reel talk, and various other movie puns #1

premiere came out awhile ago with this list of the 25 Most Dangerous Movies Ever Made (link at bottom), and it. is. awesome! there were a lot of non-obvs selections, and the write-ups were very interesting, as were the pics. admittedly, I have a particular interest in both psychologically and visually disturbing films. I love horror movies, Lynch, thrillers, mind-benders, whatevs. I'm always on the lookout for ::nerd alert:: good forums and threads where people discuss these movies, try to figure out inland empire, and the like, and it's the best place to find stuff I've never heard of. what is also good is I don't even need to pay for netflix: my providence public library card is my golden ticket to dysfunction! every movie I've ever searched for, they have had in their catalogue, and I simply request it on the internet, and in a few days it's mine for FREE. FREEEEEEE!

I'm going to watch all 25 movies on the list, and see what strikes my fancy.

***First up, is Happiness. I had seen this movie a couple of times before, as I'm a huge todd solondz fan, and mark d and I watched it on vacation as well.

I remember in '98 when this movie came out it was on virtually every top-ten list. solondz movies usually involve frank discussions of sex and children, and that certainly applies here. what is great about happiness is how divisive the editorials were. the plot is hard to summarize, but relationships and families are a central theme. basically, kind of like Blue Velvet (another movie on the list) it aims to show how perversion lurks around every corner, whether you want to admit it or not. this movie really isn't for the faint of heart; one scene involves a father, who has recently raped his son's friend, explaining to his jealous son that he would never rape him, he would simply just jerk off instead. heartwarming! some people get up in arms because the pedophile father is represented very sympathetically, and children in the movie are basically a means to an end. I'm not sure what solondz is trying to say by having the kids in the movie be either pathetic jokes or means to sexual gratification, but it is hard to look away either way.

the acting is exceptional, you can't go wrong with phillip seymour hoffman or jane adams. lara flynn boyle has one of the many more minor roles, and she is awful as usual. you watch twin peaks and think, maybe she's a piece of plywood because this show is fucking weird (and awesome) and it's all part of the schtick, but not she's really just terrible (how she ended up with jack nicholson, the person with the second most oscar noms or something like that, is beyond me)

but really, when I hear a movie is filthy or morally bankrupt, i'm first in line.

an excerpt from an amazon.com review of happiness, by 'john winston, fan of unusual things' (no joke):
"I realize some call it daring and groundbreaking but I don't agree,there is a difference between ground breaking and just trying to make the sickest film you can for its own sake.Ultimately after watching this movie I found myself feeling very depressed and deciding I never wanted to watch this garbage ever again.....For example were not one but 2 scenes of shooting semen really so important to include?Also one cannot help but get the impression the film maker is subtly trying to show at least some sympathy for Dylan Bakers sick child molester and if anything thats the most disturbing thing of all about this movie as it goes without saying the charcter is not remotely deserving of sympathy. "

mr. winston, fan of unusual things, also goes on to say that happiness is a film which wears its intent on its sleeves. I have no idea what that means.

4/5 stars!



Happiness

Premiere's List of 25 Most Dangerous Movies