OLDBOY

Directed by: Chan-wook Park
Released: 2003

This is one I'd been meaning to see for a long time, and goddamn, I'm really glad I finally watched it.  A man is imprisoned for no reason for 15 years.  At first, he doesn't even want to get out, he just wants to know why he's there.  No one will tell him.  He's fed, clothed, and has a room that looks more like a rundown hotel than any kind of prison.  Doesn't look like the worst way to do time.  After 15 years, he's released, still with no knowledge of why he was there in the first place-- which becomes the premise for the movie.  Who were his captors?  Why didn't they kill him?  Why did they take him in the first place?  It's a mystery, it's a thriller, it's got action..  there's a lot to take in.  It's beautifully shot and acted.  There's a lot of "what the fuck" reveals along the way, particularly when he figures out who had him imprisoned.  And the ending, while not perfect, was satisfying enough for me.  I will not be seeing the American remake.  Unless I really feel like punishing myself, which I'm sure will happen at some point.  Highly recommended.  8.5/10. 

JOHN WATERS: THIS FILTHY WORLD

Directed by: Jeff Garlin
Released: 2006

I fucking love John Waters.  He's insane, trashy, fucking bizarre as hell, a bad influence, and he's completely brilliant.  This film is him doing stand-up/storytelling for 90 or so minutes, and I would have watched it for another 90.  The shit he has to say is funny, interesting and just plain odd.  He tells stories about Divine, Mink Stole and the rest of his cohorts from the early days, talks about filming "Pink Flamingos" (of course), "Desperate Living," "Female Trouble," etc..  he pretty much goes all the way up to his last film, "A Dirty Shame."  He also discusses some of his favorite films and directors, almost all of whom were totally unknown to me, but it was interesting to see where the king of sleaze gets his influences from.  But his comedy, or whatever you want to call it, often comes across as disjointed.  Maybe that was a problem with the editing, but he seems to jump from topic to topic without any transition whatsoever.  That wasn't enough to make me dislike this, though-- not by a long shot.  My favorite topic from his discussion is how, when given the opportunity, he likes to teach kids how to be juvenile delinquents, something that we really don't have anymore.  He tells one story of being somewhere where there's a lot of people, and a little girl comes up to him with her little kid purse and shows it off.  "That's a very cute purse!" he says to her.  She thanks him.  He then says "Did you bring it to steal stuff?"  She says "NO!"  At which point he asks "Well, would you like to steal some stuff with me?  No one will even know it's us."  Shit like that.  He's a funny, funny guy, and this documentary/standup/whatever shows that perfectly.  8/10. 

FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC (1987)

 

Directed by: Jeffrey Bloom

Released: 1987

So this is a favorite film of my girlfriend-- she's been telling me to watch it for years, and when we started seeing commercials for the TV movie remake, I finally decided to see it.  And holy shit, what a BRUTAL fucking movie!  I mean, it wasn't super violent or anything, it's just the torture these kids went through... it's all very real.  If you don't know the story, there's Mom, Dad and four kids, Dad dies, Mom is broke and decides to take the kids to live with their grandparents (they didn't even know they had grandparents).  Her parents are insanely wealthy, and "the grandfather," as he's called, is dying.  Not expected to live out the month.  Mom decides that she's gonna get back in his good graces, get put back into the will, take all his money, and she and the kids will be set for life.  Why "getting a job" wasn't an option for this lady is something I don't understand, but I guess there wouldn't be a movie (or book, or remake) if she was a go getter.  Long story short, "the grandmother" immediately exiles the kids to one room, where they have access to a bathroom and an attic full of shit.  She's crazy biblical, always beating the kids for their sins, shit like that.  The kids know they're in a bad situation, and they know that they shouldn't be getting this treatment, but their mom periodically stops by the room and gives them updates, "he's dying, this'll all be over soon, it's for the best, just a few more weeks", blah blah.  Her visits grow increasingly infrequent, until they stop altogether.  The kids eventually realize that their mother has all but abandoned them, and they have to try and escape on their own.  Solid ending with this one.  Lots of ... interesting revelations along the way.  6.5/10

INSIDIOUS

Directed by: James Wan
Released: 2010

I'd watched this one when it first came to DVD, but I remembered absolutely nothing about it (although I do remember being drunk when I saw it, so there's that).  Having rewatched it with a clear head, I have to say, this is a pretty goddamn good horror film-- and I am very skeptical on new American horror films.  It's not a remake, it's not a sequel (although they made one, which I'll get to in the next post) -- it's not a rehashed story that's been told a million times-- although it seems like it will be, at first.  Family moves into old house, wife and kids start seeing/hearing weird things, decide house is haunted, so they move to another house.  I dunno what kind of world they live in where they can move into one house, live there a couple weeks and decide to just sell it and buy a new one like it's a fucking blu-ray player, but hey, whatever.  Anyway, whatever was haunting the first house follows them to the second, and that's where it gets more interesting.  I can't remember what was given away in the trailers, if anything, so I won't say much about why things are haunted, just know that there's several malevolent (or "insidious", as it were) forces trying to fuck with this family.  They call in some old psychic-type lady and her two bumbling assistants (big "Poltergeist" vibe with that, I quite liked the assistants, they provided just a small amount of comic relief, but not so much as to be campy) and she tries to take care of business.  It ends up being more about astral projection and other worlds of existence than anything else, which is why I said it starts out as a pretty typical story, but takes a turn into something that isn't discussed often.  And the ending...  well, put it this way.  When the credits started to roll, I said, out loud, "THAT is how you end a fucking movie."  7.5/10

INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2

Directed by: James Wan
Released: 2013

Basically picks up right where the first film left off, with a short prequel scene to open the film.  You really, really need to see the first movie to get this one, so don't watch them out of order.  This was good, I liked it, and it felt like James Wan actually had a much larger story that he split into two films (this isn't true, unfortunately; the first film was an unexpected success, and the studio wanted a sequel).  However, considering that Wan didn't have this big story arc, he did a good job of faking it.  It was not as good as the first, often referring to rehashed "scares" from the original, but it did a good job of continuing the story..  the first "Insidious" does end on a pretty big cliffhanger, so I was glad that this one was made-- although now that I think of it, the uncertainty of the ending from the first film would have been a fantastic way to end the story.  There's some genuinely creepy visuals, and the score was fantastic, but it felt ... rushed?  I don't know.  That's the problem with sequels-- unless you have a very clear story in mind (like "Kill Bill" parts 1 and 2, yes, I know they were supposed to be one film), it's hard to continue something without repeating yourself.  6/10. 

RED, WHITE & BLUE

Directed by: Simon Rumley

Released: 2010

It's a revenge flick, but...  it's not what you'd expect.  It's really difficult to review this film without giving away the entire story.  In fact, there's a pretty major plot point early on that sets the tone for the rest of the film, and I can't even really divulge what it is.  RW&B focuses on the stories and lives of three people, Erica, Nate and Frankie, whose paths all cross at one point or another.  Erica is a lowlife drifter girl who bangs pretty much any dude who asks her (and there's a lot of 'em).  Frankie is a more lighthearted, even sort of likeable, character.  The young, hip guy in the band.  And Nate..  Nate is an Iraq war vet, honorably discharged.  He's also a complete psychopath who regales people with tales of torturing animals as a child (except his beloved cat, he "treated that cat like it was [his] little baby.")  He also may or may not have a job offer from the CIA. 

So we've got these three characters...  what does all this mean?  Again, I can't really say without giving away too much.  Plus, it's so much better when you see everything unfold without any preconceived notions.  If you like gritty revenge films, watch this.  If you like well done arthouse films and don't mind some brutal (but appropriate) violence, watch this.  8/10. 

INSIDE DEEP THROAT

Directed by: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato

Released: 2005

I watched this immediately after watching "Lovelace", mainly because I'd heard Linda's side, now I wanted to hear what everyone else had to say about the experience.  And while this film is mostly about the constant censorship, lawsuits and other hurdles the filmmakers of "Deep Throat" had to face, they do all discuss Linda and her involvement.  In a famous quote, Linda says "When you are watching "Deep Throat," you are watching me being raped."  The cast and crew of "Deep Throat", when interviewed for this documentary, completely deny that (of course) -- but I also tend to believe them, at least a little.  According to, well, everyone, Linda was a compulsive liar from the get-go.  She also, apparently, quite enjoyed her time as a porn star, fame aside.  But now I'm rambling on with my opinions.  "Inside Deep Throat" is a really great documentary, especially if you haven't seen the original film (somehow, I haven't).  It was highly amusing to see the original director now; he's a fumbling old man with his pants pulled up to his nipples.  Hardly the sadistic scumbag he was painted as in the 70's.  The arrest of Harry Reems is discussed at length, which is an interesting story on its own.  Recommended for fans of the original film or newcomers like myself.  7/10.    

LOVELACE

 

Directed by: Rob Epstein, Jerry Friedman

Released: 2013

The fictionalized(?) story of Linda Lovelace and her time spent filming "Deep Throat".  I put a question mark after "fictionalized" simply because of the controversial and divided views people have concerning Linda and the film.  "Lovelace" is based on one of her books (I can't remember which one, whatever the first one was), and tells the supposedly true story of how she was coerced into working in the porn industry.  Regardless of what side of the story you believe, this was a very good film, and it did a damn fine job of portraying a sleazy 70's Miami.  Peter Sarsgaard's Chuck was extremely convincing and totally scummy, and Amanda Seyfried did an excellent job as Ms. Lovelace.  And Hank Azaria as the sleazy porn director?  Shit.  That was just perfect casting.  8/10  

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