This weekend, Toby Joe and I decided to have a “feel-good” weekend in film. We watched Tarnation and The Machinist, and Hotel Rwanda, three of the most depressing movies I have seen in quite some time.
The Machinist was OK. It pulled out a few film cliches but Christian Bale did an excellent job, probably TOO excellent a job considering he nearly killed himself preparing for the role.
At times I had trouble looking at the TV.
Hotel Rwanda was pretty good, too. As usual, Cheadle ruled. I have a crush on Mr. Cheadle. I have since Boogie Nights. The film is educational and disturbing and I couldn’t help but wonder how we could let a million people die in Rwanda. It’s shocking to me—the whole story, and unbelievably sad.
Lastly, I found Tarnation absolutely amazing. It’s original, disturbing, brutally honest, and, at times, seemingly vengeful. I was completely fixated on this film from its beginning to its end. I even watched every last name roll through the credits. Wow, just wow.
It seems that Jonathan Caouette lived in Greenpoint, right down the street from us, when he made the film. It was a little odd seeing him in the local Key Foods and making snow angels in a park a block away.
I can’t help but wonder if he’s still around.
i didnt like the machinist. i liked mr. bale…but not the story.
i loved hotel rwanda, defiantely check out “sometimes in april” by hbo—i almost like this more. though it’s more depressing.
See, I kinda liked the story but not how they told it. (Meaning, I really didn’t like the whole alter-ego shit. But the idea of killing oneself with guilt is kind of interesting.
See, I kinda liked the story but not how they told it. (Meaning, I really didn’t like the whole alter-ego shit. But the idea of killing oneself with guilt is kind of interesting.
I posted twice on my own site. Great, michele.
If you liked Hotel Rwanda, you should definitely rent the documentary they made about Romeo Dallaire (the canadian dude) going back for the 10th anniversary. “Shake Hands with the Devil”. I have not had a Belgian beer since one particular scene in the film.
I hated Tarnation.
hated it? So odd.
Lana, I’ll check it out. Thanks!
whoa… did you all hack my netflix queue or something?
my trio this weekend was hotel rwanda, the machinist, but preceeded by finding neverland…
I liked the machinist, but didn’t love it… I had no issues with the alter ego, I just though story wise it was a bit… um… (i want to say thin, but want to avoid the pun.. hehe). I realized the charaters isolation played into the telling of the story, but would have liked to see a bit more going on around him to keep me interested for 2 hours.
hotel rwanda was well done, but I can’t say I enjoyed watching it or would see it again.
finding neverland was very mediocre i thought… too much sappy period piece for me
tarnation… added to queue
I liked the machinist until the end – maybe the last 15minutes of it – i thought they could have wrapped up the story so far in any one of 5 ways, and they chose the worst
I have only seen Hotel Rwanda, which I thought was an excellent film. Wanted to see The Machinist when it was out, but never got around to it. LOVE Don Cheadle, too, Michelle.
Oh! And I went to see ))(( on Saturday night and was SO into it, loving it, and the damn film BROKE with only about 20 minutes left!! SO unsatisfying. We waited around for 45 minutes, during which one kid came in and said they were working on it, and then much later when my friend went to see WTF was going on, another kid came in and said, “Oh, I didn’t realize anyone was still here!” I guess he hoped we’d just leave if he hid long enough. He gave us passes to come back anytime.
I felt like a lover had cum too soon and rolled over to go to sleep before I was done. ;-)
The symbols didn’t all show up! I typed that in right…I was refering to You and Me and Everyone We Know, of course.
One movie you should NEVER rent – Japanese Story. SO BAD, on SO MANY LEVELS. Z-.
I wanted to rent The Machinist, maybe I’ll add that to my netflix list. I’m hoping it grabs “The Upside of Anger” as soon as it comes out tomorrow, I want to see that so badly.
I got “Tully” from my netflix queue this weekend. Very interesting and simple story. Excellent acting I thought. Also, I love Julianne Nicholson in anything, so that was a plus. Highly recommended for an indie.
Awesome! Thanks so much for all the recommendations!
I also love Mr. Cheadle. And Mr.Bale- he’s so damn pretty. Is it totally f’ed up that I was slightly attracted to him in American Psycho?
Don’t answer that.
“I love Julianne Nicholson in anything”
Yes, indeed. Like, in a kiddie pool filled with vanilla pudding!
*kills Julianne Nicholson
Speaking of pudding, have you seen “Wilbur wants to Kill Himself” ? There’s a great pudding line offered by a Chinese waiter in the movie. Also, I highly recommend “Love Liza” with Philip Seymour Hoffman. He’s amazing in it! He huffs gasoline most of the film which made me feel a little nauseus and high (psychological osmosis?) by the end.