Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Drag Me To Hell (copied directly from IMDB)
Ok, I made a promise I would just watch the movie and not analyze the crap out of it, but lots of thoughts stream to my head. Here goes:
I haven't payed attention, I don't really know what most people like about it, but I think the aspect that seems to get discussed least of its dues is the aspect I loved the most: Christine Brown. She's simply one of the my all-time favorite characters.
I love that you can interpret that Christine is supposed to be an exemplar of someone destined to go to hell for all of the things she did. She is everything in the name of completely and utterly selfish. That payment extension she threw back in the old lady's face.... just to earn her promotion. It came right after her manager mentioned how the new guy was "more aggressive." It went to her head right away, if just so she can show off her best possible attempt at aggression. More aspects of her selfishness. Slaughters a cat, almost sends her co-worker to hell. And during the seance, in an attempt to save herself.... "it was my manager! it was my manager!"
I loved all of the Christine Brown character traits, she was probably a great chunk of the movie for me. And the fact that she seems to have a short fuse for anything that tests her patience. She blows her load in the face of a waiter, and anybody that slightly annoys her. "I have a lot on my mind, can we do this tomorrow?" I think Raimi has a slight and odd infatuation, or just a very obsessive dislike of hateful female characters. I think Christine Brown might be a criticism of real life female personalities he seems to take issues with. Maybe, just maybe.
And, one extra thing that DOESN'T drag the movie down..... is that her boyfriend wasn't a completely useless character. He seems to be the caring figure of Christine's well being. Like her blanket of security, and I think his character was specifically necessary when the audience feels the scent of sympathy for her. In other words, the audience roots for Christine, they don't want anything to happen to her, and her boyfriend's loyal care of her fiancee makes the audience feels secure for Christine's well being. I've seen movies where the beloved is nothing more than a reason for film's sake. This case, the audience feels a sense of safeness that Christine is safe, through the character traits of her boyfriend.
To nitpick, I'd say the only thing I didn't particularly like was the hallucinations. I think the film occasionally flaunts images of blood and guts. They aren't really that big of a deal, I don't really think they're really any use, still not that big of a deal, if maybe just to remind us every 10 minutes that the film is a horror film. Specifically speaking, the scenes where you have a supernatural figure pop up and deliver one line of dialogue "you will go to hell, you will go to hell."
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that I didn't really care much for the film's continuity between sane world and supernatural world, it seems like a slightly off sync combination. But that's really a light quibble, the characters are perfect. The lead cannot be anymore fun to watch: character and performance.
Not to say the horror aspects aren't all fine, but I honestly think the characters are most of the fun. Horror films generally, two things: 1. designed so you barely notice the characters. Which isn't a bad thing, to say, if the film lets the genre aspects do all of the work. A horror film can survive as just the perfect horror form. 2) you have memorable characters balanced with all of the wall-to-wall insanity that accompanies the genre aspects.
Anyways, I wanted to see this again to make sure I haven't showered too much initial love for it, and I haven't. It got even better, and it's definitely something that will now make its nest in my DVD collection. It reminds me of From Dusk Till Dawn. Just that all out, zany indulgence, and this addictive arcade zone you want to live in. When the movie is over, "ah *beep*, reality" Like the feeling you get when you have to finally turn off your video game for the night.
Ok, I really really love this movie. Everything put together, of 2009 movies, it kept my attention the most, it was the most engaging movie I saw. Or maybe I'll be a smartass and say it's one of the only 4 movies of the year that even kept my attention. But that taken into account or not taken into account, this has a safe and permenant spot in my top 30 favorites of all time.
I haven't payed attention, I don't really know what most people like about it, but I think the aspect that seems to get discussed least of its dues is the aspect I loved the most: Christine Brown. She's simply one of the my all-time favorite characters.
I love that you can interpret that Christine is supposed to be an exemplar of someone destined to go to hell for all of the things she did. She is everything in the name of completely and utterly selfish. That payment extension she threw back in the old lady's face.... just to earn her promotion. It came right after her manager mentioned how the new guy was "more aggressive." It went to her head right away, if just so she can show off her best possible attempt at aggression. More aspects of her selfishness. Slaughters a cat, almost sends her co-worker to hell. And during the seance, in an attempt to save herself.... "it was my manager! it was my manager!"
I loved all of the Christine Brown character traits, she was probably a great chunk of the movie for me. And the fact that she seems to have a short fuse for anything that tests her patience. She blows her load in the face of a waiter, and anybody that slightly annoys her. "I have a lot on my mind, can we do this tomorrow?" I think Raimi has a slight and odd infatuation, or just a very obsessive dislike of hateful female characters. I think Christine Brown might be a criticism of real life female personalities he seems to take issues with. Maybe, just maybe.
And, one extra thing that DOESN'T drag the movie down..... is that her boyfriend wasn't a completely useless character. He seems to be the caring figure of Christine's well being. Like her blanket of security, and I think his character was specifically necessary when the audience feels the scent of sympathy for her. In other words, the audience roots for Christine, they don't want anything to happen to her, and her boyfriend's loyal care of her fiancee makes the audience feels secure for Christine's well being. I've seen movies where the beloved is nothing more than a reason for film's sake. This case, the audience feels a sense of safeness that Christine is safe, through the character traits of her boyfriend.
To nitpick, I'd say the only thing I didn't particularly like was the hallucinations. I think the film occasionally flaunts images of blood and guts. They aren't really that big of a deal, I don't really think they're really any use, still not that big of a deal, if maybe just to remind us every 10 minutes that the film is a horror film. Specifically speaking, the scenes where you have a supernatural figure pop up and deliver one line of dialogue "you will go to hell, you will go to hell."
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that I didn't really care much for the film's continuity between sane world and supernatural world, it seems like a slightly off sync combination. But that's really a light quibble, the characters are perfect. The lead cannot be anymore fun to watch: character and performance.
Not to say the horror aspects aren't all fine, but I honestly think the characters are most of the fun. Horror films generally, two things: 1. designed so you barely notice the characters. Which isn't a bad thing, to say, if the film lets the genre aspects do all of the work. A horror film can survive as just the perfect horror form. 2) you have memorable characters balanced with all of the wall-to-wall insanity that accompanies the genre aspects.
Anyways, I wanted to see this again to make sure I haven't showered too much initial love for it, and I haven't. It got even better, and it's definitely something that will now make its nest in my DVD collection. It reminds me of From Dusk Till Dawn. Just that all out, zany indulgence, and this addictive arcade zone you want to live in. When the movie is over, "ah *beep*, reality" Like the feeling you get when you have to finally turn off your video game for the night.
Ok, I really really love this movie. Everything put together, of 2009 movies, it kept my attention the most, it was the most engaging movie I saw. Or maybe I'll be a smartass and say it's one of the only 4 movies of the year that even kept my attention. But that taken into account or not taken into account, this has a safe and permenant spot in my top 30 favorites of all time.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Friday, April 09, 2010
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