High Tension is a french slash-em-up thriller directed and scripted by Alexandre Aja (Mirrors, The Hills Have Eyes). The film follows the story of two college pals, Marie and Alexa. Alexa is trusting and somewhat niave while Marie is edgier and a possible lesbian as the film points out during a crucial masturbation scene that at first viewing appears tasteless but is actually an important turning point in the film. The 2 girls are vacationing at Alexa's family home when a killer strikes and murders most of the family and kidnaps alexa, leaving Marie to give chase after her friend.
High Tension had the potential to be a truly great foreign language thriller but was brought down to the lower level of an enjoyable romp by two things. The first is that the director chose to dub the film over in english but a quarter of the way through decides to drop the dubbing idea only to bring it back again at the end. Now I am of the persuasion that as far as dubbing goes, you either have to go all the way with it or not do it all. By having on-again-off-again dubbing in the film it effectively leaves viewers stranded in the middle of a busy road, they themselves must fill in the dialogue for the characters at some points and navigate their own way through the film without an effective map. It's an interesting strategy that I imagine Aja put into effect in an effort to get viewers thinking and to create an uneasy feeling. The effort pays off as it does exactly that, but I still would like to know exactly what was actually being said. The second thing that hindered the film was the killers painfully obvious lapses in logic. I won't go into further detail except to say that he is apparently not the brightest bulb in the batch as several obvious things escape his "places to look for hiding victim" list.
With those two unsavory details aside, High Tension does produce several inventive kills and plenty of blood to fill several bath-tubs. The film is not subtle at all, preferring to throw several things into your face that you may not have wanted (or needed) to see. Some may complain about how this points to the skills of an inept filmmaker, but honestly it does not take all that much away from the film in the end. Sometimes it's nice to sit down to a suspense/horror film that knows what it's demographic enjoys seeing and thus doesn't spend much time on anything else.
Not only does High Tension provide plenty of blood, but it also creates a truly memorable heroine in the guise of Marie. Here is a girl that knows what she wants and will stop at nothing to get exactly that. It's great fun to watch her go at it, the barbed stick scene alone making the film definently worth a rental at you local redbox or what not. While her ultimate character arc may dissapoint some viewers, I found it somewhat satisfying as it draws some parallels to another famous horror move icon.
Near the end the film attempts to throw in a surprise point to shock audiences and leave them with something to chew on, it doesn't entirely work out very well but the film does gain a few hesitant bonus points for the effort. In the end, while High Tension may not be one of the best horror films of recent years, it's still an enjoyable romp that tries and ALMOST succeeds at thoroughly thrilling viewers. That alone makes it worthy of a reccomendation from me to any true horror buff out there.
3/5 Stars
Upon a second viewing recently, I've come to appreciate the film more, though I'm still not in love with it (I do love what it's trying to say about repressed sexuality, unrequited love and how these two toxic elements mixed together can lead a person to go mad. It's also interesting that the killer is a man...what does that say about Marie and how she views her sexuality). The film may actually work better upon repeat viewings as what was once a rote but thrilling horror film becomes something truly disorienting and confusing as we are left to struggle to figure out what is real and what is fantasy. The film effectively places us inside a psycho's head who is blissfully unaware of her fractured mental state. The truth is: This is a film about a messed-up love story and one person's unhealthy obsession. It's still not quite great, but it comes close at times. Updated rating: 3.5 STars
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Inception and the mystery of the spinning top
I'm about to reveal a major spoiler for inception, so if you don't want to know anything about the film I strongly suggest you skip this post.
Ok, there has been much speculation about the crucial final shot of the film Inception. If you have seen the film you know what I'm talking about. Leonardo Dicaprio spins his top on a table as he goes to see his kids again, but as he exits the frame the camera moves back to the top which is still spinning. It wobbles precariously for a few seconnds and the film cuts to black.
The signifigance of the top is that; as explained by Leo's character early on in the film; The top will never stop spinning in the dream world and will topple eventually in the real world. The final shot of the top wobbling a bit but not falling leaves enough room for interpretation so that most will want to return for a second viewing. If it wasn't for the top, most probably would leave feeling pretty satisfied with the film.
The beauty of the final shot though, is that Nolan has basically constructed a trap for the audience. He ends the film with that annoying final shot as a silent dare for us to not analyze the meaning of this new development. Most will fall for the trap and find themselves stuck in a never-ending realm of questions. While the ending did anger me because it cheapens the film for me...at the same time I realize that in reality it makes the film much better.
At the end Leo's character is able to walk away from the top and accept wherever he is as reality. Could he be dreaming...sure. Could he be awake....sure, but in the end it doesn't matter. Nolan wants the audience to walk away from the top. The beauty and point of the film is not to know.
