A Review of Milk

Even though I really liked the trailer for Milk, I definitely had some reservations for the film. This was mostly due to Gus Van Sant being at the helm of the film. As of late, Van Sant has churned out nothing but pretentious, self-absorbed garbage like Last Days and Elephant. So, when he got Milk, I wasn't sure if he was going to be able to treat it like he treated projects like Good Will Hunting. I was just afraid I was going to have a boring, pretentious, manipulative gay-rights activism film on my hands. Well, luckily, that did not happen.

Milk is a really good film. It has a great story that pretty much anyone can identify with, no matter what your sexuality is. It has great acting, directing, scoring and editing. It has a good message. It is emotional, exciting and actually pretty funny at times. It basically has everything you could want from a good, solid flick. 

Just to get it out of the way, I figured that, given the subject matter, I would go ahead and state how I feel about the whole homosexuality issue. Since I go to a Baptist-funded university, most of the people I encounter on campus are strongly against homosexuality. For my own personal reasons, I am not against it. I believe that if people feel that way and nothing else feels right, then they should be able to live their lives happily. I know that it is not for me and that I have never experienced what they have but I can respect it. I have no right to judge them. So, if you're gay, you are cool with me.

Now that that is out of the way, let's focus on the movie at hand. One of the best things about Milk is its screenplay by Dustin Lance Black. Black's screenplay gives the film a solid structure, held together by a scene in which Milk made a tape recording in case he was assassinated (this is actually true and not a cheap device for forming a structure; I listened to some of the real recording earlier today). By making this recording, Milk is able to comment on his real story as the film displays it in front of the viewer. The scenes dealing with Milk running for office and actually being in the office were very entertaining due to their tight structure and the way that they were strung together. I never once found myself bored in this movie and I feel that the strong writing had something to do with that. I also really liked the way Milk's last day was written and structured. The bit with him watching the sunrise while on the phone with Scotty was really touching to me (it sounds cheesy but trust me, it works). Also, as I've been doing the research today, Black did a pretty great job of being historically accurate. There may be a few things that are off but, for what I've seen, this film is pretty true to history and the man that was Harvey Milk.

Gus Van Sant (who is openingly gay for those who are not aware) does a pretty great job at directing this movie. I loved the way he had real news footage spliced in with the footage that he shot. It made the film feel more immediate and real (yes, I know it all happened but you know what I mean). A lot of the scenes looked really good stylistically but there were some others that had a lot of grain to them (most likely due to a low budget). However, I liked seeing the grain here and there. As with the news footage, it added more of a sense of realism. Van Sant definitely went with a more mainstream approach to his direction here as opposed to his direction in some of his more recent films. Gone are long shots and scenes with little-to-no dialogue. The shots here have a quicker pace to them (though not too quick) and still manage to have an artistic edge. For some reason, I really like the way he framed the scene with Milk and White talking in the church after White's son's christening. He left a lot of space at the top of the screen where as most directors would have shot the scene in close-up. It seemed to suggest that, although the two men where standing right next to each other, there was still a lot of distance between them, at least in their philosophies and ideologies. Overall, Van Sant does a great job.

Everyone turns in great performances in this movie. Sean Penn really does a great job as Harvey Milk. I didn't realize this fully until I saw that little bit of the real Milk at the end of the film and after watching some videos of him today. He really is able to capture his mannerisms quite well. He definitely feels like a fully defined character by the end of the movie (and I definitely didn't find him perfect by any means, which is something that makes him more human). He also has some nice, surprisingly moments of humor here and there. I really enjoyed them. Some of you may ask: is he better than Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler? The answer is no. Rourke does something that doesn't happen very often in film. Still, that doesn't mean Penn does a bad job. Penn comes off as a real pretentious guy in real life but he's a pretty great actor at times (he does tend to over act from time to time in other films). His acting definitely shines in this movie. It's a great performance. However, the person that really stood out to me in this movie was Emile Hirsch as Cleve Jones. Man, this guy was great. Hirsch is so good that you can barely recognize it's him at times. He adds a lot of the film's humorous moments as well as some inspiring ones. He really gives some a great performance and I felt like he was the audience's favorite throughout the film. I've liked all the performances that Josh Brolin has turned in as of late and this one is no exception. Brolin is great as Dan White, the city supervisor that suffers a fall from grace. Brolin really makes you feel for White at times, despite what he ends up becoming. You get the feeling that he just kind of gets caught in a downward spiral and just ends up making terrible decisions while in it. Surprisingly, he is in the funniest scene in the movie where he shows up late to Milk's birthday party drunk. His rant about people saying "you didn't have to get me anything" was hilarious and somewhat disturbing in a strange way. I loved it. Alison Pill is also great in the small role of Anne Kronenberg. She brings a great energy to the film and I really enjoyed her performance. She was good enough that I made sure to look her up after seeing the movie to see who she was. 

Out of all the performances, I would have to say that James Franco's is the weakest. Now, don't get me wrong; he did not do bad. However, as with most serious roles that Franco takes on, I can never really take him seriously for some reason. I just always think, "Hey, that's the guy from Freaks and Geeks." I don't know why. I felt that he came off as a little stiff here and there. It may just be because everyone else was doing such a great job that I felt this way.

I've been a fan of Danny Elfman for some time (I own a few of his soundtracks) and his score for this movie definitely is a good one. It's not exactly what you would expect from Elfman (more piano driven) and definitely doesn't contain any of his usual fantasy-like qualities. It has a very mature sound and reminded me of the vast leap he made with his A Simple Plan score (which I definitely own). It really helped give the movie more of an emotional core, especially at the end.

One of my favorite moments from seeing this movie in the theater was the fact that the character of Scott was from Jackson, MS. This is my hometown and where I was watching the movie (well, technically I was watching the movie in Madison but that's basically Jackson). Every time someone said this city (I think it was around three times), the crowd clapped and cheered. It was pretty funny. It's rare that Jackson or Mississippi for that matter even gets mentioned in a movie these days. It was a nice change. 

