Justin at the Movies

Historical Significance

// December 15th, 2009 // 7 Comments » // Jesse, Random Movie Musings

by Jesse

I want to pose a question to everyone.  Do you think it’s okay for filmmakers to change the outcome of a true story with historical significance for the benefit of their movie?  For example, if a filmmaker makes a movie about a war, do you think it’s okay for them to change important details, like how the war ended?  I’m not asking about documentaries because I think we would all agree that the very essence of a documentary is that it is supposed to be 100% accurate.  I’m asking about a dramatic representation of a true story.  In the movie “Titanic,” a story line of two young lovers was added to make the movie more enjoyable for the average audience.  Do you think it’s a big deal that they did that?  Now, what if they made it so the boat didn’t sink?  Would that be okay?  What about taking a real person and changing their story for your movie?  Do filmmakers have complete creative license to change the facts as long as they’re not claiming it to be completely true?  Let me know what you think.

Tragedy

// November 29th, 2009 // No Comments » // Jesse, Random Movie Musings

by Jesse

I have another horror movie-induced post for you!

I have a theory about horror movies that, so far, has proved to be completely, 100% accurate.  I haven’t seen every horror movie, obviously, so maybe one day I’ll watch a movie that will shatter my theory.  I hope not, it’s really good.

My theory is this:  the people who appear in horror movies as the victims are ALWAYS people who have survived and are recovering from an intense tragedy in their lives.  They have survived something horrible and they are struggling to move on when suddenly, they are being terrorized by psycho killers, ghosties, insanity, etc.  Don’t believe me?  I have examples.

The Haunting in Connecticut
This movie is about the Campbell family. Sara, the mom, is desperately trying to keep her family together as her husband, Peter, struggles with alcoholism and the increasing financial demands of their son, Matt’s, cancer. They move to upstate Connecticut to be closer to a cancer clinic, despite the second mortgage it incurs. Soon, as they are being terrorized by evil entities, they discover that the house has a horrible and evil history.

The Last House on the Left
Still recovering from the loss of their son, John and Emma Collingwood take their daughter, Mari, to their vacation home, “the last house on the left” for some much-needed relaxation. When Mari heads into town to visit a friend, the two girls find themselves in a horrible situation. They are kidnapped by an escaped murderer and his family. Mari’s friend, Paige, is stabbed to death in the woods. Mari is raped and shot and left for dead. Then, the fugitives find their way up to “the last house on the left” where John and Emma give them shelter for the night, not knowing what the strangers have done to their daughter. When they find out, there is a battle to the death between the two families.

Prom Night
Donna was a normal teenager until one of her teachers, Richard Fenton, became obsessed with her. Her parents got him fired but he continued to stalk her. One night, Fenton, comes into the house and kills Donna’s father, brother, and finally, her mother right in front of her. For the past three years, Donna has been trying to live a normal life. On Prom night, Fenton escapes prison and comes after her and everyone close to her again.

The Unborn
Casey Beldon was supposed to have a twin brother, but he died in the womb. She begins suffering from horrible dreams of a little boy with blue eyes. The spirit of her unborn brother is haunting her, trying to take over her body and make it into the world of the living, and terrorizing all her friends and family.

The Uninvited
The main character Anna lost her ill mother in a fire, tried to commit suicide, and has been living in a mental hospital. She returns home, hopefully to start her life over, and instead has to contend with her unsupportive father, her new evil stepmother, and ghosts haunting her house.

Orphan
I saved this movie for last because it epitomizes my theory to the fullest extent. This movie is about the Coleman family. Mother, Kate, and father, John, are trying to rebuild their relationship after extreme tragedies. Yes, plural. John had an affair 10 years ago that Kate is still trying to forgive him for. Kate is a recovering alcoholic, in therapy, and she struggles with it everyday. Because of Kate’s alcoholism, she lost her job, her daughter Maxine almost died in a drowning accident, and she miscarried her other daughter, Jessica. Because of the drowning accident, Maxine is now deaf and dumb. This couple decides that they are ready to add another child to siblings Maxine and Daniel. They find a charming girl named Esther at the orphanage and immediately fall in love with her. Soon, though, Esther is manipulating and terrorizing the family.  She gets Maxine, Daniel, and Kate out of the way so she can seduce John.  When he refuses her, she goes on a murdering rampage.

