Change Your Image
jackspinozashaw
Reviews
Angry Boys (2011)
worth sticking with: emotional satisfaction
After initial disappointment I found this series to hit something above the normal. As the stories developed I realised I was not watching Lilley but watching entirely authentic characters. He is a great actor, writer and commenter on society. The characters are like from a modern Ibsen play; good characters but not necessarily of good character. As the narratives slowly piece together (and it is a very gradual process) something emerged for me that was close to the sublime; a humanity that is more important than the comedic values, a sincerity that is more valuable than the dramatic qualities and a genuine compassion for the characters. I am so happy I stayed with it and watched the series in it's entirety. The emotional gratification in the latter episodes had me overwhelmed at times.
Container (2006)
dual
it's like a sound piece over images of video performance. there's a self depreciating dramatic monologue pouring out abstract, pain-of-existence stuff and a rotund man and a pretty lady doing performance art. I love it, it is like a bible to me. I love him bearing her mass, I love her putting a doll in her boot. I saw this in an audience of three at Edinburgh Film Festival and one guy walked out. It is not a film for those who like traditional, normative narratives. I like David Lynch. Moodysson creates a psychological feeling in this film similar to some of the abstract monologues found throughout Lynch films or similar to Harmony Korine perhaps.
More Things That Happened (2007)
reality/fantasy
this is just brilliant to me. I love the parallels that Lynch made in his past three films of placing reality directly next to fantasy pointing at the truths in fantasy. He furthered these juxtapositions by placing scenes next to scenes with minimal logical correspondence in Inland Empire creating a narrative with a unique logic and form. Now we see deleted scenes of fantastic monologues, dialogues and images edited together to make a piece with fragile, psychological emotions at the forefront and demonstrative reason in the basement. It is hard to watch without linking it with what I know from Inland Empire but I did try to watch it as a stand alone film.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Some facts are ignored but they are still facts. Fact: this film changed cinema.
I am astonished by this film. It has been copied so many times. Of course the formula was there before Texas Chainsaw Massacre existed but never utilised in such a nightmarish way as this. I first watched it on a bad VHS on an equally bad TV set and ever since I have been a fan. The violence and gore do seem tame in comparison to films like Martyrs, Srpski Film e.t.c. but the atmosphere is unique and daring even still. There are sequences where the essence of a nightmare is obtained effortlessly, it seems, with no famous actors, high budget set, orchestra score or extensive special effects. The most charming aspect of this film for me is the pure artistic endeavour. A tree with hundreds of watches nailed to it, a horn through a sheep skull, a leather mask. These are all inspired stand-alone images that, to me, hint at a world beyond the constraints of the film.
Saw 3D (2010)
stuff and nonsense
What a pile of nonsense. This film lies in a fantasy world where elaborate traps can be made in public spaces by people doing the bidding of a man who tried to maim them. OK, fine, I don't mind that. I can allow poetic license here. The thing that really irked me was that the victims acted in such a nonsensical way. When presented with a plug and socket at the top of a chain that needs to be attached in order to save my (entirely innocent) lovers life the last thing I would do is pierce my chest with the chain and hoist myself up. OK, OK, I understand, that is poetic license again. There must have been some one watching or something like that. But wait... this time it is in 3d!! Well, not very good 3d. The most effective use of 3d was in an advertisement before the film. Much of the 3d seems more like a layering effect. Oh gosh, what about that twist. The twist that, to my knowledge, the fans basically wrote on discussion boards. The twist where a character from films before decides to illogically help his tormentor. A twist that is a pile of horsepucky. There is so much room for error in the supposedly intricate jigsaw of life-affirming torture that it is only plausible to the most forgiving viewer. I really don't think I have seen a worse film since the Spice World film and at least that had no pretensions. Only watch this if you are bored enough to be watching all of them in a row (and even then you can probably miss it out).