There are a few things that I didn't like but they aren't too glaring. I will admit- I did have trouble getting into the film at first. It starts off with Milk's relationship with Scotty (Franco) and them moving to San Francisco and living as gay hippies. I'm not sure why but it was just kind of hard to get into. It didn't feel like the rest of the movie. Once Milk starting gearing towards politics, I started getting into it. As I mentioned earlier, Franco's performance wasn't perfect so maybe this had something to do with it. I also didn't really find the relationships Milk had very strong. This may have to do with me being straight but they just didn't feel deep at all. They all start with casual sex with obviously loose men (but, then again, it was the 1970's). The one Milk had with Jack Lira (Diego Luna) was almost maddening. The guy could barely speak English and it felt like it was all about the sex. I just didn't feel as if it were deep at all. So it was really hard for me to feel anything when the film decided to focus on this aspect of Milk's life. For the most part, all I really got out of these sections was how Milk drove these people away and hurt them by focusing so much on the gay rights movement and politics.

Despite these minor problems, Milk is a really great movie. It is touching, inspiring, emotional and shows just how much one can do in this life if they put all their energy into it. It also shows how prejudiced and awful we can all be to people we don't truly understand. It has great writing, directing and amazing performances from a solid cast. I don't care if you are gay or straight, this movie should have something for you. 

9/10

G.I. Joe Looks As Silly As You Would Think

The 30 second SuperBowl television spot for G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra (do we really need a subtitle?) hit the web earlier today and it seems to have fooled a lot of people. Well not me.

This movie is going to suck. A lot. Why? It's freaking G.I. Joe but live action. It's directed by the guy who directed movies like The Mummy and Van Helsing (*shudder*). It's starring that guy who was in movies like Step Up and Stop Loss. I hear Brendan Fraser has a cameo. Marlon Wayans is Ripcord (I still can't get over this). There's a part in the trailer where it appears that the Eiffel Tower is destroyed by killer plants (that or green acid... but I like to think that this movie is stupid enough to employ killer plants). The word from everyone who has seen early rough cuts of the film seems to be pointing to it being a complete and utter train wreck. 

Need any more reasons?

I will admit that this trailer is more well-cut than I expected it to be. Still, it points to the movie being a CGI-loaded cheese-fest. It's going to suck. Trust me. It really, really will. The only cool thing about it is the fact that Ray Park is Snake Eyes (who looks cool) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (someone who is way too talented for this project) is Cobra Commander. These two positive things will not be able to remotely save it. Let's face it- this movie is going to be like Transformers' retarded step-cousin. And I hated Transformers.

I'll see this the week it comes out if I hate myself and want to laugh at a major studio like Paramount wasting millions of dollars on a cinematic train wreck. G.I. Joe is cool and all but let's face it- it's not really movie material. Especially from the guy who made Van Helsing.

Watch the 30-second spot below or see it tomorrow during the SuperBowl.

Tales of the Black Freighter DVD / Blu- Ray Details Released

The details for the DVD / Blu-ray Disc release of Tales of the Black Freighter, the animated movie adaptation of the comic-within-a-comic in Watchmen, have finally been released. The DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions of the animated companion piece to the Watchmen film will be released on March 24th, two weeks after the feature film hits theaters. The main character of the animated feature is voiced by Gerald Butler, who previously worked with director Zack Synder on 300. The best part of this whole thing for me is the fact that a live-action adaptation of Hollis Mason's Under the Hood will also be featured on the DVD and Blu-ray disc. I had no idea that this was even being worked on so it is a nice surprise. 

Below you can find the complete list of features for both the DVD version and Blu-ray Disc version:

On both DVD and Blu-ray versions:

- Story Within a Story: The Books of the Watchmen- Exploring the comic-within-a-comic of Watchmen

- First Look at DC Universe's Animated Green Lantern DVD

- Chapter 1 of Watchmen Motion Comic (nice)

Exclusive to Blu-ray Disc:

- The Two Bernies- A scene from the Watchmen film not seen in theaters (I look forward to this; I love the Bernies)

- The "Why" of the Watchmen with Director Zack Synder

Looks like I will be picking up the Blu-ray version of this.

The sad thing is this is probably one of the four Watchmen DVDs / Blu-ray discs that I will end up purchasing. Let's face it; there's going to be tons of home video releases for this film and its many side projects. For those of you who do not know yet, there is a planned 3 and half hour Director's Cut DVD / Blu-ray planned in the future that intercuts Tales of the Black Freighter with the feature film. Who knows when that will actually be released though (I guarantee you it won't be the first DVD / Blu-ray release after the movie comes out).

Still, all of this is cool. I'm glad Synder is at least being true to his word here by getting this thing made and released.

Oh and we're about a month away from the big show. Get ready.

Source: /Film

New Updates Coming Soon

Hey guys.

I just wanted to let you all know that I am planning on getting some more updates on the site soon. We are usually good about getting ones up everyday (or at least every other day) but this week has been pretty busy for all of us.

Just today I've been holed up in my Basic Design room working on a Batman bust that I've been building for the past few weeks. I've been in there for hours on end, cutting up comic books and gluing small pieces of paper to the plaster of the bust. It has been very meticulous and somewhat maddening. I didn't finish but I came close. Most of my week has been that way. If it's not working on art stuff, it's social stuff or the fact that I'm getting my new screenplay written (finally). 

Anyways, you guys haven't missed much. Nothing is going on in the film world this week. The only slightly interesting news was that Mickey Rourke was rumored to be participating in Wrestlemania 25 in a match with Chris Jericho. Well, it turns out that that is not true. So, in a nutshell, nothing slightly interesting has happened this week.

Still, I'm going to get things back to normal here this weekend. I'm going to see Milk tomorrow night and I will have a review up shortly. I'm still planning on making a Best of 2008 List but I'd still like to see a few more movies. My local theater has finally started to get some Oscar contenders (not that the Oscars mean anything to me anymore) and I'm going to try and see them before making the list.

But yeah, I've just had a lot going on this week, guys. I'll try to do better. That and Jason and Austin aren't really helping me out much either. But I'm trying. 

I'm exhausted and kind of delirious. Goodnight. Check for more updates soon.

A Review of The Wrestler

I've stated this many times before on the site but The Wrestler is the movie I've been wanting to see and make since the sixth grade. Back then, I was intensely into professional wrestling, how it worked and all the behind the scenes know how. I cannot explain why but I was just fascinated with the sport and all that went into it. It always bothered me how no one generally seemed to respect it or give it any kind of credence. 

