marioreturns Reviews

The Rules of Attraction (2002)

Who can dislike a movie where everything flows moves backwards!!

[10/10 · 10 December 2018]

I originally did a review for this movie years ago but decided to delete it for complicated reasons. I have finally decided to re-review it and add my new thoughts on it:

The actors/actresses are great, especially Sossamon and Van Der Beek. Secondary characters, or even bit roles (like Fred Savage----"I can FEEL MY DICK!"---LOL) are awesome.

Unknown Theresa Wayman (co-band player with Sossamon on her band) is simply stunning/remarkable in her brief, basically non-speaking scenes as Cafeteria Girl (named Mary in the book)---and her suicide scene is one of the most emotional, devastating, unforgettable moments in movie history you will ever see.

In a way, she is the heart of the movie. Not in every way, but in a way. The movie is really, to paraphrase the late Roger Ebert's long-ago review of this movie, a well made movie about reprehensible people. And who should wonder? Van Der Beek's character is the brother of THE Patrick Bateman (AMERICAN PSYCHO)!!.

Great score-----the introductory scenes featuring the Prelude to the opera AIDA are particularly effective.

The movie's special effects of people running backwards and time likewise running backwards is also masterful and unforgettable (and just plain cool).

Special mention must be made of Eric Stoltz in a brief but memorable role as the typical sleazy, pot-smoking, womanizing, Liberal Arts College Professor-----and of Faye Dunaway and Swoozie Kurtz, lending their experienced, artful hands as the drunken mothers of two-out-of-control, spoiled gay rich-brat sons (expertly played as well by Ian Somerhalder of Vampire Diaries fame and Russell Sams). Sams's character is especially memorable-----he refuses to be called Richard but only "DIIIIIIIIICCCCK." LOL.

The ending ends like the beginning.....cut off in mid-sentence.

The line Sossamon utters to Somerhalder at the end-----"It wouldn't have mattered to people like us," is unforgettable and haunting.

The music on the closing credits is superb----I especially liked "Stop!" by Erasure---played after the final scene.

A masterpiece---and future fodder for film theory and movie history professors to pore over. Plus, everything runs backwards!! What more do you want?

10 out of 10.

Session 9 (2001)

Good, solid psychological horror.

[10 December 2018]

Just what was stated. Good solid horror. Builds up to a sad, tragic, and terrifying ending.

Wonder what would have happened if the makers of the movie had kept the "old homeless former patient hiding" subplot. Or maybe the ending? Personally, I don't think it would have been as effective. Just me.

That real former Psychiatric Hospital/Insane Asylum is one of the scariest, most terrifying real-life places you will ever see.

Good to see Caruso doing something other than playing cops, or just main characters in general.

He even gets murdered here!!

Who would have thought! 8 out of 10.

Mr. Jones (2013)

Actually better than the original Blair Witch movie.................Don't trespass on Mr. Jones's property or steal his stuff!!

[7/10 · 10 December 2018]

Overall, the "lost footage"-type of horror movie "inaugurated" by The Blair Witch Project has been done to death. Massively.

Surprisingly, though, I found this latest entry into that overdone "genre" better than most. Sure, most of the movie is part of that, with characters filming themselves as strange happenings with scary dreadful overtones predictably happening around them, but at the end it leaves off of that path to wander into some trippy, mind-bending stuff that raises it sort of (surprisingly) a Superhero Movie!!

With the reluctant "hero" accepting his role and transforming himself into a reluctant guardian against evil. In this case, creatures/spirits of the Dream World spilling over into our reality and destroying us.

Scott was the unlikable one of the main couple---and his original convincing Penny to trespass on Mr. Jones's property and film the basement for fame-whoring ends (plus his stealing of the doll-like figure that helped keep out the Dream World spirits out) the main reason for the catastrophe that happens afterward----but he redeems himself by saving Penny from captivity in the Dream World and becoming the new Mr. Jones. Good show. Not a great movie, but a pretty interesting and decent one.

7 out of 10.

Compulsion (2016)

I'll make this short........

[9 December 2018]

Love Annaleigh Tipton and the scenes filmed in the palace were sumptuous and on-point. Plus the plot had an old-style Gothic horror-type of grandeur to them that draws my fancy. Sex scenes were ok, as well, as far as lesbian erotica goes. The ending was good, as well. Good for fans of erotic horror overall.

Broken Star (2018)

Disturbing, thought-provoking movie about Hollywood narcissism......

