... that I've watched recently:
1. The Boondock Saints - One of my friends described this as a "college movie." I would demote it to "high school movie." It seems to me that the people that made this movie took three things that seem cool (Irish stuff, Catholic stuff, and gangster violence) and threw them all together, hoping that it would be a supercool movie. It didn't work.
Boondock Saints comes across as a cheap attempt to copy movies like Pulp Fiction (which pulled off a violent movie without forgetting about plot and acting). The combination of faulty morality with a total lack of sincere acting just makes me totally lose interest. When a college student in one of my classes quoted a line from the movie in class like it was a profound truth, I just shuddered.
[Half a star out of 5 for at least giving me something to laugh at.]
2. The Grudge - An extremely creepy movie. Though the idea was pretty standard for a horror movie, the way it was presented was brilliant. The story is not shown in chronological order, so you don't really understand what happened until the very end. However, as in almost all horror movies, I just can't stand the total lack of God. I'll deal with that a little more when I talk about The Hills Have Eyes.
[3 out of 5 stars.]
3. The Name of the Rose - Um ... this one was rough. It was a great mystery movie, but it presented such a bleak, hostile picture of monastic life, that it left me a little depressed. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to anyone. I was entertained by the story, but, the needless sex scene and depressing atmosphere really killed the movie for me. There was no moral for me to learn except: "The Inquisition was bad," "Learning is good," and "Religious people are hypocrites."
[2 out of 5 stars.]
4. The Hills Have Eyes - Like The Grudge, the total lack of objective moral goodness in this movie kind of ruins it for me. I can handle violence in a movie, as long as it has a point or moral in the end. This movie compares two very different families and in the end, seems to say that they weren't so different at all. On the way, it showcases some of the most vile things that people can do to each other. I loved the cinematography (I love the camera work in horror films in general) but the whole movie leaves me with a bad taste.
[1 out of 5 stars.]
And that brings us to ...
5. The Village - This is still, after seeing it several times, one of my all time favorite movies. It's got beautiful camera work, amazing acting, and a plot that makes you think. I actually feel better about the world after watching this movie. Yes, it takes patience. The main thing to remember is that it is not a horror movie. Don't go looking for twists and scares. Just be open-minded and you'll enjoy it.
[5 or 6 out of 5 stars.]
Also, the guy at the video store said Lady in the Water is coming out in December!
4 comments:
This might be opening a can of worms... and it might be a really old question, but what did you think about the ending of The Village? Should they have stayed?
The Hills Have Eyes indeed compares two families. We are invited to have sympathy for the mining community because they suffered from nuclear bomb tests in the area. The little girl in the Hoodie is certainly sympathetic as she sacrifices all for a small child. However at the end we are left empty as we learn that the vacationers are still under observation. A completely depressing movie; with the exception of the son in law experiencing growth by moving from panty-waist to shotgun wielding family protector. I do draw a positive lesson from the movie, in that if I am taking my family through death valley with an Airstream Trailer in tow I will pack three slide semi-automatics, a shotgun, and plenty of extra ammunition. I will also refuse to act on short cut advice from creepy gas station attendants. I give the movie a 3 out of 5, because as a modern horror movie it fills expectations and did not see the need to include a shower scene.
Ahh, The Village...I'm on your side, Mike! I liked it!
Ok ... I've been neglecting my comment correspondence ... I need to appreciate it when you guys write so:
On The Hills Have Eyes, we identify with the non-cannibal family, but they are still shown as hypocrites. What is that supposed to mean for us? I think the film is saying that we live in a dream world that we create (with God and morals alongside lust and drugs, etc.) while the real world is much more violent and animalistic.
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On The Village, I agree with Jess because she agrees with me. In college I fought many a battle with people who absolutely hated the movie.
Should the people have stayed in the village? That's the real question of the movie: is it better to preserve some innocence with "a noble lie" as Plato would have called it? In one sense, the elders are running away from reality, but they are also "running towards hope" in that they believe people are capable of living good lives. The means that they use to achieve that are the problem. It's apparently much easier for the villagers to be good people without the various temptations of modern life. It's kind of a commune (like the early Christians in Acts 2:42-47). The good aspect of this an apparent lack of crime and greed, however unrealistic this may be. The bad aspect is shown in the movie: they are creating their own ideal world and the miss out on the benefits of society (medicine).
One big question I've always had is, what would happen to the people (not the elders, the people who do not know about what's really going on) if they found out the truth. The village could not possibly last forever. The consequences would fall totally on the elders who lied to them, even if it was a good reason.
Ok ... comment on!
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