11-06-2005, 01:30 PM
Survive Style 5+ (where '+' is a superscript).
After a couple days of careful contemplation, I wrote up an absolutely brilliant interpretation of the front cover of this DVD. I had intended to post it here, but due to considerable flack I've caught of late, I burned it. So there. (pout). Then I grudgingly cracked open the case and watched the damned movie.
Here's that experience.
I half-expected a shot-on-video cheapie. But it's film, and the direction and cinematography is at times masterful. It's a kitchen-sink story involving a hypnotist and those he affects; a roving band of teenage hoodlums who aren't as tough as they first seem; a woman who creates commercials and is forever amused by her own inane ideas (many of which play out on the screen); a brutish Caucasion/diminutive Asian pair of assassins, with the Asian (always spiffily dressed) ever whispering translations in the Caucasion's ear during dealings with various people; and a man who kills his wife and buries her deep in the woods only to return home and find her there -- which turns recursive and eventually intersects the other threads.
It doesn't fit together as well as I would have liked, and it's a bit slow in places. But some of that slowness works to its advantage, evoking a "The Shining" eeriness without resorting to long hallways (does this make any sense?). And though the characters weren't as fully fleshed as I would have liked (why the hell did the guy kill his wife in the first place?), they won me over with their many quirks. There were a lot of absurdist little scenes that had me chuckling long and hard (such as the lady schoolteacher critiquing children's drawings tacked to the wall in front of the class). And the ending wrapped things up better than I would have expected, considering all the threads.
No sex. No nudity. But I'm still calling this a winner. I give it a 5+ on a scale of 7 (where '+' is a superscript).
P.S. Whoever designed the sets (amazing décor), I want them to do my house. Hell, they can do my car, my wardrobe, my lawnmower!
After a couple days of careful contemplation, I wrote up an absolutely brilliant interpretation of the front cover of this DVD. I had intended to post it here, but due to considerable flack I've caught of late, I burned it. So there. (pout). Then I grudgingly cracked open the case and watched the damned movie.
Here's that experience.
I half-expected a shot-on-video cheapie. But it's film, and the direction and cinematography is at times masterful. It's a kitchen-sink story involving a hypnotist and those he affects; a roving band of teenage hoodlums who aren't as tough as they first seem; a woman who creates commercials and is forever amused by her own inane ideas (many of which play out on the screen); a brutish Caucasion/diminutive Asian pair of assassins, with the Asian (always spiffily dressed) ever whispering translations in the Caucasion's ear during dealings with various people; and a man who kills his wife and buries her deep in the woods only to return home and find her there -- which turns recursive and eventually intersects the other threads.
It doesn't fit together as well as I would have liked, and it's a bit slow in places. But some of that slowness works to its advantage, evoking a "The Shining" eeriness without resorting to long hallways (does this make any sense?). And though the characters weren't as fully fleshed as I would have liked (why the hell did the guy kill his wife in the first place?), they won me over with their many quirks. There were a lot of absurdist little scenes that had me chuckling long and hard (such as the lady schoolteacher critiquing children's drawings tacked to the wall in front of the class). And the ending wrapped things up better than I would have expected, considering all the threads.
No sex. No nudity. But I'm still calling this a winner. I give it a 5+ on a scale of 7 (where '+' is a superscript).
P.S. Whoever designed the sets (amazing décor), I want them to do my house. Hell, they can do my car, my wardrobe, my lawnmower!
I'm nobody's pony.