And there’s that adage that “The grass is always greener on the other side”, and when you break down that adage in bits and pieces, it’s not a one-liner about envy, it’s basically telling you, misery though we perceive it to be bliss, is still misery. And such is examined in the intelligent and engrossing twenty minute short from director Mitchell L. Cohen who seems to have channeled Richard Linklater down to his essence of simplicity.
Tag Archives: Mystery
The United States of Leland (2003)
“Elephant”, a truly disturbing film examined teen murder, the ability of a person to pick up a weapon and murder another person whether justified or not, and continue to do so, and it examined it where none of it made any sense. “United States of Leland” examines that same concept, and though it’s the same basic approach, it’s still a pretty damn good film in the end. Is it so hard to believe that many times there’s just no reason for something bad that happens? For many people, it is. There has to be a reason for everything these days, and what’s most disturbing about this film is that basically there’s just no reason for murder sometimes.
Out of Time (2003)
Though much of the film relies on lapses in logic and sequences that are just utterly hard to swallow, the performances are what sell this in the end. Mendes gives a pretty good performance as the ex-wife of Washington’s character who becomes a sort of antagonist, and makes things very difficult, while Sanaa Lathan and Dean Cain are very menacing. John Billingsley is tolerable as the obligatory comic relief, and Washington delivers a very good performance as Lee. Though much of the scenes rely on plot devices, Washington convinces us of the tension with his panicky performance.
Saw II (2005)
I liked “Saw” a lot. In spite of plot holes, lapses in logic, and a horrible sub-plot/performance by Danny Glover, I thought “Saw” was a very nihilistic simple thriller that really ended up being one of the best horror thrillers I’ve seen in years. Either way, when talks of “Saw 2” arose, I was optimistic if not a little annoyed. Sequels are rarely ever as good as the original, but with “Saw 2” I was pleasantly surprised and shocked, and a little nauseated. “Saw 2” takes its formula and amps it up to about eleven with a film that ends up becoming an eloquent study in madness and sadism, and explores the true lengths in which man will go to stay alive. What would you do to stay alive?
Ocean’s Twelve (2004)
I’m going to take a breath, and scream a few “Serenity now” chants before I begin bashing this, because if I don’t, I will unleash a tirade of swears, and vulgar one-liners that will make Lenny Bruce blush in his grave, and make your screen explode. To put it simply “Ocean’s Twelve” or “Whoring actors wanted a giant paycheck”, is the general zeitgeist of the film era. Take a bunch of big name actors, a few veterans, flash a lot of money in their face, and get them to come back for an incredibly forced sequel with an incredibly horrible plotline that not only stretches the creative line thin, but force feeds us an inane ridiculous set of events that never amount up to anything worth watching.
Birth (2004)
A man is running in the park one snowy day, and collapses under a bridge dying from a heart attack, years later, still grieving, Anna attempts to move on with her life and is confronted by a little boy who says he’s her dead husband Sean. Is he really her re-incarnated lover, or just a young boy conning this grieving woman. For the whole time I sat, watching this, I kept thinking to myself “The makers are trying to convince us of something”. What? I’m not entirely sure, but through the arduous time I watched “Birth”, it seemed like from the beginning to the climax, that everyone involved in this movie were attempting to convince us of something, but the closest verdict I’ve come to, was that they were trying to dissuade us in to thinking this was a good movie.
House of Wax (2005)
I found myself occasionally chuckling during the film, and the reason was because I could almost practically hear the one-minded logic that would surface when its target audience attempted to explain its endearment for this basically forgettable remake. The typical target audience will ultimately like this better than any of the other versions because: “Oh my god, Chad Michael Murray is like so totally hot”, or “Damn, Elisha Cuthbert is so totally hot and awesome”. Either way, are you at all surprised that I didn’t like this remake very much? I wanted to be surprised by this, but in the end I wasn’t, and I was given exactly what I expected: yet another WB star laden remake that was more concerned with touting stars of hit shows than actually casting real actors. Get with the program people! These are vehicles, not movies, these are promotional tools, not films, these are publicity programs, not a horror movie! These are fillers for resumes, not roles!