Okay, so, I’m sure this theory doesn’t apply to every horror movie ever made…I’m not challenging anyone to try and prove me wrong.  All I’m saying is, next time you watch a horror movie, keep my theory in mind and I promise, more times than not, you will see it in play.

Paranormal Horror

// November 7th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Jesse, Recommendations

by Jesse

“Paranormal Activity” is the movie that is buzzing all over the country.  It started out small and unknown but, like “Napoleon Dynamite,” soon shot across the country like wildfire.  Previews for this movie include unsettling scenes from the movie, and scared audiences watching the movie.  ”Paranormal Activity” is about a girl and her boyfriend.  She thinks that there is something haunting her, so he decides to set up a camera to try and capture what’s happening.  The entire movie is filmed from the camera he totes around with him day and night.

Justin and I went to this movie on Halloween.  The theater was nearly full by the time the movie started.  There were these guys sitting next to me, and about 10-15 minutes into the movie, they were wondering if anything was ever going to happen in the movie.   The fact that the movie started “slow” for a horror movie was my first indication that this isn’t the typical horror movie. 

If it’s not a horror movie, then what is it?

Think about the biggest horror movies of today.  You might be thinking about the “Saw” series or maybe even the “Halloween” series.  The characteristic most prevalent in movies like these is violence.  Their goal is to shock the audience with horrifying violence.  They come up with the most horrible, and okay, creative ways to maim and kill people they can, and they zoom in on the violence so it’s right in your face.

“Paranormal Activity” is not a horror movie at all, but a psychological thriller.  And why?  Because “Paranormal Activity” is not violent or gory.  It doesn’t necessarily try to shock the audience with horrifying images.  While watching this movie, I was surprised that most of the time was spent on the two characters in the movie trying to live their lives with what was happening to them.  A very small percentage of the movie was the “scary” moments or images.  “Paranormal Activity” is more creepy or unsettling than it is shocking or disturbing or disgusting.  It doesn’t intend to make the audience jump out of their skin.

I like movies like this.  I can’t watch the gory, disgusting horror.  I don’t jive with that kind of violence.  “Paranormal Activity” gives the thrill of seeing something scary happen, and it’s scarier than watching a “Saw” movie or something like that because it stays with you.  The creepiness gets into your head a little.  I like to think of movies like this as the intelligent alternative to horror movies.  It’s not easy to scare people without constant horror or things jumping out at them.  The thing I like best about psychological thrillers is that while horror movies focus on the violence and the horror, psychological thrillers focus on the people in the horror.  “Paranormal Activity” focuses on two people, and what happens to their psyche and relationship when they have to deal with the horror that they can’t escape.

It reminds me of “The Blair Witch Project.”  I recently saw this movie for the first time.  I never wanted to see it before because it’s been made fun of so many times that I thought it was a joke.  I thought it would be stupid.  And, for some reason, lots of people hate this movie and think it is stupid.  I think it’s because they expected it to be more “scary” or “jumpy” and it just isn’t.  It’s about three film students who get lost in the woods while filming a documentary about “The Blair Witch,” a legend in the area.  They’re scared and alone, and they can’t get out.  The movie doesn’t focus on the possibility that the legend is real and the witch is going to get them, it focuses on how they handle their fear, and how their relationships with each other change because of the inescapeable situation.

So, if you want to watch a thrilling movie, without the extreme violence, I would recommend psychological thrillers.  There were people running out of the theater when “Paranormal Activity” ended…actually running.  I’ve never seen that before.  One girl behind us kept insisting to her boyfriend that the footage was real, it had really happened! and that’s why there were no credits at the end of the movie.  It was crazy.  If you are going to see this movie, I would recommend catching it in the theater.  The experience is definately worth it.