Kam
01-11-2006, 07:19 AM
The Jacket (2005 - us/germany)- - with adrien brody and keira knightly. i had only seen a handful of previews of this movie back when it came out, and it totally miscategorized the film. it portrayed as this straight up horror movie akin to Jacob's Ladder. Very much so along the lines of those misguided trailers (like the shining spoof trailer i posted). it is NOT a horror movie. yeah it has some horror elements, but it is more of a dramatic thriller than anything else, and defn nowhere near as horror-type scary as jacob's ladder was. it's an incredibly intriguing story with a few WTF? elements up there. but more in a donnie darko type of WTF? than a david lynch type of WTF?.
the story follows a gulf war veteran who, after being shot in kuwait, returns to the us with amnesia. he hitches a ride with a stranger and witnesses the stranger kill a cop. the stranger wipes his print and leaves the gun by brody. brody is found not guilty by reason of insanity and put in a mental hospital. there... he undergoes a strange, unauthorized, unorthodox treatment by Kris Kristofferson that allows him to travel into the future... or does it? is it his mind just having a hallucination? is it really him? is he crazy?
there's also a great cameo by one of my current fav actors who, if you didnt know he was in it, might not even recognize him. he is truly truly truly a chameleon and nails another performance. it took me a few mins to realize who it was and i knew he was in the movie.
anyway, highly reccomended as another not-the-norm great movie. also has a great ending that is ripe for debate as to what really happenned, so if anyone has seen it or does see it, i'd be very interested to hear your take on the ending.
Alive (2002 japan)- another strange offering from japanese cinema and the director of Versus (the really strange zombie, gangster japanese horror/action movie i reviewed a while back). A prisoner, who killed his own girlfriend, is sentenced to death. the prisoner strangely survives his own execution (by electrocution, in a strangely interesting explanation by the prison warden). he is given a choice.... either A) really get executed this time and die (for real) or choice B) go down that door. He is told there is an experiment being conducted, that as far as the world knows, he is dead, he has nothing, and he can either truly die, or be subject to that experiment, whatever it may be. the prisoner jumps to take it but the warden warns him, there are things worse than death. (this is not a grindhouse-horror movie so you know its not heading in that direction, but it defn gives you the apprehension that it will). the prisoner takes his chances and heads towards the experiment.
he is knocked out and wakes up in a room, fairly well equipped, where he is told that he can have anything he wants (within reason and supervision) he just has to remain in this room. he is also joined by another convicted murderer who also survived his execution. its a very interesting pyschological experiment that goes nuts in only a way japanese cinema can go. haha. another fun, enjoyable, entertaining movie. might as well watch the original before it gets remade over here and destroyed.
peace
k2
the story follows a gulf war veteran who, after being shot in kuwait, returns to the us with amnesia. he hitches a ride with a stranger and witnesses the stranger kill a cop. the stranger wipes his print and leaves the gun by brody. brody is found not guilty by reason of insanity and put in a mental hospital. there... he undergoes a strange, unauthorized, unorthodox treatment by Kris Kristofferson that allows him to travel into the future... or does it? is it his mind just having a hallucination? is it really him? is he crazy?
there's also a great cameo by one of my current fav actors who, if you didnt know he was in it, might not even recognize him. he is truly truly truly a chameleon and nails another performance. it took me a few mins to realize who it was and i knew he was in the movie.
anyway, highly reccomended as another not-the-norm great movie. also has a great ending that is ripe for debate as to what really happenned, so if anyone has seen it or does see it, i'd be very interested to hear your take on the ending.
Alive (2002 japan)- another strange offering from japanese cinema and the director of Versus (the really strange zombie, gangster japanese horror/action movie i reviewed a while back). A prisoner, who killed his own girlfriend, is sentenced to death. the prisoner strangely survives his own execution (by electrocution, in a strangely interesting explanation by the prison warden). he is given a choice.... either A) really get executed this time and die (for real) or choice B) go down that door. He is told there is an experiment being conducted, that as far as the world knows, he is dead, he has nothing, and he can either truly die, or be subject to that experiment, whatever it may be. the prisoner jumps to take it but the warden warns him, there are things worse than death. (this is not a grindhouse-horror movie so you know its not heading in that direction, but it defn gives you the apprehension that it will). the prisoner takes his chances and heads towards the experiment.
he is knocked out and wakes up in a room, fairly well equipped, where he is told that he can have anything he wants (within reason and supervision) he just has to remain in this room. he is also joined by another convicted murderer who also survived his execution. its a very interesting pyschological experiment that goes nuts in only a way japanese cinema can go. haha. another fun, enjoyable, entertaining movie. might as well watch the original before it gets remade over here and destroyed.
peace
k2