For me, I personally believe that in the end Cobb is back in reality...and my conclusion has nothing to do with the spinning top...it's that he sees his kids faces again, while in every other dream their faces are never shown. And there I go again falling into Nolans elaborate trap. In the end, as hard as it may be, it is crucial that we learn to walk away from that top as Cobb did. Nolan wants us to, like Cobb, accept wherever he is as reality, and he thrust the top into the final shot to get us to doubt ourselves.
So for the next couple weeks or months; however long the speculation goes on for; I will be happily satisfied with reading every person's beliefs on the ending and their evidence for why they think this way. It's always fun to speculate after a film is over, especially for geeks like me. Although I will enjoy reading all the opinions that the film is bound to create, I will remember that it's important to to walk away and let that infernal top continue to wobble, tempt me as it may.
Ok, there has been much speculation about the crucial final shot of the film Inception. If you have seen the film you know what I'm talking about. Leonardo Dicaprio spins his top on a table as he goes to see his kids again, but as he exits the frame the camera moves back to the top which is still spinning. It wobbles precariously for a few seconnds and the film cuts to black.
The signifigance of the top is that; as explained by Leo's character early on in the film; The top will never stop spinning in the dream world and will topple eventually in the real world. The final shot of the top wobbling a bit but not falling leaves enough room for interpretation so that most will want to return for a second viewing. If it wasn't for the top, most probably would leave feeling pretty satisfied with the film.
The beauty of the final shot though, is that Nolan has basically constructed a trap for the audience. He ends the film with that annoying final shot as a silent dare for us to not analyze the meaning of this new development. Most will fall for the trap and find themselves stuck in a never-ending realm of questions. While the ending did anger me because it cheapens the film for me...at the same time I realize that in reality it makes the film much better.
At the end Leo's character is able to walk away from the top and accept wherever he is as reality. Could he be dreaming...sure. Could he be awake....sure, but in the end it doesn't matter. Nolan wants the audience to walk away from the top. The beauty and point of the film is not to know.
For me, I personally believe that in the end Cobb is back in reality...and my conclusion has nothing to do with the spinning top...it's that he sees his kids faces again, while in every other dream their faces are never shown. And there I go again falling into Nolans elaborate trap. In the end, as hard as it may be, it is crucial that we learn to walk away from that top as Cobb did. Nolan wants us to, like Cobb, accept wherever he is as reality, and he thrust the top into the final shot to get us to doubt ourselves.
So for the next couple weeks or months; however long the speculation goes on for; I will be happily satisfied with reading every person's beliefs on the ending and their evidence for why they think this way. It's always fun to speculate after a film is over, especially for geeks like me. Although I will enjoy reading all the opinions that the film is bound to create, I will remember that it's important to to walk away and let that infernal top continue to wobble, tempt me as it may.
You'll want to pay attention in Inception
Inception is the latest film to burst out of the brilliant mind-womb of Christopher Nolan, the man who brought us such classics like The Dark Knight, Memento, The Prestige (my least favorite Nolan film that I have seen), and Insomnia. With Inception, Nolan's aim would appear to be to gently pry into the viewer's mind while at the same time throwing out some truly wowing material for him or her to chew on. In Inception Nolan creates his own surreal complex universe where it is possible for a group of people to infilitrate a persons mind and extract ideas from it. What the ideas extracted would be used for is never fully explained but I'd have to guess they are either given to rivals, used against said person, or sold to the highest bidder.
Leonardo Dicaprio stars as Lou Cobb; the leader of a group of extractors consisting of Joseph Gordon Levitt as Arthur, Tom Hardy as Eames, Dileep Rao as Yusuf, and Ellen Page as newcomer Ariadne. Cobb dreams of being reunited with his kids and so takes on one last job for businessman Saito; who is played by Ken Watanabe; with the promise that if he succeeds he will be given a passport back to his kids. There's a twist of course, Saito doesn't want Cobb and his team to extract an idea but to instead plant one in the mind of corporate rival Robert Fischer; played by Cilian Murphy. This new process is called Inception.
The film takes a great deal of time to explain the laws of dreams and what can happen in one, and the rest of the film goes to work displaying these laws in action, and boy is it fun to see how they are applied. There are several parts where most will find their jaws agape at the marvels unfolding before their eyes, but when jaws aren't open, brows will be furrowed as the viewer attempts to make sense of this complex and fascinating world that Nolan has woven together with Imagination as its glue.
That is quite possibly the biggest achievement of this film, not that it is one of his most complex, but that the universe created is something akin to what George Lucas did when he created Star Wars, except that Inception's is a thousand times more beautiful and complex.