[10/10 · 9 December 2018]

I found Tipton exceptional and Lebine good as well playing two HIGHLY damaged, even borderline-psychopathic characters engaged in a "nasty, sick perverted," yet strangely moving relationship. (Not that it excuses any of the actions committed by both the characters in the movie---particularly those of Darryl (Lebine)----but you do end up understanding at least partially what why they do some of the things they do).

Now for the ending...

I think one of the reasons many dislike this movie is because of the ending. Way too ambiguous, they say. Too confusing. I say it is believable if you pay attention and think about it after the credits have rolled.

Either A) Markey or Darryl "changed the ending" to start all over again and redefine their relationship-----and not ending up with having anyone tormented/killed(which then would make this psychological thriller take a sharp turn into supernatural territory-----or, B) Markey dreamed the whole thing up, as another reviewer commented. And she's "starting over again" but in a more brave, more positive light, without the initial whiny self-pity and narcissism. (Exemplified by the motto "Be alone but brave" scrawled across her arm at the end).

That is hampered by her discovery that Darryl is stalking her. Will she reject him this time? Probably so.

(On the other hand, it's implied the two of them kiss at the end of the dream, implying some sort of a relationship between both of them. Was it somehow a prophetic dream? Could be....)

This ending is reinforced by the clue that she reawakens and looks in the mirror like she did two other times in the movie and she does so in the nighttime----like she was having intermittent dreams----like all of us have. Her calendar after she wakes up is not filled like it was before, implying she just started living in the house.

Personally to me that is the most believable explanation, but the first also could be possible. Remember, too, that Markey also told her friend near the end that she "controlled" everything, implying either a dream or that she had more of a chance to "rewrite" the ending (supernaturally) than Darryl did.

Maybe she did not want to give in to her sick attraction to Darryl at the end and just kiss him in the dream as it is implied.

Ultimately, there is still room for ambiguity at the end. Will Darryl and Markey somehow (and somewhat improbably) end up together? Will he kill her or just befriend her? What will happen next.

Who knows. LOL.

If anything, this a disturbing and thought-provoking examination of Hollywood narcissistic, empty culture and its effects on broken people's lives and all of us.

10 out of 10.

Anguish (2015)

I don't understand the hatred for this movie...........

[8/10 · 9 December 2018]

It is slow-moving but it does build up to some pretty scary scenes. Both actresses are great and the women playing their mothers are also excellent as well. Watched this on OnDemand under the horror section----that, I think, is partly the reason many did not like this. They were expecting more in-your face, terrifying stuff a la more mainstream "horror movies," I guess. If you're looking for that, then this is not for you. It's more like a scary supernatural thriller. And as such supernatural thrillers go, it's a winner. 8 out of 10.

A Midsummer Night's Rave (2002)

Not for purists---but provocative, interesting Shakespeare nevertheless

[9/10 · 5 December 2004]

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S RAVE, by the estimable Gil Cates, Jr., is an interesting, original, provocative take on Shakespeare's timeless A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM-all the more so because Cates (who is a director to watch for in the future) has the effrontery to keep but the barest skeleton of the original plot--i.e.,two sets of mismatched couples-Oberon and Titania-Bottom and the "players"----all the while deciding to take it in more daring, unexpected directions than the Immortal Bard ever intended. While previous versions---(Brook's, Branagh's, etc.) stressed the pastoral, dark aspects of the play--along with keeping the fates of the characters exactly as Shakespeare wrote it--Cates decides to add homosexuality and a scary-yet-funny drug dealer to the mix! Plus, Elena--("Helena" in the play)--ends up doing something totally different than the play! (No equivalents of Theseus and Hyppolita, for that matter).

Truly, this movie is not for purists. Yet the cinematography is great, the decor and setting are funky-love the van Nick and his friends drive!-the music fits the spirit and setting (a rave) the actors are good-looking and fresh--I especially enjoyed Chad Lindberg as the "Bottom" character-(goofy Nick, who goes comically, spectacularly off-the-wall after ingesting some of Puck's "love potion") and Nichole Hiltz as the "Titania" character, Britt---their "fate" is charmingly quite different than the play and is particularly satisfying to those of us who think they make a great romantic "couple." I also enjoyed Jason Carter as the devious, poetry-spouting O.B. John, and Lauren German as the quirky, pixie-like Elena.

Andrew Keegan and Sunny Mawbrey are also interesting as well, and make a great couple, the rough equivalent of "Lysander and Hermia" in the play. The "Puck" character (a witty Glen Badyna), though, to be honest, is barely there and is not really involved that much in the action like he was in the play. Some of the other actors in the movie are little more than filler, as well.