So, when I heard that an incredibly talented director like Darren Aronofsky was going to direct a film depicting a realistic portrayal of professional wrestling starring Mickey Rourke it was like my fantasy had come true. Getting frustrated with the state of Mississippi not getting any decent movies, I decided to take a three hour road trip with a group of my friends (Caleb, Guy, Rob, Daniel and Amy) this past weekend to New Orleans just so I could see The Wrestler theatrically. Yes, that's right; I decided to go three hours out of my way just to see this movie. That's how excited I've been about this thing. 

The verdict (after all the hype, anticipation and the three hour drive): it's pretty much flawless.

I have to admit this- The Wrestler probably isn't for everyone. Much like a lot of Darren Aronofsky's films, it is fairly brutal, realistic and pretty devastating at times. There is a lot of humor in the film (which works incredibly well) but, in the end, it's the story of a burnt out, washed up professional wrestler who is just as self-destructive as the profession he loves with all of his failing heart.

Just to get this out of the way, as you may have heard, Mickey Rourke is incredible in this movie. I've been a fan of Mickey Rourke ever since he started to make his come back in Sin City as Marv. The guy has continued to impress me since then but nothing has remotely compared to what he pulled off in this film. Rourke does so many things with the character of Randy "The Ram" Robinson that it is not even funny. At times, he manages to be charismatic, funny and incredibly endearing. When he is alone, he is able to emit the pain, loneliness and isolation he feels from the rest of the world in volumes that most actors could barely reach. The amount of vulnerability that Rourke managed to display in certain scenes (particularly in two scenes with Marisa Tomei and a few scenes with Evan Rachel Wood) is pretty astounding, especially since his tough guy turn as of late. At other times, Rourke is able to be frustratingly self-destructive, pushing all the people that love him away from him. It is hard and quite painful to watch. As many people have pointed out, it feels like the story mirrors Rourke's own life story and that it feels as if he is pulling out emotions that he has felt for some time now on film. I'm not sure if this is completely true but I can say that everything Rourke does feels genuine and real. Much like Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight, Rourke is able to completely embody himself into the role. It's amazing to watch.

Darren Aronofsky is also to be commended for his direction on this film. Unlike his direction on his other movies, Aronofsky directs The Wrestler in a stripped-down, almost documentary style manner. Gone are stylistic camera tricks, gorgeous cinematography and hyper editing (to be honest, he began making this transition with The Fountain). The direction in The Wrestler is gritty, dirty and unforgiving. A lot of directors have tried the documentary-like directing style in films before but no one has come close to the realism that Aronofsky is able to display in this film. After a while, you will begin to feel like Randy "The Ram" is a real person and he just has a camera crew following him around for a few days. With this style, Aronofsky is able to show many scenes of intense violence, emotion and disappointment in a matter-of-fact way. By doing this, he never manipulates the audience once in the entire film. He just shows things how they are and lets the audience feel however they feel when they see what occurs. He never once goes for a tug of the heart-strings. He never once makes you wanna love or hate the Ram. He just shows you how this character exists and lets you decide how to feel. It's brilliant and incredibly mature filmmaking. Because of this, The Wrestler is easily Aronofsky's best film.

The realism that Aronofsky strives for particularly comes out in two sequences. The hardcore match really took me back. Never once did I think that I would be disturbed by a hardcore match because, well, I've seen a lot in my day. However, the way it is shot makes it just as horrible as it really is. I loved the contrast between the way The Ram's opponent acted backstage as opposed to in the ring. Backstage beforehand, he is soft-spoken, articulate and fairly intelligent. Hearing him talk in such a calm way about putting staples in someone's body was so bizarre. Then, seeing him in the ring, I couldn't help but be taken back. He turned into a complete animal, mutilating his own body along with the Ram's. The way this sequence was edited, going back and forth in time, was pretty brilliant. The image of Rourke sitting in the locker room afterwards, his back full of holes after staples have been cut out of it, was one of the most horrific things I think I've ever seen on film. 

The way Aronofsky filmed the strip club scenes also helped get across the realism of the film. Unlike most Hollywood films, Aronofsky didn't glamorize the strip club in any way. It's a dirty, filthy place filled with perverts and girls that honestly don't look that great. Marisa Tomei definitely doesn't look bad but the production team definitely did their best to make her look this way. Also unlike most Hollywood films, Tomei bares it all. Again, it's not played to be sexy or enticing. It makes you feel dirty and uncomfortable. As you grow to like her character, you really hate to see her go and strip.

Despite all the destruction that is occurring in this film, there are a lot of really great humorous moments. As I mentioned earlier, The Ram can really be a charismatic guy that you really wanna hang out with. The scene where he gets into his new job as a deli worker was really heart warming and funny to watch. I also really liked the scene where he goes shopping for items to use in the hardcore match. There's a lot of moments like this spread throughout the film that really help to pace the movie and give a good sense of comic relief. Luckily, none of the humor ever feels artificial or forced. It all is worked in naturally and it really just makes the movie better than it already was.

Other than Rourke, the supporting cast all give really solid performances. Marisa Tomei does a good job as Pam, the stripper who befriends Rourke. She really is an interesting character because she always is relunctant to really break the customer / stripper relationship but it is always evident in her face that she truly cares for the Ram as a person deep down. I also enjoyed the parallel that was played out with her character and the Ram in one sequence. Evan Rachel Wood is also really great as Stephanie, the abandoned daughter of the Ram. She has some really emotional scenes with Mickey and she is really able to hold her own (and that's saying a lot since Mickey was knocking it out of the freaking park). A lot of the real life professional wrestlers did a great job in the small roles they had. Ernest "The Cat" Miller did a good job as the Ayatollah, the former wrestling legend who's only interested in selling cars. As I stated earlier, Dylan Summers (a.k.a. the Necro Butcher) is pretty stand out in his hardcore sequence with Mickey.

The music was also pretty great in this film. Going along with The Ram being a 1980's wrestling star, Aronofsky littered the film with hair metal from the 80's. The film has music from Quiet Riot, Ratt, Cinderella and Guns N' Roses. It even features a scene where Rourke sings and dances along to "Round and Round" by Ratt. How great as that? The score by Clint Mansell (featuring guitar work by Slash) is very subtle and, honestly, it is barely noticeable at times. However, I feel that it does its job and gets the right feeling across. I'm glad that it wasn't overbearing (like Mansell's Requiem for a Dream score). If it had been, it may have hurt the realism that Aronofsky was trying so hard to create. I did, however, like the subtle theme that they created for when something really violent would happen or when Rourke would have heart trouble. It was almost like a buzzing noise, much like the theme Hans Zimmer created for the Joker in The Dark Knight (only not nearly as stand out or obvious). I also really liked Bruce Springsteen's original song for the movie entitled "The Wrestler." I listened to this thing a billion times before seeing the actual movie but, seeing it within the context of the film after that final, haunting image, it definitely has much more of an impact.