Unfortunately this film, like any other, has its faults too. The weakest part of the film was it's attempt at creating an emotional element for the character of Cobb, whose wife has died and now haunts his subconscious like a jealous demon. The attempt is a weak one at best and the film spends alot of time on it, even though there isn't much reason for the audience to really care about Cobbs backstory.
The film is strongest at the beginning when it is explaining the laws of the dream universe and when the team first infilitrates Fischer's mind, but as they dive deeper and deeper into his subconscious the more muddy and complex the film gets. It's just about impossible for viewers not to tune out for a few seconds here and there. It's important that if you see this film you resist that urge to tune out, your overall understanding of this masterpiece depends on it. Like Shutter Island, This is one film that works best when the viewer is constantly thinking. While the film is complex, it's not impossible to understand what is going on as long as your paying complete attention to it.
Leo has already proved that he is a more than capable actor, so it's no surprise that he pulls off the role of Cobb effortlessly. His right hand man Arthur ,played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, is also a superbly well played one. Arthur gets some of the best screen time and one of the best moments in the film, a zero-G tumbling disorienting fight sequence in a hotel hallway. Joseph Gordon levitt easily emerges as another bright and shining star in the film
While its ability to wow moviegoers is a huge achievement, Inception lacks real heart or meaning, and if it wasn't for that the film would have gotten a strong Better than Sex rating from me. With Inception, Nolan is back in full form as he takes moviegoers on a thrilling journey into the world of dreams, but the lack of a compelling narrative ends up hurting the film in the end. Nolans universe is dazzling, i just wish his story was as dazzling as his universe is.
4/5 FULL PRICE!!!
Leonardo Dicaprio stars as Lou Cobb; the leader of a group of extractors consisting of Joseph Gordon Levitt as Arthur, Tom Hardy as Eames, Dileep Rao as Yusuf, and Ellen Page as newcomer Ariadne. Cobb dreams of being reunited with his kids and so takes on one last job for businessman Saito; who is played by Ken Watanabe; with the promise that if he succeeds he will be given a passport back to his kids. There's a twist of course, Saito doesn't want Cobb and his team to extract an idea but to instead plant one in the mind of corporate rival Robert Fischer; played by Cilian Murphy. This new process is called Inception.
The film takes a great deal of time to explain the laws of dreams and what can happen in one, and the rest of the film goes to work displaying these laws in action, and boy is it fun to see how they are applied. There are several parts where most will find their jaws agape at the marvels unfolding before their eyes, but when jaws aren't open, brows will be furrowed as the viewer attempts to make sense of this complex and fascinating world that Nolan has woven together with Imagination as its glue.
That is quite possibly the biggest achievement of this film, not that it is one of his most complex, but that the universe created is something akin to what George Lucas did when he created Star Wars, except that Inception's is a thousand times more beautiful and complex.
Unfortunately this film, like any other, has its faults too. The weakest part of the film was it's attempt at creating an emotional element for the character of Cobb, whose wife has died and now haunts his subconscious like a jealous demon. The attempt is a weak one at best and the film spends alot of time on it, even though there isn't much reason for the audience to really care about Cobbs backstory.
The film is strongest at the beginning when it is explaining the laws of the dream universe and when the team first infilitrates Fischer's mind, but as they dive deeper and deeper into his subconscious the more muddy and complex the film gets. It's just about impossible for viewers not to tune out for a few seconds here and there. It's important that if you see this film you resist that urge to tune out, your overall understanding of this masterpiece depends on it. Like Shutter Island, This is one film that works best when the viewer is constantly thinking. While the film is complex, it's not impossible to understand what is going on as long as your paying complete attention to it.
Leo has already proved that he is a more than capable actor, so it's no surprise that he pulls off the role of Cobb effortlessly. His right hand man Arthur ,played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, is also a superbly well played one. Arthur gets some of the best screen time and one of the best moments in the film, a zero-G tumbling disorienting fight sequence in a hotel hallway. Joseph Gordon levitt easily emerges as another bright and shining star in the film
While its ability to wow moviegoers is a huge achievement, Inception lacks real heart or meaning, and if it wasn't for that the film would have gotten a strong Better than Sex rating from me. With Inception, Nolan is back in full form as he takes moviegoers on a thrilling journey into the world of dreams, but the lack of a compelling narrative ends up hurting the film in the end. Nolans universe is dazzling, i just wish his story was as dazzling as his universe is.
