:: a world of zombies ::

:: tuesday, august 27 ::

and speaking of insanity

Last night saw an old IFC Flick called Final, with Dennis Leary. It was one of those movies that kind of slowly unfold exactly as you expect it to, but getting from point A to point B is actually a pretty cool ride.I have no clue how to classify it, I think that's why I like it - I mean I could call it sci-fi, but it wasn't really (and actually gives a lot away, so sorry to all 3 of you reading this if you were going to run out and see it.)

Actually on that point, its one of those flicks where saying almost anything about it at all can be a spoiler, so I'm reluctant to say much about it. You basically have Dennis Leary waking from a coma as a ward of the state of Conneticut. The begining is basically therepy sessions with his doctor, Anne, and subsequent ravings about waiting for the "final" the injection that would kill him - because he believes that he was cryogenically frozen for 400 years, and that he is awakening to an elaborate ruse to make him believe that its still 1999.

Anyway, it worked as something entertaining

:: 6:02 AM [+] ::
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Unbreakable, complete with spoilers

So I finally got around to watching Unbreakable this eve. I thought it was an incredibly interesting piece of work. First off, it seems to me that given the typical formula when dealing with mental ilness, or the suspicion thereof in a movie, one of two things tends to happen:

1. There exists a person, who seems (at least to the audience) quite rational, proposes something outlandish, and through a series of events is eventually proven crazy. Their supposition is assumed to be a fabrication of thier insanity


2. There is a person, who may or may not appear to be crazy, but through a series of events, it turns out their outlandish claims are indeed correct.

It is almost never assumed however that a person may be completely correct regarding an outlandish claim, yet be quite mad. I could never quite figure out why this was. I mean, in general there is a unique perspective that comes with insanity, I mean depending on the mental condition, but the mind when left to its own devices can be capable of some amazing "mental pole vaulting".

Ths is what I most appreciated about Unbreakable. You had a man who seemed quite rational, who through a series of clues and suppositions put together a fantastic premise, who was perhaps driven completely mad by a weird malady, but was nonetheless correct. So of course you wouldn't expect him to be insane. I love things that break away from the formula as far as human "sanity" goes.

It also makes for a unique little movie. I mean not as acclaimed as "The 6th sense", but the 6th sense had nothing to do with comics, did it? Most people are incapable of seeing comic book anything as something more than a diversion, I mean unless the movie has 20-somethings questioning their sexuality as well as comics.

Anyway, I think that Unbrakable was a pretty good movie. At times Shyamalan's complete dissociative style can be nerve racking, and a tad bit disruptive, just like in the 6th sense - but I could see relating to it more if I had a more dissociative personality. Anyway, I dug it.

:: 8:47 PM [+] ::
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Last Week's Trip to LA, and the ensuing delirious sickness that followed meant no updates to this week's rentals. Now that I'm feeling better and back home, I'll be updating the rental list in a day or so.

:: 10:32 PM [+] ::
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Tonight's Fine Feature Film was Oasis of the Zombies from sleaze master Jes Franco.

You know the guy what gave the world those Fu-Manchu films in the late 60's, and the Awful Dr. Orlof, and the Lesbian Vampire Epic Vampyros Lesbos.

Some of Jes Franco's work, is of course, brilliant. Most definitely not _Oasis of the Zombies_ because it sucked. I mean a movie about NAZI ZOMBIES IN TRIPOLI sucked!!

How did this happen? You may ask - I mean, I like Jes Franco's softcore porn and gore style, you may also proffer...

I say, way too much Oasis, way too little zombies.

The story was typical. British Teen in college finds out that he was conceived the bastard child of his father and a wife of some sheik during WWII after his father was double crossed and killed by some guy. British Teen and his rag tag group of near retarded friends head off to Africa to find over 6 million dollars in Nazi gold. Sprinkle in a few zombies.

This movie didn't just wander, it positively meandered, dazed and confused in some Margot Kidder like haze, occasionally bumping into a guy wearing a pot roast on his face.

It was awful, it was painful, not really all that worthwhile. But I mean there were Nazi Zombies, and all, so it had that going for it. Overall a pretty tedious 90 minutes, but I made it through.

:: 10:28 PM [+] ::
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Second netflix DVD was watched last night - Wet Hot American Summer.

What can I say about this movie, except rent it. Do it now, find it and rent it. If you've ever seen the old MTV sketch comedy show "The State" then you already know the unmatched levels of sheer, indulgent, bizarre hilarity of which these people are capable.

This movie is no exception. Bizarre. totally random. Brilliant.

I mean, don't get me wrong, its a parody of all those early 80's / late 70's summer camp movies, which in essence means that its a parody of a comedy, which really is post-modernism gone horribly wrong, and in the case of trite studio crap like "Not Another Teen Movie" (no link to anything having to do with scrag like that) I'm vehemiately against it. Nothing good usually comes of driving post-modernism to its boundries, nothing that is, until now.

It just seems so right. Honestly.

Stylistically, they had everything dead on, hair, wardrobe, right down to that sort of grainy 80's film stock that gives the movie a sort of "dirty" look, you know faded color and picture haze. It was honestly more like watching a screwball comedy circa the release of the first "Meatballs" than someone trying to make a screwball comedy based on that era. That added a lot to the hillarity.

Plus it was hilarious.

It had a really limited theater run last summer, as far as I could tell - I mean, I never read anything official about it, but when I became aware that the movie existed, I saw it listed at one theater in New York, and then it was gone. So I know it played in New York, right around this time, I think in like 1 or 2 theaters, and I missed it then - opting instead to go see Jin-Roh - The Wolf Brigade, an Anime flick by the guys what did Ghost in the Shell. Now I wonder how I managed to live lo this past year without seeing this movie.

Just Brilliant. Thank you The State, Thank You.

:: 6:20 PM [+] ::
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Sleepless

So I went and subscribed to Netflix Monday. Its the perfect service for the movie addict. Providing a constant supply of fresh movies, with the monthly fee being what I usually end up paying in late fees on any normal renting binge.

The first DVD that showed up was one I've been waiting a very long time to see (Amy and I missed its initial run in Rome by a mere few weeks when we were there last.) Non Ho Sonno the latest Dario Argento flick. Per usual with Argento reviews were all over the spectrum. I thought as a story, it was one of his best, as far as his giallo work goes this one was really good. The only thing though, was taht the pace of this one was way off, 3 murders in a row, right out of the gate makes the characters kind of disposable, thus giving the viewer a I could care less about these people attitude - but to me that was only a minor problem.

And speaking of the characters, Max Von Sydow was cool, because it was Max Von Sydow in a Dario Argento flick. I love the acting in Argento's films, for the same reason that I love the acting of Anime characters - its odd, reactions aren't what I'm used to - its a cool other culture mindset thing going on, that I really love.

All in all another flick in the win column for the Italian Hitchcock.

:: 6:22 AM [+] ::
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