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metanon
Reviews
Stitch (2013)
Easter Eggs and Clues
I've seen Stitch three times now. Not because I love it (but I now definitely like it).
First time I watched it because I was at a friend's house and he forced me to. He loves horror movies, b-movies, weird movies and we hang out so I end up seeing a lot of junk. Was expecting Stitch to be awful but I actually thought it was okay. But nothing to write home about. So that was that.
Then my friend told my girlfriend about it and she insisted on seeing it too. So a week later, I have to sit through it a second time with her.
SPOILERS AHEAD.
It was on this second viewing that I noticed something really weird. The first time we see a demonic entity, there is a large HUMAN EYE that appears in a window to the right of the entity. It's just there for a fraction of a second! So a day later I watched this movie very carefully for a THIRD TIME by myself and I see that there are "easter eggs" (story clues) sprinkled throughout! Never even noticed any of that on the first viewing. All the clues ultimately link back to a video game played by the dead daughter and to an operation she has at the end of the film. I won't spoil the rest of the clues. But they all makes sense. The story makes total sense. Kind of got me excited that stuff like that would be in a movie and go completely over my head until I looked closer.
The first time I watched it, I thought the plot was just some throwaway horror with some decent scares. But there's a really interesting story here dealing with memories, dreams, emotions and how people live inside traumatic illusions. So I definitely like Stitch now. A lot. I can't bring myself to love it because Ed Furlong's in it and he's such a loser in real life. If they had another actor maybe I would love it.
I recommend it though. I'm a sucker for movies that add in layers of clues. Mulholland Drive and The Usual Suspects are two of my favorites for that reason, though they are both very different kinds of movies than this one.
Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013)
Malick-Light doesn't quite cut it
I'm a big fan of Terrance Malick, especially when he hits the mark (Badlands, Days of Heaven, Tree of Life). And even when he doesn't quite hit the mark (The Lost World) he's at least interesting.
Ain't Them Bodies Saints attempts to capture early Malick, like Badlands but IMHO the filmmakers only capture the most superficial elements of his style. ATBS is just plain boring, sorry. And no amount of pretty photography or good acting can elevate a nothing story, with zero deeper themes or insight into the human condition, to anything more than a serious of pretty pictures.
I was all set to like this movie. I have no problem with filmmakers aping Malick, as I really liked Beasts of the Southern Wild and most of David Gordon Green's films. But those latter projects do more than just copy a style.
ATBS saints does contain some great acting though, so it's not a complete write-off or anything. And I think the director certainly has potential. But this particular movie just isn't worth the time.
Srpski film (2010)
Absolute Junk
A friend and I decided to watch this movie on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Nothing else to do and we were intrigued by the film's notorious rep.
What a waste of time! This is just shock for the sake of shock. Pure garbage.
And no, I'm not against violent cinema, having watched and enjoyed hundreds of horror films. But this junk is just a puerile adolescent attempt to "push the envelope" of bad taste. Guess we got suckered in.
After the baby rape scene, we just turned it off and threw the disc in the garbage. Then we sat at the window and watched it rain. That was ten times more interesting.