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yousrekh
Reviews
Postal 2 (2003)
It's a nasty little game for people who don't feel bad about sitting in a darkened room alone for eighty years eating nothing but chips
If you're the kind of person who burned ants with a magnifying glass when you were young, or you think that cutting a dog's ears off is great fun, you should definitely play this game. It will make you happy. If you're lucky, it may even stimulate the negative emotions that you were more than likely experiencing at the time.
Although I hate to admit it, Postal 2 can be fun. You get to throw petrol around and set it alight, which is something no other game that I know of can offer. You get to cause trouble generally, in fact, and what, you might ask, is wrong with that? That sounds like fun, doesn't it? The problem with Postal 2 is that, after a short session of playing it, I started to feel ill. I felt like I had just done something naughty, like murdered a prostitute or something similar. This feeling doesn't go away as long as the game is installed on your computer.
I played it with my friend. He felt this way too.
If you have no morals, or are, clinically, a sociopath, then you'll love this game. Otherwise, stick to games which let you explore worlds where people are violent for a reason.
L.A. Heat (1989)
Words fail me
Ill keep this short; writing about stuff like this really makes me realise to what extent the English language is limited.
From concept to post-production, this film is flawless. The direction and, specifically, the editing of the piece show years of creative experience in the field. Laurence Hilton-Jacobs returns to the screen with a proto-naturalistic approach to the portrayal of a broken man living in a world which does not appreciate him. The beauty of this is that it seems to reflect the life of Merhi so far. His unique style when directing his works has not always been accepted by an audience of which the majority are used to much more mainstream, commercial films.
The overall 'feel' of the film is of perfection and finesse. It maintains this finish while keeping its art-house status and evading the glossy overcoat which is becoming more and more popularly associated with the industry in America. Over the years I've familiarised myself with the abstract writing style of Kanganis, and it has become a little habit of mine to expect these little surprises that he has for us with each release. The reflection mentioned above seems to have come about naturally; the troubled mind of Merhi and artistic aptitude of Kanganis come together to bring the film together with a fine-tuned taste, but not pretentiousness, and to end it with such a gritty climax as it does.
Merhi is an overwrought genius whose presentation, when grouped with the textual gold of Kanganis' script and the on screen presence of Hilton-Jacobs of such charm and without antecedence is, frankly, magical.
Saw (2004)
Saw takes the biscuit.
I love Saw. Wan and Whannell have created an amazing experience together, and I will remember their names forever. I've decided to refer to it as a 'terror film'. When I think of 'horror films' I think of films like Halloween, Friday The 13th, and even teen-horror films like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. I think a new genre of 'terror' should be established. The films that I've mentioned don't really do it for me. They prioritise startling the audience with music, sound effects, etc, but that's not enough in my opinion. Saw made my stomach turn deliciously; it tempts the viewer to imagine these crazy situations and wonder how they'd endure, mentally, through such panic.
A lot of people have complained about plot holes and so on. That doesn't really bother me too much. Indeed, discussing them is a lot of fun; working out the mysteries of the timing of events, and the actions of the antagonist, but mistakes happen. As a debut to the genre and the industry, this film is flawless in my eyes, and I'll support these guys as long as they keep writing this stuff!
The atmosphere in the cinema was brilliant. Everyone in the room was so moved by the themes and the heart-racing pace of the film that we found ourselves laughing in an effort to comfort each other - laughing at our own reactions to the terror on screen. This talented duo can rest assured that I'll be there in September for Saw 2, and, thereafter, Silence!.