ONLY GOD FORGIVES

Directed by: Nicholas Winding Refn
Released: 2013

I knew I had to see this movie for two reasons: 1.) it got so much fucking hate and negative criticism that I knew I'd enjoy it, and 2.) it was directed by Nicholas Refn, and while I didn't think "Drive" was as great as everyone else did, I absolutely fucking loved "Valhalla Rising."  "Only God Forgives" seems to have more in common with the latter than the former, employing minimal dialogue, long, slow shots, interesting sound design and a killer score.  I didn't know much about the story going into it, but it's pretty simple: Ryan Gosling and his brother are living in Thailand, where Gosling runs an illegal drug ring and fight club deal.  His brother ends up sleeping with, and murdering, a 14 or 15 year old prostitute.  Obviously, the father of the girl wants revenge, and gets it.  Enter Gosling's mother, who travels from the US to identify her son's corpse, not knowing the full story.  She gets it, and immediately decides that her eldest son needs to exact revenge on those who killed his brother.  She's a brutal, cold hearted cunt, and she's just perfect.  She has extremely inappropriate conversations with and about her sons, and she cusses like a goddamn sailor.  I thought she was great. 

The film was dark yet extremely colorful, it was quiet but loud, it was brutally violent but somehow restricted and not at all exploitative.  This has more in common with an art film than anything else.  Anyone who's a fan of truly interesting and different film making should see this.  Or, if you're looking for a decent crime/drama story, this'll do you just fine.  8/10

THE COLLECTION

Directed by: Marcus Dunstan
Released: 2012

I really enjoyed "The Collector," the precursor to this film.  "The Collection," however,  while pretty decent, was not as good as the first.  There was some really awesome gore and death scenes, much like the first, but something was... different, I guess.  The first film was just The Collector in a house with a few people, but in "The Collection," we get to see his abandoned hotel/warehouse space where he keeps and tortures the one person from every group that he keeps alive.  A lot of those scenes were quite good; The Collector takes the people that he keeps alive, dopes them up with unfathomable amounts of opiates, chains them to walls and puts them in straight jackets, and lets them essentially work as his "guard dogs" -- they're zombies, basically, although they're not actually dead.  All they really know how to do is kill, which is kind of cool.  The ending of the film was...  I'm not sure how I feel about it.  There's another sequel coming, I can almost assure you of that.  But there was a twist of sorts, so I won't say exactly why I think there's another film coming.  

I think I enjoyed the first one so much because the location was smaller, there wasn't as much at the killers disposal, and he had to improvise.  It was more personal.  It was more claustrophobic and invoked a sense of dread, whereas "The Collection" just didn't have that.  I did like it, but it was nowhere near as good as the first.  With that said, it's still a mainstream Hollywood horror film, and it's not a remake, and it's gory as hell, so I have to give it credit for that alone.  Plus, as my girlfriend pointed out, how many horror sequels are actually worth a shit?  Not many, that I can think of...   5.5/10 

SUNSHINE

Directed by: Danny Boyle
Released: 2007

A movie I'd never heard of, but one that came highly recommended to me by almost everyone I know.  "Sunshine" is a story that takes place 50 years in the future.  The sun is dying out, and if something isn't done about it, every living thing on earth will perish.  A team of space...whatevers are sent to essentially plant and detonate a bomb inside the sun (this would create a "new star" inside the sun, which would basically kickstart the sun into working properly again).  It's funny that I watched this so shortly after watching "Event Horizon," because they're pretty similar in a lot of ways.  People trapped in space, someone/something is trying to kill them all off, there's a different abandoned and thought to be lost ship, etc.  The stories and objectives were obviously different, but there were similarities. 

I really enjoyed "Sunshine."  Again, it's a space movie, and those freak me out enough, but the added element of "someone/something" coming after the crew steps it up a bit.  It's not a horror film, though-- more of a sci-fi thriller, I'd say.  The acting and direction were fantastic, and the sheer scope of the film was incredible.  The way they (digitally, obviously) captured the vastness and sheer terror of open space was pretty great.  There's some pretty bleak moments in the film, and once it hits a certain point, you basically know how it's going to end...  but it's not quite what you might expect.  This one's definitely going to be a purchase.  8/10

SPRING BREAKERS

Directed by: Harmony Korine
Released: 2012

I will never hide the fact that I absolutely love Harmony Korine.  "Gummo" is in my top ten movies of all time, and it's a film I could watch every day and never get sick of it.  It's so visceral, so disturbing and discomforting, that you notice some new layer of filth every time you watch it.  But this isn't about "Gummo." 

I didn't absolutely love "Spring Breakers," but I didn't hate it by any stretch.  The most important thing, to me, the thing I was most looking forward to, was the direction; I really only watched it because it was a Korine flick (if almost any other director had done this film, there's no way I would have seen it).  And the direction was good..  as were the sets and production design, lighting, etc..  All quite good.  Effective and appropriate.  I don't think there was a moment of silence in the film; there was either dialogue or music at every conceivable moment.  So that, coupled with the day-glo/neon/psychedelic lighting and color schemes, made it feel like a 94 minute music video.  The girls all acted well, and I know this because I didn't like any of them.  I've known people like them (minus the whole robbery/involvement in murder & drugs stuff), and they're just the worst kind of people.  BUT, because I hated them, I see that as a sign of good acting on their part.  You aren't supposed to feel bad for these chicks, because they're not good people.  Well, maybe two of 'em are.  You just gotta watch.  James Franco as Alien was entertaining, though I found him grating on my nerves after a while..  but again, I think that was the point.  There seems to be some kind of anti-consumerist/anti-generation X/anti-entitlement social commentary going on underneath the overall story, but you need to dig a little bit to find it.  There were stylistic choices made that seemed like classic Harmony Korine-- odd and confusing editing techniques, extensive use of voice overs, often one on top of another, things like that..  but it seemed like he was trying to be strange and never quite made it. 

I bought the Blu-Ray, so I can watch it again, which I likely will soon.  I do love Harmony Korine, and as much as I was underwhelmed by his last "Hollywood" film, "Mister Lonely," I did enjoy this.  But the reason I was underwhelmed by "Mister Lonely" (and not, say, "Trash Humpers") is the same reason I was mildly underwhelmed by "Spring Breakers" ... I keep thinking (or, more accurately, "desperately hoping") Korine's gonna make "Gummo" again.  And he won't.  Although Korine still does his extremely odd shorts, and films like "Trash Humpers", he's moved on and grown as a filmmaker, and I need to just accept, and respect, that fact.  But goddammit, I wish he'd go back to his roots....  7/10

EVENT HORIZON

Directed by: Paul W.S Anderson
Released: 1997

Somehow, I missed ever seeing this movie.  It's one of those films where everyone I know has seen it, they all love it, and they all give me shit for never having watched it.  I've had no aversion to it, I just never got around to it until the other night.  I enjoyed it quite a bit.  It was creepy enough (it's a movie about being trapped in space with some murderous force, of course it's creepy), had the right elements of suspense, not too many "jump moments", and just the right amount of gore (although I read about everything that had to be cut to get an R rating, I'd kill to see the original cut).  For some reason, and I think it was the acting, I got a "CUBE" vibe from it-- it may have also been the parts where they're crawling around inside the walls of the ship that look like they were ripped right from "CUBE".  The acting wasn't perfect, but I've seen far worse, especially in sci-fi/horror films.  I'd watch it again for sure.  7.5/10