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Reviews
Delocated (2009)
They'll seriously go balls out
You have to understand how extreme this show actually is. Their aesthetic is a wonderful reflection of reality television and the real world. Think of it like this. The deadpan humor is gonna be a lot funnier when you realize that sometimes, peoples grip on reality can be fractured. Jon is borderline insane, but comes off as a quirky character, due to the nature of the programming. But in reality, there are too many people who can't appreciate that attitude we see on reality TV in average real life situations, in which Jon is constantly finding himself in. Visiting his girlfriends house and meeting her family while still being "on" for the cameras, the embarrassment the people around him feel, and how it goes over time. In this situation, Jon's reality show really has no hope. It follows the wreckage something like witness relocation can wreak on a family, while be reminded of the surreal quality of television truly invading and exploiting the private lives of people. It's absolutely insane just how understated the insanity is. Because it's completely serious, that's the point. You just gotta be aware of the elements of the show, and how they carry each other to become an enriched fan of the show. But, at the same time, you can just lay back and let it carry you along without a thought and with it's dead pan delivery, contrasting characters, you'll find plenty of reasons to be entertained.
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Genius
This film attacks every ambition in art, in living, and our basic human ideals. In art, someone tries to take something from life, from their knowledge, from their experiences, something personal, and give it form. It's so temporary, and it only gives us so much. But to do all life. To recreate EVERYTHING. Not just a small part of our choosing, but every part. Every life. A movie about Life, and it's loops, and contradictions, and love and hate. Being absolutely alone, but at the turn, being someone else. And finding that being different is only an illusion, as is everything we understand. One of our own design, where everything around us is a reflection of ourselves, and we don't see it, even when it's looking directly in our faces. What this movie tackles, and succeeds in is staggering. Caden, whose work starts out impersonal, doing plays at the local theater, doing his own shallow takes on works not of his own design, is what drives away his wife. His wife, seen both as evil, and sympathetic, is Kadens muse. Someone who's ambitions and truth get smaller, and more generalized. As Caden, who's constantly spurred by her, goes in the opposite direction. He gets bigger, encompasses more, grows. And that eventually leads to our own human unavoidable contradictions. The play starts to loop in on itself. A true representation of reality, done over and over concurrently, is a true turn in what can be seen as surreal. Caden is unsure. In a search for truth, the ones who succeed find that nothing but failure is possible. Faced with such an epic task as recreating what's true, life, Caden gets lost in the one he's living. He wants to search for truth, but he searches within others, asking them to define him. Asking to be told what to do. Being faced with choices, and responsibilities to ones self can be a terrifying concept. And Caden can't handle that truth. He doesn't allow himself much control, not making decisions for himself, by himself. Constantly reflecting onto others, to get an idea of what he wants. The idea of actually being forced to see himself, and what he does to those around him, and what it means, throws Caden completely out of touch. Lost in between what's real, and what he's trying to recreate as real. Towards the end, he takes on the life of the woman he was pretending to be at one time, someone who he projected himself through, not considering the truth behind the identity of Ellen. He lives as she does, with her worries, with her story as his own. And he learns that the significance of something like life is nothing, but at the same time, the same for everyone. That life binds everybody as one, and we separate ourselves, by ourselves. Living without making choices, pure living, like if we never ate the apple. Feeling as we are, without the guilt of wheater or not we failed when freedom to choose became too much of a burden, and we make decisions we don't agree with out of confusion. His time as Ellen is the most important, it killed his ego, and allowed him to live as another, Ellen, not Caden. The other characters were perfectly complimentary. Helen, who made decisions whether she was unsure or not. Someone Caden could admire. Who suffered very similar insecurities, but still moves forward. Adele, his wife, was the perfect foil. Someone who cared more about being happy, and self interest, and was sure of herself. Her small paintings were symbolic of her assurance. Being able to address individual truths, and individual ideals. Sharper and sharper generalizations, one that never reached the inevitable paradox that Caden faces. Single subjects, painted tiny as they can be conceptually understood to be, but still holding true. It's the subject, an individual truth. And only that subject. Sammy, playing a reflection that wants to be something more. He is supposed to be Caden. He knows what Caden knows at first. And is indeed his reflection. Caden, seeing himself separate from himself, begins to change in a way that Sammy starts to be someone different. Sammy can do nothing but reflect, but when Caden begins to act in his own interest, and pursue things without being told to, Sammy snaps. And kills himself. Death can mean so many things. The end of the story that we're all writing, all the time. Our perceptions of it vary to an infinite degree. In here, it's seen simply as the end. Where it means no more than what we assign it. Walking through the streets of dead bodies, Caden, dead in every sense of the word but body. Ego killed, his sense of self completely gone, feels nothing. Death is no longer something to fear, but common place. Not even reflected in his eyes as negative. Just a simple fact of reality. Like the ground he walks on, and that he takes for granted as being there every step he takes. This film is absolute genius. One of the most ambitious films ever written. Ambitious films like 2001, Ikiru, and The Fountain. It tackles our ideas and perceptions themselves. And it follows through brilliantly.
Juno (2007)
Don't be such a (Bleep)
Let's put it like this. You know how every time a quotable film is released, every idiot, fake intellectual who's seen it will spend the next couple of weeks referencing it? Superbad, Napolean Dynamite, etc. Well, this movies dialog is a little too complicated for your average idiot. So THANK GOD that we have our "Idiot Intellectuals" to do it for them. You know the type. Loves "Across The Universe". Wears Chucks or Flats. Scarves don't always match. Make Peace Signs in Myspace pictures with High Contrast in a pathetic attempt to be Artistic. These people made me hate the idea of Juno all together. I hate these people either way. Calling this film "Cute". When really, any idiot can write a script like this. Blunt statements, sarcasm, and cultural references rule this film. And I could write a better script. And you can quote me on that. I don't care that this woman is a hooker, mother, shoelace, whatever. It's not that good of a script. And idiots will continue to eat this crap up till the novelty wears off, just like Napolean Dynamite.
D-War (2007)
Best thing to happen to film since Eyes
A while ago, at my Moms Bridge Game, I was asked what was it like when I first fell in love. I was confused, that anyone could put into words the wonderful feeling of falling in love. Being wrapped in something like that, where every bad feeling is now good, and every doubt is turned into unshaken certainty. Every rose smells sweeter, and every Sour Blow Pop tickles you just the right way.
That is how I felt walking out of D-War. The beauty in everything shined forth, and I could see it. The past 16 years, I was blind, but now, thanks to Shim Hyung-Rae cinematic masterpiece, I see the world through new eyes! I wish to share that feeling with everyone in the world!
This film is a film that everyone, who is physically or mentally able in any way, should watch. I hope that all of you get to see this film, and I believe that the very moment that last blind person has his eyes cleansed, the world will be happy and at peace with the cosmos.
Under Siege (1992)
Best Movie Ever?
I was listening to my Depeche Mode when my friend came into my apartment and threw a laser disc of "Under Siege" in my face.
"Dude, you've gotta watch this!" I put it in, turned off my People Are People cassette tape, and sat down for what I call "The Second Coming of Movie Jesus". The first coming being Die Hard.
After this film, I asked my friend to help me to the bathroom, because I had just soiled my leather pants. This is the kind of movie that makes you absolutely sure that God exists and that he is in this movie. Watch it. It's what Dave Gahan would do. Now, I'm going back to my Dio...