The problem that I feel most people will have with the movie (and the thing that some of my friends definitely griped with) was the ending of the film. Obviously, I won't remotely go into detail on this. All I can say is that, after reading a lot of the behind the scenes stuff and seeing documentaries like Beyond the Mat, this finish is one of the truest, most honest parts of the film. The Ram's character arc mirrors that of many real-life wrestling legends who have become washed-up and work the indie circuit. In the end, where his heart truly lies is where many wrestler's hearts do lie. Obviously, I cannot discuss this further without hinting at things or going into spoilers. All I can say is that it struck me hard and I appreciated the truth behind it. Kudos to screenwriter Robert Siegel for doing his research. That and I loved that final image. It impacted me emotionally and physically. I felt like I was moving for a second. It was a very strange feeling. 

I've been thinking about this movie non-stop since I saw it Saturday afternoon and I just cannot get it out of my head. I haven't found anyway to justify giving it lower than a perfect score. It's just flawless. The only gripe I had with it was that I just wished it was longer. The performance by Rourke was amazing, Aronofsky's direction was incredibly realistic and hard-hitting, the screenplay by Siegel was great, the humor was spot on, the emotion was real, the music was awesome... it was all good. Wrestling is in a very dark place right now. Most wrestlers are dying before the age of 50, sex and violence are amplified to cartoonish levels in WWE and public opinion is definitely down. The Wrestler definitely addresses the darker side of wrestling, showing the impact it can have on an individual in both an emotional and physical way. It's a very tough business and, after seeing this movie, many people may change their views on those that engage in it. I don't know if they will necessary respect those who wrestle but I feel that they will definitely sympathize with them.

This movie is the reason that the Oscars have absolutely no legitimacy. The fact that this wasn't nominated for Best Picture is a travesty. 

If you somehow get the chance to see this movie, do it immediately. They don't make them like this anymore. 

10/10

Speech of the Week #27

Hey guys, welcome to a column here on YDKS Movies entitled Speech of the Week! For now on, every Monday I will post a new scene from a movie that features a speech of some sort being given. After all, there are a lot of famous scenes in film where characters give an influential speech of some sort. Then again, there are also a lot of scenes where characters give a speech and it just comes off cheesy and lame. In this section, you will see both kinds. That's right, people, I'm giving you the good and bad of film speeches all wrapped up in one great big package. I hope you all enjoy.

Much like last week's speech, this week's Speech of the Week comes courtesy of a suggestion from my friend Ellis. Rushmore is probably Wes Anderson's best film. Over Christmas break, I actually re-watched it twice. It's one of the few movies I can think of that is able to successfully balance quirky humor and great heaps of emotion. It's also love story that almost every male can identify with and it is pretty damn heartbreaking at times. 

With that said, this speech is definitely an example of the funnier side of Rushmore. It comes from the very beginning of the film and it introduces Bill Murray's character Herman Blume quite perfectly. It is also the reason that Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) seeks Herman out and, for the time being, idolizes him. 

It also contains one of my favorite bits of dialogue from the entire movie: "Take dead aim for the rich boys. Get them in the cross hairs and take them down."

Watch it below.

A Review of Slumdog Millionaire

I have to admit- despite all the hype and rave reviews, I was not really pumped about seeing Slumdog Millionaire. The trailer didn't really impress me at all. It just looked like it was going to be your average manipulative, cheesy inspirational film. Still, with all the incredible reviews it has been getting, the fact that it raped the Golden Globes and the general consensus that it will be getting the Best Picture Award at this year's upcoming Oscars (speaking of that, I have a rant coming up on this B.S. ceremony in a few days... just give me time to organize my angry thoughts; plus, I'm busy), I figured I needed to see it.

It wasn't that bad. In fact, it was really good. It definitely wasn't the best movie I've seen this year but it was really, really good.

I was really worried it was going to be cheesy and manipulative (much like my fears regarding the much-less effective The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) but it really wasn't (except for one moment, which I will get to later on). I was very impressed with the massive scope of the film, the overall impact of the story and that the fact that I truly cared what happened to the character of Jamal by the end of the film. 

I've really liked a lot of Danny Boyle's films up until this point in his career. I know a lot of people really disliked the third acts in these films but I really liked Sunshine and 28 Days Later. I also really liked Trainspotting, even though I had trouble understanding what anyone was saying because their accents were so thick. His direction in this movie is quite different from his direction in any of his other films. It features a lot of quick-moving camera shots, vibrant colors (Sunshine had a lot of these too but these are of a vastly different palette), and incredible energy. It is really impressive to watch. A lot of his direction kind of reminded me of some of the direction in City of God. There is some shaky cam and quick editing involved here in there but, unlike directors like Marc Forester and sometimes Paul Greengrass, it is employed in a skillful manner that is not distracting in any way. In fact, it only adds to the experience. Boyle really is a great storyteller visually and I really enjoyed seeing him employ his craft. He also has a great control over his actors and manages to get some great performances out of them. Although I wish Chris Nolan and Darren Aronofsky had been nominated this year, I won't be broken hearted if Boyle wins the Best Director Oscar.

One of the biggest things I was worried about in this movie was the story structure. I had heard that it was structured in that you would see Jamal get asked a question on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and then you would see a flashback that showed how he knew the answer. It just felt like it would get repetitive fast. To my surprise, they managed to make it not that way at all. The flashbacks were always very fascinating to watch and always had a great variety to them. The lead ups to these flashbacks were always varied up and it never felt like a routine. I have to give credit to screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, director Boyle and editor Chris Dickens for pulling this off. 

I was surprised by how messed up and disturbing some scenes in the movie were. The character of Jamal has lived a hard life and has seen some pretty messed up things. Boyle does not shy away from showing these things (though I wouldn't say it ever becomes a violent film; many believe that the film should have received a PG-13 rating opposed to the R rating it got stuck with). These things give the film much more of impact than it already had.

