Movies: August 2004 Archives

I rarely watch a real horror movie. The blood and gore genre just has no appeal. I don't feel afraid, but I do feel revolted at the "carnage for money" aspect.

But movies of people falling apart, "Leaving Las Vegas" or "Trainspotting" which are psychological horror movies, these movies grip me. These are the movie genre where the villain is the little voice in the protagonists head "one more drink" or "shoot up one more time" ; these movies both frighten and fascinate me. You can argue that either of these movies glorifies drug or alcohol use, but frankly both of them should scare people away from abuse of drugs or alcohol IMHO.

I think it's because I am convinced that nearly everyone is just a few small steps away from doing things that they might consider reprehensible. All that's required is just one push in a certain direction. It might take a brain injury, lowered serotonin levels, fear, boredom, or just loneliness to drive very ordinary people into doing very strange things.

How far away from doing something "out of character" are you?

I enjoyed this one. The story was fast paced, the action was cool, and I could make sense of the story without having seen the first movie. I like Matt Damon's acting and I also liked the cool as a cucumber character he played. Great movie, not intellectually challenging, but a good time none the less.

Four stars out of five.

My expectations were low, as Spiderman 2 was a sequel, and it was a "summer blockbuster" movie. I also didn't expect to be mentally challenged.

In the end, even with low expectations, I was dissapointed. I felt like I spent the entire film thinking, "Peter stop being a dough-head and tell her the truth. She can decide what to do with her own life." I still don't entirely understand why Peter blames himself for his Uncle Ben's death. Peter didn't pull the trigger, end of story. The person who pulled the trigger killed Uncle Ben. While Peter could and should have done more he didn't pull the trigger.

Additionally, if the film wasn't being to dumb it was being too preachy. I think exploration of the theme, "With great power comes great responsibility" is a worthy use of film, just don't rub it in our noses by saying it outloud.

I did appreciate the few humourous bits. At least the movie didn't take itself too seriously.

Two stars out of five. I might have given three if I had seen it as a matinee and if I had lower expectations.