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

BLACK METAL VEINS

Director: Lucifer Valentine
Released: 2012

i've known a few junkies in my time, and i never liked 'em.  well, i did, because we were friends first, but then they got hooked on dope and became huge pieces of shit.  basically, they're exactly like the people in this film.

"black metal veins" is a documentary about five heroin addicts.  basically, the film consists of them shooting up and smoking crack for 90 minutes.  the "black metal" part of the title comes from the fact that these kids (adults?  20somethings) are all really into the genre, and a couple of them have a band together.  they talk about black metal, how they like the nihilistic message, it's a perfect genre for the destruction of the human race, blah blah.  but, beyond that, the movie's really just about them shooting dope.  and man, they shoot a fucking lot of it.  inhuman amounts.  one guy died during the filming (not an OD, he was shot eight times during a drug deal gone bad, four in the heart, four in the head).  raven, one of the "main characters", we'll say, OD's pretty hard and i really, really thought she was dead.  main reason being because she took a much bigger hit than she normally takes, and she looked really dead.  her friend and boyfriend picked her up, stripped her clothes off and threw her on the bed, face down.  the camera looks back on her and there's a giant pool of blood forming where her head is.  presumably after some time has passed, the director asks one of her friends where she is, and he says "oh, she's dead."  but people on the internet say she's not...?  whatever. 

there's a lot of sex in this film.  none of it is stimulating to watch.  in fact, all of it is downright fucking sad.  brad (third from the left in the photo, holding the needle) is banging his prostitute friend (furthest to the right in the photo) who just lets him fondle her shit whenever he feels like it.  they're laying on the couch, he shoots some dope into her stomach, she takes her tits out, starts touching herself, then she passes out.  he flips her over, takes her clothes off, and.....  we cut to another scene.  apparently, it's revealed in the directors commentary that even though it looks like she was about to be raped, she wasn't.  i guess. 

bottom line: this is not a feel good documentary.  shit, this isn't even like an episode of "intervention" where there might be some semblance of hope shining through by the end.  this is a harrowing, up close portrait of what heroin does to you.  it destroys you.  these people, the ones that are left, at least, have no lives to speak of.  they're sad, disgusting, quite-literally-rotting humans with absolutely no reason to live.  you don't feel bad for them.  you can't feel bad for them.  i couldn't, at least.      

if there was ever a part of me that wanted to try dope (there wasn't), it's fucking gone now.    6/10.

THE BUNNY GAME

Directed by: Adam Rehmeier
Released: 2010

when a film (that isn't a porno) opens with an unsimulated act of oral sex, complete with "the finish," you know you're in for something good. 

"the bunny game" isn't a film so much as it is a work of art.  there's a very small plot: bunny, the drug addicted, homeless prostitute is just trying to get by.  after we're shown several instances of exactly how she's treated by her johns (i'll give it away, they don't treat her too nicely) she meets hog, a truck driver, who kidnaps and tortures her for days.  that's basically the story.  but this film isn't about story, really.  it's an exercise in extremes.  when you view it, you feel like you want to look away...  you feel like you probably should look away, but you can't.  the brutal, sadistic violence in this film is second to none.  this is probably due to the fact that it was, like the oral sex in the beginning of the film, completely real.  rodleen getsic (bunny) is perfect.  she has her head shaved, she's beaten, she's spit upon, she branded several times, chained up, made to watch her own videotaped torture... and all she can do is scream and cry.  go and read some interviews with her; she explains where it all came from and what the filming process was like.  it's a truly haunting thing to witness.  seeing someone so broken, so helpless..  it's unlike anything i've seen before.  credit also must be given to jeff renfro (hog), who, until this film, was just a truck driver for hollywood films.  from what i understand, there was no real script to speak of, just an outline of bullet points and set locations.  all of his sadistic actions against bunny were real, and they were his.  he made the choices.  that, in and of itself, is truly disturbing.  i can only imagine what demons he was letting out during the production...

this is not a film you'll sit down and watch when you're in a good mood.  this isn't a feel good film, it's fueled only by negative and nihilistic emotions.  there's no redemption, no hope, nothing but brutality and filth.  this should be playing in art galleries and museums, because despite what you may think of it, it is a very real work of art.  surreal, brutal, ugly, and completely exposed.  7/10.  