I really liked all the actors in this movie. Dev Patal was great as Jamal. He really gave a great sense of the character's vulnerability, innocence and longing for love. His performance was mostly understated and subtle. I found it to be quite effective. I also really liked the guy who played the host of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? His scene with Jamal in the bathroom during the commercial break and its aftermath was one of my favorite scenes in the movie. I really liked trying to figure him out. All of the actors in this movie were pretty solid. Even the child actors playing young Jamal, Latika and Salim were great. It is pretty rare when you can really be taken back by a child's performance. I really liked the kid that played the youngest version of Jamal. The scene when he's trying to get the autograph was great. 

What else about this movie was good? Well, the music was pretty great. My friends and I have been listening to MIA since early last semester so it was pretty great to hear "Paper Planes"while in a theater. I also really liked the song "O... Saya" that she did. The rest of the original music by A.R. Rahman were really good and really helped fuel Danny Boyle's amazing visuals and hyper-kinetic direction. In fact, I just got the whole soundtrack off of Amazon's MP3 Digital Downloads for 2 bucks. Yeah, 2 bucks. Be sure to get that while you can.

I was also pretty surprised at how effective some of the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? sequences were. They did a good job of capturing the feeling of that show and what it is like to watch it. I was really tense in the final bit of it with Jamal. The last question asked was pretty brilliant. Good job on that. 

The love story was obviously a rocky one but I have to admit that I bought it. I can't say why but I just did. I cannot say the same for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

With all that said, I did have problems with this movie. I don't know a lot about India but I'm not sure if Jamal would have been arrested and tortured to the extent that he was just for doing well on a television show (note: this is not a major spoiler; the film starts with this scene and it is used throughout). It just felt a little forced and possibly a little over the top. Again, I could be wrong. I just am not sure it is completely realistic or not. If it is, then India really sucks. It's a beautiful place but man I would never wanna grow up there or live there.

Another problem I had with the movie was that it did get a little cheesy at the very end. Which is unfortunate because it managed not to be for so long. I just couldn't help but turn my nose at a certain still frame and the following random credit sequence that followed. Yeah, I get what they were going for but I just didn't feel it at the time. I just felt like too much for me. I dunno; maybe I'm alone on that one. 

This last compliant has nothing to do with the movie but I feel like talking about it anyways. I was sitting next to an old Indian couple that talked to each other the entire movie about stuff that was happening on the screen. It was kind of maddening. Why does this keep happening to me? Why can I not see one movie in peace? Just one would be nice. It really would. Please, God... please grant me peace tomorrow during The Wrestler. Please don't let that one get ruined for me too.

In the end, Slumdog Millionaire is not the best movie I've seen this year. Despite this, it is a really good one. It is incredibly engaging, vibrantly visual, well-crafted and pretty emotional. It manages to go into territory that could have suffered from mountains of cheesiness and even manipulation but manages to come out with class. It definitely is better than other Oscar fare like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. If you get the chance to see this one, please do. 

8/10

Dark Knight Gets the Shaft - 81st Annual Oscar Nominees Announced

I just watched the live broadcast and here are some of the standouts (full list below):

Mickey Rourke for Best Actor
Robert Downey Jr. and Heath Ledger for Best Supporting Actor
Slumdog Millionaire for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture
Doubt got many Acting noms including Best Supporting Actor for Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Best Actress for Meryl Streep, and Best Supporting Actress for Amy Adams
Frost/Nixon racked up in the big categories, but Doubt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Milk received the most noms.
Wall-e for Best Animated Picture (of course) and Best Original Screenplay (I like it)
Nominations for The Dark Knight were non-existent in the major categories other than Heath's Best Supporting nomination. However, it did receive many nominations for technical achievements...blah, blah, blah.
Surprises include: Kate Winslet getting the nom for The Reader instead of Revolutionary Road; Richard Jenkins' nom for The Vistitor; Michael Shannon's nom for Revolutionary Road; and Bruce Springsteen's nomination snub for Best Original Song.

Best Film

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon

Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director

Gus Van Sant – Milk

Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
David Fincher - The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon

Best Actor
Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Best Supporting Actor

Josh Brolin – Milk

Robert Downey Jr – Tropic Thunder

Phillip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt

Heath ledger – The Dark Knight

Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road

Best Actress

Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married

Angelina – Changeling

Melissa leo – Frozen River

Meryl Streep – Doubt

Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Best Original Screenplay

Frozen river

Happy Go Lucky

In Bruges

Milk

Wall-e

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Doubt

Frost/Nixon

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire




For the full list of every category, visit /Film

A Review of My Bloody Valentine 3D

Hahahaha, yesssss. That's right, the "3-D event of a lifetime" and I saw it, just for you guys. So recently I've been busy as hell up at college and haven't seen a single movie since I've been up here. Well, on Sunday I managed to find a bit of free time and I got invited by a group of friends to go with them to see My Bloody Valentine. A terrible horror movie...in 3-D? Oh heck yes I was going to go. So away I went on my 3-D journey.

Now, if you've watched even a single commercial on TV in the past few months, then you've seen the trailer for this movie. Its trailer literally played as every other commercial on TV over all of Christmas break. Now, if you've seen the commercial, then you should have noticed something. It isn't advertised as a movie in any aspects. It is purely advertised as a 3-D experience. The 3-D aspect is the only reason it appeared in theatres and didn't directly appear on the Sci-Fi Channel (oh, how I love thee, Sci-Fi Channel).

Now, let me get one thing across to you guys. This movie is by no means a good movie on its own. It isn't meant to be any sort of masterpiece. This movie is a standard slasher and meant only to entertain. So keep that in mind as I review it. You're not meant to compare this to any "real" movies. That would be like trying to compare Friday the 13th and Goodfellas. And that just doesn't work.

Now put on those 3-D glasses and lets start this review.

Not let me give you a quick overview of the story: A miner survives a cave-in, goes crazy, wakes up from a coma, and kills everyone until he is "stopped". And credits roll. Yay! Now you can take off the 3-D glasses and recover from the splitting headache they cause.

John McCain is in this movie?

Okay, well maybe I'm downplaying the movie just a tad. There is surprisingly a bit more to the movie than just that. Just a bit though.