4/5 FULL PRICE!!!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
BEETLE LOVED GROWNUPS
Grownups is Adam Sandler's ode to summer in which a group of old friends reunite at their childhood lakehouse/hangout with their families after their basketball coach dies. There's Adam Sandler as Lenny Feder; a hot shot hollywood agent who laments that his kids are pampered (Jake Goldberg plays Greg and Cameron Boyce plays Keithie) and his wife is self-absorbed(played by Selma Hayek who doesn't do much except complain at Lenny), Kevin James as Eric Lamonsoff; the funny good natured fat guy of the group, David Spade as Marcus Higgins; the eternally drunk womanchaser, Chris Rock as Kurt McKenzie; the stay-at-home dad, and Rob Schneider as Rob Hilliard; the very zen massage therapist who is married to a much older woman.
Grownups doesn't have much of a plot. Most of the film consists of the friends hanging together, getting into trouble, and reminiscing on old times. The result is that if you need a story in your film then Grownups isn't the film for you. On the other hand on a lazy summer day when you don't have much else to do besides go to the beach or swim at the pool then run out and see Grownups, the film is the perfect lazy day film.
The only problems with Grownups is that 1. Most of the humor simply doesn't work. Luckily most of these parts are in the beginning of the film, once they reach the Lakehouse it begins to pick up. 2. The film is too long. There's only so much one person can take of absolutely nothing going on, good thing there are some guninely funny and fun moments scattered throughout the film which helps alleviate some of the more boring parts of the film, which brings me to the hot girls.
In the film it is revealed that Rob Schneider has 2 incredibly hot daughters (and one not so hot one; Bridgette; played by ashley Loren). There's Madison Riley as the main hot chick, Jasmine; and there's Jamie Chung as the secondary hot chick, Amber. The intro sequence for Jasmine which involves a slo-mo car shot and an extended scene of her ass as it leans over the hood of her car ("ok, and switch....and switch....and switch...") is a great way to introduce this character as its pretty much all she's there for. Naturally 2 of the kids; Keithie (Lenny's son) and Andre (Kurts son, played by Nadji Jeter) become transfixed by this vision from heaven and make it their goal to catch more glimpses of her which quickly becomes one of the film's focus points.
While it may not be spectacularly funny or strong plotwise, Grownups does have enough laugh-out-loud moments and plenty of hijinx to keep most eyes fixated on the big screen for the duration of the film. For me, I felt like I could relate to the story of Grownups because most of the action seen on the screen is similar to the fun me, my friends, and my family would have on a hot summer day. It perfectly encapsulates everything that makes summer great: Going to new places, hot girls, hanging out with friends, having adventures, going to waterparks, and just laying back and relaxing as the hours pass by. Grownups may not be the greatest film of the year, but it's already made it to the #1 spot on my list of favorite films for this summer. Feel free to see it with a few of your friends, as thats how Grownups is best viewed.
3.5/5 stars
Grownups doesn't have much of a plot. Most of the film consists of the friends hanging together, getting into trouble, and reminiscing on old times. The result is that if you need a story in your film then Grownups isn't the film for you. On the other hand on a lazy summer day when you don't have much else to do besides go to the beach or swim at the pool then run out and see Grownups, the film is the perfect lazy day film.
The only problems with Grownups is that 1. Most of the humor simply doesn't work. Luckily most of these parts are in the beginning of the film, once they reach the Lakehouse it begins to pick up. 2. The film is too long. There's only so much one person can take of absolutely nothing going on, good thing there are some guninely funny and fun moments scattered throughout the film which helps alleviate some of the more boring parts of the film, which brings me to the hot girls.
In the film it is revealed that Rob Schneider has 2 incredibly hot daughters (and one not so hot one; Bridgette; played by ashley Loren). There's Madison Riley as the main hot chick, Jasmine; and there's Jamie Chung as the secondary hot chick, Amber. The intro sequence for Jasmine which involves a slo-mo car shot and an extended scene of her ass as it leans over the hood of her car ("ok, and switch....and switch....and switch...") is a great way to introduce this character as its pretty much all she's there for. Naturally 2 of the kids; Keithie (Lenny's son) and Andre (Kurts son, played by Nadji Jeter) become transfixed by this vision from heaven and make it their goal to catch more glimpses of her which quickly becomes one of the film's focus points.
While it may not be spectacularly funny or strong plotwise, Grownups does have enough laugh-out-loud moments and plenty of hijinx to keep most eyes fixated on the big screen for the duration of the film. For me, I felt like I could relate to the story of Grownups because most of the action seen on the screen is similar to the fun me, my friends, and my family would have on a hot summer day. It perfectly encapsulates everything that makes summer great: Going to new places, hot girls, hanging out with friends, having adventures, going to waterparks, and just laying back and relaxing as the hours pass by. Grownups may not be the greatest film of the year, but it's already made it to the #1 spot on my list of favorite films for this summer. Feel free to see it with a few of your friends, as thats how Grownups is best viewed.
3.5/5 stars
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)