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

Directed by: Drew Goddard
Released: 2012

in a time where virtually every "mainstream" (by which i mean "not direct-to-dvd") horror movie is a remake, this was an extremely welcomed breath of fresh air.  upon seeing the trailer for the first time, i thought "oh great, five kids who you don't give a shit about die in the woods.  haven't i seen this eight million times?" the answer to that question is yes and no.  yeah, we've all seen a million movies where some dopes go into the woods with the intent of drinking and having sex, only to be brutally killed-- but you've never seen it like this.  this is something different.  it's something new, something interesting.  unfortunately, i can't really say much at all without giving the whole story away, and it's something you'll want to be surprised by.  that said, the trailer, while it doesn't give everything away, does offer some insight as to what's really going on.  all i'll say is this: nothing is as it seems, but everything that happens is deliberately calculated and controlled.  despite the title, this is not your typical "cabin in the woods" movie.  8.5/10 

CATFISH

Directed by: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Released: 2010

this is classified as a documentary, but it seems that a lot of people (including myself, to a point) are questioning as to whether or not it's actually real. authenticity aside, this was a very interesting movie that i enjoyed quite a bit. a photographer (nev) meets an eight year old girl (abby) on facebook who starts painting pictures of his photographs. they're not amazing or anything, until you realize that an eight year old kid painted them. he develops a kind of "working relationship" with her, and of course, ends up becoming involved with the rest of her family. her mother, father, sisters, brother and friends all add him on facebook, and he starts to have a long-distance-we've-never-met-in-person relationship with abby's older sister, megan. megan is an amazing musician, singer, a painter herself... then nev realizes something's not quite right. he digs deeper and deeper into this family's life and realizes that nothing is what it seems to be. he and his filmmaker friends travel to michigan to meet the family, and.. you'll have to see it. the filmmaker's use of things like gmail, facebook, google earth, etc. are all weaved into the way the story is told, and it actually makes it quite interesting. it's as if these websites almost become characters themselves. 8/10.

MARTYRS

Directed by: Pascal Laugler
Released: 2008

goddamn. that's pretty much all i can say... this is one of the most brutally violent films i've ever seen. that said, i thought it was great. in short, a girl gets kidnapped and tortured by a family when she's a little kid. she escapes, gets put in an orphanage, and becomes friends with another girl. 15 years later, they're out of the orphanage, and the girl wants revenge (naturally.) she walks in the family's house, kills everyone, and then shit gets crazy. i can't say too much else or i'll give away the story, but if you're a fan of extremely graphic (and well done) gore and violence, then you owe it to yourself to see this film. and the ending is phenomenal. i read that there's an american remake in the works (of course) that will have a different ending. i don't plan on seeing it, as i felt the story was wrapped perfectly the way it was. oh hell, i'll probably see it anyway. 8/10.

THE SHRINE

Directed by: Jon Knautz
Released: 2010

a journalist, her boyfriend and their journalist friend travel to poland to investigate a missing persons story. they end up in this creepy little town inhabited by a religious cult (seemed kinda satanic to me) that's into human sacrifice. there's a massive, dense cloud of fog over the horizon at all times. it never moves, and no one ever goes in it, except for our three main characters. the two girls come across a demonic looking statue in the fog, which starts crying blood and moving after they see it. they and the guy end up getting kidnapped by the cult and shit goes downhill from there. the first act was kinda shitty, but it picked up in the second and third.. it felt like all the best parts of "the exorcist" without all the boring shit. overall, the film had a pretty creepy feel to it; any gamers who've played "resident evil 4" will see the comparison-- natives speaking their own language, being stuck in the woods, the whole cult thing, weird zombie-ish creatures, etc. my only real complaint was the lack of subtitles. yeah, the film was in english, but i'd say about half of the dialogue was either polish or demonic gibberish, neither of which had subtitles. the gibberish i can understand not subtitling, but when a demon chick says something to someone (in gibberish) and they actually reply, you kinda feel like you missed something. either way, it's worth a watch. 6.5/10.

THE CALL OF CTHULHU

Directed by: Andrew Leman
Released: 2005

i hate it when really good ideas are ruined by poor execution. this film, which was shot in my hometown of providence, RI (i only know this because i recognized a neighborhood right near where i work.. oh, and it's lovecraft), tells the H.P. lovecraft story of cthulhu. the story was good, if you like lovecraft. but what's really interesting about the film is that, although it was filmed in 2005, they tried to make it look like it was shot in 1925. and they did a fairly good job; the makeup the actors wore was caked on their faces, there was a good use of intertitles, vignettes were used to highlight important details, etc.. just like a film from the 20's. however, the real downfall was the fact that they shot on video, not film. i imagine this was probably a budgetary constraint, but it really, really took away from the feel of the movie. you can add as much film grain as you want in post, it's still gonna look like video. despite all the lengths they went to ensure an "old time feel," shooting on video was massively distracting, and it killed it for me. the whole thing reminded me of something guy maddin would do (and has done), but he does it better. 4/10.