So, the story starts off in a collage of audio, newspaper clipets, and video telling how a cave-in occurred in mine trapping a few miners. It then informs you about the whole miner going crazy and killing the other to conserve air until he is rescued. Finally, it ends with the news about the crazed miner, Harry Warden, being in a coma in the hospital. It all comes off as a very nice way to inform the audience and I think it worked well. Then the movie jumps ahead a year. Seriously? Already time leaping? It has only been like 2 minutes of summary before they lept. Oh well, lets continue.

Basically a year has passed in the movie since the "Valentine Massacre" and guess who's waking up for the anniversary? That's right, our miner buddy Harry. How do slashers always manage to have such amazing timing? Anyways our good ol' pal Harry has taken a liking to killing people, so it seems he's got a lot more killin' to do.

Luckily, there just so happens to be a party going on in the old abandoned mine. Christ. And there just so happens to be the stereotypical jerk, slut, goody-two-shoes, and timid hero-esque guy. Now if that is not the perfect freaking set-up for a killing spree, then I have no idea what is.

I was surprised when the killings started so fast in the movie. It had only been about ten minutes and Warden had already killed off a whole hospital and all the teen party's population. Usually a movie spends some time building up and maybe developing its characters so that you like them. But this movie didn't. I think the number of killed in the first ten minutes was about equal to all the rest in the movie. I guess they had to convince people not to leave. Screw character development.

So anyways, lots of kids get killed, but Warden gets hurt and seems to get away. And now you're thinking: "Oh, well he's probably going to start hunting down the four kids that managed to get away. Now things are gonna start getting really cool as he starts stalking them down." Wrong. Next thing you know the movie jumps ahead ten years. Ten years?...Wtf? What the hell just happened to the movie we were watching? You can't just jump ahead ten damn years in a movie like that, especially if its a slasher...frick, oh well.

So finally the real movie starts. I guess the rest was all build up. So in this movie the four survivor kids have grown up. The jerk became the sheriff...oops. Goody-two-shoes married the jerk and runs a grocery store. The "hero" disappeared for ten years and has returned to sell his father's mining company. And the slut... well... she's become a whore (upgrade?). And our bud Warden seems to be back in town as well, at least the one character we care about is back and ready to kill some mo-fos.

Our only friend in this movie...

Sadly for you guys, that's about all I'm gonna spoil. I felt fine giving away all of that opening, but that's it. I don't think it would be much of a review to give away the real portion of the movie.

So basically this movie is made for viewer entertainment, and it is indeed a great group movie. The whole theater was chatting the whole time, joking, and laughing. Usually, that would drive me crazy but, for this movie, it was fine and made it even better. It seems like the movie was made with built in pauses so you could lean over and make fun of the movie or tell a joke to the person next to you.

It also used all of its gory kills as the main attraction in the movie. And, of course, all of those used 3-D as much as they could. You have no idea how many bloody 3-D pickaxes I saw in that movie. But the kills were indeed many and all very entertaining. And very relentless.

The characters in this movie rather sucked. They were barely developed and I didn't give a crap about a single one of them. They just kinda forced the characters upon you and hoped that the fact that they were human would be enough for you to relate to them. Then again the acting didn't help either. You were more likely happy to see a character in danger than you were rooting for them to survive.

It seems like 95% of the people introduced in this movie were killed. Just about every single person you met died, except the one black guy. The black deputy must have been the only black guy in the whole town that the movie took place in. The whole time everyone around me were all just waiting for his moment. Surprisingly, he never once encountered Warden, or was even anywhere near where Warden was. Bravo movie, you surprised me. Good job not being racially stereotypical.

The overall CGI and video quality in the movie were very good. They definitely dumped a lot of money into making it. The filming wasn't all too bad either. It was nothing extraordinary, but it wasn't low-budget slasher quality either.

The acting and dialogue in this movie were...well...completely horrible at times. It would seem fine for a bit of time; then some terribly acted scene mixed with horrible dialogue would appear and remind you how bad it truly was. My favorite point of pure shite was a scene between the old sheriff and his deputy right after Warden awoke from his coma. They were surrounded by blood and corpses in the hospital and the sheriff goes "I thought Warden was in a coma." The deputy responds "Well, I guess he woke up." Now, that may not seem terrible while written down, but they both spoke their lines in a completely dry and monotone way. It almost hurt to listen to, but it was too funny not to constantly repeat after the movie was over.

I don't remember that happening...

The ending of the movie surprisingly contained a nice little twist. By the end of the movie, you are expecting something to be revealed. You may not have been sure what was going to be revealed, but you knew that something had to be. The reveal was rather tasteful though, and it was something that most people probably didn't see coming. It even threw me off a bit. I thought it was a great change from the norm and a nice touch.

I checked the movie's rating on Rotten Tomatoes the other day I noticed something. Basically every single review mentioned the word "throwback". They all claim the movie is a throwback to the older classic "slashers" that we haven't seen in awhile. It truly has been awhile since something like Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th has been made. Nowadays, you see much more "horror" movies, the classic "slasher" movie was more of an 80's product. So I thought I'd throw my two cents in on the whole "throwback" issue. Yes, it had some aspects of the old slashers, but not completely. So screw all you critics and your universal ideas; I disagree. (If you haven't noticed, I hate agreeing with universal ideas.) Yes, it had high body counts, many unique deaths, and a killer on the loose, but it was just not the same all the ol' slashers in the day. First off, classic slashers have many violent deaths that were entertaining but this movie was stuck way too more on the gore aspect. It went so far as to making things unrealistically gory and I felt that took some of the fun out of the deaths. I want to see entertaining slasher deaths, not over the top massive amounts of gore just piling up everywhere. Yes, I see that you have a good budget and lots of good CGI, now stop showing off the fact you can show every single blood stained organ of a person and just give us a good death. Slashers knew to have entertaining deaths and not deaths that try as hard as it can to gross you out at the expense of entertainment. As for the killer, slashers have an almost indestructible killer that seems to never die. He is a monster of darkness that will kill all in his path. In comparison, the hero seems so much more heroic going against the odds and defeating them. As for this movie though, Warden didn't really fill that ominous killer role. He seemed just as human and fallible as everyone else. You even see him running away like a little girl in one scene (seriously? Wtf? Killers don't run, they disappear from sight mysteriously to reappear just as bad-a latter). I just felt like he was nothing special; he just happened to be good a sticking a pickaxe in some people's heads. That and the overall feel just wasn't the same. This part is hard to explain though. A classic slasher just has a feel about it and this movie just didn't have that. It was more like they were trying to create a purely drama movie and mix it with a slasher. That's all just my opinion though. I feel like it is its own being and maybe was an attempt at copying a slasher, but it was by no means a 100% full fledged "throwback" (Suck it critics).

