saw that?
A warning: this movie will probably confuse you. I have always prided myself on "getting" confusing movies. I've always been able to unravel the confusing endings, the unspoken plot points, the nested flashbacks and whatever else. I couldn't do it with this movie. There were things in this movie I genuinely did not understand. Donnie Darko is a truly rare thing: a thinking person's movie that actually entertains. The only choice on the part of the creators' that made me curious was the decision to set the film in 1988 as the events of the time really don't play a deciding role in the story. It could just as easily have been set in 1998 or 1948 and nothing would have been lost. Maybe it was just an excuse to cull together the soundtrack of mind-blowingly good 80's tunes. But yes, definately see Donnie Darko and then see it again. You will need to.
That took much, much longer than I planned. More to come later.