Not everybody will quite take to the casual drug use---but if one is willing to stick with the movie one will realize that the drug subplot helps make one of the points of the movie---these young people have been trying to drown their concerns and desires in drugs and hedonistic partying--instead of confronting these concerns and desires head on and be themselves. They realize that one does not need to use drugs to feel happiness and love. Ultimately honesty and love are the greatest drugs of all. The dialogue between Andrew Keegan (Xander) and Sunny Mawbrey (Mia) perfectly illustrates this.

Not a lot of plot---and ultimately, not for all tastes---but if one is in "vibe" with the spirit of the movie--and is interested in the phenomenon of raves---this is a must see!

Waking Life (2001)

Thought-provoking, trippy little movie that is not for everyone

[4 September 2004]

A couple of comments on WAKING LIFE:

Although open-minded people of different persuasions (whether political, religious, or philosophical) should DEFINITELY take a look at this one-of-a-kind movie, it SHOULD be stated that, in MY opinion, the movie will probably be best appreciated by folks who are interested in the subject---namely, metaphysical, quasi-mystical ruminations on such varied, wide-ranging topics as the nature of reality, free will, social change, the nature of language, life after death, dreams vs. reality, etc. ALSO, the movie definitely has a markedly ultra-leftist, even anarchist, bent-- so if one--let's say--believes in a free market, libertarian, right-of-center ideology that does not advocate the overthrow of social, religious, and political institutions by extreme means (up-to and including violence), then one should either A) Watch it, but only if one has an open mind; B)Watch it, but with a grain of salt (i.e., a detached manner); or C) Not watch it at all.

Worth watching for its stunning, free-flowing, "dream"-like imagery; its flawless, seamless union of animation and live-action characters and interviews; its unique take on spiritual, transcendental issues, and its poetic, mystical, ambiguous ending---but only if one is open to the ideas and questions posed in the narrative--or at least willing to hear them out. For the philosophical, spiritual seeker who likes alternative films about IDEAS, not PLOT. MUST SEE if one is a fan of Richard Linklater.

Fall (1997)

my favorite movie of all time

[10/10 · 21 August 2004]

Admittedly not for everyone, this movie is, nevertheless, my favorite movie of all time. It is simple, yet profound. It has an enthralling, world-class soundtrack. Amanda De Cadenet is an unusually beautiful woman who managed to convey a natural charisma and credibility in what will probably be considered her most "famous" role--if she is remembered at all. Unfortunately, the compelling Ms.De Cadenet has "retired," so moviegoers will have to content themselves with THIS role and her appearance in a few other (mostly independent) movies. Too bad. It is a shame she chose to discontinue her acting career for photography. She could have gone on to bigger, better things in acting. The character of Sarah could easily have come off as a selfish, uppity person,but instead in De Cadenet's hands she becomes a flawed, deeply human, funny, brilliant,passionate woman who finds herself in an impossible situation. Eric Schaeffer is superb as the one-of-a-kind, iconoclastic Michael, who has the effrontery to go after the seemingly unattainable supermodel Sarah and finds to his great surprise that she returns his love. The poetry recited in the movie will not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you are willing to go with the flow of it in relation to the movie one will find it thoughtful and moving. The secondary characters compliment the leads perfectly----particularly the ones of Sally and Robin. It is particularly unusual to find a male lead character in a movie with two FEMALE best friends. That is one of the many unusual details that attracted me to FALL. Another detail that I found compelling was its quiet, sublime ending. The ending is magnificent in its ambiguity, with its mixture of sadness and guarded optimism---hopeless romantics like me will cling to the hope that the lovers will find happiness together---while die-hard realists will have suspicions about the course of the lover's relationship confirmed---and console themselves with the knowledge that their bond will continue in a different form---i.e. friendship---so, in a sense,Michael and Sarah will continue to be lovers, albeit in a "spiritual" way. A special nod must be given to the actor playing Phillipe, Sarah's husband. Rudolph Martin's work transforms Phillipe from the standard, ordinary rich-guy-cum-jerk-husband that pops up occasionally in movies of this type to a clueless, superficial, rich-guy-cum-jerk who GENUINELY, SINCERELY loves his wife. I was surprised to find that I did not hate the guy at the end. In fact, I also did not hate Sarah. Like Michael, I may have not liked what she did, but I understood. Ultimately Michael's acceptance of his beloved's gut-wrenching decision---his unconditional love for her----and his tender hope against all hope for the triumph of love (and I think Sarah MAY secretly hope that, too)forms the heart, the core of the movie. FALL is ultimately about unconditional love---and hope---even when that hope is against all odds. That is what makes FALL (to my mind), a powerful, majestic, romantic and ultimately profound work of art. THAT makes FALL my favorite movie of all time. May it endure.