Now it's time for the rating: I give it a half thumb for its good 3-D graphics and for letting the one black guy live, and I give it a full thumb for just being a really fun movie experience. I give it a pile for the horrible dialogue and acting, a pile for unlikable and unrelatable characters, and a half pile for a weak character.

Or a 4 out of 10 for you normal people...

Truthfully, I would recommend seeing it with a group of friend if you guys are bored and want a good time making fun of stuff. I would never recommend ever actually buy the movie though.

The Half Blood Prince Trailer

Sometimes I wish this was a gaming website, because there is so much gamer news going on that I'd love to inform you crowd about, oh well...

I've never been big into the whole Harry Potter fad, so I didn't really think all too much of this when I first saw it. My friends have been going crazy over this trailer though, so I decided I might as well post it for those who are interested.

I would usually make some sort of comment here about the trailer, but I don't really have a comment. I haven't read the books and have only seen two of the movies. I know there are going to be hundreds of people jumping on me over the fact that I haven't read the books, but I don't care. Its a series about kids that go to a school to learn magic and whatnot, and then they go on adventures and meet evil sorcerers and such. That all sounds fine and dandy, but it just doesn't interest me. I don't care how great everyone says it is or how many people like it (numbers don't mean crud). It just doesn't click in my mind. I'm not about to read a series I have no interest in just because everyone else has. I saw the first two movies and read up on the books, but nothing interested me so I never got into it. At least I tried it so no one can criticize me. Most of you bastards out there refuse to even watch a single episode or movie of anime just because it is anime. How about giving that a chance? You wizard loving hypocrites. (Disclaimer: I have nothing against the Harry Potter series or the people who read it. I just hate hypocrites who refuse to try new things and then criticize you for not reading something they like. Screw those bastards.)

So anyways, my rant is done, so here's the trailer:

Watchmen Website Gets Major Updates

After getting a settlement on their law suit with Fox last week, Warner Bros. did a pretty big update on their WatchmenMovie website. They added video footage (some of which has not been released before) for each character, sample of Tyler Bates' film score and dialogue for each character. 

Most people have been pretty pleased with Bates' score samples. I really like what I hear so far. I have to admit- it's pretty strange to hear that electric guitar on what I assume is Dr. Manhattan's theme (I think he also uses it on Silk Spectre II's theme as well). I like that the music on Rorschach's page is very creepy and scary. It kind of reminds me of some of the music that Bates did on Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects and Halloween. My only hope is that the rest of the score has more of a film noir feel, especially for the first half of the film when Rorschach is heavy into his investigations on the murder of the Comedian.

For me, the best part of this update was finally hear Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach do his opening monolgue / diary entry from page 1 of the graphic novel. It was also nice to finally hear him say "all the whores and politicans will look up" as opposed to "the world will look up" as they've been having him say in the trailers. I was starting to get worried that they had neutered that line. I also like some of the new footage they've added in Dr. Manhattan's page. That shot of him coming over the valley in Vietnam and the looks on the Vietcong's faces is pretty beautiful. 

Anyways, if you want to see new footage, score samples and new dialogue, head over to WatchmenMovie.com now.

And, if you didn't realize it, Watchmen comes out in less than a month and a half. Get ready.

Source: WatchmenMovie.com

Speech of the Week #26

Hey guys, welcome to a column here on YDKS Movies entitled Speech of the Week! For now on, every Monday I will post a new scene from a movie that features a speech of some sort being given. After all, there are a lot of famous scenes in film where characters give an influential speech of some sort. Then again, there are also a lot of scenes where characters give a speech and it just comes off cheesy and lame. In this section, you will see both kinds. That's right, people, I'm giving you the good and bad of film speeches all wrapped up in one great big package. I hope you all enjoy.

Today's speech is from Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy. It comes courtesy of a suggestion from my friend Ellis. I've gotten a lot of crap from my friends for liking Chasing Amy. I'm not sure why this is. Honestly, it's one of Kevin Smith's best films. Actually, when I think about it, it's probably his best (if not his most mature work). 

Once Ellis said the words "Chasing Amy" to me, this speech instantly popped up in my mind. This speech is so good that a lot of guys have actually memorized it to say it to say it to a girl that they like. Ellis actually claims to know a guy that used it on his girlfriend. It's definitely some solid writing from Smith. I can definitely say that I've felt the same way that Holden (Affleck) feels in this scene. He basically says the exact words that I've wanted to say. In fact, I feel like I may have used a variation of this very scene myself at one time or another. 

In this scene, Holden confesses his love to Alyssa Jones. His confession is very geniune and heartfelt. His only problem: she's a lesbian. Still, it's a great scene and a great speech.

Retro Review: Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me

Retro Reviews is a column devoted to reviews of older films (and by older, I mean films that or at least ten years old). It has been months since I first did a Retro Review. So, in order to right that wrong, here is one for a movie I just finished watching. The review is for David Lynch's 1992 controversial follow up to his popular television series Twin Peaks. It is called Twin Peaks Fire Walk with Me.

Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me is not a movie. At times, it is incoherent, lacks transition and is downright bizarre. It truly doesn't fit together to really form a movie. No, when dealing with this you have to really be prepared for viewing what it really is: a piece of art. Knowing this, you can see the kind of trouble I am going to have reviewing this. When it comes to being a film, it pretty much fails on every level. It is beyond frustrating to watch with little plot, over-the-top acting and straight up insanity. However, when looking at every frame and just viewing it as an experience, it can be taken as something else. Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me is one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen. It is also one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen. Not many filmmakers can achieve making nightmarish images so beautiful so I guess you have to give Lynch that. But still, there's the problem of the actual film at hand. Because, well, in a traditional movie sense, it just doesn't work.

Okay, let me try to review this thing. 

When Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 1992, it was booed by the audience. The film received universally bad reviews and was written off by most fans of the television series. It is easy to see why. Gone is the warm fuzziness, humor and quirkness of the show. Gone are characters like Sheriff Harry S. Truman, Deputy Andy, Deputy Hawk, Big Ed and Audrey Horn. The character of Donna Hayward is completely re-cast (mostly due to Lara Flynn Boyle probably not wanting to do the things that Lynch had the character do in the Bang Bang Bar scene). Special Agent Dale Copper (who could be considered the main character of the show) is only in the film for 5 minutes. Lynch takes the nightmare-like horror of the Second Season and amplifies to a pretty disturbing, in-your-face level (but, if you ask me, the nightmare horror of Season Two was already pretty disturbing and scary). Very unlike the television show, this movie is filled with explicit sex, violent and drug use. It's basically the polar opposite of the show. It takes all the darkness and evil that was boiling underneath everything in the show and puts it on the forefront. And it's truly hard to swallow it all.

Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me basically works as a prequel to the television show. Without watching the television show in its entirety, you will not understand any of this movie (I had trouble understanding some of it and I watched the whole show). It focuses on the primary investigation of the murder of Teresa Banks by two F.B.I. agents (played by Chris Isaak and Kiefer Sutherland) and the final days of Laura Palmer's life before she is brutally murdered, shrink-wrapped and thrown into the lake (thus starting the television series). Given the subject matter (the self-destruction, brutal rape and murder of Laura Palmer), the movie pretty much had to be disturbing and violent. A lot of people just weren't prepared for how far Lynch was going to take it. I was prepared (I read up a lot on the film before watching it) but, even still, I was fairly disturbed by what I saw. The film goes to some very dark places. In a way, watching this film is like taking a descent into hell. 

When viewing Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me as a movie, it definitely needs some work. The film is barely coherent at times and doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. The thirty minute opening that involves the investigation of the murder of Teresa Banks is much panned by many people because, aside from one thing, it is pretty pointless in regards to the rest of the plot. I myself enjoyed most of this section. It is closer in tone to the Twin Peaks series due to its quirkiness and occasional bits of comedy. That and I just really like Harry Dean Stanton whenever he shows up in a movie. Personally, I found the scenes in the F.B.I office building in Philadelphia with Cooper and Rosenfield more pointless. And what was up with David Bowie's brief cameo? It was very creepy and bizarre but what did it mean?

Other big problems with the film kick in when the actual Twin Peaks section of film begins about 40 minutes in. This section starts off fast- a little too fast for my taste. There feels like there is barely any kind of transition between scenes and it just feels really choppy. This may have to do with the fact that Lynch was forced to cut over 5 hours of footage down to just 2 hours and 15 minutes (5 hours... a director's cut of this would either be unwatchable or just plain brilliant). So, from a storytelling standpoint, this movie is pretty much a train wreck. 

The other problem I really had with the movie was the acting. There were times when it could get a little over-the-top in the television show but never to the point that it does here. The scene where this is most evident is when Laura and her father are berated by Philip Gerard (The One-Armed Man) in their car. Sheryl Lee has a couple of moments of this throughout the film.

My last problem with the film is with Laura as a character. Laura Palmer is really hard to like as a person. She is a manipulative, self-destructive, drug-addicted whore. It's kind of hard to really identify and care about someone like that. Lynch is obviously fascinated with her, devoting a whole film to her and her awful death. However, in the end, she really isn't that interesting. The great thing about the television show was that you just found out about her from other people. By just listening to stories about her, I found myself disliking her. Seeing her story play out, I found myself liking her even less. Despite all of this, Lynch still managed to really get me to sympathize with her at key moments. This shows his mastery as a filmmaker, something I'm about to discuss further.

Despite Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me suffering from these elements, it's still an incredibly powerful experience to go through. I've seen a lot of movies in my life time but none felt closer to what a nightmare feels like than this movie. There were some moments in the Twin Peaks television show where I felt that Lynch captured this feeling (the ending of the Season Two premiere still bothers me) but he manages to go even more beyond that in this film. We get more of the Black Lodge (complete with the backwards-talking midget) and much more of Bob. Believe me when I say this- no other character in film or television has fascinated me and scared me more than Bob. The scene where Laura finds him in her bedroom freaked me the eff out. I actually had to turn the movie off and start it up again today (I was watching it around midnight- you would think I would have learned my lesson after what happened when I watched the TV show at 2 a.m. and Bob freaked me out then). The scene where only the sound of that creepy ceiling fan fills the audio was also very scary and effective. Lynch fills this film with nightmare images and, by the end of the movie, actually manages to make them hauntingly beautiful.

That's another thing about this movie: Ron Garcia's cinematography is absolutely beautiful. There are so many stand out scenes where this is displayed that it is kind of hard to name them all. One scene that definitely stood out was the Bang Bang Bar. This scene was very disturbing to watch but Garcia managed to make it beautiful by contrasting a blue strobe light with a red hue. The ending of the movie with Laura in the Black Lodge was also quite beautiful. I almost feel as if the imagery of this scene, along with Garcia's lighting, impacted me on a very strong emotional level. It is not often that that can happen but the two pulled it off here.

Despite me not caring for Laura a lot of the time, Lynch really managed to hit me on an emotional level from time to time. For me, the last half of the film really hits hard. It's violent, horrible and somehow beautiful at the same time. Many reviewers have called this section the "passion of Laura Palmer" and I have to agree with it. In a way, she has to die so she can finally be at peace. But that doesn't mean it's a truly terrible thing to witness. Another scene that really stands out is the scene where Laura breaks down in the Roadhouse while Julee Cruise sings "Questions in a World of Blue." The song is beautiful and Lee's performance is pretty stand out in this scene. You can watch that scene above.

Overall, Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me is a tough movie to judge. It's ugly and beautiful at the same time. It's both a work of art and train wreck of storytelling. It's just not easy to watch. It's a portrayal of devastating self-destruction through the eyes of a bizarre but visionary filmmaker. It is polarizing. It's the definition of an experimental, art film. It is everything that Twin Peaks was not. 

So, when you see my score of this movie below, just know that it is just a number. It's in the middle because I just don't know how to score this thing. It's not really a movie. It's just expressionism. All I know is this- it was not what I wanted from a Twin Peaks film. Despite this, it hit me hard somewhere deep. It bothered me. It scared me. It put images in my head that I know won't leave any time soon. For that, for its impact and pure artistic drive, I have to respect it and David Lynch.

5/10